Mlles. Serpolette, Folette, Risette and Clair de Lune

‘Quadrille Fin de Siecle,’ a cabinet photograph of Mlles. Serpolette, Folette, Risette and Clair de Lune, the Parisian can can dancers who made their sensational American debut at Koster & Bial’s, New York, in November 1892
(photo: Sarony, New York, 1892)

‘KOSTER & BIAL’S.
‘At Koster & Bial’s last night the second half of the programme was made up of imported Parisian ”specialties,” which were loudly applauded by the motley crowd. A novelty announced with a ”quadrille fin de siècle” by four dancers from the neighbourhood of the Batignolles.
‘They were supposed to hail from the Moulin Rouge, the home of high kicking and acrobatic performances, but from their comparatively slight knowledge of the figures of the dance, it is probably that, if they did come from Paris at all, it was from one of the smaller cafés. They have the South Fifth Avenue manner. Mlles. Serpolette, Folette, Risette, and Claire de Lune are four very large and rather vulgar-looking women of mature years. They do not dance ven as well as the four women in The Black Crook, nor do they attempt the same gymnastics, but the ”quadrille” is identical with that dances at the Fourteenth Street house.
‘Their performance seemed to please the crowd at Koster & Bial’s. M. and Mme. Berat, Marie Vanoni, with ”Georgie” and ”La Cantinière”, the grotesque Eduardos, and the Americans, Wood and Shepard, were all more interesting to decent folk. The Rendezvous and Barbe Bleu (condensed) operettas were well given.’
(The New York Times, New York, Wednesday, 22 November 1892, p. 5)

‘New York has a new attraction at one of her music halls. The four French dancers, Mlles. Serpolette, Clair de Lune, Folette and Risette, who made their first appearance in this country last week on Koster & Bial’s concert hall stage gave what may be safely called the most sensational terpsichorean exhibition that has ever been witnesses on the American stage. Their exhibition was anything but artistic, or even fetching. It consisted in a more than liberal display of lingerie, some very high kicking, squatting on the floor with legs stretched out at right angles, making somersaults and other feats of similar nature.’
(Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Monday, 28 November 1892, p. 4a)

‘Dancing before the footlights in New York city just now are a number of young women from Paris’ Maulin Range [sic] and Jardin de Paris, who are creating a sensation, the like of which has not been experienced in many a day, says a writer in the World of that city. According to the writer a new dance has been introduced by the French called le grand ecart. The English name for it is not very dignified. Perhaps the feat is less so, but we must accept it as an artistic excellence. Imagine the dignity of a young woman sinking down to the floor her limbs at right angles to the body. The undignified phase is lost in the rapturous applause which comes from all parts of the house, even from the box tiers of the Four Hundred… .’
(Hamilton Daily Democrat, Hamilton, Ohio, 17 December 1892, p. 3d)

‘COLUMBIA THEATER [Brooklyn].
‘Babes in the Wood may be seen for another week at this spacious and handsome theater, before making way for The Isle of Champagne. It is a showy, spectacular piece, with a dash of burlesque, a dash of vaudeville, a bit of pantomime, some singing, incessant music, brilliant effects of costume, scenery and lights, and more than a dash of dancing. The performance of the four French dancers, who wrap their legs around their necks and perform the bone racking feat called ”the split,” makes a genuine sensation. Arthur Dunn and Timothy Cronin in the comic parts are really funny.’
(The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, Sunday, 12 February 1893, p. 5a)

an extra large cabinet photograph, 12 ¾ x 7 inches, of Emma Carson (fl. 1880s), American actress and singer, as she appeared in a revival of H.B. Farnie’s burlesque version of Offenbach’s Bluebeard, produced at the Bijou Opera House, New York, Tuesday, 6 May 1884
(photo: Moreno, New York, 1884)

‘BIJOU OPERA-HOUSE.
‘A crude burlesque of that bright, spirited trifle, Barbe-Bleue, was given last night at the Bijou Opera-house. The French piece, done here several years ago by Irma, Aujac, and a clever company, is perhaps almost forgotten now. Lydia Thompson, without doubt the only woman who could charm away the stupidity of broad and vulgar burlesque, originally presented Farnie’s version of the Offenbach farce in this city. This version was used last night, though hardly in its right form. The performance, like most things of its kind, was composed chiefly of extravaganza, absurdity, and womanhood with a small amount of clothes. A “variety ball” dance, at the end of the first act, seemed to enliven the audience. Much of Offenbach’s music written for Barbe-Bleue was not sung. That part of it which was sung fared badly. Mr. Jacques Kruger as Bluebeard, and Mr. Arthur W. Tams as Corporal Zong Zong were the most efficient members of the company. Miss Emma Carson and Miss Irene Perry were not especially entertaining, and Miss Pauline Hall appeared to be a rather lame Venus. There was little talent shown by these mediocre exponents of the ancient leg drama. Luckily, Mr. Kruger was amusing.’
(The New York Times, New York, Wednesday, 7 May 1884, p. 4f)

