Introduction
The PROMPT collection documents the career of Oscar Asche as actor, producer and director on the Australian and English stage. This list includes programmes, ephemera, and journal articles covering his forty year stage career. It is to be noted that the Library’s holdings are incomplete and every effort is being made to add to them. A filmography of Asche’s four year English film career is included in this list but not collected. For comprehensive information about this aspect of his career readers are advised to contact ScreenSound Australia.
The list is in four sequences – Theatre, Australian Tours 1-3, Chu Chin Chow, Miscellaneous (Journal articles)
The arrangement in the first two and last sequences is chronological by year, month, week, or the date of commencement of the season where known. An only performance is indicated. Dating is based on the source Who was who in the theatre, 1912-1976 (Detroit, 1978) and supplemented by the programmes. Chu Chin Chow is arranged alphabetically by country of production.
Biography
Thomas Stange Heiss Oscar Asche was born in Geelong, Victoria on 26 January 1871 to a Norwegian father, Thomas Asche and an Australian mother, Harriet Emma (Lily) nee Trear. Oscar was educated at Laurel Lodge, Dandenong and from 1884 at Melbourne Grammar School. He left school at 16 and from 1887 to 1890 worked and traveled until he decided to enter the theatre. He trained in Christiana under Bjorn-Bjornson and London making his London debut in March 1893 in Man and Woman, at the Opera Comique under the management of Arthur Dacre. In the same year he joined the Benson Repertory Company and for eight years acted in every kind of part, from Biondello in The Taming of the Shrew and Pistol in Henry V to the King in Hamlet. While with Benson he married Lily Brayton in 1898 or 1899. In 1902 he joined his wife who was now acting for Herbert Beerbohn Tree, playing Antinous in Phillips’s Ulysses. They both stayed with Tree until 1904 when they joined up with Otho Stuart an old Bensonian, in the management of the Adelphi Theatre putting on productions such as The Prayer of the Sword, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew and Rudolf Besier’s The Virgin Goddess. In 1907 Asche and his wife went into management of His Majesty’s Theatre producing Laurence Binyon’s Attila with himself in the title role, as well as several more Shakespearian titles particularly Othello.
Between 1909 and 1910 he, his wife and their company toured Australia. In 1911 he appeared at the Garrick Theatre as Hajj in a musical scena Kismet written for him by Edward Knobloch, based on an eastern tale, an oriental theme which later influenced him to write Chu Chin Chow. This ran for two years before he toured Australia a second time in 1912-1913 taking Kismet with him. After Australia he toured South Africa with the expressed purpose of dramatising B. Rider Haggard’s novel A Child of the Storm presenting it unsuccessfully in London in October 1914 as Mameena.
Asche wrote the book and lyrics to Chu Chin Chow in two weeks, to a score by Frederic Norton. He also directed and starred in it playing opposite his wife Lily Brayton. It ran in London for five years breaking all records. It opened at His Majesty’s Theatre on 31 August 1916 and closed there on 22 July 1921. During this time, 1917, he also directed another very successful musical The Maid of the Mountains. Cairo was another musical written by Asche modeled on Chu Chin Chow which opened in New York in 1920 and 1921 in London however to not as much success. A third and final Australian tour intervened between 1922 and 1924 where Asche this time, produced Chu Chin Chow and Cairo as well as reviving more Shakespeare.
On his return to England monetary troubles caused by his grey hound racing, an unsuccessful Sugley Farm and the owing of taxes, made him bankrupt. His wife helped him in his lavish, new but unsuccessful romantic musical The Good Old Days which ran one month at the Gaiety Theatre in October-November 1925. He wrote his autobiography Oscar Asche, his life (Lond., 1929) chronicling the changes from Victorian theatre to early twentieth-century cinema and two novels The Joss-Strings of Chung (Lond., 1930), Saga of Hans Hansen (Lond., 1930). In 1932 he directed his wife in her last stage appearance and he probably appeared on stage for the last time in The Beggar’s Bowl in 1933 at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Although his stage career had ended he appeared in six films between 1932 and 1936, making his film debut in My Lucky Star (1932).
Asche found success more and more difficult to achieve in his later days and his last work as director and performer was in some of the more amateurish musical would-be spectaculars of his time such as The White Camellia, El Dorado, Kong. Ill and impoverished he rejoined his once estranged wife at Marlow, Buckinghamshire and died at Bisham of coronary thrombosis on 23rd March 1936. They had no children.
