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Actor-manager
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the business, sometimes taking over a theatre to perform select plays in which they usually star. It is a method of theatrical production used consistently since the 16th century, particularly common in 19th-century Britain and the United States. History The first actor-managers, such as Robert Browne, appeared in the late 16th century, to be followed by another Robert Browne (no relation) and George Jolly in the 17th century. In the 18th century, actor-managers such as Colley Cibber and David Garrick gained prominence. The system of actor-management generally produced high standards of performance, as demonstrated by such 19th-century actors as William Macready, Charles Wyndham, Henry Irving, Frank Benson and Herbert Beerbohm Tree, by husband-wife teams such as Squire Bancroft and Effie Bancroft, Frank Wyatt and Violet Melnotte, William Hunter Kendal and Madge Robertson Ken ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarah Thorne
Sarah Thorne (10 May 1836 – 27 February 1899) was a British actress and actor-manager, actress-manager of the 19th century who managed the Theatre Royal at Margate for many years. She ran a school for acting there which is widely regarded as Britain's first formal drama school. The Sarah Thorne Theatre Club in Broadstairs is named in her memory. Early life Sarah Thorne was born in London in 1836, the eldest of ten children born to Richard Samuel Thorne (1813–1875), an actor and Actor-manager, theatre manager who managed the Surrey Theatre, and his wife, Sarah née Rogers (1812–1896). Two of her younger brothers were Thomas Thorne, one of the founding managers of London's Vaudeville Theatre, and George Thorne (singer), George Thorne, the singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Sarah Thorne made her stage debut aged 12 on 26 December 1848 in a pantomime produced by her father at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Effie Bancroft
Marie Effie Wilton, Lady Bancroft (1839–1921) was an English actress and theatre manager. She appeared onstage as Marie Wilton until after her marriage in December 1867 to Squire Bancroft, when she adopted his last name. Bancroft and her husband were important in the development of Victorian era theatre through their presentation of innovative plays at the London theatres that they managed, first the Prince of Wales's Theatre and later the Haymarket Theatre. Life and career Bancroft was born at Doncaster, and as a child appeared on the stage with her parents, who were both actors. Among her early parts was that of Fleance in ''Macbeth'' (1846). She made her London début on 15 September 1856, at the Lyceum Theatre, as the boy Henri in ''Belphegor'', playing the same night in ''Perdita; or, the Royal Milkmaid''. She won great popularity in several boy roles, in burlesques at various theatres, as Cupid in two different plays, and notably as Pippo, in ''The Maid and the Mag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Wyatt
Frank Wyatt (7 November 1852 – 5 October 1926) was an English actor, singer, theatre manager and playwright. After beginning his career as an illustrator and painter, in 1877 Wyatt began a stage career in comedy, Victorian burlesque, pantomime and operetta. In 1884 he had success in a Shakespeare role in Henry Irving's company, and in 1885 he created the role of Ravennes in the comic opera ''Erminie'', which went on to become an international sensation. In this production he met Violet Melnotte, who also appeared in ''Erminie'' and who managed the theatre where it premiered; they married in 1886. In his more than two-decade career on stage Wyatt is best remembered for his roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1889 to 1891, and in particular for creating the role of the Duke of Plaza-Toro in Gilbert and Sullivan's hit comic opera ''The Gondoliers''. Wyatt continued to perform in comic operas and comedies until about 1900. From the 1890s Wyatt and his wife owned and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lydia Thompson
Lydia Thompson (born Eliza Thompson; 19 February 1838 – 17 November 1908), was an English dancer, comedian, actor and theatrical producer. From 1852, as a teenager, she danced and performed in pantomimes, in the UK and then in Europe and soon became a leading dancer and actor in burlesques on the London stage. In 1868, she introduced Victorian burlesque to America with her troupe, the "British Blondes", to great acclaim and notoriety. Her career began to decline in the 1890s, but she continued to perform into the early years of the 20th century. Early years Thompson was born in Brydges Street, Covent Garden, London to Eliza (''née'' Cooper) and Philip Thompson (c. 1801–1842), owner of the Sheridan Knowles, a public house. Thompson was the second of three surviving children, including actress Clara Bracy. Gänzl, Kurt. "Lydia Thompson", ''Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theatre'', Blackwell/Schirmer (1994) Her father died in 1842, and her mother remarried Edward Hodges. By th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laura Keene
Laura Keene (20 July 1826 – 4 November 1873) was a British stage actress and theatre manager. In her twenty-year career, she became known as the first powerful female manager in New York. She is most famous for being the lead actress in the play ''Our American Cousin'', which was attended by President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington on the evening of his assassination. Early life Keene was born Mary Frances Moss in Winchester, England. She was the fourth and final child of Tomas and Jane Moss (''née'' King). Her aunt was British actress Elizabeth Yates. At the age of 18, she married British Army officer Henry Wellington Taylor (some sources identify Taylor as "John"). Taylor was reportedly the nephew and godson of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The couple had two daughters, Emma (born 1846) and Clara Marie Stella (born 1849). After being discharged from the army, Taylor opened his own tavern. Around 1850, Taylor was arrested, though the natur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emily Soldene
