Event Comment: [as Miss Mahon Mrs Second has sung in the cg oratorios in 1789 and 1790.] Receipts: #189 5s. (187.5.6; 1.19.6)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 4 years. [In mainpiece the playbill assigns Acasto to Murray, but "An apology was made for Murray, who was prevented by illness from playing Acasto, which, at a short notice, was taken by Hull" (True Briton, 14 Oct.).] "This whole of [Mrs Spencer's] performance was marked by such unaffected simplicity that it was almost impossible to consider it as the mere fiction of the scene. This lady is really a great aquisition to the house" (True Briton, ibid). Receipts: #254 6s. 6d. (244.18.6; 9.8.0)

Event Comment: By Authority of the Lord Chamberlain. Benefit for Lacy, formerly of the Theatre Royal, Drury-Lane. Tickets to be had of Fosbrook, at the Box Office of the Drury Lane Theatre, and Rice, at the Box Office of the Theatre-Royal, Haymarket, where Places for the Boxes may be taken. [Address by John Taylor (Monthly Mirror, Dec. 1798, p. 370). On this night the following appeared both at dl and at the hay: Hollingsworth, Caulfield, Bannister Jun., Suett, Miss Pope, Mrs Bland.

Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Benefit for an Infant Orphan Family. Tickets to be had at No. 17, Tufton-street, Westminster; of Appleby, Hosier, Parliament-street; Mrs Cleaver, Cannon-row, Parliament-street; Newcomb, Confectioner, Bridge-street, Westminster; Taylor, Linen-draper, Whitehall; Thomas, Butcher, Charing-cross; Medhurst, Pastry Cook, Russel-court, Drury-lane; Rice, at the Theatre, where Places for the Boxes may be taken

Event Comment: [Extra night] Benefit for the General Lying-In Hospital, Bayswater, Under the Patronage of Her Majesty. Tickets to be had at the Hospital; of Longman and Wilkinson, Cheapside; Broderip andCo., Haymarket; and of Brandon at the Theatre, where Places for the Boxes may be taken. Many of the Re-Renters have generously relinquished their Privilege upon this Night. [Faulkner had acted at dl on 21 Dec. 1796, and Mrs Johnstone at cg on 4 Jan. 1798.] Receipts: none listed

Event Comment: Set to Musick after the Italian Manner. The Habits and Decorations entirely New. [Probably by Eliza Haywood and William Hatchett, with music by Arne.] 7 p.m. 5s., 3s., 2s

Event Comment: [Mainpiece in place of First Love, advertised on playbill of 14 Mar. In it the playbill retain Palmer as Frederick Bertram and Miss Farren as Eliza Ratcliffe, but "The Publick are most respectfully informed that in consequence of the Indisposition of Palmer and Miss Farren, the Characters of Charles [sic] Bertram and Eliza in The Jew will be performed by C. Kemble and Mrs Goodall" (printed slip attached to Kemble playbill).] Receipts: #145 14s. 6d. (102.3.0; 38.5.0; 5.6.6)

Event Comment: A New English Opera. The Music Compos'd by Mr Rush. Signora Cremonini, Clementini, made her first appearance on this Stage in the Character of Eliza. Sings very well, very Graceful Deportm[en]t & is a great Support to the Opera. many of the Songs were Encor'd. Some few Hisses. but upon the whole, was pretty well receiv'd (Hopkins). Books of the Opera to be sold at the Theatre. A new English Opera, the Royal Shepherd-the Musick composed by Mr Rush.-Siga Cremonini made her first appearance,--sings ver fine,--very graceful deportment, and is a great support to the Opera.--Some hisses--Many of the songs encored. Upon the whole was well liked...On this occasion the Stage was cut near two feet and a half to enlarge the orchestra, to make it contain the additional performers who belong to the Opera House, on whose account the Opera cannot be performed Tuesdays and Saturdays (Hopkins Diary-MacMillan)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; CO 3, by James Cobb. Text: T. N. Longman and O. Rees, 1800. Miss Waters is identified in the Songs]: The Scenes, Music, Machinery, Dresses, and Decorations are all entirely new. The Music composed by Mazzinghi and Reeve. The Scenery painted by Richards, Phillips, Lupino, Hollogan, Backmore, &c. [based on drawings of Indian scenery by Thomas Daniell]. The Machinery and Decorations by Cresswell, Sloper, Goostree, &c. The Dresses by Dick and Mrs Egan. Books of the Songs, also describing the Scenes and Spectacle of the Return from the Tiger Hunt, to be had at the Theatre, price six pence. "The whole [forms] an exhibition of the utmost grandeur...The expense attending the decoration must have been immense...The dailogue is certainly not of the first description of writing, but it forms, on the whole, a very safe vehicle for some of the best music the English stage has for some time been able to boast"(Morning Herald, 13 Nov.). Account-Book, 27 Dec.: Paid Cuthbert for Wheels, &c. for the Elephants #13 18s. Receipts: #364 7s. 6d. (363.19.6; 0.8.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: 7th Time [i.e. in continuation of the reckoning for the previous season. Mrs Rivers was from cg]