A powerfully built man with a virile figure in his early years, he became grossly fat in old age, a factor which made him violent on stage, being criticised for his lack of tenderness and subtlety. He was extremely theatrical and was innovative in his Shakespearian interpretations as well as his use of lighting particularly in Kismet. As a producer he was a perfectionist. He was regarded as having the vilest temper in show business but a splendid showman. Asche thought his finest work as an actor was in Othello and as a producer and manager in Chu Chin Chow.
Australian Tours
Asche toured Australia three times in 1909-1910, 1912-1913 and 1922-1924 with his wife Lily Brayton although she did not accompany him on his last tour. During these visits he performed over 1500 performances which included seven plays of Shakespeare, four musicals and five contemporary dramas. In his autobiography he considered The Virgin Goddess to be his only failure in Australia.
The first tour began in Melbourne on the 17th July 1909 and ended in Perth possibly August or early September 1910, and lasted 18 months. It included a repertoire of five Shakespearean plays, As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Merry Wives of Windsor and two melodramas, Asche’s own dramatisation of Stanley Wyman’s novel Count Hannibal and Besier’s The Virgin Goddess. This tour included three Melbourne and two Sydney seasons, alternating, with one in Perth of two weeks. Asche brought his full company, The Oscar Asche-Lily Brayton Company on this tour which consisted of twenty people as well as 100 tons of scenery, costumes and props.
The second tour in 1912-1913 the company toured again arriving in Melbourne in March 1912, performing two seasons there and one each in Sydney, Brisbane, New Zealand, Perth and Albany, W.A. departing Australia in August 1913 for South Africa. The repertoire included Kismet and another four Shakespeare plays including Antony and Cleopatra, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello.
During this visit Asche met the novelist H. Rider Haggard in Brisbane and subsequently dramatised his A Child of the Storm as Mameena.
JC Williamson contracted Asche for his third Australian tour from August 1922 to post June 1924 however his wife did not accompany him. It lasted eighty weeks and included seasons in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, New Zealand, Sydney, Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Adelaide and Melbourne respectively. The repertoire included three productions, Chu Chin Chow, Cairo and A Southern Maid which Asche directed for Williamson in Melbourne in January 1923. Other repertoire included more Shakespeare favourites Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, Pinero’s Iris, Asche’s The Spanish Main and Galsworthy’s The Skin Game.
Relations between Asche and JC Williamson’s were strained throughout the tour and after a quarrel about production and finance the Firm terminated his contract mid 1924.
Chu Chin Chow
A musical tale of the East by Oscar Asche. Music by Frederic Norton. Produced at His Majesty’s Theatre under the management of Scar Asche and Lily Brayton.
Kismet’s great success spurred Asche to write, direct and star in Chu Chin Chow, a spectacular musical comedy similar to Kismet, produced by his old master Tree, and his wife and co-star Lily Brayton, with a music score by Frederic Norton. A version of the Arabian Nights tale of Ali Baba and the forty thieves, it became one of the favourite entertainments of the First World War running at its London base, His Majesty’s Theatre for 2,235 performances over five years, from Aug. 31st 1916 to 22nd July 1921.
Grossmith and Laurillard took the musical to the British provinces where it was kept alive for many years with a cast headed by Bobbie Comber (Ali), Henry Latimer (Hasan), Madge McIntosh (Zahrat). It returned to London on 3rd July 1940 for 80 performances, this time headed by Lyn Harding as Hasan, Rosalinde Fuller as Zahrat and Jerry Verno as Ali. It was interrupted by the London bombing and returned in 1941 for another 158 nights.
In 1953 an ice version was produced at London’s Empire Pool, Wembley which also did a run in the provinces it is suspected in that same year.
New York produced an unsuccessful Chu Chin Chow in 1917, although it became very successful in other parts of the United States.
It opened in Melbourne in Dec. 1920 running for three months before it opened in Sydney on the 26th March 1921. It was produced a second time by Asche himself during his 1922-1924 tour opening in Melbourne, ca. Sept. 1922.
