John Hollingshead

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John Hollingshead in 1895

John Hollingshead (9 September 1827 – 9 October 1904) was an English theatrical

Alhambra Theatre and was later the first manager of the Gaiety Theatre, London
. Hollingshead also wrote several books during his life.

An innovative producer, Hollingshead brought

Victorian burlesques at the Gaiety, engaging Meyer Lutz to compose original scores for them. He also produced operettas, plays and other works. These productions made stars of Nellie Farren
and several others. At the Gaiety, in 1878, Hollingshead was the first theatre manager to light his auditorium with electric lights.

Life and career

Hollingshead in an 1870 cartoon

Hollingshead was born in

Moy Thomas began publishing a penny paper called The Mail that proved unsuccessful.[3] In 1854, he decided to close his clothing business and begin working as a writer full-time. By 1855, Hollingshead was married with two children.[4]
He died in London on 9 October 1904 at the age of 77.

Journalist and author

Hollingshead started his journalism career in 1854 under the tutelage of

Norman Macleod as editor.[8]

Hollingshead wrote a number of books from the 1850s into the 1860s, including On the canal: a narrative of a voyage from London to Birmingham (1858); Under Bow Bells (1860, a collection of some of his essays),[9] Rubbing the Gilt Off (a collection of his early political essays (1860)[2] Odd Journeys (1860, a collection of travels),[10] Ways of Life (1861, a volume of humorous papers),[1] Ragged London (1861, a collection of his reports for the Morning Post),[11] and Underground London (1862). Other publications included a collection of humorous stories entitled Rough Diamonds and two volumes of miscellaneous essays called Today. He also wrote plays.[1]

Hollingshead in 1898

In the 1880s, Hollingshead returned to writing, producing books mostly about the theatre, including Plain English (1880),[12] and Footlights (1883).[13] Beginning in the 1890s, he wrote a number of memoirs and more books about the theatres that he had managed. In 1892, he also published The Story of Leicester Square, tracing the history, geography and architecture of the London neighbourhood from earliest times through the date of publication. His memoir entitled My Lifetime, published in 1895, explores his life and career through that date.[6]

Producer and theatre manager

The Alhambra Theatre and theatrical innovations

In the 1860s, Hollingshead turned to theatre management. He helped establish the

terpsichorean pleasure.[14]

So he plays his part
as drawn by Frederick Waddy (1872)

During his tenure at the Alhambra, Hollingshead introduced London audiences to the

Can-Can.[15] Hollingshead is also credited with inventing the practice of holding general matinées.[5]
Hollingshead was one of the first London theatre managers to eliminate fees for programmes and coat check.

He left the Alhambra to manage the newly redesigned Gaiety Theatre. In addition, Hollingshead managed shows at the Opera Comique from time to time. He produced a revival of Gilbert's Princess Toto there in 1881, paired with Rutland Barrington's short play, Quid Pro Quo.[16]

The Gaiety Theatre

In 1868, Hollingshead took over the Gaiety Theatre, which had been a large

Fred Leslie. The theatre's music director, Meyer Lutz
, composed or arranged the music for many of its most successful burlesques.

Illustration of Thespis, the first Gilbert and Sullivan work

In 1870,

J. L. Toole in the title role. Offenbach's Les deux aveugles played in 1872, starring Fred Sullivan. This was followed by such works as Shilly-Shally (1872) by Anthony Trollope and Charles Reade; Antony and Cleopatra (1873); and The Battle of Life, (based on Charles Dickens's Christmas story of that title). Two other Dion Boucicault plays produced by Hollingshead's company in the early 1870s were Night and Morning and Led Astray. Boucicault's Don Caesar de Bazan was travestied in Byron's Little Don Caesar de Bazan.[19]

Sheet music from Monte Cristo Jr.

