Troupes [G-L]

Gaiety Vaudeville Co to Ike Delavale Revue Co ……. p.1
Jasper’s Pantomime Co to Luxor Smilers ……. p.2

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JASPER’S PANTOMIME COMPANY

(ca. 1913-1916) Edward Jasper Doherty (known professionally as Edward Jasper) appears to have been operating as a Sydney-based  theatrical manager during the early to  mid-1910s. His name is currently connected with Jasper’s Pantomime Company,  which toured Harry Taylor’s pantomimes Humpty Dumpty (1914) and Bluebeard (1917) the musical comedy The Jam of Cathay (1913) under canvas (and occasionally in halls or theatres) throughout New South Wales and Victoria.  Among the artistes engaged were Ted Stanley, Charles Howard, Con Moreni, Ernest Lashbrooke, Ida Ingersole and Olive Robinson.

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JIM GERALD REVUE Co

Jim Gerald RC - with Chorus [FVS, 100](1922-ca.1935) One of the most successful revusical companies to operate in the Antipodes during the 1920s and early 1930s, Jim Gerald’s company was best known for its original one act musical comedies – some the most popular being A Millionaire for a Night, 1914-1918; Or, For the Duration, The Tennis Club, Barebacks, and Whips and Quips (all 1922). From the late 1920s onwards he mostly staged revues. The troupe’s core membership remained remarkably consistent over the years, and included Essie Jennings (wife), Lance Vane (brother), Reg Hawthorne, Howard Hall, Ernest Crawford, Mona Thomas, and choreographer Polly McLaren.

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JONES’S HUGE SURPRISE PARTY

Jones HS Party [R 30 Oct 1907, 12]

(ca. 1907-1908) Put together by George H. Jones especially for a tour of the New South Wales Northern Rivers region, and managed by Robert Duvall, Jones’s Huge Surprise Party comprised Jones, Dolly McKay, Billy Cass, Ida Jarvis, James Finch, Flo Partridge, Ivy Bowman, May Moore Morris, Jack Sloan and Stella Allen (acrobats), the Tybella Aerial Trapeze Artists, Sisters Lee (engaged direct from India in December 1907). The Edison Bioscope was also used to screen a small selection of films.

Image source: Referee (Sydney) 30 Oct. 1907, 12.

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JONES’ MAMMOTH MOVING THEATRE

aka Jones’ Moving King Theatre

Jones's MM Theatre [KWT 21 Dec 1910, 3](1908-1911) One of the first showmen to tour a tent show around regional Australia, and possibly the first to tour vaudeville, George H. Jones began his moving theatre operations in early 1908. His first established season to date was in Maitland, New South Wales, where he set up his 2,000 seat tent behind Callaghan’s Tattersall’s Hotel in May. In addition to vaudeville Jones also included films and illustrated songs (screened via a biograph projector). The troupe typically comprised more than 20 performers and is known to played centres in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

1: Known performers were: Grace Rooney, Kelso Bros, Prof. Stevenson (Ju-jitsu exponent), The Brackens (Carl, Will and Lottie), S. Kaufman (the rubber man), Will Silvain, the St Leonards Troupe, Fred Garnett, Marsden Bros, Captain Winters (& His Performing Dogs), Tom Sinclair, Flossie Jeffries, Lottie Mackey, Ada May Rowley, Little Star and Wild Rose (sharpshooting act), The Denos (comedians).
2: Three other showmen to pioneer tent theatres in Australia were E.I. Cole (1903-), Philip Lytton (1907-) and Bob Greenwood (1907-).
Image source: Kadina and Wallaroo Times (SA) 21 Dec. 1910, 3.