Cairo/Mecca
A mosaic in music and mime in 3 acts and 11 scenes by Oscar Asche. Music by Percy Fletcher. Scenery by Joseph and Phil Parker ; costumes by Leon Bakst, Percy Anderson, Alice O’Neil. Choreography by Michel Fokine.
Cairo was the successor to Chu Chin Chow which continues the Middle Eastern theme begun by Knobloch’s Kismet. The roles were written to be like those of the previous hit musical and the production was factored to be a super-spectacle.
Opened at Century Theatre, Broadway, as Mecca, 4 October 1920 for 130 nights. Then in London at His Majesty’s Theatre as Cairo on the 15th October 1921 for 287 performances before selling the costume and scenery to JC Williamson’s for Australia’s production of the same name starring Asche, opening at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney, on the 16th September 1922, and Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne on the 22nd December 1922.
Maid of the Mountains
Musical comedy/opera in 3 acts by Frederick Lonsdale. Lyrics by Harry Graham ; additional lyrics by ‘Valentine’ and F. Clifford Harris. Music by Harold Fraser-Simson ; additional music by James Tate and Merlin Morgan. Directed by Oscar Asche. Musical director Merlin Morgan. Scenery and costumes by Asche and Joseph Harker. Costumes by Comelli. Choreography by Espinosa. Produced at the Prince’s theatre, Manchester under the management of Robert Evett, 23 Dec. 1916 for a season running to 3 Feb. 1917. Opened at Daly’s theatre, 10 Feb. 1917 for a run of 1,352 performances closing 1 May, 1920.
Asche designed and staged the successful original London run with its striking and expansive production. He also directed the first Australian production for JC Williamson in Melbourne, January 1923. It became as successful as the London production with soprano Gladys Moncrieff scoring a huge personal success as Teresa.
Film Career
Asche appeared in six films before his death, they being: My Lucky Star (1932), Don Quixote (1933), Two Hearts in Waltz Time (1934), Scrooge (1935), Private Secretary (1935) and Eliza Comes To Stay (1936)
Published Works by Asche
This list of works written by Asche is incomplete.
Plays
Acting version of Measure for measure / arranged by Oscar Asche for Otho Stuart’s production at the Adelphi Theatre, March 1906, together with Shakespeare’s full text.
London : Dent, [1906].
Shakespeare’s comedy As you like it / arranged by Oscar Asche, His Majesty’s Theatre, proprietor Herbert Beerbohm Tree.
London : [Constable], 1907.
Chu Chin Chow : a musical tale of the East / told by Oscar Asche ; set to music by Frederic Norton ; the play novelised by William A. Page.
[New York : Printed by the Sackett & Wilhelms Corp.], 1917
Mecca : a mosaic in music and mime / by Oscar Asche ; music by Percy E. Fletcher ; choreography by Michel Fokine ; staged by E. Lyall Swete ; play novelised by William A. Page ; book illustrated by Carl Link.
New York : F.R. Comstock and M. Gest, 1920
[Count Hannibal / by Stanley Wyman ; dramatised by Oscar Asche]
[1909]
[Mameena / dramatisation by Oscar Asche of B. Rider Haggard’s A Child of the Storm]
[1914]
[The Spanish Main / by Oscar Asche]
Eastward Ho! / Grace Torrens, John Ansell with Dornford Yates
[1919]
The Good Old Days / by Oscar Asche
1925
Fiction
The Joss-strings of Chung / by Oscar Asche.
London, 1930.
The Saga of Hans Hansen / by Oscar Asche
London, 1930
Autobiography
Oscar Asche, his life / by himself.
London : Hurst & Blackett, [1929]
Bibliography
Includes material used in the compilation of this holdings list.
Asche, Oscar. Oscar Asche, his life / by himself.
[London] : Hurst & Blackett, [1929]
Australian Dictionary of Biography, v. 7, 1891-1939. A-Ch.
[Melbourne] : Melbourne University Press, 1979.
Australian stage : a documentary history / edited by Harold Love.
Kensington, N.S.W. : New South Wales University Press, 1984.
Companion to Theatre in Australia
Sydney : Currency Press in association with Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Dictionary of National Biography, 1931-1940 /edited by L. G. Wickham Legg …
[Oxford] : London : (Oxford : Oxford University Press ; Geoffrey Cumberledge, Charles Batey), 1949.
Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia, v.1, Theatre, film, radio, television / Ann Atkinson …[et al.]
