New Zealand. Rotorua. Mishap on way to Dunedin.
Then came a three months' tour of New Zealand where we arrived in February, 1936. Before we left Australia we were warned by the management to be careful about our diet, as everyone going to New Zealand tends to put on weight because the food is so rich. The warning did no good. We put on weight just the same.
On a map of the world New Zealand looks so near to Australia that it is surprising to find that it is 1,220 miles away and that it takes two and a half days by boat from Sydney to Wellington. Quite a minor voyage, in fact. The whole atmosphere of New Zealand is very like England— the vegetation is much the same, with English trees taking the place of Australian gums. Gorse and broom gild the hedgerows, and fine turf grows underfoot unlike the coarse couch grass of Australia.
As we were there only for three months, moving on every few days, we did not have an opportunity of visiting all the show-places and beauty spots about which the guide-books wrote so alluringly. Our job was after all entertainment and we had to go to the towns which had theatres suitable for the presentation of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. So our time was spent principally in the big cities. From Auckland, however, we were able to visit Rotorua and see the amazing geysers. The company spent a Saturday there, but luckily for me the opera that night was The Pirates of Penzance in which I didn't take part, so I stayed on with some friends for the week-end.
It really was an incredible experience. There is a strong smell of sulphur in the air (which you very soon get used to), and here and there steam rises from the ground. When the geysers are erupting it is an amazing and exhilarating sight to see great fountains of boiling water gushing from the earth, to a height of fifty feet or more. But what fascinated me most were the pools of molten mud, bubbling and gurgling with a sound like boiling porridge, and forming the most extraordinary shapes like water-lilies or frogs. You had no need to buy pumice stone here; you could pick up as much as you wanted from the roadside.
There were many streams running through the village, some hot and some cold, and in parts the ground was so hot you could boil a kettle on it. What I could not understand was how grass could grow in burning-hot soil. But it did. In one place there were two pools lying side by side. In the one which was cold you could catch fish, and in the adjoining hot one, you could boil the fish for dinner. And the colour of the water was the most exquisite turquoise-blue imaginable.
Then there was the model Maori village, or Pa, with their beautifully carved houses. We were taken round by Rangi, a well-known Maori guide who is a Princess of her tribe. We saw the fascinating Maori dances in the evening, the girls swishing their grass skirts and making great play with their 'poi' balls of raffia. And never shall I forget their lovely voices as they sang their haunting Maori songs.
While we were in the North Island we played at a place on the east coast called Gisborne. There is no railway there, and we went by bus along hilly twisting roads. All the sheep in New Zealand seemed to be travelling the same way, hundreds and hundreds of them, and our drivers just drove through them without slackening speed. Evidently the sheep were more traffic-conscious than in England, for they lost no time scattering to right and left of the road as we shot through.
The proprietors of the hotel where Eve Gardiner and I stayed were most friendly and charming. They had a bungalow on the beach and they packed us a picnic lunch and motored us there in their own car, and left us in possession. It was such a joy to be able to relax and sun-bathe in the little garden and then to wander lazily on the shore and search for the lovely Paua shells. These are of the most exquisite iridescent-blue and jade-green colour, and they are used to make all sorts of souvenirs, such as cigarette boxes, ash-trays, napkin-rings, etc.
The Maori names of the towns in which we played in New Zealand fascinated us: Wanganui, Waipukura, Oamaru, Timaru, Wairoa. In some of these smaller places they were more used to film shows than live opera, and the audience sat as far back as possible, leaving the front seats empty. In one town the stage was so small there was no room for the boat in which the Ducal party usually arrive in Venice (The Gondoliers), and we just had to walk on to the stage. The theatre being a cinema, there were no dressing-rooms and the Duchess and I had to dress in an adjoining confectioner's shop and manoeuvre our large crinolines through the narrow door and up a steep outside staircase to get on to the stage. It really was very primitive. But that was, of course, an exception. The theatres in the big cities such as Auckland and Wellington were first-rate.
