Willie Edouin
Willie Edouin (1 January 1846Edouin's ''New York Times'' obituary says 1841 – 14 April 1908) was an English comedian, actor, dancer, singer, writer, director and theatre manager. After performing as a child in England, Australia and elsewhere, Edouin moved to America, where he joined Lydia Thompson's burlesque troupe, performing with this company both in the US and Britain. He returned to America in 1877, where, by 1880, he managed his own company. For over a decade, starting in 1884, Edouin managed theatres in London, particularly the Strand Theatre, producing and starring in comedies, farces and burlesques. From the 1890s, he appeared as the comic lead in several hit Edwardian musical comedies, including ''Florodora''. Early years Edouin was born in Brighton under the name William Frederick Bryer, the youngest of five children of John Edwin Bryer, an English dance instructor, and his wife Sarah Elizabeth (née May). He and his siblings played together in children's sho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Edward E
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Saxon England, but the rule of the Norman and Plantagenet dynasties had effectively ended its use amongst the upper classes. The popularity of the name was revived when Henry III named his firstborn son, the future Edward I, as part of his efforts to promote a cult around Edward the Confessor, for whom Henry had a deep admiration. Variant forms The name has been adopted in the Iberian peninsula since the 15th century, due to Edward, King of Portugal, whose mother was English. The Spanish/Portuguese forms of the name are Eduardo and Duarte. Other variant forms include French Édouard, Italian Edoardo and Odoardo, German, Dutch, Czech and Romanian Eduard (name), Eduard and Scandinavian Edvard. Short forms include Ed, Eddy, Eddie, Ted, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1841 Births
Events January–March * January 20 – Charles Elliot of the United Kingdom, and Qishan of the Qing dynasty, agree to the Convention of Chuenpi. * January 26 – Britain occupies Hong Kong. Later in the year, the first census of the island records a population of about 7,500. * January 27 – The active volcano Mount Erebus in Antarctica is discovered, and named by James Clark Ross. * January 28 – Ross discovers the "Victoria Barrier", later known as the Ross Ice Shelf. On the same voyage, he discovers the Ross Sea, Victoria Land and Mount Terror. * January 30 – A fire ruins and destroys two-thirds of the villa (modern-day city) of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. * February 4 – First known reference to Groundhog Day in North America, in the diary of a James Morris. * February 10 – The Act of Union (''British North America Act'', 1840) is proclaimed in Canada. * February 11 – The two colonies of the Canadas are merged, into the United Province of Canada. * February ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick Carden.The Founding of Kensal Green Cemetery Accessed 7 February 2014 The cemetery opened in 1833 and comprises of grounds, including two conservation areas, adjoining a canal. The cemetery is home to at least 33 species of bird and other wildlife. This distinctive cemetery has memorials ranging from large s housing the rich and famous to many distinctive smaller graves and includes special areas dedicated to the very young. It has three ch ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Little Michus
''Les p'tites Michu'' (The Little Michus) is an opérette in three acts, with music by André Messager and words by Albert Vanloo and Georges Duval (journalist), Georges Duval. The piece is set in Paris in the years following the French Revolution and depicts the complications ensuing after the identities of two girls become confused in their infancy. The opera opened at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris, on 16 November 1897 and ran for more than 150 performances. It became an international success, with productions in four continents, including an unusually long run of 400 performances in London, and had subsequent revivals in Paris. Background and first production After a considerable success in 1890 with his opéra comique ''La Basoche'' Messager had a series of failures later in the decade. Among these, ''Madame Chrysanthème (opera), Madame Chrysanthème'' (1893) played for 16 performances in Paris, ''Mirette (opera), Mirette'' (1894), written for London, had a dis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Girl From Kays
''The Girl from Kays'' is a musical comedy in three acts, with music by Ivan Caryll and book and lyrics by Owen Hall. Additional songs were by Paul Rubens, Howard Talbot, Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank and others. The farcical story concerns a misguided kiss. The original London production, from 1902 to 1903, played for a long run of 432 performances and was followed by provincial tours. A successful New York run of 223 performances began in 1903, and successful Australian runs followed. The musical was later revised as ''The Belle of Bond Street''. Productions The musical was produced by George Edwardes at the Apollo Theatre in London, opening on 15 November 1902 and moving to the Comedy Theatre on 14 December 1903 to finish its run of 432 performances. Florence Young replaced Ethel Irving in the title role, Gabrielle Ray took over Letty Lind's role during the original run, and Kitty Gordon also appeared in the musical. Despite its long run, the expensive production lost money ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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La Poupée