St. Leonards, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin, 1996.
Encyclopedia of musical theatre, v.1 / Kurt Ganzl
Oxford : Blackwell Reference, 1994.
Who was who in the theatre, 1912-1976 : a biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, directors, playwrights, and producers of the English-speaking theatre … v. 1
Detroit : Gale Research Co., 1978.
Other Material on Asche in the Library
In the PROMPT Collection at PROMPT Scrapbook 11, there is a two vol. album featuring Asche and Brayton’s careers covering 1901-1911. A microfilm of the scrapbook is available through the Newspaper Reading Room.
The theatre programmes in the PROMPT collection are available through the Petherick Reading Room. Readers should complete an electronic call slip for the following catalogue record:
Portraits of Asche and Brayton are available through the Catalogue and Pictures Reading Room and additional biographical material can be found in the biographical cuttings files accessed through the Newspapers and Microcopy.
Notes on Holdings List
The list reflects the majority of holdings in the PROMPT Collection, unless otherwise stated. The readers are also directed to the J.C. Williamson Collection held in the same collection for material on Asche or his productions.
If the material is not a theatre programme but possibly a journal article, journal, plot summaries, or souvenir programmes, these are indicated by a dot with the relevant description.
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Early years |
Oscar Asche at Laurel Lodge / Ian Laurenson
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| 1899, Mar. 20 | Edinburgh. Royal Lyceum Theatre She Stoops to Conquer. Asche is a member of F.R Benson's Shakespearean & Old Comedy Company, playing Mr. Hardcastle in this comedy. |
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1900 |
London. Royal Lyceum Theatre. Mr. F.R. Benson’s Shakespeare Season Hamlet – Claudius, King of Denmark |
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1900 |
London. Royal Lyceum Theatre. Mr. F.R. Benson’s Shakespeare Season Midsummer Night’s Dream – Snug |
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1900 |
London. Royal Lyceum Theatre. Mr. F.R. Benson’s Shakespeare Season Richard II – Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk |
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1900 |
London. Royal Lyceum Theatre. Mr. F.R. Benson’s Shakespeare Season Twelfth Night – Antonio |
| 1900, Feb. 19 | London. Royal Lyceum Theatre Henry the Fifth. Asche plays Pistol. Mr. F. R. Benson's Shakespeare Season. |
| 1900, Mar 29 – April 4 |
London. Royal Lyceum Theatre Mr F. R. Benson’s Shakespeare Season Antony & Cleopatra - Sextus Pompeius |
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1900, April 23 (one week) |
Stratford-on-Avon. Memorial Theatre. Annual Dramatic Performances Series As You Like It – Banished Duke Pericles, Prince of Tyre – Cleon, Governor of Ninevah F.R. Benson (Director) |
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1900, Aug. 27-29 |
Birmingham. Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society. F.R. Benson’s Co. As You Like It – Duke, living in exile Twelfth Night – Antonio Much Ado About Nothing – Borachio |
| 1900, Dec. 19 |
London. Comedy Theatre The Benson Shakespeare Season The Merry Wives of Windsor - Pistol |
| 1901, Jan. | London. Comedy Theatre Merchant of Venice. Asche is a member of F.R Benson's Shakespearean & Old Comedy Company. He plays the Prince of Morocco. |
| 1901, Feb. 23 | London. Comedy Theatre Coriolanus. Asche is a member of F.R Benson's Shakespearean & Old Comedy Company. He plays Sicinius Velutus. |
| 1901, Mar 3 – March 25 |
London, Comedy Theatre The Benson Shakespeare Season Richard II – Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk |
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1901, Sept. 21 |
London. Garrick Theatre. Iris (Pinero) – Frederick Maldonado opposite principals Dion Boucicault, Fay Davis |
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1902, Feb. 1 |
London. Her Majesty’s Theatre Ulysses (S. Phillip) – Antinous opposite principals Beerbohm Tree, Lily Hanbury
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1902, Apr. 28 |
