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W. J. Hill
William Jones Hill (14 January 1834 – 13 April 1888), billed as W. J. Hill, was an English actor, singer and comedian.Boase, FedericModern English Biography (volume 1 of 4) A-H(2018) Hill began his career in New York in 1868. Upon his return to England, he began in roles at the Royal Court Theatre in such works as '' The Wedding March'' (1873). He was later a member of the company at the Criterion Theatre."Our Omnibus Box" in ''The Theater: A Monthly Review and Magazine'', (ed.), Wyman & Sons, 1 May 1888, p. 281 He appeared in the dual roles of Phyllon and " Mr. L" in '' |
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. In 1956 it was acquired by and remains the home of the English Stage Company, which is known for its contributions to contemporary theatre and won the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities in 1999. History The first theatre The first theatre on Lower George Street, off Sloane Square, was the converted Nonconformist Ranelagh Chapel, opened as a theatre in 1870 under the name The New Chelsea Theatre. Marie Litton became its manager in 1871, hiring Walter Emden to remodel the interior, and it was renamed the Court Theatre. Several of W. S. Gilbert's early plays were staged here, including ''Randall's Thumb'', ''Creatures of Impulse'' (with music by Alberto Randegger), ''Great Expectations'' (adapted from the Dickens novel), and ''On Gu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haste To The Wedding
''Haste to the Wedding'' is a three-act comic opera with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by George Grossmith, based on Gilbert's 1873 play, ''The Wedding March''. The opera was the most ambitious piece of composition undertaken by Grossmith. The piece was produced under the management of Charles Wyndham at the Criterion Theatre, London, opening on 27 July 1892. It closed on 20 August 1892, after a run of just 22 performances. Although a failure, the opera introduced the 18-year-old George Grossmith, Jr., the composer's son, to the London stage. He would go on to a long career in the theatre. Background ''The Wedding March'' On 15 November 1873, Gilbert's play ''The Wedding March'' debuted at the Court Theatre, written under his pseudonym F. Latour Tomline. It was a free adaptation of Eugène Marin Labiche's '' Un chapeau de paille d'Italie'' ("The Italian Straw Hat"). The play was first to have been called ''Hunting a Hat'', but the title was changed to capitalise on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Criterion Theatre
The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began development of the site of the White Bear, a seventeenth-century posting inn. The inn was located on sloping ground stretching between Jermyn Street and Piccadilly Circus, known as Regent Circus. A competition was held for the design of a concert hall complex, with Thomas Verity winning out of 15 entries. He was commissioned to design a large restaurant, dining rooms, ballroom, and galleried concert hall in the basement. The frontage, which was the façade of the restaurant, showed a French Renaissance influence using Portland stone. After the building work began, it was decided to change the concert hall into a theatre. The composers' names, which line the tiled staircases, were retained and can still be seen. The redesign placed the large Criterio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clement Scott
Clement William Scott (6 October 1841 – 25 June 1904) was an influential English theatre critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and other journals, and a playwright, lyricist, translator and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century. His style of criticism, acerbic, flowery and (perhaps most importantly) carried out on the first night of productions, set the standard for theatre reviewers through to today. Scott accumulated enemies among theatre managers, actors and playwrights as years went on, picking quarrels with William Archer, Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw and others. After he gave a particularly ill-considered 1898 interview, in which he attacked the morals of theatre people, especially actresses, he was forced to retire as a theatre critic and his reputation and prospects suffered badly until, by the end of his life, he was impoverished. Life and career Born the son of William Scott, the perpetual curate of Hoxton in north London, Scott converted to Roman Cat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Lowe
Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke, GCB, PC (4 December 1811 – 27 July 1892), British statesman, was a pivotal conservative spokesman who helped shape British politics in the latter half of the 19th century. He held office under William Ewart Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1868 and 1873 and as Home Secretary between 1873 and 1874. Lowe is remembered for his work in education policy, his opposition to electoral reform and his contribution to modern UK company law. Gladstone appointed Lowe as Chancellor expecting him to hold down public spending. Public spending rose, and Gladstone pronounced Lowe "wretchedly deficient"; most historians agree. Lowe repeatedly underestimated the revenue, enabling him to resist demands for tax cuts and to reduce the national debt instead. He insisted that the tax system be fair to all classes. By his own main criterion of fairness — that the balance between direct and indirect taxation remain unchanged — he succeeded. Even ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Happy Land
''The Happy Land'' is a play with music written in 1873 by W. S. Gilbert (under the pseudonym F. Latour Tomline) and Gilbert Arthur à Beckett. The musical play burlesques Gilbert's earlier play, ''The Wicked World''. The blank verse piece opened at the Royal Court Theatre on 3 March 1873 and enjoyed a highly successful run, soon touring, and then being immediately revived at the same theatre in the autumn of 1873.Joseph S Meisel (1999), The Importance of Being Serious: The Unexplored Connection between Gladstone and Humour', History 84 (274), p. 278–300. Rees, Terence. "''The Happy Land'': its true and remarkable history" in ''W. S. Gilbert Society Journal'' vol. 1, no. 8 (1994), pp. 228–37 The play created a scandal by breaking regulations against the portrayal of public characters, parodying William Ewart Gladstone, Robert Lowe, and Acton Smee Ayrton, respectively the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and First Commissioner of Works. Three characters were mad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No Thoroughfare
