Two operatic stars did me the honour to copy my Margaret dress--Madame
Albani and Madame Melba. It was rather odd, by the way, that many
mothers who would take their daughters to see the opera of "Faust"
would not bring them to see the Lyceum play. One of these mothers was
Princess Mary of Teck, a constant patron of most of our plays.
Other people "missed the music." The popularity of an opera will often
kill a play, although the play may have existed before the music was
ever thought of. The Lyceum "Faust" held its own against Gounod. I
liked our incidental music to the action much better. It was taken
from Berlioz and Lassen, except for the Brocken music, which was the
original composition of Hamilton Clarke.
_"Faust's" Four Hundred Ropes_
In many ways "Faust" was our heaviest production. About four hundred
ropes were used, each rope with a name. The list of properties and
instructions to the carpenters became a joke among the theatre staff.
When Henry first took "Faust" into the provinces, the head carpenter
at Liverpool, Myers by name, being something of a humorist, copied out
the list on a long, thin sheet of paper which rolled up like a royal
proclamation. Instead of "God save the Queen," he wrote at the foot,
with many flourishes:
"God help Bill Myers!"
[Illustration: ELLEN TERRY AS OLIVIA AND HENRY IRVING AS THE VICAR IN
WILLS' PLAY "OLIVIA"