Difference between revisions of "Cairns James"
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| − | [[Cairns James]] () was a | + | [[Cairns James]] (1866-1946)[http://www.manfamily.org/about/other-families/5280-2/] was a singer, actor, manager, composer and elocution teacher. |
''Not to be confused with the South African actor and playwright from the late 20th century, [[James Cairns]]'' | ''Not to be confused with the South African actor and playwright from the late 20th century, [[James Cairns]]'' | ||
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== Biography == | == Biography == | ||
| − | Born Lewis Cairns James on 23 September 1866 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and he died on 7 October 1946 in Gloucester | + | Born Lewis Cairns James on 23 September 1866 in Edinburgh, Scotland. |
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| + | His acting career started in musical comedy, and he performed as principal comic baritone for the D'Oyly Carte B touring company from July 1887 to September 1891. After leaving the D’Oyly Carte, James performed in a variety of roles in musical and legitimate works at various London theatres between 1891 and 1902. He also undertook tours of South Africa and North America. | ||
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| + | James ceased performeing between 1902 and 1916, in that time being a Professor of Elocution at the Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music, and at his own School of Musical and Dramatic Art in London. In 1916 he returned as a producer at the Shaftesbury, wrote the libretto for his first operatic work, ''The Critic'', with music by Charles Villiers Stanford. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Over the next few years (1916-19) he made occasional appearances at the Strand and Criterion, and produced opera the Aldwych, Drury Lane, and Covent Garden. His last production in London was Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel at Drury Lane, December 1922-January 1923. In retirement Cairns James directed amateur operatic societies in Gilbert & Sullivan in Croydon (1920s) and Woolwich (1938-42). | ||
| + | |||
| + | He died on 7 October 1946 in Gloucester. | ||
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James visited South Africa under the management of the [[Wheeler Brothers]] in 1894, playing the leads for a company popularly known as the '''[[Cairns James Company]]''', and said by [[D.C. Boonzaier|Boonzaier]] (1980) to have been the first Gaiety Company to visit South Africa, opening a season of plays in the Good Hope Theatre on 9 June, 1894. | James visited South Africa under the management of the [[Wheeler Brothers]] in 1894, playing the leads for a company popularly known as the '''[[Cairns James Company]]''', and said by [[D.C. Boonzaier|Boonzaier]] (1980) to have been the first Gaiety Company to visit South Africa, opening a season of plays in the Good Hope Theatre on 9 June, 1894. | ||
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== Sources == | == Sources == | ||
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| + | http://www.manfamily.org/about/other-families/5280-2/ | ||
Christopher Gullo. 2004. ''In All Sincerity, Peter Cushing''. Xlibris Corporation: p.27[https://books.google.co.za/books?id=YMgRDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=Cairns+James+School+of+Musical+and+Dramatic+Art&source=bl&ots=dLOP9LO1f7&sig=5hqT1KOl4dMNwj-rplbTPLUa1X8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib7vejtZ3bAhUqCMAKHXfSBEUQ6AEINDAD#v=onepage&q=Cairns%20James%20School%20of%20Musical%20and%20Dramatic%20Art&f=false] | Christopher Gullo. 2004. ''In All Sincerity, Peter Cushing''. Xlibris Corporation: p.27[https://books.google.co.za/books?id=YMgRDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=Cairns+James+School+of+Musical+and+Dramatic+Art&source=bl&ots=dLOP9LO1f7&sig=5hqT1KOl4dMNwj-rplbTPLUa1X8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib7vejtZ3bAhUqCMAKHXfSBEUQ6AEINDAD#v=onepage&q=Cairns%20James%20School%20of%20Musical%20and%20Dramatic%20Art&f=false] | ||
Revision as of 06:00, 24 May 2018
Cairns James (1866-1946)[1] was a singer, actor, manager, composer and elocution teacher.
Not to be confused with the South African actor and playwright from the late 20th century, James Cairns
Biography
Born Lewis Cairns James on 23 September 1866 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
His acting career started in musical comedy, and he performed as principal comic baritone for the D'Oyly Carte B touring company from July 1887 to September 1891. After leaving the D’Oyly Carte, James performed in a variety of roles in musical and legitimate works at various London theatres between 1891 and 1902. He also undertook tours of South Africa and North America.
James ceased performeing between 1902 and 1916, in that time being a Professor of Elocution at the Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music, and at his own School of Musical and Dramatic Art in London. In 1916 he returned as a producer at the Shaftesbury, wrote the libretto for his first operatic work, The Critic, with music by Charles Villiers Stanford.
Over the next few years (1916-19) he made occasional appearances at the Strand and Criterion, and produced opera the Aldwych, Drury Lane, and Covent Garden. His last production in London was Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel at Drury Lane, December 1922-January 1923. In retirement Cairns James directed amateur operatic societies in Gilbert & Sullivan in Croydon (1920s) and Woolwich (1938-42).
He died on 7 October 1946 in Gloucester.
James visited South Africa under the management of the Wheeler Brothers in 1894, playing the leads for a company popularly known as the Cairns James Company, and said by Boonzaier (1980) to have been the first Gaiety Company to visit South Africa, opening a season of plays in the Good Hope Theatre on 9 June, 1894.
The season began with a fine performance of In Town (Ross, Leader and Carr), followed by Mam'zelle Nitouche (Meilhac and Millaud), Miss Decima (Burnand), A Gaiety Girl (Hall).
Sources
http://www.manfamily.org/about/other-families/5280-2/
Christopher Gullo. 2004. In All Sincerity, Peter Cushing. Xlibris Corporation: p.27[2]
Colin Chambers (ed). Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre. Bloomsbury: p.221[3]
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.)
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