{{Short description|New Zealand contralto singer (c. 1880 – 1951)}} '''Ethel Morrison''' (c. 1880 – 11 May 1951), nicknamed "Morry" or "Molly"<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248676203 |author=Cyril Ritchard |title=Strangely Enough |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) |volume=XVI |issue=46 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=16 May 1951 |accessdate=8 May 2022 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and described as a "large lady with a large voice",<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article168723140 |title=More about Mummers |newspaper=Sydney Truth |issue=1879 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=10 January 1926 |accessdate=30 May 2022 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> was a contralto singer from New Zealand who began her career in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and Edwardian musical comedies in England. She later acted mostly in Australia and was noted for her performances in domineering roles.
==History== Morrison was born in Wellington, New Zealand. She had hopes for a career on the concert stage, and studied singing at the Royal Academy of Music.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74669557 |title=The Woman's World |newspaper=The Advertiser and Register |location=South Australia |date=11 August 1931 |access-date=3 June 2022 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
===D'Oyly Carte years=== Morrison joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1906 performing in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, initially in the chorus, and her first named role on stage was Inez in ''The Gondoliers''. As Louie René's understudy, she had the opportunity, on occasion, to play Lady Jane in ''Patience'', the Queen of the Fairies in ''Iolanthe'', and Dame Carruthers in ''The Yeomen of the Guard''. At the end of the London season she toured with D'Oyly Carte, playing Inez and understudying the leading contralto roles. In December 1907 Morrison was promoted to playing the leading contralto roles: Little Buttercup in ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', Ruth in ''The Pirates of Penzance'', Lady Blanche in ''Princess Ida'', Katisha in ''The Mikado'', and the Duchess in ''The Gondoliers'', as well as the abovementioned parts in ''Patience'', ''Iolanthe'', and ''Yeomen''.<ref name=Archive>{{cite web| url=https://gsarchive.net/whowaswho/M/MorrisonEthel.htm |title=Ethel Morrison (1906-09, 1910) |last=Stone|first=David|publisher=Gilbert and Sullivan Archive:Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company|date=24 October 2020|access-date=8 May 2022}}</ref>
The company returned to the Savoy Theatre in April 1908 for the London repertory season, and Morrison was relegated to her previous role as understudy, occasionally going on for René as Buttercup and Katisha, and playing Mrs. Jones in the one-act companion piece ''A Welsh Sunset''. In October 1908, again on tour with the company, Morrison was the leading contralto. She left the company in September 1909 to appear at the Savoy in the world premiere of W. S. Gilbert's ''Fallen Fairies'' on 15 December 1909, creating the part of Locrine.<ref name=Archive/><ref>{{cite web| url=https://gsarchive.net/gilbert/plays/fallen_fairies/reviews/mus_times.html |title=''Fallen Fairies''. New Gilbert-German Opera |publisher=The Musical Times (vol. 51, no. 803, p. 23, reprinted in The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive |date= 1 January 1910|access-date=8 May 2022}}</ref> ''Fallen Fairies'' closed in January 1910.<ref name=Archive/>
Morrison next appeared at the Apollo Theatre as Lady Birkenhead in an Edwardian musical comedy, ''The Islander'' (April–August 1910), and then played the small role of Laska in ''The Chocolate Soldier'' at the Lyric Theatre (September 1910). She rejoined the D'Oyly Carte on tour as an emergency replacement for René in October 1910 in her accustomed roles in ''Iolanthe'', ''Mikado'', ''Yeomen'', ''Gondoliers'', and others. After this, she left the company and appeared in the pantomime ''Our Little Cinderella'' at the Playhouse Theatre from December 1910 to January 1911, followed by a musicalised version of Strauss's ''Die Fledermaus'' called ''Nightbirds'' at the Lyric from December 1911 to May 1912, the musical ''The Girl in the Taxi'', also at the Lyric, opening in September 1912, and a play called ''Within the Law'' at the Haymarket Theatre, opening in May 1913.<ref name=Archive/>
===Australia=== She was then recruited by J. C. Williamson to join his opera company. She played the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in ''The Gondoliers'' at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne from 27 June 1914, and was praised for her Katisha in ''The Mikado'' and Dame Carruthers in ''The Yeomen of the Guard''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239133930 |title=Music and Drama |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) |issue=10854 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=7 March 1914 |access-date=30 May 2022 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She was praised for her Lady Jane in ''Patience'' at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne in August 1914, when audience numbers were depleted by the War.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121112392 |title=Plays and Players |newspaper=The Weekly Times |issue=2,350 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=22 August 1914 |accessdate=30 May 2022 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She made an "imposing and effective Duchess of Plaza Toro" in ''The Gondoliers'' at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth in May 1915.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209404449 |title=Busker's Budget |newspaper=Truth (Perth newspaper) |issue=617 |location=Western Australia |date=1 May 1915 |accessdate=30 May 2022 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and a "stately and amusing" mother in ''The Chocolate Soldier'' at His Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane in July 1915.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article177933056 |title=His Majesty's Theatre |newspaper=The Telegraph (Brisbane) |issue=13309 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=19 July 1915 |accessdate=30 May 2022 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She was in the Australian premiere of ''Tonight's the Night'' at Her Majesty's, Melbourne, on 8 July 1916, together with Dorothy Brunton, Connie Ediss and Alfred Frith, directed by Harry B. Burcher with choreography by Minnie Hooper.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}
