Event Comment: Benefit for Edwin. 1st piece: Never performed there. [Master Edwin was from the Hay.] Public Advertiser, 18 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Edwin, No. 76, the corner of Long Acre, Drury-lane. Receipts: #107 10s. 6d. (89.0.6; tickets: 18.10.0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Colles, Miss Abrams & Miss Kirby. Public Advertiser, 4 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Colles at Smith's No. 10, Bow-street, the corner of Martlet Court, Covent Garden; of Miss Abrams, Little Bridges Street, Covent Garden; of Miss Kirby at Andrews's, No. 70, Long Acre. Receipts: #203 7s. (28.1; 14.16; 1.11; tickets: 158.19) (charge: #90 2s. 6d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Booth, Egan & Fearon. Morning Chronicle, 9 May: Tickets to be had of Booth, No. 35, Brownlow-street, Long-Acre [others not listed]. 1st piece [1st time; PREL I, author unknown. Larpent MS 521; not published]. [For Henderson as Shylock see dl, 14 Oct. 1777.] Tickets sold at the Doors will not be admitted. Receipts: #177 3s. (61.1; tickets: 116.2) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Edwin. [Digges's 1st appearance as Shylock was at Edinburgh, 8 Apr. 1772.] Tickets to be had of Edwin, No. 76, Long Acre. Tickets delivered by Stevens will be admitted

Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Mainpiece: Written by the celebrated Mrs Eliza Haywood. Not acted these 6 years. Afterpiece [1st time; F 2 (?)]: Written by a Comedian [unidentified. not in Larpent MS; not published]. The above Pieces have been a long Time in Rehearsal, and as no Expense has been spared in procuring respectable Performers from capital Theatres, there is no doubt (as the Comedies have sterling Merit) of their giving Satisfaction to the Audience. The Doors to be opened at 5:15. To begin at 6:15

Event Comment: bTo finish with: Medee et Jason. As 26 June. Only one act of the said Opera can be performed between the two Grand Ballets, owing to their being very long. By Particular desire of several of the Nobility; being positively the last Time of performing this Season [see 30 June]

Event Comment: The last Night of this Season. [On this night Bannister was also acting at dl; on his arrival at the hay he made the following apology, "The instant the opera was finished at Drury Lane I hastened with all possible expedition to execute my duty." But the performance of the 3rd piece was so long delayed that the final curtain did not fall until 12 o'clock (Morning Herald, 17 Sept.).

Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Mainpiece [1st time; c 5 (?), author unknown; perhaps an alteration of Love at a Venture, by Susannah Centlivre. MS not in Larpent; not published. Authors and speakers of Prologue and Epilogue unknown]. Afterpiece: As it was originally performed at this theatre [on 15 Oct. 1770]. The Doors to be opened at 5:30. To begin at 6:30. The above entertainments have been a long time in rehearsal, and care has been taken in getting them well up, and to have the principal parts supported by veterans

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; CO 3, by John O'Keeffe, altered from his The Banditti (see 28 Nov. 1781). Text in his Dramatic Works, Vol. 1 (T. Woodfall, 1798)]: With new Scenes [by Carver (O'Keeffe, u, 38)], Dresses, and a new Overture. The Selected Airs by Handel, Vento, Giordani, Giardini, Bertoni, Dr Arne, and Carolan, the Irish Bard. The Overture and New Airs composed by Dr Arnold. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. [This was Sga Sestini's 1st appearance on the English-speaking stage. For several preceding seasons she had been a member of the Italian opera company performing at the King's.] "Sestini . . . was handsome, sprightly, and a good actress, if great exuberance of gesticulation, activity of motion, and affected Italian smorfie could make her one; but her voice was gritty and sharp (something like singing through a comb), and she was nothing of a singer, except for lively comic airs. Yet she was . . . long a favourite with the mass of the public, though not with the connoisseurs" (Mount-Edgcumbe, p. 33). Account-Book, 30 June 1783: Paid O'Keeffe in full for The Castle of Andalusia #368 18s. 6d. Receipts: #166 2s. 6d. (165/9/0; 0/13/6)

