The Arcadians - Scrapbook Pages, 1951
Title
The Arcadians - Scrapbook Pages, 1951
Date
1 October 1951
Description
Pages from scrapbook kept by Kathleen Davis for Nottingham Operatic Society production of Edwardian musical comedy The Arcadians.
What's the story?
The Arcadians is an Edwardian musical comedy often likened to the Savoy operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. The show’s lyrics are by Arthur Wimperis, and music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot.
The musical opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, on 29 April 1909, and ran for 809 performances. This was the third longest run for any musical theatre piece up to that time. As well as a successful Broadway run, the show also toured extensively around Britain.
These are two pages from a scrapbook kept by Kathleen Davis (Beales) who performed in this Nottingham Operatic Society production of The Arcadians.
On each page are glued small cards and notes that accompanied a gift from members of the cast to Kathleen. Underneath each note Kathleen has written the flowers or basket of fruit gift that was given to her.
These notes and gifts show both the generosity of the company and the camaraderie and friendship that obviously existed backstage.
These scrapbook pages form part of a collection of Theatre Royal material that belonged to Kathleen Davis (nee Beales), 1922 to 2014.
During World War Two, Kathleen worked for a company, whose work included developing pictures taken of productions at the Theatre Royal. This sparked an interest in the Theatre Royal and performing in general.
She took singing lessons and joined the Nora Morrison School of Dance, which led her to becoming a member of Nottingham Operatic Society, who regularly performed at the Theatre Royal.
Kathleen became a leading light of the society, which led to offers to sing and perform in London and the possibility of a professional career. However, Kathleen, now having met her husband Louis through NOS, chose to remain in Nottingham.
Kathleen continued to sing locally, performing with other groups at Nottingham’s Co-Op theatre and in Beeston. In the mid-1970s, Kathleen was performing around the Midlands area enjoying singing in working men’s clubs.
We would like to thank Kathleen’s son, Glyn Davis, for loaning and donating the programmes, scrapbooks, photographs and other ephemera from his mother’s collection to the Theatre Royal archive.
We are also grateful to him for sharing some of his own Theatre Royal memories of standing in the wings as a little boy and watching his Mum perform on our stage.
The musical opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, on 29 April 1909, and ran for 809 performances. This was the third longest run for any musical theatre piece up to that time. As well as a successful Broadway run, the show also toured extensively around Britain.
These are two pages from a scrapbook kept by Kathleen Davis (Beales) who performed in this Nottingham Operatic Society production of The Arcadians.
On each page are glued small cards and notes that accompanied a gift from members of the cast to Kathleen. Underneath each note Kathleen has written the flowers or basket of fruit gift that was given to her.
These notes and gifts show both the generosity of the company and the camaraderie and friendship that obviously existed backstage.
These scrapbook pages form part of a collection of Theatre Royal material that belonged to Kathleen Davis (nee Beales), 1922 to 2014.
During World War Two, Kathleen worked for a company, whose work included developing pictures taken of productions at the Theatre Royal. This sparked an interest in the Theatre Royal and performing in general.
She took singing lessons and joined the Nora Morrison School of Dance, which led her to becoming a member of Nottingham Operatic Society, who regularly performed at the Theatre Royal.
Kathleen became a leading light of the society, which led to offers to sing and perform in London and the possibility of a professional career. However, Kathleen, now having met her husband Louis through NOS, chose to remain in Nottingham.
Kathleen continued to sing locally, performing with other groups at Nottingham’s Co-Op theatre and in Beeston. In the mid-1970s, Kathleen was performing around the Midlands area enjoying singing in working men’s clubs.
We would like to thank Kathleen’s son, Glyn Davis, for loaning and donating the programmes, scrapbooks, photographs and other ephemera from his mother’s collection to the Theatre Royal archive.
We are also grateful to him for sharing some of his own Theatre Royal memories of standing in the wings as a little boy and watching his Mum perform on our stage.
Type
Scrapbook pages
Location of item
Private Collection - Glyn Davis / Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Private Collection - Glyn Davis / Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researcher: David Longford
