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| | There are five references to a company involving the actor-manager [[Henry Harper]] and using (variations of) this name. | | There are five references to a company involving the actor-manager [[Henry Harper]] and using (variations of) this name. |
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| − | == The [[Harper-Leffler Opera Company]] ==
| + | ''For details on the companies see the entry on the performer and company manager '''[[Henry Harper]]'''''' |
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| − | [[Henry Harper]], miss [[Annette Hirst]] and [[Mrs J.H. Leffler]] from the Royal Opera House, London performed six concerts of opera selections in the [[Commercial Exchange]] and the [[Mutual Hall]], Cape Town from 5 August - 9 September 1868. They were sometimes billed as the [[Harper-Leffler-Hirst Company]].
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| − | ==The [[Miranda-Harper Company]]==
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| − | From December 1868 to January 1869 the [[Harper-Leffler Company]] was back for a new season, now with the addition of [[David Miranda]] (the husband of [[Annette Hirst]], and the stage manager of the company, in addition to his role as singer and co-manager), hence the company became known as the '''[[Miranda-Harper Company]]'''. A full season of new concerts were performed during August 1869, making them not the first to perform opera in SA, but the first opera company to do so for an entire season. They also performed in Rondebosh, Simonstown, and various rural towns, travelling as far as Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth.
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| − | The full company of five consisted of [[David Miranda]], [[Mrs Leffler]], [[Miss Hirst]], [[Mrs Smith]] and [[Mr Campbell]], with a [[Mrs Morris]] as accompanist, and on occasion a locally sourced chorus.
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| − | Their repertoire for the 1869 season included performances in the [[Mutual Hall]] and the [[New Market Building]], Cape Town, of selections from various operas, as well as performances of ''[[La Somnambula]]'' (Belini), ''[[The Bohemian Girl]]'' (Balfe), ''[[Il Trovatore]]'' (Verdi), ''[[Maritana or Don Caesar de Bazan]]'' (Wallace), ''[[Lucrezia Borgia]]'' (Donizetti), ''[[The Messiah]]'' (Handel)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_(Handel)] and ''[[Martha]]'' (Flotow/Riese). They also participated in two sacred concerts in the [[St Aloysius Hall]] with local amateurs and a ''[[Grand Fête and Fancy Fair]]'' in the [[Company Gardens]], as part of the Agricultural Show of that year.
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| − | By 1870 the company had disbanded.
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| − | ==The [[Henry Harper Company]]==
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| − | In December 1883 [[Henry Harper]] took over the remnants of the [[Mabel Hayes]] company after she had decamped for Port Elizabeth, to put on a production of a Christmas pantomime ''[[Humpty Dumpty]]''. He had taken a lease on the new [[Theatre Royal]], Cape Town, and opened it on 18 June 1884 with a production of ''[[Faces in the Fire]]'' (Bayard & Laurencin/Buckingham) and ''[[The Two Gregories]]'' (Sewrin/Dibdin). This evening constituted the opening production in the newly reconstructed [[Theatre Royal]], built to replace the one destroyed by fire in July 1883.
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| − | ===The company===
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| − | Besides Harper himself, the company included the performers [[H.C. Sidney]] (his leading player), [[Fred Ferrani]], [[Charles Lobbett]], [[J. Fox Turner]], [[Mr Burton]], [[Mr Herbert]], [[Constance Moxon]], [[Bella Murdoch]] and [[Miss Williams]]. His set designer was usually [[William Thorne]], mechanical stage matters arranged by [[Mr Kelly]] and the musical director was [[William Ramsden]].
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| − | ===The repertoire===
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| − | According to [[D.C. Boonzaier|Boonzaier]] (1923), the rest of his first season (1884-5) there consisted of plays such as:
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| − | ''[[Aladdin]]'' (Anon.),
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| − | ''[[The Bells]]'' (Erckmann-Chatrian), ''[[The Bohemian Girl]]'' (Bunn and Balfe),
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| − | ''[[Les Cloches de Corneville]]'' (Clairville and Gabet),
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| − | ''[[Dead to the World]]'' (Conquest and Pettitt), ''[[Delicate Ground]]'' (Dance) , ''[[Dick Whittington and His Cat]]'' (Blanchard), ''[[Diplomacy]]'' (Sardou/Stephenson and Scott), ''[[The Duke's Motto]]'' (Feval/Brougham),
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| − | ''[[East Lynne]]'' (Wood),
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| − | ''[[Fedora]]'' (Sardou/Merivale), ''[[The Field of the Cloth of Gold]]'' (Anon.), ''[[Forget-me-Not]]'' (Merival and Grove),
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| − | ''[[Henry Dunbar]]'' (Taylor),
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| − | ''[[Impulse]]'' (Stephenson),
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| − | ''[[Lost in London]]'' (Phillips),
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| − | ''[[The Marquis and the Cobbler]]'' (d'Ennery/Dance), ''[[Meg's Diversion]]'' (Craven), ''[[My Uncle's Will]]'' (Theyre-Smith),
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| − | ''[[Nita's First]]'' (Warren), ''[[Not Such a Fool as He Looks]]'' (Byron),
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| − | ''[[The Octoroon]]'' (Boucicault), ''[[The Old Love and the New]]'' (Howard and (Albery), ''[[Our Boys]]'' (Byron), ''[[Guy Mannering]]'' (Terry and Bishop), ''[[Ours]]'' (Robertson),
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| − | ''[[Proof]]'' (D'Ennery and Cormon/Blanchard), ''[[Pygmalion and Galatea]]'' (Gilbert),
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| − | ''[[Queen's Evidence]]'' (Conquest and Pettitt),
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| − | ''[[Still Waters Run Deep]]'' (De Bernard/Taylor), ''[[Society]]'' (Robertson), ''[[Sweethearts and Wives]]'' (Kenney),
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| − | ''[[The Ticket-of-Leave Man]]'' (Brisebarre and Nus/Taylor), ''[[The Two Orphans]]'' (Oxenford),
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| − | ''[[The Wanderer's Return]]'' (Anon.), ''[[The Wreck of the Pinafore]]'' (Searelle and Lingard),
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| − | They also did about six one act farces.
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| − | == The [[Harper-Leffler Repertory Company]], Kimberley ==
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| − | According to Du Toit (1988), a '''Harper-Leffler Company''' also performed as permanent ‘repertory’ company, and was active in Kimberley during the 1890s.
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| − | == Sources ==
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| − | [[F.C.L. Bosman]]. 1980. ''Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912''. Pretoria: [[J.L. van Schaik]]: 184-6, 243-9, 274, 286, 292-5, 299, 376-380.
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| − | [[P.J. du Toit]]. 1988. ''Amateurtoneel in Suid-Afrika''. Pretoria: Academica
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| | == Return to == | | == Return to == |
