George Musgrove

George Musgrove (born January 21, 1854 in London , † January 21, 1916 in Sydney ) was an Australian theater and opera entrepreneur of English origin.

Life

Musgrove came from a theater family. His grandmother, who was married to composer George Hodson , was a niece of actress Sarah Siddons . Their children George and Henrietta Hodson were actors, Georgina Hodson , who was married to William Saurin Lyster , was a singer. George's mother Fanny , also known as an actress, married the accountant Thomas John Watson Musgrove and went to Australia with her family in 1866 when Musgrove was 12 years old. His siblings Harry , Arthur , Frank and Charles made a career in the theater there like him.

George Musgrove initially worked as a ticket seller in Lyster's opera company and married Emeliy Knight at the age of twenty . With her he had three daughters, one of whom Rosa Musgrove later pursued as an actress and singer. 1877-78 he toured Australia with Emily Soldene . In 1880 he traveled to London, acquired the performance rights for Jacques Offenbach's operetta La Fille du Tambour-Major and hired an acting troupe with whom he staged the work at the Melbourne Opera House in December that year and performed it more than a hundred times. For the following performance tour, he engaged the young Nellie Stewart for the first time .

In 1882 he teamed up with James Cassius Williamson and Arthur Garner to form the famous triumvirate , which in the following years brought numerous plays and operettas to the stage. Her most popular actress was Nellie Stewart. In 1885 Musgrove managed a concert tour of the violinist Johann Kruse through Australia. His companion was the singer Mrs. Armstrong, who later became famous as Nellie Melba .

In 1886 the Triumvirate rebuilt the Princess Theater in Melbourne based on plans by William Pitt . In 1889 she opened the house with Henrik Ibsen's Nora and actress Janet Achurch . In 1889 Musgrove separated from the triumvirate and traveled to London with Nellie Stewart, who made her debut there in the West End . He himself signed a contract with the Gaiety Theater Company for a second tour to the British colonies.

After returning to Australia, he brought Paul Jones to the stage with Marion Burton and Nellie Stewart and in 1892 formed a new partnership with Williamson that lasted until 1899. He was often in London during this period, taking Nellie Stewart with Blue Eyed Susan at the Prince of Wales Theater and with Forty Thieves at Drury Lane . In 1893 their daughter Nancye , who later became a successful actress, was born. On Broadway , Musgrove failed with The Belle of New York , but brought the play to the West End in 1898. The closure of the jointly operated Princess Theater in Melbourne in 1899 brought the end of the collaboration with Williamson.

In May 1900, Musgrove reopened the Princess with performances of Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser and The Flying Dutchman . The following year he served as Director of Amusements on a visit to Australia by the Duke of York and future King George V. In 1902 he managed a concert tour of Nellie Melba through Australia and presented Nellie Stewart in the play Sweet Nell of Old Drury , which was performed over and over again for the next thirty years.

With his Royal Grand Opera Company , founded in 1907 , he brought Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel , Wagner's Die Walküre and Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette to an Australian stage for the first time. In 1911 he produced a film version of Sweet Nell of Old Drury , of which, however, no longer exists. After various financial failures of the attempt to build a theater cafe in Darlinghurst and caused by the outbreak of World War I defeat a performance of ruined him David Belasco Du Barry . Williamson bought his entire holdings for £ 1,000 and Musgrave died impoverished in Sydney in 1916.

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personal data
SURNAME	Musgrove, George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Australian theater and opera entrepreneur of English origin
DATE OF BIRTH	January 21, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH	London
DATE OF DEATH	January 21, 1916
Place of death	Sydney