Connie Gilchrist (1865-1946), English artist’s model, dancer and actress, as she appeared as The Slave of the Lamp in Aladdin; or, the Sacred Lamp, a burlesque by Robert Reece, produced at the Gaiety Theatre, London, on 24 December 1881. Other members of the cast included Edward Terry, Nellie Farren, E.W. Royce, Kate Vaughan and J.J. Dallas.
(photo: W. & D. Downey, London, 1881/82)
(Wilhelm) Meyer Lutz (1829-1903), German-born English composer and conductor, and resident musical director and conductor at the Gaiety Theatre, London, between 1869 and 1894.
(photo: Russell & Sons, London, circa 1885)
‘A LONDON FAVORITE ‘MEYER LUTZ.
‘The death of one so popular with all who know him as the late Herr Meyer Lutz has caused widespread regret among the older generation of London playgoers. A man of the most genial temperament and a musician of no small accomplishment. M. Lutz had always at command a fund of amusing anecdote and reminiscence relating alike to his twenty-five years’ experience at the Gaiety and to his earlier career as organist in Birmingham, Leeds and elsewhere, while his capacity for hard work and business aptitudes made him an invaluable helper in all the enterprises with which he was associated. Some of his stories of the famous artists he had known – Mario with his perpetual cigar, Grisi (ready to give a street singer a diamond ring if his efforts pleased her), Madame Sainton Dolby, Mrs Kendal, Alfred Wigan, Terry, Royce, Fred Leslie, Nellie Farren, Kate Vaughan, Arthur Roberts and others whose genius burned in the old days at the shrine of the sacred lamp [of burlesque (i.e. the Gaiety Theatre)] – were very amusing, but never unkind, for Lutz was as much beloved by his fellow artists as he was admired by the general pubic who found such delight in his bright and captivating music.
‘On one occasion, Lutz used to relate, when he was conducting a performance or Maritana, the leader of the orchestra was particularly bad, so, when it came to his violin solo in the second Act, Lutz pretended as if by accident to known the desk down on which was the music. Then while the player was fumbling about on the ground to find it, Lutz started his solo on the harmonium, and so got over the difficulty. Another instance of similar resourcefulness on the part of [Alfred] Wigan he used to recall. In this case Wigan was supposed to play the piano in a certain piece, but as he knew nothing of music a dummy instrument was provided, and it was Lutz’s business to play on another piano behind the scenes. On the occasion in question the boy forgot to call Lutz, so that when Wigan sat down and proceeded to play not a sound resulted. Grasping the situation in a moment he blandly observed that he had ”forgotten his music,” left the stage, routed out Lutz, returned with a roll of music, and sat down once more at the ”dummy,” when of course all went well.’
(widely printed in the Press, including West Gippsland Gazette, Warragul, Victoria, Australia, Tuesday, 14 April 1903, p. 5b)
Lola Lee (fl. 1908-1912), English dancer
(photo: Bassano, London, circa 1910)
‘Miss Lola Lee, who has distinguished herself at the Tivoli in her Oriental dances, is probably going to give Paris a taste of her talent. She has been carefully trained under Mr. John D’Auban. Her repertoire is not confined to Eastern dances.’
(Daily Express, London, Wednesday, 16 December 1908, p. 7f)
‘MISS LOLA LEE, a cousin of Mrs. Langtry, who has been specially engaged to appear at the London Hippodrome from Monday next. She will make a very special appeal with a Kate Vaughan measure. The late Miss Vaughan always declared that there was no dance more difficult to execute with grace than a slow waltz that took the dancer off the floor at each turn, and required her to ”reach” it again without shaking the body. Miss Lola Lee is a pupil of Mr. John D’Auban and has caught the Kate Vaughan grace of movement. Miss Lee is only 14 years of age, but looks like a woman and dances like one. All Miss Lee’s dances are preformed in high-heeled shoes, a performance very seldom attempted by balled dancers.’
(P.I.P.: Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times, London, Saturday, 30 April 1910, p. 562)
‘SPIRITS OF THE DESERT.
‘WEIRD EFFECTS IN A MUSICAL SPECTACLE.
‘The fantastic flittings of Miss Lola Lee and her companions lend a finishing touch of reality to Mr. Holford Bottomley’s musical spectacle, entitled ”The Desert,” of which the first performance takes place to-night on the occasion of Clarke’s College prize distribution at the Albert Hall.
‘The Dance of the Dancing Girls is only one of many vivid effects. In the course of four scenes we are introduced to a sequence of panoramic events. A ghostly, chanting procession of desert spirits is followed by the dread swirl of a storm which overtakes an Aram encampment, and pell-mell, calling on Allah to save them, the travellers hurl themselves this way and that in an abandon of terror.
‘Calm is restored, and with the fall of evening come diversions of song, jugglery, and dance. Night passes, and the Arabs prepare to depart. The droning sound of prayer is heard, and the caravan disappears, and the final tableau – ”Allah! Allah!” – fittingly concludes a pageant peopled with lean, dusky-limbed forms in tossing draperies and haunted with the throb of the kettle-drum.
‘The work is founded on Felicien David’s symphonic ode, and set throughout to suitable music. Mr. Holford Bottomley is to be congratulated on his invention, and Mr. George Clarke on the admirable choice of a programme.’
(Daily Express, London, Monday, 22 April 1912, p. 9b/c)
Kate Vaughan (1852-1903), English dancer and actress
(photo: Fradelle & Marshall, London, circa 1875)
Kate Vaughan receives a magistrate’s apology, London, 1874
‘Miss Kate Vaughan, the famous <I>danseuse</I>, appeared as a witness in a paltry case of letter stealing heard at the Guildhall Police-court on Monday last. The charge was not proved, and Sir Thomas White, the Magistrate, expressed his regret that the lady should have been dragged into the matter at all.’
(The Era, London, Sunday, 30 August 1874, p. 4d)
Footlight Notes 