Women in 1930s Musicals: Irene Kensington, Choreographer

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This is another entry in a continuing dictionary of women who worked in musical theatre in the 1930s in the UK. It is an evolving document – for more please get in touch via Twitter.

Irene Kensington (fl. 1925 – 1934)

Kensington was a choreographer and costume designer; she was also a pianist and arranger. Frustratingly little can be found of her life – she appears and vanishes.

Kenginston had a long association with June Radbourne’s dance ensemble the June Dancers, who performed across variety and concert venues, as both choreographer and costume designer. Initial reports of their performances note that she ‘is also responsible for modernistic arrangements of Chopin and Liszt, as well as impressions of true moderns like Glinka, Ravel and Grainger. Strauss, Coleridge-Taylor and Schubert also figure in the versatile repertoire of these eight talented dancers.’ (Portsmouth Evening News, 16/08/32, 2)

The ensemble performed at a range of venues including variety theatres like the London Coliseum in 1928, and the Hackney Empire 1929; and concert party settings like the Floral Hall in Eastbourne, August 1929 and Portsmouth in 1931. They also played in cabaret settings, including Frascati’s Frascaberat in London 1931. Kensington also designed the costumes for the dancers, Very little survives of the company apart from a few postcard images of Radbourne herself and one or two of the dancers.

Newspaper reports reveal Kensington attended the Margaret Morris school of ‘Dancing and Other Arts’ in 1920. In 1927, she designed and choreographed for a troupe from the the Margaret Morris Theatre, presumably from the school; the troupe were the basis for the Radbourne company.

Elsewhere, Kensington designed the costume for the Seymour Hicks play What’s His Name; as well as choreographing and costume designing the 1932 musical She Shall Have Music. The last reference to her is choreographing Babes in the Wood in Exeter in 1934, but at present, no further information can be found.

Women in 1930s Musicals: A Producer

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Rita John (fl. 1930s)

John was an actor turned theatrical producer of muscial theatre active in London in the 1930s, establishing the company Rita John Productions to carry out her business. Little surviving information can be found – it seems likely she was working with a stage name; which makes finding further information very difficult.

As an actor, she had performed in a range of regional tours like The Breadwinner (1931) and The Judgement of Dr. Johnson (1932), and George Bernard Shaw’s The Applecart (1930). She obviously switched into producing with The Pride of the Regiment (1932), and produced the Cambridge Festival Season in 1932. Far more survives to document her second musical, Jolly Roger. Her production at the Savoy Theatre resulted in an extensive legal dispute between music hall comedian George Robey and Equity. He had refused to join Equity, so the union threatened a mass walkout. Many of the cast didn’t want to do that, one chorus member praised John, reporting ‘she paid the chorus even more than she actually need do’ (Stage, 02/03/1933, 13). Coverage of the production noted the unusual status of a woman producer in this early period. The Stage noted the musical ‘had a big cast, and a solitary unaided woman was running the show’ (02/03/1933, 13). The musical was written by Scobie Mackenzie and V. C. Clinton Baddeley, music by Walter Leigh, lyrics by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley, with choregraphy by Hedley Briggs. The production toured after its West End run closed, going to suburban venues like The Grand, Croydon and Wimbledon and King’s Hammersmith. Astonishingly the musical was recorded. She went on to produce an apparently shockingly vulgar revue Yours Sincerely at Daly’s Theatre (1934), which also toured regionally before opening in the West End.

YearShowReviews
1932The Pride of the Regiment
1933Jolly RogerManchester: Stage 16/02/1933, 2; London 09/03/33, 12
1934Yours SincerelyStage 22/02/1934, 10

The only images that are in any way connected to Johns are those of George Robey, who for the sake of her show – she was forced to share production credits with.

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Women in 1930s musical theatre: Working towards a dictionary

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This is the beginning of a series I want to put together with as much information as is recoverable about women working in British musical theatre in the 1930s. But I realised I also didn’t want to hoard this information – so I thought I’d start to share them as I write them, then collate it later.

