|
Lottie Venne (28 May 1852 – 16 July 1928) was a British comedian, actress and singer of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, who enjoyed a theatre career spanning five decades.〔 Venne began her stage career in musical burlesque before moving into farce and comedy. She appeared in several works by each of F. C. Burnand and W. S. Gilbert and was often in plays with Charles Hawtrey later in her career. ==Early life and career== Her first professional appearance came in 1867 as Miss Charbonnel in ''A Dream in Venice'' at the Gallery of Illustration in London, followed by two years touring in the provinces. For part of this time, she joined Captain Disney Roebuck's touring company, where she met her future husband, Walter H. Fisher.〔Powell, p. 138〕 In London, in 1870, Venne played Susan Piper in ''A Bull in a China Shop'', a comedy by Charles Mathews at the Haymarket Theatre. At the same theatre, she appeared as Jemima in ''Rural Felicity'' by John Baldwin Buckstone.〔"Miss Lottie Venne. Comedy and Burlesque." ''The Times'', 17 July 1928, p. 9〕 In the early 1870s, she played many roles in musical burlesques such as Francis Talfourd's ''Atalanta'' as Cupid, ''Little Jack Sheppard'' as Jonathan Wild (1871 on tour), ''Dr. Faust'' as Franz, ''Ixion'' as Cupid (1873), and ''Don Juan'' as Zerlina (1873 at the Alhambra Theatre).〔("Death of Miss Lottie Venne; Half-century on London Stage", ) ''The Argus'' Melbourne, Australia, 18 July 1928, accessed 17 November 2009〕 She played Polly Twinkle in ''La vie Parisienne'' in 1872 and, at the Court Theatre, played in ''Christabel'', ''Zampa'', ''Lady Audley's Secret'' and others.〔Parker, John. ("Venne, Lottie" ) in ''Who's Who in the Theatre'', pp. 829–31, Pitman, 1922〕 Venne played the role of Zayda in the 1873 play ''The Happy Land'' by W. S. Gilbert (under the pseudonym F. Latour Tomline) and Gilbert Arthur à Beckett at the Court Theatre, together with Fisher. The same year, in the same house, she appeared in ''Playing with Fire''. In 1874, she joined the company at the Strand Theatre, where she first played Lady Constance in ''The Field of the Cloth of Gold''. She remained at that theatre for four years in burlesques and comedies, such as ''Nemesis'' by H. B. Farnie, ''Loo and the Party Who Took Miss'', ''Intimidad'', ''Flamingo'', ''Cracked Heads'' (1876, a parody of Gilbert's ''Broken Hearts) by Arthur Clements and Frederick Hay, ''The Lying Dutchman'', ''Princess Toto'' by Gilbert and Frederic Clay, ''Champagne'', and as the Plaintiff in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Trial by Jury'' in 1877, opposite Fisher's Defendant. Also at the Strand, she played Penelope, the bewildered housemaid, in Sydney Grundy's comedy ''The Snowball'' and appeared in ''Our Club'' and ''The Baby''.〔 She built her popularity through a series of roles in works by F. C. Burnand, including ''Dora and Diplunacy'', a burlesque of ''Diplomacy'' (in which she parodied Effie Bancroft), ''Family Ties'' and ''The Red Rover'' (a burlesque of Robertson's sentimental plays).〔 In 1879, at the Royalty Theatre, she played Eliza in a revival of ''The Zoo'' by B. C. Stephenson and Arthur Sullivan.〔 The same year, she was particularly successful playing the title role in Burnand's farce ''Betsy'' at the Criterion Theatre. This was followed by comic roles such as Amy Jones in ''Crutch and Toothpick'' by G. R. Sims at the Royalty (1879), and by roles in ''Young Mrs. Winthrop'', and ''On Change''. She also played the title role in ''Jane''.〔 In 1880, she was Kitty Clark in ''The Little Mother'' at the Gaiety Theatre, London.〔 Venne appeared in the 1881 comedy ''Out of the Hunt'' at the Comedy Theatre with E. H. Sothern.〔''The Glasgow Herald'' 26 September 1881〕 The same year, she played Mrs. Pilate Pump in ''Blue and Buff'', Mrs. Delafield in ''Reclaimed'' and Gwendolyn Kingfisher in ''Dust''.〔 In 1882, she was Nettie Milsom in ''The Manager'' and starred as Mary Ledger, with Marion Terry and Johnston Forbes-Robertson, in G. W. Godfrey's comedy ''The Parvenu'' at the Court Theatre. Reviewing the play, ''The Labour Standard'' wrote, "Venne is the Princess of the play; her style is charming, and her voice is clear and sweet."〔Culme, John. (Footlight Notes No. 389 ) at Footlightnotes.tripod.com, 2005, ''quoting'' ''The Labour Standard'', 25 November 1882, p. 2b, accessed 18 November 2009〕 In 1883, she was Marceline in ''Lurette'' Fleurette in ''Barbe-Bleue''〔 and Peg O'Reilly in ''The Glass of Fashion'' by Grundy at the Globe Theatre, with Herbert Beerbohm Tree.〔Grundy, Sydney. (''A Fool's Paradise'' ), script: original cast list on p. 2, Samuel French, Ltd., 1898〕 Among many other roles in the mid-1880s, she played Agatha Poskett in Arthur Wing Pinero's ''The Magistrate'' (1885 at the Court Theatre) and Honour in Robert Buchanan's ''Sophia'' (1886; adapted from Fielding's ''Tom Jones'' at the Vaudeville Theatre).〔 In 1887, she was Rose in a version of the ''Arabian Nights'', by Von Moser, with Charles Hawtrey and W. S. Penley.〔Sharp, Robert Farquharson. (''A short history of the English stage'' ), The Walter Scott publishing co., ltd., 1909〕 The next year, she starred as Mrs. Bardell with Rutland Barrington and Arthur Cecil at the Comedy Theatre in ''Pickwick'' by Burnand and Edward Solomon.〔Barrington, chapter 6〕 Barrington commented, "This great little artist possesses, in addition to her many charms, a wonderful manner of speaking that kind of doubtful line which is sometimes alluded to by journalists as 'skating on thin ice'; and this power was occasionally abused by authors, much to her distress. She once came to me at rehearsal and pointing out a speech said, 'B. dear, I can’t say that, now, can I?' My obvious reply was, 'Well, Lottie, if you can't, no one can.'"〔Barrington, chapter 20〕 She also appeared and as Polly Eccles in ''Caste'' by T. W. Robertson (1889 at the Criterion Theatre.〔 In 1890, she was Pert in ''London Assurance'' by Dion Boucicault at the Avenue Theatre, followed by two seasons at the Comedy Theatre,〔 including in ''Poet and Puppets'', a travesty of Oscar Wilde's ''Lady Windermere's Fan'', by Charles Brookfield, with Charles Hawtrey.〔("Gladstone at the Play", ) ''The New York Times'', 22 May 1892, p. 13.〕 In 1893, she was in a musical piece by Brookfield and Seymour Hicks called ''Under the Clock'' at the Court Theatre, also starring Brookfield as Sherlock Holmes and Hicks as Dr. Watson. Venne played Hannah, a maid of all-work.〔(Special Collections: K Plays ), University of Minnesota, 8 April 2005, accessed 18 November 2009〕 That year, she also played Zulu in ''Forbidden Fruit'' at the Vaudeville.〔"Miss Lottie Venne", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 17 July 1928, p. 10〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lottie Venne」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|