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Soho Theatre (19th Century)
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.Royalty Theatre at the Arthur Lloyd site accessed 23 March 2007 The architect was . The theatre's opening was ill-fated, and it was little used for a decade. It changed its name twice and was used by an opera company, amateur drama companies and for French pieces. In 1861, it was renamed the New Royalty Theatre, and the next year it was leased by Mrs |
La Périchole
''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The opera depicts the mutual love of two impoverished Peruvian street singers – too poor to afford a marriage licence – and a lecherous viceroy, Don Andrès de Ribeira, who wishes to make La Périchole his mistress. Love eventually triumphs. The story is based loosely on the play ''Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement'' by Prosper Mérimée (1828), and the title character is based on the Peruvian entertainer Micaela Villegas. ''La Perichole'' was first seen in a two-act version on 6 October 1868 at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris, with Hortense Schneider in the title role, José Dupuis as Piquillo and Pierre-Eugène Grenier as the Viceroy. A revised three-act version premiered at the same theatre on 25 April 1874, with the same three stars. The work is considered more sentimental than the earlier Offenbach satires, and the score is infused with S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kate Santley
Evangeline Estelle Gazina (c. 1837Culme, John ''Footlight Notes'', No. 361, 14 August 2004, accessed 7 September 2012; an"Kate Santley by Sarony Cabinet Card" ''Remains to Be Seen'', accessed 7 September 2012 – 18 January 1923), better known under her stage name, Kate Santley, was a German-born British actress, singer and comedian. After spending her childhood in the US, she came to England in 1861, where she had a successful career, later also becoming a theatre manager. Early life Santley's parents emigrated from Germany to Charleston, South Carolina, where she was educated. At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, she came to England as a practising musician, but soon afterwards went on the stage as "Eva Stella", later becoming "Kate Santley". Musical theatre career Santley made a name in the 1860s in British music halls and Drury Lane Theatre pantomimes. Early in her career, she was popular for singing the song "The Bell goes a-ringing for Sarah." At the Oxfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
While Parents Sleep
''While Parents Sleep'' is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Adrian Brunel and starring Jean Gillie, Enid Stamp Taylor and Romilly Lunge. The film is a screen adaptation of a 1932 play of the same name by Anthony Kimmins, which had been a popular success on the West End stage in the West End of London. Unlike many of Brunel's 1930s quota quickie films, ''While Parents Sleep'' has survived and is regarded as an example of his ability to produce a worthwhile film under the most straitened of financial conditions. The ''Time Out Film Guide'' notes: "With a couple of tatty sets and a bunch of unknown actors, he produces a witty, sharply-paced, economical essay on class and manners in inter-war Britain." It was produced by Transatlantic Film Corporation and British & Dominions Film Corporation. Premise The film is a farce about the romantic adventures of two young men with women of differing social backgrounds and the revelation of their true worth. Cast * Jean Gillie as Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Vortex
''The Vortex'' is a play in three acts by the English writer and actor Noël Coward. The play depicts the sexual vanity of a rich, ageing beauty, her troubled relationship with her adult son, and drug abuse in British society circles after the First World War. The son's cocaine habit is seen by many critics as a metaphor for homosexuality, then taboo in Britain. Despite, or because of, its scandalous content for the time, the play was Coward's first great commercial success. The play premiered in November 1924 in London and played in three theatres until June 1925, followed by a British tour and a New York production in 1925–26. It has enjoyed several revivals and a film adaptation. Background In the years after the First World War, pairings in England of older, upper-class women and younger men were common. The idea for the play was put in Coward's mind by an incident at a nightclub. Grace Forster, the elegant mother of his friend Stewart Forster, was talking to a young a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
