Wallace Brownlow
Encyclopedia
Wallace Brownlow was an opera singer of the Victorian era
best known for baritone
roles in the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan
.
touring company in 1884 and was assigned to the chorus. He travelled to the United States
in 1885 in the chorus of The Mikado
with D'Oyly Carte's first American Mikado company in New York City
and Boston
. He next toured Germany
and Austria
with D'Oyly Carte in 1886. During this tour, Brownlow appeared as the Foreman of the Jury in Trial by Jury
, his first principal role. He first appeared at the Savoy Theatre
in London
in the chorus in the original 1887 production of Ruddygore
. As the understudy
to Richard Temple
, Brownlow played the character of Sir Roderick Murgatroyd in August 1887.
Brownlow continued in the chorus at the Savoy Theatre during the first London revivals of H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance
, and The Mikado
. A one-act comic opera
, Mrs. Jarramie's Genie
, written by Frank Desprez
and composed by Alfred Cellier
and his brother Francois
was the curtain raiser for these revivals, and Brownlow appeared as the retired upholsterer, Harrington Jarramie.
Brownlow created the role of Sir Richard Cholmondeley
, the Lieutenant of the Tower of London
in the next Savoy opera
, The Yeomen of the Guard
, in 1888 at the Savoy Theatre. Coincidentally, his father had been Drill Master of the Yeomen of the Queen's Body Guard. He next created the role of Luiz in The Gondoliers
, which he played from the opera's premiere in December 1889 until April 1891. Brownlow left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to play Prince John in Arthur Sullivan's
grand opera Ivanhoe
and as the Duc de Longueville in La Basoche
at the Royal English Opera House. He next played in a number of comic operas in London through 1893, including the role of William in Blue-Eyed Susan, composed by F. Osmond Carr, at the Prince of Wales's Theatre in 1892.
to work for J. C. Williamson
, appearing in the 1894 production of Ma mie Rosette, with Nellie Stewart
and in an 1895 revival of H.M.S. Pinafore in Sydney
. In 1900, he appeared in both Sydney and Melbourne
in H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe
, and The Gondoliers
as Giuseppe. In 1900 he also played The Sultan in Arthur Sullivan's The Rose of Persia
and played Abercoed in Florodora
. He also played the title role in The Mikado and in A Trip to Chinatown
. In 1902, Brownlow was injured by falling through a door and recovered substantial damages.
Brownlow's alcoholism contributed to his failure in a venture managing a hotel in Western Australia
. Stewart wrote in her memoirs of Brownlow's great success with Australian audiences, the "ease and grace and dash" that he brought to his roles, his huge popularity with the women who pursued him, and of his weakness for alcohol that led to his unhappy end.
Brownlow then went to the United States
, where he appeared in several Broadway
productions of comic operas, including Love's Lottery in 1904, appearing as Sergeant Bob Trivet, Girofle-Girsofla from January to February 1905, and in Boccaccio in March 1905. Later, theatrical manager Hugh McIntosh found Brownlow in California
, where he had gone to act in silent films, including the 1913 movie The Hoyden's Awakening, now living in dereliction, and brought him back to Australia under contract, but he soon "lapsed into his old habit."
While living in Australia, Brownlow wrote the lyrics for several songs, including those to the ballad "Without Thy Love", the music to which was written by fellow D'Oyly Carte artiste Charles Kenningham
.
Brownlow died in Melbourne
, Australia
in September 1919.
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
best known for baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
roles in the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
.
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
Brownlow joined a D'Oyly Carte Opera CompanyD'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
touring company in 1884 and was assigned to the chorus. He travelled to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1885 in the chorus of The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
with D'Oyly Carte's first American Mikado company in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. He next toured Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
with D'Oyly Carte in 1886. During this tour, Brownlow appeared as the Foreman of the Jury in Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
, his first principal role. He first appeared at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in the chorus in the original 1887 production of Ruddygore
Ruddigore
Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan...
. As the understudy
Understudy
In theater, an understudy is a performer who learns the lines and blocking/choreography of a regular actor or actress in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to appear on stage because of illness or emergencies, the understudy takes over the part...
to Richard Temple
Richard Temple
Richard Barker Cobb Temple was an English opera singer, actor and stage director, best known for his performances in the famous series of Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas....
, Brownlow played the character of Sir Roderick Murgatroyd in August 1887.
Brownlow continued in the chorus at the Savoy Theatre during the first London revivals of H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, and The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
. A one-act comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
, Mrs. Jarramie's Genie
Mrs. Jarramie's Genie
Mrs. Jarramie's Genie is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Frank Desprez and music by Alfred Cellier and François Cellier. The piece was first presented at the Savoy Theatre on 14 February 1888, as a curtain raiser to the revival of H.M.S. Pinafore...
