"Merrie England" was a comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood, set in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, first performed in 1902. The Orpheus Musical Theatre Society of Ottawa was founded in 1906 and is active to this day. Announcement from the Ottawa Citizen, February 20 1926.
Goad 1912 shows the location of the Russell House Hotel block at what is now the south corner of Confederation Square. Red arrows indicate the position of the Russell Theatre — that area sits immediately to the NW of the NAC.
Here we see the interior of the Russell Theatre. Built in 1897, gutted by fire and rebuilt in 1901, the photo depicts the "new" Russell, in its heyday THE place to take in theatre, opera, music, dance and vaudeville. Touring artists who graced its stage included Sarah Bernhardt, who appeared for two nights in December 1905.
" ... The curtain fell for the last time at the Russell Theatre on 14 April 1928. The theatre, along with the now empty Russell House Hotel and other properties on the Russell Block bordered by Sparks, Queen and Elgin Streets and the Canal had been acquired by the Federal District Commission (FDC). All were slated for demolition as part of the Commission’s plan to beautify Ottawa. On that last night, The Dumbells performed in “Bubbling Over,” a series of eleven comedic and musical acts, to a capacity crowd. Led by Captain Merton Plunkett, the troupe was a prominent and extremely popular Canadian vaudeville group that had been formed during World War I by members of Canada’s Third Division. The company took their name from the dumbbell emblem of the Third Division. At the end of their performance, Captain Plunkett told the audience that it was fitting that a strictly Canadian company should be the last to appear at the Russell.As The Dumbells were loading their props and other equipment onto a horse-drawn cart after their show, the derelict Russell House Hotel caught fire. Although firemen were able to save the adjacent Russell Theatre from the flames, nothing could save it from the FDC. Three months later, it was demolished. Fortunately, on hearing of the existence of the beautiful ceiling murals by Frederick Challener, Canada’s National Gallery asked that they be saved. The murals now reside at the Gallery. In 1985, the Gallery also obtained Challener’s preliminary scale model of the main mural, Triumph of Drama."
Read the entire Historical Society of Ottawa article here. The FDC was a forerunner of the NCC.
A photo by William J. Topley on April 16 1928 reveals the destruction of the Russell Hotel block.
