THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Ethel Lewis as Isabel in The Pirates of Penzance

Ethel Lewis (1908-10)

[Born 11 July 1889, died Dolphin Square, London, 10 January 1982]

Ethel Elizabeth Lewis joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy chorus in August 1908 during the Second London Repertory Season. When Iolanthe (October 1908), The Pirates of Penzance (December 1908), and The Gondoliers (January 1903) were added to the repertoire she was given the small roles of Fleta, Isabelle, and Fiametta. In March 1909 she filled in on two occasions for Beatrice Boarer as Kate in The Yeomen of the Guard.

In July 1909 she reported to the D'Oyly Carte Principal Repertory Opera Company, on tour until June 1910. Her only regular parts with this Company were the Lady Saphir in Patience (shared with Bertha Lewis and, later, Anna Bethell) and Vittoria in The Gondoliers. In September 1909 she substituted for Miss Boarer again:this time as Edith in The Pirates of Penzance and Phoebe Meryll in The Yeomen of the Guard.

Miss Lewis left the D'Oyly Carte (and the stage) to marry Geoffrey Pearson, third son of Viscount Cowdray in 1910. Geoffrey Perason was killed on September 6, 1914, in France, leaving her with a baby daughter. She appeared as the Hon. Mrs. Pearson in wartime charity events and, in 1916 announced her return to the stage.

In 1934 an Ethel Lewis was a "singer" in two performances of W. H. Auden & Herbert Murrill's musical The Dance of Death at London's Westminster Theatre. Whether this was the same lady is not known.

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