Editing Marie Lloyd (section)

====Drury Lane and success====
{{multiple image|caption_align=center| align = right | direction = vertical | header_align = center | footer_align = left | footer_background = | image1 =Augustus Harris.jpg | width1 = 165 | caption1 = [[Augustus Harris]] (top) and the main star of the Drury Lane pantomimes, [[Dan Leno]] |alt1=black and white side profile sketch of a man with a beard| image2 = Dan Leno.jpg| width2 = 161 |alt2=black-and-white photo of a man in deadpan expression| caption2 = }}
Between 1891 and 1893, Lloyd was recruited by the [[impresario]] [[Augustus Harris]] to appear alongside Dan Leno in the spectacular and popular [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]] Christmas [[pantomimes]].{{refn|Walter Macqueen-Pope called Lloyd a Principal Girl and noted that "There is often a misconception about this and a belief that she was Principal Boy there. She was Principal Boy in other pantomimes but never at Drury Lane."<ref>MacQueen-Pope, p. 82</ref>|group= n}} While lunching with Harris in 1891 to discuss his offer, Lloyd played coy, deliberately confusing the theatre with the lesser known venue [[New London Theatre|the Old Mo]] so as not to appear conscious of Drury Lane's successful reputation; she compared its structure to that of a prison. Secretly, she was thrilled with the offer,<ref name="GILLIES53"/> for which she would receive £100 per week. The pantomime seasons lasted from Boxing Day to March<ref name=Farson45>Farson, p. 45</ref> and were highly lucrative, but Lloyd found working from a script restrictive.<ref>Pope, pp. 85–86</ref> Her first role was Princess Allfair in ''Humpty Dumpty; or, The Yellow Dwarf and the Fair One'',<ref name=GILLIES53>Gillies, p. 53</ref> which she dismissed as being "Bloody awful, eh?"<ref name="Farson, p. 46">Farson, p. 46</ref> She received mixed reviews for her opening performance. ''The Times'' described her as being "playful in gesture, graceful in appearance, but not strong in voice."<ref name="GILLIES53"/><ref>"Humpty Dumpty", ''The Times'', 28 December 1891, p. 8</ref> Despite the weak start (which Lloyd blamed on nerves), the pantomime received glowing reviews from the theatrical press.<ref>Gillies, p. 55</ref> The ''London Entr'acte'' thought that she "delivere[d] her text quite pungently, and sings and dances with spirit too."<ref>"Humpty Dumpty Triumph", ''London Entr'acte'', 2 January 1892, p. 2</ref> She was noted for her acrobatic dancing on stage, and was able to display handstands, tumbles and high kicks. As a boy, the writer [[Compton Mackenzie]] was taken to the show's opening night and admitted that he was "greatly surprised that any girl should have the courage to let the world see her drawers as definitely as Marie Lloyd."<ref>Compton Mackenzie's memoirs, p. 232, as quoted in Gillies, p. 56</ref>

Lloyd's biographer [[Midge Gillies]] defines 1891 as being the year that she officially "made it" thanks to a catalogue of hit songs and major success in the halls and pantomime. When she appeared at the Oxford music hall in June, the audience cheered so loudly for her return that the following act could not be heard; ''The Era'' called her "the favourite of the hour".<ref>Gillies, p. 58</ref><ref>"Miss Marie Lloyd at the Oxford", ''The Era'', 12 September 1891, p. 3</ref> During the summer months, she toured North England, including [[Liverpool]], [[Birmingham]] and [[Manchester]]. At the last she stayed an extra six nights due to popular demand, which caused her to cancel a trip to Paris.<ref>Gillies, p. 60</ref> The 1892 pantomime was ''Little Bo Peep; or, Little Red Riding Hood and Hop O' My Thumb'', in which she played Little Red Riding Hood.<ref>Pope, p. 87</ref> The production was five hours long and culminated with the show's [[harlequinade]].<ref>Gillies, p. 74</ref>{{refn|Most pantomimes in the 18th and 19th centuries ended in the [[harlequinade]] which was featured as an after-piece to the main performance. The harlequinade became the larger part of the entertainment, and the [[transformation scene]] was presented with spectacular stage effects.<ref name=cox>Hartnoll, Phyllis and Peter Found (eds). [http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t79.e1417 "Harlequinade"], ''The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre'', Oxford Reference Online, Oxford University Press, 1996, accessed 10 April 2013 {{subscription required}}</ref>|group= n}} During one scene, her improvisational skills caused some scandal when she got out of bed to pray, but instead reached for a [[chamber pot]].<ref>[http://www.its-behind-you.com/drurylanepantos.html "1892: Hop O' My Thumb"] Its-behind-you.com, accessed 2 February 2013</ref><ref>Farson, pp. 45–46</ref> The stunt angered Harris, who ordered her not to do it again or risk immediate dismissal. [[Max Beerbohm]], who was in a later audience, said "Isn't Marie Lloyd charming and sweet in the pantomime? I think of little besides her."<ref>''Letters to Reggie'' as quoted in Gillies, p. 76</ref> On 12 January 1892, Lloyd and Courtenay brawled drunkenly in her Drury Lane dressing room after an evening's performance of ''Little Bo-Peep''. Courtenay pulled a decorative sword off the wall and threatened to cut her throat; she escaped from the room with minor bruises and reported the incident to the [[Bow Street police station]].<ref>''The Times'', 1 April 1892, p. 2</ref><ref>Anthony, p. 115</ref> In early 1893, she travelled to [[Wolverhampton]] where she starred as Flossie in another unsuccessful piece called ''The A.B.C Girl; or, Flossie the Frivolous'',<ref name="Farson, p. 46"/> which, according to MacQueen-Pope, "ended the Queen of Comedy's career as an actress".<ref>Pope, pp. 114–115</ref>{{refn|''The A.B.C Girl'' was written by [[Henry Chance Newton]] and centred around a "girl about town" who was learning the facts of life. The tour visited Dublin, Nottingham, [[Stratford, London|Stratford]], and [[Sheffield]], but was unsuccessful. Its demise was blamed on Lloyd's inability to act.<ref>Gillies, p. 126</ref>|group= n}}