Having sailed to the South Island, we went by special train to Dunedin. And all day long the rain poured down in torrents, blotting out the view from the train windows, of what we were told, was the very lovely countryside we were passing through. We arrived in Dunedin just before seven o'clock in the evening, too late for a meal 
and tired and cold, we left our luggage at our respective hotels, and made a quick dash by taxi for the theatre, where we were to open our season with The Gondoliers.
Just before we arrived, there was a vivid flash of lightning, followed by a deafening thunder-clap, and all the lights in the town went out. (It was just one of those days.) The lightning had blown the vital fuses and cut off the power supply. This being in the days before the war, people were unprepared for a sudden blackout. In the theatre half the audience were already in their seats, and the rest were being ushered into their places with the aid of one or two candles. And as they sat waiting in the darkness they started community singing to while away the time.
Meanwhile back-stage, the company made-up as best we could by candlelight, wondering how we could give a performance. But it is of course a rule of the theatre, 'The Show must go on,' and somebody had the bright idea of removing some of the scenery, and driving a couple of cars into one side of the wings and using their headlights to light the stage.
Candles were supplied to the orchestra, and the curtain went up on a very strange scene in Venice, two sides Venetian, and one side plain brick walls with stacked scenery and modern cars, with an occasional glimpse of a stage-hand in very un-Venetian attire busily rushing about his job.
The theatre had been closed for several months; and without even electric light to give it any warmth, we shivered with cold. There had been no time—and no facilities—to press our stage clothes, and we must have looked a bedraggled company. But the audience had entered into the spirit of the thing, and showed their sympathy with our plight by their tremendous enthusiasm, and made every allowance for any shortcomings in the performance.
Ivan Menzies, as the Duke of Plaza Toro, could not resist ‘gagging' for once, and when I had to say, ‘I, the Queen of Barataria! But I've nothing to wear!' he said. 'It doesn't matter, the audience can't see you!' But the line that stopped the show, was when he said, 'I come here with Her Grace the Duchess and Her Majesty my daughter, and what do I find? . . . The town illuminated? No!'
The lights suddenly came on half-way through the performance and the curtain went down mid scenes of enthusiasm. Sandwiches and coffee and beer were then served on the stage to the starving company, and one sympathetic member of the audience sent champagne for all the principals. And so, a good time was had by all.
(To be continued...)
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First published in A Song to Sing-O! by Winifred Lawson [Michael Joseph: London, 1955], pp. 152 - 156
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Endnotes
compiled by Rob Morrison
JCW G&S OPERA CO. tour of New Zealand – 1936
His Majesty’s Theatre, Auckland
The Gondoliers –– Wednesday, 19 to Saturday, 22 February 1936 Tap here to view the cast list.
The Pirates of Penzance (& Trial by Jury) – Monday, 24, Tuesday, 25 & Wednesday 26 (mat.) Tap here to view the cast list.
The Yeomen of the Guard – Wed., 26 (eve.), to Sat., 29 Feb. (mat. & eve.) Tap here to view the cast list.
Iolanthe – Mon., 2 March, Tues., 3, Wed., 4 (mat.) Tap here to view the cast list.
The Mikado – Wed., 4 (eve) to Sat., 7 March (mat. & eve.) Tap here to view the cast list.
H.M.S. Pinafore (& Cox and Box) – Mon., 9 March, Tues., 10, Wed., 11 (mat.)
Patience – Wed., 11 (eve.), Thurs., 12 March Tap here to view the cast list.
The Mikado – Fri., 13 March (eve.) & Sat., 14 March (mat.)
The Gondoliers – Sat., 14 March (eve.)
His Majesty's Theatre (Auckland) proscenium
His Majesty's Theatre (Auckland) auditorium
Theatre Royal, Hamilton
Gondoliers – Mon., 16 March
Yeomen – Tues., 17 March
Opera House, New Plymouth
The Opera House, New Plymouth c.1923 (Te Papa - National Museum of NZ)
Gondoliers – Wed., 18 March
Pinafore (& Cox) – Thurs., 19 March (mat.)
