Maurice Farkoa, popular Anglo-French actor and singer, dies suddenly in New York, 1916

Maurice Farkoa (Maurice Georges Marie Farkoa, 1864?-1916), Anglo-French actor and singer
(snapshot photo: unknown, circa 1910)

‘MAURICE FARKOA.
‘Maurice Farkoa, musical comedy actor and singer, died March 21 [1916], in his apartment at 42 West 72d Street [Manhattan], following an attack of apoplexy.
‘He was born in 1867 [sic], in Smyrna, his father being French and his mother English. His first important success was in An Artist’s Model, at Daly’s, London, in 1895, and some of his best roles in London were in Kitty Grey, Three Little Maids, Lady Madcap, The Little Cherub, Miss Hook of Holland, My Mimosa Maid, Mitislow, or the Love Match, and Nightbirds.
‘His first American appearance was in 1903, when the London company appearing in Three Little Maids came to Daly’s Theatre [New York], on Sept. 1. Two years alater he again came to this country, and was seen in Dream City, The Magic Night and The Merry Countess, known in London as Nightbirds. Last Sping he had the leading role in To-Night’s the Night, and his last stage appearance was with Elsie Janis, in Miss Information. Mr. Farkoa also appeared in vaudeville.
‘Several months ago he became associated with an after theatre restaurant [Cabaret Mondain (of the Avenue de l’Opera, Paris), at 121] West Forty-fifth Street [Manhattan], which A.N. Fysher [the actor/singer and composer A Nilson Fysher, otherwise A. Nylson Fyscher], his cousin, opened.’
(The New York Clipper, New York, 8 April 1916, p. 25b)

José Collins heads the cast of The Merry Countess, Casino Theatre, New York, 1912

a scene from The Merry Countess, a comic opera based on Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, book by Gladys Unger, lyrics by Arthur Anderson, which was produced at the Casino Theatre, New York, on 20 August 1912. Members of the cast in this photograph are (left to right) José Collins (1887-1958) as Countess Rosalinda Cliquot, Forrest Huff (1876-1947), Maurice Farkoa (1864-1916) as Gabor Szabo, Claude Flemming (1884-1952) and Martin Brown (1885-1936).
(photo: White, New York, 1912)

The London version of this production was seen at the Lyric Theatre on 30 December 1911, with Constance Drever as Countess Rosalinda Cliquot and Maurice Farkoa as Gabor Szabo. Both the London and New York productions featured the striking black and white gown allotted to the character of the Countess, seen here worn by Miss Collins. This gown was the inspiration for a similar black and white outfit designed by Cecil Beaton for one of the ladies of the Ascot scene chorus in the film, My Fair Lady (1964).

Dalton Baker (1879-1970), English baritone, organist and vocal teacher

Dalton Baker (1879-1970), English baritone, organist and vocal teacher
(photo: unknown, probably UK, circa 1908)

William Henry Baker (later known as Dalton Baker) was born in Merton, Surrey, on 17 October 1879. He was one of the several children of William Baker, a labourer/bricklayer, and his wife, Charlotte Emma, daughter of William Dalton, a silk printer, who were married at Merton Parish Church on 21 May 1876. Beginning his career as a choirboy, Baker studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where he won a scholarship for singing. Billed as a pupil of Frederick Walker (1835-1913), professor of singing at the RAM, he appears to have made his debut on 11 November 1901 at Bechstein Hall, London, in a concert performance of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel given by pupils of Agnes Larkcom (The Times, London, Tuesday, 5 November 1901, p. 1d). He followed this on 5 February 1902 by his inclusion in a St. James’s Hall Ballad Concert in a programme which included Margaret Cooper, Ben Davis, Kennerly Rumford, Maurice Farkoa and others (The Times, London, Thursday, 30 January 1902, p. 1d).

In addition to many other such appearances, Dalton Baker joined several other former RAM students, including Harold Montague, to form The Scarlet Mr. E’s concert party whose members dressed as 18th Century highwaymen, complete with masks (The Stage, London, Thursday, 4 March 1954, p. 6).

Baker and his wife emigrated to Canada in October 1914, where he worked until his retirement in 1956.

