Billie Sinclair - Postcard, 1909
Title
Billie Sinclair - Postcard, 1909
Date
8 November 1909
Description
Promotional postcard of Billie Sinclair, starring in Robert Courtneidge's 1909 touring production of The Arcadians.
What's the story?
Billie Sinclair played Eileen Cavanagh in the musical The Arcadians at the Theatre Royal from 8 to 13 November 1909.
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, meaning that at the time of this UK tour, the show was still being performed in London.
This postcard forms part of a large scrapbook collection donated to the Theatre Royal archive by Diane Meadwell from Sandiacre. Her great grandfather was Bernard Hill, the former landlord of The Sun Inn on Parliament Street and who later became the Stage Door Keeper at the Theatre Royal. Bernard’s daughter Edith also worked at the Theatre Royal as an usherette.
Whilst in his stage door job, Bernard collected a large number of postcards of the numerous artists who performed at the venue, many of which he got them to autograph, as well as writing the date and if necessary the show on the reverse, making the future archivist’s job that little bit easier. We have then been able to cross-reference this information with the list of Theatre Royal shows being compiled by volunteer researcher Lynn Whitley.
We are grateful to Diane for sharing her family memories with us and for donating such a valuable resource to the archive.
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, meaning that at the time of this UK tour, the show was still being performed in London.
This postcard forms part of a large scrapbook collection donated to the Theatre Royal archive by Diane Meadwell from Sandiacre. Her great grandfather was Bernard Hill, the former landlord of The Sun Inn on Parliament Street and who later became the Stage Door Keeper at the Theatre Royal. Bernard’s daughter Edith also worked at the Theatre Royal as an usherette.
Whilst in his stage door job, Bernard collected a large number of postcards of the numerous artists who performed at the venue, many of which he got them to autograph, as well as writing the date and if necessary the show on the reverse, making the future archivist’s job that little bit easier. We have then been able to cross-reference this information with the list of Theatre Royal shows being compiled by volunteer researcher Lynn Whitley.
We are grateful to Diane for sharing her family memories with us and for donating such a valuable resource to the archive.
Type
Postcard
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researchers: David Longford / Lynn Whitley