Yeomen – Thurs., 19 March (eve)
Opera House, Hawera
Gondoliers – Fri., 20 March
Opera House, Wanganui
Mikado – Sat., 21 March (mat)
Gondoliers – Sat., 21 March (eve)
Yeomen – Mon., 23 March
Opera House, Palmerston North
Gondoliers – Tues., 24 March
Mikado – Wed., 25 March (mat)
Yeomen – Wed., 25 March (eve)
Municipal Theatre, Hastings
Gondoliers – Thurs., 26 March
Yeomen – Fri., 27 March
Opera House, Gisborne
Gondoliers – Sat., 28 March
Pirates (& Trial) – Mon., 30 March
Yeomen – Tues., 31 March
Iolanthe – Wed., 1 April (mat.)
Mikado – Wed., 1 April (eve)
Pinafore (& Cox) – Thurs., 2 April
Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa
Gondoliers – Fri., 3 April
Municipal Theatre, Hastings
Pirates (& Trial) – Sat., 4 April (mat.)
Mikado – Sat., 4 April (eve)
WAIPUKURAU ON MONDAY.
For the very first time in its history, Waipukurau is to see a performance in its own town of the J. C. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, as on Monday night "The Gondoliers" will be presented in the Waipukurau Theatre. The booking has been exceptionally good and it is advisable to reserve seats to-day at Messrs. L. Hawke and Co.'s.
Hawke's Bay Tribune, 4 April 1936, p. 10
Municipal Theatre, Waipukurau
Gondoliers – Mon., 6 April
Regent Theatre, Masterton
Pirates (& Trial) – Wed., 8 April (mat.)
Mikado – Wed., 8 April (eve)
Yeomen – Thurs., 9 April
Grand Opera House, Wellington
Gondoliers – Sat., April 11 (Easter Saturday) (mat & eve) & Mon., 13th (mat. & eve)
Pirates (& Trial) – Tues., 14 April & Wed., 15 April (mat. & eve.)
Yeomen – Thurs., 16 April, Fri., 17 April & Sat., 18 (mat.)
Iolanthe – Sat., 18 April (eve) + Mon., 20 April
Mikado – Tues., 21 April, Wed., 22 (mat & eve) & Thurs., 23 April
Patience – Fri., 24 April
(The theatre was closed on Saturday, 25 April)
Gondoliers – Mon., 27 April
Pinafore (& Cox) – Tues., 28 & Wed., 29 (mat & eve)
Mikado – Thurs., 30 April – Grand Farewell
Grand Opera House, Wellington
Grand Opera House (Wellington) auditorium
His Majesty's Theatre, Dunedin
Gondoliers – Sat., 2 May 1936
Pirates (& Trial) – Mon., 4 May
Yeomen – Tues., 5 May
Mikado – Wed., 6 May (mat & eve)
Patience – Thurs., 7 May – Gondoliers (mat.)
Iolanthe – Fri., 8 May
Pinafore (& Cox) – Sat., 9 May (mat.)
Mikado – Sat., 9 May (eve) – Farewell Gala
Opera House, Oamaru
Mikado (?) – Mon., 11 May (Newspaper advertisement listing the opera staged that night not located).
Theatre Royal, Timaru
Mikado – Tues., 12 May
Theatre Royal, Christchurch
Gondoliers – Tues.,12 & Wed., 13 May (mat & eve)
Pirates (& Trial) – Thurs., 14 & Fri., 15 May
Pinafore (& Cox) – Sat., 16 May (mat.) & Fri., 22 May
Yeomen – Sat., 16 May (eve), Mon., 18 May;
Mikado – Tues., 19 May; Wed., 20 May (mat), Sat., 23 May (eve)
Iolanthe – Wed., 20 May (eve) & Sat., 23 May (mat)
Patience – Thurs., 21 May
Trial by Jury; Act 1 – Patience; Act 2 – Iolanthe – Mon., 25 May
Theatre Royal (Christchurch) proscenium
Theatre Royal (Christchurch) auditorium
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Selected newspaper reports
GILBERT & SULLIVAN.
OPERAS OF PERENNIAL CHARM.
PROPOSAL TO FORM PERMANENT COMPANY.
