Observe with what a self-sufficient smirk Rivolti enters the arena, gracefully handing in the young lady; see how he places her on her horse, and then looks round the house, as much as to say, ‘In one minute you will be delighted to see what I can make her do.’ He cracks his whip, the horse starts into a canter, the young lady leaps from his back, over garlands, through hoops, etc., etc., when the horse stops, and while the audience are applauding, how happy Rivolti appears! He looks around as much as to say to the audience, ‘I told you I could do it. But wait a minute. You see this clown; now I am going to make him do all manner of funny things.’ Then ‘Little Sandy’ performs some of his quaint tricks as only ‘Little Sandy’ can, and while the audience are laughing and applauding, with what complacency Rivolti looks at them, every feature in his face beaming with gratification. His many admirers will be sorry to hear that he has for the present left the profession, to which, however, he will probably soon return.
Mr John Henry Cooke returned from America this year, and again joined Mr Hengler’s Company. Cinderella was reproduced for the Christmas holidays, and with greater splendour than on the previous occasion. Large audiences visited the circus, and the season proved a very profitable one. The Prince and Princess of Wales and family again visited the cirque. From London Mr Hengler and his company went to Dublin, and from thence to Hull and Glasgow, returning to London to open for the fourth season in December 1874. The company was of the usual excellence, including a new importation from America, Mr Wooda Cook, a very clever equestrian; ‘Little Sandy,’ and Mr Barry, a very pleasing lyrical jester, a great favourite in America, where he has been located several years. The other performers are all excellent. The great feature for the Christmas holidays was a new pantomime, entitled Little Red Riding Hood, performed (with the exception of ‘Little Sandy,’ who enacts the Wicked Wolf) entirely by children, original music being composed by Messieurs Rivière and Stanislaus. The idea of this piece is entirely original, nothing of a similar description having been produced in the arena. The cirque is crowded at every representation, and the present promises to be a greater success than either of Mr Hengler’s previous seasons in Argyle Street.
CHAPTER XII.
The Brothers Sanger—First Appearance in London—Vicissitudes of Astley’s—Batty and Cooke—Purchase of the Theatre by the Brothers Sanger—Their Travelling Circus—The Tenting System—Barnum and the Sangers.
An impenetrable mist hangs over the early history of the industrious and enterprising gentlemen who now own the ‘home of the equestrian drama’ in the Westminster Road. The names of Hengler, and Cooke, and Adams have been, to our fathers and grandfathers, as well as to the present generation, ‘familiar in their mouths as household words;’ but circus records, and even circus traditions, are silent concerning the progenitors of John and George Sanger. There is a whisper floating about circus dressing-rooms that the latter gentleman might have been seen, many years ago, doing a conjuring trick on the narrow ‘parade’ of a little show at fairs; but the Brothers Sanger are most reticent concerning their antecedents, and all that can be said of them with certainty is that they were travelling with a well-appointed circus, and a numerous company and stud, many years before they became known as public entertainers in the metropolis.
They first became known to a London audience by their successful series of performances at the Agricultural Hall, which place of amusement they occupied for several seasons.
During their tenancy they produced several equestrian spectacles, all mounted in a costly and elaborate manner. The first was entitled ‘The Congress of Monarchs,’ and, nothing of a similar character having been previously produced in London, it attracted an immense concourse of persons to the Hall. To give some idea of the vast number who attended, I am enabled to state, on authority, that on several occasions upwards of 37,000 persons witnessed the performances in one day.
Their last season in this place was in 1872, in which year they also acquired possession of Astley’s, which had, since the earlier days of Batty, gradually sunk to the lowest grade in the estimation of the pleasure-seeking portion of the public, all Batty’s successors, with the exception of William Cooke, having signally failed. Upon the termination of Cooke’s lease, Batty wished to raise the rental, or sell the property, and as Cooke declined paying more than he had hitherto done, he retired from Astley’s and the profession, and Batty, not finding a purchaser or a suitable tenant, after keeping the place closed for some time, opened it himself, having Hughes, a once celebrated equestrian proprietor, as acting manager, and William West as stage director. The military spectacle with which the theatre was re-opened, entitled The Story of a Flag, was a failure; and after lingering for a few months the theatre was closed.
Mr E. T. Smith then obtained possession on very advantageous terms, and in a short time was fortunate enough to find a tenant in Mr Nation, who paid £5000 for the unexpired term of the lease. This not proving a profitable investment, the theatre was again in the market, when Mr Boucicault, with the same view of ‘regenerating the National Drama,’ which he subsequently essayed at Covent Garden with Babil and Bijou, obtained a lease, made great alterations, and renamed the building the Royal Westminster Theatre, advertising it as ‘the nearest theatre to the West End, through the parks, which extend to the foot of Westminster Bridge, close to which the theatre is situate.’ The inhabitants of Lambeth laughed, and the dwellers in Belgravia wondered; but the Royal Westminster was not frequented by the play-goers of either quarter, and after an unsuccessful season the theatre was again closed.
Mr Batty again trying to dispose of the property, but without effect, it remained closed for a considerable period, until the present proprietors obtained possession of it, and opened it for the Christmas holidays. The experiment of keeping both Astley’s and the Agricultural Hall open at the same time did not, however, answer their expectations, and they ultimately concentrated their forces at Astley’s, having purchased the property upon extremely advantageous terms.