''La poupée'' (''The Doll'') is an opéra comique in a prelude and three acts composed by Edmond Audran with a libretto by Maurice Ordonneau. The libretto was based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's ''Der Sandmann'', about a friar who falsely promises to marry his rich uncle's daughter to fool his uncle into giving money to the monastery; the scheme involves creating a doll that looks like the daughter. The uncle's daughter, however, turns the scheme on its head and fools the friar into marrying her by substituting herself for the doll. Productions The opera opened at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris, on 21 October 1896. Along with '' Miss Helyett'' (1890), ''La poupée'' was one of Audran's late successes. It then played at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, opening on 24 February 1897, with an English libretto in two acts by Arthur Sturgess, running for a very successful 576 performances. It starred Courtice Pounds and Willie Edouin, and Edna May later played in the piece. On 1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Opera Comique
The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street, Holywell Street and the Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway. The theatre was built cheaply as a speculative venture, and was known as one of the "rickety twins" along with the adjacent Globe Theatre. Numerous managements presented plays in English, French and German, and the house was also used for extravaganzas and English versions of French opéras bouffes. It is best remembered as the theatre where several early Gilbert and Sullivan operas had their first runs, between 1877 and 1881. History Background and early years In the 16th century Lyon's Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery attached to London's Inner Temple, stood on the site. By the 1860s the area had deteriorated greatly, and the old inn had been converted into what the historians Mander and Mitchenson describe as "dwellings of a dubious n ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Widow Twankey
Widow Twankey (originally Twankay, sometimes Twanky) is a female character in the pantomime ''Aladdin''. She is a pantomime dame, played by an older man. History The story of Aladdin is drawn from the ''Arabian Nights'', a collection of Middle-Eastern fables. It was first published in England between 1704 and 1714; and this story was dramatised in 1788 by John O'Keefe for Covent Garden as a harlequinade and included the character of 'Aladdin's Mother' (but unnamed) played by Mrs Davett. She was the widow of a tailor (as in the original story) and this was the profession in many later versions. In 1813, she had the same profession but was the Widow Ching Mustapha, and again in 1836, played by Eva Marie Veigel (Mrs Garrick), but the character was not yet comic nor played by a man. In 1844 a burlesque version of the story described Widow Mustapha as 'a washerwoman with mangled feelings'. However, in productions of the same year and most others up to 1891 she is involved with tai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mark Melford
Mark Melford (c.1850 - 4 January 1914) born in Fareham, Hampshire, was a British "dramatic author, actor and variety artiste". His career encompassed the era of the late Victorian farce, the music halls and early British cinema. Mark Melford was a prolific playwright and wrote not only dramas, farces, melodramas and comic sketches, but also a musical drama, and a comic opera. He was also an accomplished comic actor often taking the leading role in his own works. As a playwright, the genre in which he was most prolific was farce; Jeffrey H. Huberman in his ''Late Victorian Farce'' writes that Mark Melford wrote and had produced more full-length original farces than any other Victorian playwright.Huberman, Jeffrey H. ''Late Victorian Farce'' Michigan:UMI Research Press 1986 The hand-list of plays in Allardyce Nicoll's six-volume ''A History of English Drama, 1660-1900'' lists thirty nine works by Mark Melford up to 1900. From 1912 onwards he also wrote, directed, and acted in many s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Toole's Theatre
Toole's Theatre, was a 19th-century West End theatre, West End building in William IV Street, near Charing Cross, in the City of Westminster. A succession of auditoria had occupied the site since 1832, serving a variety of functions, including religious and leisure activities. The theatre at its largest, after reconstruction in 1881–82, had a capacity of between 650 and 700. As the Charing Cross Theatre (1869–1876) the house became known for bills offering a mixture of drama, Victorian burlesque, burlesque and operetta. Among the authors of its burlesques were W. S. Gilbert and H. B. Farnie. Its stars included Lydia Thompson, Lionel Brough and Willie Edouin. In 1876 Thompson and her husband, Alexander Henderson, became lessees of the theatre and renamed it the Folly Theatre. They continued the theatre's customary mix of operetta and burlesque. Their greatest successes were with English adaptations of French opéras bouffes and opéras comiques, most conspicuously ''Les cloch ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lionel Brough
Lionel "Lal" Brough (10 March 1836 – 8 November 1909) was a British actor and comedian. After beginning a journalistic career and performing as an amateur, he became a professional actor, performing mostly in Liverpool during the mid-1860s. He established his career in London as a member of the company at the new Queen's Theatre, Long Acre, in 1867, and he soon became known for his roles in Shakespeare, contemporary comedies, and classics, especially as Tony Lumpkin in ''She Stoops to Conquer''. In the 1870s and 1880s, Brough was one of the leading comic actors in London. Although untrained musically, he also appeared in several successful operettas in the 1880s and 1890s. He continued to contribute popular performances into the 20th century and ended his career in comedy roles with Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company. Biography Early years Brough was born in Pontypool, Wales, the son of Barnabas Brough, a brewer, publican, wine merchant and later dramatist, and his wife Franc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |