Topsy Sinden
Encyclopedia
Harriet Augusta Sinden better known as Topsy Sinden, was an English dancer, actress and singer. She was best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy
and pantomime
, both in London and on tour. Sinden was an accomplished tap dancer and skirt dancer.
, followed shortly by a pantomime
of Dick Whittington at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
and by engagements at other West End theatre
s. She studied dance with M. Leprez, an Italian dancing master, and then the Viennese dancer Katti Lanner
. She was given early roles including as principal dancer at age 10 in a revival of Pepita at Toole's Theatre and The Old Guard, both in 1888. In 1889, she played the title role in a pantomime of Cinderella
at Covent Garden Theatre. She then was engaged by Augustus Harris
as principal dancer at the Empire Theatre for three years and later played in Liverpool
and elsewhere.
She also joined the company of George Edwardes
where, in the early 1890s, she appeared in the burlesques Cinder Ellen up too Late
and Don Juan. Also at the Gaiety, Edwards cast her in In Town
(1892), and, in 1894, still aged 16, she danced in A Gaiety Girl
at Daly's Theatre
and then played the role of Violet Deveney in Edwardes's hit Edwardian musical comedy
, The Shop Girl
, at the Gaiety. At the invitation of Harris, Sinden then danced in grand opera
s at Covent Garden
until his death in 1896. In 1897, she was principal dancer in The Yashmak
at Shaftesbury Theatre
and was also dancing at the Avenue Theatre opposite Lottie Venne
. In 1899, with Edwardes's company at Daly's Theatre, she played Trixie in San Toy
, in which she "contributes a graceful dance". She also performed in music hall
and pantomime (usually as "principal girl") during these years, including at the Britannia Theatre
, the Metropole Theatre in Camberwell
, and elsewhere.
at Daly's in 1902, was principal dancer in The Cingalee
in 1904–05, played the princess in The Princess and the Troubador (with music by Walter Slaughter
) at the London Coliseum
in 1905 and created the role of Jane in The Beauty of Bath
at the Aldwych Theatre
, 1906. In 1907–08 she became the première danseuse for the ballets at the Empire Theatre, appearing first as Stella Dare in a revised version of C. Wilhelm's ballet divertissement, The Belle of the Ball, in the role created by the departing Adeline Genée
. The Times
found her promising. Describing her performance in this role, one of her contemporaries wrote that Sinden "excelled in a light and easy kind of tap-dancing ... and in skirt dancing, which was very popular in the musical comedies of the period."
In 1910, Sinden was performing in variety at the Palladium Theatre. The Times called her "a dream of colour and grace". In 1912, she was a featured dancer in the comic opera The Grass Widows at the Apollo Theatre
. By 1914, Sinden was in financial distress, and a fund was being raised for her. In 1927, after some years away from the stage, she appeared in a production of Dick Whittington at the Elephant and Castle Theatre, south London. She continued working until at least 1930.
Edwardian Musical Comedy
Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...
and pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
, both in London and on tour. Sinden was an accomplished tap dancer and skirt dancer.
Life and career
Sinden was born and raised in London. Her parents were Augustus Sinden, a shipowner, and his wife Harriet. Her brother was the actor and dancer Bert Sinden (1879–1911). Her nickname was "Topsy" from an early age.Early career
Sinden began to perform as a small child in entertainments at St. James's Hall and made her professional debut at age six, in 1884, as a little dancer in a fairy play at the Royalty TheatreRoyalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...
, followed shortly by a pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
of Dick Whittington at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
and by engagements at other West End theatre
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
s. She studied dance with M. Leprez, an Italian dancing master, and then the Viennese dancer Katti Lanner
Katti Lanner
Katti Lanner was a Viennese ballet dancer and choreographer....
. She was given early roles including as principal dancer at age 10 in a revival of Pepita at Toole's Theatre and The Old Guard, both in 1888. In 1889, she played the title role in a pantomime of Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
at Covent Garden Theatre. She then was engaged by Augustus Harris
Augustus Harris
Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris , was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist.-Early life:Harris was born in Paris, France, the son of Augustus Glossop Harris , who was also a dramatist, and his wife, née Maria Ann Bone, a theatrical costumier...
as principal dancer at the Empire Theatre for three years and later played in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and elsewhere.
She also joined the company of George Edwardes
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
where, in the early 1890s, she appeared in the burlesques Cinder Ellen up too Late
Cinder Ellen up too Late
Cinder Ellen up too Late is a musical burlesque written by Frederick Hobson Leslie and W. T. Vincent, with music arranged by Meyer Lutz from compositions by Lionel Monckton, Sidney Jones, Walter Slaughter, Osmond Carr, Scott Gatti, Jacobi, Robertson, and Leopold Wenzel. Additional lyrics were...
and Don Juan. Also at the Gaiety, Edwards cast her in In Town
In Town (musical)
In Town is a musical comedy written by Adrian Ross and James T. Tanner, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Ross. It was produced by George Edwardes at the Prince of Wales Theatre, opening on 15 October 1892, and transferred to the Gaiety Theatre on 26 December 1892, running for a...
