Jugglers ( and others) at the Sydney Tivoli 1901-1903

 Once upon a time, Sydney had wonderful buildings like this;

Harry Rickards' Tivoli Theatre in Castlereagh Street.

Between the years 1901-1903 Rickards imported the best of the world's vaudeville talent, and supported the best of Australian Vaudeville talent too.

Amongst his amazing performers during those years were;

Lennon, Hyman and Lennon- Australian club jugglers and passers who were the main local exponents of the art. They had a long career as a partnership and Bert Lennon went on to manage the Tivoli in Adelaide. Bert was a legendary member of the South Australian theatrical community all his life.

The above is the group in 1906 when they were performing for William Anderson in Sydney.

However, back to 1901-1903 and the  Tivoli.

Another legendary group of local juggers were the Lentons. They were hat jugglers.

The two male Lentons started juggling as children. The name Lenton was associated with hat juggling in Australia for over a decade.

But it was Rickards' ability to import the best performers in the world to Australia that made the Tivoli legendary.

Derenda and Breen were high class club jugglers from the US and allegedly introduced the game of netball to Australia.

The Harbecks were some of the only hoop jugglers and rollers in the world. 

Of course the best juggler in the world was this guy who came to the Tivoli in 1902 for the second time.

The incomparable Cinquevalli.

However, this guy who came in 1903 was pretty highly regarded too.

W C Fields. By the time Fields got to Sydney his wife, Hattie, had joined him. She apparently added a lot to the humour of his totally silent act. 

 It wasn't only jugglers that Rickards imported.

Sandow was a huge draw for the Tivoli.

And these performers, French, look like fun.

Of course it cost a bit to get to the Tivoli.

And some audience members might have had to forget about buying dainty footwear from Grace Brothers.

But it would have been worth every penny.!

All this material comes from programmes held at the State Library of NSW. The programmes are bound in a book format and they are getting very fragile now.

I'm not sure how long they will last, but I hope the library takes steps to preserve these lovely souvenirs of our cultural (and juggling) heritage.