In 1917, she appeared in ''The Marriage of Kitty'', ''Penelope'', ''Mary Goes First'' and ''A Pair of Silk Stockings'' with Marie Tempest's company.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} She appeared in a brief revival of ''The Silent Witness'' at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne at Muriel Starr's farewell appearance in March 1920, notable for the appearance of Frank Harvey and J. B. Atholwood.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202984392 |title=Amusements |newspaper=The Age |issue=20269 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=15 March 1920 |accessdate=2 June 2022 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She played in Harbach and Hirsch's ''Mary'' from its premiere at the Theatre Royal, Adelaide 23 September 1922 to 22 August 1923 at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246063295 |title=Miss Ethel Morrison |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) |issue=13,815 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=21 August 1923 |access-date=30 May 2022 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> then left for a holiday in London via America aboard SS ''Wanganui'' on 20 September 1923.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article120544006 |title=Notes in the Theatres |newspaper=The Sunday Times (Sydney) |issue=1960 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 August 1923 |access-date=30 May 2022 |page=24 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She was reckoned "easily one of the most popular artistes ... to ever visit Australia".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128139192 |title=Notes in the Theatres |newspaper=The Sunday Times (Sydney) |issue=1982 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=27 January 1924 |accessdate=30 May 2022 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
===Broadway=== In late 1923 and January 1924 Morrison was in New York City appearing on Broadway in a revue, ''The Topics of 1923'', with Frank Greene.<ref>[https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/new-zealand-times/1924/02/28/9 "Notes for Women: Social and Personal"], ''New Zealand Times'', 28 February 1924, p. 9</ref> She was informed that her husband had died in England around this time,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63857154 |title=Stage Personages |newspaper=The Mail (Adelaide) |volume=12 |issue=619 |location=South Australia |date=29 March 1924 |access-date=30 May 2022 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and so on 1 March she sailed on the ''Olympic'' to London to be with her ten-year-old daughter, who was at school there.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128148683 |title=Theatrical World Personals |newspaper=The Sunday Times (Sydney) |issue=1990 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=23 March 1924 |access-date=1 June 2022 |page=20 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Later that year she returned to Broadway.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146560579 |title=The Theatre & its People |newspaper=Table Talk |issue=2054 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=18 December 1924 |access-date=3 June 2022 |page=25 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
In 1927 she had a minor part in the musical comedy ''Maritza'' in New York as a marquise who has a facelift performed on her by beauty specialists, and henceforth needs to employ a servant whose job is to express emotions for her.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223619561 |title=Have Your Fare Back |newspaper=The Sun (Sydney) |issue=1260 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 May 1927 |access-date=1 June 2022 |page=36 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
===Back in Australia=== In May 1930, she returned to Australia with Edith Taliaferro by the steamer ''Sonoma''<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16679772 |title=Theatrical Party Arrives |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=28,812 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=9 May 1930 |access-date=4 June 2022 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> under contract to J. C. Williamson's,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244484347 |title=Ethel Morrison to Join Taliaferro Co. |newspaper=The Herald (Melbourne) |issue=16,490 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=24 March 1930 |access-date=4 July 2022 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> playing Rachel Crothers' ''Let Us Be Gay'' at the Criterion Theatre, Sydney.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160631405 |title="Let Us Be Gay" |newspaper=The Sydney Mail |volume=XXXVII |issue=948 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 May 1930 |access-date=2 June 2022 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Morrison (as Mrs Boucicault) and Reginald Dane were praised for their playing in the comedy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84909159 |title=Sydney Letter |newspaper=Queensland Figaro |volume=XXXVI |issue=23 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=14 June 1930 |access-date=3 June 2022 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
''Let Us Be Gay'' was followed in June 1930 by ''The Garden of Eden'', Avery Hopwood's adaptation of Rudolf Bernauer's ''Der Garten Eden'', with Morrison playing the Baroness, <!--Other players were House Barker Jameson, George Blunt, Henrietta Cavendish and Leslie Victor.--> then in July in the controversial<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202467343 |title=Theatre and Screen |newspaper=The Age |issue=23,520 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=27 August 1930 |access-date=4 June 2022 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> ''Little Accident'', then ''The Road to Romance'' (originally ''The Road to Rome'')<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140835272 |title=Stage & Screen |newspaper=The Australasian |volume=CXXIX |issue=4,270 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=8 November 1930 |access-date=3 June 2022 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}} review includes plot summary.</ref> by R. E. Sherwood, at the Comedy Theatre. The plays were also performed at the King's Theatre, Melbourne and the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242936957 |title=Edith Taliaferro's Second Play |newspaper=The Herald (Melbourne) |issue=16,669 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=18 October 1930 |access-date=4 July 2022 |page=22 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In December 1930 Taliaferro returned to America and Morrison to Sydney, where she played in Neil F. Grant's ''Possessions'', at the "Cri".