Emma Carson

an extra large cabinet photograph, 12 ¾ x 7 inches, of Emma Carson (fl. 1880s), American actress and singer, as she appeared in a revival of H.B. Farnie’s burlesque version of Offenbach’s Bluebeard, produced at the Bijou Opera House, New York, Tuesday, 6 May 1884
(photo: Moreno, New York, 1884)

‘BIJOU OPERA-HOUSE.
‘A crude burlesque of that bright, spirited trifle, Barbe-Bleue, was given last night at the Bijou Opera-house. The French piece, done here several years ago by Irma, Aujac, and a clever company, is perhaps almost forgotten now. Lydia Thompson, without doubt the only woman who could charm away the stupidity of broad and vulgar burlesque, originally presented Farnie’s version of the Offenbach farce in this city. This version was used last night, though hardly in its right form. The performance, like most things of its kind, was composed chiefly of extravaganza, absurdity, and womanhood with a small amount of clothes. A ”variety ball” dance, at the end of the first act, seemed to enliven the audience. Much of Offenbach’s music written for Barbe-Bleue was not sung. That part of it which was sung fared badly. Mr. Jacques Kruger as Bluebeard, and Mr. Arthur W. Tams as Corporal Zong Zong were the most efficient members of the company. Miss Emma Carson and Miss Irene Perry were not especially entertaining, and Miss Pauline Hall appeared to be a rather lame Venus. There was little talent shown by these mediocre exponents of the ancient leg drama. Luckily, Mr. Kruger was amusing.’
(The New York Times, New York, Wednesday, 7 May 1884, p. 4f)

Barbette (né Van der Clyde Broodway, 1898-1973), American born international wire walker, aerialist and female impersonator
(photo: unknown, probably Paris, circa 1924)

Van de Clyde Broodway, known to the world in the 1920s and 1930s as Barbette, was born in Round Rock, Texas, on 19 December 1899. He began his career as a wire-walker with the Ringling Brothers’ circus but drifted into female impersonation after he replaced at short notice an ailing member of the Alfaretta Sisters trapeze act. In 1923 he was engaged for vaudeville by Thomas Barrasford at the Alhambra Music Hall, Paris, before moving on later that year to feature in the Casino de Paris revue, Y a qu’a Paris. Billed in this as ‘Barbette the Enigma,’ he caused a sensation at what proved to be the beginning of a highly successful international career. Broodway returned to the United States at the outbreak of the Second World War, but in 1942 he fell during a performance and sustained a serious injury. He subsequently became a circus producer and died on 5 August 1972.

* * * * * * * *

‘On stage, against black velvet curtains appeared a young woman in a silvery-gold wig topped with plumes and feathers, with a train of rich lamé and silver lace, undressing on a couch of rich oriental carpets. The woman then rose, naked except for the gems on her breast and belly, and began walking a [low] steel tight-rope. Her eyes shaded green, like some mysterious Asiatic jewel, she walked backwards and forwards along the tight-rope, dispensed with her balancing-pole, and contorted her thin, nervous body as the entire audience held its breath… Then Barbette leapt down on to the stage, gave a bow, tore off her wig and revealed a bony Anglo-Saxon acrobat’s head: gasps from the astonished audience, shattered by the sudden brutality of the action.
‘The Music-Hall has always had its female impersonators. But no one went further in the cult of sexual mystification than this young man who transformed himself into a jazz-age Botticelli…’ (Jacques Damase, Les Folies du Music-Hall; A History of the Paris Music-Hall from 1914 to the Present Day, English translation of the original 1960 French edition, Anthony Blond Ltd, London, 1962, p.30)

Barbette (né Van der Clyde Broodway, 1898-1973), American born international wire walker, aerialist and female impersonator
(photo: unknown, probably Paris, circa 1924)

