Gabrielle Ray – The Dollar Princess – The Westminster Gazette – Thursday 23rd September 1909

Many familiar names figure in the cast of “The Dollar Princess,” which is to be presented at Daly’s Theatre on Saturday evening. Miss Lily Elsie, Miss Gabrielle Ray, Mr. Joseph Coyne, and Mr. W. Berry are all established favourites with the musical comedy public, and if the work does not achieve success it will certainly be due to no deficiencies in the method of its presentation. But then such a contingency is, of course, unthinkable, for in the case of a George Edwardes production at Daly’s Theatre success may be assumed as a matter of course.

The Westminster Gazette – Thursday 23^rd September 1909

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Gabrielle Ray – The Palladium – The Westminster Gazette – Tuesday 14th September 1920

 

THE PALLADIUM.

 

The bill of fare provided at the Palladium this week contains that judicious blend of broad comedy, catchy music, and clever feats which goes a long way towards satisfying the varied tastes of music-hall-goers. However, broad comedy is the dominating element, as can be expected when such high priests of humour as Harry Weldon, Jack Pleasants, Ernie Lotinga, Jay Laurier, and Johnson Clark are gathered together on one bill. Each of these comedians has a distinct difference of style, and this prevents mirth from degenerating to monotony. Ernie Lotinga is seen in “Wanted, a Wife,” a burlesque which gives him ample scope for the style of humour he has made his own. He is an artist of the ludicrous. He makes absurd situations ring true in a comical way. Probably he accomplishes this by his matter-of-fact inflexion of voice. We like Togan and Geneva, who make jazzing on a wire look quite a simple business. They are above the average of this type of turn. Gabrielle Ray, whom we have seen in another sphere, has quite a charming little singing and dancing scena, in which she is assisted by Mr. Leslie Baker and a quartette of little girls. Mr. Barker scores an immense success in this act with some coon numbers. Other turns who go well include Hilda Glyder, with several typical songs; De Alma and his banjo; and La Maze Trio.

The Westminster Gazette – Tuesday 14^th September 1920

Gabrielle Ray – The Little Cherub – The Westminster Gazette – Monday 15th January 1906

 

PRINCE OF WALES’S THEATRE: “THE LITTLE CHERUB.”

 

The authors of the latest Prince of Wales’s piece, produced on Saturday under the title of “The Little Cherub” (book by Owen Hall, lyrics by Adrian Ross, and music by Ivan Caryll), acknowledge partial indebtedness to Meilhac’s “Decore,” but one must hold Mr. Owen Hall mainly responsible for this “musical play” as it stands, which, though not bad of its kind, would decidedly bear emendation in certain respects. For a beginning, of course, the piece is at present absurdly long. When the management changed the hour of commencement from 8.15 to 8 o’clock they acted wisely, but if they had made it 7 or 7.30 they would have been wiser still. As it was, Sunday morning was close at hand before we were released on Saturday, and the tokens of dissatisfaction which mingled with the cheering at the fall of the curtain were doubtless to a considerable extent connected with that circumstance. But this was certainly not the only cause. Much earlier in the evening symptoms of a critical spirit had declared themselves up aloft, and the wag in the gallery who took up Miss Evie Greene’s line “Let’s revive the piece” with a fervent “Hear, hear!” achieved thereby one of the happiest hits of the evening.

Yet there is no gainsaying the excellence of the material at the author’s command. Mr. Fred Kaye, for one, is an old favourite with musical comedy audiences, and he certainly makes the most of the comparatively limited opportunities which he is at present afforded. With his queer walk, his raucous voice, and dry staccato utterance, he cuts a diverting figure as the puritanical peer who, after chiding his daughters in the first act for getting up private theatricals, is discovered in the second entertaining a party of actresses at supper. Then Mr. Maurice Farkoa is another old favourite whose accomplishments are known to all. As the Rajah of Talcutta one had hopes at first of his breaking fresh ground and appearing for once in a way in a new guise. But, of course, it was quite a mistake to suppose that the canons of musical comedy could be so far outraged as to permit of a popular performer appearing in any part but that in which he has always been seen before. Man changes his sky, but not his soul; and so this Indian Rajah, in the choicest garb of Savile-row, with his delightful French accent and his Whistlerian white forelock, is an old friend under a new name who might have come straight from, let us say, a ballad concert platform. But under whatever name he appears, Mr. Farkoa is always a finished artist, and though he is probably as tired of playing the perpetual lady-killer as we are of seeing him in the part, he certainly does as much as anyone could to make it tolerable. He has many songs, all of precisely the same type, of which the most elaborate is one which sets forth, with pantomimic aid from various ladies of the chorus, the charms and characteristics of “The Supper Girl.” He also has a duet, which found a fair amount of favour, entitled “Pearls,” with Miss Evie Greene, who should have been mentioned earlier by rights, seeing that she was manifestly the main attraction of the piece for most. This was Miss Greene’s first appearance in London since her recent return from abroad, and her reception was a thing to remember. Her part also will doubtless undergo development and improvement in due course. As Miss Molly Montrose, the famous actress, she is called in to assist at the private theatricals of the Earl of Sanctobury’s skittish daughters, and ends, of course, by capturing the affections of their straight-laced sire. Miss Greene looks very handsome, and in her own characteristic style – which, it a little rough at times, is in grateful contrast to the more conventional methods of the average leading lady – does all that can reasonably be expected with the part. Her principal song – a curious ditty entitled “Experience,” in the style more of an old-fashioned ballad than of the ordinary musical-comedy kind of thing – was very well received, and will no doubt go even better a little later.