In January 1931, she played the title role of St John Ervine's ''The First Mrs Fraser'', created by Marie Tempest, followed in January 1931 with a revival<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203340282 |title=Theatre and Screen |newspaper=The Age |issue=23,669 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=18 February 1931 |access-date=8 July 2022 |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> of Barrie's ''Mary Rose'', as Mrs Morland, in February. The cast then returned to Sydney to open in ''The First Mrs Fraser'' in March<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224671972 |title=Clever Wit |newspaper=The Sun (Sydney) |issue=1460 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 March 1931 |access-date=3 June 2022 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> followed in May with Hastings Turner's comedy, ''The Spot on the Sun'', co-starring with Ada Reeve.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16776625 |title=Criterion Theatre |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=29,125 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=11 May 1931 |access-date=8 July 2022 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In June they took ''The First Mrs Fraser'' and ''Let Us Be Gay'' to her home town Wellington, New Zealand, followed by the Theatre Royal, Adelaide in August.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61565466 |title=Charming "Mrs Fraser" |newspaper=The Mail (Adelaide) |volume=20 |issue=1,002 |location=South Australia |date=8 August 1931 |access-date=3 June 2022 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The comedy ''A Warm Corner'' followed, Morrison playing Adela Corner who, like TV's Hyacinth Bucket, has visions of a high society future for herself and Charles Corner, her corn-plaster merchant husband.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35679215 |title=Farce at the Theatre Royal |newspaper=The Advertiser and Register |location=South Australia |date=17 August 1931 |access-date=3 June 2022 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Noël Coward's ''Hay Fever'' followed for four nights at the end of August and the company moved to Melbourne with ''A Warm Corner'', which ran for five weeks before moving to Sydney in October in ''Hay Fever'' and ''As Husbands Go'', and in December 1931 ''Let Us Be Gay''. The company returned to Melbourne's King's Theatre with ''As Husbands Go'' which on 20 February 1932 they took to His Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane, followed by ''Let Us Be Gay'', and ''The First Mrs Fraser'', which on 12 or 14 March was Morrison's last appearance in Australia for the time being, leaving from Sydney by the ''Makura'' on 17 March.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16848318 |title=Personal |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=29,390 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=16 March 1932 |access-date=4 June 2022 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
She returned to Australia by the ''Makura'' on 20 October 1934, joining Madge Elliott and Cyril Ritchard, for the Otto Harbach and Jerome Kern musical ''Roberta'' at His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, opening on 22 December 1934; ''High Jinks'', and ''Our Miss Gibbs''. Its Sydney season opened at Her Majesty's in March 1935. Her performance was praised.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236521859 |title=English Comedy Company |newspaper=The Labor Daily |issue=3540 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=11 April 1935 |access-date=6 July 2022 |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
In 1936, she played in Emlyn Williams' ''Night Must Fall'', in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne; remembered fondly years later.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11348729 |title=Good Drama at Nation Theatre |newspaper=The Argus (Melbourne) |issue=30,172 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=11 May 1943 |access-date=8 July 2022 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248676256 |title=Postscripts |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) |volume=XVI |issue=46 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=16 May 1951 |access-date=8 July 2022 |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Morrison then joined a four-month tour of New Zealand with J. C. Williamson's,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17260178 |title=Miss Elaine Hamill |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=30,768 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=13 August 1936 |access-date=6 July 2022 |page=17 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> returning in August to play in ''Yes Madam'', starring Charles Heslop. In November, she left on the ship ''Orion'' for London, where she lived in Notting Hill.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74332203 |title=Australian To Write Coronation Book |newspaper=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |location=South Australia |date=5 February 1937 |access-date=7 July 2022 |page=30 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
In 1947, she returned to New Zealand, where she holidayed with her family for six months then returned to Sydney,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248252397 |title=Life of Sydney |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) |volume=XII |issue=187 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=29 October 1947 |access-date=4 July 2022 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> where she died on 11 May 1951.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Ethel}} Category:19th-century New Zealand women singers Category:New Zealand contraltos Category:1880s births Category:1951 deaths Category:Musicians from Wellington City