That the revival of interest in Gilbert and Sullivan opera, sustained over the greater portion of half a century, is appreciated behind the footlights is evident from the suggestion that a permanent company may be established in Australia and New Zealand with a view to maintaining continuity of production. This may ensure regular tours of the Commonwealth and the Dominion, with visits to South Africa included, and talent from the countries mentioned may be given an opportunity for expression.
Theses views were expressed yesterday by Mr. D. B. O'Connor, representative of Messrs. J. C. Williamson Ltd. He stated that "the firm" was exploring several avenues which promised further support for the project.
The Williamson company, which is to appear in several Gilbert and Sullivan operas in Masterton on Wednesday and Thursday next, played a season of six months in South Africa. It was the first season of Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the Union of South Africa. Then it went to Australia, where it played to very big business for about eighteen months.
Mr. O'Connor spoke of the perennial charm of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, which, despite the fact that they were first staged many years ago, have never lost their appeal, as proved by the large audiences drawn by each revival.
A striking instance of this was the success of the original D'Oyly Carte Company from London in America last year. New York audiences are perhaps the most sophisticated in the world, yet they crowded the theatre for over four months, the takings averaging £4000 a week.
One critic wrote: "After seeing 'The Gondoliers' I wished to build triumphal arches, and if I had had 24 guns on me I would have fired them all."
Mrs. Ada Littlejohn, who had attended every "first night" of the Savoy operas for 30 years, went from London to attend the opening performance in New York.
It was, said Mr. O'Connor, particularly gratifying to find the younger generation, which had grown away from the legitimate theatre to some extent, coming back and finding as much pleasure in the operas as did their parents and grandparents. The melodious music, the merry humour, the witty satire, and the ''colour" of the productions appealed to every age. To encourage this move back to the "flesh and blood" stage the management was admitting children at half price, and the response had been immediate.
The revived interest in the theatre is evidenced by the fact that there are now four "flesh and blood" companies in New Zealand for the first time for years. Advice he had received from London indicated, Mr. O'Connor observed, that the legitimate stage is booming, with every theatre occupied and big business recorded. In Australia and other parts of the world the same trend is noticeable.
Wairarapa Age, (NZ), 2 April 1936, Page 4
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Reference was made to the JCW G&S Opera Company’s first tour of South Africa, which commenced in Johannesburg on Boxing Day, 26 December 1913 before going on to Australia, where it opened in Melbourne at Her Majesty’s Theatre on 27 June 1914 and continued to tour around the country and to New Zealand up to its closing performance in Brisbane on 20 July 1915. (A subsequent tour of South Africa by the JCW G&S Opera Co. was undertaken at the conclusion of its 1931 –’33 Australasian tour). However, while the G&S tour of 1913 –‘14 was the first by a JCW company, it was not the first time that G&S had been performed in repertory in South Africa, as the British-based D’Oyly Carte Opera Company had played in Johannesburg and Cape Town in 1896 –‘97, followed by a more extensive tour in 1902 –’03, which lasted for just over a year, with a final return visit by the company in 1905 –’06.
Despite speculation on reorganising the JCW G&S Opera Co. as a “permanent” touring company (along the lines of the D’Oyly Carte), the company disbanded at the end of its current Australasian tour in 1937 and was reformed again for the next tour in 1940; a pattern that continued up until 1963. (According to Minnie Everett’s memoirs, J.C. Williamson’s retained the Australasian performing rights to stage G&S – then licensed from Rupert D’Oyly Carte – on the proviso that the operas be revived at least once every five years).
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Phyllis Dickinson as 'Peep-Bo', Winifred Lawson as 'Yum-Yum' & Eileen Kelly as 'Pitti-Sing'
Wairarapa Age, 7 April 1936, p.3
The Press (Christchurch), 23 May 1936, p. 9
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OBSTRUCTION IN AISLES AT OPERA HOUSE
THE RUSH FOR “THE MIKADO”
J. C. WILLIAMSON CO FINED £3
The sequel to the almost unprecedented rush to see “The Mikado” at the Opera, House on Wednesday night, when some hundreds were unable to obtain admission, was an information laid against J. C. Williamson Ltd., for allowing people to obstruct the aisles, the defendants being fined £3 by Mr E. L. Walton, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The action was brought by Mr J. W. Kane, superintendent of the Gisborne Fire Brigades, who was represented by Mr W. K. Andrews. Mr G. J. Jeune appeared for the defendant.
