Louie Henri
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Louie Henri (April 12, 1864 – May 2, 1947) was an English singer and actress, best known for her many Gilbert and Sullivan roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She was married to the company's principal comedian, Henry Lytton.
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[edit] Life and career
Henri was born Louisa Webber in Paddington, London.
[edit] Early career
Henri first appeared on stage at the age of 16 with Florence St. John's Opera Company, performing in Jacques Offenbach's Madame Favart at the Strand Theatre in 1880. She then played a small part in Edmond Audran's Olivette, with Kate Santley's company, when she met Lytton, whom she married in late 1883. She continued to appear in and around London and began to use the stage name Louie Henri. Henri and Lytton then joined with other out-of-work actors and travelled from town to town in Surrey, performing a drama, All of Her, and an operetta, Tom Tug the Waterman. The plays were augmented by songs and dances which Lytton later claimed, in "The Secrets of a Savoyard," were the best feature of the program. The income provided by this work was not adequate, and the young couple ran into debt.
She joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for a British tour of Princess Ida, commencing on February 4, 1884, playing the small role of Ada. Henri obtained an audition for Lytton, claiming that he was her brother, and he joined the chorus, using the name of H. A. Henri. She remained with the tour until May 1885. Henri then appeared in the chorus of Bucalossi's Les Manteaux Noirs but soon rejoined D'Oyly Carte in September 1885. In 1886, she Lytton joined the chorus of Ivan Caryll's comic opera, The Lily of Leoville.
Lytton became understudy to George Grossmith at the Savoy Theatre in January 1887, and then they both went on tour with D'Oyly Carte in December 1887, when Lytton took over the principal comic baritone parts with a D'Oyly Carte touring company. In 1888, Henri played Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, Pitti-Sing in The Mikado, and substituted in April as Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore. By November 1888, however, Louie went on maternity leave. In early 1889, Henri returned to the tour as Phoebe in The Yeomen of the Guard and also played Pitti-Sing. She left the company again until November 1890, when she rejoined and played Pitti-Sing.
[edit] Principal soubrette and later years
In the first part of 1891, Henri shared the roles of Pitti-Sing and Tessa in The Gondoliers and then added the title role in Iolanthe. In 1892-93, she toured as Iolanthe, Pitti-Sing, and Tessa, as well as Nelly Bly in The Vicar of Bray, Arabella Lane in Billee Taylor and Dorcas in Haddon Hall. In 1994-95, she played Princess Nekaya in Utopia, Limited, Nelly Bly, Zerbinetta in Mirette, Dolly Grigg in The Chieftain, and Melissa in Princess Ida.
In 1896-97, Henri toured as Julia Jellicoe in The Grand Duke, as well as Nekaya, Constance Partlett in The Sorcerer, Cousin Hebe in Pinafore, Edith, Lady Angela in Patience, Iolanthe, Melissa, Pitti-Sing, Phoebe, and Tessa. In June 1897, she joined her husband at the Savoy Theatre, where she was a chorister in the revival of Yeomen and the new production of The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, while creating the title role in the companion piece to both, Old Sarah. In March 1898, she played Tessa at the Savoy in the first revival of The Gondoliers.
Henri left D'Oyly Carte and retired from the stage in May 1898. Lytton claimed, in his memoir The Secrets of a Savoyard, that she also appeared at some point in her career as the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury and Mrs. Partlett in The Sorcerer, which he says was "probably ...a greater number of parts... than any other lady connected with the company."[1]
Henri died in Surbiton, Surrey at the age of 83, survived by her son Henry Lytton, Jr., whose high profile marriage to Jessie Matthews in 1925 ended in divorce in 1930.
[edit] Recordings and films
In 1902-03 Henri recorded several songs, mostly from current musicals A Country Girl and The Girl from Kays, and mostly duets with her husband. Their recordings also included a duet from Iolanthe ("None shall part us"), though she had never appeared as Phyllis.
In later years, Henri appeared in several silent films, most notably as Queen Victoria in the 1913 film Sixty Years a Queen.
[edit] References
- Jones, Brian (2005). Lytton, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Jester. London: Trafford Publishing.
- Ayre, Leslie (1972). The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd. Introduction by Martyn Green.
- Lytton, Henry (1922). Secrets of a Savoyard. London: Jarrolds. This book is available online here.
