Isabel Jay responds ‘with pleasure’ to a request for her autograph, 1908

Isabel Jay (1879-1927), English singer and actress, with her daughter, Cecilia Claribel Cavendish (1903-1997), by her first husband, Henry Sheppard Hart Cavendish (1876-1948), who succeeded to the barony of Waterpark of Waterpark, co. Cork, in 1932.
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, probably 1908; Rotary Photographic Series postcard, no. 4748 E, issued by the Rotary Photographic Co Ltd, London, 1908)

The sender and ultimate recipient of this postcard, postmarked 22 [? August] 1908, wrote to Isabel Jay the following message: ‘Dear Madam As I am making a collection of actresses autographs, & should like to have yours among them, I should be very much obliged if you would sign this card. Hoping I am not troubling you too much, I remain, yrs truly, V.A. Shore.’ The sender was Miss V.A. Shore of 284 Goldhawk Road, Shepherds Bush, London, W.

Miss V.A. Shore was Violet Ada Shore who was born in Hammersmith on 7 July 1890, the daughter of Arthur Miers Shore (1862-1944), a professor of music, and his wife, Ada Alice Shore (née Clark), who were then living at 14 Dewhurst Road, West Kensington Park. She was baptised at St. Barnabas, Kensington, on 27 August 1890. At the time of the 1911 Census she was described as an art student (painting) and living with her parents and brother, Bernard A.R. Shore, at 284 Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith, London, W. Miss Shore, who was never married, died at Hove, Sussex, in 1977.

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Kate Cutler, English singer, about 1930

Kate Cutler (1864-1955), English singer and actress
(photo: unknown, circa 1930)

Isobel Elsom as Doris in After the Girl, Gaiety Theatre, London, 1914

Isobel Elsom (1893-1981), English actress, as she appeared as Doris in After the Girl, a ‘revusical comedy’ by Paul Rubens and Percy Greenbank, which opened at the Gaiety Theatre, London, on 7 February 1914.
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1914; postcard published by The Rotary Photographic Co Ltd, in its Rotary Photographic Series, no. 6927A, London, 1914)

Yvonne Arnaud, French-born English pianist, singer and actress, photographed by Malcolm Arbuthnot, London, circa 1920

Yvonne Arnaud (1890-1958), French-born English pianist, singer and actress
(photo: Malcom Arbuthnot, 43 & 44 New Bond Street, London, W, circa 1920)

Dorma Leigh and Jan Oyra in The Girl on the Film, London and New York, 1913

Dorma Leigh (1890-1969), English dancer, and Jan Oyra (1888-1928 or later), Polish dancer, ballet master and dancing teacher, as they appeared in the musical farce, The Girl on the Film, produced at the Gaiety Theatre, London, 5 April 1913, and at the 44th Street Theatre, New York, 29 December 1913.
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1913)

Song sheet for ‘My Little Baby,’ sung by Dan Daly in The Belle of New York, first sung at the Casino Theatre, New York, 1897

song sheet cover for ‘My Little Baby’ as sung by Dan Daly in the role of Ichabod Bronson in the original production of The Belle of New York, which was produced at the Casino Theatre, New York, on 28 September 1897. The halftone photograph is of Mr Daly with Edna May as Violet Gray.
(photo: probably Byron, New York, 1897; song sheet published as the supplement to The New York Journal and Advertiser, New York, Sunday, 13 November 1898)

The first run of The Belle of New York closed at the Casino, New York, on 26 December 1897. The company then toured the United States before leaving for England and its engagement at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, where The Belle of New York, with its original American cast, opened on 12 April 1898. With various changes of cast and substitutions the piece ran successfully for 693 performances, closing on 30 December 1899.

Joseph Coyne and Gertie Millar in the duet, ‘A Dancing Lesson’ in The Quaker Girl, Adlephi Theatre, London, 1910

Joseph Coyne (1867-1941), American actor and singer, and Gertie Millar (1879-1952), English actress and singer, both stars of English musical comedies, as they appeared as Tony and Prudence in the duet, ‘A Dancing Lesson‘ in Act II of The Quaker Girl, first produced at the Adelphi Theatre, London, on 5 November 1910.
(cabinet photo: Alfred Ellis & Walery, London, 1910)

Lily Elsie: a photograph by Rita Martin

Lily Elsie (1886-1962), English actress and singer and star of musical comedy
(photo: Rita Martin, London, circa 1915-1917)

Henry Ainley in The Great Conspiracy, Duke of York’s Theatre, London, 1907

Henry Ainley as he appeared as Captain Roger Crisenoy opposite Irene Vanbrugh‘s Jeanne de Briantes in Madeleine Lucette Ryley‘s drama, The Great Conspiracy, which was produced at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London, on 4 March 1907. The piece ran for 60 performances.
(photo: Alfred Ellis & Walery, London, 1907)

‘A play with an idea no fresher than that of a young girl’s outwitting of Napoleon – a play, in fact, with the plot and the sort of Bonaparte that have already served in musical comedy, yet a neat, well-planned if artificial piece that is as full of excitement as it is of improbabilities, and, for all its lack of true emotion, gives its three principal interpreters at the Duke of York’s fine opportunities for acting – as is The Great Conspiracy. Mrs. Ryley’s adaptation of M. Pierre Berton‘s Belle Marseillaise. The conspiracy in question, planned by the young heroine’s elderly husband, is one that fails, but the chief conspirator escapes, and Napoleon tries vainly to wrest from the wife the secret of her husband’s safety. Finally he hits on the device of marrying her afresh to a favourite young Captain of his who is infatuated with her, and with whom she, in turn, is in love. Her long colloquy with Napoleon, and the bridal scene, in which she explains to her lover the obstacle that stands in the way of their felicity, make the play. Yet it is the three chief players that make the success of the piece – Miss Irene Vanbrugh, who is alternately arch and tender, and has, in the bridal scene already mention, a moment of exquisite pathos; Mr. John Hare, a very slim and frigid Napoleon, yet authoritative, masterful, and grim; and Mr. Henry Ainley, surely the most attractive stage-lover we have on the London boards, because he is not afraid of emotion, and because to charming intonations of voice he adds perfect tact. With its thrilling story and its splendid representation, there should be a long run in store for The Great Conspiracy.’
(The Illustrated London News, London, Saturday, 9 March 1907, p. 362c)

Gabrielle Ray, an Edwardian musical comedy favourite

Gabrielle Ray (1883-1973), English musical comedy dancer and actress
(photo: W. & D. Downey, London, 1905/06)