, written by Frank Desprez
Frank Desprez
Frank Desprez was an English playwright, essayist, and poet. He wrote more than twenty pieces for the theatre, as well as numerous shorter works, including his famous poem, Lasca.-Life and career:...
and composed by Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor.In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing the overtures to some of them, Cellier conducted at many theatres in London, New York and...
and his brother Francois
François Cellier
François Arsène Cellier , often called Frank, was an English conductor and composer. He is best known for his tenure as music director and conductor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company during the original runs and early revivals of the Savoy operas.-Life and career:Cellier was born in South Hackney,...
was the curtain raiser for these revivals, and Brownlow appeared as the retired upholsterer, Harrington Jarramie.
Richard Cholmondeley
Sir Richard Cholmondeley was an English farmer and soldier, who served as Lieutenant of the Tower of London from 1513 to 1520 during the reign of Henry VIII. He is remembered because of his tomb at the Tower of London and because he is fictionalized as a character in Gilbert and Sullivan's...
, the Lieutenant of the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
in the next Savoy opera
Savoy opera
The Savoy Operas denote a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house...
, The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and ran for 423 performances...
, in 1888 at the Savoy Theatre. Coincidentally, his father had been Drill Master of the Yeomen of the Queen's Body Guard. He next created the role of Luiz in The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...
, which he played from the opera's premiere in December 1889 until April 1891. Brownlow left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to play Prince John in Arthur Sullivan's
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
grand opera Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe (opera)
Ivanhoe is a romantic opera in three acts based on the novel by Sir Walter Scott, with music by Sir Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Julian Sturgis. It premiered at the Royal English Opera House on 31 January 1891 for a consecutive run of 155 performances, unheard of for a grand opera...
and as the Duc de Longueville in La Basoche
La Basoche
La Basoche is an opéra comique in three acts of 1890, with music by André Messager and a French libretto by Albert Carré.-History:Messager's 1889 opérette Le mari de la reine at Bouffes-Parisiens was a disappointment, and the composer and his wife were struggling to afford even basic necessities...
at the Royal English Opera House. He next played in a number of comic operas in London through 1893, including the role of William in Blue-Eyed Susan, composed by F. Osmond Carr, at the Prince of Wales's Theatre in 1892.
Australia, U.S., and later years
Brownlow then travelled to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to work for J. C. Williamson
J. C. Williamson
James Cassius Williamson was an American actor and later Australia's foremost theatrical manager, founding J. C. Williamson Ltd....
, appearing in the 1894 production of Ma mie Rosette, with Nellie Stewart
Nellie Stewart
Nellie Stewart was an Australian actress and singer, known as "Our Nell" and "Sweet Nell".Born into a theatrical family, Stewart began acting as a child. As a young woman, she built a career playing in operetta and Gilbert and Sullivan operas. In the mid-1880s, she began a long relationship with...
and in an 1895 revival of H.M.S. Pinafore in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. In 1900, he appeared in both Sydney and Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
, and The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...
as Giuseppe. In 1900 he also played The Sultan in Arthur Sullivan's The Rose of Persia
The Rose of Persia
The Rose of Persia; or, The Story-Teller and the Slave, is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Basil Hood. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 29 November 1899, closing on 28 June 1900 after a profitable run of 211 performances...
and played Abercoed in Florodora
Florodora
Florodora is an Edwardian musical comedy and became one of the first successful Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall, the music was by Leslie Stuart with additional songs by Paul Rubens, and the lyrics were by Edward Boyd-Jones...
. He also played the title role in The Mikado and in A Trip to Chinatown
A Trip to Chinatown
A Trip to Chinatown is a musical comedy in three acts by Charles H. Hoyt with music by Percy Gaunt and lyrics by Hoyt, that became a silent film featuring Anna May Wong half a century later. In addition to the Gaunt and Hoyt score, many songs were interpolated into the score at one time or another...
. In 1902, Brownlow was injured by falling through a door and recovered substantial damages.
Brownlow's alcoholism contributed to his failure in a venture managing a hotel in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. Stewart wrote in her memoirs of Brownlow's great success with Australian audiences, the "ease and grace and dash" that he brought to his roles, his huge popularity with the women who pursued him, and of his weakness for alcohol that led to his unhappy end.
Brownlow then went to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he appeared in several Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
productions of comic operas, including Love's Lottery in 1904, appearing as Sergeant Bob Trivet, Girofle-Girsofla from January to February 1905, and in Boccaccio in March 1905. Later, theatrical manager Hugh McIntosh found Brownlow in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where he had gone to act in silent films, including the 1913 movie The Hoyden's Awakening, now living in dereliction, and brought him back to Australia under contract, but he soon "lapsed into his old habit."
While living in Australia, Brownlow wrote the lyrics for several songs, including those to the ballad "Without Thy Love", the music to which was written by fellow D'Oyly Carte artiste Charles Kenningham
Charles Kenningham
Charles Kenningham was an English opera singer best remembered for his roles in the 1890s with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company....
.
Brownlow died in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in September 1919.
External links
on the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Brownlow on the Internet Broadway DatabaseInternet Broadway DatabaseThe Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....
- Brownlow at the Memories of the D'Oyly Carte website, with a link to photos
- Brownlow on Music Australia
- 1909 photo of Brownlow