Rosina Brandram

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Life and career

Beginnings

Brandram was born Rosina Moult in London. She joined the Comedy Opera Company (predecessor to the D'Oyly Carte) in 1877 as a chorus member and understudy to Mrs. Howard Paul [Mrs Paul, nee Isabella Featherstone (1833 - 1879) left her husband around 1977, as he was having an affair with the actress-dancer Letty Lind, with whom he sired two illegitimate children. However, she continued performing under this name.] as Lady Sangazure in the first production of "The Sorcerer" at the Opera Comique, a role she filled briefly in December of that year. She played Lady Sangazure on a provincial tour in 1878, returning to the Opera Comique where, the following year, she stepped in as Little Buttercup in "H.M.S. Pinafore" briefly in August 1879.

She then accompanied W. S. Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, and Richard D'Oyly Carte to New York, where she created the role of Kate in "The Pirates of Penzance". She toured America as Kate (and possibly, at times, as Edith) in "Pirates". She also gave at least one performance as Little Buttercup while in America.

Upon returning to England in 1880, she continued playing Kate. During the first run of "Patience" (1881–82), she appeared in two one-act companion pieces, as Margery Daw in "Uncle Samuel", and Mrs. Bowcher in "Mock Turtles". She also filled in on occasion for Alice Barnett as Lady Jane in "Patience". During the run of "Iolanthe" at the Savoy Theatre (1882–84), she continued to play her roles in the curtain raisers (Mrs. Bowcher again, followed by Mrs. Frumpington in "A Private Wire") and in September 1883 filled in for Jessie Bond as Iolanthe. Brandram was the only principal to appear in every original Sullivan production at the Savoy Theatre. Rutland Barrington wrote of Brandram in his 1908 memoir, "I have never heard a contralto singer who gave me so much pleasure as Rosina; she sang without any effort, and her voice had a fullness and mellifluous quality which were unrivalled." [cite book|last=Barrington|first=Rutland|year=1908|title=Rutland Barrington: A Record of 35 Years' Experience on the English Stage, By Himself|location=London [http://www.archive.org/details/rutlandbarringto00barrrich available online here] ] ]

Principal contralto

" (1889). She toured as the Duchess briefly in 1890, then returned to the Savoy.

Brandram had no role in "The Nautch Girl" at the Savoy, but she appeared as Widow Jackson in the curtain-raiser, "Captain Billy" (1891–92). When a revised version of Grundy and Solomon's "The Vicar of Bray" was produced at the Savoy (1892), Brandram played Widow Merton. She then created the roles of Lady Vernon in "Haddon Hall" (1892), Miss Sims in "Jane Annie" (1893), Lady Sophy in "Utopia Limited" (1893), the Marquise de Montigny in "Mirette" (1894), and Inez de Roxas in "The Chieftain" (1894). A revival of "The Mikado" followed in 1895. She created the role of Baroness von Krakenfeldt in "The Grand Duke" (1896), followed by another revival of "The Mikado" (1896).

Next, Brandram played Dame Carruthers in the first revival of "Yeomen" in 1897, and in 1898, she played the Duchess of Plaza Toro in the first revival of "The Gondoliers", created the role of Joan in "The Beauty Stone" and played Lady Sangazure in "The Sorcerer", followed by Little Buttercup in "Pinafore" in 1899. Brandram then created the part of Dancing Sunbeam in "The Rose of Persia" (1899–1900), after which she appeared in revivals of "Pirates" (1900) and "Patience" (1900–01). She created the role of the Countess of Newtown in Sullivan's last opera, "The Emerald Isle", later in 1901. She next took the part of Wee-Ping in the original version "The Willow Pattern", which played for just sixteen performances in November 1901, and then appeared in a revival of "Iolanthe".

Two original works by Basil Hood and Edward German followed, and Brandram had prominent roles in both — as Queen Elizabeth I in "Merrie England" (1902–03) and Nell Reddish in "A Princess of Kensington" (1903). She then toured in "A Princess of Kensington" for few months, until the touring company disbanded, marking the end of Brandram's D'Oyly Carte career.

Later years and last illness

Brandram appeared infrequently on stage thereafter. In 1903 she was at the Adelphi Theatre as the Sea Witch and the Queen in Hood and Walter Slaughter's fairy pantomime "Little Hans Andersen", and in 1904 she appeared as Emerance Countes de Champ Azur in "Véronique" at the Apollo Theatre with Isabel Jay.

Brandram suffered from pulmonary disease in her last years and was unable to attend the December 1906 O.P. Club dinner in celebration of the London revival of the Savoy Operas. W. S. Gilbert in his remarks that evening paid special tribute to Brandram:

She died in Southend, Argyllshire, Scotland.

Note

References

*cite book|last=Ayre|first=Leslie|year=1972|title=The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion|location=London|publisher=W.H. Allen & Co Ltd Introduction by Martyn Green.

External links

* [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/whowaswho/B/BrandramRosina.htm Rosina Brandram] at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
* [http://pinafore.www3.50megs.com/r-brandram-p.html A Rosina Brandram Photo Album ] at pinafore.www3.50megs.com Photographs
* [http://www.savoyoperas.org.uk/mikado/mik4.html Review of Brandram's performance in "The Mikado"]
* [http://www.savoyoperas.org.uk/duke/gd1.html Several reviews of Brandram's performance in "The Grand Duke"]