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Alice Barnett (17 May 1846 – 14 April 1901) was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in contralto roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Barnett began her career by 1873 in oratorio and other concert work. Using her imposing physical stature to her advantage, she originated several of the early Gilbert and Sullivan "formidable middle-aged ladies", namely Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance (1879), Lady Jane in Patience (1881) and the Fairy Queen in Iolanthe (1882). She then performed in various in Britain, America, Australia and New Zealand until 1889, earning strong critical praise. After this, she toured in several of the Gaiety burlesques before creating the role of Dame Hecla Cortlandt in W. S. Gilbert and Osmond Carr's His Excellency in 1894. From 1895, she played in Edwardian musical comedy, pantomime and non-musical plays until 1900.
Barnett travelled with W. S. Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan and Carte to New York City for the company's production there of Pinafore, beginning 1 December 1879. She then created the role of Ruth in Gilbert and Sullivan's new opera, The Pirates of Penzance, on 31 December 1879.Rollins and Witts, p. 32 Of her Buttercup, The New York Mercury wrote, "Miss Alice Barnett, an enormous female, was well made up as Buttercup, but is far behind her predecessors here either as an actress or a vocalist." Quoted in "Public Amusements", Reynolds's Newspaper, 28 December 1879, p. 4. The paper was kinder about her Ruth in Pirates, writing, "Miss Alice Barnett is a grand prima donna." She played Ruth throughout the New York run and American tour and continued to play the role at the Opera Comique when the company returned to London in July 1880.Rollins and Witts, pp. 7 and 32
Barnett created the next two Gilbert and Sullivan contralto roles, Lady Jane in Patience in 1881 and the Queen of the Fairies in Iolanthe in 1882.Rollins and Witts, p. 8 Gilbert wrote these formidable characters with Barnett's imposing physical presence in mind, including such self-referential lines for Jane as "not pretty, massive!"Stone, David. Alice Barnett at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte, Retrieved 14 June 2010 and for the Fairy Queen as: "I see no objection to stoutness, in moderation!" Iolanthe, Act I The critic Louis Engel described her as "the successful violoncello-player of Patience, who measures 5 feet 10½ inches, and is most proportionately built."Engel, Louis. "The Musical Week: Perola" . The World, 25 October 1882 The review of Iolanthe in The London Figaro said that Barnett, "a fairy queen of Brobdingnagian proportions, who 'nestles in a nutshell and gambols on gossamer,' invested her part with all the broad humour necessary without overdoing it." "Savoy Theatre". The London Figaro, 2 December 1882 The Times called her "the unsurpassable Alice Barnett". The Times, 2 April 1883, p. 7 In 1883, during the run of Iolanthe, she became ill and was replaced by her understudy, Rosina Brandram, as the principal contralto at the Savoy. When Barnett regained her health, however, Brandram continued with the Savoy cast. Barnett, instead, played the contralto roles in D'Oyly Carte touring companies in 1884, before leaving the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the end of that year.Rollins and Witts, p. 52
In October 1888, Barnett returned to London. The Era, 27 October 1888, p. 2 She appeared as Mrs Shelton in Cellier's Doris at the Lyric Theatre," Doris at the Lyric", The Era, 27 April 1889, p. 11 which was succeeded at the same theatre by The Red Hussar by Henry Pottinger Stephens and Edward Solomon. Barnett was announced beforehand as a cast member for the new piece,"Stage and Song", The Pall Mall Gazette, 22 October 1889, p. 1 but she did not appear. The following year, she toured the British provinces as Martha in Auguste van Biene's production of the Gaiety burlesque Faust up to Date,"Theatrical Mems", The Bristol Mercury, 4 March 1890, p. 3 in which The Era found her "inimitable". The Era, 14 June 1890, p. 14 This tour lasted for more than a year, taking in all four countries of the United Kingdom. The Era, 26 April 1890; 6 December 1890; and 31 October 1891 The company followed this with a production of Carmen up to Data, in which Barnett played Micaela. The Era, 26 March 1892, p. 19 She was a stepsister in Cinderella with the Burns-Crotty Light Opera and the Duchess of Duffshire in In Town. She finally returned to London in 1894 to create another of Gilbert's formidable older women, Dame Hecla Cortlandt in Gilbert and Osmond Carr's His Excellency."His Excellency," The Era, 3 November 1894 "Miss Alice Barnett, as the mighty Dame Hecla, fulfilled the promise of her name, bursting out into flame at the slightest provocation … excruciatingly funny." The Bury and Horwich Post, 5 March 1895, p. 7
After a brief run at the Gaiety Theatre as a replacement in the role of Ada Smith in The Shop Girl, in the summer of 1895,"Advertisements and Notices", The Standard, 9 July 1895, p. 4 Barnett again travelled to America, where she toured in His Excellency with George Edwardes's Lyric Company. In 1896, she returned to England, touring in The Telephone Girl, by Augustus Harris, F. C. Burnand and Gaston Serpette,"The Telephone Girl", The Era, 30 May 1896, p. 11 after which her husband, John Thanet Dickens, died at their house in south London in August 1896. The Era, 29 August 1896, p. 14 She again went to America in November of that year for De Koven and Smith's The Mandarin.