Event Comment: "Among other Obligations that the Town has to the new Open is that it has, for this year, delivered the Play-goer from his periodical Endurance of Rowe's Tamerlane" (Public Advertiser, 6 Nov.). The reference is to the long established custom of performing Tamerlane either on 4 Nov. (the date of William III's birth) or 5 Nov. (the date of his landing in England). In the play the virtuous Tamerlane was held to be the portrait of an upright monarch, and the vicious Bajazet [i.e. Louis xiv] as that monarch's enemy. At DL Tamerlane was acted on either or both of these nights uninterruptedly from 1716 to 1777; at LIF and CG, with the exception of five seasons, from 1721 to 1784. The Doors to be opened at 5:15. To begin at 6:15 [see 1 May 1783]. Receipts: #155 2s. 6d. (153/4/0; 1/18/6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons. Public Advertiser, 18 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, Gower-street, Bedford-square. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by half past Four o'clock. "The mournful tone, the pathetic countenance, and the long-drawn expression pervaded the sprightly scenes of Rosalind as effectually as if the play had been Isabella" (Public Advertiser, 2 May). Receipts: #327 8s. 6d. (150/1/9; 9/11/6; 0/6/0; tickets: 167/10/0) (charge: #106/15/10)

Event Comment: Benefit for Sga Ferrarese. Sga Ferrarese, whose long and grievous Indispositions have been an Obstacle to the Success she ardently wished to obtain, cannot plead any Merit of her own, and only depends for Patronage on that well-known Liberality of a Public, equally disposed to allow for involuntary Deficiencies as to reward even an Attempt to captivate their Benevolence. Tickets, half a guinea each, to be had of Sga Ferrarese, No. 19, Oxendon Street, Hay-market

Event Comment: [In mainpiece the playbill assigns Frederick to Murray, but on the playbill in the New York Public Library Theatre Collection his name is deleted and a MS annotation substitutes Francis's.] Boxes 3s. Pit 2s. Gallery 1s. To begin precisely at 7:00. The Public are respectfully informed that the Company will perform here but four or five Weeks longer, being engaged elsewhere. The Theatre is not only very commodious, but also remarkably cool. The Days of performing will be regularly Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

Event Comment: Afterpiece: Not acted these 4 years [acted 28 May 1784]. "We see the present rising theatrical generation swinging back with a vengeance to rant and mouthing. The natural and just medium introduced by Garrick seems already forgotten, and speaking no longer deemed a requisite for the stage . . . But last night in Richard Holman was not more violent than the character required him to be" (Public Advertiser, 6 Dec). Receipts: #147 1s. 6d. (143/14/6; 3/7/0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Forster. Tickets to be had of Mrs Forster, No. 8, Broad-court, Long Acre. The Doors to be opened at 5:30. To begin at 6:30 [same for rest of season]. Receipts: #215 2s. 6d. (92/4/0; 36/8/0; 0/7/6; tickets: 86/3/0) (charge: #105 I7».)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Billington. Morning Herald, 5 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Billington, No. 11, Great Newport-street, Long-acre. Receipts: #344 12s. (221/1/6; 2/12/6; tickets: 120/18/0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Booth. 1st piece: In Act II the Grand Triumphal Entry of Alexander into Babylon. 3rd piece: Never performed there. Morning Chronicle, 2 May: Tickets to be had of Booth, No. 18, Broad Court, Long Acre. Receipts: #105 12s. 6d. (99/8/6; 6/4/0; tickets: none listed) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Billington. Public Advertiser, 9 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Billington, No. 11, Great Newport-street, Long Acre. Receipts: #277 9s. (176.4; 0.12; tickets [378 in boxes; 41 in pit]: 100.13)

