Priscilla Horton

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Horton as Ariel in The Tempest, 1838

Priscilla Horton, later Priscilla German Reed (2 January 1818 – 18 March 1895), was an English singer and actress, known for her role as Ariel in

W. C. Macready's production of The Tempest in 1838 and "fairy" burlesques at Covent Garden Theatre. Later, she was known, along with her husband, Thomas German Reed, for establishing and performing in the family-friendly German Reed Entertainments. There, she was a mentor to W. S. Gilbert
, and her performances inspired Gilbert to create some of his famous contralto roles.

Life and career

Early years

Horton was born in

Covent Garden Theatre. There she played Mopsa in The Winter's Tale, the Boy in Henry V, and the Fool in King Lear. After other successful roles, Horton played Ariel in Macready's production of The Tempest in 1838 at Covent Garden.[2]

Drawing of Priscilla German Reed in both the parts she played in an 1857 double bill: the title roles in The Flower-boy and The Scotch Fisher-girl

Blonde and blue eyed, Horton had sometimes played in "

trouser roles", which, by the time Horton entered the profession, had lost much of their risqué aura. She was a favourite of James Planché, Charles Dickens[3] and Madame Vestris and was known for her agile dancing and clear contralto singing voice. The historian Paul Buczkowski wrote of her, "Horton brought a lively intelligence to her roles, and was almost as highly lauded in tragedy (for instance, as Ophelia in Hamlet and the Fool in King Lear) as in comedy. She would appear in most of Planché's later works, substantially enriching them."[4]

From 1840 to 1847, Horton joined

Handel's Acis and Galatea.[1] At the Haymarket Theatre from 1843 to 1847, she appeared in many of her Planché Christmas and Easter pieces. During these years, she also appeared at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane as Philidel in Henry Purcell's opera King Arthur (1842) and created the girl/boy roles of Myrtina/Fortunio in Planché's Fortunio and his Seven Gifted Servants (1843).[citation needed
]

Marriage and later years

Priscilla German Reed, mid-1860s

She married Thomas German Reed in 1844. From 1847 to 1854, she continued to play roles at the Haymarket, Drury Lane and Olympic theatres as well as in provincial tours. One 1851 role was Hecate in Macready's farewell Macbeth.[2]

In the spring of 1855, the German Reeds presented the first performance of "

St. George's Hall). To help lend respectability to their family-friendly entertainments, they called their establishment the "Gallery" of Illustration, rather than a "theatre", and the pieces they put on were called "entertainments," rather than plays, extravaganzas, or burlesques, to interest family audiences who were afraid of the bad reputation in which the professional theatre was regarded at the time.[6][7]

The entertainments focused on satire and "clean" comedy, eschewing any hint of the vulgarity that permeated the London stage. Reed himself composed the music for many of these pieces, and often appeared in them, together with Mrs. German Reed. Horton was a mentor to the dramatist

Savoy Operas.[6][7]

Thomas retired in 1871, and Horton, together with their son, Alfred (1847–1895), continued the entertainments until her retirement in 1879, when Alfred took over their production until 1895. She retired from performing in 1879. She died at the age of 77 at

Bexley Heath, Kent.[8]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Stedman, Jane W. "Reed, (Thomas) German (1817–1888)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004, accessed 13 November 2008 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  2. ^ a b Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Reed, Thomas German" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 47. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 395.
  3. ^ Example of a poem and drawing by Charles Dickens for Horton
  4. ^ Buczkowski, Paul. "J. R. Planché, Frederick Robson, and the Fairy Extravaganza", Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, Vol. 15, No. 1 (2001), pp. 42–65
  5. ^ The Athenaeum, 21 March 1840, p. 238
  6. ^ a b "Obituary: Thomas German Reed", The Times, 26 March 1888, p. 9
  7. ^ a b Woodbridge Wilson, Frederic. "Reed, Thomas German", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, accessed 31 January 2013 (subscription required)
  8. ^ St George's Hall, Langham Place, Regent Street, London", at the ArthurLloyd theatres website

References

External links
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