* * * * *

‘DALTON BAKER TO GIVE SONG RECITAL
‘Eminent English Baritone Announces Program of Rare Interest.
‘A fine program of songs and arias by representative British composers has been chosen by Dalton Baker for his recital in the music hall of the Toronto Conservatory of Music on Tuesday evening, the 23rd inst. [February 1915]. Mr. Baker, who has recently joined the vocal faculty of the Toronto conservatory of Music, comes to Canada, with a most enviable reputation as a concert and oratorio singer. Between the years 1903 and 1913 he was principal baritone at the great festivals of Birmingham, Gloucester, Sheffield, Bristol, Hereford, etc., besides singing frequently at Royal Albert Hall, Royal Choral society, Promenade, Chappell Ballad, London, Choral Society, Bach Choir and other concerts. His program fro the 23rd embraces songs and arias by Purcell, Handel, Parry, Elgar, Stanford, Coleridge-Taylor, Sullivan, Mallison, Healey Willan, Frederick Austin and others. Healy Willan, F.R.C.O., will assist at the piano.’
The Toronto Sunday World, Toronto, Sunday, 13 February 1915, p. 10b)

Marie Studholme in the United States, 1895/96

a colour lithograph cigarette card issued in the United States in 1895 by the P. Lorillard Company for its ‘Sensation’ Cut Plug tobacco with a portrait of Marie Studholme (1872-1930), English musical comedy actress and singer, at the time of her appearances in America in An Artist’s Model
(printed by Julius Bien & Co, lithographers, New York, 1895)

An Artist’s Model, Broadway Theatre, New York, 27 December 1895
‘An Artist’s Model, as presented last night by George Edwardes‘ imported company, was received with frequent applause, and many of the musical numbers were redemanded. Still it is difficult to understand why the piece should have made such a hit in England, or why it should have been found necessary to bring over an English company to interpret it for the delectation of American audiences… .
‘Marie Studholme, the Daisy Vane of the cast, is fully as pretty as she has been heralded to be. What is more to the point, she acts, sings, and dances with coquettish archness and charming vivacity.’
(The New York Dramatic Mirror, New York, New York, Saturday, 28 December 1895, p. 16c)

‘Another transfer from Broadway is that of An Artist’s Model, which goes to the Columbia immediately after the close of its term in this city. Brooklyn gets it with the London company intact, including a group of good vocalists, a set of competent comedians, and, perhaps above all, a prize beauty in Marie P. Studholme [sic], whose loveliness of person is an object of quite reasonable admiration.’
(The Sun, New York, New York, Sunday, 9 February 1896, p. 3b)

Columbia Theatre, Brooklyn, week beginning Monday, 10 February 1896
‘George Edwardes’ company, direct from the Broadway Theatre, appeared on Monday evening in An Artist’s Model. The bright, catchy songs, funny situations, and pretty girls caught the fancy of a large and fashionable audience, and encores were the order of the evening. Maurice Farkoa‘s laughing song was a great hit, and Marie Studholme’s pretty face and cut manners took the chappies completely by storm. Others were pleased were Nellie Stewart, Allison Skipworth, Christine Mayne, and Lawrence D’Orsay.’
(The New York Dramatic Mirror, New York, New York, Saturday, 15 February 1896, p. 16c)

* * * * *

‘MARIE STUDHOLME.
‘Said to Be the Most Beautiful Woman in England.
‘The present attraction at the Broadway theater, New York, is An Artist’s Model, and the most potent magnet of that successful production is Miss Marie Studholme, who is almost universally conceded to be the most beautiful woman in all England. She was quite popular in London, but it is safe to assert that she has received more newspaper notices during the two weeks she has been in this country than had ever been accorded to her in the whole course of her theatrical career.
‘Miss Studholme is a Yorkshire lass. She was born in a little hamlet known as Baildon, near Leeds, about twenty-two years ago. She was exceptionally pretty, even as a child, and, being possessed of considerable vocal and histrionic ability, it was decided that she should become in time a grand opera prima donna. To this end a thorough training was considered necessary, and Miss Studholme accordingly made her debut in Dorothy, singing the role of Lady Betty. Her next London engagement was in La Cigale, in which she had only a small part. She suffered from ill health at about this time and found it necessary to return to her native village to recoup.
‘After a very brief retirement Miss Studholme was lured back to the British metropolis by an offer of the character of the bride in Haste to the Wedding, at the Trafalgar theater [27 July 1892, 22 performances]. There here remarkable winsomness of manner was first notices by the newspapers. An engagement in Betsy at the Criterion [22 August 1892] followed, and again the fair young actress found it necessary to go home to win back her health and strength, which have since never failed her.
‘She soon returned to the Shaftesbury theater [13 April 1893], where Morocco Bound was the attraction. Here she enjoyed a positive triumph, having been successful in no less than three parts in the piece – those originally assigned to Violet Cameron and Jennie McNulty, besides her own. The enterprising and octopian George Edwardes, recognizing that the little beauty was also possessed of extraordinary versatility, immediately made Miss Studholme an offer to join his Gaity [i.e. Gaiety Theatre] company. This was accepted, and then the Morocco Bound syndicate made her a more tempting proposition to remain. She would have preferred to stay where she was in the changed circumstances, but the agreement had already been signed, and Miss Gladys Stourton in A Gaity Girl [i.e. A Gaiety Girl] at the Prince of Wales’ theatre [14 October 1893]. Her success I that role was enormous, and when Mr. Edwardes was getting together a special company to send to the United States, Miss Studholme is said to have been his very first selection. His wisom is demonstrated by the columns of priase devoted to the little English artiste by the not infrequently hypercritical New York theatrical critics.’
(The Saint Paul Daily Globe, St. Paul, Minnesota, Sunday, 3 May 1896, p. 9c)