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JOSIE JOHNSON’S PANTOMIME Co

aka Howard and Johnson’s Pantomime Co

(1928) In January 1928 Bert Howard and Josie Johnson provided a fully-produced pantomime, Beauty and the Beast, for George Drew and Jim Romaine’s circuit in the New South Wales Hunter Valley. The company reportedly comprised some 30 performers, including Johnson’s 11 Wonder Kids. By May the company was touring as Josie Johnson’s Pantomime Company and with around 20 cast members. The new shows were Aladdin and Mother Goose. In addition to the Wonder Kids Johnson secured such adult artists as Arthur Morley, Frank Moran, Ivy Davidson, John Morley, Eileen Yates and Shirley De Paul. Drew and Romaine also featured. Johnson took the company through parts of the Hunter, and the Central-west and North-west regions of New South Wales until around June.

1. Drew and Romaine also produced the Central-west and North-west New South Wales tour.
2. 6ft comedian Frank Moran reportedly provided an additionally humorous visual spectacle in his scenes with the juvenile performers.

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KELLY & LEON’S COMEDY OPERA Co

aka Edwin Kelly’s Comedy Opera Co

(1880-1881) In October 1880 Edwin Kelly undertook an extensive tour of Northern-New South Wales and Queensland with Edwin Kelly’s (late of Edwin and Kelly) Comedy Opera Co. Known as Kelly and Leon’s Comedy Opera Co from the start of its Brisbane season in late-November, the lime-up included Kelly’s son Edwin Lester, Emma Wangenheim, and Frank Eugarde. An attempt to balance high and low comedy saw the company feature hit London shows like Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and Trial by Jury, supported with select individual turns and one or two farces. After seasons in Newcastle and Sydney (Aug/Sept. 1881), Kelly made his debut with George Musgrove‘s London Opera Comique Company on 6 October, thereby bringing to an end his managerial career.

  • See also: Edwin Kelly • Kelly & Leon’s Minstrels [below]
1: Although Edwin Kelly and Francis Leon effectively ended their 17 year partnership in August 1880, both men found it convenient to continue using the Kelly and Leon moniker for their separate theatrical ventures. Leon’s troupe, which played its first engagement that same month, was initially known as Kelly and Leon’s Mastodon Minstrels (later Kelly and Leon’s Minstrels).
2: Other key members of Kelly comedy opera company were: Emma and Fanny Rogers, H. Leonard, J.A. Patterson, Kate Williams, and Martyn Hagan and Lucy Fraser. The tour was largely managed by J. Liddy.
3: The company’s comic opera repertoire also included Les Cloches de Comerville, Maritana, and La Fille de
Madame Angot.
4: Interestingly, Kelly and Leon staged H.M.S. Pinafore in Sydney on 3 May 1879, almost six months before J. C. Williamson. At some stage during the year Williamson acquired the Australasian rights to the comic opera for 12 months, and the following year negotiated a similar contract with the D’Oyly Carte Opera company for The Pirates of Penzance. It is unclear if Kelly secured permission from Williamson to tour these shows in 1880 and 1881, or if he did so “illegitimately.”

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KELLY & LEON’S MINSTRELS

Kelly & Leon 1 [HTC]aka Kelly & Leon’s Mastodon Minstrels

(Aust: 1878-1881) Considered one of America’s greatest blackface troupes, Kelly and Leon’s Minstrels formed in Chicago in 1863. The company came to Australia in 1878 for [F.E.] Hiscocks and Hayman, playing Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide with a program of vocal music, comic sketches and burlesques. Locally-based performers engaged during the tour included the likes of  Beaumont Read, W.A. Ball, Lucy Fraser, Alice Lingard, Lance Lenton, W. Horace Bent, and Charles Holly. Kelly’s son Edwin Lester was also a member. In the latter half of 1880 Kelly and Leon took control of separate Kelly and Leon companies – Leon operating the minstrel troupe from August, while Kelly put together a comic opera company in November. Both ventures lasted just short of 12 months.

