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Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.Royalty Theatre at the Arthur Lloyd site accessed 23 March 2007 The architect was . The theatre's opening was ill-fated, and it was little used for a decade. It changed its name twice and was used by an opera company, amateur drama companies and for French pieces. In 1861, it was renamed the New Royalty Theatre, and the next year it was leased by Mrs Charles Selby, who enlarged it from 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Périchole
''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French libretto based on the 1829 one act play '' Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement'' by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on 13 March 1850 at the Théâtre-Français. Offenbach was probably aware of this production, as he conducted the orchestra of the Comédie-Française from around this time. Another theatrical creation that pre-dates Offenbach's opéra bouffe and may have influenced the piece is a farce by Desforges and Théaulon given on 21 October 1835 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. ''La Périchole''s title character is based on Micaela Villegas, a beloved 18th century Peruvian entertainer and the famous mistress of Manuel de Amat y Juniet, Viceroy of Peru from 1761 to 1776. The story concerns two impoverished Peruvian street-singers, too poor to afford a marriage license, and a lecherous viceroy, Don Andrès de Ribeira, who wishes to make La Péric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kate Santley
Evangeline Estelle Gazina (c. 1837Culme, John ''Footlight Notes'', No. 361, 14 August 2004, accessed 7 September 2012; an"Kate Santley by Sarony Cabinet Card" ''Remains to Be Seen'', accessed 7 September 2012 – 18 January 1923), better known under her stage name, Kate Santley, was a German-born actress, singer and comedian. After spending her childhood in the US, she came to England in 1861, where she had a successful career, later also becoming a theatre manager. Early life Santley's parents emigrated from Germany to Charleston, South Carolina, where she was educated. At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, she came to England as a practising musician, but soon afterwards went on the stage as "Eva Stella", later becoming "Kate Santley". Musical theatre career Santley made a name in the 1860s in British music halls and Drury Lane Theatre pantomimes. Early in her career, she was popular for singing the song "The Bell goes a-ringing for Sarah." At the Oxford Music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
While Parents Sleep
''While Parents Sleep'' is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Adrian Brunel and starring Jean Gillie, Enid Stamp Taylor and Romilly Lunge. The film is a screen adaptation of a 1932 play of the same name by Anthony Kimmins, which had been a popular success on the West End stage in the West End of London. Unlike many of Brunel's 1930s quota quickie films, ''While Parents Sleep'' has survived and is regarded as an example of his ability to produce a worthwhile film under the most straitened of financial conditions. The ''Time Out Film Guide'' notes: "With a couple of tatty sets and a bunch of unknown actors, he produces a witty, sharply-paced, economical essay on class and manners in inter-war Britain." It was produced by Transatlantic Film Corporation and British & Dominions Film Corporation. Premise The film is a farce about the romantic adventures of two young men with women of differing social backgrounds and the revelation of their true worth. Cast * Jean Gillie as Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Vortex
''The Vortex'' is a play in three acts by the English writer and actor Noël Coward. The play depicts the sexual vanity of a rich, ageing beauty, her troubled relationship with her adult son, and drug abuse in British society circles after the First World War. The son's cocaine habit is seen by many critics as a metaphor for homosexuality, then taboo in Britain. Despite, or because of, its scandalous content for the time, the play was Coward's first great commercial success. The play premiered in November 1924 in London and played in three theatres until June 1925, followed by a British tour and a New York production in 1925–26. It has enjoyed several revivals and a film adaptation. Background In the years after the First World War, pairings in England of older, upper class women and younger men were common. The idea for the play was put in Coward's mind by an incident at a nightclub. Grace Forster, the elegant mother of his friend Stewart Forster, was talking to a young a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise"."Noel Coward at 70" ''Time'', 26 December 1969, p. 46 Coward attended a dance academy in London as a child, making his professional stage début at the age of eleven. As a teenager he was introduced into the high society in which most of his plays would be set. Coward achieved enduring success as a playwright, publishing more than 50 plays from his teens onwards. Many of his works, such as '' |
The Co-Optimists
''The Co-Optimists'' is a stage variety revue that opened in London on 27 June 1921. The show was devised by Davy Burnaby. The piece was a co-operative venture by what ''The Times'' called "a group of well-known musical comedy and variety artists" presenting "an all-star 'pierrot' entertainment in the West-end." It opened at the small Royalty Theatre and soon transferred to the much larger Palace Theatre. The show ran initially for 500 performances; it was completely rewritten and revived at regular intervals to keep it fresh. The final edition, beginning in November 1926 and closing on 4 August 1927, was the 13th version. ''The Co-Optimists'' provided an early platform for the comedy actor and singer Stanley Holloway and brought him wider notice throughout the UK. In 1929, the revue was made into a feature film with the same name, again starring Holloway. In December 1926, Lee DeForest filmed Betty Chester singing "Pig-Tail Alley" in a short film, ''Betty Chester, the Well-Known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Man Who Stayed At Home (play)