Maurice Farkoa and Zena Dare in Mitislaw; or, The Love Match, London Hippodrome, 1909

Maurice Farkoa and Zena Dare in Franz Lehár’s one act operetta
Mitislaw; or, The Love Match, billed as ‘A Delightful Miniature Viennese Opera,’ London Hippodrome, November 1909
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1909)

Mitislaw; or, The Love Match was the English version of Lehár’s Mitislaw der moderne, the book and lyrics by Fritz Grünbaum and Robert Bodanzky, which was first produced at the Hölle cabaret theatre, Berlin, on 5 January 1907.

‘Mr. Maurice Farkoa as Prince Mitislaw and Miss Zena Dare as Princess Amaranth, in a scene from this dainty opera, wherein the love affairs of the Prince are set forth to an accompaniment of charming music by Franz Lehár.’ Other members of the cast were Florence Wood as Tina and John Le Hay as The Chancellor.
(The Throne and Country, London, Saturday, 11 December 1909, p.542)

Maurice Farkoa and Zena Dare in Franz Lehár’s one act operetta Mitislaw; or, The Love Match, London Hippodrome, November 1909

Maurice Farkoa and Zena Dare in Franz Lehár’s one act operetta
Mitislaw; or, The Love Match, billed as ‘A Delightful Miniature Viennese Opera,’ London Hippodrome, November 1909
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1909)

Mitislaw; or, The Love Match was the English version of Lehár’s Mitislaw der moderne, the book and lyrics by Fritz Grünbaum and Robert Bodanzky, which was first produced at the Hölle cabaret theatre, Berlin, on 5 January 1907.

‘Mr. Maurice Farkoa as Prince Mitislaw and Miss Zena Dare as Princess Amaranth, in a scene from this dainty opera, wherein the love affairs of the Prince are set forth to an accompaniment of charming music by Franz Lehár.’ Other members of the cast were Florence Wood as Tina and John Le Hay as The Chancellor.
(The Throne and Country, London, Saturday, 11 December 1909, p.542)

Maurice Farkoa and Zena Dare in Franz Lehár’s one act operetta
Mitislaw; or, The Love Match, billed as ‘A Delightful Miniature Viennese Opera,’ London Hippodrome, November 1909
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1909)

Mitislaw; or, The Love Match was the English version of Lehár’s Mitislaw der moderne, the book and lyrics by Fritz Grünbaum and Robert Bodanzky, which was first produced at the Hölle cabaret theatre, Berlin, on 5 January 1907.

‘Mr. Maurice Farkoa as Prince Mitislaw and Miss Zena Dare as Princess Amaranth, in a scene from this dainty opera, wherein the love affairs of the Prince are set forth to an accompaniment of charming music by Franz Lehár.’ Other members of the cast were Florence Wood as Tina and John Le Hay as The Chancellor.
(The Throne and Country, London, Saturday, 11 December 1909, p.542)

a scene from To-night’s the Night

a scene from George Grossmith and Edward Laurillard’s production of To-Night’s The Night, first staged (after a trial at New Haven) at the Shubert Theatre, New York, 24 December 1914, with, left to right, James Blakely as Montagu Lovitt-Lovitt, George Grossmith as Dudley Mitten and Emmy Wehlen as June

the piece ran at the Shubert until March 1915 after which, with various cast changes, it toured the United States;
meanwhile, Blakely, Grossmith and others returned to London, where
To-Night’s the Night opened at the Gaiety Theatre on 28 April 1915,
when the part of June was played by Haidée de Rance (later replaced by Madge Saunders)
(photo: White, New York, 1914/15)