London. Her Majesty’s Theatre Ulysses (S. Phillip) – Antinous opposite principals Beerbohm Tree, Lily Hanbury
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1902, June 10 |
London. Her Majesty’s Theatre Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare) – Master Ford opposite principals Beerbohm Tree, Mrs. Tree, Ellen Terry, Mrs. Kendal
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1903 |
London, The Imperial Theatre Much Ado About Nothing – Benedick Under the Management of Miss Ellen Terry |
| 1903 | London. His Majesty's Theatre The Ballad Monger, Flodden Field, The Man Who Was. Asche plays The Earl of Surrey in 'Flodden Field'. Asche and Lily Brayton were members of Tree's [Herbert Beerbohm Tree] company. |
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1903, Feb. 17—May 16 |
London. His Majesty’s Theatre Resurrection (Tolstoy ; adapt. H. Bataille, M. Morton) – Vladimir Simonson opposite principals Beerbohm Tree, Lena Ashwell |
| 1903, Apr. 15 | London. Imperial Theatre The Vikings. Asche plays Sigurd the Strong |
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1903, Sept. 10-Dec. 23 |
London. His Majesty’s Theatre King Richard II (Shakespeare) – Henry of Hereford, surnamed Bolingbroke opposite principals Beerbohm Tree, Brayton Additional souvenir in panorama format entitled: Souvenir of Shakespeare's King Richard II produced by Mr. Tree at His Majesty's Theatre, September 10th 1903 from a watercolour drawing by Charles A. Buchel. |
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1904 |
London. Royal Adelphi Theatre Hamlet (Shakespeare) – Claudius opposite principals H.B. Irving, Maud Milton, Brayton |
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1904, July 5 |
London. His Majesty’s Theatre. Grand Priory of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare) – Master Ford opposite principals Beerbohm Tree, Ellen Terry "An entertainment under the immediate patronage of … King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in aid of the British Ophthalmic Hospital at Jerusalem…" |
| 1904, Sept. | London. Royal Adelphi Theatre Promotional Booklet : The Prayer of the Sword. Pictorial Booklet promoting Asche in the leading role of Braccio Scolia. Book made up of favorable quotes from London press plus four pages of black and white photographs. Asche and Lily Brayton feature in several of these. |
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1905 |
London. Royal Adelphi Theatre Under Which King? (J.B. Fagan) -- Colonel Eversdale opposite principals H.R. Hignett, Brayton |
| 1905? |
London, His Majesty’s Theatre Cairo – Ali Shar, a wrestler A mosaic in music and mime. Mime by Oscar Asche |
| 1905? |
London. Adelphi Theatre A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare) |
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1905, Nov. 25 |
London. Royal Adelphi Theatre Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare) – Bottom opposite principals W. Hampden, Roxy Barton |
| 1906, Mar. 20 | London. Adelphi Theatre Measure for Measure. Asche plays Angelo and Lily Brayton plays Isabella. Asche is also Producer (Director). |
| 1906 June 12 |
London, Theatre Royal Drury Lane Souvenir Programme given by the Theatrical & Musical Professions as a tribute to Miss Ellen Terry on the occasion of her jubilee. |
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1906, Sept. 4 |
London. Royal Adelphi Theatre Tristram and Iseult (J. Comyns Carr) – Mark, King of Cornwall opposite principals Matheson Lang, Brayton
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| 1906, Oct. 23 |
London, Royal Adelphi Theatre The Virgin Goddess – Haephestion Opposite Alfed Brydone and Lily Brayton |
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1907, Spring |
"Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton on tour : the Taming of the Shrew, Othello, the Virgin Goddess"
Includes several portraits of Asche and Brayton in costume - see also the David Elliott theatrical postcard collection |
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1907, Sept. 4-Oct. 2 |
London. His Majesty’s Theatre. Oscar Asche & Lily Brayton Season Attila (L. Binyon) – Attila, King of the Huns opposite principal Brayton |
