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Herbert Sparling

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Herbert Sparling in The Lady Slavey (1894)

Herbert Sparling (1864–1944) was a British comedy and musical theatre actor and director.

In 1889 Sparling was sued for breach of contract at Brompton County Court by the "dramatic author" Henry Plunkett Gratton (1808–1889), who alleged that in 1887 he and Sparling had made an agreement that Gratton would rewrite a drama for Sparling in return for which he would receive periodic payments from Sparling. When asked for the second payment Sparling made various excuses and quit his lodgings on The Strand. The outcome was that Gratton was awarded £10 for the work he had already done.[1]

Sparling appeared as Dudley Harcourt in My Sweetheart (1891) at the Vaudeville Theatre;[2] Luigi Di Volpa in F. C. Burnand's Private Enquiry (1891) at the Strand Theatre;[3] Lyngstrand in Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea (1891) at Terry's Theatre;[4][5] Josiah Higgins in Morocco Bound (1893);[6] Sir Wormwood Scrubs in Howard Talbot's comic opera Wapping Old Stairs (1894);[7][8] as Lord Lavender in The Lady Slavey (1894);[9][10] Detective in A Melodrama at the Trafalgar Theatre (1894);[11] in an American tour of A Little Ray of Sunshine (1899) which played at Chickering Hall in Boston and Wallack's Theatre in New York among other venues;[12] William Piddock in 22A, Curzon Street at the Garrick Theatre (1898):[13] Pomponius in A Greek Slave at the Herald Square Theatre in New York (1899); in Little Nell and the Marchioness at the Herald Square Theatre (1900); Lord Framlingham in Lady Madcap at the Prince of Wales Theatre (1904);[14][15] Mr Tobin in Noah's Ark at the Waldorf Theatre (1906); and the Duke of Tysmoke in Nelly Neil at the Aldwych Theatre (1907).[16]

as Josiah Higgins in Morocco Bound (1893)

In July 1911 Sparling accompanied Marie George in a performance at Brighton Palace Pier, where:

Marie George gives the audience twenty minutes of sparkling fun, and makes them regret very much the powers that be which prevent her continuing her part for double that period. She is delightful in her songs, "That’s a Cinch", and "Over again". She is most ably assisted by Mr. Herbert Sparling, whose make-up as a pianoforte turner and acting throughout is wonderfully clever.[17]

He was Marquis de Bouillaibaise in Baron Trenck at the Strand Theatre (1911);[18] Percy Fitzwinney on tour in the musical comedy The Boy Scout (1912) with Marie George and C. Hayden Coffin, which he also directed;[19] Dickie Bramsgrove in the musical The Officers' Mess at St Martin's Theatre (1918) and after at the Prince's Theatre (1919).[20] and Harkins in The Half Moon (1920) at the Liberty Theatre in New York.[12][21][22]

In his later years he lived at 25 Portland Place in Brighton, Sussex, where he died in 1944 aged 80.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Nell Darby, Life on the Victorian Stage: Theatrical Gossip, Pen & Sword History (2017) – Google Books
  2. ^ Wearing, p. 84
  3. ^ J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1890–1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books, p. 50
  4. ^ Michael Egan (ed), Henrik Ibsen: the Critical Heritage, Routledge (1999) - Google Books, p. 245
  5. ^ Wearing, pg. 67
  6. ^ Sketches from Morocco Bound - The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, 29 April 1893
  7. ^ "The London Theatres", The Era, 24 February 1894, p. 9
  8. ^ Review of Wapping Old Stairs, Public Opinion, Volumes 65-66, 23 February 1894, p. 246
  9. ^ Review of Lady Slavey, The Sketch 28 November 1894, p. 4
  10. ^ Cast List for The Lady Slavey (1894), British Musical Theatre website
  11. ^ Wearing, p. 208
  12. ^ a b Broadway career of Herbert Sparling - Broadway World
  13. ^ Wearing, p. 371
  14. ^ Lady Madcap, University of Kent Theatre Collection
  15. ^ Thomas S. Hischak. 'The Mikado' to 'Matilda': British Musicals on the New York Stage, Rowman & Littlefield (2020) – Google Books, p. 176
  16. ^ J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) – Google Books, p. 325
  17. ^ Brighton & Hove Society, Brighton, Sussex, Thursday, 12 July 1911, p. 4482b
  18. ^ J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1910–1919: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) – Google Books
  19. ^ The Boy Scout at the Grand Theatre, Leeds (1912) - Leeds Play Bills
  20. ^ "London Musicals 1915-1919 - Over the Footlights website" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  21. ^ Dan Dietz, The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals, Rowman & Littlefield (2019) – Google Books, p. 39
  22. ^ Herbert Sparling in The Half Moon (1920), Playbill
  23. ^ UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, Liverpool, England 1922 - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
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