‘There has been, inevitably, an influx of English actors and English plays. Six entire theatrical companies are said to have arrived in their entirely in New York. Charles Frohman announced the past week that he intended to close his Duke of York’s Theater in London and transplant the company to Chicago. Marie Lohr, Irene Vanbrugh and Godfrey Tearle will head the Chicago all-star company.
‘George Grossmith, Jr., and Edward Laurillard intend bringing a company of 60 players, including a majority of the Gaiety favorites, to this country [a modernized version of] the old farce, ‘Pink Dominoes. In the cast are Emmy Wehlen, Iris Hooey [sic], Max Dearly, Robert Nainby and Mr. Grossmith himself. They will sail for New York November 28.’
(The Evening Public Ledger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Saturday, 21 November 1914, p. 12a/b)

To-Night’s the Night, on tour in the United States, at the Lyric Theatre, Philadelphia
‘Tonight’s the Night is a drama from the English of Fred Thompson – as we Drama Leaguers put it about Ibsen. Anybody at the Lyric could tell it came from London by the flora, fauna and indehiscent polycarpellaries. When a stout gentleman, with a dreadnought wife says, ”What a pretty shape that house maid has. I mean what a pretty shape he has made the house”; when that fell remark is brazenly followed up by allusions to law cases and corkscrews; when a stony stare is described, with intent to kill, as a geological survey, then you may truly know that you are in the presence of English whit and ‘humour.
‘Those an ”med’cine” and ”ridic’lous” didn’t settle the question of pedigree or pleasure for the audience at the Lyric last night, for you can suffer that sort of thing in any Frohman importation. The present specimen was redeemed, redeemed completely and gloriously, by a real London company, doing the piece just as it would have done it if Tonight’s the Night had been produced at the Gaiety first instead of over here in America. The chorus proved it the minute it came on. It had a ladylike air about it. It breathed the refinement of duchesses in reduced circumstances. Probably that was because we are naturally too unused to the English girl to be able to detect subtle shadings. No doubt there are dozens of Englishmen who could say, ”That one isn’t a lady,” or ”This one will be some day.” But that doesn’t matter. There they were with their fresh complexions – fresh, but not from the rouge box – their softly curling flaxen hair, their gray-blue eyes, their gleaming teeth and their large, admirable noses. A languid chorus, maybe, that dawdled among while the music kicked up its heels and ran off. But a change for us! The second string wasn’t so good, but what can you expect in one show? ‘At any rate, you need not expect so many excellent principals. Lauri de Frece, a good-looking tenor-or-thereabouts with a sense of humor, capable of going punting on the sofa and flinging flowers to himself. Teddy Webb, playing the sort of fat uncle part James Blakely always does – and used to do in the present case. Wilfred Seagram, another of those good-looking young Englishmen, holding down, quite successfully, George Grossmith’s shoes. Edward Nainby, as a grotesque in the style of George Graves. Maurice Farkoa, cooing his songs with all the art of a chamber recital. Davy Burnaby, polite comedian, and added feature.
‘As for women – Ethel Baird, as an Iris Hoey: Allison Skipworth, as a matron of a decidedly subtle type, and Fay Compton, her delightful self, a beautiful women and also an artist in the subtleties that make ladies’ maids ladies’ maids, even if they are adored by sundry leading men.
‘And outside all the list of the Allies, Emmy Wehlen, the Von Hindenburg, the Von Kluck, of Tonight’s the Night, dashing from the eastern front to the west, sweeping down on Warsaw, plunging a new drive on Paris. Languid English girls are very nice, ever so much nicer than American tango fiends. But ‘way for the lady from Germany!
‘All of which forgets the plot and music. For the first, understand that Tonight’s the Night is supplied with the dramatic details of that veteran farce, The Pink Domino – perhaps a few too many for the amount of music. And as for the music, it may not be up to American tunes as ragtime, but its composer is aware of the existence of the bassoon. And that is a good deal.
‘Tonight’s the Night is fresh from England, fresh as an English daisy. So far it has acquired only three bad habits: allusions to B.V.D.’s, Fatimas and the inevitable Ford.’
(The Evening Public Ledger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, 4 May 1915, p. 7a)

This Way, Madam!, Queen’s Theatre, London, 1913

a lithograph postcard reduction of the poster for
Sydney Blow and Douglas Hoare’s farce, This Way, Madam!,
Queen’s Theatre, London, 27 September 1913
(printed by Johnson, Riddle & Co Ltd, London, 1913)

Sydney Blow and Douglas Hoare’s farce, This Way, Madam!, was produced at the Queen’s Theatre, London, on 27 September 1913 after an initial week’s run at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, beginning 15 September 1913. Besides Maurice Farkoa in the leading role of Armand Desroches and Mabel Sealby as Marie Ange, other members of the cast included Henry Wenman, Arthur Chesney, Arthur Hatherton, Maud Cressall, Peggy Doyle and Dorothy Rundell. The piece ran for 56 performances, closing on 15 November 1913.