| 1907, Oct. |
London. His Majesty's Theatre. Oscar Asche & Lily Brayton's Season As You Like It (Shakespeare) – Jacques opposite Lily Brayton |
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1908, Apr. 30 |
Dublin. Theatre Royal The Two Pins (F. Stayton) – Philip opposite principals Brayton, Courtice Pounds |
| 1908, Nov. 30 | London. His Majesty's Theatre Adelaide Ristori : Memorial Matinee Asche and Brayton play a scene from "Taming of the Shrew". |
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1911, Jan. |
London. Garrick Theatre Count Hannibal (S. Weyman) – Count Hannibal de Tavannes |
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1914 |
London. Garrick Theatre Mameena (R. Haggard ; dramtsn O. Asche) – Saduka opposite principal Brayton |
| 1914? |
London, Globe Theatre Mameena - Saduka opposite Brayton (Producer) |
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1914, Feb. – Apr. |
London. Garrick Theatre Kismet (E. Knoblauch) – Hajj opposite principals Brayton, James Plinge |
| 1914, June 9 |
Globe Theatre Motherhood Matinee The Women's League of Service The Wooing scene from The Taming of the Shrew |
| 1915, Oct. 18 | Glasglow. King's Theatre The Spanish Main. Asche plays Captain Patrick O'Gorman in this romantic drama of the 18th Century with wife, Lily Brayton, Juanita. Asche is also the play's Producer (Director). |
| 1916, Jan. |
London. Apollo Theatre Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare) – Christopher Sly; Petruchio opposite principal Brayton |
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1916, May 2 |
London. Drury Lane Theatre OA in Julius Caesar in the tercentenary tribute A tribute to the genius of William Shakespeare : being the programme of a performance at Drury Lane Theatre on May 2, 1916 the tercentenary of his death. London : Macmillan and Co., 1916
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1916 |
Chu Chin Chow productions are treated separately |
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1917, Feb 17 |
London. Daly's Theatre The Maid of the Mountains OA producer [incl.port.] |
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1917, May 18 |
London. His Majesty’s Theatre. Motherhood Matinee Chu Chin Chow, slave market scene (O. Asche) – Abu Hasan opposite principal Brayton, Norman Williams.
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| 1917, Nov. 21 | London. Daly's Theatre The Maid of the Mountains. Asche listed as producer and designer of scenery. This is a souvenir program of the 300th performance. Has photographic portrait of Asche. |
| [1919, April 22] |
London. His Majesty’s Theatre. Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton Season Chu Chin Chow (O. Asche) – Abu Hasan opposite principal Brayton. |
| 1920 |
New York. Century Theatre. Mecca: A mosaic in music and mime. Mime by O. Asche, music by Percy Fletcher. |
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1922 |
London. His Majesty’s Theatre. Lily Brayton and Oscar Asche’s Season A mosaic in music and mime. Mime by O. Asche, music by Percy Fletcher. Produced by O. Asche Cairo – Ali Shar, a wrestler
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| 1925, Oct. 27 | London. Gaiety Theatre The Good Old Days. Listed as an Asche-Brayton production. Written by Asche. Produced by Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton. Asche also plays the role of The Earl of Jawleyford. |
| 1926, Jun. 11 | London. Globe Theatre Green Room Rags. Asche plays Cardinal Rufo in the third item. |
| 1927, Dec. 12 | Haymarket. His Majesty's Theatre The Charles Courtice Pounds Tribute Fund Matinee. Asche is one of the Organising Committee of this Fund Matinee and plays Falstaff in scenes from "The Merry Wives of Windsor." |
| 1928 | London. Gaiety Theatre Marjolaine. Asche plays Jerome Brooke-Hoskyn Esq. Has full page photograph of Asche. |
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1929, Feb. 26 |
London. Daly's Theatre The White Camellia – Produced by OA |
| 1930, Sept. 6 | London. Daly's Theatre Eldorado. Asche plays Senor Alcido de Barros. In addition, Asche produced "The Book" of this musical - i.e. he directed the non-musical scenes. |
| 1930, November 17 | London. Golders Green Hippodrome.
