Bessie Sudlow

Bessie Sudlow, born Barbara Eliza Johnstone on 22 July 1849 at 9 Bittern Street in Liverpool, England, was a British singer and entertainer who built a career in Victorian burlesque in the United States before transitioning to opera bouffe performance in Britain. Her father, George Johnstone, a qualified Master Mariner in the merchant navy, died before the 1851 census. Her mother, Eliza, née Lee, was from Ireland, and following her father's death, Eliza married Thomas Sudlow of Liverpool in 1851, shortly after the family relocated to the United States. Thomas Sudlow worked as the stage-doorkeeper at Niblo's Garden in New York, a connection that would prove formative for his stepdaughter. Bessie adopted the surname Sudlow as her stage name upon joining the burlesque troupe known as the British Blondes, led by English dancer, comedian, actress, and producer Lydia Thompson.

Sudlow performed in the United States in Victorian burlesque from 1867 to 1874. The British Blondes appeared at the Tammany Grand Theatre during the 1868–1869 season, and a review in the Evening Telegraph of Philadelphia on 17 November 1868 noted her performance in The Lancashire Lass, in which she played the role of Fanny Danville at the Chesnut. In January 1869 she appeared in New York in the burlesque The Page's Revel, and later that year, at the age of twenty, she performed in The Forty Thieves at Niblo's Garden. In April and May 1869 she appeared there in Robinson Crusoe and His Man Friday, which The New York Times reviewed as a pantomime-burlesque worked from familiar material. During December 1869 and January 1870, Sudlow played at the Tammany Grand Theatre in Bad Dickey, a burlesque of Richard III. A review in the New York Clipper on 15 October 1870 praised her as a serio-comic vocalist, singling out her renditions of Sweet Spirit Hear My Prayer and By Killarney's Lakes and Vales as truly excellent.

From 1871 to 1873, Sudlow appeared on a regular basis in various extravaganzas at Niblo's Garden, among them two revivals of The Black Crook. Her Broadway appearances in 1871 included The Black Crook and Paul Clifford. Throughout this period she maintained her association with Thompson's troupe while also taking part in other productions, continuing to do so until her return to England.

Back in Britain, Sudlow performed in September 1874 with Thompson's company in Blue Beard, a burlesque written by Henry Brougham Farnie, at the Charing Cross Theatre in London. In January 1875 she appeared at the Theatre Royal, Dublin in the pantomime The Yellow Dwarf, and The Era described her as a very graceful and attractive actress who sang pleasingly. In March 1875 she performed at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin in The Isle of Bachelors, adapted from Charles Lecocq's comic opera Les cent vierges, and in June 1875 she took part in a promenade concert at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, held in honor of the American team competing in an Irish–American International Rifle Match.

Sudlow joined a touring company organized by Richard D'Oyly Carte that began its tour of England and Ireland on 21 June 1875. The company's repertoire included Offenbach's La Périchole, La fille de Madame Angot, and Trial by Jury by Gilbert and Sullivan. After ten weeks in England, the company opened at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin on 5 September 1875. In October 1875 Sudlow took on the opera bouffe soprano role of Cesarine in Charles Lecocq's Fleur-de-Thé at the Criterion Theatre. As Emily Soldene recalled in her 1898 memoirs, Sudlow was summoned at the last minute by Carte, who wired the Gaiety Theatre's manager Michael Gunn to send her from Dublin. She encountered the music with a full orchestra for the first time while already on stage and improvised where she had forgotten the words, yet reviewers responded with enthusiasm. Her capacity to learn a role quickly was a recognized professional attribute.

In January 1876 she returned to the Theatre Royal, Dublin for Dick Whittington and His Cat, earning praise from The Era for her fresh acting, sparkling vivacity, and pleasant manner. In March 1876 she again toured with D'Oyly Carte's London Comic Opera Company, whose program again featured La fille de Madame Angot. During rehearsals in Manchester, a dispute between leading ladies Pattie Laverne and Selina Dolaro over the tempo of a duet led to Dolaro's refusal to perform, and Carte called on Sudlow to learn the role of Lange at short notice. From June to August 1876 she served as principal soprano for Carte's Opera Bouffe Company on tour, playing the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury, Amanda in Carte's Happy Hampstead, Müller in The Duke's Daughter, and Lange in La fille de Madame Angot.

It was during her engagement at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin in September 1875 that the theatre's manager, Michael Gunn, became attracted to Sudlow. Gunn had been a silent partner of Carte's for several years. Sudlow and Gunn married on 26 October 1876 at St Marylebone Parish Church in London; Carte served as best man, and George Dolby gave the bride away. Following her marriage, Sudlow performed on stage only once more. The couple had six children: Kevin, born in 1880; Brendan, born in 1881; Haidée Elizabeth, born 2 July 1882; Selskar, born in 1883; and Agnes, among others. Both Haidée and Agnes became actresses, and Agnes later became Lady Webb as the wife of Sir Ambrose Henry Webb. Selskar became prominent as an expert in public health.

The Gunns maintained fine houses on Merrion Square in Dublin and on Russell Square in London, and were counted among the wealthiest families in Dublin, frequently hosting large gatherings. Michael Gunn was a close friend of John Stanislaus Joyce, father of James Joyce, and the Joyce family were regular visitors to the Gunn household; James Joyce became a friend of Selskar Gunn. After Michael Gunn died in 1901, Sudlow became owner of the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, retaining ownership until 1909. Bessie Sudlow Gunn died in Steyning, Sussex, on 28 January 1928.