Minnie Everett

Minnie Everett (28 June 1874 – 7 June 1956) was an Australian ballet-mistress and producer, closely associated with the J. C. Williamson's company. She was the world's first woman producer of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.

Minnie Rebecca Everett
in 1937
BornJune 28, 1874
Died7 June 1956
NationalityAustralian
Known forfirst woman producer of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas

History

Everett was born in Beaufort, Victoria to Eliza Ann Everett, née Hardy, (c. 1836 – 24 August 1906)[1] and George Everett, a bricklayer, later builder, migrants from England.[2] After the family moved to Melbourne, Minnie attended Bell Street State School, where her talent for dancing was encouraged by a teacher, M. Massartie,[lower-alpha 1] who also inculcated in her a love of the French language. Her first stage experience was a small part in the Leopold troupe's production of Uncle Tom's Cabin. At age 13 she was engaged by the Simonsen Grand Italian Opera Company, who were playing at the Alexandra Theatre (later Her Majesty's), under ballet-mistress Emilia Pasta.[lower-alpha 2]

In 1888 she appeared for Williamson, Garner and Musgrove in the pantomime Sinbad the Sailor at the Theatre Royal. This was the beginning of a long relationship with what became "The Firm" of J. C. Williamson's. Williamson was so pleased with the ballet that he organised special coaching from E. W. "Teddy" Royce and the strict Mrs Royce (Marie Reddall) for eight of the dancers, including Everett. In 1891 the "Royal Ballerinas" (named for the theatre) consisted of Laura Healy, Lucy Cobb, Ethel Dale, Minnie Everett, Mildred Osborne, Lizzie Cassellis, Katie Ward, Annie Clifford, Lillie Forbes, Vera de Lissa, Nina Prince, and Jessie McLean.

In January–February 1894 they appeared in the pantomime Aladdin at Her Majesty's, and at the conclusion of their act, were conveyed to the Princess's Theatre to appear in the comic opera Dorothy, starring Nellie Stewart. In 1894 Williamson's Royal Ballerinas (by this time consisting of Healy, Cobb, Dale, Everett, Osborne, and Cassellis) became an integral part of the Royal Comic Opera Company.

Everett was introduced to Gilbert and Sullivan opera in The Gondoliers at Her Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane in July 1891, and in September The Mikado with Nellie Stewart as Yum Yum and the "domineering" Howard Vernon as the Lord High Executioner.[5]

As choreographer

She left Williamson to work as ballet mistress for Henry Bracy in 1896. Their first production was Karl Millöcker's The Beggar Student at the Sydney Lyceum, for which she choreographed a grand Polish mazurka ballet.[6] The operetta proved a financial failure and bankruptcy appeared imminent, so when J. C. Williamson offered a similar position, as Madame Phillipini's future replacement, she accepted. In the meantime she worked with comedian George Lauri's troupe, touring country centres; a dismal season that terminated with the loss of his scenery and props in a theatre fire at Bourke.[7]

In November 1898, as promised, JCW appointed Everett as ballet mistress, Madame Phillipini having left to return to England.[lower-alpha 3] In 1898 she created the dances for The Geisha and led the corps.[9] She appeared as Williamson's première danseuse of the Royal Ballerinas, of which in 1899 she was made (first Australian-born) director.[10] She returned to Sydney and was immediately put to work by Williamson in a pantomime starring Ada Reeve as Robin Hood. Another pantomime, The Forty Thieves followed in 1899, then Owen Hall's well received reworking of The Geisha, with Everett's choreography, the cast including her sister Lily Everett and George Lauri.[11] Lauri took his own life a few years later.[12]

In 1914 she produced pantomimes in South Africa for Williamson; in 1916 she produced High Jinks in London to become the "toast of the town".[13]

As ballet mistress for thirty years, she created and produced dances for most of J. C. Williamson Ltd's productions. A famous story has her rebuking the 16-year-old Robert Helpman, who had no doubts as to his star quality, "You'll never be any good as a dancer", and demoted him to understudy.[14] Hazel Meldrum was for years her assistant, also to Minnie Hooper, before she founded a school of her own.