Eldorado. OA – as Senor Pedro Urquiza |
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1931 |
London. Cambridge Theatre Kong (H. Kingsley) – Chung-Chang, Peacock Mandarin Staged by O. Asche. The production under the personal supervision of Oscar Asche and Brayton. Includes port. of Asche, Brayton and other principals |
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1932, Feb.? |
London. His Majesty’s Theatre Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) –Casca playing opposite Lyn Harding, Godfrey Tearle, Brayton Includes port. of Asche, Brayton and other principals |
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1932, Apr. 4 |
London. Streatham Hill Theatre Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) – Casca playing opposite principals A. Sofaer, G. Skillan, Brayton
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1932, Dec. |
London. Winter Garden Theatre The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare) – Sir John Falstaff Produced by O. Asche. Includes port. of Asche and other principals |
| 1934 |
Drury Lane, Winter Garden Theatre Androcles and the Lion – The Emperor Produced by Robert Atkins |
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AUSTRALIAN TOUR, 1ST, 1909-1910 |
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1st Melbourne season |
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1909, July 17 |
Melbourne. Theatre Royal. Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton Season Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare) – Christopher Sly, a tinker, Petruchio opposite Brayton as Katharina, the Shrew Includes ports. of Asche and Brayton in character |
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1909, Aug. |
Melbourne. Theatre Royal. Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton Season Othello (Shakespeare) – Othello with principals H. Grimwood, Brayton Includes. ports. of Asche and Brayton as other Shakespearian characters. Produced by Asche |
| 1909, Sept 25 |
Melbourne, Town Hall. Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton and their entire London Company. Julius Caesar – Brutus with principals J. Fritz Russell and George Relph. |
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1st Sydney season |
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1909, Oct. |
Sydney. Criterion Theatre. Oscar Asche-Lily Brayton Season Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare) – Christopher Sly, a tinker, Petruchio opposite Brayton as Katharina, the Shrew Includes ports. of Asche and Brayton in character |
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2nd Melbourne season |
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1910, Jan. 15 – Feb. 23 |
Melbourne. Theatre Royal. Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton Season Count Hannibal (S. Weyman ; adaptn O. Asche, N. Connell) – Count Hannibal de Tavannes opposite Brayton as Clotilde, Lady of Vrillac "Souvenir programme, Oscar Asche & Lily Brayton: Musical and Dramatic Benevolent Fund : Matinee of Count Hannibal, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 1910" – Cover title
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3rd Melbourne season? |
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1910, July 8 |
Melbourne. Theatre Royal Scenes from 4 Shakespearian plays playing opposite Brayton
"Grand matinee benefit … in conjunction with Rupert Clarke and Clyde Meynell in aid of the Building Fund of the Women’s Hospital to which the whole proceeds will be donated". Programme wrapped in brown cover with cover title: Souvenir
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AUSTRALIAN TOUR, 2nd, 1912-1913 |
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1912 |
Melbourne. Theatre Royal Kismet (Knobloch) – Hajj playing opposite Brayton as Marsinah Located PROMPT at JCWilliamson. General. K3. Kismet |
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1912, Apr. 6 |
Melbourne. Theatre Royal Kismet (Knobloch) – Hajj playing opposite Brayton as Marsinah [Souvenir of] Kismet. Includes plot summaries, production photos. Pp. 3-78. Imperf. Located in PROMPT at JCWilliamson. General. A3. Asche Oscar & Lily Brayton |
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1913, May? |
Sydney. Theatre Royal Antony & Cleopatra (Shakespeare) – Antony playing opposite Brayton as Cleopatra
Located PROMPT at JCWilliamson. General. A3. Asche, Oscar & Lily Brayton |
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AUSTRALIAN TOUR, 3rd, 1922-1924 |
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Sydney season |
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1922, Sept. 22 |
Sydney. Her Majesty’s Theatre Cairo (Asche) – Ali Shar Located PROMPT at JCWilliamson. General. C1. Cairo |
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Melbourne season |
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1923, Feb. 17 |
Melbourne. Her Majesty’s Theatre Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) – Marcus Antonius Produced by Asche. Includes ports. Located PROMPT at JCWilliamson. General. A3. Asche, Oscar. |
| 1924, Feb. 9 |
Melbourne. King's Theatre Othello (Shakespeare) – Title role Includes port. Located PROMPT at JCWilliamson General. A3. Asche, Oscar. |
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1924, Mar. 8 |
