Theatre Royal, Adelphi Seasonal Digest for Summer 1831
Ed. Alicia Kae Koger
In the summer of 1831, the English Opera Company, under the management of Samuel J. Arnold, occupied the Adelphi theatre for its second season due to "circumstances still preventing Mr. Arnold from having a theatre of his own" (Athenæum, 16 July 1831, p. 460). During its residency, which began on 4 July 1831, the company presented 23 plays in 75 performances. They included primarily operettas, operatic farces, and burlesques. Commenting on this fact, the Theatrical Observer said: "We understand that it is the intention of Mr. Arnold to confine the performances this year as much as possible to melodrames, vaudevilles, and ballad operas. We think him quite right. The capabilities of the house are not sufficient for the performance of legitimate opera, and it is, therefore, far better not to attempt it" (6 July 1831).
The play, which opened the season, The Feudal Lady, gained a negative reaction from the critics. The critic for the Theatrical Observer wrote on 6 July 1831, "It is quite out of our power to say one word in its favor." The play ran only four nights. The managers replaced it with an equally unsatisfying piece, The Irish Girl. Declared "utterly devoid of all merit as to composition or plot" by the Theatrical Observer (12 July 1831), it closed after six performances. The management then premiered The Haunted Hulk by Edward Fitzball on July 12. This heavy schedule had apparently begun to take a toll on the actors because the Theatrical Observer's reviewer wrote "none of the actors were perfect in their parts" (13 July 1831). He indicated "the failure of The Feudal Lady had caused this drama to be brought out prematurely; which, by the way, was bad policy." It appears that only John Poole's Old and Young pulled the company out of its early-season doldrums. It proved a success and ran 31 performances.
The most popular production of the summer was Richard B. Peake's The Evil Eye, which opened on 18 August 1831, and ran for 36 performances. The Theatrical Observer critic praised this musical romance for its "pointed dialogue, highly dramatic situations, picturesque scenery, good music, and excellent acting" (19 August 1831), declaring that "we know no author of the present day who invariably shows so much tact in arranging the stage-business, or who possesses so correct a knowledge of dramatic effect, as Mr. Peake" (20 August 1831). The same critic noted that the English Opera House "was but indifferently attended in the early part of the season; but ... from the moment [Evil Eye] was upon the stage, the theatre began to look up" (1 October 1831).
A notably unsuccessful offering was an entertainment called Harmony Hall, presented on 9 September 1831, the day after the coronation of William IV. Described as "a loyal effusion to commemorate the coronation of Their Gracious Majesties," the play struck the critic for the Theatrical Observer as "a most trashy affair" (10 September 1831). It was withdrawn after a second performance, which reportedly "converted the theatre into the temple of discord, nothing but hootings and yellings of 'Off! Off!' being heard during its progress" (Theatrical Observer, 12 September 1831).
The English Opera Company boasted several major players during the summer of 1831. Fanny Kelly played several soubrette roles, and John Reeve remained at the Adelphi to take on the principal comic male roles. O. Smith also joined the company that summer, as did Mary Ann Keeley, Harriet Cawse, and Frank Matthews. Reeve received the title of "first comic actor of the day" from the Theatrical Observer (6 July 1831), despite the fact that he frequently did not know his lines on opening nights. The Theatrical Observer credited Miss Kelly with saving several weak scripts from total failure, noting, "never did that highly gifted actress perform better, or exert a more powerful control over the feelings of her audience" than in Sister of Charity (22 July 1831).
As the season ended on 28 September 1831, the Theatrical Observer noted that it had "proved a profitable one, which is mainly to be attributed to the very great attraction of ... The Evil Eye" (29 September 1831). Mr. George Bartley, the company's stage manager, spoke for the management at the end of the final performance, announcing that Mr. Arnold had "every reasonable hope of receiving [the audience] next summer in a new and commodious theatre" (Theatrical Observer, 29 September 1831), but it was not until 14 July 1834 that the Royal Lyceum opened its doors.