''The Man Who Stayed at Home'' is a play by J. E. Harold Terry and Lechmere Worrall. First performed in 1914, the play is set during the First World War and tells the story of a group of German spies in South East England and the British agent who thwarts their undercover operation. It ran for over a year and a half in London and became one of the longest running plays of the period. It was also performed in Australia and New Zealand, and in North America where it was known as The White Feather. There were two film versions of the play, the first in 1915 and the other in 1919. Plot This three act play is set in a boarding house called the 'Wave Crest Hotel' on the English coast. Christopher Brent is ‘The Man who...’, a character viewed by other characters as lazy and cowardly for his refusal to enlist as a soldier. However it soon becomes clear to the audience that he is actually a British secret agent attempting to uncover a group of German spies, based in the hotel, who a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Knoblauch
Edward Knoblock (born Edward Gustavus Knoblauch; 7 April 1874 – 19 July 1945) was a playwright and novelist, originally American and later a naturalised British citizen. He wrote numerous plays, often at the rate of two or three a year, of which the most successful were '' Kismet'' (1911) and '' Milestones'' (1912, co-written with Arnold Bennett). Many of his plays were collaborations, with, among others, Vicki Baum, Beverley Nichols, J. B. Priestley and Vita Sackville-West. After serving in the British armed forces during the First World War, he combined his theatrical career with work on films, both in Hollywood and the UK. He lived most of his adult life in London, where he died in 1945 at the age of 71. Life and career Early years Knoblock was born in New York City, the second of the seven children of Carl (Charles) Eduard Knoblauch and his wife, Gertrud, ''née'' Wiebe. Knoblock's father was a successful stockbroker with a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1880 Kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arnold Bennett
Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboration with other writers), and a daily journal totalling more than a million words. He wrote articles and stories for more than 100 newspapers and periodicals, worked in and briefly ran the Ministry of Information in the First World War, and wrote for the cinema in the 1920s. The sales of his books were substantial, and he was the most financially successful British author of his day. Born into a modest but upwardly mobile family in Hanley, in the Staffordshire Potteries, Bennett was intended by his father, a solicitor, to follow him into the legal profession. Bennett worked for his father, before moving to another law firm in London as a clerk, aged 21. He became assistant editor and then editor of a women's magazine, before becoming a ful ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camelias'' by Alexandre Dumas ''fils''; ''Ruy Blas'' by Victor Hugo, ''Fédora'' and ''La Tosca'' by Victorien Sardou, and '' L'Aiglon'' by Edmond Rostand. She also played male roles, including Shakespeare's Hamlet. Rostand called her "the queen of the pose and the princess of the gesture", while Hugo praised her "golden voice". She made several theatrical tours around the world, and was one of the first prominent actresses to make sound recordings and to act in motion pictures. She is also linked with the success of artist Alphonse Mucha, whose work she helped to publicize. Mucha would become one of the most sought-after artists of this period for his Art Nouveau style. Biography Early life Henriette-Rosine Bernard was born at 5 rue de L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mrs Patrick Campbell
Beatrice Rose Stella Tanner (9 February 1865 – 9 April 1940), better known by her stage name Mrs Patrick Campbell or Mrs Pat, was an English stage actress, best known for appearing in plays by Shakespeare, Shaw and Barrie. She also toured the United States and appeared briefly in films. Early life Campbell was born Beatrice Rose Stella Tanner in Kensington, London, to John Tanner (1829–1895), son and heir of a wealthy British Army contractor to the British East India Company, and Maria Luigia Giovanna ("Louisa Joanna") née Romanini (1836–1908), daughter of Italian Count Angelo Romanini. Her father John Tanner (1829–1895), a descendant of Thomas Tanner, Bishop of St Asaph, was a Consul and merchant who "managed to get through two large fortunes", in part through losses in the Indian Mutiny. Her mother, Louisa Joanna Romanini, was one of the eight daughters of Angelo Romanini of Brescia and Rosa née Polinelli of Milan. Angelo had joined the Carbonari and, as a result ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Bourchier
Arthur Bourchier (22 June 186314 September 1927) was an English actor and Actor-manager, theatre manager. He married and later divorced the actress Violet Vanbrugh. Bourchier was noted for roles both in classical drama, particularly William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, and in contemporary plays, including works by W. S. Gilbert, Anthony Hope, Arthur Wing Pinero and Alfred Sutro. He managed several West End theatres during his career, including the Royalty Theatre, Royalty, the Criterion Theatre, Criterion, the Garrick Theatre, Garrick (for a total of eight years), Her Majesty's Theatre, His Majesty's and the Novello Theatre, Strand. In his later years Bourchier became active in British politics as a member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. Biography Bourchier was born in Speen, Berkshire, England. He was the only son of Fanny (née Farr) and Captain Charles John Bourchier.Sharp, Robert."Bourchier, Arthur (1863–1927)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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