![TopsySinden1902](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/TopsySinden1902.jpg)
Harriet Augusta Sinden (1877–1950), known professionally as Topsy Sinden, was an English dancer, actress and singer. She was best known for her performances in
Edwardian musical comedy
Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the A ...
and
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 ...
, both in London and on tour. Sinden was an accomplished tap dancer and skirt dancer.
Life and career
Sinden was born and raised in London. According to the 1901 census, her parents were Augustus Sinden, a musician, and his wife Harriet. Her brother was the actor and dancer Bert Sinden (1879–1911).
[These dates are based upon London census records.] Her nickname was "Topsy" from an early age.
[ She was a distant cousin of the actor Sir ]Donald Sinden
Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was a British actor.
Sinden featured in the film ''Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including ''The Cruel Sea (195 ...
.
Early career
Sinden began to perform as a small child in entertainments at St. James's Hall and made her professional debut at age six, in 1884, as a little dancer in a fairy play at the Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. , followed shortly by a 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 ...
of ''Dick Whittington
Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London, was an English merchant and a politician of the late medieval period. He is also the real-life inspiration for the English folk tale ''Dick ...
'' at the 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 ...
and by engagements at other West End theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...
s.[''The Era'', 4 June 1898, p. 10] She studied dance with M. Leprez, an Italian dancing master, and then the Viennese dancer Katti Lanner
Katti Lanner (14 September 1829 – 15 November 1908) was a Viennese ballet dancer, choreographer, and ballet mistress who found fame in Germany and England, where she staged many productions at the Empire Theatre in London.
Early life in Aus ...
.[Culme, John]
"Topsy Sinden"
Footlight Notes, 6 March 2004, accessed 5 August 2010 She was given early roles including as principal dancer at age 10 in a revival of ''Pepita'' at Toole's Theatre
Toole's Theatre, was a 19th-century West End theatre, West End building in William IV Street, near Charing Cross, in the City of Westminster. A succession of auditoria had occupied the site since 1832, serving a variety of functions, including ...
and ''The Old Guard'', both in 1888.["Topsey Sinden" ]
in ''On and off: 35 actresses interviewed by "The Call Boy"''. p. 36, G. Dalziel, 1894, accessed 5 August 2010 In 1889, she played the title role in a pantomime of ''Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
'' at Covent Garden Theatre
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 Op ...
. She then was engaged by Augustus Harris
Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris (18 March 1852 – 22 June 1896) was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist, a dominant figure in the West End theatre of the 1880s and 1890s.
Born into a theatrical family, Harris briefly pursued a comme ...
as principal dancer at the Empire Theatre for three years and later played in Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and elsewhere.[
She also joined the company of ]George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond.
Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...
where, in the early 1890s, she appeared in the burlesques
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. ''Cinder Ellen up too Late
''Cinder Ellen up too Late'' is a musical Victorian burlesque, burlesque written by Frederick Hobson Leslie (writing under the pseudonym A. C. Torr) and W. T. Vincent, with music arranged by Meyer Lutz from compositions by Lionel Monckton, Sidney ...
'' and ''Don Juan''. Also at the Gaiety, Edwards cast her in '' In Town'' (1892), and, in 1894, still aged 16, she danced in ''A Gaiety Girl
''A Gaiety Girl'' is an English musical comedy in two acts by a team of musical comedy neophytes: Owen Hall (book, on an outline by James T. Tanner), Harry Greenbank (lyrics) and Sidney Jones (music). It opened at Prince of Wales Theatre in ...
'' at Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937.
The theatre was built for and named after the American impresar ...
and then played the role of Violet Deveney in Edwardes's hit Edwardian musical comedy
Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the A ...
, ''The Shop Girl
''The Shop Girl'' was a musical comedy in two acts (described by the author as a musical farce) written by H. J. W. Dam, with Lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ross. It premier ...
