Gabrielle Ray

'Gabrielle Ray said, 'I am always dancing; I love it! When I don't dance, I sing. What else is there to do?'

Gabrielle Ray – The Tatler – Wednesday 6th October 1915

THE RETURN OF ANOTHER POPULAR FAVOURITE

With Gabrielle Ray to Daly’s and Lily Elsie to His Majesty’s

 

The Tatler – Wednesday 6th October 1915

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Gabrielle Ray – Peggy – The Tatler – Wednesday 15th March 1911

The Highway of Fashiom: By Marjorie Hamilton.

The Jupe Culotte.

WERE further testimony required that feminine caprice loves novelty it would be found in the welcome that has been accorded to the jupe culotte or pasha trousers. It must, however, be recollected that although all the world is talking about them few women have had the temerity to wear them in the public thoroughfares. Personally 1 do not believe that they will be popular albeit the majority of the modistes are showing them; as a matter of fact it is really to satisfy the curiosity of their clients as everyone is desirous of obtaining a view of them. Madame Paquin has set her face against them from the outset, contending that they are far from graceful. Naturally the divided skirt of the sportswoman is quite a different affair. Further more, as the back view is far from becoming, in the modified forms a floating panel or very broad ribbon sash is introduced which springs from above the waist-line where evening and reception dresses are concerned.

Across the Footlights.

Many, however, will contend that the foregoing remarks are rank heresy should they have seen the idealised jupes culottes worn by the chorus in Peggy the new play at the Gaiety, in which the culottes are of satin and the over dresses of embroidered silk voile. The colour schemes are quite beyond description; there are to be found the whole gamut of purple, rose, khaki, green, and blue shades, but then it must not be forgotten that these lovely affairs are seen amidst appropriate surroundings. In striking contrast to these extreme creations is the simplicity of the dresses worn by the principals. Miss Gabrielle Ray as Polly Polino is seen in an extremely simple high- waisted shell-pink charmeuse dress, while Miss Enid Leslie as Diamond, the barmaid, wears a pale blue satin dress and a little lace apron finished with a broad sash at the back. Her cap of lace and ribbon is the newest phase of the Quaker bonnet, and should be noted by matinee devotees as they could wear one of a similar character without fear of obstructing the view of those behind them.

The New Colour.

There is a wonderful charm about the new colour, chaloupe red; its elusive shades are seen to the greatest advantage in the dress worn by Miss Phyllis Dare, which is decorated with a double row of buttons from just above the bust-line to the hem of the skirt; at the base of the column of the throat a lace turn-over collar edged with embroidered ninon is introduced, below which is a draped delft-blue bow. The cynosure of all eyes is Miss Olive May’s (Doris Bartle) it will be recalled that she is the daughter of the American multi millionaire hat of white tagal straw built on the lines of a modern fireman’s helmet embellished with two ostrich couteau plumes, one white and the other black, while her dress is of white silk with a pretty draped corsage.

Fascinating Bathing Dresses.

In the second act Miss Phyllis Dare, Miss Gabrielle Rae, and Miss Olive May assume fascinating bathing dresses of pink and white silk well-nigh concealed by bathing wraps; it is indeed a pretty sight to see them reclining in their chaises longues. A few words must be said en passant regarding a lovely gown worn by Miss Phyllis Dare; the fourreau is of the palest blue silk veiled with shell-pink chiffon, the hem bordered with diminutive roses, which is just discernible beneath the rather flat pannier drapery of silver and white striped gauze. Over her shoulders is arranged an attractive white chiffon wraplet edged with a handsome fringe; the last but certainly not the least attractive detail of this toilette is the quaint little head dress of lace and silk reminiscent of the revolutionary bonnet.

Fashionable Millinery.

In spite of the many excursions into the realm of novelty which have recently been essayed by the advanced milliners, it must be confessed that the large hat still pursues the even tenor of its way; naturally it has rivals, but they cannot be regarded as very formidable. Pictured on this page is a quartet of fascinating head-gear epitomising La Mode’s latest commands. As will be observed, the pretty little motor bonnet is reminiscent of those worn during the Revolution, while the modified Napoleon is worn at quite a different angle than was formerly deemed correct. A very pretty model which recently made its debut was built on the lines of a modern fireman’s helmet, the crown encircled with a wreath of tiny ribbon flowers.

The Spell of the Magyar Broken.

