THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Isabel Agnew (1901-03)

Isabel Agnew's first appearance on the London Stage was in the chorus of the original production of The Emerald Isle at the Savoy in April 1901. She remained in the chorus throughout the run and was rewarded with the small role of Leila in the first London revival of Iolanthe later that year. She returned to the chorus for Merrie England, there making an occasional appearance as Bessie Throckmorton. When A Princess of Kensington opened in January 1903, she was again in the chorus but within a month had assumed the role of Peaseblossom while Constance Drever pinch-hit for the ailing Agnes Fraser as Kenna. Later during the run, Miss Agnew herself substituted as Kenna, and when the Company went on tour in May she again took the role of Peaseblossom. This appears to have been her last appearance with the D’Oyly Carte organization.

Apart from a benefit matinee of Trial by Jury on 12 June 1906, in which she is among the "crowd in court," her name does not appear in a London playbill again until April 1909 when she took the role of Xyo-la in a musical play A Persian Princess at the Queen’s Theatre. In December 1909, she returned to the Savoy as Ina in Gilbert & German’s Fallen Fairies.

A Index  |  "Who Was Who" Homepage