THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Dolly Webb (1896-1903)

[Born London c.1873]

Dolly (real name Dorothy) Webb had two roles on the London Stage before joining the D'Oyly Carte:as Leila in Law & Albeniz's The Magic Opal (Lyric, January-March 1893), and as the second of two to play Vigilant Cutter in the burlesque Little Christopher Columbus (Lyric, October 1893-October 1894, and Terry's, October-December 1894)

Her D'Oyly Carte career began and ended with tours of South Africa. She was a chorister on the December 1896-June 1897 tour and played the soprano roles of the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury, Isabel in The Pirates of Penzance, the Lady Ella in Patience, Celia in Iolanthe, Peep-Bo in The Mikado, Casilda in The Gondoliers, Phylla in Utopia Limited, and "Scent-of-Lilies" in The Rose of Persia on the April 1902-May 1903 visit. She also filled in on occasion for Jessie Huddleston as Elsie Maynard in The Yeomen of the Guard on the 1902-03 tour.

In between (June 1898-March 1902), she was toured the British Isles with D'Oyly Carte Opera Companies "B" (Southport, July-August 1897) and "C." Her roles with that company were the Plaintiff (June 1898-January 1899, June-August 1899); Celia (June 1898-September 1901 and January-March 1902); Sacharissa (June 1898-December 1900 and September 1901-March 1902) and Princess Ida (December 1898) in Princess Ida; Kate (June 1898-January 1899, May-August 1899, and October 1900) and Elsie and Kate in Yeomen (both January 1899); Phylla (June 1898-March 1900, except when she played Melene), Princess Zara (January, June, and December 1899), and Melene (January and April 1899) in Utopia Limited; Yum-Yum (December 1898) and Peep-Bo (occasionally, January-December 1900) in The Mikado; Gianetta (January, June, and December 1899), Vittoria (January 1900-March 1902), and Casilda (October 1900 and February 1902) in Gondoliers; and "Whisper-of-the-West Wind" in The Rose of Persia (December 1900-September 1901).

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