THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Annie Cole as Agatha in The Vicar of Bray

Annie (Nita) Cole (1886-93)

[Born Shoreditch 1867, died Wimbledon 2 Nov 1957]

Annie Gertrude (or Nita) Cole was a member of the chorus, understudy, and small part player at the Savoy from the original production of The Mikado (where she took over for Jessie Bond as Pitti-Sing from September to November 1886) until February 1893 when she left during the first run of Haddon Hall.

She was almost certainly in the chorus for the first production of Ruddygore and the first revivals of H.M.S. Pinafore (when she probably filled in for Miss Bond as Hebe in January 1888, though appearing in the Savoy program as Gertrude Cole) and The Pirates of Penzance. She filled in for Miss Bond again as Pitti-Sing during the first London revival of The Mikado (August-September 1888), and again as Phoebe in July 1889 during the initial production of The Yeomen of the Guard.In December 1889 Miss Cole created the tiny part of Vittoria in The Gondoliers, and during the first run substituted for Miss Bond again on several occasions in 1890 and 1891 as Tessa.

She took small parts in each of the next three operas at the Savoy:as Kalee in The Nautch Girl (June 1891-January 1892), Agatha in The Vicar of Bray (January 1891-June 1892), and Nance in Haddon Hall (September 1892-February 1893, when she married and left the Company). Her marriage to widowed stockbroker Egerton Harry John Clarke was witnessed by none other than Richard D'Oyly Carte.

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