The Gipsy Revellers

The Gipsy Revellers was a late 19th century concert group that, dressed in 18th century "Neapolitan gypsy" costumes and would perform "Gypsy" music and dances, accompanied by a violin, cello, mandolin and guitar.

Founded by the husband and wife team of Liebe Baylis and Newton Baylis in 1889, the company enjoyed some fashionable success in London for a while. The core members of the company, which ranged from six to twenty at various times, came from the Baylis family.

The core company visited South Africa in 1891, where they appeared in various venues, including the Vaudeville Theatre, Cape Town, under the auspices of the Wheeler Theatre Company. The latter production is remembered by the Cape Town critic D.C. Boonzaier as "gigantic failure" (cited in Bosman, 1980: p.391).

The company was apparently abandoned thereafter by the impresario who had arrange the tour, since he had gone bankrupt. So the Baylis family - including a 17 year old Lillian Baylis ()[] - remained in the country for 6 years, working as musicians and settling for a while in Johannesburg. While Lillian returned to England and would pursue a career at the Old Vic, the rest of the family apparently remained in South Africa.

Sources

George Rowell. 1993. The Old Vic Theatre: A History. Cambridge University Press: pp.79 ff.

Elizabeth Schafer. 2006. Lilian Baylis: A Biography. University of Hertfordshire Press: pp. 21ff.

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "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, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.391

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