J. C. Williamson Ltd. were charged that, contrary to the direction of the Fire Brigade superintendent, the defendant company failed to keep all passages in and exits free from obstruction, and failed to prevent persons from standing or sitting thereon during the performance. Mr Jeune pleaded not guilty.
At the performance of “The Mikado” on Wednesday night, said Mr Andrews, the aisles and passages upstairs at the Opera House were blocked considerably. On the previous evening Superintendent Kane had warned the house manager that blocking of the aisles would not be permitted, but on making a visit on Wednesday evening he found that the conditions were such that no person could have got up or down the aisles. In this district, where there was danger of earthquake shock, the seriousness of blocking the aisles could be readily imagined.
Superintendent Kane, in evidence, said he arrived at the Opera House at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday and found about 20 persons seated on the stairs and eight in the centre aisle. When warning the management on Tuesday night in anticipation of a big crowd on Wednesday, witness said he would permit ten chairs in each of the boxes, but any beyond that would not be permissible. Seeing the state of affairs on Wednesday night, witness told the management that the people would have to be removed, but it was explained to him that that was impossible during the performance, but the ushers moved the patrons further down towards the bottom. This was satisfactory in the circumstances. If a slight shake and a panic occurred, the position would have been serious. The audience was worked up and the atmosphere tense and it would have taken little to create a panic. To Mr Jeune, witness said the Opera House was licensed to hold 981 people, but since the license was granted a number of seats been removed with the result that the seating accommodation was only 849. Structurally, the aisles provided for 12 fixed seats each, but a fixed seat was a vast difference from a movable one. Eleven seats had been taken from the orchestral stalls. He raised no objection to moving the people on the stairs down further. He had to be satisfied with that under the circumstances. Even if there were only 200 to 300 people in the theatre, the aisles must be kept clear.
Mr Jeune said that the Gisborne public had apparently sorted “The Mikado“ out as its favorite. The theatre was licensed to hold 981 persons, and the house manager was instructed not to oversell. There was such congestion in the theatre on Wednesday that no tickets were sold after 7.35 p.m., and a careful check showed that 925 people were admitted to the theatre. The company had now left the town and owing to the absence of the house manager it was impossible to bring proof of this. At first there was no overcrowding in the aisles, and this occurred by people placed in the boxes coming back to the aisles. The grounds of counsel's defence were that the superintendent’s directions on the night had been carried out. Defendant was fined £3 and costs £1 10s.
The Gisborne Times (NZ), Saturday, 4 April 1936, p. 7
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The Evening Post (Wellington), 16 April 1936, p.18
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VINIA DE LOITTE
"NO MONOTONY" MOTTO
The Comtesse de Vilme-Hautmant, who is travelling with the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, is the widow of that excellent exponent of Gilbert and Sullivan roles, Howard Vernon. She will be remembered as Vinia de Loitte in many operatic parts, and was heard to remark recently in Auckland that she was proud of the fact that she had the opportunity to create one Gilbert and Sullivan part in an Australian premiere, Princess Kalyba in "Utopia Limited." Most of the other operas of the series were produced before she was born. The Comtesse, accompanied by her tall, attractive secretary, Miss Audrey Bond, of Adelaide, autographs her book "Gilbert and Sullivan Opera in Australia 1879–1936" with an excerpt from one of the operas in which she has played. During each performance, she has addressed the audience with a bright speech. "Avoid Monotony" is one of her mottoes in life, and one which she apparently practises in its fullness.