Emily Soldene (30 September 1838 – 8 April 1912) was an English singer, actress, director, theatre manager, novelist and journalist of the late Victorian era and the Edwardian period. She was one of the most famous singers of comic opera in the late nineteenth century, as well as an important director of theatre companies and later a celebrated gossip columnist. Life and career Soldene was born in Clerkenwell, London. Her mother was Priscilla Swain Fuller (1812–1900), and although she was apparently the product of a bigamous marriage, she was raised as the daughter of Edward Fuller Solden (1805–1873).Gänzl, Kurt"Soldene, Emily (1838?–1912)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 12 September 2008. In 1859 she married law clerk John Powell (1834?–1881) and gave birth to her first child before she began to study singing in 1861 with William Howard Glover. Early career and peak years Soldene made her first public appearanc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Browne (Elizabethan Actor)
Robert Browne (died October 1603) was an English actor of the Elizabethan era, and the owner and manager of the Boar's Head Theatre. He was also part of an enduring confusion in the study of English Renaissance theatre. Two Robert Brownes The relevant documents of English Renaissance drama contain numerous references to "Robert Browne." Early twentieth-century scholars, like E. K. Chambers and Edwin Nunzeger, assumed that these records referred to a single individual. Later scholars, principally Charles Jasper Sisson and Herbert Berry, argued persuasively that two separate individuals had been confused and conflated into one. Or two at least: "There were obviously at least two and could easily have been three or more Robert Brownes who had to do with the companies and playhouses of the time." To distinguish between two Robert Brownes, the earliest years of the seventeenth century are key. One Robert Browne was busy running the Boar's Head Theatre in 1601 through 1603; another R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Browne (Jacobean Actor)
Robert Browne (1563 – c. 1622) was an English actor and theatre manager and investor of the later sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. He was also part of a long-standing confusion in the scholarship of English Renaissance theatre. Two Robert Brownes The historical records of English Renaissance drama contain repeated mentions of "Robert Browne." Early scholars like E. K. Chambers and Edwin Nunzeger interpreted the records to indicate a single individual. Later scholars, principally Charles Jasper Sisson and Herbert Berry, demonstrated that two different men of the same name had been confused and conflated together. The "other" Robert Browne died in 1603, and so can accurately be termed an Elizabethan actor. The Robert Browne who is the subject of this article had a career that extended through the first two decades of the seventeenth century, and in that sense can, as a differentiation, be called a Jacobean actor. At home and abroad Born in 1563, Robert Browne' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selina Dolaro
Selina Simmons Belasco Dolaro (20 August 1849 – 23 January 1889) was an English singer, actress, theatre manager and writer of the late Victorian era. During her career in operetta and other forms of musical theatre, she managed several of her own opera companies and directed the Royalty Theatre in London. She is best remembered as a producer of the original production of ''Trial by Jury'' by Gilbert and Sullivan. Dolaro sang the title role in the opera ''Carmen'' in the first English language version of that opera with the Carl Rosa Opera Company. She also wrote plays and novels. Early life Dolaro was born in London to Jewish parents, Benjamin Simmons, a violinist and conductor, and Julia (''née'' Lewis).Siegel, Michele"Selina Dolaro" ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia'', 1 March 2009, Jewish Women's Archive, accessed 12 January 2010 She received early music lessons from her father's colleagues, and she attended the Paris Conservatory as a teenager ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris (''née'' Elizabetta Lucia Bartolozzi; 3 March 1797 – 8 August 1856) was an English actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in works by, among others, Mozart and Rossini. While popular in her time, she was more notable as a theatre producer and manager. After accumulating a fortune from her performances, she leased the Olympic Theatre in London and produced a series of burlesques and extravaganzas, especially popular works by James Planché, for which the house became famous. She also produced his work at other theatres she managed. Early life and education She was born in London in 1797, the first of two daughters of German pianist Theresa Jansen Bartolozzi and art dealer Gaetano Stefano Bartolozzi. He was a musician and son of the immigrant Francesco Bartolozzi, a noted artist and engraver, appointed as Royal Engraver to the king. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Samuel Johnson. He appeared in a number of amateur theatricals, and with his appearance in the title role of Shakespeare's '' Richard III'', audiences and managers began to take notice. Impressed by his portrayals of Richard III and a number of other roles, Charles Fleetwood engaged Garrick for a season at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the West End. He remained with the Drury Lane company for the next five years and purchased a share of the theatre with James Lacy. This purchase inaugurated 29 years of Garrick's management of the Drury Lane, during which time it rose to prominence as one of the leading theatres in Europe. At his death, three years after his retirement from Drury Lane and the stage, he was given a lavish public funeral ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Macready
William Charles Macready (3 March 179327 April 1873) was an English actor. Life He was born in London the son of William Macready the elder, and actress Christina Ann Birch. Educated at Rugby School where he became headboy, and where now the theatre is named after him, it was his initial intention to go to University of Oxford, but in 1809 financial problems experienced by his father, the lessee of several provincial theatres, called him to share the responsibilities of theatrical management. On 7 June 1810, he made a successful first appearance as Romeo at Birmingham. Other Shakespearian parts followed, but a serious rupture between father and son resulted in the young man's departure for Bath in 1814. Here he remained for two years, with occasional professional visits to other provincial towns. On 16 September 1816, Macready made his first London appearance at Covent Garden as Orestes in ''The Distressed Mother'', a translation of Racine's ''Andromaque'' by Ambrose Philips. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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