At last the spell of the Magyar sleeve is broken, and in the new models the sleeves are put in separately from the corsage, but little fulness is permissible over the shoulders, and there are signs on the horizon that ere many weeks are over the bell sleeve will lead the van. Quite a novel idea is the insertion of a panel beneath the arms of the same material as the trimming of the dress. For instance, a dress of blue serge with a half- tunic of striped blue-and- white foulard with revers  of the same on the corsage would have a vandyked panel beneath the arms of foulard, the stripes arranged vertically, the reverse of the tunic. The half- tunic is quite a novel idea and very effective; it springs from the folded sash in front and terminates some 6 in. above the hem, and need not be of a transparent material. It commences about 4 in. from the right hip, is brought over the left hip, and finally loses itself at the back beneath the left fold of the box pleat.

Consistency in the Choice of Jewellery.

There are many women to whom the appropriate comes naturally, and they would never dream of wearing jewellery which would strike a discordant note in the toilette. For instance, they would not don heavy ornaments with the present “blown-together” dresses, but would select designs in which delicate traceries with small drops predominate; they know that it would be false art to do otherwise. With the jewellery in the salons of the Parisian Diamond Company, 143, Regent Street, W., the ideal has been achieved, and the modern vraie elegante will find a veritable embarras de choix in chef d’oeuvres of the jeweller’s art which will directly appeal to her susceptibilities.

 

The Tatler – Wednesday 15th March 1911

 

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Empsie Bowman – The Belle of New York – The Tatler – Wednesday 21st August 1901

 

FROM “THE TEMPEST” TO “THE BELLE OF NEW YORK.”

The Variety of Miss Empsie Bowman.

How many of those who saw Miss Empsie Bowman playing the part of Ariel in “The Tempest” on the green sward of Regent’s Park with so much grace and such a sensitive appreciation of the value of Elizabethan English can imagine her in such a go-as-you-please olla podrida as “The Belle of New York”?  And yet Miss Bowman, acting in both cases under Mr. Ben Greet’s management, is equally at home as Ariel or as Violet Gray, the Salvationist lass, who captivated us all a year or two ago. Mr. Greet has no fewer than ten companies “on the road,” including four with “The Belle of New York.” Of course Miss Bowman is doing no more than the actors in our old stock companies used to do and what actors all over Germany do to this day but in England we have specialised acting to such an extent that people in musical comedy rarely appear in anything else. Miss Bowman, as noted in these pages of July 31, is one of four very clever sisters – Isa, Nellie, Maggie, and Empsie. One of the sisters was a great favourite of Lewis Carroll. The pictures of Miss Bowman as Ariel were taken for this journal by Mr. Alfred Ellis

 

MISS EMPSIE BOWMAN As “The Belle of New York

Now is it not as well

To be a trifle swell,

Or is it necessary when you’re moral to be gawky?

And must a girl employ

The modes that come from Troy

Or is she not entitled to be stunningly New Yorkey?

Oh, mayn’t a girl be good and free from guile

And yet be quite a corker in her style?

A LYRIC BY HUGH MORTON, 1899

 

MISS EMPSIE BOWMAN As “Ariel”

Come unto these yellow sands,

And then take hands:

Courtsied when you have and kissed

The wild waves whist,

Foot it featly, here and there;

And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear

Bur. Hark, hark!

Bow-wow.

The watch-dogs bark,

Bow-wow.

Ari. Hark, hark! I hear

The strain of strutting chanticleer

Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow.

A LYRIC BY WILLIAM SHAKSPERE, 1611

 

MISS EMPSIE BOWMAN AS “ARIEL” IN SHAKSPERE’S COMEDY, “THE TEMPEST”

 

 Full fathom five thy father lies;

 Of his bones are coral made;

Those are pearls that were his eyes;

Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.

Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell

Where the bee sucks, there suck I:

In a cowslip’s bell I lie,

There I couch when owls do cry

On the bat’s back I do fly

After summer merrily.

Merrily, merrily shall I live now

Under the blossom that hangs on the bough

 

 

The Tatler – Wednesday 21st August 1901

 

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The Merry Widow Souvenir – The Tatler – Wednesday 24th June 1908

A Souvenir de Luxe.

 Although perhaps “The Merry Widow Souvenir” (William Heinemann) belongs as a rule more to the order of things theatrical than literary, yet in this particular case I can hardly suffer it to pass by unnoticed. The whole volume is of such a complete character that it marks altogether a new departure in souvenirs and leads one to hope that this particular example will set a standard for similar productions, doing away for ever with the sparsely – illustrated and meagre booklets sometimes masquerading under the name welcome to theatregoers. Throughout the pages of “The Merry Widow Souvenir” appear reproductions in colour from drawings of scenes and faces familiar to the playgoer with the welcome addition of the lilting lines that go to make up the “book” of the play.

