Rutland Barrington
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Rutland Barrington (January 15, 1853 – May 31, 1922) was an English singer, actor, comedian, and musical comedy star, best remembered for creating the comic heavy baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. He also wrote eleven works for the stage.
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[edit] Life and career
Barrington was born George Rutland Fleet at Penge, England, and educated at the Merchant Taylors' School.
[edit] Early career and D'Oyly Carte years
Barrington made his debut at the Olympic Theatre in 1874, and the following year he was hired to appear in the company of Mrs. Howard Paul. When Mrs. Paul was approached by Richard D'Oyly Carte to play the part of Lady Sangazure in the new Gilbert and Sullivan opera that Carte was producing, The Sorcerer, she suggested that her young protégé be given a part (Dr. Daly), and so Barrington's career as a star on the London stage was launched. Barrington himself, known as a serious man, questioned his suitability for comic opera, but W. S. Gilbert, who required that his actors to play their absurd lines in all earnestness, explained the casting choice: "He's a staid, solid swine, and that's what I want" (Ayre, p. 48).
[edit] Pinafore to Ruddigore
From 1877 to 1894, except for a foray into the business of theatrical management in 1888–89, Barrington remained in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, creating comic lyric baritone roles in all of Gilbert and Sullivan's new operas with the exception of The Yeomen of the Guard.
In 1878, Rutland created the roles of Lord Chamberlain in Albery's and Cellier's curtain raiser, The Spectre Knight, Counsel for the Plaintiff in the revival of Trial by Jury, and Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore. Barrington was a big man, which led to one of Gilbert's famous quips in a rehearsal for Pinafore. Gilbert asked Barrington to sit "pensively" on one of the ship's skylights. Barrington lowered himself into position, and the set piece collapsed under his weight. Gilbert remarked, "No, that's ex-pensively." (ibid.)
Barrington also created the role of Pennyfather in Desprez and Cellier's curtain raiser, After All! (1878), played Mr. Cox in Cox and Box (1879), and created the roles of the Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance in London (1880), Archibald Grosvenor in Patience (1881), Earl Mountararat in Iolanthe (1882), and King Hildebrand in Princess Ida (1884). Next, he reprised his role of Dr. Daly and played the Learned Judge in the revival of The Sorcerer and Trial (1884—over the years, Barrington frequently played the Judge in D'Oyly Carte and various "benefit" performances), created the roles of Pooh-Bah in The Mikado (1885) and Sir Despard Murgatroyd in Ruddygore, and reprised his original roles in revivals of Pinafore, Pirates and The Mikado in (1887–88).
[edit] Theatrical management experiment and later Savoy roles
In 1888, Barrington left the D'Oyly Carte organisation, missing the chance to create the role of Wilfred in Yeomen, to try his hand at theatrical management at the St. James's Theatre, producing Sydney Grundy's The Dean's Daughter and Gilbert's Brantinghame Hall, an abject failure starring Barrington, his younger brother, Duncan Fleet, Julia Neilson and Lewis Waller). This decision proved to be a financial disaster for Barrington, and he was bankrupt after only five months. After Brantingame Hall closed, he briefly took engagements at the Comedy Theatre (Merry Margate and Pickwick) and played a few matinees in other theatres until he rejoined D'Oyly Carte to play Giuseppe in The Gondoliers (1889).
After The Gondoliers closed in 1891, Gilbert and Sullivan were estranged for a time, and Carte hired Barrington to star as Punka in Dance, Desprez, and Solomon's The Nautch Girl. In August 1891, Barrington and Jessie Bond took a leave of absence from that show to tour a series of "musical duologues" throughout Britain, returning to the Savoy in November. In 1892, Barrington created the title role of Reverend William Barlow, in Grundy and Solomon's The Vicar of Bray and then toured with that show. In September 1892, he created the role of Rupert Vernon in Grundy and Sullivan's Haddon Hall. In 1893, he created the role of the Proctor in J. M. Barrie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Ernest Ford's unsuccessful, Jane Annie, at the Savoy and on tour, followed by the role of King Paramount I in Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia, Limited, opening in October of that year. Barrington's own play, Bartonmere Towers, was also produced at the Savoy in 1893.
Barrington left the company again when Utopia closed, appearing in the Hall, Greenbank and Jones musical, A Gaiety Girl (in 1894), in Gilbert and Carr's His Excellency (1894–95), and then in Thoroughbred. Barrington also wrote and directed a one-act operetta, A Knight Errant, which played as a companion piece with His Excellency at the Lyric Theatre. In November 1895, Barrington returned to the Savoy as Pooh-Bah in another revival of The Mikado, and in March 1896 he created the role of Ludwig in Gilbert and Sullivan's last opera, The Grand Duke. He also produced a revival of Happy Arcadia at St. George's Hall in 1895, starring Fanny Holland.
[edit] Later years
Beginning in 1896, Barrington spent ten very successful years under the management of George Edwardes at Daly's Theatre, creating roles in a number of hit musicals, including The Geisha (1896), A Greek Slave (1898), San Toy (1899), A Country Girl (1902), and The Cingalee (1904), among others. He appeared in several musical comedies between 1905 and 1907, including The White Chrysanthemum (with Isabel Jay and Henry Lytton), The Candidate and Amasis. He also appeared in variety during this period, performing standard topical songs of the day, including his only recording of a song, "The Moody Mariner," with his own lyrics and music by Walter Slaughter, in 1905.
During this period, several of Barrington's stage works were presented at the Garrick Theatre, including his popular "fairy play" called Water Babies, based on Charles Kingsley's book, with music by Frederick Rosse, Albert Fox, and Alfred Cellier (1902).
Barrington returned to the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1908 for the second of the celebrated London repertory seasons, playing Pooh-Bah, Captain Corcoran, Mountararat, and the Sergeant once again, and adding the roles of Wilfred Shadbolt in Yeomen and Don Alhambra in The Gondoliers to his Savoy repertoire. He then played in more musicals, including The Girl in the Train (1910), and also established himself on the legitimate stage, playing Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor at His Majesty's Theatre in 1911, and Polonius in Hamlet and Christopher Sly in The Taming of the Shrew at the same theatre in 1916. Barrington continued to perform in London and in the provinces until 1918.
After Barrington suffered a paralytic stroke in 1919, he was unable to perform. He spent the rest of his life in a state of poverty, although benefits were held and other efforts made to help him. He died in Morden, South London at the age of 69.
[edit] References
- Ayre, Leslie (1972). The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd. Introduction by Martyn Green.
- Barrington, Rutland (1908). Rutland Barrington: A Record of 34 Years' Experience on the English Stage, By Himself. London: ??. Preface by W. S. Gilbert.
- Barrington, Rutland (1910). More Rutland Barrington. London: ??.
[edit] External links
- Rutland Barrington at Who was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
- Profile of Barrington
- Descriptions of various productions in which Barrington appeared
- Another brief profile of Barrington
- Descriptions of several productions in which Barrington appeared
- A description of the opening night at the Barrington-managed The Dean's Daughter
- Information about Barrington's unsuccessful attempt at theatrical management
