THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Miss Duglas Gordon as Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore

(Miss) Duglas Gordon (1878-80)

[Born c.1859]

Ellen Louise Thomas, using the stage name "Miss Duglas Gordon," joined the Comedy Opera Company Ltd. for a March 9, 1878, matinee of The Sorcerer at the Opera Comique before heading for Liverpool with the First Provincial production of The Sorcerer, along with Trial by Jury. She appeared as Constance in Sorcerer and the Plaintiff in Trial, but when the Company got to Bradford in May she was promoted to Aline in The Sorcerer, replacing Pauline Rita who left the Company.

She toured as Aline and the Plaintiff until August 10, 1878, when the Company took a short break to prepare for the First Provincial production of H.M.S. Pinafore, launched September 9. Miss Gordon took the part of Josephine. She toured as Aline and Josephine until December 1878 when the tour ended. The Company was revived briefly in April 1879, when they presented Pinafore to audiences in Liverpool and Birmingham for seven weeks, with Miss Gordon as Josephine. In between her D'Oyly Carte Pinafore engagements she toured as Maid Marian in Babes in the Wood.

She joined Mr. D'Oyly Carte's "1^st 'Pinafore' Company" in August 1879, switched to Carte's "Second London Company" in September, and returned "1^st 'Pinafore'" in November, always as Josephine. The "1^st 'Pinafore'" Company was disbanded on December 13, 1879, but Miss Gordon soon returned to the Opera Comique where she took Josephine once more for a short stretch in February 1880.

Little is known of Miss Duglas Gordon's career after leaving the D'Oyly Carte organization. In 1882, however, a touring production of Offenbach's Genevieve de Brabant, featuring Miss Gordon in the title role, was performed at the Theatre Royal, St. Helens, and, presumably, other venues.

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