Melbourne. King’s Theatre Iris (Pinero) – Maldonado Located PROMPT at JCWilliamson. General. A3. Asche, Oscar |
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CHU CHIN CHOW -- Productions |
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Australia |
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1920, Dec. 11 |
Melbourne. Tivoli Theatre Hugh D. McIntosh presentation ; produced & directed by Frank Cochrane ; principals incl. Arthur Styan, Gerald Kay Souper, Charles H. Workman, Maggie Moore, Winifred O’Connor "Chu Chin Chow : a musical extravaganza of the Orient" – Cover title
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1921, Apr. 9 |
Sydney. Grand Opera House J. C. Williamson Ltd presents "Chu Chin Chow : a musical extravaganza of the Orient" – Cover title |
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1923, May 26 |
Sydney. New Theatre Royal J. C. Williamson Ltd in conjunction with Oscar Asche present "Chu Chin Chow" Abu Hasan – OA Produced by OA |
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Great Britain |
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1916, Aug. 31 – 1921, July 22
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London. His Majesty’s Theatre. Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton Season. Written and produced by Asche ; music by Frederic Norton -- Abu Hasan (Asche/Hubert Carter/E. Lyall Swete) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Brayton/Miriam Lewes/Muriel Dole) Chu Chin Chow : a musical tale of the East
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| 1928, Dec. |
London. Regent Theatre. London Repertory Co. -- Abu Hasan (Asche) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Doris Champion) Martin Sabine presentation by arrangement with Walter Payne ; produced by Asche "126th week" – Cover |
| [1934], Nov. 22, 23, 24 | Lewisham Town Hall El'Dorado Amateur Operatic Society. |
| [194?], Aug 31 |
Wood Green Empire -- Abu Hasan (David Basil Gill) |
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1940, May 7 (2 weeks) |
Birmingham. Prince of Wales Theatre -- Abu Hasan (Lyn Harding) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Rosalinde Fuller) Henry Isaacs & Joseph Fenston (on behalf of C.C.C. Play Productions Limited) present Oscar Asche’s immortal spectacle. Directed by Robert Atkins. |
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1941, July 22 – Nov. 22 |
London. Palace Theatre -- Abu Hasan (Lyn Harding) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Rosalinde Fuller) Produced by Robert Atkins.
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| 1942, SC Nov. 16 |
Nottingham Empire -- Abu Hasan (David Basil Gill) -- Zahrat al-Kulub(Margaret Rowan) |
| 1943, May 24t |
Shepherds Bush Empire -- Abu Hasan (David Basil Gill) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Glen Alyn) |
| 1943, Aug 9 |
Embassy Theatre Peterborough -- Abu Hasan (David Basil Gill) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Sylvia Shelly) |
| 1951, Nov 19 |
Manchester. Palace Theatre Ralph Reader Ltd. presents the National Light Opera Company. |
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1953, July 13– Sept. 19 |
Wembley. Empire Pool Chu Chin Chow on Ice Ice version adapted by Stanley Lloyd and Gerald Palmer ; choreographed by Beatrice Livesey ; Tom Arnold presentation -- Abu Hasan (Ron Priestley) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Valerie Moon) |
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1953, Nov? |
Brighton. Sports Stadium The same ice version as for Wembley with some cast changes. -- Abu Hasan (Victor Macdonald) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Jane Hilary) "Tom Arnold’s Chu Chin Chow on Ice" |
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1954, May 11 |
Manchester. The Opera House Tom Arnold's Chu Chin Chow on Ice – the famous musical tale of the East by Oscar Asche … Adapted for ice presentation by Stanley Lloyd and Gerald Palmer -- Abu Hasan (Victor Mac Donald) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Moira Crook) |
| 1959, August 10 |
Manchester Palace Theatre --Abu Hassan (Inia Te Wiata) --Zahrat Al-Kulub (Patricia Kerry) |
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1959, Nov. 16 |
London. Streatham Hill Theatre -- Abu Hasan (Inia Te Wiata) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Patricia Kerry) Maurice Winnick Productions Stanley Willis-Croft, director |
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1959, Nov. 23 |
London. Golders Green Hippodrome -- Abu Hasan (Inia Te Wiata) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Patricia Kerry) Maurice Winnick Productions Stanley Willis-Croft, director |
| 1959, Nov. 30 |
Brighton, Hippodrome -- Abu Hassan (Inia Te Wiata) -- Zahrat al-Kulub (Patricia Kerry) Stanley Willis-Croft, Director Maurice Winnick, Productions |
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U.S.A. |
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1917, Oct. 22 – 1918, Jan. 13 |
New York. Manhattan Opera House William Elliott, F. Ray Comstock, Morris Gest presentation "Chu Chin Chow : souvenir and story of the play" New York : William Elliott …, c1917. |
| 1918, Oct. 21 | Boston. Sam S. Schubert Chu Chin Chow. American production, on tour after being produced on Broadway at the Century Theatre, New York. Production listed as "written and created by Oscar Asche." |
