J. H. Ryley
Encyclopedia
John Handford Ryley, was an English
singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone
roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
, particularly in America. His second wife was D'Oyly Carte performer, actress and playwright Madeleine Lucette Ryley.
and Frederic Clay
, at the Charing Cross Theatre in London in 1875, and as Captain Flint in Alfred Cellier
's The Sultan of Mocha in Manchester in 1876. He was the original Zapeter in W. S. Gilbert
and Clay's Princess Toto
(and on tour in 1876), and Amen Squeak in Cellier's Nell Gwynne in Manchester in late 1876.
Ryley joined Richard D'Oyly Carte
's Comedy-Opera Company Ltd. in 1878, appearing as John Wellington Wells in the first provincial production of The Sorcerer
, and the Learned Judge in Trial by Jury
on the same bill. In September 1878, the company gave the first provincial tour of H.M.S. Pinafore
, with Ryley as Sir Joseph Porter. In October the company added Congenial Souls, a one-act farce written by Ryley using music by Jacques Offenbach
, to the program. This appears to be the only play written by Ryley. Ryley appeared in this curtain raiser as Adolphus Fitzbrown. In 1879, Ryley was chosen to play Sir Joseph in the first authentic American production of Pinafore at New York City's Fifth Avenue Theatre
, which opened on December 1, 1879. On December 31 of that year, in the same theatre, he created the role of Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance
and continued with the role in the U.S. tour until June 1880.
Ryley appearing in leading roles in all of the New York productions of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
until 1883. He was Captain Felix Flapper in Billee Taylor
(1881), Reginald Bunthorne in Patience
(1881-82), Blood Red Bill in Edward Solomon
's Claude Duval (1882), Philip of Aragon and Don Jose de Mantilla Les Manteaux Noirs (1882), Peter van Dunk in Rip Van Winkle
(1882, with Selina Dolaro
), and the Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe
and Mr. Cox in Cox and Box
(1882-83). He continued to appear in major Gilbert and Sullivan
productions in America after leaving the company. In 1884, he played King Gama in New York's first production of Princess Ida
at the Fifth Avenue Theatre and also starred in Falka
at the Casino Theatre. In 1885, he played Ko-Ko in The Mikado
at the Standard Theatre in New York and then in Chicago.
In 1887, Ryley starred in Gasparone
by Karl Millöcker
in New York City
at the Standard Theatre, together with Lillian Russell
and Eugene Oudin
. He also appeared with Russell in a tour that included Iolanthe
(as Lord Chancellor, 1887), and was Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard
in Boston, Massachusetts in February 1889. Ryley continued to appear in New York and on tour in America during the 1890s.
He eventually returned to England, appearing in London on several occasions between 1900 and 1913. Among his London roles were Kit Barniger in Mice and Men (1902 at the Lyric Theatre
, leased by William Greet
) and Josh Harmony in Mrs. Grundy (Scala Theatre
, 1905), both plays by his second wife Madeleine Lucette (1868–1934).
Ryley made two films later in his career (see below) and died at the age of 81, survived by Lucette.
, starring Johnston Forbes-Robertson
. His only other film credit was the 1916 mystery, Who Killed Simon Baird?.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
, particularly in America. His second wife was D'Oyly Carte performer, actress and playwright Madeleine Lucette Ryley.
Life and career
Ryley appeared as Fernando in Cattarina, a comic opera by Robert ReeceRobert Reece
Robert Reece was a British comic playwright and librettist active in the Victorian era. He wrote many successful musical burlesques, comic operas, farces and adaptations from the French, including the English-language adaptation of the operetta Les cloches de Corneville, which became the...
and Frederic Clay
Frederic Clay
Frederic Emes Clay was an English composer known principally for his music written for the stage. Clay, a great friend of Arthur Sullivan's, wrote four comic operas with W. S...
, at the Charing Cross Theatre in London in 1875, and as Captain Flint in Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor.In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing the overtures to some of them, Cellier conducted at many theatres in London, New York and...
's The Sultan of Mocha in Manchester in 1876. He was the original Zapeter in W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
and Clay's Princess Toto
Princess Toto
Princess Toto is a three-act comic opera by W. S. Gilbert and his long-time collaborator Frederic Clay. It opened on 24 June 1876 at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, starring Kate Santley, W. S. Penley and J. H. Ryley. It transferred to the Royal Strand Theatre in London on 2 October 1876 for a run...
(and on tour in 1876), and Amen Squeak in Cellier's Nell Gwynne in Manchester in late 1876.
Ryley joined Richard D'Oyly Carte
Richard D'Oyly Carte
Richard D'Oyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era...
's Comedy-Opera Company Ltd. in 1878, appearing as John Wellington Wells in the first provincial production of The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of The Sorcerer is based on a Christmas story, An Elixir of Love, that Gilbert wrote for The Graphic magazine in 1876...
