SEASON OF
1785-1786
he emergence of three ladies who were already, and who
remained, pre-eminent in their profession made this season
an important one. The first was the great comic actress, Mrs
Jordan, who came out at Drury Lane on 18 October, and who
for nearly thirty years was all in all the most popular performer of her day.
To the poetasters and hack-writers then at work Mrs Siddons was the Mel¬
pomene of the stage, Mrs Jordan the Thalia. Her irresistible high spirits, the
accuracy of her technique, and above all her laugh, which, as Leigh Hunt
said, was “the happiest and most natural on the stage”, gave her a power
over her audiences that never lapsed. Her initial progress this season was
slow, but by the time the theatre had closed for the summer her triumph
was complete.
The other new-comers were both well-known singers, Mrs Billington
and Mme Mara. By coincidence they came out on successive nights: the
first at Covent Garden on 13 February, the second at the King’s on 14 Febru¬
ary. Mrs Billington, as Miss Weichsel, had been heard in March 1778 at
the Covent Garden oratorios, aged eleven, as a pianist. As a singer she made
her reputation a secure one on the Dublin stage, and before she died had
Performed leading parts in nearly all the opera houses of Europe. Mme Mara,
already famous on the Continent, had come to England, where she was to
remain for many years, in 1784; she had first been heard in concerts and
oratorios.
The best new Comedy,” remarks Genest, “since The School for
Scandal” was acted for the first time at Drury Lane on 14 January: The
Heiress by Lieut. -Gen. John Burgoyne. Before the season concluded it had
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