Event Comment: Nothing said abour ye prolog: (Cross). The Music of the Funeral Procession compos'd by Dr Boyce. [See "William Boyce's 'Solemn Dirge' in Garrick's Romeo and Juliet Production of 1750," by Charles Haywood, Shakespeare Quarterly, Spring, 1960.] This day is Publish'd at 1s. 6d. Romeo and Juliet a Tragedy, revised and alter'd from Shakespear by Theophilus Cibber, First revised in September 1744, at the Theatre in the Haymarket; now acted at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. To which is added a Serio-Comic Apology for Part of the Life of Mr Theophilus Cibber, Comedian, written by himself. Interspers'd with memoirs and anecdotes relating to the Stage Managements, Theatrical Resolutions, &c. also cursory Observations on principal Players: particularly Mr Quin, Mr Ryan, Mrs Woffington, Mrs Ward, and Miss Bellamy; Mr Garrick, Mr Barry, Mrs Cibber, Mrs Clive, Mrs Pritchard, &c. Likewise Original Letters that passed between the late Sir Thomas DeVeil and Mr Theophilus Cibber relating to the Stage Act, Concluding with a copy of Verses, call'd the Contrite Comedian's Confession. Printed for C. Corbett, the Publisher, at Addison's Head, facing St Dunstan's Church, Fleet St; G. Woodfall, at the King's Arms, the corner of Craig's Court, Charing Cross. [See 11 Oct.] Receipts: #170 (Cross)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Bradshaw, Mrs Love & Mrs Johnston. Mainpiece: Not acted these 3 years. Public Advertiser, 1 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Bradshaw, at Nichol's, baker, Bridge Street, Covent Garden; of Mrs Love, No. 36, Gerrard Street, Soho; of Mrs Johnston, No. 97, near Craven Buildings, Drury-lane. Receipts: #120 1s. 6d. (31.10.0; 20.13.0; 0.7.6; tickets: 67.11.0) (charge: #66 7s.)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time at a public theatre; C 3, by Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven, afterwards Margravine of Anspach, 1st acted privately at the Town-Hall, Newbury, 6 Apr. 1780. Text (G. Riley, 1781) assigns no parts. Prologue by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Epilogue by Joseph Jekyll (see text)]: With new Dresses, &c. "The Prologue [the first 30 lines and the concluding couplet of which were used by Sheridan as the Prologue to Pizarro (see dl, 24 May 1799)] was so much admired that at the request of the Duchess of Devonshire and several other of the nobility it was respoken after the piece; but as King was absent from the theatre, it was delivered by Palmer" (Town and Country Magazine, May 1780, p. 23 ). "The chief singularity was that [Lady Craven] went to it herself the second night, in form; sat in the middle of the front row of the stage-box, much dressed, with a profusion of white bugles and plumes, to receive the public homage due to her sex and loveliness. The Duchess of Richmond, Lady Harcourt,...Mrs Damer, Lord Craven,...and I were with her. It was amazing to see so young a woman entirely possess herself-but there is such an integrity and frankness in her consciousness of her own beauty and talents, that she speaks of them with a naivete as if she had no property in them, but only wore them as gifts of the gods. Lord Craven on the contrary was quite agitated by his fondness for her and with impatience at the bad performance of the actors, which was wretched indeed, yet the address of the plot, which is the chief merit of the piece, and some lively pencilling carried it off very well, though Parsons murdered the Scotch lord, and Mrs Robinson (who is supposed to be the favourite of the Prince of Wales) thought on nothing but her own charms, or him. There is a very good though endless prologue written by Sheridan and spoken in perfection by King, which was encored (an entire novelty) the first night: and an epilogue that I liked still better and which was full as well delivered by Mrs Abington, written by Mr. Jekyl. The audience, though very civil, missed a fair opportunity of being gallant, for in one of those ----logues, I forget which, the noble authoress was mentioned, and they did not applaud as they ought to have done, especially when she condescended to avow her pretty child and was there looking so very pretty...Yet Lady Craven's tranquillity had nothing displeasing;...and it was tempered by her infinite good nature, which made her make excuses for the actors instead of being provoked at them" (Walpole [28 May 1780], XI, 178-80). Public Advertiser, 14 July 1781: This Day at Noon will be published The Miniature Picture (price not listed). Receipts: #144 9s. (94.9; 48.3; 1.17)