The Tatler – Wednesday 24th June 1908

 

The Merry Widow – First Anniversary Souvenir – 1908

The Merry Widow – Second Anniversary Souvenir

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Lily Elsie – The Dollar Princess – The Tatler – Wednesday 10th November 1909

Lily Elsie – The Dollar Princess (Rotary 11555 A)

March 4, 2023 Posted by | Actress, Gabrielle Ray, Lily Elsie, Social History, The Dollar Princess, The Tatler, Uncategorized | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Dollar Princess – The Tatler – Wednesday 6th October 1909

“THE DOLLAR PRINCESS” AT DALY’S

 “The Merry Widow” –

AS long as The Merry Widow was running the ‘”creature” and I were a divided couple. She considered it the most fascinating piece she had ever seen. The acting, the music, and the whole ensemble were to her perfection. For myself there was hardly a part of it – the famous waltz included – that did not leave me cold and critical. Now happily our differences in appreciation have come to an end. We have both at last discovered a piece for which we possess mutual enthusiasm. Its name is The Dollar Princess and it was performed for the first time in London at Daly’s Theatre last week.

And her Predecessor.

Few first nights are so really enjoyable as those at Daly’s Theatre. Few there are which bring together a smarter or more brilliant audience. The “creature” looked positively dazzling in her best frock with her hair done round in the now fashionable bandage that its devotees fondly believe to be Grecian but which in reality looks like nothing more becoming than a headache plaster. The enthusiasm everybody who was anybody received from the hands of the gods and those in the nethermost pit must have been most gratifying to them if a trifle embarrassing. Miss Marie Tempest came in for a goodly share and so did Gertie Millar, while as if to accentuate the hollowness of public praise Miss Edna May, that favourite of such a short time ago, was allowed to enter and disappear without a murmur of welcome. And if every actor and actress of note got their round of applause as they entered the auditorium how much more enthusiastic was the cheering that greeted the performers on the stage. No queen could have received a greater ovation than did Miss Lily Elsie when she made her first appearance coming down the marble staircase of Mr. Harry Conder’s house in New York, while as for the cheering which greeted Mr. Joseph Coyne it was perfectly delirious. Throwing her decorum to the winds as it were the “creature” clapped with the wildest of them. The consequence is that she retired at night with about two fingers and a black-looking rag to take the place of what were once long white suede gloves at but hush, we are not at Selfridges’s.

Plenty of Go.

The Dollar Princess has had the advantage of being previously produced at Manchester before making its bow to London audiences. This has doubtless eliminated a good deal of that superfluous matter which even now still protrudes itself from time to time. It has also enabled Mr. George Edwardes to elaborate those more delightful portions which as they now stand seem incapable of further improvement. All these things prove of an enormous advantage on a “first night.” It is also the exception where musical comedy is concerned. The first act of The Dollar Princess went as well the other evening as it will probably ever go. There was not a hitch anywhere, and it was played by the company with a swing and a verve that was perfectly enchanting. It is, moreover, the best act of the three, and in it Mr. Robert Michaelis, comparatively unknown to Londoners until then, made a very great success. It will probably enable him to remain in the metropolis for the rest of his theatrical career. He has a good stage presence, a fine baritone voice, sings and acts artistically, and if he will but guard against certain mannerisms and affectations somewhat reminiscent of Hayden Coffin will speedily develop into a really first-class artist.

The Story.

The story of The Dollar Princess is quite original enough and far more amusing than that of the average musical comedy. The first act, for which Mr. George Edwardes has provided a perfectly magnificent setting, takes place in Conder’s house in New York. The owner of it is a multimillionaire with a partiality for engaging impoverished members of the British aristocracy as his menials. Over this household rules Alice (Miss Lily Elsie), Conder’s sister, who it may be remarked does so with the proverbial rod of iron. There is not one of her associates who can come near her in prettiness, but she is as wilful as she is charming. She likes to domineer over these aristocrats which her money has brought so low; thus she is all the more astonished when one arrives who for rudeness can beat her at her own game as it were. Nevertheless, in order to tame him she engages him as her secretary. But the task she sets herself is too difficult for her. After falling violently in love with him as he, by the way, has done with her she makes her brother insist upon him marrying her. But her victim only laughs at the idea. He will have nothing to do with a girl who believes that money and money only will gratify every desire in life.

Tragedy.

This decision of his brings us up to the great denouement at the end of the second act, when Alice, baffled, heart-broken, and in despair, seizes hold of another man, dances wildly with him, and at length falls fainting and sobbing into her brother’s arms. It is a scene some what reminiscent of A Waltz Dream, but it is very effective nevertheless, and offers Miss Lily Elsie a moment of highly emotional acting which positively electrified the house. Indeed, Miss Elsie has never done anything half so good as her Dollar Princess.

The Company.