Barbour, Kathleen (fl. 1920s-1930s)

Barbour was a producer, actor and lyricist in variety and musical theatre. She ran the English Repertory Company in 1932 with Gerard Neville (performances included Frederick Lonsdale’s Spring Cleaning (1932), and Hubert Henry Davies’s Outcast (1932)). The company had an apparent engagement for several seasons at the Little Theatre, Bath, a residency jointly run by Neville and Barbour. Her work with Neville seems to have overlapped with her performances with Ernie Lotinga, her husband from 1918 onwards. Lotinga was also a performer/producer, together they co-ran their touring company throughout the 1920s-1930s period. She performer in numerous variety revues including: August, 1914 (1927), My Wife’s Family (1937). She co-wrote the lyrics for Mrs Bluebird (1932) with Gavin Lee, the musical was described as a ‘crazy musical theatre burlesque’. The musical briefly went into the West End for a summer season at the Gaiety, before returning to variety theatre.

At the moment, no photos or further information about her work can be found – her wedding to Lotinga does appear on genealogy websites so this was likely her real name.

Decolonise the Music Curriculum – Part 1

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Resources for black ‘classical’ composers

This round up of some of the key black ‘classical’ composers is by no means a comprehensive list: but a starting point for music teachers and lecturers who want to know more about European and North American black classical composers. This is by no means a quick fix – the work of decolonising the curriculum is a big project that requires white people to think about how they have participated in structural racism and white supremacy. I have been asked by a couple of people to put together a starting point over a few categories: black ‘classical’ composers, black modernist composers, women composers, and a broader list of musical theatre composers. Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing these resources and pointing you in the direction of key antiracist campaigns, particularly the work of teacher and anti-racism activist, Pran Patel, and musician and activist Nate Holder.

Continue reading “Decolonise the Music Curriculum – Part 1” →

Working with Maestra

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Image result for cissie loftus
Cissie Loftus, after being asked why there’s no International Men’s Day

It’s been a little while since I last used this lovely site, leaving the delights of Simba the Not the Lion King up as my final statement, which clearly has to change! Lots to discuss, but most recently I’ve written a series of blog posts which started yesterday for Maestra on women composers who were part of Broadway’s early history. The first went up on #Internationalwomensday – and features the work of Cissie Loftus.

Spotlights on Women Composers in Early Broadway History: Week One, Cissie Loftus

As well as showcasing my stalker/detective/historian skills, it represents the first time her compositions have been listed in one place. In time – it means that it can be used to improve her Wikipedia page – and particularly for Nora Bayes, who doesn’t even have one yet!

To start off, I’ll explore the work of three of the most prolific women composers in early 20th century musical theatre: Clare Kummer, Cecilia ‘Cissie’ Loftus, and Nora Bayes. They all worked at the beginning of the 20th century and all took on multiple roles in their professional careers, including: acting, music hall performance, composition, lyric-writing, and producing. The three women attracted extensive press coverage, not least because all three of them disobeyed expected social mores in their personal lives: Bayes had five husbands and Loftus’s divorce made international headlines. Yet their composition practice has largely been forgotten. Retracing their work is one way of changing that.

Maestra Music is an incredible organisation, working to support women composers and music professionals in musical theatre, led by Georgia Stitt. Next week will be Nora Bayes and the week after Clare Kummer, so stay tuned and sorry for leaving off-brand Simba for so long, all by himself.

Simba: The King Lion

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Terrible fake disney picture for the Lion King, cleverly renamed 'Simba the King Lion'. Seagull (?) lion and deer.

This has very little to do with anything else, other than me discovering this and posting about it on Twitter:

So I decided to watch some of the episode, to find out how they’d worked the seagull in. Buckle up for a ride through off-brand Disney.

Continue reading “Simba: The King Lion” →