  • See also: Kelly & Leon • Edwin Kelly • Francis Leon • Kelly & Leon’s Comedy Opera Co [above]
  • For further information relating to the US careers of Kelly and Leon see: “Early History of Negro Minstrelsy” by Col. T. Allson Brown. Available at Circus Historical Society [sighted 8/01/2018] • Matthew Wittmann. “Kelly and Leon Minstrels” – Part 1 and Part 2. Mathew Wittmann (2012) [sighted 8/01/2018]
1: The troupe that opened in Chicago in 1863 was known as Arlington, Kelly, Leon, and Donniker’s Minstrels.
2: Interestingly, Kelly and Leon’s Minstrels was the first company to stage Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore in Australia. The show debuted in Sydney on 3 May 1879. This was six months before J. C. Williamson produced it (he later acquired the Australasian rights).
3: The Leon-led company was initially known as Kelly and Leon’s Mastodon Minstrels. Horace Bent was one of the biggest names to appear with this company.
4: Francis Leon returned to the USA in mid-1881 but came back to Australia in 1885 to tour Leon and Cushman’s Minstrels. Shortly before he retired in 1900 he briefly revived Kelly and Leon’s Minstrels in Chicago.
Image source: Houghton Library, Harvard University.

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KENNA’S EMPIRE MINSTRELS

Kenna's Empire MInstrels [WHB 23 May 1900, 3](1900-1902) Richard Kenna’s Empire Minstrels undertook three tours through regional New South Wales, each lasting approximately four months (April-July). In some instances its presence in a town coincided with the annual Show Week. Kenna’s circuit encompassed the south-west, western and north-western regions (including Tumut, Cootamundra, Goulburn, Gundagai, Wellington, Parkes, Nyngan, Mudgee and Bourke). The shows were presented in a minstrel show format. Although not a big time showman, and indeed Kenna’s name has never been mentioned in any histories of Australian theatre he was nevertheless able to engage such high profile performers as Priscilla Verne, Steve Adson, Ted Holland, James Craydon, Fred Davys, Emil Lazern, Amy Blackie, Wal Cottier and Albert McKisson.

Image source: Western Herald (Bourke, NSW) 23 May 1900, 3.

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THE K-NUTS

K-Nuts ad [SCAD 30 May 1919, 56](1919-1924, 1928-1929) Likely formed as a means of earning income during the Spanish Flu period, when many city theatres were forced to close, the K-Nuts was an independently-organised company that spent the first six months of 1919 touring regional New South Wales. The initial line-up comprised comedians Harry Little, Ern Crawford, Nat Hanley, Les Shipp, Reg “Kangaroosta” Thornton and violinist Huntley Brown. By September the troupe was contracted to the Fullers’ circuit, with Reg Thornton acting as manager. Over the next four years the K-Nuts membership underwent a number of changes and also toured for other firms, including Harry Clay. Thornton also expanded the line-up on several occasions in order to produce revues. He revived the K-Nuts in 1928.

Other artists to appear with the K-Nuts (1919-1924) included George Sorlie, Frank Cane (aka Kavillo), Tilly and Doris, Olga Pennington, Ernest Pitcher, George Drew, Jimmy Romaine, Frank Moran, Molly Ambrose, Doris Foster, Nita McAvoy, Eddie Martin, Valma Reine, Thora Johnson, Mona Williams, Imperial Four. Artists engaged between 1928 and 1929 included Ernest Pitcher (Pitcher and Leslie), Keith Connolly, Ward Lear, Dan Thomas, James Caldwell, Bessie Phillips (see Phillips Sisters), Will Raynor, Delavale and Vockler, Charles “Ike” Delavale, Olive Wilton, Fanny Levarto, and Roy Rene.
Image source: Scone Advocate (NSW) 30 May 1919, 5.

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LA FEUILLADE, PEEL & WESTON’S CHRISTY MINSTRELS

aka Christy & American Minstrels

(1869) Formed in Melbourne in late March under the direction of Frank Weston, La Feuillade, Peel and Weston’s Christy Minstrels announced a series of “out-of-town” try-outs beginning early April in order to “get into thorough working order” prior to its Melbourne debut. Although he announced his intention to “coalesce with Messrs Hussey, Kelly and Holly” for that season, the two companies in fact merged within a week. However, advertising saw them either retain their individual identities or bill the company as the Christy and American Minstrels. When the combined troupe opened in Melbourne on 31 May it was billed simply as Weston and Hussey’s Minstrels.

