Arthur Rousbey Opera Company
Arthur Rousbey Opera Company run by the actor and singer Arthur Rousbey(died 1899)[1].
The original company was formed in about 1894 and toured the English provinces till about 1898, when it was renamed the Arthur Rousbey Grand English Opera Company and went to South Africa, to tour the cities and towns, performing in the Cape Town's Opera House in 1899 for instance, then under the management of the actor-managers Frank de Jongh and Herbert Flemming.
Their repertoire included a number of standard operas , e.g. Faust (Gounod), Tannhäuser (Wagner), Cavelleria Rusticana (Mascagni), I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo), and Il Trovatore (Verdi), as well as other musical dramas, such as Carmen (Bizet), Maritana (Wallace and Fitzball), The Daughter of the Regiment (an opéra comique[2] by Donizetti).
The company ceased to exist in 1899, as Rousbey sadly passed away on the sea voyage back to the UK.
Sources
D.C. Boonzaier, 1980. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)
F.C.L. Bosman, 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.406-7.
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