programme cover for the burlesque, Joan of Arc, Opera Comique, London, 1891

cover of one of the programmes printed for the burlesque, Joan of Arc, which ran at the Opera Comique, London, from 17 January until 17 July 1891, after which it was toured in the United Kingdom. A second edition of the piece then opened at the Gaiety Theatre, London, on 30 September 1891 before being transferred to the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, on 22 December 1891, where it finally closed on 15 January 1892.
(lithograph by Holdsworths for The Edwardes Menu Co Ltd; printed for the Edwardes Menu Co Ltd, 6 Adam Street, Adelphi, London, by G. Harmsworth & Co, Hart Street, Covent Garden, London, WC, 1891)

‘Redecorated in a warm and rich style, and much improved from the point of view of the comfort, convenience, and safety of visitors, the Opera Comique reopened its doors on Saturday evening to receive a crowded audience, manifestly rejoicing in the addition of a second burlesque house to the list of London theatres. The Opera Comique, however, is now something more than this; it is a burlesque house under the direction of a manager who comes with the prestige of the immense popularity of the Gaiety. That Mr. George Edwardes was attending to his new charge in his own person was shown by the promptitude with which he appeared before the curtain to repress a rather noisy demonstration in the gallery just before the commencement of Messrs. [J.L.] Shine, [Adrian] Ross, and Osmond Carr’s new operatic burlesque of Joan of Arc. ”Is there anything you want?” inquired Mr. Edwardes, and the same question had been puzzling the quieter portion of the audience unable to distinguish words amidst the confused babel of sounds. Could it be that there were purists in the gallery who objected to the perversion of a noble historical episode? The management appeared to have had some misgivings on that score; for by way of preface to the book some one had contributed an apology in the form of a very gracefully-turned and really poetical sonnet, which out to have appeased the ire of any Frenchmen present. As it was rumoured, however, the trouble was nothing but a rather scant supply of programmes. It would have been well if the louder demonstration towards the close of the performance had been on no more substantial ground; but the truth is that, in spite of public explanations and anticipatory disclaimers, there was a considerable part of the audience who took offence at Mr. Arthur Roberts’s strike solo and still more at the alternate choruses of railway guards, policemen, postmen, messengers, dockers, and colliers. On the whole, however, Joan of Arc was indulgently received in spite of the fact that the humours of the first act were rather forced and the whole piece something wanting in the prettiness and quaint drollery to which the frequenters of the Gaiety have been accustomed. The most amusing thing was the duet ”Round the Town” between Mr. Roberts and Mr. Charles Danby, attired as two costermongers who are supposed to have arrived with a huge barrow of provisions for the relief of the besieged city of Orleans. Miss Emma Chambers, who has returned to our stage after a long absence, sings, dances, and utters her lines with unabated sprightliness, but does not do much to identify herself with the Maid of Orleans beyond donning brilliant armour, waving the Royal Standard of France, and finally turning up in the market place at Rouen, there to be unhistorically rescued from the stake. Mr. [J.L.] Shine, as King Charles VII., laboured under the disadvantage of a hoarseness which finally rendered him almost inaudible. The humour of Miss Alma Stanley’s Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury appeared to be chiefly in embroidering her costumes with the initials with which certain cabs have rendered the eyes of Londoners familiar. Miss Phyllis Broughton brought to the performance her graceful talents as a dancer; as did a new and valuable recruit to the burlesque stage in the person of Miss Katie Seymour, while Miss Grace Pedley’s agreeable presence and well-trained voice served her well in the part of the Queen of France. Provided with brilliant costumes, picturesque scenery, and very tuneful music, Joan of Arc is probably destined to enjoy some measure of success.’
(The Daily News, London, Monday, 19 January 1891, p. 3c)

Gaiety Theatre programme cover, London, 1890

cover of a programme for the Gaiety Theatre, London, 1890
(design copyrighted by Eyre & Spottiswoode, London; printed for the Edwardes Menu Co Ltd, 6 Adam Street, Adelphi, London, by G. Harmsworth & Co, Hard Street, Covent Garden, London)

This example of a Gaiety Theatre programme was printed for the special farewell matinee of the burlesque, Guy Fawkes, Esq, Saturday, 6 December 1890, starring Arthur Roberts.

