Oscar Asche
Encyclopedia
Chu Chin Chow
Chu Chin Chow is a musical comedy written, produced and directed by Oscar Asche, with music by Frederic Norton, based on the story of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves...
, both on stage and film, and for acting in, directing, or producing many Shakespeare plays and successful musicals.
Life and career
Asche was born in Geelong, VictoriaGeelong, Victoria
Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, south-west of the state capital; Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia...
, Australia. His father, Thomas, was born in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, was a law graduate at Christiania (now Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
) University; he was a barrister but did not practise in Australia. After being a digger, a mounted police officer and a storekeeper, Thomas Asche became a prosperous hotel-keeper and publican in Melbourne and Sydney.
Early life and training
Asche was educated at Laurel Lodge, Dandenong and the Melbourne Grammar SchoolMelbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
, which he left at 16. He then went on a holiday voyage to China, and after his return to Australia was articled to an architect who died soon afterwards. A few months later, he ran away and lived in the bush for some weeks and then obtained a position as a jackeroo
Jackaroo (trainee)
A Jackaroo is a young man working on a sheep or cattle station, to gain practical experience in the skills needed to become an owner, overseer, manager, etc. The word originated in Queensland, Australia in the Nineteenth Century and is still in use in Australia and New Zealand in the twenty-first...
. He returned to his parents and obtained a position in an office, but he had now decided to become an actor and made a beginning by getting up private theatricals at his home. He travelled to Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
and on his return his father agreed to send him to Norway to study acting.
At Bergen, Norway, Asche was instructed in deportment, voice production and theatre arts. He found the Norwegian acting technique to be easy and natural. Two months later, he went to Christiania to study acting. There he met Ibsen, who advised him to go to his own country and work in his own language. Asche then went to London and was so impressed by Henry Irving
Henry Irving
Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
and Ellen Terry
Ellen Terry
Dame Ellen Terry, GBE was an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. Among the members of her famous family is her great nephew, John Gielgud....
in Henry VIII
Henry VIII (play)
The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight is a history play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication...
, that he saw the performance six times in succession. More study followed in London, where he had his Australian accent "corrected". He was fortunate in having an allowance of £10 a week from his father, but could not obtain work. In December 1892 he went to Norway again to give a Shakespeare recital, which was successful and brought him a little money.
Early stage career
On 25 March 1893 Asche made his first appearance on the stage, at the Opera ComiqueOpera Comique
The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...
Theatre, London, as Roberts in Man and Woman. He then joined the F. R. Benson Company
Francis Robert Benson
Sir Francis Robert Benson , commonly known as Frank Benson or F. R. Benson, was a British actor-manager...
and for eight years gained experience an actor. Amongst other venues, they played at the summer Stratford festivals. He started with small parts and was eventually cast as Charles the Wrestler in As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, being well-suited because of his excellent physique. He also played Biondello in The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
, among other early roles. He was paid a salary of £2 10s. a week, but his father had been involved in the 1893 financial crisis and was unable to send him any allowance. At vacation times when he had no salary, Asche sometimes slept on the embankment and was glad to earn trifling tips for calling cabs. However, his salary was raised to £4 a week, and he was never in such straits again.
Asche played over a hundred roles with this company including Brutus, King Claudius and other important Shakespearian parts. His resonant voice and his dignified, formal bearing are often mentioned in the reviews of his performances. Asche was a good athlete and a fair cricketer
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and played for the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
against Minor counties of English cricket
Minor counties of English cricket
The Minor Counties are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that are not afforded first-class status. The game is administered by the Minor Counties Cricket Association which comes under the England and Wales Cricket Board...
. He was a constant attendant at important matches at Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
.
Lily Brayton
Elizabeth "Lily" Brayton was an English actress, known for her performances in Shakespeare plays and for her nearly 2,000 performances in the World War I hit musical Chu Chin Chow.-Early years:...
, another member of the company, in 1898, and the two were often cast in the same productions for many years. In 1900 Asche appeared with the Benson Company at the Lyceum Theatre in London, where his performance as Pistol in Henry V
Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
, and his Claudius in Hamlet
Hamlet
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...
were both praised. He had another success at the Garrick Theatre
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It opened on 24 April 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. In its early years, it appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama, and today the theatre is a...
in 1901 when he played Maldonado in Arthur Wing Pinero
Arthur Wing Pinero
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero was an English actor and later an important dramatist and stage director.-Biography:...
's Iris, his first important part in modern comedy. He also travelled to America to repeat the role on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1902. Back in London, he joined Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager.Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the...