(1892), and, in 1894, still aged 16, she danced in A Gaiety Girl
A Gaiety Girl
A Gaiety Girl is an English musical comedy in two acts by a team of musical comedy neophytes: Owen Hall , Harry Greenbank and Sidney Jones . It opened at Prince of Wales Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes, on 14 October 1893 and ran for 413 performances. The show starred C...
at Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937.-Early years:...
and then played the role of Violet Deveney in Edwardes's hit Edwardian musical comedy
Edwardian Musical Comedy
Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...
, The Shop Girl
The Shop Girl
The Shop Girl was a musical comedy in two acts written by H. J. W. Dam, with Lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ross. It was first produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre in London, opening on 24 November 1894...
, at the Gaiety. At the invitation of Harris, Sinden then danced in grand opera
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
s at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
until his death in 1896. In 1897, she was principal dancer in The Yashmak
The Yashmak
The Yashmak, A Story of the East is a musical play, with a libretto by Cecil Raleigh and Seymour Hicks, adapted from an Armenian operetta, Leblébidji Horhor, which had been a success in 1896 in Constantinople. The music was composed by Napoleon Lambelet , and additional songs were composed by...
at Shaftesbury Theatre
Original Shaftesbury Theatre
The Original Shaftesbury Theatre was a theatre in central London between 1888 and 1941. It was built by John Lancaster for his wife, Ellen Wallis, a well-known Shakespearean actress. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps and built by Messrs...
and was also dancing at the Avenue Theatre opposite Lottie Venne
Lottie Venne
Lottie Venne was a British comedienne, 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...
. In 1899, with Edwardes's company at Daly's Theatre, she played Trixie in San Toy
San Toy
San Toy, or The Emperor's Own is a "Chinese" musical comedy in two acts, first performed at Daly's Theatre, London, on 21 October 1899, and ran for 768 performances...
, in which she "contributes a graceful dance". She also performed in music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
and pantomime (usually as "principal girl") during these years, including at the Britannia Theatre
Britannia Theatre
The Britannia Theatre was located at 115/117 High Street, Hoxton, London. The theatre was badly damaged by a fire in 1900. The site was reused as a Gaumont cinema from 1913 to 1940, when this too was destroyed...
, the Metropole Theatre in Camberwell
Camberwell
Camberwell is a district of south London, England, and forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is a built-up inner city district located southeast of Charing Cross. To the west it has a boundary with the London Borough of Lambeth.-Toponymy:...
, and elsewhere.
Later years
In the new century, Sinden was Miss Carruthers in A Country GirlA Country Girl
A Country Girl, or, Town and Country is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, additional lyrics by Percy Greenbank, music by Lionel Monckton and additional songs by Paul Rubens....
at Daly's in 1902, was principal dancer in The Cingalee
The Cingalee
The Cingalee, or Sunny Ceylon is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with music by Lionel Monckton, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and additional material by Paul Rubens. It opened at Daly's Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on March 5, 1904 and ran until March...
in 1904–05, played the princess in The Princess and the Troubador (with music by Walter Slaughter
Walter Slaughter
Walter Alfred Slaughter was an English conductor and composer of musical comedy, comic opera and children's shows. He was engaged in the West End as a composer and musical director from 1883 to 1904.-Life and career:...
) at the London Coliseum
Coliseum Theatre
The London Coliseum is an opera house and major performing venue on St. Martin's Lane, central London. It is one of London's largest and best equipped theatres and opened in 1904, designed by theatrical architect Frank Matcham , for impresario Oswald Stoll...
in 1905 and created the role of Jane in The Beauty of Bath
The Beauty of Bath
The Beauty of Bath is a musical comedy with a book by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, lyrics by C. H. Taylor and music by Herbert Haines; additional songs were provided by Jerome Kern , F. Clifford Harris and P. G. Wodehouse . The story concerns a young woman from a noble family, who falls in...
at the Aldwych Theatre
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
, 1906. In 1907–08 she became the première danseuse for the ballets at the Empire Theatre, appearing first as Stella Dare in a revised version of C. Wilhelm's ballet divertissement, The Belle of the Ball, in the role created by the departing Adeline Genée
Adeline Genée
Dame Adeline Genée DBE was a Danish/British ballet dancer.-Early years:Anina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jensen was born in Århus, Denmark. Her uncle, Alexandre Genée, gave her dancing lessons from the age of three. When she was eight, Alexandre and his wife, the former Antonia Zimmerman, adopted her...
. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
found her promising. Describing her performance in this role, one of her contemporaries wrote that Sinden "excelled in a light and easy kind of tap-dancing ... and in skirt dancing, which was very popular in the musical comedies of the period."
In 1910, Sinden was performing in variety at the Palladium Theatre. The Times called her "a dream of colour and grace". In 1912, she was a featured dancer in the comic opera The Grass Widows at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
. By 1914, Sinden was in financial distress, and a fund was being raised for her. In 1927, after some years away from the stage, she appeared in a production of Dick Whittington at the Elephant and Castle Theatre, south London. She continued working until at least 1930.
External links
- Photos of Sinden in Aladdin, 1908
- Photo of Sinden skirt dancing
- Photo of Sinden