Seymour Hicks in The Shop Girl, Gaiety Theatre, London, 1894

Seymour Hicks (1871-1949), English actor, as he appeared as Charles Appleby, a medical student, in The Shop Girl, the musical farce produced at the Gaiety Theatre, London, on 24 November 1894. It was in this show that Seymour Hicks sang ‘And the Golden Hair was Hanging Down Her Back.’
(photo: Alfred Ellis, London, 1894)

‘The Gaiety Theatre was reopened on Saturday night after having undergone extensive structural alteration at the instance of the County Council, with a new musical piece by Mr. H. Darn [i.e. H.J.W. Dam] entitled The Shop Girl. There is a distinct resemblance between the general structure and idea of Mr. Darn’s [sic] piece and the highly successful Gaiety Girl, and it is quite evident that the London playgoer has not yet tired of a form of entertainment which is a species of hybrid between burlesque and comedy opera. The Shop Girl depends for its attractions, not on any cohesion of story or any attempt at plot, but on its songs and dances and the drolleris of the members of the company performing it… . Mr. Seymour Hicks shows a distinct advance in his art in the part usually associated in this theatre with Mr. Arthur Roberts. His singing is particularly good and he seems to have a decided gift for dancing of a grotesque but highly amusing character… .’
(Freeman’s Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, Dublin, Monday, 25 November 1894, p. 7b)

‘… Mr. Seymour Hicks shows cleverness of a quality superior to the work he has to do in The Shop Girl, and acts, sings, and dances with an activity and a refinement worthy of comedy. By his tactful treatment he almost disguises the unpleasant flavour of his song about the girl with the golden hair… .’
(The Era, London, Saturday, 1 December 1894, p. 8b)

programme cover for Indiana, Avenue Theatre, London, 1886

programme cover of H.B. Farnie’s English version of Edmond Audran’s comic opera, Indiana, produced at the Comedy Theatre, Manchester, 4 October 1886, prior to its London first night at the Avenue Theatre, London, 11 October 1886

The cast of the English version of Audran’s Indiana was headed by Arthur Roberts as Matt o’the Mill, Joseph Tapley as Philip Jervaulx, Miss Wadman as Indiana Greyfaunt and Phyllis Broughton as Lady Prue.

programme cover of H.B. Farnie’s English version of Edmond Audran’s comic opera, Indiana, produced at the Comedy Theatre, Manchester, 4 October 1886, prior to its London first night at the Avenue Theatre, London, 11 October 1886

The cast of the English version of Audran’s Indiana was headed by Arthur Roberts as Matt o’the Mill, Joseph Tapley as Philip Jervaulx, Miss Wadman as Indiana Greyfaunt and Phyllis Broughton as Lady Prue.

Clara Wieland

a cabinet photograph of Clara Wieland (fl. 1890s), English music hall comedienne, actress and dancer, autographed for the celebrated London perruquier and costumier Willie Clarkson (1865-1934)
(photo: Warwick Brookes, 350 Oxford Road, Manchester, England, circa 1896)

‘Clara Wieland, the celebrated serpentine dancer, has been associated with the stage from the time she began to think. She has traveled with her father [W.H. Wieland, 1852?-1922], and his invention, the celebrated ”Zeo” [i.e. Adelaide Wieland, the trapeze artist known as Zaeo] all over the continent of Europe and into Egypt, and wherever a length stay was made Clara was placed under the best procurable master of music, singing, acting, mime and dancing. She is an excellent linguist and remarkably well informed. Her varied training has been invaluable in her career, for French, Italian, and even Arabic, came to her with the facility of her mother tongue, which explains the perfect accent she gives to the foreign songs that form so piquant an attraction in her vocal selection. At the time she was born her father had just left the Crystal and Alexandra Palaces, London, where he has managed the amusements for years, and had gone to the continent with his circus, and the circus life came as almost part of herself. Entering into its excitement, she became an efficient haute ecole equestrienne. Her love for singing, however, prevailed, and her father indulged her fancies and carefully instructed her. When she was capable she made her first appearance before the public at the Empire [Leicester Square], London, in June, 1893, by creating a new prismatic serpentine dance. For five years she exhibited at the Aquarium [Westminster, London], where she produced her mirror dance. After this she was engaged as a vocalist at the Empire, where she remained sixty-nine weeks. A short engagement in the variety halls followed, ending with the Palace theater [Cambridge Circus, London], where she remained until the night before she sailed for America.’
(The Gazette, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Wednesday, 25 December 1895, p. 4c/d)

