Arabella Menage (5 July 1782 – 9 January 1817), also known as Mrs. Sharp,Miss Menage's Hornpipe
Traditional Tune Archive was a British actress and ballet dancer. She was the wife of the artist

Michael William Sharp Michael William Sharp (1776? – 1840) was an English painter. Life He was born in London, and was a pupil of Sir William Beechey. He also studied in the schools of the Royal Academy. In about 1804 he married the actress and dancer Arabella Me ...

Early life

'Bella' Menage was born in 1782 in London, one of at least four children born to

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

chorus dancer Mons. Antoine 'Anthony' Menage (died c1818) and his wife Arabella ''née'' Moore (c1762–1827), who had married in London in 1778. Born into a family of dancers, on 25 July 1782 she was baptised at St Anne's church in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

in London. Her brother Frederick Menage (1788–1822) was also a dancer at Drury Lane, finding fame as Chimpanzee in the

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

''Perouse, or the Desolate Island'' at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

in Covent Garden (1801).Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, and Edward A. Langhan
''A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London 1660-1899''
Southern Illinois University Press (1984), p.189-190 A younger brother was James Vincent Menage (1790–1865). Thomas Gilliland’s ''The Dramatic Mirror'' (1808) mentions that Bella Menage was "brought upon the stage in infancy", having been trained by

Charles Didelot Charles-Louis Didelot (28 March 1767, Stockholm - 7 November 1837, Kiev) was a French dancer, the creator of the ballet shoes and a choreographer. The son of Charles Didelot, the dance-master of the King of Sweden, he studied dance with his fath ...

and

James Harvey D'Egville James Harvey D'Egville (ca. 1770 – ca. 1836) was an English dancer and choreographer. James' father Pierre D'Egville was ballet master at Drury Lane and Sadler's Wells Theatres. His other son George D'Egville was also a dancer. James D'Egvi ...

, the latter making her "accomplished" in the

hornpipe The hornpipe is any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England with Hugh Aston's Hornepype of 1522 and others ...

Stage career

Her dancing career commenced as Juliana, one of the infants in the afterpiece ''The Prisoner'' at the

in 1792 aged 10, appearing as Miss Menage Junior to differentiate her from both her mother and her older sister, Mary (born 1778), who were also dancers. On 27 December 1792 she danced on stage at Drury Lane in

Garrick Garrick may refer to: * Garrick (name), for the name's origin and people with either the surname or given name, the most famous being: ** David Garrick (1717–1779), English actor * Garrick Club, a London gentlemen's club named in honour of David ...

''Harlequin's Invasion'' with her father, brother and older sister. She may have been the 'Miss E. Menage' mentioned by ''The London Stage'' who danced in ''The Enchanted Wood'' at the

Theatre Royal Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...

on 25 July 1792 and on five other occasions that summer opposite her sister, Mary, the 'E' possibly being an error for 'B' for Bella. She appeared as a 'mere infant' in

Colman Colmán or Colman is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Medieval Irish people * Colmán Bec (died ''c''. 585), Irish dynast * Colmán mac Cobthaig (died ''c''. 622), Irish king * Colmán mac Lénéni (died ''c'' ...

's three-act play ''The Battle of Hexham, or Days of Old'' (1793) and as the Page in

Cibber Cibber is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Caius Gabriel Cibber, Danish sculptor; father of Colley Cibber * Charlotte Cibber, English actress, playwright, novelist, autobiographer, and noted transvestite *Colley Cibber, British ...

's comedy ''Love Makes a Man, or The Fop's Fortune''.Memoir of Mrs. Sharp
''The Monthly Mirror: Reflecting Men and Manners: With Strictures on Their Epitome'', Harding & Wright, Volume 4, (July 1808), Google Books, p. 5-8 In April 1796 she danced Aladdin in the opera ''Mahmoud'' at Drury Lane. Arabella Menage and son

By 1798–1799 Menage was appearing regularly at the

, dancing that season in the choruses of ''Bluebeard'', ''The Captive of Spilburg'' and in ''Feudal Times''. On 1 January 1799 for one night she stood in for

Dorothea Jordan Dorothea Jordan, née Bland (21 November 17615 July 1816), was an Anglo-Irish actress, as well as a courtesan. She was the long-time mistress of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, later William IV, and the mother of ten illegitimate children by ...

as Zingarella in ''Aurelio and Miranda'', while on 7 January that year she played Irene in ''Bluebeard''. On 17 May 1799 she played Nelly in ''No Song No Supper''. During this period she also appeared at other leading venues in London while her salary increased from 13 shillings and 4d a week to £2. During 1799-1800 her roles included Beda in ''Bluebeard''; Cicely Copsley in ''The Will''; Cicely in ''The Haunted Tower''; a Captive in ''Lodoiska''; Sophia in ''Age of To-Morrow''; Viola in ''The Strangers at Home'', and Columbine in the

''Harlequin's Amulet, or the Magic of Mona'' at Drury Lane (December 1800). In 1801 at the

she played Rosina in ''The Castle of Sorrento'' and Patty in ''

Inkle and Yarico ''Inkle and Yarico'' is a comic opera first staged in London, England, in August 1787, with music by Samuel Arnold and a libretto by George Colman the Younger. Plot Inkle, an English trader, is shipwrecked in the West Indies, and survives ...

''. According to Gilliland that summer's production of the pantomime ''The Corsair'' entirely owed its success to Menage's performance as Spoliata, during which she danced the

. At the

during the 1802-03 season her salary increased again to £2 10s a week. She was at Drury Lane during the 1804-05 season, appearing in the pantomime ''Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper'' in January 1804, later making an appearance in June 1804 at the

as Miranda in ''The Enchanted Island'', an adaptation of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's '' The Tempest''. She was back at Drury Lane in 1805-06 and 1808–09 and was still appearing there during the 1811-12 season when her salary was recorded as £5 a week. During this period she was Ethelinde in ''Caractacus'' (1808) opposite her former dance teacher

in the title role and was in ''Little Fanny's Love'' and ''The Lover's True Knot''.

Marriage and later life

In 1808 Thomas Gilliland described her as an "excellent dancer, and pretty little woman" with a small but elegant figure and regular and pretty features. The actress

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of Joh ...

was less complimentary, describing Menage in a 1804 letter as "a naughty little dancing Girl at Drury Lane". On 11 August 1804 at St James's Church in Piccadilly she married

, a successful portrait painter and a former student of Sir

William Beechey Sir William Beechey (12 December 175328 January 1839) was an English portraitist during the golden age of British painting. Early life Beechey was born at Burford, Oxfordshire, on 12 December 1753, the son of William Beechey, a solicitor, an ...

. Sharp was distantly related to Mrs. Siddons, who said the forthcoming marriage "will afflict his poor Mother and Sister." As Mrs. Sharp her stage career continued until at least the 1811-1812 season.Cox, Jeffrey N. (ed
''Slavery, Abolition and Emancipation''
Vol 5, Routledge (2016), Google Books, p. 396 Arabella Menage Sharp died at her home in Duke Street, Portland Place in January 1817 aged 34. She was buried at the church of St George's, Hanover Square later that month.Westminster, London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1812-1910 for Arabella Sharp, St George, Hanover Square, 1813-1817: Ancestry.com
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menage, Arabella 1782 births 1817 deaths People from Soho 18th-century English actresses 19th-century English actresses English stage actresses English people of French descent 18th-century English ballet dancers English ballerinas 18th-century British dancers 19th-century British ballet dancers