THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Fred A. Leon

Fred A. Leon (1882-84, 1885-86)

[Born London c.1862]

Frederick A. Leon was a touring chorister in the early 1880s, appearing from April to December 1882 with Mr. D'Oyly Carte's No. 1 "Pirates" Company, and playing Grummock, the cabman, in My Luck, a "musical eccentricity" by B. A. Hughes and William Robinson that filled the bill. He also served a stage manager for that tour. From May to December 1884 he toured with Mr. D'Oyly Carte's No. 1 "Iolanthe" ("F") Company where he may also have taken a part in a companion piece.

In May 1885 he stage managed the first provincial production of The Mikado with Carte's "E" Company, and in November 1885 he arrived in Boston to stage manage Carte's Second American Mikado Company. Over the next few months he stage managed at various times Carte's Second, Third, and Fourth American Mikado Companies. He appeared as Ko-Ko with the Fourth Company in December, and then for a week in January 1886 with the Second Company in Boston after John Howson quit the role, prior to Richard Mansfield's arrival as permanent replacement. It appears to have been his last appearance on stage.

Leon went on to stage manage Carte's Second American Ruddygore Company (March-May 1887), and when the tour ended joined Carte's "C" Company in England in the same capacity. Subsequent stage management and directorial assignments involved various Carte provincial touring companies including the Continental ("G") Company's tour of The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, and Patience (1887-88), and Carte's American Gondoliers productions at both the Park and Palmer's Theatres (January-March 1890).

He left the D'Oyly Carte briefly, serving in New York where he directed The French Maid and The Ballet Girl for E. E. Rice (1897-98). He returned to the D'Oyly Carte on tour in 1898, then transferred to the London Company at the Savoy, where he stage managed Ib and Little Christina (November 1902), the first revival of Iolanthe (December 1901-March 1902), Merrie England (April-July 1902), and A Princess of Kensington (January-May 1903). He then returned to touring, directing Carte's Principal Repertory Company from May 1903 to March 1907.

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