Emmie Owen
Encyclopedia
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
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...
. Beginning as a child actress, she performed for two decades before falling ill on tour and dying at age 33.
Life and career
Owen was born in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, where she made her theatrical debut at the age of eleven.
Early career
In 1891, Owen joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera CompanyD'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...
on tour, playing the small role of Cheetah in The Nautch Girl
The Nautch Girl
thumb|right|250px|Solomon , with Gilbert and Sullivan irate at his success at the SavoyThe Nautch Girl, or, The Rajah of Chutneypore is a comic opera in two acts, with a book by George Dance, lyrics by Dance and Frank Desprez and music by Edward Solomon...
. She left the company to appear in a Christmas pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, returning to tour with the company in 1892 as Cynthia in The Vicar of Bray
The Vicar of Bray (opera)
The Vicar of Bray is a comic opera by Edward Solomon with a libretto by Sydney Grundy which opened at the Globe Theatre, in London, on 22 July 1882, for a run of only 69 performances. The public was not amused at a clergyman's being made the subject of ridicule, and the opera was regarded by some...
and as Polly in the companion piece, Captain Billy
Captain Billy
Captain Billy is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Harry Greenbank and music by François Cellier. It was first performed at the Savoy Theatre on 24 September 1891 until 16 January 1892, as a curtain raiser to The Nautch Girl, and from 1 February 1892 to 18 June 1892, as a curtain raiser to...
. Late in the tour, she played Nance in Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
's Haddon Hall
Haddon Hall (opera)
Haddon Hall is an English light opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Sydney Grundy. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on September 24, 1892 for a modestly successful run of 204 performances...
.
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
. She then created the parts of Rose in Jane Annie
Jane Annie
Jane Annie, or The Good Conduct Prize is an opera written in 1893 by J. M. Barrie and Arthur Conan Doyle, with music by Ernest Ford, a conductor and occasional composer....
(1893, and on tour), Princess Nekaya in 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...
's Utopia Limited (1893-94), Zerbinette in Mirette
Mirette (opera)
Mirette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by André Messager, first produced at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 3 July 1894.Mirette exists in two distinct versions. The first version of the libretto was written in French by Michel Carré but this was never performed. English lyrics were...
(1894), and Juanita in Sullivan's The Chieftain
The Chieftain
The Chieftain is a two-act comic opera by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand based on their 1867 opera, The Contrabandista. It consists of substantially the same first act as the 1867 work with a completely new second act...
(1894-95, and on tour). She also filled in briefly in the title role in Mirette in July and August 1894. In 1895, she toured as Juanita and first as Lady Saphir, and then as the title character in Gilbert and Sullivan's 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...
. When The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...
replaced The Chieftain later in the tour, she added the role of Gianetta.
Owen played Peep-Bo in the November 1895 revival of 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 Savoy Theatre. Next, she created the role of the Princess of Monte Carlo in The Grand Duke
The Grand Duke
The Grand Duke; or, The Statutory Duel, is the final Savoy Opera written by librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, their fourteenth and last opera together. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on March 7, 1896, and ran for 123 performances...
(1896), Gilbert and Sullivan's last opera. At the same time, she appeared as Maria in the curtain raiser
Curtain raiser
*A United States Air Force missile combat competition called Curtain Raiser, held in 1967*Curtain raiser - A short play or entertainment given before the main entertainment or event to fill out the bill or programme....
After All!
After All!
After All! is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Frank Desprez and music by Alfred Cellier. It was first performed at the Savoy Theatre under the management of Richard D'Oyly Carte, along with H.M.S...
She was Peep-Bo again in 1896, and she played the female role, "She" in the curtain raiser, Weather or No
Weather or No
Weather or No is a one-act comic opera, styled a "musical duologue", by Bertram Luard-Selby with a libretto by Adrian Ross and William Beach...
. In August she filled in briefly in the leading role of Yum-Yum in The Mikado.
Owen left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to appear as Suzanne in the musical comedy Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (musical)
Monte Carlo is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a book by Sidney Carlton, music by Howard Talbot with English lyrics by Harry Greenbank. The work was first performed at the Avenue Theatre in London, opening on 27 August 1896...
in the fall of 1896, but she re-joined the D'Oyly Carte to tour South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
from December 1896 to June 1897, appearing in the leading soprano roles, including the title role in Patience, Phyllis 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....
, Yum-Yum, Elsie Maynard 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...
, Gianetta and Nekaya. She returned to the Savoy in July and August 1897 to play Elsie during the first London revival of Yeomen, then left the company again to play Anita in a revival of La Périchole
La Périchole
La Périchole is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French-language libretto based on the 1829 one act play Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on 13 March 1850 at the Théâtre-Français...
in late 1897.
Later career and early death
At the Savoy in 1898, Owen sang Gianetta, created the role of Jacqueline in Sullivan's The Beauty StoneThe Beauty Stone
The Beauty Stone is an opera, billed as a "romantic musical drama" in three acts, composed by Arthur Sullivan to a libretto by Arthur Wing Pinero and J. Comyns Carr. The medieval Faustian story concerns an ugly, crippled girl, who dreams of being beautiful and meeting a handsome prince. The Devil...
, and played Constance in a revival 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...
. In 1899, she created the role of Lazuli in The Lucky Star
The Lucky Star
The Lucky Star is an English comic opera, in three acts, composed by Ivan Caryll, with dialogue by Charles H. Brookfield and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Aubrey Hopwood...
and sang Cousin Hebe in 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...
. She then created the role of Honey-of-Life in Sullivan's last completed opera, The Rose of Persia
The Rose of Persia
The Rose of Persia; or, The Story-Teller and the Slave, is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Basil Hood. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 29 November 1899, closing on 28 June 1900 after a profitable run of 211 performances...
(1899-1900), before leaving the D'Oyly Carte organisation for the last time. She returned to playing in pantomime, appearing as the principal girl in Cinderella at the Shakespeare Theatre, Clapham Junction (1900-01), before touring Australia and New Zealand with George Musgrove
George Musgrove
George Musgrove was an English-born Australian theatre producer.-Early life:Musgrove was born at Surbiton, England, the son of Thomas John Watson Musgrove, an accountant, and his wife, Fanny Hodson, an actress and sister of Georgiana Rosa Hodson who married William Saurin Lyster...
's company in pantomime and comic opera. On that tour, she fell seriously ill. She was able to return to England in 1902, but she never recovered.
She died in Crundale, Kent
Crundale, Kent
Crundale is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent in southeast England. The village is located on the North Downs, about halfway between Ashford and Canterbury....
, in 1905, at the age of only 33.