Did Arthur Sullivan visit brothels? Part 4.
In this series, I have argued that, notwithstanding a scene in the movie Topsy-Turvy, the only assertions that Sir Arthur Sullivan ever engaged the services of a sex worker in a brothel were made by his 20th century biographer Arthur Jacobs, and that I find those hypotheses unsupported by today’s available evidence. But I have […]
Did Arthur Sullivan visit brothels? Part 3.
A prolonged longing? As I wrote in Parts 1 and 2 of this story, I believe that Sullivan’s biographer Arthur Jacobs erred when he suggested that Sullivan frequented a Parisian brothel at the address “No. 4 Rue M.T.” Instead, I suggested that Sullivan and his mistress Fanny Ronalds used that location for their own pleasures […]
Did Arthur Sullivan visit brothels? Part 2.
The Mystery in the Rue Mont-Thabor As we saw in Part 1 of this story, on 10 April 1882, Arthur Sullivan arrived in Paris in the early morning hours and checked into the Grand Hotel. At noon he “went to keep appointment at No. 4 Rue M.T.”, where he “stayed till 5.30 (2)”. The Rue […]
Did Arthur Sullivan visit brothels? Part 1.
In the first moments of the movie Topsy-Turvy—a film I recommend—an obviously ill Sir Arthur Sullivan is stimulated with enough coffee and morphine to revive him sufficiently to conduct the opening night of Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic opera Princess Ida. That history is well evidenced in Sullivan’s diary of 1884. Afterwards, Richard Carte and Helen […]
Ivanhoe: One view from the boxes.
‘Being hot is only becoming to some girls.’ Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (4 June 1833 – 25 March 1913) was the sort of Victorian war hero who spent a lot of time away from his home and his wife, Louisa, Lady Wolseley. Hence, they exchanged many letters. After his death, Lady Wolseley asked a […]
A Tale of Cox & Box — Or How an Italian terrorist gave rise to Gilbert and Sullivan
What led young Arthur Sullivan into the glamorous world of musical theater? Connections.