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THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANYRichard Cummings (1878-79, 1883, 1885-88)
Richard Cummings appeared first with D'Oyly Carte's touring
Comedy Opera Company as the Notary in The Sorcerer and the Usher in Trial
by Jury from March to August 1878 in the first provincial production of The
Sorcerer. From September to
December 1878, the Company toured H.M.S. Pinafore (first provincial
production) as well as The Sorcerer with Cummings as Bill Bobstay in the
nautical opera. The tour ended in December 1878 but was revived in April
1879 for seven weeks with Pinafore and the companion piece After All. Cummings was Bill Bobstay again and also
played Pennyfather in the shorter work.
From June to July 1879 he appeared (still as the Bos'n in Pinafore)
with Carte's "B" Company, and then was Bobstay and Pennyfather with Carte's "A"
(later "1st Pinafore") Company, July-December 1879. His wife, Theresa Cummings, appeared as Constance in The Sorcerer and Hebe in Pinafore for portions of those early tours. Cummings next appears in a Carte program from June to
September 1883 as Bobstay and Samuel in The Pirates of Penzance with Mr.
D'Oyly Carte's "Pinafore" and "Pirates" Company. A year-and-a-half later he was at the Savoy, presumably in
the chorus, and filling in on occasion for Rudolph Lewis as Go-To in the first
production of The Mikado (April 1885-January 1887). He may also have been Lewis's understudy as
Old Adam for Ruddigore (January-November 1887), but when H.M.S.
Pinafore (November 1887-March 1888), The Pirates of Penzance
(March-June 1888), and The Mikado (June-September 1888) were revived in
succession, Cummings took named parts in each:Bill Bobstay, Samuel, and
Pish-Tush. Cummings then traveled to America were he appeared as
Wilfred Shadbolt on tour in New York and New England in a Carte-sanctioned
production of The Yeomen of the Guard staged by Rudolph Aronson's Opera
Company (December 1888-February 1889). |
| Page modified December 22, 2003 | © 2001-03 David Stone |