Van de Clyde Broodway, known to the world in the 1920s and 1930s as Barbette, was born in Round Rock, Texas, on 19 December 1899. He began his career as a wire-walker with the Ringling Brothers’ circus but drifted into female impersonation after he replaced at short notice an ailing member of the Alfaretta Sisters trapeze act. In 1923 he was engaged for vaudeville by Thomas Barrasford at the Alhambra Music Hall, Paris, before moving on later that year to feature in the Casino de Paris revue, Y a qu’a Paris. Billed in this as ‘Barbette the Enigma,’ he caused a sensation at what proved to be the beginning of a highly successful international career. Broodway returned to the United States at the outbreak of the Second World War, but in 1942 he fell during a performance and sustained a serious injury. He subsequently became a circus producer and died on 5 August 1972.

* * * * * * * *

‘On stage, against black velvet curtains appeared a young woman in a silvery-gold wig topped with plumes and feathers, with a train of rich lamé and silver lace, undressing on a couch of rich oriental carpets. The woman then rose, naked except for the gems on her breast and belly, and began walking a [low] steel tight-rope. Her eyes shaded green, like some mysterious Asiatic jewel, she walked backwards and forwards along the tight-rope, dispensed with her balancing-pole, and contorted her thin, nervous body as the entire audience held its breath… Then Barbette leapt down on to the stage, gave a bow, tore off her wig and revealed a bony Anglo-Saxon acrobat’s head: gasps from the astonished audience, shattered by the sudden brutality of the action.
‘The Music-Hall has always had its female impersonators. But no one went further in the cult of sexual mystification than this young man who transformed himself into a jazz-age Botticelli…’ (Jacques Damase, Les Folies du Music-Hall; A History of the Paris Music-Hall from 1914 to the Present Day, English translation of the original 1960 French edition, Anthony Blond Ltd, London, 1962, p.30)

Barbette

Barbette (né Van der Clyde Broodway, 1898-1973), American born international wire walker, aerialist and female impersonator
(photo: unknown, probably Paris, circa 1924)

Van de Clyde Broodway, known to the world in the 1920s and 1930s as Barbette, was born in Round Rock, Texas, on 19 December 1899. He began his career as a wire-walker with the Ringling Brothers’ circus but drifted into female impersonation after he replaced at short notice an ailing member of the Alfaretta Sisters trapeze act. In 1923 he was engaged for vaudeville by Thomas Barrasford at the Alhambra Music Hall, Paris, before moving on later that year to feature in the Casino de Paris revue, Y a qu’a Paris. Billed in this as ‘Barbette the Enigma,’ he caused a sensation at what proved to be the beginning of a highly successful international career. Broodway returned to the United States at the outbreak of the Second World War, but in 1942 he fell during a performance and sustained a serious injury. He subsequently became a circus producer and died on 5 August 1972.

* * * * * * * *

‘On stage, against black velvet curtains appeared a young woman in a silvery-gold wig topped with plumes and feathers, with a train of rich lamé and silver lace, undressing on a couch of rich oriental carpets. The woman then rose, naked except for the gems on her breast and belly, and began walking a [low] steel tight-rope. Her eyes shaded green, like some mysterious Asiatic jewel, she walked backwards and forwards along the tight-rope, dispensed with her balancing-pole, and contorted her thin, nervous body as the entire audience held its breath… Then Barbette leapt down on to the stage, gave a bow, tore off her wig and revealed a bony Anglo-Saxon acrobat’s head: gasps from the astonished audience, shattered by the sudden brutality of the action.
‘The Music-Hall has always had its female impersonators. But no one went further in the cult of sexual mystification than this young man who transformed himself into a jazz-age Botticelli…’ (Jacques Damase, Les Folies du Music-Hall; A History of the Paris Music-Hall from 1914 to the Present Day, English translation of the original 1960 French edition, Anthony Blond Ltd, London, 1962, p.30)

Adelaide Bassett

a cabinet photograph of Adelaide Bassett (1859-1895), English balloonist and parachutist
(photo: Laroche & Co, Poplar, London, early 1890s)

‘MDLLE. ADELAIDE BASSETT, Double or Single Descents, the Great and Marvellous Parachutist, and Captain ORTON, who has eclipsed all others, will be pleased to Arrange with Gentlemen of Fêtes, Galas, &c. For terms and dates, apply to the Experienced Aeronaut, Captain ORTON, 7, Venue-street, Bronley, E.’
(The Era, London, Saturday, 2 August 1890, p. 22c, advertisement)

