The Kiralfy Brothers
Imre Kiralfy | |
---|---|
![]() Imre Kiralfy in 1891 | |
Born | Imre Königsbaum January 1, 1845 |
Died | April 27, 1919 | (aged 74)
Occupation(s) | Dancer, producer |
Years active | 1849–1908 |
Spouse | Marie Graham (1851–1942) |
Children | Edgar Kiralfy |
Bolossy Kiralfy | |
---|---|
![]() Caricature of Bolossy Kiralfy | |
Born | Balázs Königsbaum January , 1848 |
Died | 1932 (aged 83–84) |
Occupation(s) | Dancer, director, producer |
Imre Kiralfy and
Family life
The Kiralfy Brothers, Imre (1845–1919) and Bolossy (1848–1932), were the eldest of seven siblings born in the 1840s in Pest—(since 1873 incorporated with Buda and Óbuda into Budapest)—during the Hungarian Revolution, in which their father, Jacob Königsbaum, was ruined. When they were young children, Imre and Bolossy began to teach themselves to dance. They continued for years until their father caught them and promptly enrolled them in dance classes.[1] Soon, they were dancing at large venues such as the Hungarian Circus. There the brothers first performed under the name "Kiralfy" instead of their family name of Königsbaum; the boys' father changed their name to prevent them from being recognized as the sons of a revolutionary.[2] They were never recognized, though over the years, there were a number of close encounters with Austrian police, during many of which their father was nearly arrested. Jacob Königsbaum and their mother, Anna (Rosa) Weisberger, were highly supportive of their sons' career. They gave up their clothing business to take the brothers on tour through Europe.[3] For many years, the family continued to travel, touring all through both Eastern and Western Europe, while the three of the four younger siblings went to school and learned dance. The Kiralfy family motto was "All the World's a Stage."[4] Eventually, their sisters Haniola, Emile and Katie, as well as their youngest brother Arnold joined Imre and Bolossy in the dance industry. Only their brother Ronald was uninterested in dance.[5]
Early career and education
As teenagers in the 1860s, Bolossy and Imre travelled to Paris, where they were immediately taken with theatrical spectacle.[6] Bolossy believes he first developed his theory of theatre in the city:
Real musical theatre had to be popular theatre, attracting an audience from all segments of society. It had to embody in logical form all aspects of the theatre – music, lyrics, dance and drama – in a production that was usually greater than the sum of its parts. It had to have a meaningful story with a universal theme, and it had to have a hero or heroine with whom the audience could sympathize.[7]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Victorien_Sardou_-_Dolores.jpg/220px-Victorien_Sardou_-_Dolores.jpg)
Imre and Bolossy both trained at the Opera Ballet but they refused to become permanent performers.[8] Bolossy reflects on his training in Paris:
There is no question that in Paris I acquired my training, not only in the finest Ballet technique from Monsieur Barres, but in the areas of production and management. The presentations at the Theatre Francais taught me dramatic staging. My experience at the Theatre de la Porte-Saint-Martin and at the Chatelet gave me the ability to produce big spectacular numbers. At the Opera I learned the choreography that would help me to plan my lavish musical productions. And it was there that my encounters with the artists proved how exciting and challenging the work of producers and directors could be.[9]
Bolossy Kiralfy was 26 when he retired as a performer and began the second phase of his career where he focused on producing and choreographing. He adapted European productions to the United States. The Kiralfy Brothers had a 13-year-long producing partnership. According to Bolossy Kiralfy, “The American public not only became educated of our large dance extravaganzas, they demanded them in all musical productions.” [10]
When they travelled to New York City in May 1869, the Kiralfy Brothers may already have envisioned how to produce their ideas of spectacle on stage.[11] For four years, the family continued to tour as dancers, until eventually being contracted by Niblo's Garden, just after the theatre’s immense success with The Black Crook.[12] Their first foray into the production side of theatre came in 1871, with the pantomime Humpty Dumpty at the Olympic, in which the “Kiralfy Troupe,” as they had come to be known, were performing. The reviewers of the production praised both the dancing and the scenery greatly, declaring the latter to be “of exceptional beauty”.[13] This “exceptional beauty” would become a common theme in reviews of the Kiralfy Brothers' productions.