Born with a title in her own right "Baroness," which became Vicomtesse upon the death of her grandmother (much of whose girlhood was spent in close contact with English Royalty), she appeared with the Royal Comic Opera Company as Nan in "A Country Girl" in Melbourne, and later in most of the Gilbert and Sullivan opera roles. Then came her marriage with the principal comedian, Howard Vernon, a May and December match. Later she toured the world with him, singing and playing in many lands. In Australia she gave time to talking to audiences on "Home Making, and Better Housekeeping"; building a quaint, "weekend" bungalow with a couple of disused tramcars, in a bush setting, near Sydney; writing for the Press (she is a committee woman of the "Society of Women Writers of N.S.W."), her "Howard Vernon Recollections" being syndicated in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, and Brisbane, and in giving a "one-woman entertainment" in all the principal cities from Perth to Cairns. Then came "Gilbert and Sullivan Teas" in the banquet hall of Milne and Choyce, which became a feature of the Auckland opera season.
Comtesse de Vilme-Hautmant will broadcast from 2YA during the Wellington season. Truly such a life cannot help but "Avoid Monotony"!
The Evening Post (Wellington. NZ), 8 April 1936, p. 16
Tap here to hear Vinia de Loitte in a 1944 Australian radio broadcast hosted by Humphrey Bishop
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A SAVOY OPERA POT-POURRI
THREE PIECES ON ONE PROGRAMME
“PATIENCE,” “lOLANTHE.” AND “TRIAL BY JURY”
There must always be a few regrets in the mind of a lover of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas at the close of a season. The thought comes that perhaps, after all, it would have been better to have seen “The Mikado,” instead of, say, “The Gondoliers,” when both could not be seen. An excellent cure for such regrets should be the Gilbert and Sullivan “pot-pourri,” to be presented by the J. C. Williamson company at the Theatre Royal tonight, the last night of the present season.
A pot-pourri of this sort, comprehending in a single programme many of the best-loved songs and most charming situations in the Operas, has never been presented before to a New Zealand audience, though often abroad. It gives an opportunity to many who might not otherwise enjoy favourite music and incident, to take in in one evening much of the best of the operas.
Of course, the net cannot be spread too wide, or continuity would be lost. This evening, therefore, the company will present the whole of the short opera, “Trial by Jury,” the first act of “Patience,” and the second act of “lolanthe.” In “Trial by Jury” W. S. Gilbert directed his kindly but keenly pointed wit at the judicial system of England: it is often the companion piece to “Pinafore,” and it is the equal in everything but length of the other operas—in music, wit, and apt contrivance of situations.
The programme has been selected largely according to many requests for repeat performances of the three operas represented. The popularity of "Patience” was apparently underestimated, for a number of Christchurch people asked that it should be repeated. The “aesthetic” craze of the ’nineties which is ridiculed in this opera is no longer of popular interest; but Gilbert and Sullivan are like those perfect conversationalists who are a delight to listen to, no matter what they choose to talk about. And out of “Patience” the company will give such numbers as “Twenty Lovesick Maidens We,” chorus by the Rapturous Maidens; the solo and chorus, in which a prescription is given for the making of a heavy dragoon—“Set ’em to simmer, and take off the scum, and a heavy dragoon is the residu-um”; “When I First Put This Uniform On,” and "Prithee, Pretty Maiden.” And these are only a few of the favourites which will be heard in the first act of “Patience.”
Looking over the list of songs and choruses in the second act of “lolanthe” one is inclined to wonder how there could be a first act at all when so much is packed into the second. Certainly the 12 numbers, including the hilarious trio, “He Who Shies at Such a Prize,” are the richest part of the evening’s feast. As well as in the trio, Mr Ivan Menzies will be heard in the recitative and song, “Love Unrequited Robs Me of My Rest”; the sentry's song, “When All Night Long a Chap Remains,” of course, begins the act. The finale of “lolanthe,” “Soon as We May, Off and Away,” will end this packed programme.