‘WEAVERS’ FETE AT KIDDERMINSTER.
‘The usual fête and sports of the Kidderminster and Stourport carpet weavers took place yesterday, at the Copse and Aggborough Ground, Kidderminster. The caprice of the weather somewhat interfered with the fête, and at one period of the afternoon a hailstorm interrupted the sports for a time. This, however, did not seem to have much untoward effect on the attendance, which was very large. The several attractions of the fête included a parachute descent from a balloon by Captain Alfred Orton and Mdlle. Adelaide Bassett, and there were gymnastic performances, comicalities, and music by several bands.’
(The Birmingham Daily Post, Birmingham, Tuesday, 4 August 1891, p. 7g)

‘FEMALE PARACHUTIST KILLED.
‘Miss Adelaide Bassett, a London parachutist, was killed in Peterborough yesterday evening. In connection with a fete there had been arranged a balloon ascent and a double parachute descent by Captain Orton and Miss Bassett. The latter’s parachute was broken by a telephone wire on the balloon being released, and as she had consequently no means by which to descend, she jumped from the balloon to the ground and was killed.’
(The Aberdeen Weekly Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland, Tuesday, 6 August 1895, p. 6c)

See ballooninghistory.com for further information about Adelaide Bassett and Alfred Orton.

Martha Cashmore

a cabinet photograph of Martha Cashmore (fl. late 1870s-mid 1920s), English equestrienne and circus performer
(photo: Henry Morgan, Crockherbtown, Cardiff, circa 1885)

‘Notice to Circus Proprietors, Managers of First-class Concert Halls, and Others.
‘IKE CASHMORE, Clown; Madame CASHMORE, Champion Tight-Rope Dancer of the World and Scene Act Rider; Miss MARTHA CASHMORE, High Stilts; and Little JOE, one of the Smallest Tumbling Clowns of the day, now fulfilling a Four Months’ successful Engagement with Messrs Powell and Clarke. Will be at Liberty on the 16th. Glad to hear from old friends. Letters to Mary-street, Cork, Ireland. N.B. – Wardrobe and Apparatus good. No objection to America. Should this meet the eye of Mr Joseph Ashby, Equestrian, by sending his address he will hear of something to his advantage.’
(The Era, London, Sunday, 10 March 1878, p. 16 d, advertisement)

‘WANTED, Proprietors to know Joseph Henry Cashmore, Comic Knockabout Clown, High Stilts, Juggler, Running Globe, Vaulter, &c., and his talented sister, Martha Cashmore, Slack Wire Artist, also Louisa Cashmore, graceful Tight Rope Dancer, will be at Liberty Oct. 18th for at Home or Abroad. Good dresses and a good appearance. None but responsible Managers treated with. Private address, No. 3, Albert-street, Folkstone.’
(The Era, London, Saturday, 25 September 1886, p. 20c, advertisement)

Leicester, March 1890
‘CIRCUS. – Proprietor, Mr. Edwin Croueste. – Nero, with his trained elephant Gipsy, is the big attraction a this place of amusement. Other fresh arrivals are Wallancini, who does some clever tumbling; Joe Cashmore, with his stilt performance; and Miss Martha Cashmore, in her marvellous equilibristic act. The charming spectacle Cinderella continues to be a special feature of the entertainment.’
The Era, London, Saturday, 22 March 1890, p. 15e)

For further information about Martha Cashmore, her father, the equestrian clown Ike Cashmore, and other members of the Cashmore family, see John Turner, Victorian Arena, The Performers, Lingdales Press, Formby, Liverpool, 1995, vol. I, p. 23.

Edith Day and Pat Somerset in Irene

Edith Day and Pat Somerset as they appeared in the leading roles in the London production of Irene, the hit musical comedy by James Montgomery, with music by Harry Tierney and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, which opened at the Empire Theatre, Leicester Square, on 7 April 1920. It was in this production that Miss Day sang ‘Alice Blue Gown,’ which she recorded in London on 15 April 1920.
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1920)

