These are just some of the most important productions that members of the Rosa Troupe undertook as a group or individually.
December 1867 – February 1868: Rosa Abrahams in ‘Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren; or Fortunatus! The Three Bears; the Three Gifts; the Three Wishes; and the Little Man who Woo’d the Little Maid’, by W.S. Gilbert. Lyceum Theatre, London. Rosa herself said she was in this production, making it the first named one that can be identified. She also said that she first appeared on stage aged four (around 1860) suggesting there were earlier unnamed performances.
May-June 1868: Master Abrahams as the ‘Dog’ in ‘The Sprig of Shillelagh’, a ‘comic Irish ballet’ starring Fred Evans. Later in the bill Jules Léotard appears on his flying trapeze. Royal Alhambra Palace, Leicester Square, London. This was the first recorded performance by David Abrahams, although like his sister he said that he had first appeared on the stage at the age of four (around 1864).
September 1870 – January 1871: Master D. Abrahams as ‘Cobweb’, Miss K. Abrahams as ‘Moth’, and possibly Rosa Abrahams as ‘Peablossom’ (unlisted on programme) in ‘Midsummer’s Night’s Dream’, starring Samuel Phelps as ‘Bottom‘. Queen’s Theatre, Long Acre, London. This was the first recorded time that more than one member of the Rosa Troupe performed together.
November 1870 – March 1871: Master Abrahams as the ‘Cat’ in ‘Whittington Junior and his Sensational Cat’, by Robert Reece. Miss Henrietta Hodson as ‘Dick Whittington’. New Royalty, 73 Dean Street. Soho. It is unclear whether David left his role at the Queen’s Theatre to work at the New Royalty, or managed to time it to perform at both.
October – December 1871: Mdlles. R. Melville, A. Elliott, Ash, Knight, K. H. & R. Abrahams in a ‘Chinese dance’ in ‘A Chinese Revel, Scene 1 – A Street.’ Alhambra Theatre, Leicester Square, London. K(ate) was aged 8, H(annah) was aged 13 and R(osa) was aged 15, their first recorded performance as dancers at the Alhambra.
October 1872 – January 1873: Mdlle. Rosa in ‘Les Bosquet Des Nymphes’ at Royal Philharmonic Theatre, Islington, London. Also known as ‘Les Jardin Des Nymphes’. The ballet was at the end of the evening after ‘Genevieve De Brabant’ starring Emily Soldene.
December 1874 – March 1875: Master Abrahams as ‘Thomas, a cat’ in ‘Whittington’, composed by M.Offenbach with Kate Santley as ‘Dick Whittington’. Alhambra Theatre, Leicester Square, London.
April – May 1876: Mdlle. Pertoldi assisted by Madlles. Neufcourt, Delechaux, Coschel, Rose Melville, Rosa, and Mdlle Sismondi, in the ‘Grand Ballet de Chimeres’, between Acts 2 & 3 of ‘Le Voyage Dans La Lune’, Alhambra Theatre, Leicester Square, London. First recorded performance by Mdlle. Rosa in the Alhambra ballet, in which she would continue to appear regularly until 1881.
May 1876: Miss Kate Abrahams ‘a charming skipping rope dancer’ appears at Mr J. J. Poole’s Benefit, South London Palace, Lambeth.
February and March 1878: Mdlle. Rosa as ‘Columbine’ in the harlequinade of ‘The Forty Thieves’. W.S. Gilbert appears as her ‘Harlequin’. Gaiety Theatre, London (13th February), Theatre Royal, Brighton (9th March).
December 1879 – February 1880: Master Abrahams as ‘Pet Goat’ in ‘Blue Beard’, Mr Fred Vokes as ‘Blue Beard’ and ‘Sister Anne’, Mr Fawden Vokes as ‘Shacabac’, Miss Jessie Vokes as ‘Shelim’, Miss Victoria Vokes as ‘Fatima’. Masters Abrahams and Webb, and the Little Misses Moud also appeared later in the Grand Transformation scene as the ‘Lilliputian Pantomimic Company’. Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London.
December 1880 – February 1881: Master D. Abrahams as the ‘Cat’ in ‘Mother Goose and the Enchanted Beauty’, Theatre Royal Drury Lane. He also appeared as one of the Pantaloons in the grand transformation scene at the end of the pantomime, along with an actor called Bradford. Also in the cast were Fred Storey, Kate Santley, and Fred Evans.
December 1881 – February 1882: Master P [sic] Abrahams, as ‘The Comet’, and with John Ridley ‘The Pug Dog’ in ‘Robinson Crusoe’, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. David was also the understudy to Charles Lauri as ‘Friday’ and appeared in his place when Lauri was injured.
December 1882 – February 1883: Rosa, Anna, David and Kitty appear in a ‘Dolls Quadrille’ in ‘The Yellow Dwarf ‘, Her Majesty’s Theatre, London. They are a sensation and the ‘Rosa Troupe’ is born.
March 1883: ‘Doll’s Quadrille’, by Madile Rosa, Miss Kate Abrahams, Miss Hannah and Master Abrahams, concludes ‘The Annual Benefit of the Royal General Theatrical Fund’, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London. The event included performances by Henry Irving, Ellen Terry and Ellen Farren.