Event Comment: Benefit for Macklin. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. [In afterpiece the playbill assigns Charlotte to Mrs Morton, but "On the illness of Mrs Morton Miss Ambrose, whom many must remember on the stage, was applied to--and undertook the part. Long disuse to it had made her timid [she had retired from the stage in May 1782], but she was well received by the public, and performed well" (World, 7 May). Mrs Morton is also listed as Betty Hint in mainpiece; her substitute in that part is not known.] World, 17 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Macklin, No. 6, Tavistock-row, Covent Garden. Receipts: #335 1s. 6d. (173.19.6; 2.11.0; tickets: 156.11.0)

Event Comment: A new Serious Opera (1st time [in London; 1st performed at Venice, 1781]); the music by Sarti, under the direction of Mazzinghi. "At length in the spring arrived the celebrated Marchesi, whose fame had long reached this country, and who had been extolled to such a degree that impatience and expectation were raised to the highest pitch; and on the first night of his appearance the theatre was not only crowed to the utmost in every part, but on the rising of the curtain, the stage was so full of spectators that it was some time before order and silence could be obtained, and with some difficulty that Marchesi, who was to open the opera, could make his way before the audience. Marchesi was at this time a very well-looking young man, of good figure, and graceful deportment. His acting was spirited and expressive: his vocal powers were very great, his voice of extensive compass, but a little inclined to be thick (Mount-Edgcumbe, 66-67). Receipts: #437 15s. 6d., i.e. 560 tickets delivered to Prendergrass [see 8 Dec. 1787], who sold 558; 110 to Toosey, who sold 86; 400 to Butler, who sold 285; 236 to Snelson, who sold 204. Total non-subscription tickets sold: 1133

Event Comment: Benefit for Wild. 1st piece: Not acted these 12 years. [acted 23 Feb. 1784]. 2nd piece [1st time; M. INT 1]. Morning Herald, 20 May: Tickets to be had of Wild, No. 34, Long-acre. Receipts: #274 12s. (149.10; 9.7; tickets: 115.15)

Event Comment: A Grand Serious Opera; the music by Sacchini, with additions and alterations [by Andreozzi and Mazzinghi]. Under the direction of Mazzinghi. The dresses executed from original drawings of Bartolozzi and Tresham, by Lupino. With dances analogous to the Opera. The Doors to be opened at 6:30. To begin at 7:30 [same throughout season]. Pit 10s. 6d. Gallery 5s. There are a number of green boxes which may be taken on application to Lee, at the Theatre; the entrance to which, and to the Gallery, will be in Oxford-street. Subscriptions will be received by Messrs Wright and Co., Henrietta-street, Covent-garden (only) where tickets are delivering daily; and such Ladies as have not compleated their subscriptions to their boxes are intreated to send their names to the office, in order to have the tickets prepared, as no person can be admitted without producing a ticket. The Nobility and Gentry are intreated to give particular orders to their coachmen to set down and take up with their horses' heads towards Hyde-park. The Doors in Blenheim-mews for chairs only. By Command of His Majesty no person can be admitted behind the scenes during the performance. "We fear that [the Pantheon as converted into a theatre] will gratify only the eye. It must undergo still more changes before the ear will be satisfied. Whether it is that the dome is too high and disproportioned to the breadth, or that the orchestra is sunk too low beneath the audience we cannot tell, but the sound does not swell and spread in equal volume; and it is the most inaudible in the best parts of the Theatre: the Pit and the first and second tier of Boxes hear very indistincly...We found this to be the complaint of every judge of music in the place" (Morning Chronicle, 18 Feb.). "The Pantheon has opened, and is small, they say, but pretty and simple; all the rest ill-conducted, and from the singers to the scene-shifters imperfect; the dances long and bad, and the whole performance so dilatory and tedious, that it lasted from eight to half an hour past twelve" (Walpole [18 Feb. 1791], XIV, 377) [and see 19 Feb.]