Frederic Ranken
{{Short description|American librettist, lyricist and playwright}}
Frederic G. Ranken (c. 1869 – October 19, 1905, in Manhattan){{cite news|title=FREDERIC RANKIN DEAD.; The Librettist Had Just Achieved Success in "Happyland."|work=The New York Times|date=October 20, 1905|page=9}} was an American librettist, lyricist, and playwright for light operas and musicals staged on Broadway from 1899 through 1907. His greatest success was the libretto for Reginald De Koven's 1905 comic opera Happyland. He also wrote libretti for composers Victor Herbert and Ludwig Engländer, and was a lyricist for composers Alfred Baldwin Sloane and Gustave Kerker among others. As a playwright he wrote the books for several musicals.
Life and career
Frederic G. Ranken was born in Troy, New York, the son of the owner of an electrical works in that city. He was educated at schools in his home town and began his professional life working for his father. He was the librettist for Victor Herbert's 1899 operetta The Ameer which was staged at Broadway's Wallack's Theatre.Bordman & Norton, p. 196 He was also the librettist for Ludwig Engländer's opera The Jewel of Asia (1903, Criterion Theatre)Bordman & Norton, p. 221 and Reginald De Koven's Happyland (1905, Lyric Theatre);Dietz, p. 308 the latter the greatest success of his career. His final libretto was for De Koven's operetta The Student King which premiered posthumously at the Garden Theatre on Christmas Day 1906 and continued to run at that theatre into 1907.Letellier, p. 1031
Ranken wrote both the book and lyrics for several Broadway musicals, including The Chaperons (1902, composer Isidore Witmark);Erdman, p. 53 Nancy Brown (1903, composer Henry K. Hadley);Ross Griffel, p. 646 and The Gingerbread Man (1905, composer Alfred Baldwin Sloane.Dietz, p.331 He also was a lyricist for songs written by Gustave Kerker for the 1903 musical Winsome Winnie which was staged at the Casino Theatre.Dietz, p. 194
Ranken died of yellow fever at the age of 36 in Manhattan on October 19, 1905.
References
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Bibliography
- {{cite book|title=American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle|first1=Gerald Martin|last1=Bordman|first2=Richard|last2= Norton|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199729708}}
- {{cite book|first1=Dan|last1=Dietz|title=The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2022|isbn=9781538168943}}
- {{cite book|title=Queen of Vaudeville: The Story of Eva Tanguay|author=Andrew L. Erdman|author-link=Andrew L. Erdman|year= 2012|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801465727}}
- {{cite book|title=Operetta: A Sourcebook, Volume II|first1= Robert Ignatius|last1= Letellier|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781443885089|year=2015}}
- {{cite book|title=Operas in English: A Dictionary|isbn=9780810883253|publisher=Scarecrow Press|author=Margaret Ross Griffel|year=2013}}
- {{cite book|title=Operetta: A Sourcebook, Volume II|first1= Robert Ignatius|last1= Letellier|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781443885089|year=2015}}
External links
- {{IBDB name|id=5659}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranken, Frederic}}