''Cortez: Or, The Conquest of Mexico'' is an 1823

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

extravaganza by the British writer James Planché with music composed by Henry Bishop. It premiered at the

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden 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 ...

on 5 November 1823. The original cast included John Cooper as Herdinando Cortez,

Mary Ann Paton Mary Ann Paton (1802–1864) married names including Mary Ann Wood, was a Scottish vocalist. Early life The eldest daughter of George Paton, a writing-master at Edinburgh and amateur violin, and his wife, ''née'' Crawford, was born in Edinburg ...

as Amazitli,

Thomas Comer Thomas Comer (1790–1862) was a British stage actor. Comer was born in Bath in Somerset. After appearing in the West End at the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres, he emigrated to the United States and established himself as a leading music ...

as Velaszque de Leon, William Chapman as Maxicazin,

William Claremont William Claremont (died 1832) was a British stage actor who spent many years in the companies of the leading London theatres at Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, Covent Garden, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, Haymarket and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Drury L ...

as Tentile, George John Bennett as Teluxo, and Thomas Cooke as Oxoctzin. It also featured thirteen

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

on stage and the

trick rider Trick riding refers to the act of performing stunts while horseback riding, such as the rider standing upright on the back of a galloping horse, using a specially designed saddle with a reinforced steel horn, and specialized kossak loops for ...

Andrew Ducrow Andrew Ducrow (1793–1842) was a British circus performer, often called "Colossus of equestrians". He was the originator of horsemanship acts and proprietor of Astley's Amphitheatre and remains one of the few giants of equestrian drama whose na ...

. The

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by Planché is inspired by the Spanish conquest of Mexico under

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...

, and it enjoyed great success.Price p.

References

Bibliography

* Dawson, Frank Griffith. ''The First Latin American Debt Crisis: The City of London and the 1822-25 Loan Bubble''. Yale University Press, 1990. * Hudston, Sara. ''Victorian Theatricals''. A&C Black, 2014. * Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of Early Nineteenth Century Drama 1800-1850''. Cambridge University Press, 1930. * Price, Chris. ''The Canterbury Catch Club 1826: Music in the Frame''. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018. 1823 plays West End plays British plays Historical plays Plays set in Mexico Plays set in the 16th century {{19thC-play-stub