John Handford Ryley (11 September 1841 â€" 28 July 1922) was an
English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic
baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera
Company, particularly in America. His second wife was D'Oyly Carte
performer, actress and playwright Madeleine Lucette Ryley.Ryley was
born in 1841 in London, the son of John Riley, a solicitor’s clerk
from London, and his wife Elizabeth (née Perry). By February 1863
Ryley was singing comic songs at Deacon’s Music Hall, Sadler's Wells
Theatre, Price’s Music Hall and then at the Bedford Music Hall in
Camden Town as "the comical comique". He married the actress Marie
Barnam in 1864, and they had a daughter, Wallace (b. 1869). The couple
performed a comic duet and dance act in London and on tour, and they
were engaged at the Gaiety Theatre, London in 1872. A New York critic
later claimed that their "Dancing Quakers" routine was parodied by
Margaret and Despard in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1887 opera Ruddigore.
Ryley also appeared at The Gaiety in a musical play, Ali Baba a la
Mode, in 1872. He and Barnam soon separated. In 1875, Ryley played
Fernando in the comic opera Cattarina by Robert Reece and Frederic
Clay at the Charing Cross Theatre and later on tour. In Manchester in
1876, he played Captain Flint in The Sultan of Mocha by Alfred
Cellier. Later that year, he created the role of Zapeter in W. S.
Gilbert and Clay's Princess Toto at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham
and on tour in the provinces and next played Amen Squeak in Nell
Gwynne by Cellier at Prince's Theatre in Manchester.Ryley joined
Richard D'Oyly Carte's Comedy-Opera Company Ltd. in 1878, appearing as
John Wellington Wells in the first provincial production of The
Sorcerer, and the Learned Judge in Trial by Jury on the same bill. In
September 1878, the company gave the first provincial tour of H.M.S.
Pinafore, with Ryley as Sir Joseph Porter. In October the company
added Congenial Souls, a one-act farce written by Ryley using music by
Jacques Offenbach, to the program as a curtain raiser. This appears to
be the only play written by Ryley. Madeleine Lucette (1858â€"1934)
appeared together with Riley on tour with the D'Oyly Carte company in
1878, and she played Clara in his curtain raiser, while he played
Adolphus. In 1879, Ryley was chosen to play Sir Joseph in the first
authentic American production of Pinafore at New York City's Fifth
Avenue Theatre, which opened on 1 December 1879. On 31 December of
that year, in the same theatre, he created the role of Major General
Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance and continued with the role in the
US tour until June 1880. Over the next several years, Ryley and the
much younger Lucette both performed in America, sometimes together,
over the next several years, behaving as if married, and eventually
lived in New Rochelle, New York, together with his daughter Wallace.
They were not legally married until 1890, however, after Ryley
finalised his divorce from his first wife.
English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic
baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera
Company, particularly in America. His second wife was D'Oyly Carte
performer, actress and playwright Madeleine Lucette Ryley.Ryley was
born in 1841 in London, the son of John Riley, a solicitor’s clerk
from London, and his wife Elizabeth (née Perry). By February 1863
Ryley was singing comic songs at Deacon’s Music Hall, Sadler's Wells
Theatre, Price’s Music Hall and then at the Bedford Music Hall in
Camden Town as "the comical comique". He married the actress Marie
Barnam in 1864, and they had a daughter, Wallace (b. 1869). The couple
performed a comic duet and dance act in London and on tour, and they
were engaged at the Gaiety Theatre, London in 1872. A New York critic
later claimed that their "Dancing Quakers" routine was parodied by
Margaret and Despard in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1887 opera Ruddigore.
Ryley also appeared at The Gaiety in a musical play, Ali Baba a la
Mode, in 1872. He and Barnam soon separated. In 1875, Ryley played
Fernando in the comic opera Cattarina by Robert Reece and Frederic
Clay at the Charing Cross Theatre and later on tour. In Manchester in
1876, he played Captain Flint in The Sultan of Mocha by Alfred
Cellier. Later that year, he created the role of Zapeter in W. S.
Gilbert and Clay's Princess Toto at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham
and on tour in the provinces and next played Amen Squeak in Nell
Gwynne by Cellier at Prince's Theatre in Manchester.Ryley joined
Richard D'Oyly Carte's Comedy-Opera Company Ltd. in 1878, appearing as
John Wellington Wells in the first provincial production of The
Sorcerer, and the Learned Judge in Trial by Jury on the same bill. In
September 1878, the company gave the first provincial tour of H.M.S.
Pinafore, with Ryley as Sir Joseph Porter. In October the company
added Congenial Souls, a one-act farce written by Ryley using music by
Jacques Offenbach, to the program as a curtain raiser. This appears to
be the only play written by Ryley. Madeleine Lucette (1858â€"1934)
appeared together with Riley on tour with the D'Oyly Carte company in
1878, and she played Clara in his curtain raiser, while he played
Adolphus. In 1879, Ryley was chosen to play Sir Joseph in the first
authentic American production of Pinafore at New York City's Fifth
Avenue Theatre, which opened on 1 December 1879. On 31 December of
that year, in the same theatre, he created the role of Major General
Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance and continued with the role in the
US tour until June 1880. Over the next several years, Ryley and the
much younger Lucette both performed in America, sometimes together,
over the next several years, behaving as if married, and eventually
lived in New Rochelle, New York, together with his daughter Wallace.
They were not legally married until 1890, however, after Ryley
finalised his divorce from his first wife.
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