[[File:Koster & Bial's.JPG|thumb|left|upright|A poster for [[Koster and Bial's Music Hall]]]]
Lloyd made her American stage début in 1893, appearing at [[Koster and Bial's Music Hall]] in New York. She sang "Oh You Wink the Other Eye", much to the delight of her American audiences. Other numbers were "After the Pantomime" and "You Should Go to France and See the Ladies Dance", which both required her to wear provocative costumes.<ref>Gillies, pp. 46–47</ref> Her performances pleased the theatre proprietors, who presented her with an antique tea and coffee service.<ref name=ERA2/>{{refn|The inscription on the service read: "Marie Lloyd from Koster and Bial, Friday 12 December 1890, New York." A contract for a future engagement was placed inside the tea pot.<ref>Gillies, p. 47</ref>|group= n}} News of her success reached home, and the ''London Entr'acte'' reported that "Miss Marie Lloyd made the biggest hit ever known at Koster and Bial's variety hall, New York."<ref>"Success in New York", ''London Entr'acte'', 23 May 1893, p. 2</ref>

Upon her return to London, Lloyd introduced "Listen with the Right Ear", which was an intended follow-up to "Oh You Wink the Other Eye".<ref>Gillies, pp. 47–48</ref> Shortly after her return, she sailed to France, to take up an engagement in Paris. Her biographer [[Daniel Farson]] thought that she received "greater acclaim than any other English comedienne who had preceded her".<ref>Farson, pp. 46–47</ref> She changed the lyrics to some of her best-known songs for her French audience and retitled them, "The Naughty Continong"; "Twiggy Vous"; "I'm Just Back from Paris" and "The Coster Honeymoon in Paris".<ref>Farson, p. 47</ref>{{refn|Despite the audience's obvious joy, Lloyd grew insecure of her French performances. A stage hand found the actress crying in her dressing room after a performance and comforted her. Lloyd confided "I done my best and they call me a beast". The friend gently pointed out that what the audience were actually shouting was "Bis, Bis" (French for "more").<ref>Farson, p. 48</ref>|group= n}} At Christmas in 1893, she returned to London to honour her final Drury Lane commitment, starring as Polly Perkins in ''Robinson Crusoe''.<ref name=Farson45/><ref>[http://www.its-behind-you.com/drurylanepantos.html Pantomimes at Drury Lane], Its-behind-you.com, accessed 18 March 2013</ref><ref>Pope, p. 88</ref> The part allowed her to perform "The Barmaid" and "The Naughty Continong" and saw her perform a [[mazurka]] with Leno.<ref>Gillies, p. 83</ref> Talking to a friend years later about her Drury Lane engagements, she admitted that she was "the proudest little woman in the world".<ref name=Farson45/>

In May 1894, Courtenay followed Lloyd to the Empire, Leicester Square, where she was performing, and attempted to batter her with a stick, shouting: "I will gouge your eyes out and ruin you!" His assault missed Lloyd, but struck Burge in the face instead. As a result of the incident, Lloyd was sacked from the Empire for fear of a reprisal.<ref name=Farson42-43>Farson, pp. 42–43</ref>{{refn|After the incident, Lloyd and Burge travelled by horse and [[Brougham (carriage)|brougham]] to seek refuge at the Prince's tavern in [[Wardour Street]], which Lloyd had bought her family a few years before. When they arrived, Courtenay was again waiting by the rear door. Courtenay shouted "I am going to murder you tonight. I will shoot you stone dead and you will never go on stage any more." Lloyd's uncle restrained Courtenay, and the couple fled once more.<ref>Farson, p. 43</ref>|group= n}} Lloyd left the marital home, moving to 73 Carleton Road, [[Tufnell Park]]<ref>Gillies, p. 85</ref> and successfully applied for a restraining warrant, which prevented Courtenay from contacting her. A few weeks later, Lloyd began an affair with the music hall singer [[Alec Hurley]],<ref name="Western1"/>{{refn|Hurley was born in 1871 in Hackney and was the son of an Irish Sea captain. After appearing briefly in a double act with his brother, Hurley became a [[coster]] comedian and was likened to [[Albert Chevalier]]. Lloyd may have met Hurley as early as 1892.<ref>Gillies, pp. 122–123</ref>|group= n}} which resulted in Courtenay initiating divorce proceedings in 1894 on the grounds of her adultery.<ref name=Western1/><ref name=Farson42-43/> That year, together with a short tour of the English provinces, Lloyd travelled to New York with Hurley, where she appeared at the [[Imperial Theatre]], staying for two months. On her return to England, she appeared in the Liverpool Christmas pantomime as the [[principal boy]] in ''Pretty Bo-Peep, Little Boy Blue, and the Merry Old Woman who lived in a Shoe''. Her performance was praised by the press, who called her "delightfully easy, graceful and self-possessed."<ref>''Liverpool Review'', 29 December 1894, as quoted in Gillies, p. 95</ref>