The Black Crook
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/The_Black_Crook.jpg/220px-The_Black_Crook.jpg)
In August 1873, the brothers first produced their own musical spectacle, a revival of The Black Crook at Niblo's Garden. They added musical numbers, improved the costumes (beyond exposing the legs of the actresses), and strengthened the dance numbers. According to Bolossy Kiralfy, their revival was an immense success, playing over one hundred performances before going on tour and breaking Niblo's Garden's record number of performances of a revival.[14] Their production, featuring actors such as George Atkins, E.K. Collier, and W. Martin, as well as the Kiralfy sisters’ dancing talents, was later revived from November 1874 to January 1875.[15] With this production, the brothers achieved their goal of making popular theatre, and they made a strong effort to elevate The Black Crook into a slightly higher class of theatre.
The Deluge, or Paradise Lost
The next year, they imported the French spectacle The Deluge to
Around the World in Eighty Days
On August 28, 1875, the Kiralfy Brothers put up, “in spectacular style,”
Around the World in Eighty Days opened at the Academy of Music, after a legal challenge due to another New York troupe trying to mount the same Paris production, and it was a major hit. The special effects and exciting story attracted large audiences consistently. It became so popular that the President of the United States attended a performance. President Ulysses S. Grant, who attended a performance on September 17, 1875, with Secretary George M. Robeson, General Orville E. Babcock, and former-Attorney General George Henry Williams, “seemed to be much pleased with the brilliant spectacle”.[28] After the production closed in October at the Academy of Music, it went on tour to the outer boroughs for two weeks, until it reached the Brooklyn Academy of Music, during Christmas week in 1875.[29] Yet, like The Deluge, this Kiralfy Brothers production did not end here.
The first of a long line of expansive revivals of Around the World in Eighty Days opened again at Niblo's Garden on January 22, 1877. It was presented at Niblo's Garden nine times, together with a series of very successful tours and revivals between 1881 and 1892 throughout New York City and the United States. Some of the houses for Around the World included
Excelsior
Fallout and separate careers
The Kiralfy Brothers had a 13-year long producing partnership. In 1887, Imre and Bolossy Kiralfy had a falling out and the firm disbanded, driving Bolossy and Imre to produce outdoor spectacles. Neither publicly addressed the split, although, Bolossy intimated that his brother was making business deals behind his back. Upon their split, Bolossy continued to work in fantasy and fable whereas Imre pressed on with progressive era productions filled with science, technology, and machinery.[34]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/The_Barnum_and_Bailey_Greatest_Show_on_Earth%E2%80%A6Imre_Kiralfy%27s_Columbus.jpg/220px-The_Barnum_and_Bailey_Greatest_Show_on_Earth%E2%80%A6Imre_Kiralfy%27s_Columbus.jpg)
Imre Kiralfy after the split
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Empress_Hall%2C_Fulham_1937.jpg)
Imre Kiralfy’s The Fall of Rome was produced on
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Kensal_green.jpg/220px-Kensal_green.jpg)
Bolossy Kiralfy after the split
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Mathias_Sandorf.jpg/170px-Mathias_Sandorf.jpg)
During his time alone, Blossy Kiralfy focused a lot on outdoor theatre. In London he created Venice in London, which included a lake and water canals. A few years later, in Portland, Oregon, he produced Carnival in Venice. According to Bolossy, this production in Portland required “a huge open air theatre with a particularly broad canal connected to a lake. The four hundred foot stage was the largest ever constructed in the Northwest and allowed me to put two hundred performers in action in one scene. I could still hide myself and cruise the show in a gondola to evaluate the performance.” [41]
In 1888, Bolossy returned from his trip to Europe and brought two new spectacles to America,
The other production that Kiralfy brought was the new ballet Antiope which opened at London first. Kiralfy promised this ballet to be more brilliant and effective than the Excelsior, which was claimed to be best ballet of the time. The production featured 350 magnificent costumes designed by
References
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Creator of Great Musical Spectacles: An Autobiography. Mich: UMI Research Press. p. 10.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy,Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 11.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 12.
