Pollard's Lilliputian Opera Company [1] (1881-1886): Following Mrs G.B.W. Lewis's success in Melbourne with a juvenile production of H.M.S. Pinafore, James Pollard staged the same work in Hobart, utilising his and other local children along with some of Lewis's principals. He soon afterwards sent his Lilliputians through New Zealand, and later Australia and the East. The original line-up included Maud, May, Olive, Arthur, and Willie Pollard, with James Pollard Jnr (conductor), Charlie Pollard (leader), Fred Pollard (flute), Harry Pollard (double bass), Alice Pollard (piano), Nellie Pollard (organ) and Tom Pollard (stage manager). Other known children were Lena and Herbert Salinger, Connie and Dick Osmond, Joe Sheehan, and Arthur Godwin. Family squabbles saw this first company disband about a year after James Pollards death.
Pollard's Lilliputian Opera Company [2] (1891-1905) In February 1891 Tom Pollard revived James Pollard's juvenile opera concept for W. Williamson. It subsequently toured Australia and New Zealand before being taken over by Pollard and reverting to the original name - Pollards' Lilliputians. This company, which included original members such as W.S. (Willie) Percy and Harry Quealy, along with newcomers May and Maude Beatty, initially toured as a juvenile company. From 1896 to 1905, following a major line-up change, it became an adult company - touring Australasia and South Africa as The Pollards, and later as the Royal Australian Opera Company.
Pollard's Lilliputian Opera Company [3] (1907-1910) Two years after disbanding his adult opera company, Tom Pollard revived the juvenile concept with a production of Bluebell in Fairyland in New Zealand in mid-1907 (Theatre Royal, Christchurch). After touring the production through New Zealand he took the company to Australia, maintaining a constant touring schedule up until 1910. In addition to comic opera, musical comedies and pantomimes, the company's repertoire also included vaudeville - comprising miscellaneous sketches, dances, songs and comedy routines assembled by Pollard. Among the performers engaged for this company were Clarice Buckman, Ivy Aldous, Ruby and Hazel Esdale, Minnie and May Topping, and Charles Albert.
NB: The above overviews pertain only to the Australasian-based Pollards' companies.
[Source: Australian Variety Theatre Archive]
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