Gilbert and Sullivan 1920

Everett was producer for the Williamsons' grand opera season of 1920, which marked her first collaboration with Gustave Slapoffski,[15] JCW's conductor and musical director since 1900. It was followed. at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, by a very successful season of G & S operas:

The Sydney season opened with The Mikado at Her Majesty's Theatre on 27 November, followed by Yeoman of the Guard, Iolanthe, The Gondoliers, Patience, Pinafore, and The Pirates of Penzance.[20] and closed with The Mikado in March 1921. They returned to Melbourne, to play Princess Ida at the Tivoli, with a farewell performance by Strella Wilson.[21]

Gilbert and Sullivan 1926

JCW's Gilbert and Sullivan season began at the Theatre Royal, Adelaide on 3 April with The Gondoliers for the first week, followed by Yeomen. Walenn, Wilson and Hay had rejoined the company; Leo Darnton, Sydney Granville, and Winifred Williamson[22] were new to Australia and Patti Russell, Mabel Gibson, Bernard Manning, and Lance Fairfax were new to the company. The musical director was Harry Jacobs. That theatre later saw Australia's first professional production of Ruddigore on 23 June 1927, produced by James Hay,[23] almost 20 years after the first amateur production.[lower-alpha 4]

His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne followed, commencing 17 April with Gondoliers,[25] followed on 3 May with Yeomen, Pirates from 15 May, The Mikado from 29 May, Pinafore from 19 June, Iolanthe from 3 July and Princess Ida from 17 July. Jacobs was conductor until 3 July, when Slapoffski returned to the podium.

His Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane was next, with Gondoliers 2–3 August, Yeomen, 4–6 August, and Pirates 7–9, Mikado 10–12, Pinafore and Trial by Jury 13–14, Iolanthe 16–18.

The Sydney season opened on 27 December with Gondoliers at the Theatre Royal, Yeomen on 8 January, Iolanthe 22 January, Pirates 5 February, Mikado 19 February, Princess Ida 12 March, Patience 19 March, and Pinafore with Trial by Jury 26 March.[26]

The company returned to the Theatre Royal, Adelaide, for three weeks from 16 April to 6 May 1927, playing seven pieces, starting with The Mikado and ending with Patience.[27] On top of her Gilbert and Sullivan duties, Everett produced the dance scenes for Lehar's Frasquita, produced by Charles Wenman for Williamson.[28]

Gilbert and Sullivan 1931–32

The tour began with Adelaide in March 1931, commencing with Gondoliers, Yeomen, and Pirates. Imported players from the Doyly Carte stable included Ivan Menzies, Gregory Stroud and Dorothy Gill.[29] Other members were Marie Bremner, Leo Darnton, Bernard Manning, John Ralston, Alban Whitehead, Maisie Ramsay, and Mary Hotham, with Gustave Slapoffski conductor.

Everett returned to Williamson's in September 1932 to produce another G & S season at the Theatre Royal, this time including The Sorcerer and Ruddigore.[30] In later years it would be said of Everett that she knew by heart every word, every note, gesture and action for all the G.& S. operettas except for Ruddigore, and its historic first professional staging (at Adelaide's Theatre Royal in 1927) was not by Everett but by James Hay. However, she made good the omission in Melbourne 1–8 October 1932

Sydney followed in September 1935 at the Theatre Royal; the cast included Ivan Menzies, Evelyn Gardiner, Gregory Stroud, Winifred Lawson, Richard Watson, Godfrey Stirling, and Bernard Manning.[31]

Minnie Everett Musical Comedy Company’s ‘Sally’ produced at the City Hall, Mentone in 1947