In the late 1870s, the theatre became the first to install electric lighting on its auditorium. Hollingshead's productions there included

Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves was performed in 1880 (Hollingshead had produced a highly successful charity production called The Forty Thieves at the Gaiety in 1878), and a burlesque of Aladdin, by Robert Reece, in 1881. These were followed by Little Robin Hood (1882), a burlesque by Reece, Blue Beard (1882), Ariel (1883, by F. C. Burnand, based on The Tempest), Don Yuan, Byron's Little Don Caesar de Bazan (a send-up of Boucicault's play), Mazeppa (1884), Little Jack Sheppard (1885), Monte Cristo Jr. (1886), and dozens of others.[22] John D'Auban choreographed the Gaiety burlesques from 1868.[23][24] In addition to these burlesques, the theatre produced comedies such as Congreve's Love for Love, Vanbrugh's Relapse, The Grasshopper (1877, an adaptation by Hollingshead of Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy's La Cigale),[25]
and a number of farces.

Nevertheless, burlesque and risque operettas were the normal fare at the Gaiety. Hollingshead called himself a "licensed dealer in legs, short skirts, French adaptations,

Shakespeare, taste and musical glasses."[26]
In 1886, George Edwards took over the lease to the Gaiety.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Anonymous (1873). "Professor Owen". Cartoon portraits and biographical sketches of men of the day. Illustrated by Frederick Waddy. London: Tinsley Brothers. pp. 36–37. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  2. ^ a b Hollingshead (1895), P. 73
  3. ^ Hollingshead (1895), P. 83
  4. ^ Hollingshead (1895), P. 93
  5. ^
    New York Times
  6. ^ a b c "New Play at the Odeon; Said Not to Be a Good One, But to Be Interesting". The New York Times. 3 October 1892. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  7. ^ Spielmann, p. 368
  8. ^ "Hollingshead, John". Who's who biographies, 1901. 1901. pp. 578–579.
  9. ^ John Hollingshead (1860). Under Bow bells. Groombridge and sons. john hollingshead under bow bells.
  10. ^ John Hollingshead (1860). Odd journeys in and out of London. Groombridge. john hollingshead odd journeys.
  11. ISBN 1-4021-8921-4
    .
  12. ^ John Hollingshead (1880). Plain English. Chatto and Windus. p. 117. john hollingshead plain english.
  13. ^ John Hollingshead (1883). Footlights. Chapman and Hall, limited. john hollingshead footlights.
  14. ^ Stewart, Maurice. "The spark that lit the bonfire", in Gilbert and Sullivan News, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society, London, Spring 2003.
  15. ^ Hollingshead (1895), p. 224
  16. ISBN 1-4286-1306-4
    .
  17. ^ Digital Guide to Gilbert & Sullivan Archived 31 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine accessed 1 March 2007
  18. ^ "Information about the Columbus burlesque". Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
  19. ^ Includes a profile of the Gaiety and other Victorian theatres
  20. ^ Information from Footlight Notes website Archived 12 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ Information and images regarding Handsome Hernani, or The Fatal Penny-Whistle
  22. ^ Plarr, Victor G. Men and Women of the Time (1898) G. Routledge, London
  23. ^ "Mr. D'Auban's 'Startrap' Jumps". The Times, 17 April 1922, p. 17
  24. ^ Biographical file for John D'Auban, list of productions and theatres, The Theatre Museum, London (2009)
  25. ^ "Information about The Grasshopper". Archived from the original on 7 July 2004. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
  26. ^ Arthur Lloyd Music Hall site (on Gaiety) Cuttings Archived 4 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine accessed 1 March 2007

References

  • Hollingshead, John. Alhambra: Theatre of Varieties, Leicester Square, London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. (1893)
  • Hollingshead, John. My Lifetime, 2 vols., London: Sampson, Low, & Marston (1895)
  • Hollingshead, John. here Gaiety Chronicles, London: A. Constable & Co. (1898)
  • Hollingshead, John. Good Old Gaiety: An Historiette & Remembrance, London: Gaiety Theatre Co. (1903)
  • Spielmann, Marion Harry. The History of Punch, London: Cassell (1895)

External links

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