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
Robert the Devil (Gilbert) later be a defining part of his work. These led to Gilbert's more mature "fairy comedies", such as "The Palace of Truth" (1870) and "Pygmalion and Galatea" (1871), which in turn led to the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Although Gilbert gave up direct parodies of opera soon after "Robert", his parodic pokes at grand opera continued to be seen in the Savoy operas. The title character, a breeches role, was played as an insouciant "swell" by Nellie Farren, who became famous as the theatre's "principal boy". Gilbert later renounced "travesti" roles and revealing dresses on his actresses, and made