''No Thoroughfare'' is a stage play and novel by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, both released in December 1867. Background In 1867 Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins collaborated to produce a stage play titled ''No Thoroughfare: A Drama: In Five Acts''. The two had previously collaborated on the play ''The Frozen Deep''. This was the last stage production to be associated with Dickens, who died in June 1870. The play opened at the Adelphi Theatre on 26 December 1867. file:No Thoroughfare by Dickens and Wilkie Collins.jpg, left, ''No Thoroughfare'' by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Left to right: Joey Ladle (Benjamin Webster), Sally Goldstraw (Mrs. Alfred Mellon), George Vendale (Henry G. Neville), Jules Obenreizer (Charles Fechter, Charles Albert Fechter), Marguerite (Carlotta Leclercq), Walter Wilding (John Billington (actor), John Billington), and Bintrey ( George G. Belmore). The novel ''No Thoroughfare'' was also first published in 1867, in the Christmas number of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olympic Theatre
The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence. Along with three other Victorian era, Victorian theatres (Opera Comique, Globe Theatre (Newcastle Street), Globe and Gaiety Theatre, London, Gaiety), the Olympic was eventually demolished in 1904 to make way for the development of the Aldwych. Newcastle and Wych streets also vanished. 1806-1849: Early days and Madame Vestris The first Olympic theatre was built in 1806 on the site of Drury House (later Craven House), for the impresario Philip Astley, a retired cavalry officer. The original name of the house was the Olympic Pavilion. It was said to be built from the timbers of the French warship ''French ship Ville de Paris (1764), Ville de Paris''. It opened on 1 December 1806 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Vicar Of Bray (opera)
''The Vicar of Bray'' is a comic opera by Edward Solomon with a libretto by Sydney Grundy which opened at the Globe Theatre, in London, on 22 July 1882, for a run of only 69 performances. The public was not amused at a clergyman's being made the subject of ridicule, and the opera was regarded by some as scandalous. An 1892 revival at the Savoy Theatre was more successful, lasting for 143 performances, after public perceptions had changed.Rollins and Witts, p. 13 The opera is based on the character described in a satirical 18th-century English folk song "The Vicar of Bray", as well as on ''The History of Sandford and Merton'', a series of 18th century moral tales. In the parlour song, the eponymous vicar was the clergyman of the parish of Bray-on-Thames, Berkshire. The most familiar version of the lyrics recounts his adaptability (some would say amorality) over half a century, from the reigns of Charles II to George I. Over this period he embraced whichever form of liturgy, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Private Secretary
''The Private Secretary'' is an 1883 farce in three acts, by Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1858), Charles Hawtrey. The play, adapted from a German original, depicts the vicissitudes of a mild young clergyman, innocently caught up in the machinations of two irresponsible young men who are bent on escaping their creditors. When the play opened in London the notices for the piece were hostile, and it was seen as a stop-gap in the schedule of the theatrical company presenting it. Despite these predictions the play ran in London for a total of 1,469 performances in its first run and later revivals. The critics found much more to praise in the performances of the cast, with particular praise for Herbert Beerbohm Tree as the meek clergyman, the Rev Robert Spalding. He was succeeded in the role by W. S. Penley, who received equally good notices, and played the part in several productions. The play was frequently revived in the first half of the 20th century, and was adapted for film in 193 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Era (newspaper)
''The Era'' was a British weekly paper, published from 1838 to 1939. Originally a general newspaper, it became noted for its sports coverage, and later for its theatrical content. History ''The Era'' was established in 1838 by a body of shareholders consisting of licensed victuallers and other people connected with their trade. The journal was intended to be a weekly organ of the public-house interest, just as the ''Morning Advertiser'' was then its daily organ. In the first two or three years of its existence, its political stance was broadly Liberal. Its first editor, Leitch Ritchie, proved too liberal for his board of directors, and in addition to editorial clashes, the paper was a commercial failure. Ritchie was succeeded by Frederick Ledger, who became sole proprietor as well as editor. He edited the paper for more than thirty years, gradually changing its politics from Liberalism to moderate Conservatism. Politics, however, ceased to be a major concern of ''The Era''. Its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novelty Theatre
The Novelty Theatre (later renamed the Great Queen Street Theatre from 1900 to 1907, and the Kingsway Theatre from 1907 to 1941) was a London theatre. It opened in 1882 in Great Queen Street and was accessed off Little Queen Street until 1905, and from the new Kingsway road from 1905 onwards. It hosted the London premiere of ''A Doll's House'' in 1889. The theatre closed in 1941 and was demolished in 1959. History The first theatre on the site was built to designs by Thomas Verity with decorations by E. W. Bradwell, and opened on 9 December 1882. Its first show was the comic opera ''Melita or the Parsee's Daughter'',"Novelty Theatre, Great Queen Street, Holborn, London" Arthur Lloyd (2008) composed by Henry Pontet, with a libretto by Juba Kennerley. It hosted, among other notable wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
