THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Ellen Whyte (1905-06, 1907-09)

Ellen Whyte made her first appearance in a D'Oyly Carte program as Inez in The Gondoliers with the D'Oyly Carte Principal Repertory Opera Company in June 1905. In August of that year, the contralto chorister and understudy appeared as Kate in The Pirates of Penzance.

During the December 1905-July 1906 South Africa tour, she filled in on occasion for Theresa Rassam as Ruth in Pirates, the Lady Jane in Patience, Dame Carruthers in The Yeomen of the Guard, and the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers. In September 1906 she deputized briefly for Miss Rassam as Katisha in The Mikado.

It appears she left the Carte organization in October 1906, but she was back on tour with the Repertory Company by December 1907, when she resumed as Inez. In April 1908 she joined the main Company at the Savoy for the start of the Second London Repertory Season. In August and September 1908 she gave six performances as Mrs. Jones in the Fenn & Faraday curtain-raiser A Welsh Sunset, that played with H.M.S. Pinafore.

She made a brief return to the touring Repertory Company in November 1908, filling in as Inez in The Gondoliers that month and Dame Carruthers in Yeomen in January 1909, before resuming her chorus duties at the Savoy later that month. In May 1909 the London season ended and Miss Whyte (as she was still known) left the D'Oyly Carte organization.

(Rollins & Witts report that in October 1924, as Ellen Whyte-Holmes, she joined the chorus of the D'Oyly Carte Repertory Opera Company, and remained for two seasons, until July 1926. This period is not reflected in Company pay sheets.)

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