Nelly Bromley
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Nelly (sometimes Nellie) Bromley (1850-October 27, 1939) was an English actor and singer. She is best remembered today for having created the role of the Plaintiff in Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury.
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[edit] Life and career
Bromley began her career in London around 1867, performing in burlesque at the Royalty Theatre (including W. S. Gilbert's Highly Improbable),[1] attracting a fair amount of notice. She soon appeared at other theaters throughout London before returning to the Royalty (under the management of Richard D'Oyly Carte acting for Madame Selina Dolaro) for the premiere, on 25 March 1875, of Trial by Jury.
Curiously, in late January 1875, the The Times ran advertisements for the Royalty Theatre: "In preparation, a new comic opera composed expressly for this theatre by Mr. Arthur Sullivan, in which Madame Dolaro and Nelly Bromley will appear." Reginald Allen (Allen, p. 28) and other writers took this as an advertisement for Trial by Jury. However, the advertisement does not mention a librettist, a peculiar omission if it was to have been W. S. Gilbert, who was at that point better known to London theatregoers than Sullivan. Moreover, Trial has a role for only one principal lady, whereas Sullivan's The Zoo, which opened on June 5, 1875, has roles for two principal ladies. In any event, however, Bromley played the sole female principal role of the Plaintiff in Trial, and neither lady appeared in The Zoo.
Although Bromley was a critical success in the part, in July she was replaced as Plaintiff by Linda Verner, a friend of Dolaro's. Dolaro was director of the company, and some felt that she made the switch because of a rivalry with the pretty Bromley. In any event, "Trial by Jury Lancers," Charles d'Albert's dance arrangement of numbers from the piece, was dedicated to Bromley.
Later in 1875 Bromley appeared in a translation of Jacques Offenbach's Les Brigands at the Globe Theater. In 1883, she appeared in Freedom at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, earning a good review in The Theatre's review on September 1, 1883. She continued to appear at venues throughout London until her retirement from the stage in 1889. In later life she chose to go by her married name, Mrs. Archibald Stuart Wortley.
Bromley died in Beaulieu, Hampshire in 1939 at the age of 89.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Stedman, Jane W. (1996). W. S. Gilbert, A Classic Victorian & His Theatre. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-816174-3. , p. 53.
[edit] References
- Ayre, Leslie (1972). The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd. Introduction by Martyn Green.
- Allen, Reginald (1975). The First Night Gilbert and Sullivan. London: Chappell & Co. Ltd.
[edit] External links
- Nelly Bromley at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
- www.gabrielleray.150m.com/ArchivePressText2003/20030118.html The Theatre's review of Freedom
