Edgley International is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and concert promotions company from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, 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 country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Origins

English song and dance

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

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 (; or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a Literary cycle, story-cycle. He is described as hailing from Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages thr ...

'' 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 name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

s, 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 an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the ...

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

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the 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. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, 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 list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

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) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

performing troupes including the

Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest Ballet company, ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it ca ...

, the Georgian State Dance Company and the Moscow Variety Theatre. Edgley also promoted local talent including the West Australian Ballet. 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, featu ...

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'' (1982) and ''

Phar Lap Phar Lap (4 October 1926 – 5 April 1932) was a New Zealand-born champion Australian Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse. Achieving great success during his distinguished career, his initial underdog status gave people hope during the ear ...

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

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as well as in Asia including

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

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 (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...

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

References

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