December 1883 – February 1884: Master Abrahams as ‘Tortoiseshell Tom, The Baron’s Cat’, Mdlle Rosa as ‘Columbine’ (not 26 December, as Miss Florence Valeria listed as ‘Columbine’, with Mdlle Rosa as ‘Premiere Danseuse’ in the grand transformation scene at end of production), in ‘Cinderella’, Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The Rosa Troupe is listed as dancing, along with Mdlle. Emma Palladino. Also appearing were Kate Vaughan as ‘Cinderella’, Fred Storey, and Harry Payne as the ‘Clown’ oppositive Mdlle Rosa.
December 1884 – January 1885: Rosa Troupe as ‘Wood Demons’, Miss Kate Abrahams as ‘Mercuria (a volatile fairy messenger)’, Master D. Abrahams as ‘The King’s Poodle’, in ‘Jack and Jill’, produced by Mr H. Nye Chart at the Theatre Royal and Opera House, Brighton.
December 1885 – January 1886: Kitty, David and Rosa in ‘Robinson Crusoe’, Theatre Royal Birmingham. Starring Vesta Tilley. The details of this production are limited, so Anna may also have performed.
November 1886 – June 1887: David Abrahams as ‘The He-Ape’ in ‘Faust’, starring Henry Irving, Lyceum Theatre, London. The Witches Kitchen scene, in which the He-Ape appears, was added 15 November 1886. The second run of Faust had started 11 September 1886.
December 1886 – March 1887: Master D. Abrahams as ‘White Rabbit’ and ‘Red King’, Miss Anna Abrahams as ‘Cook’ and ‘White King’, Mdlle. Rosa as ‘Queen of Hearts’ and ‘Red Queen’, Miss Kitty Abrahams as ‘Jack of Hearts’ and ‘White Queen’. ‘Incidental Dances’ arranged by Mdlle. Rosa, ‘Alice in Wonderland’, Prince of Wales Theatre, London. The performances were matinee, allowing for David to appear in ‘Faust’ in the evening.
March – August 1887: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ UK tour. Production visited Brighton, Liverpool, Birmingham, Worcester, Bristol, Cardiff, Leamington Spa, Cheltenham, Islington, Crystal Palace, Nottingham, Folkestone, Dover, Margate, Deal, Hastings, Tunbridge Wells, Southsea, Eastbourne. Rosa, Anna and Kitty continued in their roles as in the original production, but David did not join the tour.
August – October 1887: David Abrahams highly likely to have been on provincial tour with ‘Faust’, as it led directly into the USA tour, with 12 nights (Monday-Saturday) in each location; Edinburgh (22 August – 3 September, Royal Lyceum Theatre. First night scenery broke so started 23rd August), Glasgow (5 -18 September, Royalty Theatre), Manchester (19 September – 2 October, Theatre Royal), Liverpool (3 -15 October, Alexandra Theatre)
November 1887 – March 1888: David Abrahams in ‘Faust’ with Henry Irving tour party, starting with five weeks at Star Theatre, New York, two weeks in Philadelphia, four weeks in Chicago, four in Boston, and a final five weeks in New York.
December 1892 – February 1893: David Abrahams as ‘Thomas Tabby the cat’ and ‘Boxing kangaroo’, in ‘Whittington up to Dick’ [sic], Alhambra Theatre, Brighton. It starred Millie Hylton as ‘Dick Whittington’, but she quit mid-run after a disagreement with management.
June 1893 – unknown: David Abrahams in Oscar Barrett’s London Lyceum company tour of ‘Cinderella’. Also travelling were Ellaline Terriss and a party of 120 in total. David remained in the USA after this production, leaving the Rosa Troupe and his wife and three children behind in the UK. He performed in numerous touring productions in the USA from this date including the Ziegfeld Follies of 1907 and 1909.
December 1905 – April 1908: Rosa Abrahams (daughter of David Abrahams) tours in Fred Karno’s ‘Moses and Son’, for more details on the production and tour click here.
September 1910 – December 1911: Mdlle Rosa arranged the dances for ‘The Chocolate Soldier‘, Lyric Theatre, London. It was a smash hit that ran for 500 productions.
December 1911 – February 1917: Mdlle Rosa was the ballet mistress of the annual Lyceum Theatre (London) pantomimes (December – February each year) and is credited with inventing and arranging the ballets. Productions included ‘Cinderella’ (1911/12), ‘Dick Whittington and His Cat’ (1912/13), ‘The Forty Thieves’ (1913/14), ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ (1914/15), ‘Robinson Crusoe’ (1915/16), and ‘Mother Goose’ (1916/17). For the 1914/15 pantomime Rosa gave Ninette de Valois her professional debut, and noted in the ‘Dancing Times’ that she felt she was a real talent to watch. Dame Ninette de Valois, as she later became, founded the Royal Ballet and is one of the key figures in establishing modern ballet.
Picture credit: Front page of sheet music c.1880s in author’s private collection, of a quadrille said to be danced by the Rosa Troupe.