Of the other ladies the most important are the aforesaid daughters of the Earl of Sanctobury – a quartet of lively damsels, represented by Miss Zena Dare, Miss Gabrielle Ray, Miss Lily Elsie, and Miss Grace Pindar – who take in the kindliest possible manner to the high-kicking requirements of their theatricals, though their manners in general could hardly be said to proclaim the caste of Vere de Vere. Among other items, they have a rather original quartet, in which they lament the sports and pleasures denied them by their sex, which quite brought down the house, especially when Miss Gabrielle Ray, by a well-directed kick, sent a football, used to illustrate the final verse, into one of the stage-boxes. Miss Ray it was, too, who, in the attire of a Cupid, scored again later with a song and chorus “Cupid’s Rifle Range.” This, indeed – the music of which is by Mr. Frank Tours – is one of the prettiest numbers in the piece, a celesta being used in the orchestra with charming effect. The only other lady of the company who gets anything particular to do is Miss Elise Clare, as a skittish chambermaid, whose duet and dance with Mr. George Carroll, as a diminutive waiter who might pass as twin brother to Little Tich, was one of the very best things in the second act. One only regretted, indeed, that such amusing performers had not more to do. Mr. Carroll especially was infinitely entertaining whenever he got half a chance, and his part might well be elaborated. Another who does a good deal without much help from the author is Mr. Lennox Pawle as Algernon Southdown, an aristocratic stage manager of the “Johnny” type, while yet another is Mr. W. H. Berry as Lord Sanctobury’s valet, Shingle, whose songs went down as well as any. The political allusions of one of them were, however, ill-advised, as the manifestations from the gallery, and the cries of “No politics” quickly indicated. When will your musical comedy librettist grasp the elementary fact that political references are out of place on these occasions? Generally, however, it may be said that Mr. Ross’s lyrics serve their purpose well enough. As to Mr. Caryll’s music, it is of the kind which this facile composer has provided many, many times before. Indeed, the resemblance is so marked in one or two cases that if the composer were not pilfering from himself a charge of plagiarism would almost lie. But no one is likely to think any the worse of this song or that because it happens to be more or less like that one or this which they have enjoyed before. The piece has been most tastefully and lavishly mounted, and though, as it has been noted, a certain amount of good-natured booing mingled with the applause at the close, there need be little doubt as to its ultimate success.

 

The Westminster Gazette – Monday 15^th January 1906

 

Gabrielle Ray – Engagement – The Westminster Gazette – Thursday 11th January 1912

OUR LONDON LETTERS.

That popular Gaiety actress Miss Gabrielle Ray will acquire some aristocratic connexions when she marries Mr. Eric Loder. Thus one of her futures husband’s uncles is Mr. Gerald Loder, who sat as M.P. for Brighton from 1839 to 1905, holding during that period various minor offices and is married to a daughter of the late Duke of St. Albans. Another is Major Reginald Loder, whose wife (Margaret Ernestine Augusta) is a daughter of the third Earl of Listowel, and a third is Major Eustace Loder, who is well known both in Irish and English social circles.

 

The Westminster Gazette – Thursday 11^th January 1912

 

 

Gabrielle Ray – Waifs and Strays Society – The Westminster Gazette – Monday 1st May 1911

In the Social World.

 

At the matinee which Lady Alington is organising in aid of the Waifs and Strays Society, and which will he attended by the Duke and Duchess of Connaught at the Adelphi Theatre, on May 16, many of the leading artists will appear, inducting Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Miss Stella Patrick Campbell, Miss Rosina Filippi, Miss Nancy Price, Mr. Eric Lewis, Mr. Charles Maude, Mr. C. Aubrey Smith, Miss Lillah McCarthy, Mr. Robert Loraine, Miss Gertie Millar, Mr. Coyne, Miss Phyllis Dare, Miss Mary Grey, Miss Helen Mar, Miss Gabrielle Ray, Mr. W. H. Berry, Mr. Rohan Clensy, Mr. Maurice Farkoa, Mr. George Grossmith. Mr. Harry Lauder, Miss Adrienne Augarde, Miss Pearl Aufrere, Miss Cliff, Miss Marie Dean, Miss Gertrude Glyn, Miss May Hobson, Miss May Kennedy, Miss Ruby Kennedy, Miss Dorrie Keppel, Miss Marion Lindsay, Miss Doris Lytton, Miss Olive May, Marjorie Mickie, Miss Nancy More, Miss Unity More. Miss Doris Stocker, Miss Rosalie Toller, and Miss Patty Wells have consented to sell programmes. Tickets can be obtained from Lady Alington and other members of the committee, or at the Box Office.