She produced another season in July 1940, again starring Ivan Menzies and Evelyn Gardiner with newcomers Viola Wilson and John Fullard.[32] Everett then retired, but maintained an interest in amateur theatrics and in 1955 directed The Mikado for the Victorian Council of Adult Education. She still had what it takes.[33]

She died barely a year later.[34] She was fond of a smoke, so the story goes, and while lighting a cigarette at Prahran on 22 May 1956 she set her dressing gown on fire, and collapsed. Stephanie Guy was giving singing lessons to one Glenda McAlpin in the next room and heard the thud. They rushed into the room, smothered the flames with blankets and called an ambulance, but she died a fortnight later at The Alfred Hospital. Coroner Duggan found that death was accidental.[35]

Her remains were cremated.

Family

On 28 November 1895[36] Everett married William W Rice[37] (c. 1869 – 30 July 1931), violist in J. C. Williamson's orchestra, son of conductor Watty Rice, and older[38] brother of tennis player Horace Rice (1872–1950), and a decent cricketer himself. They had at least one daughter, who married V. C. Anderson.[39]

The actress Lillian "Lily" Everett, of the Royal Comic Opera Company,[40] was a sister. She married dentist Harry Morton Kilgour (1871 – 27 July 1941) of Kiama, New South Wales, founded the School of Arts Dramatic Club in that town, and had two daughters, Bettina "Betty" and Joan,[41] then settled in New Zealand. In 1889 both Lily and Minnie Everett were members of the Royal Ballerinas.[42]

Further reading

My Dancing Days, a series of reminiscences by Everett in 1932 for Table Talk, a Melbourne weekly:

Notes and references
  1. Here M. may be an initial rather than the usual abbrev. for "Monsieur", and the widow of Gustave Massartie, who died 11 December 1885, aged 53.[3]
  2. Signora Pasta had performed as a danseuse with the Royal Italian Opera in Australia 1876–1879, later conducted ballet classes in Melbourne until at least 1914.[4]
  3. Rosalie Phillipini died in 1931.[8]
  4. The Petersham Choral Society played Ruddigore at the Petersham Town Hall 4–7 August 1908.[24]
  1. "Family Notices". The Age. No. 16067. Victoria, Australia. 8 September 1906. p. 7. Retrieved 14 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. Joan Maslen (1996). "Everett, Minnie Rebecca (1874–1956)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: Everett, Minnie Rebecca (1874–1956). National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  3. "Family Notices". The Age. No. 11, 169. Victoria, Australia. 11 December 1890. p. 1. Retrieved 12 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Advertising". The Age. No. 18, 386. Victoria, Australia. 21 February 1914. p. 19. Retrieved 15 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Amusements". South Australian Register. Vol. LVI, no. 13, 993. South Australia. 18 September 1891. p. 7. Retrieved 19 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "Before the Curtain". The Sunday Times (Sydney). No. 585. New South Wales, Australia. 7 March 1897. p. 2. Retrieved 1 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Bourke Theatre Burnt". Sunday Times (Sydney). No. 619. New South Wales, Australia. 7 November 1897. p. 10. Retrieved 19 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Link with Australian Stage Broken". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 16, 866. Victoria, Australia. 8 June 1931. p. 4. Retrieved 4 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Ladys Letter". Melbourne Punch. Victoria, Australia. 29 December 1898. p. 19. Retrieved 10 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. Marie Ada Couper. Remembering Edouard Borovansky and His Company 1939–1959 (Thesis). Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  11. "Drama". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. LXVII, no. 2019. New South Wales, Australia. 18 March 1899. p. 616. Retrieved 4 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "Theatrical Notes". The Referee. No. 1157. New South Wales, Australia. 6 January 1909. p. 10. Retrieved 19 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. "Producing a London Musical Comedy". Table Talk. No. 3348. Victoria, Australia. 7 July 1932. p. 24. Retrieved 11 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. "Sir Robert Helpmann". The Canberra Times. Vol. 61, no. 18, 625. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 29 September 1986. p. 2. Retrieved 10 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "Minnie Everett, Producer". Smith's Weekly. Vol. II, no. 22. New South Wales, Australia. 24 July 1920. p. 20. Retrieved 5 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia. In that issue the critic expressed a wish to see and hear Fred Collier and Browning Mummery in G & S.
  16. "Plays and Players". The Weekly Times. No. 2, 662. Victoria, Australia. 14 August 1920. p. 36. Retrieved 17 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. "Entertainments". The Australasian. Vol. CIX, no. 2, 841. Victoria, Australia. 11 September 1920. p. 39. Retrieved 17 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. "Her Majesty's Theatre". Table Talk. No. 1834. Victoria, Australia. 23 September 1920. p. 25. Retrieved 17 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. "Her Majesty's H.M.S Pinafore". The Age. No. 20, 454. Victoria, Australia. 18 October 1920. p. 8. Retrieved 17 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. "Plays and Players". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). No. 12952. New South Wales, Australia. 13 November 1920. p. 8. Retrieved 17 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. "Gilbert & Sullivan Opera". The Age. No. 20, 573. Victoria, Australia. 7 March 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 18 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. "Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (1875–1982): Winifred Williamson". Gerald Stone, G&S Archive. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  23. ""Ruddigore"". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. XCII, no. 26, 787. South Australia. 24 June 1927. p. 11. Retrieved 10 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  24. ""Ruddigore" at Petersham". The Evening News (Sydney). No. 12, 841. New South Wales, Australia. 5 August 1908. p. 8. Retrieved 10 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. "The Gondoliers". The Age. No. 22164. Victoria, Australia. 19 April 1926. p. 11. Retrieved 11 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  26. ""Patience" Next Saturday". The Sun (Sydney). No. 5104. New South Wales, Australia. 17 March 1927. p. 18. Retrieved 12 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  27. ""Patience"". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 7 May 1927. p. 17. Retrieved 10 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  28. ""Frasquita"". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 27, 857. New South Wales, Australia. 18 April 1927. p. 4. Retrieved 15 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  29. "Gilbert and Sullivan". The Age. No. 23, 697. Victoria, Australia. 23 March 1931. p. 11. Retrieved 18 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  30. "Gilbert and Sullivan". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 17, 258. Victoria, Australia. 6 September 1932. p. 6. Retrieved 18 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  31. "Gilbert and Sullivan". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 30, 489. New South Wales, Australia. 21 September 1935. p. 10. Retrieved 18 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  32. "Gilbert and Sullivan Season Opens". The Australasian. Vol. CXLIX, no. 4, 777. Victoria, Australia. 20 July 1940. p. 16. Retrieved 18 April 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  33. "Veteran Goes Back on the Stage". The Daily News (Perth). Vol. LXXIII, no. 24, 409. Western Australia. 16 February 1955. p. 15. Retrieved 10 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  34. "'Miss Ballet' dies, 81". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 8 June 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 10 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  35. "She died for a smoke". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 23 August 1956. p. 9. Retrieved 13 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  36. "Family Notices". The Age. No. 12, 724. Victoria, Australia. 10 December 1895. p. 1. Retrieved 19 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  37. "Family Notices". The Age. No. 12, 724. Victoria, Australia. 10 December 1895. p. 1. Retrieved 10 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  38. "Gave Blood in Death Set". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Vol. 1, no. 4. New South Wales, Australia. 19 February 1931. p. 8. Retrieved 10 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  39. "Great Families in Games". The Referee. No. 2401. New South Wales, Australia. 29 March 1933. p. 24. Retrieved 10 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  40. "Greenroom Gossip". Melbourne Punch. Victoria, Australia. 29 December 1904. p. 28. Retrieved 15 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  41. "Obituary". The Kiama Reporter and Illawarra Journal. New South Wales, Australia. 30 July 1941. p. 3. Retrieved 15 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  42. "Advertising". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). No. 3039. New South Wales, Australia. 17 April 1889. p. 2. Retrieved 17 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
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