Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Her Majesty's Theatre Fire
In the early morning hours of 23rd March 1902 another fire occurred in the heart of Sydney.
Her Majesty's Theatre on the corner of Market and Pitt Street went up in flames. The theatre had a hotel attached and almost shared a wall with its other neighbours.
The fire decimated the theatre as can be seen in this photo from the Town and Country Journal
Tragically a young woman was killed when a wall at the back of the theatre collapsed upon her. She was a cleaning lady and was doing the early morning rounds of the theatre when the fire broke out.
Fortunately the fire brigade managed to contain the blaze and it did not spread to other parts of the city.
JC Williamson lost 35000 pounds worth of sets and equipment, but the theatrical community pitched in and helped with a benefit performance for him and for the people who lost their jobs through the destruction of the theatre.
Naturally they rebuilt .
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Australian theatre programmes of the 20th century
For example during World War 1 programmes were on rough paper, in black and white like this
During the 1920s the programmes reflected the optimism and excitement of the times. They were also in many cases beautiful artistic worksThis is a full colour cover and a booklet printed on glossy paper.
Of course as the depression came, the programmes became less showy.
The Williamson programme above is from 1931. The same cover was used through 1931 only the pictures of the stars on the cover changed. It was a booklet, but in black and white.
As the economy improved so did the programmes. Williamson updated to colour covers, but still kept the same cover through the mid 1930s.
Of course during the Second World War the theatres had to show patriotism by keeping their programmes simple. They went back to brouchure type programmes, many with colour covers like the one below from 1943.
Theatre history is a reflection of cultural and economic history. The above programmes are a fantastic illustration of the relevance of our theatrical history to the wider history of Australia.
Monday, October 18, 2010
William Anderson
Above are Bill and Eugenie on the cover of a programme. Eugenie soon became the leading lady of Bill's company.
Bill spent 15000 pounds on Wonderland, it had a circus, a helter skelter, rides, amusement halls and other entertainments. At times it had its own vaudeville performances. It also had wowser neighbours who complained about the noise and the obstruction of the beach.
With all these enterprises, it was perhaps inevitable that the freewheeling Bill would get into financial difficulties. After 4 years Wonderland was closed, his productions became scarce and Bill's life became a bit less flamboyant
Friday, October 15, 2010
Carrie Moore
Above is a picture of Carrie in costume for an Australian production.
She returned to Australia in 1908 and was Australia's first Merry Widow.( picture below.)
I've long been fascinated by Carrie and wrote a small book about her.
She died in Sydney in 1956 after living an incredible life.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Maud Jeffries
During that tour she met a young man called James Osborne who was the son of a wealthy squatter family. He was smitten with her and somehow joined the company. They acted together, and in 1905 he asked her to marry him. She agreed, finished the tour in 1906 and then retired from the stage.
Above you can see Maud acting as a very domestic Edwardian lady. Although many of the aristocratic marriages in England caused scandal, this marriage in the colonies, wasn't really frowned upon. In fact one of the papers said that James was a very lucky man.
Maud had a son, and lived out her life in the country with James. She made one appearance on stage before her death, a benefit with Julius Knight in 1910. She died in 1946 outliving her husband.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The London Gaiety Burlesque Company
They performed two burlesques of opera on the tour, Faust up to date and Carmen up to data. These were,of course, parodies of the originals.
A tour by the Gaiety company was a huge event because they represented the very best in English entertainment, so everything about the production was of high quality, including the souvenirs.
One example was a lovely, "Souvenir of the Gaiety Theatre, George Edwardes" Which included a set of eight sketches by Percy Anderson.
Above is a soldier
This is Carmen and below is Frasquita.
These are beautiful examples of the time and effort that was taken to make visiting the theatre such a special experience in the late 19th Century.
More information about the tour is here
Monday, October 11, 2010
Harry Rickards and the Tivoli Theatre
Below is a letter dated 1893 on Harry Rickards' stationery. I'm not sure if it's signed by Rickards or by his brother Jack Leete. The Tivoli circuit was a family affair and Jack managed a lot of the business side.
This is a picture of Harry Rickards from an early 20th Century magazine. It outlines all the theatres he operated in Australia. These included the Tivoli in Sydney, The Opera House in Melbourne, and theatres in Adelaide and Brisbane. As you can see, Rickards had no problem with self promotion.
Finally, below is a 19th Century postcard of the New Opera House in Melbourne. It was later called the Tivoli and was run by Rickards. A shopping mall now stands on the site.
Frank Van Straten's book on the Tivoli called Tivoli, covers everything you want to know about the history of this legendary theatre chain.