AK
Theatre Royal, Adelphi Seasonal Digest for 1832-1833
Ed. Alicia Kae Koger
The 1832-33 season at the Adelphi commenced on 1 October under the management of Charles Mathews and Frederick Yates. The production staff remained as it had been in the two previous seasons, with George H. Rodwell as musical director, Mr. Tomkins and Mr. Pitt serving as scenic designers, Mr. Godbee and Miss E. Rayner supervising the costumes, Mr. Foster managing properties, and Mr. Evans overseeing the machinery. As in the past, the management focused on the sensational melodramatic comic burlettas and burlesques to draw its audiences. The Athenæum's description of the theatre as "a bazaar of fun, horrors, and strong scenic effects" (13 October 1832, pp. 668-669) aptly summarizes this season when twenty-five plays were performed in 182 performances.
The most popular play of the season was Cupid, which appeared on the bill eighty-seven times. Little critical comment on the production appeared in the press, and the playwright's identity is uncertain. The burlesque of the myth of Cupid and Psyche capitalized on the comic talents of John Reeve and Laura Honey and remained a favorite of the company. Following Cupid in popularity was John Buckstone's Henriette the Forsaken. This melodrama ran for 60 performances and received high praise from audiences and critics alike. The Athenæum praised it as a "decided and well-deserved hit" and noted Frederick Yates' "admirable" acting (10 November 1832, p. 733). The Times said that "the interest throughout is ... exceeding well kept up; and many of the scenes are truly affecting" (6 November 1832). Once again, the scenery attracted critical comment as the Times noted, "the scenery is remarkably well painted." The Theatrical Observer reported that "the getting up of the ball-room and suite of apartments in the new drama of Henriette the Forsaken at the Adelphi, we have heard, cost the managers upwards of 100 guineas" (10 October 1832).
The successes of Cupid and Henriette are perhaps not as remarkable as the failures of so many other productions during this season. Reviewers referred repeatedly to the disappointing aspects of productions or pointed out the dissatisfaction of the audiences. The opening show of the season, an adaptation of Rip Van Winkle by William Bernard proved to be "not so successful as some of its predecessors have been on the stage," according to the Athenæum of 13 October 1832 (pp. 668-669). It ran for only 42 performances. A farce called Mr. Busy began and "terminated amidst unequivocal marks of disapprobation" from the audience, because it was an "exceedingly lame and impotent affair" (Times, 4 December 1832). The Howlet's Haunt, which opened a week later, was "received in solemn silence" (Times, December 1832) by the audience and ran for only 12 performances. The Athenæum declared, "no particular honour is due to" Twenty Thousand Pounds; or, London Love, calling it "simple even to childishness" (9 Feb 1833, p. 92). Buckstone's Jacopo the Bravo; or, A Story of Venice achieved considerably more success but opened so near the end of the season that it ran for only 26 performances.
The month of March brought Lenten entertainments by Frederick Yates and John Reeve and, although The Era Almanac reported that "the Lenten entertainments of Mr. Yates proved unusually attractive in March" (p. 4), the Theatrical Observer reported on 2 March 1833 that "the materiel and execution [of] the performance is every way inferior to" Mathews' performances of the same genre. Reeve's one-man show apparently opened on a bad note with the performer "not able to complete what he had purposed" (Times, 23 February 1833), but continued to run for 10 more performances. Mathews' own entertainment opened on 29 April 1833 after a week's delay occasioned by a flu epidemic in London. His show, written by Charles J. Mathews and Richard B. Peake, merited the usual praise for the star's performance and some disapproval of the script, but it ran for 30 nights in alternation with the English Opera House's summer season.
As Frederick Yates closed the season after benefit performances for Frederick Yates, John Reeve, and Fanny Fitzwilliam, he thanked the audience for "that patronage which has pleased our hearts, I humbly confess, by filling our pockets" (Times, 1 April 1833). The Athenæum also reported that "the season has been, we believe, a prosperous one; and the success which the management has again met with has been, we are happy to say, again well deserved" (13 April 1833, p. 236). Thus, we may conclude that the lack of a blockbuster hit like The Wreck Ashore or Victorine did not ultimately hurt the managers' profits.
AK
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