Of course all ends happily at last as is only right. Alice and her secretary pair off together, as do her brother, Harry Conder, with Olga, the lion-tamer, and her cousin Daisy with the Earl of Quorn. Mr. Joseph Coyne as the afore said brother is as airy, as debonair, and as delightful as ever he was as Prince Danilo, and none ol his countless admirers could wish for more. There is no more fascinating light comedian in London. Miss Emmy Wehlen as the lion-taming lady sings nicely, acts well, but by no manner of means looks the part. Mr. W. H. Berry was very funny indeed as Bulger, a confidential clerk to Conder, and Miss Gabrielle Ray, though she had too much to sing and too little to dance, was dainty. The dresses and scenery are among the loveliest that London has ever seen. The music is very charming and the orchestration quite masterly.

The Tatler – Wednesday 6th October 1909

 

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Mrs Eric Loder – The Tatler – Wednesday 13th July 1927

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Mrs Eric Loder – The Tatler – Wednesday 6th June 1928

August 16, 2022 Posted by | Actress, Eric Loder, Gabrielle Ray, Iris Mary Lawson, Social History, The Tatler, Uncategorized | , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mrs Eric Loder – The Tatler – Wednesday 30th April 1924

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Gabrielle Ray – Lord Mayor’s Cripples Fund – The Tatler – Wednesday 27th February 1907

 

THEATRE ROYAL,                 DRURYLANE.

TUESDAY, MARCH 5th, 1907.

 A MATINEE will be given (by kind permission of Mr. Arthur Collins and the Directors) in Aid of the

LORD MAYOR’S CRIPPLES’ FUND.

Lady Bancroft will say a few words.

Miss Winifred Emery will recite an address, specially written by Captain

 Robert Marshall.

Mr. Tree and Company, including. Miss Constance Collier, will appear in

“THE MAN WHO WAS.”

Mr. Cyril Maude and his original Company, including Miss Jessie Batemam,

In the Second Act of “THE BEAUTY AND THE BARGE.”

Mr. Edward Terry and a distinguished Company in the Trial Scene from

“BARDELL v. PICKWICK”

Miss Violet Vanbrugh,

Supported by Mr. Chas. V. France and Miss Dorothy Thomas, in the

Sleep- Walking Scene from “MACBETH.”

A Grand Pot-Pourri of the Pantomime “SINDBAD,”

Arranged by Mr. Arthur Collins,

including

Mr. Walter Passmore.   Mr. Harry Fragson.

Mr. Harry Randall.   Mr. Fred Emney.

Messrs. Drew and Alders.   Miss Queenie Leighton.

Miss Florence Warde.   Miss Marie George.

A PRE-HISTORIC LORD MAYOR’S SHOW,

arranged by Mr. E. T. Reed, of “Punch,”

in which will appear amongst others

Mr. W. H. Berry.                Mr. Arthur Williams.

Mr. W. Louis Bradfield.            Mr. C. Herbert Workman

Mr. Joseph Coyne.        Mr. J. A. Warden.

Mr. Robert Evett.           Miss Jean Aylwin.

Mr. Aubrey Fitzgerald.   Miss Billie Burke.

Mr. Geo. Grossmith, Jun. Miss Kitty Mason.

Mr. Fred Kaye.              Miss Olive May.

Mr. Edmund Payne.           Miss Louie Pounds.

Mr. Willie Warde.        Miss Ruby Ray.

Mr. Lewis Waller will recite.

Mr. Ben Davies will sing.

Mr. H. B. Irving will recite.

Mr. Huntley Wright will sing.

Mdlle. Genee will dance.

Miss Denise Orme will sing.

Miss Margaret Cooper will give a Musical Sketch.

Miss Gabrielle Ray and Mr. Willie Warde in a pas de deux from the

“LADY DANDIES.”

The above ladies and gentlemen are all appearing by the kind permission of their respective Managers.

Hon. Business Manager Mr. Sydney Smith.

Hon. Stage Manager Mr. Ernest D’Aubak.

Musical Director Mr. James M. Glover.

Accompanist Mr. Wilhelm Ganz.

Programme arranged (under the supervision of the Committee)

by Mr. M. V. Leveaux.

 

Seats can now be booked at the Box Office, of the Secretary, Cripples’ Fund, Mansion House, E.G., and all Libraries.

Prices: Reserved Seats: Private Boxes, £10 10s. and £5 5s. Stalls, £1 1s and 10s. 6d. Grand Circle, £1 1s. and 10s. 6d.; First Circle, 7s. 6d. and 6s.; Balcony, 5s. Unreserved Seats: Pit, 4s.; Amphitheatre, 2s.

July 31, 2022 Posted by | Actress, Biography, Gabrielle Ray, Social History, The Tatler, Uncategorized | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment