Edgley International is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and concert promotions company from Australia, first started in the 1930s and run by several generations. It has also been known as Edgley & Dawe Attractions, Edgley Ventures, and Michael Edgley International. The company is noted for bringing to Australia many foreign acts not previously seen in the country, particularly dance companies and circuses from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Origins

English song and dance

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

brothers Eric Edgley and Clement Edward were invited to Australia in 1920 by J&N Tait to appear in a production of ''

Sinbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor (; ar, سندباد البحري, Sindibādu al-Bahriyy; fa, سُنباد بحری, Sonbād-e Bahri or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle of Persian origin. He is described as hailing from Baghdad ...

'' at King's Theatre, Melbourne. Born as Eric and Clem White, to musician Richard White and dancer Lizzie Warton, they changed their names in their early years to stage names, considering that "White" was uninteresting and became duo "Edgley and Dawe" The partnership later toured Australia for theatre manager J. C. Williamson and played in shows including ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

'', '' Love Lies'' and '' So This Is Love''. Eric married an actress Phyllis Edith Amery in 1925, in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

and was widowed when she died during childbirth in 1930, he remarried dancer Edna Louise Luscombe in 1940 at an registrar office in England. Throughout this period he and Clem toured Australasia, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, doing shows under various arrangements, and moving from performers to promoters and creating a troupe called. "The Midnight Frolics", and toured productions by Sir Benjamin Fuller and the

Tivoli circuit The Tivoli Circuit was a successful and popular Australian vaudeville entertainment circuit featuring revue, opera, ballet, dance, singing, musical comedy, old time black and white minstrel and even Shakespeare which flourished from 1893 to th ...

. In 1951 they moved to

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

to manage His Majesty's Theatre. They took a lease on the venue in 1954 and Clem died the following year. In 1958 the company purchased His Majesty's and undertook extensive renovation work. From the early 1960s Eric arranged tours to Australasia from

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

performing troupes including the Bolshoi Ballet, the Georgian State Dance Company and the Moscow Variety Theatre. Edgley also promoted local talent including the

West Australian Ballet West Australian Ballet is the State ballet company of Western Australia and is based in Perth, at the Western Australian Ballet Centre in Maylands. The company was founded in 1952 by Madame Kira Bousloff (formerly of the Ballets Russes) and ...

. Eric died in 1967 and management of the company was taken over by his then 23-year-old son Michael. The

Moscow State Circus The title Moscow State Circus is used for a variety of circuses. Most commonly, it refers to one of the two circus buildings in Moscow, the " Circus Nikulin" (the old circus, featuring animal acts) and the "Bolshoi Circus" (the new circus, feat ...

tour in 1968 attracted an audience of 1.2 million and grossed more than $7 million. Russian ballet and theatre ensembles returned to Australia under the Edgley banner in 1970, 1976, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988.

Recent years

Edgley now has broad interests in the film industry and venue management. Film productions include ''

The Man From Snowy River The Man from Snowy River may refer to: * "The Man from Snowy River" (poem), an 1890 Australian poem by Banjo Paterson. * '' The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses'' an 1895 poetry collection by Banjo Paterson (including the above) * ''The Man ...

'' (1982) and ''

Phar Lap Phar Lap (4 October 1926 – 5 April 1932) was a champion New Zealand–bred Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as New Zealand's greatest racehorse ever. Achieving incredible success during his distinguished career, his initial u ...

'' (1983). The company has staged shows in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, as well as in Asia including

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Notable family members

*Eric Edgley (1899-1967). *Edna Edgley (1910-2000. née Luscombe). Dancer. Eric's second wife, married in 1940 *Clem Dawe. (?-1955) *Phillip Edgley (1930-1999), Eric's son by his first marriage. Stage and television performer in Western Australia. Was an early newsreader and host of TVW's first variety show called ''Spotlight'' with

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

. Spotlight premiered on TVW's opening night on 16 October 1959. *Michael Edgley (born 1943), entrepreneur. Son of Eric and Edna. *Jeni Edgley, entrepreneur and author. Former wife of Michael. *

Gigi Edgley Gigi Edgley (born 16 November 1977) is an Australian actress, singer and songwriter. She is best known for her roles as Chiana on the series ''Farscape'' and Lara Knight in '' Rescue: Special Ops''. Early life Edgley was born in Perth. She is ...

(born 1977), film and television actor. Daughter of Michael and Jeni.

References

{{authority control Theatre companies in Australia Show business families of Australia