1: Personnel incl. Nicholas La Feuillade, T.J. (Tommy) Peel, Frank Weston, T. Bent, Mr Romer (pianist).
2: Re: Hussey, Kelly and Holly – see AVTA entries for Frank Hussey and Charles Holley.

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LAWTON, DEARIN & SAYERS TROUBADOURS

aka Lawton & Dearin’s Troubadours

(1882) While in Brisbane in early November 1882 with Clark and Ryman, Alf Lawton and Sam Dearin formed their own troupe, debuting it at Albert Hall on 9 November (also the last night of Clark and Ryman’s Minstrels season at the Theatre Royal). Two nights later they brought in Tom Sayers for their benefit night (along with several prominent local artists). After playing a benefit for the Children’s Hospital on 16 November the troupe travelled north, playing seasons in Maryborough and Rockhampton. The troupe disbanded in mid-December allowing Lawton, and Dearin to return to Melbourne where they rejoined Clark and Ryman’s company.

1: Personnel incl. Sam Dearin, Alf Lawton, Tom Sayers, Agatha DeBasse, Florence Leslie, and Walter Dale (pianist/music director).
2: English comedian/singer Thomas Sayers was the son of English champion prize fighter Tom Sayers. His movements following the end of the Rockhampton season are currently unknown. He does not appear to have been re-engaged by Clark and Ryman but may have returned to Melbourne.

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LAWTON & DEARIN’S FEDERAL MINSTRELS & COMIQUES

(1884) Following the end of Hiscocks’ Federal Minstrels’ [above] Adelaide season in early 9 February 1884 Sam Dearin and Alf Lawton remained in South Australia to briefly tour another troupe together. Calling on the services of such artists as Amy Rowe, Nellie Herbert, W. Lester, Rhoda Dalmay, Harry Jeffries and pianist/music director George Seymour, they made their debut at Gawler a little over a week later. The company disbanded shortly before Dearin and his wife departed Australia on 31 March. Alf Lawton returned to Melbourne and joined Hudson’s Surprise Party [above] for its opening night on 12 April.

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LAWTON & LESLIES’ ALL NATIONS Co

aka All Nations Co / Leslie Bros’ Minstrel, Musical, Comedy & Specialty Co

Lawton & Leslies All Nations [BC 16 Feb 1894, 2](1894)  Comedian Alf Lawton and specialty entertainers Fred and Will Leslie formed the All Nations Company for a season at Brisbane’s Theatre Royal. The company which debuted on 17 February included Lawton’s partner Clara Spencer, Master Fred Leslie, Florrie Forde, Harry Clay, Arthur Farley and Lillie Rowley. When Lawton departed after the 21 April show, the company became known simply as the All Nations Company. After ending the Brisbane season on 26 May the Leslies took the troupe, which they billed as a Minstrel, Musical, Comedy & Specialty Co, to Toowoomba and Warwick (Queensland).

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LEAGUE OF NOTIONS REVUE Co

(1928-1930) Established by Fullers’ Theatres and headed by Mike Connors and Queenie Paul, the League of Notions’ made its debut at Newcastle’s Victoria Theatre in February 1928, with Jack Kellaway, Maurice Barling, Ivy Davis, Linn Smith’s Jazz Band and the Exquisite Six (ballet) also featuring. Its Sydney season (Fullers’ Theatre) saw comedian Syd Beck engaged. The company left for a 12 months tour of New Zealand in May and after returning to Australia played seasons in most major capital cities. Connors and Paul disbanded the troupe in mid-1930 and soon afterwards began re-establishing the Tivoli circuit (through Con-Paul Theatres). The League of Notions shows were directed by Connors and choreographed by Paul.

