The Garrick Club [a] was the name which could apply to several South Australian amateur theatrical groups, perhaps tenuously related, the most successful being the incarnation which operated from 1892 to 1899.
On 13 March 1850 a company of theatre enthusiasts (Nicholson, Dibold, Goodrich and Bonney) calling themselves the "Dramatic Amateurs" or "Amateur Dramatic Society", put on several plays at the New Queen's Theatre, [1] then changed their name to Adelaide Garrick Club. [2] The New Queen's Theatre closed its doors shortly afterwards and following productions were put on in the Victoria Theatre. Was this the same as the Royal Victoria Theatre (the remodelled Queen's Theatre)? W. M. Akhurst was secretary in 1850. [3]
The Garrick Cricket Club was formed in 1875, which staged several successful annual entertainments at White's Rooms, that of 1876 including Breaking the Spell (an operetta by Offenbach) with W. R. Pybus on piano.
In 1889 the Garrick Club was re-formed or its name revived, with Misses Beddome, Schrader, Dora Moulden, and Nelson, and Messrs. Angel, Guy Boothby, Cook, G. V. S. Dunn, C. M. Gribble, R. Herbert, H. R. Holder, M. Marcus, A. L. Parker, and Lewes Wicksteed as prominent members. Their productions included an operetta written in South Australia.
In 1892 the Garrick Dramatic Club was founded by Edward Reeves and John Henry Lyons. [4] Membership was invited from the city's elocutionists: E. Reeves, C. Morgan, Benjamin H. Gillman, E. H. Shaw, H. T. Sparrow, R. A. C. Herbert, A. Norton, C. C. Paltridge, J. H. Lyons, Miss Wadham, Aileen Bancroft and Miss Pizey [5] and soon reached a high standard of performance, with critics enthusiastic rather than generous. Later members included Walter Bentley, E. H. Shaw, Mary Bancroft, Beatrice Gordon, Marion Woodcock, Charles Morgan, Richard Herbert, J. D. Furlonge, Frank Seaton, Fairfax Kendal, Tom Potts, Kate Shirley, Marian Daniels and Alexander Cochrane. The club appears to have folded after a triumphant 1899 season which ended anticlimactically with a poorly-attended finale at the Theatre Royal.
Benjamin Boothby was a South Australian colonial judge, who was removed from office for misbehaviour, one of four Australian supreme court judges removed in the 19th century.
The Queen's Theatre is a building of historic importance in Playhouse Lane, Adelaide, South Australia. It is the oldest intact theatre in mainland Australia, having originally been built in 1840, the only earlier one in Australia being the still-operational Theatre Royal in Hobart, Tasmania. It was not the first theatre to open in Adelaide however; there were two earlier, less sophisticated earlier venues created in 1838–39. In this theatre there is many ghosts some of old Burger King employees and some of McDonald's employees. There is even rumored to be a Wendy's employee floating down the halls of Queen'sTheatre.
The Adelaide Easel Club was a society for South Australian painters which broke away from the South Australian Society of Arts in 1892 and which re-merged with the parent organization in 1901.
Moritz Heuzenroeder was a pianist, composer and teacher of music born in Germany who had a substantial career in South Australia.
Phebe Naomi Watson was a South Australian teacher and educator, active in securing better conditions for women teachers.
White's Rooms, later known as Adelaide Assembly Room, was a privately owned function centre which opened in 1856 on King William Street, Adelaide, South Australia. It became Garner's Theatre in 1880, then passed through several hands, being known as the Tivoli theatre, Bijou Theatre, Star Picture Theatre and finally in 1916 the Majestic Theatre and Majestic Hotel.
Richard Carl Wilhelm Nitschke was a South Australian baritone and in later years a racehorse owner.
The Albert Hall in Adelaide was a public entertainment venue in Pirie Street, built for the Adelaide German Club in 1880 and sold to the Salvation Army in 1899.
The Garrick Theatre was a theatre and music hall at 79–83 Castlereagh Street in Sydney from 1890 to 1929. The theatre was renamed the Tivoli Theatre in 1893 and operated as a popular vaudeville venue. It was destroyed by fire in 1899 and rebuilt. The theatre closed in 1929.
Daniel Garlick was an architect in the early days of South Australia. During his lifetime, his architectural practice names were Garlick & Son and Jackman & Garlick. After his death his name was perpetuated by two rival firms: Garlick & Sibley and then Garlick, Sibley & Wooldridge; and Garlick & Jackman and then Garlick, Jackman & Gooden.
Gabriel Bennett was an auctioneer, stock and cattle salesman and horse breeder in South Australia. He was a founder of the stock and station agents Bennett and Fisher.
The Adelaide Liedertafel is a traditional German male choir, one of several Liedertafeln, or song societies, in the history of Adelaide and South Australia. It is Australia's oldest male choir.
Robert Brough was born in England to a family prominent in literature and the theatre. He had a notable career as actor and manager in Australia.
William John Wilson was a British actor and theatre scenery painter, who had a career in Australia that included theatre management.
Thomas Pedder Hudson was an English stage performer who had a considerable career in Australia as comedian and manager of the variety troupe Hudson's Surprise Party. Hudson brought Antoinette Sterling to Australia, and was manager for George Musgrove of Nellie Melba's 1902 tour of Australasia.
The Gaiety Theatre was a theatre in Melbourne, Australia, which operated from 1889 to 1930, when it became the Roxy movie theatre until it was demolished in 1934.
Thomas Smith Bellair was an English actor who moved to Australia, where he had his own dramatic company before managing various hotels, finally settling in Wagga Wagga, where his family became prominent citizens.
William Elton was an English comedian, actor and singer, who played in London and New York theatres and had a successful career in Australia, playing comic opera and pantomime.
The Academy of Music was a live performance venue in Adelaide, South Australia, remembered as the scene of three major fires within a decade.
Benjamin Hill Gillman was a traffic manager of South Australian Railways.