Lily Elsie about the time of her return to the stage in the title role of Pamela, Palace Theatre, London, 1917

Lily Elsie (1886-1962), English star of musical comedy, upon her return to the stage in the title role of Pamela, comedy with music by Arthur Wimperis and Frederic Norton, Palace Theatre, London, 10 December 1917
(photo: unknown, probably London, 1916/1917)

‘MISS LILY ELSIE.
‘I hear them talking. For once they all agreed. Not time or love or circumstance could change her – she must succeed. She was Lily Elsie. I did not marvel. She is such a sweet woman. Men and women love her equally. Could anyone wish for greater blessing? What is her fascination? Perhaps it is charm. That elusive quality. Few women and fewer men possess it. She alone of all our stage women possesses it to the full. She is herself – Lily Elsie. Queen of Hearts – back on the stage once more. If Alfred Butt never did anything else he has earned in that achievement the gratitude of playgoers everywhere.’
(The Pelican, London, Friday, 1 February 1918, p. 3)

Note the similarity between this photograph and Sir James Jebusa Shannon’s portrait of Miss Elsie, which has been dated to circa 1916.

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Régine Flory, French singer and dancer, a Parisian and London favourite

Régine Flory (née Marie Antoinette Artaz, 1894-1926), French singer and dancer, as she appeared in a revue at the Cigale, Paris, during 1919.
(photo: Felix, Paris, 1919)

‘Mlle. Régine Flory is another young artist of great promise. Hitherto she had always seemed an excellent revue star, but in a recent revue at the Cigale she revealed an astonishing tenderness and dramatic intensity. Next she will be see in The Bird of Paradise. I should dearly love to see her as – Juliette.’
(Tor de Arozarena, ‘The Paris Stage,’ ‘The Stage’ Year Book 1920, London, 1920, p. 61)

Mlle. Flory as she appeared in the revue, Vanity Fair, which was produced at the Palace Theatre, London, under the management of Alfred Butt on 6 November 1916. This recording of her singing ‘The Tanko,’ a ditty so disapproved of by Siegfried Sassoon, written by Arthur Wimperis, with music by Max Darewski, was recorded for the HMV label (2-3222) in the studios of The Gramophone Co Ltd at Hayes, Middlesex, near London, on 16 January 1917.

* * * * *

Regine Flory’s untimely death, which occurred at Drury Lane Theatre on 17 June 1926, during a performance of Rose Marie, was reported across the globe. For the full, distressing details, see The Times, London, Wednesday, 23 June 1926, p. 5.

‘While the performance of Rose Marie was being played to a packed house at Drury Lane, Mlle. Regine Flory, a French revue actress and dancer, shot and killed herself in the manager’s office at the theatre. It is said the tragedy occurred in the presence of Sir Alfred Butt and another man, a friend of the actress, while Mlle. Flory was having an interview with Sir Alfred over some business connected with theatrical employment. The dead woman was only 32 years of age and had appeared in various West-End shows at the Palace, Gaiety, etc. her last engagement in London was in 1917 and, it appeared, she was very desirous of again starring in a musical show. Two years ago she attempted to drown herself in the seine, and had been in ill health for some time.’
(The Vaudeville New and New York Star, New York, Friday, 9 July 1926, p. 6b)

Régine Flory (née Marie Antoinette Artaz, 1894-1926), French singer and dancer, as she appeared in a revue at the Cigale, Paris, during 1919.
(photo: Felix, Paris, 1919)

‘Mlle. Régine Flory is another young artist of great promise. Hitherto she had always seemed an excellent revue star, but in a recent revue at the Cigale she revealed an astonishing tenderness and dramatic intensity. Next she will be see in The Bird of Paradise. I should dearly love to see her as – Juliette.’
(Tor de Arozarena, ‘The Paris Stage,’ ‘The Stage’ Year Book 1920, London, 1920, p. 61)

Mlle. Flory as she appeared in the revue, Vanity Fair, which was produced at the Palace Theatre, London, under the management of Alfred Butt on 6 November 1916. This recording of her singing ‘The Tanko,’ a ditty so disapproved of by Siegfried Sassoon, written by Arthur Wimperis, with music by Max Darewski, was recorded for the HMV label (2-3222) in the studios of The Gramophone Co Ltd at Hayes, Middlesex, near London, on 16 January 1917.

* * * * *

Regine Flory’s untimely death, which occurred at Drury Lane Theatre on 17 June 1926, during a performance of Rose Marie, was reported across the globe. For the full, distressing details, see The Times, London, Wednesday, 23 June 1926, p. 5.

