Edward Abbott Parry

Name: Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement
Author: Edward Abbott Parry

Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)

Summary

“Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement”, published in 1912, is a work by Edward Abbott Parry. It explores elements such as Gilbert, Sullivan and opera.

Quotes from Dictionary of National Biography… (Edward Abbott Parry)

Edward Abbott Parry, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)

“ Gilbert believed that the playwright should dominate the theatre. He was a master of stage management. In a privately printed preface to 'Pygmalion and Galatea' he pointed out that 'the supreme importance of careful rehearsing is not sufficiently recognised in England.' His experience, for which he vouched by statistics, taught him that when his pieces were carefully rehearsed they succeeded, and when they were insufficiently rehearsed they failed. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Edward Abbott Parry, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)

“ Gilbert died from heart failure brought on by over-exertion while saving a young lady from drowning in his swimming lake at Grims Dyke on 29 May 1911. The body was cremated at Colder's Green and the ashes buried at Great Stanmore church, Middlesex. Gilbert was, perhaps, the most outstanding figure among Victorian playwrights. Few if any contemporary writers for the stage made so much money from that source alone, none acquired so wide a fame. In all his writing there is an effort after Hterary grace and finish which was in his early days absent from contemporary drama. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Edward Abbott Parry, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)

“ Thenceforth Gilbert pursued his career as a playwright spasmodically and with declining success. A fanciful drama, 'Harlequin and the Fairy's Dilemma,' was produced without much acceptance by Mr. Arthur Bourchier at the Garrick Theatre (3 May-22 July 1904) . On 11 Dec. 1909 his opera 'Fallen Fairies,' with music by Edward German, came out at the Savoy. His final production was 'The Hooligan,' a grim sketch of the last moments of a convicted murderer, played by Mr James Welch at the Coliseum in 1911.
Gilbert's successes as a dramatist brought him wealth, which he put to good purpose. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Edward Abbott Parry, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)

“ Miss Hodson published 'A Letter' in the same year complaining of Gilbert's dictatorial action, to which Gilbert replied in 'A Letter addressed to the Members of the Dramatic Profession.' Gilbert developed the practice of Tom Robertson, who was perhaps the first English playwright to impress his personal views at rehearsal on the actor. Gilbert rehearsed his pieces in his study by means of a model stage and figures, and every group and movement were settled in the author's mind before the stage rehearsals began. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Edward Abbott Parry, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)

“ Many of the artists who worked under him bore testimony to his personal kindness. He was not interested in sport. He had a constitutional objection to taking life in any form. 'I don't think I ever wittingly killed a blackbeetle,' he said, and added 'The time will come when the sport of the present day will be regarded very much as we regard the Spanish bull-fight or the bear-baiting of our ancestors' (William Archer, Red Conversations) . ”

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Source: Wikisource

Edward Abbott Parry, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)

“ A sketch of an operetta under this title had appeared in 'Fun' on 11 April 1868. The words now took a new shape, Sullivan suppUed the music, and the rehearsals were completed within three weeks. Gilbert's libretto betrayed the whimsical humour of his early 'Bab Ballads,' as well as the facility of his earlier extravaganzas and burlesques. Richard D'Oyly Carte [q. v. Suppl. II] was the manager of the Royalty. In view of the piece's success Carte formed a Comedy Opera Company, and gave Gilbert and Sullivan a commission to write a larger work together. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Edward Abbott Parry, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)

“ This ran for a year. 'Patience, or Bunthome's Bride' came out at the Opera Comique on 23 April 1881, and at the height of its triumph, on 10 Oct. 1881, it was transferred to the 'Savoy' — the new opera house built by D'Oyly Carte for the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. 'Patience' was a satire on the current 'aesthetic movement' and enjoyed great popularity. The succeeding 'Savoy operas' were 'Iolanthe, or the Peer and the Peri' (25 Nov. 1882) ; 'Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant,' based on Gilbert's comedy 'The Princess' (5 Jan. 1884) ”

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Source: Wikisource

Edward Abbott Parry, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)

“ A sufficient rehearsal for a play he then considered to be three weeks or a month. His conduct at the rehearsals of his adaptation of 'Ought we to visit her' (a comedy in three acts by Messrs. Edwardes and Gilbert) , produced at the Royalty on 17 Jan. 1874, led to a quarrel with Miss Henrietta Hodson [q. v. Suppl. II] , which was renewed over the production of 'Pygmalion and Galatea' in January 1877. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Edward Abbott Parry, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)

“ It ran for 230 nights. 'Pygmalion and Galatea,' a rather artificial classical romance, was produced also at the Haymarket on 9 Dec. 1871. It proved a remarkable success. The play was revived at the Lyceum with Miss Mary Anderson in 1884 and later in 1888, at the same theatre, with Miss Julia Neilson in the part. Gilbert is said to have made 40,000l. out of this play alone (Daily Telegraph, 30 May 1911) . 'The Wicked World,' a fairy comedy, followed at the Haymarket on 4 Jan. ”

Edward Abbott Parry

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