A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Volume 16A major project begun in 1973 reaches its conclusion with the publication of volumes 15 and 16 of the Biographical Dictionary, a series considered "a reference work of the first order" by Theatre and Performing Arts Collections. Among performers highlighted in these last volumes is Catherine Tofts, a gifted singer whose popular acclaim was captured in lines by Samuel Phillips: "How are we pleas'd when beauteous Tofts appears, / To steal our Souls through our attentive Ears?' / Ravish'd we listen to th' inchanting Song, / And catch the falling Accents from her Tongue." The first singer of English birth to master the form of Italian opera, Tofts frequently won leading roles over native Italian singers. Her salary--£400 to £500 a season--was one of the highest in the theatre. Her popularity declined, however, as her demands for payment increased--a situation captured in an epigram Alexander Pope may have penned: "So bright is thy beauty, so charming thy song, / As had drawn both the beasts and their Orpheus along; /But such is thy avarice, and such is thy pride, / That the beasts must have starved, and the poets have died." John Vanbrugh, whose play The Relapse is ranked as one of the best comedies of the Restoration period, became a subordinate crown architect under Sir Christopher Wren in 1702. In 1703, Vanbrugh began plans for the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket, an enterprise endorsed by the Kit Cat Club (of which Vanbrugh was a member). Even though his lavish design was acoustically defective, restructuring helped correct the problem and the theatre eventually became the exclusive center for opera in London. |
Contents
Section 25 | 164 |
Section 26 | 167 |
Section 27 | 181 |
Section 28 | 186 |
Section 29 | 196 |
Section 30 | 199 |
Section 31 | 202 |
Section 32 | 233 |
Section 9 | 66 |
Section 10 | 68 |
Section 11 | 69 |
Section 12 | 70 |
Section 13 | 74 |
Section 14 | 80 |
Section 15 | 84 |
Section 16 | 97 |
Section 17 | 98 |
Section 18 | 108 |
Section 19 | 112 |
Section 20 | 115 |
Section 21 | 120 |
Section 22 | 142 |
Section 23 | 143 |
Section 24 | 145 |
Section 33 | 253 |
Section 34 | 270 |
Section 35 | 272 |
Section 36 | 275 |
Section 37 | 278 |
Section 38 | 306 |
Section 39 | 309 |
Section 40 | 310 |
Section 41 | 311 |
Section 42 | 328 |
Section 43 | 329 |
Section 44 | 370 |
Section 45 | 372 |
Section 46 | |