‘While the performance of Rose Marie was being played to a packed house at Drury Lane, Mlle. Regine Flory, a French revue actress and dancer, shot and killed herself in the manager’s office at the theatre. It is said the tragedy occurred in the presence of Sir Alfred Butt and another man, a friend of the actress, while Mlle. Flory was having an interview with Sir Alfred over some business connected with theatrical employment. The dead woman was only 32 years of age and had appeared in various West-End shows at the Palace, Gaiety, etc. her last engagement in London was in 1917 and, it appeared, she was very desirous of again starring in a musical show. Two years ago she attempted to drown herself in the seine, and had been in ill health for some time.’
(The Vaudeville New and New York Star, New York, Friday, 9 July 1926, p. 6b)

The Arcadians, Liberty Theatre, New York, 1910

some of the cast in the New York production of The Arcadians, Liberty Theatre, 17 January 1910, including (fourth from left) Julia Sanderson as Eileen Cavanagh, fifth from left) Connie Ediss as Mrs Smith, (centre, left) Frank Moulan as James Smith / Simplicitas and (centre, right), Alan Mudie as Jack Meadows
(photo: unknown, New York, 1910)

The Arcadians, an immensely popular English musical play by Mark Ambient, A.M. Thompson and Arthur Wimperis, with music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot, that ran for 810 performances at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, between June 1909 and July 1911, reached the United States early in 1910. After playing for three weeks in Philadelphia (Forrest Theatre, 4 January 1910), the Charles Frohman production moved to New York where it opened on 17 January.

Josef König and Mizzi Zwerenz
in an incident from Die keusche Susanne,
Carltheater, Vienna, 18 March 1911
(photo: L. Gutmann, Vienna, 1911)

This real photograph postcard, published in Vienna in 1911, is of Josef König and Mizzi Zwerenz in the operetta, Die keusche Susanne by Georg Okonkowski, with music by Jean Gilbert. The piece, which was originally produced at the Wilhelm-Theater, Magdeburg, on 26 February 1910, was first seen in Berlin at the Neues Operetten-Theater on 6 August 1911. The English adaptation, entitled The Girl in the Taxi, by Frederick Fenn and Arthur Wimperis, was first seen at the Lyric Theatre, London, on 5 September 1912, when the part of Susanne was played by Yvonne Arnaud.

For further information, see Kurt Gänzl, The Encyclopedia of The Musical Theatre, Blackwell, Oxford, 1994, vol. I, pp. 766-768.

Josef König and Mizzi Zwerenz
in an incident from Die keusche Susanne,
Carltheater, Vienna, 18 March 1911
(photo: L. Gutmann, Vienna, 1911)

This real photograph postcard, published in Vienna in 1911, is of Josef König and Mizzi Zwerenz in the operetta, Die keusche Susanne by Georg Okonkowski, with music by Jean Gilbert. The piece, which was originally produced at the Wilhelm-Theater, Magdeburg, on 26 February 1910, was first seen in Berlin at the Neues Operetten-Theater on 6 August 1911. The English adaptation, entitled The Girl in the Taxi, by Frederick Fenn and Arthur Wimperis, was first seen at the Lyric Theatre, London, on 5 September 1912, when the part of Susanne was played by Yvonne Arnaud.

For further information, see Kurt Gänzl, The Encyclopedia of The Musical Theatre, Blackwell, Oxford, 1994, vol. I, pp. 766-768.

Josef König and Mizzi Zwerenz
in an incident from Die keusche Susanne,
Carltheater, Vienna, 18 March 1911
(photo: L. Gutmann, Vienna, 1911)

This real photograph postcard, published in Vienna in 1911, is of Josef König and Mizzi Zwerenz in the operetta, Die keusche Susanne by Georg Okonkowski, with music by Jean Gilbert. The piece, which was originally produced at the Wilhelm-Theater, Magdeburg, on 26 February 1910, was first seen in Berlin at the Neues Operetten-Theater on 6 August 1911. The English adaptation, entitled The Girl in the Taxi, by Frederick Fenn and Arthur Wimperis, was first seen at the Lyric Theatre, London, on 5 September 1912, when the part of Susanne was played by Yvonne Arnaud.

For further information, see Kurt Gänzl, The Encyclopedia of The Musical Theatre, Blackwell, Oxford, 1994, vol. I, pp. 766-768.