- ^ Tenneriello, Susan (2013). Spectacle Culture and American Identity: 1815–1940. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 101.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 55.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 55.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 61.
- S2CID 191595629.
- ^ Bolossy Kiralfy
- S2CID 191595629.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 81.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 84.
- ^ "Amusements-Theatrical-Pantomime at the Olympic". New York Times. No. September 1st. New York, NY. 1871.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 94.
- ^ Odell, George C.D. (1970). Annals of the New York Stage (Vol. IX. 1870-1875 ed.). Ams Pr Inc. pp. 406, 555.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 94.
- ^ Odell, George C.D. (1970). Annals of the New York Stage (Vol. IX. 1870-1875 ed.). Ams Pr Inc. p. 548.
- ^ Odell, George C.D. (1970). Annals of the New York Stage (Vol. IX. 1870-1875 ed.). Ams Pr Inc. p. 608.
- ^ Tryniski, Thomas M. (1880). "Drama in the United States". The New York Mirror.
- ^ Odell, George C.D. (1970). Annals of the New York Stage (Vol. X. 1875-1879 ed.). Ams Pr Inc. p. 66.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 93.
- ^ Odell, George C.D. (1970). Annals of the New York Stage (Vol. X. 1875-1879 ed.). Ams Pr Inc. p. 120.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 97.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 98.
- ^ Smith, Cecil A.; Litton, Glenn (1987). Musical Comedy in America: From The Black Crook to South Pacific, From The King & I to Sweeney Todd. Routledge. p. 29.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 98.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 230.
- ^ "President Grant". New York Times. 18 September 1875.
- ^ Odell, George C.D. (1970). Annals of the New York Stage (Vol. X. 1875-1879 ed.). Ams Pr Inc. p. 729.
- ^ Odell, George C.D. (1970). Annals of the New York Stage (Vol. XI.-XIV. 1882-1891 ed.). Ams Pr Inc.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 231.
- ^ Kiralfy, Bolossy (1988). Barker, Barbara M. (ed.). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator Of Great Musical Spectacles. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. p. 99.
- ^ Smith, Cecil A.; Litton, Glenn (1987). Musical Comedy in America: From The Black Crook to South Pacific, From The King & I to Sweeney Todd. Routledge. p. 29.
- ^ Tenneriello, Susan (2013). Spectacle Culture and American Identity: 1815-1940. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 97.
- ^ Tennerielo, Susan (2013). Spectacle Culture and American Identity: 1815-1940. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 102.
- ^ Smith, Cecil A.; Litton, Glenn (1987). Musical Comedy in America: From The Black Crook to South Pacific, From The King & I to Sweeney Todd. Routledge. p. 30.
- ^ Arthur Lloyd. "Empress Theatre/Hall". Retrieved 24 January 2017.
- ^ "Empire of India Exhibition, 1895". The Open University. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/53347. Retrieved 27 January 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Imre Kiralfy Dead in England" (PDF). New York Times. 29 April 1919. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- ^ Barker, Barbara M. (1988). Bolossy Kiralfy, Creator of Great Musical Spectacles: An Autobiography. UMI Research Press. p. 196.
- ^ "With Two New Spectacles, Return From Europe of Bolossy Kiralfy with Some Treasures" (PDF). The New York Times. 25 June 1888.
- ^ "With Two New Spectacles, Return From Europe of Bolossy Kiralfy with Some Treasures" (PDF). The New York Times. 25 June 1888.