‘A theatrical star of rare brilliance has appeared (says the London Daily Mail), and has taken by storm the hearts of a London audience. Miss Edith Day, who as Irene in the musical comedy of that title, produced at the Empire, scored such a great success with her singing and her dramatic and dancing abilities, is an American girl of 21. She is quite short, with shapely white arms, and a beautifully moulded neck, but on first sight all that is noticed is her face, because it is so radiant with vivacity and the joy of life. She is a typical American girl, with thick and lustrous hair of a dark rich brown drawn back from a smooth, high forehead, and brought in a wave to the side of the ears.
‘At a casual glance her eyes, full of suppressed laughter, seem to be dark, but are really a charming grey-blue. Delicately arched eyebrows, a small and straight nose, a dark complexion, a mobile mouth ready to reveal her even, white teeth – such is the face of this clever actress who has won London’s laughter.’
(The Argus, Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, 5 June 1920, p. 8e)

‘DEPORTATION FACED BY PAT SOMERSET
‘Actor Who Came Here With Edith Day From London Served With Warrant.
‘TO APPEAR AT ELLIS ISLAND
‘Charge Involves Moral Turpitude – Accused Says Actress’s Husband Is Responsible.
‘Pat Somerset, the English actor whose relations with Edith Day in London have figured in print several times in the last few years, was served with a Federal warrant yesterday morning at a rehearsal of Orange Blossoms, in which both he and Miss Day are appearing at the Fulton Theatre, summoning him to appear on Ellis Island today to face charges which may result in his deportation.
‘The warrant, issued by Assistant Secretary of Labor White, charges that Somerset is subject to deportation because he has admitted the commission of a crime involving moral turpitude. At the Fulton Theatre last night the actor declared that the issuance of the warrant was ”childish and ridiculous.”
‘Mr. Somerset’s relations with Miss Day, which formally were admitted in London three years ago, led to the actor’s divorce in England in 1921, and this divorce was to have been followed by Miss Day’s divorce from Carle Carlton, the American producer. Mr. Somerset last night charged that the warrant for his appearance had been sworn out by Mr. Carlton and that the officer who served it had admitted that fact. The warrant, Mr. Somerset said, was sworn on Aug. 20 [1922]; but the officer declared that service had been delayed in the expectation that Mr. Carlton would let the matter drop.
‘In accordance with the warrant, Mr. Somerset will appear at the immigration station on Ellis Island shortly before noon today. He will be accompanied by his counsel, Malevinsky, O’Brien & Driscoll. Mr. Somerset charged last night that Carle Carlton, after refusing to grant a divorce to Miss Day, had first tried to prevent his entrance into this country by charging that he and Miss Day had arrived together. Mr. Somerset said that he reached here in July via Canada and that Miss Day came directly from London a week or so later.
‘The actor also said that his passports were in order and that he anticipated no real trouble as a result of the deportation warrant. He said that he would make no defense, since there had at no time been any secret regarding his relationship with Miss Day, but that he could see no grounds on which deportation could be asked. His counsel, he declared, will apply for his release under bond, pending the final outcome of the hearing.
‘Edith Day, after scoring a success here in A HREF=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=8647>Going Up, appeared in the title rôle of Irene, under the management of Carle Carlton. She was married to Mr. Carlton in December, 1919. Subsequently she appeared in Irene in London, and it was there that she met Mr. Somerset. Her break with Carlton followed. Then Somerset’s wife, Margaret Bannerman, secured a divorce from him in May, 1921, naming Miss Day as co-respondent.
‘Mr. Carlton, on Jan. 16 of this year [1922], filed suit for a divorce in the Supreme Court, saying at the time that he intended to divorce Miss Day so that ”the other man” could marry her. This suit was based on the testimony given in the Somerset-Bannerman divorce, which included the charge that a child had been born to the actress in London.’
(The New York Times, New York, New York, 19 October 1922, p. 9)

vocal score of Harry Day’s revue, Rockets, 1922

cover of the vocal score of Harry Day’s revue, Rockets, devised and staged by Charles Henry, with lyrics by Ernest Melvin and music by Joseph A. Tunbridge, produced at the London Palladium on 25 February 1922
(published by B. Feldman & Co, London, 1922)

This score comprises the following songs, all by Melvin and Tunbridge:
‘Eden Down in Bond Street’
‘Variety Queen’
‘There’s a Sugar-Coated Cupid’
‘Isle of Southern Splendour’
‘That Lovin’ Trombone Man’
‘Harem Days’
‘Automobile Car’
‘Klaxon Horn Jazz’

Interpolated numbers furnished by Herman Darewski are not included in the score.

Among the cast of Rockets were Charles Austin, Ivor Vintor, and Lorna and Toots Pounds. The production ran for 491 performances, closing on 9 December 1922.