Barnett died in London in 1901 of bronchial pneumonia following an operation.
Peripatetic performer
Barnett appeared with Lillian Russell in Pocahontas, by Sydney Grundy and Edward Solomon, at the Empire Theatre in London before travelling to America with Russell in 1885. In New York, and on tour, she performed in Solomon's shows Billee Taylor, Claude Duval and Polly."The Drama in America", The Era, 16 May 1885, p. 7 She then moved to Australia, where she spent three years, from 1885 to 1888, playing the Gilbert and Sullivan contralto roles (Lady Sangazure in The Sorcerer, Buttercup, Ruth, Jane, the Fairy Queen, Lady Blanche in Princess Ida and Katisha in The Mikado) with J. C. Williamson's opera company."Theatrical Gossip", The Era, 17 July 1886, p. 6; and Theatre Royal, Sydney programme booklet, April 1888 London's The Era noted, "Reports received lately from Australia are so full of the praises of Miss Alice Barnett in her Gilbert and Sullivan impersonations that her appearance … promises to be one of the events of the season.""Theatrical Gossip", The Era, 12 December 1885, p. 8 She also appeared as Martha in Faust, Mrs. Privett in Alfred Cellier's Dorothy (with Leonora Braham in the title role),"Theatrical Gossip", The Era, 12 November 1887, p. 8; and 22 September 1888, p. 10 Eliza Dabsey in Billee Taylor,"The Stage in Australia", The Era, 26 March 1887, p. 13 and the Princesse de Gramponeur in Erminie."The Drama in Australia", The Era, 24 March 1888, p. 16 In 1887, she toured New Zealand with Williamson's Gilbert and Sullivan company and won praise for teaching at the various towns visited by the company."Amusements in Australia", The Era, 3 September 1887, p. 7
Last years
In 1897 Barnett toured Britain with The Telephone Girl."Provincial Theatricals", The Era, 23 October 1897, p. 22 Beginning in December 1897 she appeared in the Drury Lane pantomime, Babes in the Wood, with Dan Leno."To-night's Entertainments", The Pall Mall Gazette, 8 December 1897, p. 1 In 1898, Barnett toured the British provinces as Becky Blisset in Billy by Adrian Ross and Osmond Carr, starring with Little Tich."Theatrical Gossip", The Era, 26 March 1898, p. 7 Later in the same year, she appeared with Marie Studholme in Edwardes's production of A Greek Slave,"Theatrical Gossip", The Era, 30 July 1898, p. 7 playing the part of Melanopis, in which she toured until May 1899."Amusements in Blackpool", The Era, 27 May 1899, p. 22 She then appeared in a third successive touring production, a revival of The Telephone Girl. The Era, 29 July 1899, p. 8 Later in 1899, Barnett returned to the West End as Madame Rouge in Drink, at the Adelphi Theatre,"Theatrical Gossip", The Era, 23 December 1899, p. 12 followed by a farce, Willie's Mrs, at the Strand Theatre. The Era described the play as "a crude and unexpert attempt at farcical comedy," but Barnett received excellent notices for her performance."Willie's Mrs", The Era, 24 March 1900, p. 14
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