THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Aeneas Dymott as Bob Becket in H.M.S. Pinafore

Aeneas Dymott (1878-79)

[Born Southampton 1830, died London 1881]

Aeneas Joseph Dymott was a bass singer in the Covent Garden area of London from at least 1863 when he appeared as part of a male ensemble at Evan's Supper Rooms. In 1877 he went on the musical stage, and at some point in 1877 or 1878 joined D'Oyly Carte's Comedy-Opera Company.

Mr. Dymott was the original Bob Becket, the carpenter's mate, when H.M.S. Pinafore premiered at the Opera Comique on May 25, 1878. When the fracture occurred between Carte and the directors of the Comedy-Opera Company at the end of July 1879, Mr. Dymott decided that his future lay with the directors. He was, accordingly, the only performer with a named part at the Opera Comique to switch to the directors' unauthorized (by Gilbert, Sullivan, or Carte) production at the Imperial Theatre. It ran a month there before transferring to the Royal Olympic, ultimately closing in September for lack of public support. Dymott would remain at the Olympic for the next production, a comic opera called Marigold, opening October 29, 1879, in which he appeared as Jehan.

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