Press Clippings for the week ending
Saturday, 17 May 2003

A random selection of cuttings
from newspapers and magazines

An appeal on behalf of Ramo Samee's Widow, London, 1850

Ramo Samee (1815-1849), Indian juggler and sword swallower

(Bell's Life in London, London, Sunday, 1 September 1850, p.3a)

* * * * * * * * Callender's Coloured Minstrels at the Holborn Theatre, London, 1884 'Callender's Coloured Minstrels are making an experiment just now at this theatre, and on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday nights [12, 14, 15 April 1884] the large house was crowded, and the audience was enthusiastic. The type of entertainment which was tendered by the Haverly Troupe some two or three years ago is followed pretty closely by the Callenders; in fact, some of the foremost members of the first-named combination are to be found among the company now disporting at the Holborn. The voices of the singers who are entrusted with the best work are of excellent quality, and the various songs and refrains are capitally sung. There is not a "Melon Man" in this company but there is something like his counterfeit in the "Charcoal Man," who, if he is not as good a comedian as Mr. McAndrews, is a better grotesque dancer. The drill of the small army of Zouaves is, perhaps, the best thing of the kind that we have seen in this country. This is a truly admirable feature. There is an excellent contortionist among the troupe, and though he does nothing that we have never seen accomplished before, his achievements are marked by a freedom which has been rarely seen. The prima donna is a singer of fair voice and florid execution. The stage management is wonderfully good, and the majority of the features of the programme are enjoyable. The weakest portion of the scheme is to be found in the orchestral department. After listening to accompaniments played by the Moore and Burgess's and the Mohawks, the orchestration supplied by the Callenders does not compare at all favourably.' (The Entr'acte, London, Saturday, 19 April 1884, p.6b) * * * * * * * * Charmion at the Alhambra, London, 1898

Charmion (née Laverie Cooper , 1875-1949)
American vaudeville performer and trapeze artist

(photo: unknown, probably London, circa 1898)

'When No. 10 was stuck up, I saw by the programme that it referred to "Charmion, the Sensational Trapeze Artiste." A trapeze and a net were then produced on the stage, and we sat and waited for "Charmion." Then a lady walked on at the wings in ordinary dress and with her parasol up, and looked round. Nobody seemed to know who she was, and I'm bound to say I thought at the time that it was a bit careless of the management to let unauthorised people stroll about the stage in this way when the curtain was up. The lady looked at us and then at the trapeze, and then she deliberately walked up a ladder into the net and attempted to climb on to the trapeze bar. I quite expected to have somebody hurry on the stage and throw the strange lady off; but she was allowed to continue her preposterous attempts to climb about in a Bond Street hat and a frock to match. 'All at once an idea occurred to the lady, and she carried it out before I had time to protest. She simply peeled off the top half of her dress in the hope that she would be able to swing better without it. Finding, however, that her skirts still impeded her movements, she gazed at them ruefully, and then threw a glance up at the gallery to see if anybody was looking. Presently she ventured so far as to put her hands behind her waist and engage in some mysterious feat of untying or unbuckling; and in the middle of her task she stopped and looked round as if she somehow had the impression that her proceedings might be perhaps just a little bit irregular. Just then a gentleman upstairs called out encouragingly: "Go on; don't mind us!" and the lady went with a bang. She let go her moorings, as it were, and as her skirt fell off into the net below, she started to deal with her stays. 'At this point I got up and told the programme lady that I was going round to see the manager. I explained to her that I was alone in London, and I have been brought up very respectably indeed, and wasn't used to this kind of thing. By this time, however, the stays had come off, and as there was only a single white garment and a pair of hose left to dispose of, I thought I might as well stay and see the show out so that I would know what I was talking about when the subject cropped up afterwards. It appeared that this lady was Charmion herself; and she had hit upon the happy idea of supplementing her smart trapeze performance with a wardrobe lesson, doubtless with the charitable view of showing the young men present what a lady wears and how she takes it off when preparing for a bath. I am bound to say that I missed one article of attire which Charmion didn't take off that evening. I don't pretend to know much about it, of course, but I have seen them hanging on clothes-lines in the suburbs, and I have always understood that they were more or less essential details of the feminine wardrobe.' (Pick-Me-Up, London, Saturday, 3 September 1898, p.359a/b) * * * * * * * * Marie Lloyd at the Middlesex music hall, London, 1900

Marie Lloyd (1870-1922), England’s premier music hall comedienne

(photo: unknown, probably London, circa 1900)