Event Comment: The King's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 359. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 346. There is no certainty that this performance is the premiere, but as the play was licensed for printing on 9 Jan. 1676@7, this performance may well be the first one. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, pp.9-10) lists the same cast except for the ommission of Letice. It is not certain which Mrs Knight played Letice. Possibly it was Frances Maria Knight (see Wilson, All the King's Ladies, where she is tentatively listed for that role), but the presence of Mrs Ursula Knight on an undated L. C. list, 3@24, with the date of her swearing into the company given as 12 March 1676@7, it is quite likely that she played this role. (I owe this reference to Ursula Knight to Professor John Harold Wilson.) John Dennis: And when upon the first representations of the Plain Dealer, the Town, as The Authour has often told me, appeard Doubtful what Judgment to Form of it; the foremention'd gentlemen [The Duke of Buckingham, Earl of Rochester, Earl of Dorset, Earl of Mulgrave, Savil, Buckly, Sir John Denham, Waller] by their loud aprobation of it, gave it both a sudden and a lasting reputation (Defense and Defects of Dramatick Poetry, 1725, in The Works of John Dennis, ed. Hooker, II, 277)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 3 years. [See 30 April 1773. See, for afterpiece, the Regatta attached to Queen Mab, 11 Nov.] Mr Moody very bad in Maj. Oldfox , &c. Mrs Greville not much better in Olivia (Hopkins Diary). Rec'd from the late Mrs Johnston for Old Women's Cloaths #10 10s.; By ditto from Mr Garrick for wax candles #1 12s. Receipts: #150 13s. 6d. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 3 years. Tickets delivered by the young D'Egvilles, Jones, Newbold, Shaw, Dale, Purser Sen., Smith, Aberdein, Mills, Miss Tidswell, Mrs Heard, Miss Dancer, Miss Bradshaw, Mrs Haskey, will be admitted. Receipts: #241 8s. 6d. (23.4.0; 15.3.6; 0.15.0; tickets: 202.6.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Clendining. 1st piece: Not acted these 2 years. 2nd piece: In one Act. Morning Herald, 22 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Clendining, No. 22, Southampton-street, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #127 5s. (31.3.6; 6.2.6; tickets: 89.19.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: By Particular Desire. Paid printer's 3 bills...#20 9s.; Mrs Hillman for women's cloathes #23 2s. (Treasurer's Book). Receipts: #116 15s. 6d. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: Tickets delivered for this Evening [Account-Book: by Appleby, Bayne, Dale Jun., Daglish, Douglas, Gardiner, Gillis, Kirk, Lyon, Standen, Pilsbury, Mrs Lewis] will be admitted. Receipts: #192 1s. (7.11.0; 2.14.6; 0.15.6; tickets: 181.0.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Billington. Public Advertiser, 9 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Billington, No. 53, Poland-street. Receipts: #290 16s. 6d. (196.14.6; 4.10.0; tickets: 89.12.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mortimer, Tomlinson and Lings. Tickets deliver'd by Page, Chinnall, Roberts, and Mrs Haywood will be taken

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Jackson. Mainpiece [a tragedy by John Jackson]: Never perform'd there. Doors open half past 5. To begin at half past 6 o'clock

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 6 years [acted 18 Sept. 1778. Miss Scrase (see 19 Sept.) had become Mrs James Bates on 23 Sept.]. Receipts: #195 13s. 6d. (193/3/6; 2/10/0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Dignum and Mrs Wilson. Public Advertiser, 2 May: Tickets to be had of Dignum, Little Wild-street, Drury-lane; of Mrs Wilson, No. 2, Catherine-street, Strand. Mainpiece: Not acted these 4 years. Receipts: #301 19s. 6d. (33/5/0; 15/19/0; 1/2/6; tickets: 251/13/0) (charge: #108 15s.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Miss Wright. Account-Book adds: "Mrs Sharp [who was at first advertised as sharing in the benefit] having sold her 1/2 to Miss Wright." Mainpiece: Not acted these 3 years [acted 6 Apr. 1780]. Receipts: #244 17s. 6d. (67/17/0; 18/9/6; 0/11/0; tickets: 158/0/0) (charge: #107 13s. 4d.)