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
Theatre Royal Haymarket S. Leigh and Arthur Sketchley). Gilbert followed this with a number of his blank verse "fairy comedies", the first of which was "The Palace of Truth" (1870), produced by Buckstone. These starred William Hunter Kendal and his wife Madge Robertson Kendal and also included "Pygmalion and Galatea" (1871), and "The Wicked World" (1873). Gilbert also produced here his dramas, "Charity" (1874), "Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith" (1876), and his most famous play outside of his Savoy Operas, "Engaged", an 1877 farce. Buckstone's ghost has reportedly often been seen at the theatre, particularly during comedies and "when he appreciates things" playing there. In