THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Christine Lorimer

(Miss) Christian Lorimer (1911, 1914-16)

[Born Edinburgh c.1883, died 13 Apr 1977]

Christian Gray Lorimer first sang Gilbert & Suulivan in her native Edinburgh, appearing there as Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance in 1905. She was a contralto chorister with the D'Oyly Carte Principal Repertory Opera Company for portions of the 1910s. Miss Lorimer filled in briefly for Louis Rene as Dame Carruthers in The Yeomen of the Guard in June 1911, then did not appear again in D'Oyly Carte programs until March 1914 when she assumed the small role of Vittoria in The Gondoliers. She played Vittoria on a regular basis through January 1916. She may have left the Company at that point, as Vittoria was taken up by Cecile Hope the following month.

As Christine Lorimer, she later traveled to South Africa with a non-D'Oyly Carte "Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company" in a repertoire of seven Gilbert & Sullivan operas. They opened in Johannesburg in June 1920, with Miss Lorimer as Katisha in The Mikado. As principal contralto, her other roles on the tour were Little Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, the Queen of the Fairies in Iolanthe, Dame Carruthers in The Yeomen of the Guard, and the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers.

Christine Lorimer continued her G&S career, touring the Far East with a J. C. Williamson Ltd. "Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company" featuring C. H. Workman in 1923. She appeared in the leading contralto parts in China and Japan in March and April of that year.

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