1: Other artists engaged included: Les Pearce, Phyllis Baker, Gerald Connolly, Gladys Shaw, and The Two Paulastos. Frank Chappell and His Rhythm Kings replaced Linn Smiths Band ca. 1929.
2: The League of Notions Company season at Fullers Theatre, Sydney in 1930 brought down the curtain on the Fullers’ variety entertainment operations in that city on 22 February.
3: In 1936 Connors and Paul (Con-Paul Theatres), in association with Roy Rene, produced a 28 scene revue called the League of Notions. The show is known to have played Melbourne (Apollo Theatre) and Sydney (Majestic Theatre, Newtown). Among the artists engaged during the various seasons were George Wallace and Minnie Love (Sydney); Lulla Fanning, Doris Whimp, and Ronnie Hay (Melbourne).

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LEON & CUSHMAN’S MINSTRELS

aka Leon & Cushman Combination

[Aust: 1885-1886] Francis Leon returned to Australia in 1885 in partnership with Frank Cushman. Their debut season, presented as Hiscocks’ Federal Minstrels [above] “in conjunction with the Leon and Cushman Combination,” was undertaken at Sydney’s Academy of Music [2] beginning 17 August. They then transferred to Melbourne’s Nugget Theatre on 7 November, with the company renamed Leon and Cushman’s Minstrels. On 23 January the following year Leon and Cushman unexpectedly transferred to St George’s Hall, with the addition of Harry and Charles Cogill. Their Australian sojourn ended in Melbourne on 16 April, after which they undertook a two-month tour of New Zealand. Leon and Cushman returned to the USA in late-June and soon afterwards put together a new American line-up.

1: Leon possibly met Cushman for first time when he joined Haverley’s Mastodon Minstrels (ca. late-1881 or early-1882). Cushman had been a member of that troupe from 1878.
2: The 1885 Sydney season, produced by F.E. Hiscocks, was promoted as a double company programme. In this respect the Leon and Cushman Combination reportedly comprised a line-up of artists specially assembled by Hiscocks. A comparison with the Federal Minstrels line-up during the final weeks of July indicates, however, that almost all the performers (apart from Leon and Cushman) were already members of the Federal Minstrels. The Melbourne season, under Frank Weston, therefore appears to be Leon and Cushman’s first bona fide Australasian minstrel line-up.
3. Members of the company during its Nugget Theatre engagement included Alf Lawton, Delohery, Craydon and Holland, Will Wallace, James Norrie, Percy Shannon, Thomas Bergin and Owen Conduit (music director). The St George’ Hall company also included Johnny Gilmour and Walter Medus. Most of these artists travelled to New Zealand.
4. At the time of their transfer to St George’s Hall, Melbourne, the venue was operating under the lesseeship of Messrs Rignold and Allison.

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LIZZIE HASTINGS’ MINSTRELS

aka Lizzie Hastings’ Variety Company

(1890-1891) Lizzie Hastings’ Minstrels made its debut at Garner’s Rooms, Adelaide on 15 November 1890. The English soubrette, who had been in the country since March, took up the lease of the venue upon ending her two months engagement with Hugo’s Buffalo Minstrels [above]. The original line-up included Tom Bergin, Harry Wyman, Wal Rockley, Will Hugo, Tom Sadler, Harry St George, Jim Bryant, Madame Octavo, and Fred Thomas. The company’s manager was R.T. Waters. In mid-December the company played some engagements in the Adelaide suburbs before heading east to play a fortnight in Ballarat (Victoria), followed by seasons in Launceston, Beaconsfield and Hobart (Tasmania). Hastings then took the company to Newcastle (New South Wales) where she amalgamated it with Hugo’s Buffalo Minstrels on 23 February 1891. She formed her Picnic Party in Sydney the following month.

