Elsa Elizabeth Lewis (born c. 1903) was an Australian musician and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

performer.

Career

Elsa Lewis studied at the

Melbourne Conservatorium of Music The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music is the music school at the University of Melbourne and part of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne City Centre on the S ...

under Belgian violinist Gustave Walthers. She performed as a member of the Rhapsodie Quartette, with Dorothy Randle, Tasma Tieman, and Grace Funston. Then during the early 1920s performed at theatres around Australia including the grand opening of the Princess Theatre,

Marryatville, South Australia Marryatville is a small suburb about east of Adelaide CBD, Adelaide's central business district, in the local council area of City of Norwood Payneham St Peters. Comprising low- to medium-density housing, two large schools, a church and severa ...

on 24 November 1925, where she was billed as "Miss Elsa Lewis, the Gypsy Whistling Violinist". Her performances as a whistling violinist took her to New Zealand. Back in Australia she joined the Fuller and

Tivoli circuit The Tivoli Circuit was a successful and popular Australian vaudeville entertainment circuit featuring revue, opera, ballet, dance, singing, musical comedy, old time black and white minstrel and even Shakespeare which flourished from 1893 to th ...

and grew her popularity with audiences. During the 1930s she left Australia to perform internationally, including entertaining Allied forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She returned to Australia in 1946, after performing in England with

Jack Hylton Jack Hylton (born John Greenhalgh Hilton; 2 July 1892 – 29 January 1965) was an English pianist, composer, band leader and impresario. Hylton rose to prominence during the British dance band era, being referred as the "British King of Jazz ...

's band, having added singing

lovebirds Lovebird is the common name for the genus ''Agapornis'', a small group of parrots in the Old World parrot family Psittaculidae. Of the nine species in the genus, all are native to the African continent, with the grey-headed lovebird being native ...

to her act who sat on her arms as she played violin.

Personal life

Lewis was an only child. She grew up in

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria ** Hampton railway station, Melbour ...

, her father was Fred Lewis. Her mother was a well-known pianist. On 13 October 1923 Elsa Lewis married Robert Bruce Scott, general manager of a machinery company, ten days after meeting each other. They were divorced in 1936 when Elsa left for England. By mid-1936 she had married Ron Macdonald, a Major in the Indian Army, who joined her in her vaudeville performances. They appeared together as The Granados, and Ron and Elsa Lewis.

Gallery

File:Advertising poster for acrobatic musical novelty show, starring Ron and Elsa Lewis.jpg, Advertising poster for acrobatic musical novelty show, starring Ron and Elsa Lewis c1938-1940. File:Elsa Lewis Xmas Message 1924.jpg, Elsa Lewis Christmas message 1924

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Elsa 1900s births Date of death missing Australian violinists Australian women violinists Australian vaudeville performers