‘CLARA WIELAND.
‘A Beautiful Young Actress Who Has Come Into Prominence Recently.
‘In the cast of the ill fated imported London monstrosity Gentleman Joe, which was recently seen in New York [at Henry Miner’s Firth Avenue Theatre, 6 January 1896, for ten performances, with M.B. Curtis in the title role, a part created in London by Arthur Roberts; and with a different cast at the Bijou Theatre, 29 February 1896, for 48 performances, with James T. Powers in the title role, and Clara Wieland as Emma, a part created in London by Kitty Loftus] and a few – a very few – of the larger cities, there was a young woman who at once attracted the attention of the dramatic critics. Columns were devoted to descriptions of her beautiful face and figure and her refreshingly original and thoroughly refined methods. She appeared to be a natural born comedienne and was hailed as one of the rapidly rising lights of comic opera and travesty. The name of the young woman was Clara Wieland, and she was by no means a newcomer or a discovery of the New York critics, for her ability had long been recognized in almost every other large city in the United States.
‘Miss Wieland is an English girl. Her father was for many years the proprietor of a large circus which spent the greater portion of each year in London. His daughter early displayed a marked inclination for the stage and no obstacle was put in her way. While she was still a little girl her father went on an extended tour of foreign countries with his circus, spending a long time in Egypt. Miss Wieland had by this time shown that she was possessed of an exceptionally good voice of rather light caliber, and at each place visited she was put under the care of the best vocal instructors to be had. Her dancing lessons were also faithfully kept up.
‘Later on came a course of instruction in the musical centers of France and Italy, and then Miss Wieland was ready to make her debut. This occurred less than four years ago at a prominent London music hall, where she scored a tremendous hit and was at once engaged for a certain number of weeks each year for three years. Her popularity with the habitues continued to increase, however, and her original engagement, which was intended to last only a month or so, was prolonged until she had been at the music hall for 68 weeks uninterruptedly. She was then the rage and her services were constantly in demand.
‘A firm of American managers brought her over to this country, where she duplicated her success in the vaudevilles. Latterly she has appeared in burlesques of the class of Gentleman Joe, and it is rumored that she will probably be one of the leading members of the cast of a prominent comic opera organization next season. Miss Wieland sings as well as she dancers and acts as well as she does either. The fact that she is bewitchingly pretty and intensely ”chic” is naturally not a drawback to her future success, which is as certain as anything can be which has not actually occurred.’
(Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Thursday, 4 June 1896, p. 6b)

Tivoli music hall, London
‘Since our last visit Miss Clara Wieland has considerably improved her impersonations of prominent musical composers, a form of entertainment that Biondi made popular at the same house. The spectacle of a charming young lady in short skirts and decolletée bodice conducting an orchestra is a somewhat curious one, but there can be no doubt of the artist’s cleverness, whatever we may think as to the reasonableness of its display. We prefer the fair Clara in her chic and animated rendering of a chanson from La Femme Narcisse, entitled ”Ca fait toujour plaisir,” or her mimicry of a plantation Negro in the song ”That high-born gal of mine,” which has been stamped in this country with the hallmark of popularity by Mr Eugene Stratton.’
(The Era, London, Saturday, 18 September 1897, p. 18a)

Louise Montague

a carte de visit photograph of Louise Montague (1859-1910),
American actress and singer
(photo: Sarony, New York, circa 1883)

