Teresa Furtado
Encyclopedia
Teresa Elizabeth Furtado (1845 – 9 August 1877) was a well-known actress at London's Adelphi Theatre
where she played leading melodrama
tic roles for nine seasons.
She was the daughter of Charles Furtado, professor of music in London and composer of ballads. Her appearances at the Adelphi included No Thoroughfare by Wilkie Collins
and Charles Dickens
(1868) and Esmeralda in Notre-Dame or, The Gipsy Girl of Paris, a dramatized version of Victor Hugo
's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
(1875). She also appeared in the premieres of two early works by W.S. Gilbert – as Pocahontas in his 1867 burlesque
, Robinson Crusoe at the Haymarket Theatre
and as Jenny Wren in his 1867 pantomime
, Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren
at the Lyceum Theatre.
In 1873 she married the English actor, John Clarke. Her premature death at the age of 32 led to his breakdown and he died less than two years later.
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...
where she played leading melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
tic roles for nine seasons.
She was the daughter of Charles Furtado, professor of music in London and composer of ballads. Her appearances at the Adelphi included No Thoroughfare by Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
and Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
(1868) and Esmeralda in Notre-Dame or, The Gipsy Girl of Paris, a dramatized version of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered.-Background:...
(1875). She also appeared in the premieres of two early works by W.S. Gilbert – as Pocahontas in his 1867 burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
, Robinson Crusoe at the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
and as Jenny Wren in his 1867 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...
, Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren
Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren
Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren; or, Fortunatus and the Water of Life, the Three Bears, the Three Gifts, the Three Wishes, and the Little Man who Woo'd the Little Maid was a pantomime written by W. S. Gilbert...
at the Lyceum Theatre.
In 1873 she married the English actor, John Clarke. Her premature death at the age of 32 led to his breakdown and he died less than two years later.
Sources
- McHugh, Frank, The 1872-1873 Season, The Adelphi Theatre 1806 - 1910.
- Sherson, Erroll, London's lost theatres of the nineteenth century, Ayer Publishing, 1925, p. 274. ISBN 0-405-08969-4.
- Stedman, Jane W., W.S. Gilbert: a classic Victorian and his theatre Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-19-816174-3
- Stephen, Leslie (ed), "Clarke, John" in The Dictionary of National Biography, Elder Smith, 1888, Vol. 10, pp 434–435.
External links
- Teresa Furtado as Esmeralda in Notre Dame – National Portrait Gallery, London