Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim

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Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim: A West End Burlesque Flop

"Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim" premiered at London’s Gaiety Theatre in the West End on December 24, 1887, offering a musical burlesque that stumbled through just one week of performances before closing. Written by Richard Henry a pseudonym for Richard Butler and Henry Chance Newton and scored by Meyer Lutz, this three-act satire loosely riffed on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" and the Adelphi Theatre’s dramatic adaptation. Produced by George Edwardes and directed with choreography by John D’Auban, it starred Nellie Farren as a gender-swapped Dr. Frankenstein and Fred Leslie as a monster embracing his feminine side. Despite its ambitious cast and Victorian flair, the show’s feminist leanings and Edwardes’ pit-to-stalls seating shift alienated audiences, marking it as a brief, bold misfire in West End history.

Origins and Theatrical Roots

The piece emerged from the Gaiety’s thriving burlesque tradition, a genre Edwardes expanded from one-act sketches into full-length spectacles after taking over from John Hollingshead in 1886. Lutz, the theatre’s musical director, composed an original score, departing from the era’s patchwork tune compilations, while Henry’s script spun a wild parody of Shelley’s tale. Conceived as a vehicle for Farren and Leslie Gaiety stalwarts for over two decades it flipped the classic narrative: Dr. Frankenstein became a woman, and the monster a dandy with a soft streak. Launched amid the Victorian appetite for satire, its Christmas Eve opening aimed to capitalize on holiday crowds, but its radical tone proved a gamble that didn’t pay off.

The West End Production

Opening at the Gaiety Theatre, the cast featured Farren as Dr. Frankenstein, Leslie as the monster, and Marion Hood as Tartina, the doctor’s love interest, with E.J. Lonnen as vampire Visconti and Sylvia Grey as sun goddess Tamburina. The convoluted plot spanned three acts: Act I saw a golem-like creature kidnap Frankenstein in Germany; Act II thrust her into a Spanish bandit camp, where she rose to lead; Act III landed in the Vampire’s Club before a bizarre Arctic finale with dancing sailors and bears one being Frankenstein in disguise. Edwardes’ decision to shrink the cheap pit seating for pricier stalls irked the public, and the show’s week-long run roughly seven performances floundered, a victim of timing, taste, and tepid reception.

Musical and Theatrical Highlights

Lutz’s score leaned on Victorian burlesque’s jaunty charm, weaving original melodies with a playful edge, though no recordings survive to pinpoint standout numbers. The production dazzled with D’Auban’s choreography likely spotlighting the Arctic dance and lavish costumes evoking German forests, Spanish plains, and icy wastes. Farren’s trailblazing female Frankenstein and Leslie’s gender-bending monster aimed to subvert norms, a feminist twist that clashed with Victorian sensibilities. Critics and audiences found it too avant-garde, and while the Gaiety’s flair for “legs and short skirts” shone, the music and spectacle couldn’t salvage a narrative deemed overly chaotic and disconnected from Shelley’s gothic core.

Aftermath and Limited Legacy

After its swift West End demise, "Frankenstein, or The Vampire’s Victim" faded from major stages, lacking the revivals of peers like "Faust up to Date." Its feminist framing and Edwardes’ seating fiasco left it a theatrical footnote, unrecorded beyond playbills and reviews. The Gaiety shifted focus by the 1890s to Edwardian musical comedy, sidelining burlesque as tastes evolved. While no cast album exists, its brief run influenced no significant successors, though its stars Farren and Leslie continued dazzling elsewhere. The show’s Arctic bear dance and gender play linger as quirky relics, preserved in theatre lore but absent from modern stagings.

Cultural Context and Quick Exit

Landing in 1887, "Frankenstein, or The Vampire’s Victim" hit the West End as burlesque peaked, offering a satirical lens on Shelley’s novel amid Victorian fascination with gothic and gender roles. Its week-long flop fewer than 10 shows reflected a misstep in gauging audience taste, with its feminist slant jarring a public expecting lighter farce. Edwardes’ pit reduction fueled backlash, cutting affordable seats at a venue famed for accessibility. Outdone by longer-running Gaiety hits, its legacy is a cautionary tale of bold ideas clashing with convention, a West End whisper drowned by the era’s louder theatrical roar. As of March 2025, it remains a curiosity, unrevived but etched in the Gaiety’s eclectic past.