The Cingalee

The Cingalee or Sunny Ceylon is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner, with music by Lionel Monckton, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and additional material by Paul Rubens. The story is set in the Edwardian era in the then-tranquil island of Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) and follows the story of British colonial tea planters (one of the most popular songs in the score is called "Tea, tea, tea"). The piece opened at Daly's Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on 5 March 1904 and ran until 11 March 1905 for a total of 365 performances. The setting in an exotic Asian locale follwed the precedent set by The Mikado that was continued in The Geisha, San Toy, The Nautch Girl, A Chinese Honeymoon and others. There is little in the music to give The Cingalee an Eastern flavour. However, Monckton's catchy sextet, "The Island of Gay Ceylon", his "Pearl of Sweet Ceylon" and Ruben's "White and Brown Girl", "Sloe Eyes", "Monkeys" and "You and I" are highlights of the musical score. The London cast included Hayden Coffin, Rutland Barrington, Huntley Wright and Isabel Jay. A young Lily Elsie also appeared in the show, as did Topsy Sinden. The musical had a short Broadway run, opening at Daly's Theatre in New York on 24 October 1904, and running for 33 performances. A production in Sydney, Australia, in May 1905 by J C Williamson's Royal Comic Opera Company, opened on 6 May, starring Margaret Thomas as Nanoya. Plot A tea plantation in Ceylon has been purchased by a young Englishman, Harry Vereker, who falls in love with Nanoya, one of his Cingalese workers, and proposes marriage. Unbeknownst to him, however, she was married at the age of four to the potentate of Boobhamba, a noble of Kandy; she is also the former owner of the plantation. To escape from this marriage to the hated despot, she has disguised herself. An unethical lawyer, Chambuddy Ram, had persuaded Harry to buy the plantation.