Hastings’ Adelaide publicity indicated that she planned to take the company to China and India at the end of the season. This did not eventuate at any time prior to her departure for the USA in September 1892, however. The Ballarat Star (9 Jan. 1891), notes that the company would possibly play a return engagement in that city on its way back to Adelaide. This also failed to occur.
Image source: Express and Telegraph (Adelaide) 15 Nov. 1890, 1.

lizzie-hastings-minstrels-ad-exta-15-nov-1890-1

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LIZZIE HASTINGS’ PICNIC PARTY

aka Lizzie Hastings’ Picnic Party and Circle of Accomplished Artists

(1891) After amalgamating her first Australian minstrel company with Hugo’s Buffalo Minstrels [above] in February 1891, English soubrette and emerging entrepreneur Lizzie Hastings put together her Picnic Party for a two week season at Sydney’s Gaiety Theatre beginning 14 March. Although not billing itself as a minstrel troupe, the entertainment nevertheless involved the same formula of first part semi-circle, second part olio and an afterpiece (farce). Comprising some 25 performers, the feature acts were Madame Octavo, Georgie Devoe, Fred Davys, Steve Adson, Harry St George, Blanche Montagu, Emmie Morrison and Fred Spencer. The company’s manager was R.T. Waters. The lessee was L. Foley (with Hastings as sub-lessee).

The brevity of the season was due to Hastings having secured employment with Percy St John‘s at the Gaiety Theatre, Brisbane.

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LONDON BIOSCOPE Co

aka London Bioscope & Vaudeville Co

London Bioscope Co - 1900 [LincTasmania](1900-1902) Band leader R.W. Oyston and society entertainer E.H. Stevenson began presenting their magic lantern and bioscope show at charity and social events in Melbourne in mid-1900 and soon afterwards took it on the road playing regional and occasional city engagements until ca. October 1902. In addition to entertaining the audiences Stevenson also presented lectures relating to the films. By February 1901 A.T. Richards had replaced E. Burrington as tour manager. Advertisements also began to identify Oyston and Richards as the company’s proprietors. The company, generally featured at least one live act, along with Oyston as accompanist/performer. Known artists were singers Howard Mander, Vivie Keeling, Walter Whyte, and comedian/singer Will Wynand.

1: Prior to becoming the feature live act in March 1902, Will Wynand had been engaged as the company’s advance rep.
2: Although A.T. Richards’ association with the London Bioscope Company has not been confirmed until February 1901, he may have been involved as a silent partner from the beginning. Interestingly, shipping lists published in various Melbourne newspapers record that an A.T. Richards sailed to London in April 1899 and returned in late September/early October the same year. If this was the same person he may have travelled to London in order to purchase a bioscope and films, and also learn to operate the projector.
Image source: LINC Tasmania.

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LONDON REVELS

aka Black and Northcote’s London Revels / Elton Black’s London Revels

London Revels [TDB 12 June 1929, 3](1929/1933) Formed by Elton Black and Cyril Northcote, the London Revels debuted in Sydney before undertaking a seven months tour of North Queensland. In addition to its principals the company’s initial line-up included Alice Bennetto, George Correlli, Will Miller, Ira Vanda, Stan Iveson and Dinks and Trixie. After a break of several years Black and Bennetto re-organised the troupe in 1933 for a Queensland tour, re-hiring Will Miller and adding new faces like the Paulasto Bros and Phyllis Baker. The troupe became the nucleus for Richard Shafto’s Revels (Perth) later that year.

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LONDON VAUDEVILLE STARS

aka William Anderson’s London Vaudeville Stars

(1910) The antecedent for this venture was vaudeville show produced in Fremantle on 8 April 1910 – the final night of William Anderson’s Western Australian Babes in the Wood tour. Its popularity convinced Anderson to put together a touring show after the pantomime company disbanded in Victoria later that month. The London Vaudeville Stars made its debut at the Victoria Theatre, Newcastle, on 3 May and then appeared at Harry Clay’s Standard Theatre, Sydney, from 14 May to 6 June. A brief New South Wales and Victorian regional tour was then undertaken. The feature artists were: Nat Clifford, Foreman and Fannan, Lilian Lea, Jack Hagan, Marshal Palmer, Alice Bennetto, Lenton Trio, Walhallas (3), and Hagan and Fraser. Percy Kehoe was music director and Marshall Palmer doubled as stage manager.