's theatre company in 1902, and in 1903 he played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
opposite the Beatrice of Ellen Terry. Other parts were Bolingbroke in Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
, Christopher Sly and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
, Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, and Angelo in Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...
.
Actor-Manager years
In 1904, Asche and his wife became managerActor-manager
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the company's business and financial arrangements, sometimes taking over the management of a theatre, to perform plays of their own choice and in which they will usually star...
s of the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
. The productions they mounted included The Prayer of the Sword, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
, Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...
, Count Hannibal (which he wrote with F. Norreys Connell
Conal Holmes O'Connell O'Riordan
Conal Holmes O'Connell O'Riordan was an Irish dramatist and novelist.He was born in Dublin and educated at Clongowes Wood College and Belvedere College. He had intended a military career until he suffered a spinal injury in a fall from a horse He moved to London at the age of 16 to pursue a...
), and Rudolph Besier
Rudolph Besier
Rudolf Besier was a Dutch-English dramatist and translator, who is best known for his play The Barretts of Wimpole Street ....
's The Virgin Goddess. In 1906 he played King Mark in Joseph Comyns Carr's play Tristram and Iseult at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
, with Lily Brayton as Iseult and Matheson Lang
Matheson Lang
Matheson Alexander Lang was a Canadian-born stage and film actor and playwright in the early 20th century. He is best remembered for his performances roles in Great Britain in Shakespeare plays.-Biography:...
as Tristram.
In 1907 Asche and his wife took over the management of His Majesty's Theatre
His Majesty's Theatre
His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen is the largest theatre in north-east Scotland, seating more than 1400. The theatre is sited on Rosemount Viaduct, opposite the city's Union Terrace Gardens. It was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1906...
and produced Laurence Binyon
Laurence Binyon
Robert Laurence Binyon was an English poet, dramatist and art scholar. His most famous work, For the Fallen, is well known for being used in Remembrance Sunday services....
’s Attila, with Asche in the title role, and innovative productions of Shakespeare plays, such as As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, with Asche as Jacques, and Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, with Asche in the title role. They made their first tour in Australia in 1909–10, with Asche playing Petruchio, Othello and other roles. Asche was much touched by his reception at Melbourne. In his 1929 autobiography he said, "What a home-coming it was! Nothing, nothing can ever deprive me of that. I had made good and had come home to show them. Whatever the future years held, or shall hold for me nothing can eliminate that."
On his return to London in 1911, Edward Knoblock
Edward Knoblock
Edward Knoblock was an American-born British playwright and novelist most remembered for the often revived 1911 play, Kismet-Biography:...
wrote Kismet
Kismet (play)
Kismet is a three-act play written in 1911 by Edward Knoblauch . The title means Fate or Destiny in Turkish and Urdu. The play ran for an extraordinary two years in London...
for Asche (later made into the 1953 musical
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...
), with the understanding that he could revise it. He shortened and partly re-wrote it and produced it with much success, playing Hajj. The production ran for two years, and a successful tour in Australia followed in 1911–12, with Kismet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
. Back in London, Kismet was revived successfully, but in October 1914 Asche's own play Mameena based on Rider Haggard's novel, A Child of the Storm, though at first well received, proved a financial failure, largely on account of the conditions in London at the beginning of World War I.
In 1916, Asche produced his play Chu Chin Chow
Chu Chin Chow
Chu Chin Chow is a musical comedy written, produced and directed by Oscar Asche, with music by Frederic Norton, based on the story of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves...
, music by Frederic Norton
Frederic Norton
Frederic Norton born George Frederic Norton on 11 October 1869 in Broughton, Salford, England. Died on 15 December 1946 in Holford, England. British composer, most associated with the record breaking Chu Chin Chow, which opened in 1916....
, starring himself and his wife, which ran from 31 August 1916 to 22 July 1921, a world's record that stood for decades. The show drew some criticism for the ladies' scanty costumes, which Herbert Beerbohm Tree described as "more navel than millinery", but it was just what war-weary audiences wanted. Asche played the part of Abu Hasan and confessed that "it got terribly boring going down those stairs night after night to go through the same old lines". But Asche was a perfectionist, and the performance was never allowed to get slack. Chu Chin Chow also played in New York City in 1917 and Australia in 1920. Asche also collaborated in 1919 with Dornford Yates
Dornford Yates
Dornford Yates was the pseudonym of the British novelist, Cecil William Mercer , whose novels and short stories, some humorous , some thrillers , were best-sellers in the 21-year interwar period between the First and Second world wars.The pen name, Dornford Yates, first in print in 1910, resulted...
on a musical adaptation of Eastward Ho!