, and the Learned Judge in Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
on the same bill. In September 1878, the company gave the first provincial tour of H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
, with Ryley as Sir Joseph Porter. In October the company added Congenial Souls, a one-act farce written by Ryley using music by Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
, to the program. This appears to be the only play written by Ryley. Ryley appeared in this curtain raiser as Adolphus Fitzbrown. In 1879, Ryley was chosen to play Sir Joseph in the first authentic American production of Pinafore at New York City's Fifth Avenue Theatre
Fifth Avenue Theatre
Fifth Avenue Theatre was a Broadway theatre in New York City in the United States located at 31 West 28th Street and Broadway. It was demolished in 1939....
, which opened on December 1, 1879. On December 31 of that year, in the same theatre, he created the role of Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
and continued with the role in the U.S. tour until June 1880.
Ryley appearing in leading roles in all of the New York productions of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
until 1883. He was Captain Felix Flapper in Billee Taylor
Billee Taylor
Billee Taylor, or The Reward of Virtue is "a nautical comedy opera" by Edward Solomon, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens.The piece was first produced at the Imperial Theatre in London on 30 October 1880, starring Arthur Williams as Sir Mincing Lane and Frederick Rivers as Billee. It...
(1881), Reginald Bunthorne in Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...
(1881-82), Blood Red Bill in Edward Solomon
Edward Solomon
Edward Solomon was a prolific English composer, as well as a conductor, orchestrator and pianist. Though he died before his fortieth birthday, he wrote dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, such as The Nautch Girl, among others.-Early...
's Claude Duval (1882), Philip of Aragon and Don Jose de Mantilla Les Manteaux Noirs (1882), Peter van Dunk in Rip Van Winkle
Rip Van Winkle (operetta)
Rip Van Winkle is an operetta in three acts by Robert Planquette. The English libretto by Henry Brougham Farnie was based on the stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving after the play by Dion Boucicault and Joseph Jefferson.-Performance history:The operetta...
(1882, with Selina Dolaro
Selina Dolaro
Selina Dolaro was an English singer, actress, theatre manager and writer. During a career in operetta and other forms of musical theatre, she managed several of her own opera companies and raised four children as a single mother...
), and the Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
and Mr. Cox in Cox and Box
Cox and Box
Cox and Box; or, The Long-Lost Brothers, is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on the 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan's first successful comic opera. The story concerns a landlord who lets a room to two...
(1882-83). He continued to appear in major Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
productions in America after leaving the company. In 1884, he played King Gama in New York's first production of Princess Ida
Princess Ida
Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. Princess Ida opened at the Savoy Theatre on January 5, 1884, for a run of 246 performances...
at the Fifth Avenue Theatre and also starred in Falka
Falka
Le droit d'aînesse is an opéra bouffe, a form of operetta, in three acts by Francis Chassaigne with a French libretto by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo. It premiered in Paris in 1883...
at the Casino Theatre. In 1885, he played Ko-Ko in The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
at the Standard Theatre in New York and then in Chicago.
In 1887, Ryley starred in Gasparone
Gasparone
Gasparone is an operetta in three acts by Carl Millöcker to a German libretto by Friedrich Zell and Richard Genée. The libretto was later revised by Ernst Steffan and Paul Knepler...
by Karl Millöcker
Karl Millöcker
Carl Joseph Millöcker , was an Austrian composer of operettas and a conductor.He was born in Vienna, where he studied the flute at the Vienna Conservatory. While holding various conducting posts in the city, he began to compose operettas...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at the Standard Theatre, together with Lillian Russell
Lillian Russell
Lillian Russell was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th century and early 20th century, known for her beauty and style, as well as for her voice and stage presence.Russell was born in Iowa but raised in Chicago...
and Eugene Oudin
Eugène Oudin
Eugène Esperance Oudin was an American baritone, composer and translator of the Victorian era.-Early years:...
. He also appeared with Russell in a tour that included Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
(as Lord Chancellor, 1887), and was Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and ran for 423 performances...
in Boston, Massachusetts in February 1889. Ryley continued to appear in New York and on tour in America during the 1890s.
He eventually returned to England, appearing in London on several occasions between 1900 and 1913. Among his London roles were Kit Barniger in Mice and Men (1902 at the Lyric Theatre
Lyric Theatre (London)
The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
, leased by William Greet
William Greet
William Greet was a British theatre manager from the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Originally a business manager for other theatre licensees in the 1880s, he branched out as an independent manager in the 1890s and was associated with various London theatres, principally the...
) and Josh Harmony in Mrs. Grundy (Scala Theatre
Scala Theatre
The Scala Theatre was a theatre in London, sited on Charlotte Street, off Tottenham Court Road, in the London Borough of Camden. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772, and the theatre was demolished in 1969, after being destroyed by fire...
, 1905), both plays by his second wife Madeleine Lucette (1868–1934).
Ryley made two films later in his career (see below) and died at the age of 81, survived by Lucette.
Films
Ryley appeared on screen late in his career as the Gravedigger in a 1913 silent film version of HamletHamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, starring Johnston Forbes-Robertson
Johnston Forbes-Robertson
Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson was an English actor and theatre manager. He was considered the finest Hamlet of the nineteenth century and one of the finest actors of his time, despite his dislike of the job and his lifelong belief that he was temperamentally unsuited to acting.-Early life:Born in...
. His only other film credit was the 1916 mystery, Who Killed Simon Baird?.