Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed Hollingshead called himself a "licensed dealer in legs, short skirts, French adaptations, Shakespeare, taste and musical glasses." In 1886, Hollingshead ceded the management of the theatre to George Edwardes, whom he had hired in 1885. Nellie Farren, as the theatre's "principal boy", and Fred Leslie starred at the Gaiety for over 20 years. In the early 1890s, as burlesque went out of fashion, Edwardes changed the focus of the theatre from musical burlesque to the new genre of Edwardian musical comedy. "Galatea or Pygmalion Re-Versed" is a parody of W.S. Gilbert's blank verse romantic play "Pygmalion and Galatea". "The Morning
Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack d'amore", Gilbert retained the characters of the original, inventing only one new principal character, Beppo, assistant (and, as it turns out, long-lost mother) to Dulcamara. Nor did Gilbert stray far from the plot of the original, although Donizetti's elixir of love – cheap claret – is changed to "Madame Rachel's 'Beautiful for Ever'" face cream. The work was written and rehearsed in ten days, and the roles were filled by the stars of the theatre, including Ellen McDonnell (Nemorino), Frank Matthews (Dulcamara), Carlotta Addison (Adina) and Gaston Murray (Tomaso), with a Mr. Van Hamme as musical director. The young Henry