The Press, (Christchurch, NZ), Monday, 25 May 1936, p. 23
Gregory Stroud as 'Counsel for the Plaintiff' in Trial by Jury
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ARTIST TO LEAVE FOR AMERICA
FROM CHRISTCHURCH TO BROADWAY
MISS EVELYN GARDINER
To go straight from Christchurch to Broadway, New York, to play the leading contralto parts in Gilbert and Sullivan operas—that is a rare honour, a triumph of personality and artistry, and this is the distinction that has been won by Miss Evelyn Gardiner, of the J. C. Williamson Company, who has been playing a leading part in all the Gilbert and Sullivan operas presented at the Theatre Royal, Christchurch, during the last fortnight, and who will make her last appearance with the company to-night. Tomorrow she will leave Christchurch for Wellington, where she will see the company off to Australia on Wednesday. Then she will go to Auckland, where she will join the Monterey on Saturday for America. From Los Angeles she will travel to New York, there to join the Berengaria, due in London on June 23. She has been dramatically recalled to fill the role of principal contralto in the Savoy Opera Company directed by Mr Rupert D’Oyly Carte, and on August 20 she will appear on Broadway in the parts she as played on the Australian and New Zealand tour, which she has just completed. After the New York season, she will tour in the United States and later in England.
Sorry to Go
“I am heart-broken at parting with the present company,” Miss Gardiner said to a representative of “The Press" on Saturday. “They are wonderful comrades and we have been so happy together. All connected with the productions —the scene-shifters, the mechanics, the stage-hands, the orchestra, the company, the management—all have been such kind friends to me that I am very sad at parting with them. But a career makes great demands that cannot be disregarded. And, of course,” Miss Gardiner added, not without pardonable pride, “I know I am very lucky to get such a splendid chance; I realise it is a great honour to be recalled from a distance of 12,000 miles to take a position for which I know so many are waiting, and, I confess, I was greatly excited when, in Auckland, I received the cable asking me to go. But I was grieved when I thought of leaving the J. C. Williamson management. They have been so kind, and although the directors did not want me to go, they have all been so charming, so generous in their good wishes for my future success.”
Was it Fate?
“Why did I choose the stage as a career? To that question I always reply that it was Fate —Fate drawing me to Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas,” said Miss Gardiner, “My father knew Sir William Gilbert, and together they attended the first performance of ‘Patience,' on April 23, 1881, in the Opera Comique, the last Gilbert and Sullivan opera to be produced at that theatre, with them was my uncle, Sir Arthur Liberty, and all three were interested in the dressing and mounting which were showing the influence of Rosetti and William Morris. Much later, when I was being educated in Paris, I passed an examination at an early age, and, as a reward, my father took me to ‘The Gondoliers,’ my first opera.”
After a period of life in the country, riding, hunting, tramping with her dogs. Miss Gardiner recalled, she happened to be in London on Remembrance Day, November 11, when the annual sale of poppies was being held. She offered to sell poppies and was sent to headquarters, where she met Lady Guggisberg, whose husband, Brigadier-General Sir Gordon Guggisberg had a distinguished career on the Gold Coast. It would not appear at first sight that there was any connexion between poppies and Gilbert and Sullivan. But in this case there was. Lady Guggisberg, before her marriage, was Decima Moore of the D’Oyly Carte Company, who originated the part of Casilda in “The Gondoliers,” at the Savoy Theatre, played in many Gilbert and Sullivan roles and toured America, Australia, and New Zealand. She sent Miss Gardiner to sell poppies at the Princes’ Theatre, then under D’Oyly Carte management. From that chance meeting with the management a theatrical engagement followed, and Miss Gardiner had her first singing lesson from Mr Carte. Thus began her stage career which has been an outstanding success. Her introduction to Australia and New Zealand was, in a way, almost as dramatic as her departure. In the Gilbert and Sullivan revival, which began in Australia in 1931, Miss Dorothy Gill was engaged to play the contralto parts. She appeared in Melbourne in April, but after a few months she was recalled to London on the death of the great Bertha Lewis, who had played the leading contralto parts for 18 years. Miss Gardiner was sent out to take Miss Gill’s place. She made her first appearance in Sydney in August as the Duchess of Plaza-Toro and remained with the company for its tour of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Returning to London she forsook opera and immediately was engaged to play in drama, with Beatrix Thomson, in an all-star company, at the Vaudeville, in the Strand. But very soon, the lure of Gilbert and Sullivan again drew her round the world. She was acting in a talking film in London, and was at the same time rehearsing Sullivan and Hood’s “Rose of Persia,” when Mr Tait offered her a tour in the parts she had played before.
