Silk programme for Iolanthe, Boston Bijou Theatre, 1882

Printed silk folded in half, within a card cover with a thin silk tassel threaded through the top corner

Given by Dame Bridget D'Oyly Carte

This silk programme was produced to commemmorate the opening gala performance of the Boston Bijou Theatre on 11 December 1882. The theatre was remodelled at a cost of over $50,000 by architects Bradlee, Winslow & Wetherell, with a new tile fireplace designed by Low's Art Tileworks. The evening began with the 'National Airs' (by the Bijou Orchestra) and an opening address written by Mr William T. W. Ball and performed by Professor George W. Blish. The main performance was Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera Iolanthe, or the Peer and the Peri. This was the first performance of this work in Boston, and was produced under the management of Mr Ed E. Rice by special permission of Mr R. D'Oyly Carte, and stage managed by Mr Charles Harris from the London Theatres. Costumes were made by Godtschaux of Paris and New York, scenery by Mr Ed La Moss and mechanical effects by P. Henderson. The opera was performed by Collier's Standard Opera Company, led by Mr Henry E. Dixey as the Lord Chancellor.

This was the first performance in Boston of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera Iolanthe, or the Peer and the Peri, which opened simultaneously at the Savoy Theatre in London and the Standard Theatre in New York on 22nd November 1882. It was performed 159 times in total at the Bijou Theatre, becoming a notably successful regional production of the opera. The performance also marked the opening of theatre itself, which had been renovated under direction of George H. Tyler. The theatre was known for its photography of its opera productions, and for being the first theatre to be lit with electric lighting by Thomas Edison.

S.346-2016