'One orb that shines with greater brilliancy than the rest is Miss Marie Lloyd, who has to acknowledge an enthusiastic welcome when she makes her entry in a brilliant dress that sends a thrill of joy thought the ladies assembled. In the "Language of the eye" she tells a humorous tale that lacks not a dash of pathos, while the vitality of "The girl in the khaki dress" become more wonderful still. Nor is Miss Lloyd then allowed to go, for the terms of her popularity demand a further exhibition of her comedy powers, which are appreciably displayed when the charming cantatrice, donning a dress with myriad roses round it, appears as a volatile French miss who has lost her English "Georgie" in the auditorium, and not in vain, for suddenly there rises in the stalls an exquisite in evening dress and a broad smile, who raises his hat and bows profusely to the fair demoiselle. As if the fascination of her eyes were not sufficient lodestone, the dainty chanteuse levels a horseshoe magnet at the head of the "masher," who is drawn in a semi-circle from his seat to the stage, where the reunited lovers join in a wild dance, into which Miss Lloyd puts some of her most effective bits of terpsichorean trickery. The laugher of the audience during this striking item, is remarkable even in the Middlesex, where hilarity is always abundant, and Miss Lloyd's numerous recalls at the end are insufficient tribute to the cleverness of her impersonation and to her assumption of the manners and accent of the Parisienne.' (The Era, London, Saturday, 7 July 1900, p.17a) * * * * * * * * Charlot's Revue, Prince of Wales's Theatre, London, 1925

Dorothy Dickson in the ballet, 'The Mask of Millamant,'
with costumes inspired by the illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley.

(photo: Stage Photo Co, London, 1925)

'A Disappointment. 'Because the October issue of Charlot's Revue was the worst of all the monthly editions and, in fact, inferior to anything Mr. Charlot has yet given us at the Princes of Wales, it is not to say the revue was not a great deal better then many such entertainments. 'The chief fault lay in the fact that those responsible for the sketches and the production of one or two songs had forgotten the golden maxim of revue – that brevity is the soul of wit. Some of the items were really poor, while others could and, I imagine, have been improved by a little pruning and speeding-up. However, it is unfair to dwell on what is probably ancient history and there is little doubt that Mr. Charlot will not allow his November issue to run the risk of being labelled dull. 'Maisie Gay's Genius. 'Maisie Gay came back to the Charlot fold with all her old gaiety and enthusiasm, and even with the disadvantage of a lack of new material worthy of her comic genius, proves once more that she is far and away the best character comedian in revue or out of it. She has revived one or two of her best burlesques, including "After Dinner Music," with her delicious caricature of a certain American songster, and her famous nursing sketch, "The Ministering Angel." The best of her new items is "The Principal Boy" – one instance of length marring a delightful travesty – and "Follow Mister Cook," a grotesquely funny duet with Edmund Gwenn. 'Dancing Success. 'Edmund Gwenn was not given a real chance in the October issue, as it was first produced, and I am not surprised to hear that he substituted "Cousins" and the Sergeant Major sketch (both from Bubbly [revived, Duke of York's, London, 29 June 1925]) for some of his newer items. 'I hope that Dorothy Dickson will have even more dancing in the November issue, although she was fairly well provided for in her first appearance as leading lady in revue. Miss Dickson is a lovely dancer but as yet her singing and acting are not sufficiently strong enough for what she was asked to do. Her two most successful appearances were in the beautifully stages "Saints and Sinners," in which she dances like a moonbeam to Geoffrey Gwyther's attractive music, and in the most notable scene in the revue, a ballet entitled "The Mask of Millamant." 'This last, devised by Quentin Tod and with music by Ivor Novello, was unusually effective. The black-and-white costumes and scenery were in the Aubrey Beardsley manner and captured most successfully the sinister loveliness of that artist's work. Dorothy Dickson was exquisite as Millamant, and Jessie Matthews, good in all she did in the revue, was notably so in the Masque which concludes this very original ballet. 'November News. 'At the time of going to press little is known of the new items for the November issue. There is a change of cast, however, which is worth recording. Peter Haddon is leaving and his place is to be taken by Cyril Ritchards, who made his first London appearance in the recent revival of Bubbly. He is a clever dancer whom it will be a pleasure to see again. 'Otherwise the company, including, I hope, the unusually pretty and well-dressed chorus, will be the same.' (S.T.H., The Theatre World and Illustrated Stage Review, London, November 1925, p.57) * * * * * * * *

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© John Culme, 2003