‘Miss Louise Montague, a member of the variety-theatre profession born in New York, aged 21, has been selected by Mr. Forepaugh as the winner of his prize of $10,000 for the handsomest woman in the country. In complexion she is a semi-brunette. Her lips are cherry, teeth regular and pearly, and visible at every smile through a large but not disproportionate mouth; has large expressive brown eyes, a symmetrical nose and an intelligent cast of countenance. In conversation – and she is possessed of a fund of sparkling talk – every feature if animated, and her flashing eyes and health-tinted cheeks, coupled with a vivacious manner, lend an additional charm to her demeanor. She is of medium height and figure and has a little foot.’
(The Lancaster Daily Intelligencer, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Monday, 4 April 1881, p. 2b/c)

New York, 29 April 1887.
‘Capt. Alfred Thompson and Joseph Brooks, composing the Imperial Burlesque Company, have been sued for [$]8500 by Miss Louise Montague, whom they had engaged for four weeks, commencing May 29th, and whom they discharged because she would not sing for them, so that they might judge of her vocal powers.’
(The Era, London, Saturday, 14 May 1887, p. 15e)

‘Louise Montague, the $10,000 beauty, is making the hit of The Gondoliers in the company that is touring through the West [United States], and she makes it by high kicking. It was reported a year ago that she was studying for opera and it is evident that the report was true.’
(The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday, 20 April 1890, p, 18g)

‘Don Juan [to be produced on 28 October 1893] at the Gaiety [London], is to have the services of Mr. Arthur Roberts, Mr. Robert Pateman, Mr. Arthur Playfair, Mr. Edmund Payne, Miss Millie Hylton, Miss Sylvia Grey, Miss Katie Seymour, Miss Cissie Loftus, and Miss Louise Montague, a young singer from America.’
(The Birmingham Daily Post, Birmingham, England, Monday, 18 September 1893, p. 6h)

‘LOUISE MONTAGUE DEAD.
‘Was Famous ”Ten Thousand Dollar Beauty” of Forepaugh’s Circus.
‘Louise M. Montague, once heralded over the country as the ”Ten Thousand Dollar Beauty,” died on Tuesday at her home, 164 Manhattan Avenue. Louise Montague was an actress with Edward E. Rice’s company in The Corsair, and later became a star of David Henderson’s Sinbad the Sailor.
‘Adam Forepaugh, the circus proprietor, determined to make her beauty the feature of his circus, and in 1878 he engaged her to travel with his circus. She was advertise as the ”Ten Thousand Dollar Beauty,” and rode in the parades in a gorgeous chariot especially constructed for her.’
(The New York Times, Thursday, 17 March 1910)

‘DEATH DRAWS VEIL ON $10,000 BEAUTY
‘Louise Montague, Who Captured the Big Beauty Prize Money, Dies.
‘NEW YORK March 16 [1910]. – ”Montague, Louise M., died on Tuesday at her residence, 184 Manhattan avenue.”
‘This simple death notice appeared in the New York papers today. It was written in the main by Louise Montague herself a week before her death, the day on which death would come being left blank, to be filled in by the undertaker.
‘Few who read this notice know that the Louise Montague, whose death was so simply chronicled, was the woman who was once heralded far and wide over the country as the ”Ten Thousand Dollar Beauty.”
‘After the first rage over her had subsided she sought the quiet of private life, but a few years afterwards went on the stage because it was discovered that she had talents equal to her beauty.
‘Then Forepaugh with a showman’s acumen, offered a $10,000 prize for the most beautiful woman in America and had the judges select Louise Montague. Riding on a gorgeous chariot she was a feature of his circus parades.
‘But just before she died she asked that all the old pictures of herself in the days of her fleeting glory be brought to her, and tonight they stood on the mantel and on chairs in the room where Louise Montague lay in her coffin. Pinned on the wall was a glaring, many-colored poster – ”Forepaugh’s prize beauty” – and over the mantel was a faded photograph, life size of Louise Montague as ”Sindbad the Sailor.”’
(Evening Bulletin, Honolulu, Friday, 1 April 1910, p. 10c/d)