Asche established a great reputation as a producer, and during the run of Chu Chin Chow, he directed the hit London production of The Maid of the Mountains
The Maid of the Mountains
The Maid of the Mountains, called in its original score a musical play, is an operetta or musical comedy in three acts. The music was by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W...
for Robert Evett
Robert Evett
Robert Evett was an English singer, actor, theatre manager and producer.-Acting career:In 1892 Evett joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company on tour in The Vicar of Bray, playing the Reverend Henry Sandford, the tenor lead. In 1893, Evett added the role of Oswald in Haddon Hall...
and the George Edwardes
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
Estate, which also had a record run for a play of its kind. As a director, Asche was an important influence in his time. He was an innovator in stage lighting and one of the first to use it as a dramatic factor in productions rather than as mere illumination. He was known for his use of colour, and for his sensitivity about the dividing line between opulence and vulgarity. He brought unprecedented numbers of spectators to the theatre at its most difficult time during World War I, and he has been credited for extending the popularity of the theatre in competition with cinema.
Later years
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
that was a constant expense, and he eventually had to sell it to pay his debts.
After the success of Chu Chin Chow, Asche wrote another musical that opened on Broadway in 1920 under the name Mecca and then in London the following year under the name Cairo. It was not a big success on either side of the Atlantic. In 1922, Asche visited Australia again, under contract to J. C. Williamson Ltd., and made successful appearances as Hornblower in Galsworthy's The Shin Game, Maldonado in Pinero's Iris, his usual roles in Chu Chin Chow and Cairo, the title character in Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
, and in other Shakespeare plays. His wife declined to join him on this tour. After disagreements with Williamson, his contract was abruptly terminated in June 1924. On his return to Britain, as a result of excessive gambling, tax debts and unwise investments, he was declared bankrupt.
Further successes eluded Asche as he tried to mount musicals, including The Good Old Days of England (1928), financed by his wife. He continued to direct shows. In 1933, he made his last stage appearance in The Beggar’s Bowl at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Asche also made appearances in seven films between 1932 and 1936, including in Two Hearts in Waltz Time
Two Hearts in Waltz Time (1934 film)
Two Hearts in Waltz Time is a 1934 British musical romance film directed by Carmine Gallone and Joe May. It starred Carl Brisson, Frances Day, Bert Coote and Roland Culver. A composer falls in love with the star of an opera company.-Cast:...
(1934), as the Spirit of Christmas Present in the 1935 film Scrooge
Scrooge (1935 film)
Scrooge is a 1935 British film directed by Henry Edwards featuring Seymour Hicks as Ebenezer Scrooge, the miser who hates Christmas. It was the first sound version of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, not counting a 1928 short subject that now appears to be lost.- Film :Hicks had...
, with Seymour Hicks
Seymour Hicks
Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...
, and in The Private Secretary
The Private Secretary (film)
The Private Secretary is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Edward Everett Horton, Barry MacKay, Judy Gunn and Oscar Asche...
(1935). He also wrote several books, including his autobiography, but these ventures did not solve his financial troubles.
In his final years, Asche became grossly obese, desperately poor, argumentative and violent. He was childless but had a nephew, Keith John Austin Asche
Austin Asche
Keith John Austin Asche, AC, QC is a former Administrator of the Northern Territory and was the third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory.-Early years, education and family:...
, AC, who became Chief Justice of the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
and its Administrator from 1993 to 1997. Asche and his wife separated, but, at the end, he returned to her and died at the age of 65 in Bisham
Bisham
Bisham is a village and civil parish in the Windsor and Maidenhead district of Berkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,149. The village is on the River Thames, north of which is Marlow in Buckinghamshire...
, Berkshire, of coronary thrombosis. He was buried in the riverside cemetery there.
Writings
Asche's autobiography, Oscar Asche: His Life (1929), must be read with caution whenever figures are mentioned. He also wrote two novels: the Saga of Hans Hansen (1930), an improbable but exciting story, and The Joss Sticks of Chung (1931). His play Chu Chin Chow was published in 1931, but the other plays of which he was author or part author have not been printed. Among these were Mameena (1914), Cairo (1921), The Good Old Days, and The Spanish Main (under the name of Varco Marenes).External links
- Biography, bibliography, Australian tour information and resource listing for Oscar Asche in the National Library of AustraliaNational Library of AustraliaThe National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
- Picture Australia records of images of Oscar Asche