“I had liked Australia and New Zealand so much and I had a enjoyed working with the J. C. Wilamson management so greatly,” explained Miss Gardiner, “that I gave up my other work and accepted his offer, and now, like Dorothy Gill, whose place I took five years ago, I am recalled.”
Played Many Parts
“I have now,” the tall, Titian-haired contralto continued, “had experience in every branch of the profession—in pantomime, music-hall work, in straight drama, in opera, and in films, in which on one occasion I was associated with Matheson Lang, in the South of France, but I do not believe in having all my eggs in one basket; I have studied interior decoration, and have had much success in that fascinating work; then I have been in the real pearl trade in London and in Paris and have sorted, sold, graded, threaded, weighed, and priced pearls. I occasionally write for newspapers, and I frequently broadcast. Then as relaxation I drive a car and in Australia recently, I learnt to fly and gained my pilot's A license."
Miss Gardiner has been the guest of honour at many farewell parties within the last few weeks, and when she leaves Christchurch to-morrow she will count amongst her treasured possessions an inscribed gold fountain-pen and pencil, the parting gift of the J. C. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company.
The Press, (Christchurch, NZ), Monday, 25 May 1936, p. 3
Evelyn Gardiner (1935)
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Postscript
The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company’s principal contralto at this period was Dorothy Gill, who unfortunately had begun to experience a deterioration in her vocal powers, with the result that the company’s Managing Director, Rupert D’Oyly Carte (son of its founder, Richard), chose not to renew her contract at the end of the season. Although she continued in her stage performances, where her personality and acting ability could cover for her vocal deficiencies, her understudy, (Perth, Western Australian-born contralto) Josephine Curtis was assigned to record the role of ‘Katisha’ in Gill’s stead for HMV’s recording of The Mikado, featuring the members of the company, for the recording sessions which took place in the No. 1 Studio at Abbey Road, London between 3 to 22 June 1936. However, for the upcoming prestigious U.S. tour by the company, which was to commence with a season at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York on 20 August, Carte required a more experienced singer who was thoroughly at home in the stage roles, hence his offer to Evelyn Gardiner to return to the company. (Gardiner had commenced her performing career with the D’Oyly Carte in December 1921 and became an understudy to Bertha Lewis, but admitted that Bertha was rarely “off” and so she only made occasional appearances as ‘Katisha’ and the ‘Duchess of Plaza-Toro’, hence her initial experience in the extended repertoire of contralto roles was gained on the JCW G&S Opera Company’s 1931 – ’33 Australasian tour and subsequent tour of South Africa).
The D’Oyly Carte’s 1936 London season at the Sadler's Wells Theatre concluded on 27 June, followed by the company’s summer vacation of six weeks from 29 June to 7 August, when they sailed for New York. In addition to Evelyn Gardiner, other former members of the company who returned for the U.S. tour were principal soprano, Sylvia Cecil and principal tenor, Derek Oldham, and so time was no doubt spent in early August to allow for costume fittings and additional rehearsals for the returning members to “re-assimilate” into the company.
Ironically, Dorothy Gill’s appearances with the company in New York in 1934 had garnered her a significant fan base, who (disappointed with the substitution of Evelyn Gardiner for the 1936 season), organised and delivered a petition containing nearly 2,000 signatures to Rupert D’Oyly Carte in London calling for Dorothy’s return. Needless to say such a plea was in vain, given that she was no longer in her vocal prime.
Evelyn remained as principal contralto with the D’Oyly Carte for the next three years up to September 1939. She then returned to Australia to once again play the principal contralto roles with the JCW G&S Opera Company for its 1940 –’42, 1943 –’45 tours and its subsequent tours in 1949 –’51 and 1956 –’58 (taking over from Muriel Brunskill during the latter).
Acknowledgement
With thanks to George Low for providing information on the D’Oyly Carte Opera Co’s activities in 1936 and its tours of South Africa.
Sources
Digitised theatre programmes from the National Library of Australia (Canberra) PROMPT Collection
Papers Past - on-line New Zealand newspaper archive - https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers
The World of J.C. Williamson Theatres Ltd. (published c.1974)
