The original production of the musical opened at the Prince of Wales's Theatre on 2 March 1895 and ran for a very successful 391 performances despite a poor notice in The Saturday Review by Bernard Shaw that dismissed the score: "The music, by Mr. Walter Slaughter, does not contain a single novel, or even passably fresh point, either in melody, harmony or orchestration.

[4] An American production of Gentleman Joe also played at the Bijou Theatre in early 1896 featuring Louis De Lange, James T. Powers, Clara Wieland, and Flora Irwin.

[7] Gentleman Joe was Hood's first full-scale musical comedy, and its success prompted him to leave the military to concentrate on his writing.

Hood and Slaughter went on to write several more comedies together, including The French Maid in 1896 and another successful vehicle for Roberts, Dandy Dan, the Lifeguardsman in 1897.

[8] Hood wrote several successful shows with other librettists, and his English versions of Viennese operettas, such as The Merry Widow, were very popular until World War I.