1. Nat Clifford, Marshall Palmer, Alice Bennetto, James Foreman, Peter Fannan, and Jack Hagan, along with juveniles Bertha Gordon and Dorothy Leigh were all former members of the Babes in Wood company.
2: The scenic art was produced by Rege Robbins. The tour manager was Barney Levy.
3: New South Wales towns played were Goulburn Cootamundra and Albury. A season in Geelong (Victoria) is confirmed. Other major Victorians towns were reportedly played (included Bendigo) but no details have yet been found.
4. For further information on Jack Hagan see the entry for his father, Martyn Hagan (incl. Hagen and Fraser)

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LOTTIE’S ROYAL MAGNET TROUPE

aka Magnet Variety Troupe

(1873-1874) Following the bankruptcy of manager/producer E.C. Moore in early 1873 the Royal Magnet Variety Troupe continued its tour of New Zealand under the management of pianist Frank Richardson and a new name – the Lottie Magnet Troupe. The principle artists from the former line-up included Lottie, Frank and Victor Angell, and Holly and Buckley. After returning to Australia in August the troupe was re-organised while management was undertaken by Frank and Victor Angell (with Richardson acting as agent). It opened in Brisbane on 6 August and then played selected engagements in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria until the drowning of Victor Angell during the troupe’s farewell engagements in Victoria in late-March 1874 brought about its demise.

1: The line-up from August 1873 included gymnast Master George Angell, singers Lydia Howarde and J. R. Howell, comedian/singer J. Small, and violinist J. Munyard.
2: Not to be confused with the Great Magnet Variety Troupe which formed in 1875 under the leadership of comedian Johnny Cowan.

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LOYOLA’S MAGNET VARIETY TROUPE

aka Loyola and Wilson’s Magnet Troupe / Magnet Troupe

Loyola's Magnet Troupe [Western Star 30 Oct. 1886, 3](1885-1886) Fred Loyola’s Magnet Variety Troupe appears to have started out in early 1885 under the joint management of Loyola and Wilson. By the end of the year it was being billed as either Loyola’s Magnet Troupe or simply the Magnet Troupe. Myra Carden has been identified as one of the performers in 1886, and by the following year the company was touring under her name, with Loyola as both performer (specialist dancer) and general and business manager. No details regarding the other artists engaged have yet been located. The company’s publicity indicates that it operated largely around south-west and north-west New South Wales, and south-west Queensland.

1: Details relating to the Loyola Magnet Troupe are included in the Myra Carden research notes.
2: No details relating to the identity of Wilson, including first name, have yet been located.
3: Not to be confused with the Royal Magnet Variety Troupe [1] (1872-1873), Lottie’s Royal Magnet Troupe (above), Great Magnet Variety Troupe (1875), Royal Magnet Combination Troupe (1884), Dwarf and Magnetic Lady Troupe (1885), or Royal Magnet Troupe [2] (1885).

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LUXOR SMILERS

aka Shafto’s Smilers

(1929) Especially put together from artists currently working in the Eastern states, the Smilers vaudeville company made its debut appearance at Tom Shafto’s Luxor Theatre on Saturday 3 August 1929. The line-up was Peter Brooks (“fashion-plate” vocalist and producer), George Lloyd (comedian and co-producer), Jean Keath (“Australia’s Madame Pavlova”/choreographer), Vernon Sellars (baritone), Jack Storey (acrobat), Clara Keating and Winnie Edgerton (soubrettes), the Darrahs (musicians), Harry Norris (banjoist and “the parody king”), Maggie Buckley (soprano), Dick Slade (specialty musician), and a ballet comprising some of Perth’s best female dancers. Perth music director Winifred Walker conducted the Luxor Orchestra. The Smilers season, which comprised a first-part vaudeville and second-part revue, ended on 13 October.

Westralian Worker (Perth) 2 Aug. 1929, 7.
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Image citation details for entries without expanded biographies are noted at the bottom of the overview. All other image details are provided in the expanded PDF biographies.
For information concerning copyright issues see “Copyright” attachment in the AVTA “About” page.

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Published on March 13, 2011 at 5:43 am  Comments Off on Troupes [G-L]