Amy Florence Augarde (7 July 1868 – 1 April 1959) was an English actress and singer in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

. Born at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, Augarde was a member of a musical family. Among her siblings, Louise Adele Augarde (later King, 1863–1909) was a

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

with the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Th ...

, Frank Wells Augarde was a violinist, John Vernham Augarde was organist of

St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, is a Grade II*listed Anglican church of the Anglo-Catholic tradition located at 32a Wilton Place in Knightsbridge, London. History and architecture The church was founded in 1843, the first in London to champion ...

, and Augustus Wells Augarde was a clarinet player in the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. Augarde was the aunt of

Adrienne Augarde Adrienne Adele Augarde (12 May 1882 – 17 March 1913) was an English actress and singer popular for nearly a decade on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, primarily for her roles in Edwardian musical comedy. She began her career in 1898 in pant ...

. Augarde first appeared on stage in 1884, when she was fifteen, winning a place in the chorus of one of

Richard D'Oyly Carte Richard D'Oyly Carte (; 3 May 1844 – 3 April 1901) was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a hotel empire, while also establi ...

's British touring companies. In 1885 and 1886 she was in the United States with Carte's American company playing ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'', and then joined the chorus of his tour of Germany and Austria. In 1887 she was back in the US with Carte's American company playing ''

Ruddigore ''Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse'', originally called ''Ruddygore'', is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written tog ...

'', usually in the chorus, but sometimes playing the small role of Ruth. Later that year she was the understudy to

Jessie Bond Jessie Charlotte Bond (10 January 1853 – 17 June 1942) was an English singer and actress best known for creating the mezzo-soprano soubrette roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. She spent twenty years on the stage, the bulk of th ...

for the role of Mad Margaret in ''Ruddigore'' in London's

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy P ...

and playing the role in September. In January 1888 she was cast as Hebe in the first revival of ''

H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, whic ...

''.Stone, David
"Amy Augarde"
at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 27 August 2001, accessed 23 June 2019 Later in 1888 Augarde played Lydia Hawthorne in the long-running

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...

'' at the Lyric Theatre, and the next year originated the part of Lady Anne Jerningham in '' Doris'', also at the Lyric. She went on to appear in many successful musicals and operettas, including long runs in ''

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 Revolutio ...

'' (1905 to 1906), ''

The Chocolate Soldier ''The Chocolate Soldier'' (German: ''Der tapfere Soldat''

he courageous soldier He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

or ''Der Praliné-Soldat'') is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus (composer), Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, ''Arms and the Man' ...

'' (1910 to 1911), ''Shell Out'' (1915 to 1916), '' Nobody's Boy'' (1919), and ''

The Naughty Princess ''The Naughty Princess'' is an opéra bouffe with music by Charles Cuvillier, book by J. Hastings Turner, and lyrics by Adrian Ross. The work, adapted from ''La reine joyeuse'' by Cuvillier and Andre Barde, depicts a princess with very modern i ...

'' (1920 to 1921). In 1925 she played Luisa in Franz Lehar's ''Frasquita''.Turnbull, Stephen. "Memories of ''Frasquita''", ''Magazine'', Sir Arthur Sullivan Society, No. 102, Spring 2020, p. 23 In 1935 she was Dancing Sunbeam in a revival of ''

The Rose of Persia ''The Rose of Persia''; ''or, The Story-Teller and the Slave'', is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Basil Hood. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 29 November 1899, closing on 28 June 1900 after a profitabl ...

''. Augarde was also a successful gramophone recording artist. She died in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

, Surrey, at the age of 90.

Notes

References

*Sardeson, Sandra M. A. ''Born to Music, the Story of the Augarde Family in England'' (Heritage Lincolnshire, 1999)

External links

Amy Augarde
at

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

Miss Amy Augarde as Mdlle Lange in La Fille de Madame Angot
at lookandlearn.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Augarde, Amy 1868 births 1959 deaths Actresses from London English stage actresses People from Westminster 19th-century English actresses 20th-century English actresses 19th-century English singers 20th-century English women singers 20th-century English singers