 

The Westminster Gazette – Monday 1^st May 1911

 

Gabrielle Ray – Betty – The Westminster Gazette – Monday 25th October 1915

 

DIARY OF THE WEEK IN LONDON.

Miss Gabrielle Ray.

Daly’s will have a festal appearance to-night in honour of Miss Gabrielle Ray, who comes back to the stage as Estelle in “Betty.” Miss Ivy Shilling and Mr. Lauri de Frece also join the cast, and the occasion is to be celebrated by new “numbers.”

 

The Westminster Gazette – Monday 25^th October 1915

Gabrielle Ray – Actor’s Orphanage Fund – The Westminster Gazette – Wednesday 29th June 1910

A MERRY PARTY.

ACTORS AND ACTRESSES IN REGENT’S PARK.

 

A great company of bright people was to be seen yesterday at the Botanic Gardens, when the annual “theatrical garden-party” was held in aid of the Actors’ Orphanage Fund. It was a very gay afternoon.

Many very well-known and very popular actors and actresses worked hard all the time in aid of the charity they desired to help. Miss Winifred Emery ran an ice-cream tent; Miss Lilian Braithwaite and Miss Ethel Irving dispensed strawberries and cream; Miss Lena Ashwell, Miss Eva Moore, and Miss Constance Collier conducted the “Lake Tea Chalet”; Miss Erie Greene, Miss Ruth Vincent, Miss Isabel Jay, and Miss Louie Pounds were among the ladies who sold picture postcards and other portraits; Miss Pauline Chase, Miss Gertie Millar, Miss Gabrielle Ray, Mr. Gerald du Maurier, and Mr. Henry Ainley looked after the fortunes of a shooting-gallery; Miss Marie Lohr sold roses.

Some particularly hard, work was accomplished, too, at “The National Memorial Theatre within the grounds,” where Mr. Cyril Maude played the villain in an entirely new and enchanting melodrama of real life, in four acts – a “timorous, terrifying tincture of tragedy” – entitled “The Pick of Oakham, or the Girl with the Bad Habit.” Mr. Maude was certainly supported by a company as strong as the melodrama, the members including Miss Maidie Hope, Miss Hilda Trevelyan, Mr. E. M. Robson, Mr. Kenneth Douglas, Mr. Lennox Pawle, Mr. Harry Nicholls, and Mr. Lionel Rignold. Lord George Grossmith, jun.’s, Imperial Circus was still more wildly funny. Mr. Edmund Payne led a strenuous life while it lasted under his “management.” And an immense amount of labour was cheerfully carried out by the celebrated “Water Rats,” who gave a continuous performance.

There were also hair-dressing and hat-trimming competitions, judged by Mrs. George Alexander, and an exhilarating cricket match between actors and actresses, captained respectively by Mr. Charles Hawtrey and Miss Vane Featherstone.

 

The Westminster Gazette – Wednesday 29^th June 1910

 

Gabrielle Ray – Betty – The Westminster Gazette – Monday 1st November 1915

DALY’S THEATRE: “BETTY.”

The attractions of “Betty” at Daly’s have now been reinforced by the inclusion of Miss Gabrielle Ray in the cast. She takes the part, not of the heroine, as some perhaps might have wished, but of the saucy Estelle, the costumier’s model, a part which suits her style and capabilities quite well, although, as hinted, some of her admirers might prefer to see rather more of her. As it is, her appearances are somewhat intermittent for one whose popularity with the public is so considerable. Of course she had a very hearty reception and did all that was required in her own quite characteristic manner. A second newcomer of note in the cast is Mr. Lauri de Frece, who has Mr. Berry’s old part as the mercurial Court Dressmaker, Achille Jotte, whose function in life is, as he explains, to prescribe the shape of the ladies in high life with each revolving year. At present Mr. De Frece is not quite so entertaining as Mr. Berry, who sets indeed an exacting standard in this kind of role, but this is by no means to imply that he did not afford plenty of amusement, and doubtless in due course he will be funnier still. For Mr. G. P. Huntley in the part of the talkative Lord Playne a passable substitute has been found in Mr. Tom Walis, who wisely makes no attempt to reproduce his predecessor’s inimitable mannerisms, while Miss Winifred Barnes, Mr. Donald Calthrop, and Mr. C. M. Lowne represent other leading characters as before, and in all other respects the piece, which, if not the strongest of its class, yet has not a few good points, goes gaily as ever.

H. A. S.

The Westminster Gazette  Monday 1^st November 1915