'', at the Gaiety.[ At the invitation of Harris, Sinden then danced in ]grand opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on o ...
s at Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
until his death in 1896.[ In 1897, she was principal dancer in '']The Yashmak
''The Yashmak, A Story of the East'' is a musical play, with a libretto by Cecil Raleigh and Seymour Hicks, adapted from an Armenian operetta, ''Leblébidji Horhor'', which had been a success in 1896 in Constantinople. The music was composed by N ...
'' at Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue.
History
The theatre was d ...
[ and was also dancing at the ]Avenue Theatre
The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt i ...
opposite Lottie Venne
Lottie Venne (28 May 1852 – 16 July 1928) was a British comedian, actress and singer of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, who enjoyed a theatre career spanning five decades. Venne began her stage career in musical burlesque before moving into ...
. In 1899, with Edwardes's company at Daly's Theatre, she played Trixie in ''San Toy
''San Toy, or The Emperor's Own'' is a "Chinese" musical comedy in two acts, first performed at Daly's Theatre, London, on 21 October 1899, and ran for 768 performances (edging out the same composer's '' The Geisha'' as the second longest run f ...
'', in which she "contributes a graceful dance". She also performed in music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
and pantomime (usually as "principal girl") during these years, including at the , the Metropole Theatre in Camberwell
Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross.
Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...
, and elsewhere.[
]
Later years
In the new century, Sinden was Miss Carruthers in ''A Country Girl
''A Country Girl, or, Town and Country'' is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, additional lyrics by Percy Greenbank, music by Lionel Monckton and additional songs by Paul Rubens.
The musical opened at D ...
'' at Daly's in 1902,[ was principal dancer in '' The Cingalee'' in 1904–05, played the princess in ''The Princess and the Troubador'' (with music by ]Walter Slaughter
Walter Alfred Slaughter (17 February 1860 – 2 March 1908) was an English conductor and composer of musical comedy, comic opera and children's shows. He was engaged in the West End as a composer and musical director from 1883 to 1904.
Life ...
) at the London Coliseum
The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...
in 1905 and created the role of Jane in ''The Beauty of Bath
''The Beauty of Bath'' is a musical comedy with a book by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, lyrics by Charles H. Taylor (lyricist), C. H. Taylor and music by Herbert Haines; additional songs were provided by Jerome Kern (lyrics and music), F. Cli ...
'' at the Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels.
History
Origins
The theatre was constructed in th ...
, 1906. In 1907–08 she became the ''première danseuse'' for the ballets at the Empire Theatre, appearing first as Stella Dare in a revised version of C. Wilhelm
William John Charles Pitcher (21 March 1858 – 2 March 1925), known as Wilhelm or C. Wilhelm, was an English artist, costume and scenery designer, best known for his designs for ballets, pantomimes, comic operas and Edwardian musical comedies.
...
's ballet divertissement, ''The Belle of the Ball'', in the role created by the departing Adeline Genée.[ '']The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' found her promising. Describing her performance in this role, one of her contemporaries wrote that Sinden "excelled in a light and easy kind of tap-dancing ... and in skirt dancing, which was very popular in the musical comedies of the period."
In 1910, Sinden was performing in variety at the Palladium Theatre. ''The Times'' called her "a dream of colour and grace". In 1912, she was a featured dancer in the comic opera ''The Grass Widows'' at the Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London. . By 1914, Sinden was in financial distress, and a fund was being raised for her.["Cinematograph Records by Aeroplane", ''The Times'', 28 April 1914, p. 16] In 1927, after some years away from the stage, she appeared in a production of ''Dick Whittington'' at the Elephant and Castle Theatre, south London. She continued working until at least 1930.[
]
Notes
External links
Photos of Sinden
in ''Aladdin'', 1908
Photo of Sinden skirt dancing
Photo of Sinden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinden, Topsy
1878 births
1950 deaths
Topsy Topsy may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Topsy, a character in the novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''
* Topsy, a character in the 2018 film ''Mary Poppins Returns''
* ''Topsy and Eva'', a 1928 film based on ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''
* ''Topsy and Tim'', ...
English stage actresses