person or book cover
Source: South African History Online (www.sahistory.org.za)
Luscombe Searelle Luscombe Searelle i(A44922 works by) (a.k.a. William Luscombe Searelle; William Searell)
Born: Established: 13 Sep 1853 Devon, Devon (County),
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England,
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United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe, ; Died: Ceased: 18 Dec 1907 Surrey,
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England,
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United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe,
Gender: Male
Arrived in Australia: 1880 Departed from Australia: 1886
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Works By

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1 y separately published work icon Mizpah : A Poetical Play in Four Acts Founded on the Historical Narrative of Esther Ella Wheeler , Luscombe Searelle (composer), 1906 New York (City) : The Klebold Press , 1906 Z1413642 1906 single work musical theatre opera
1 y separately published work icon The Dawn of Death Luscombe Searelle , London : Trubner , 1889 Z1413171 1889 single work poetry
1 y separately published work icon Isidora : A Melodramatic Opera Comique in 3 Acts The Black Rover Luscombe Searelle , Luscombe Searelle (composer), 1884 London : s.n. , 1884 Z1413603 1884 single work musical theatre opera The narrative is set on the island of Cuba in 1550, and with the incidents said to have been taken from West Indian legend. Act One sees the narrative set on a plantation on the coast of Cuba. Isidora, a woman over whose birth hangs a mystery, is in love with Felix. Her adopted father, Patronio, would prefer that she marry a Count, but unbeknownst to all the Count has drowned and is being impersonated. Meanwhile Felix attempts to locate a buried treasure so that he can marry Isidora when the Black Rover appears and kidnaps the lovers and the fake count, Henry T Smith, along with a group of Patronio's slaves.

Act Two, set on board the pirate's ship, sees the prisoners condemned to death, but they are saved by Isidora when she sings a song that was sung to her by a woman, perhaps her mother, when she was a babe. The pirate's anger is dampened, and soon after the prisoner's escape on a raft, leaving the pirate ship to sink.

In the final act Isidora and her fellow captives return to the plantation to find happiness, except for Smith, who is gaoled. The opera also contains several sub-plots and intrigues concerning mistaken identity, lust and love, human sacrifice and a curse.
1 6 y separately published work icon Bobadil : Comic Opera in Three Acts Walter Parke , Luscombe Searelle (composer), 1884 Sydney : J. Miller , 1884 Z1329076 1884 single work musical theatre opera

Comic opera.

A comic opera that has also been described as 'opera bouffe', the story is taken from the Arabian Nights' story 'The Sleeper Awakened'. The storyline concerns Bobadil, a young Englishman who has fallen amongst the Philistines and been ruined by an Armenian money lender. He longs to be Sultan for a day if only to get revenge on his tormenters, a wish which by coincidence of fate he manages. The action also includes the swapping, disguising, and mistaking of identities, lust and love, escape from the executioner's blade, and of course, a happy ending. One review notes that the introductory section was not disimilar to Shakespeare's beginning in The Taming of the Shrew.

The opera's settings were:

Act 1. A Bazaar in an Eastern city;

Act 2. The Audience Chamber in the Sultan's Palace; and

Act 3. The Courtyard of an Eastern Lunatic Asylum.

The songs known to have been written for Bobadil are 'I'm a Man of a Very Old Nation', 'The Secret of the Rose is Sweet', 'Good Night' (unaccompanied quintette), 'Am I Sleeping' (quartet), and 'Ah Me! I would I were a Peasant Born' (sung by Princess Zorayda).
1 7 y separately published work icon Estrella : Opera Comique in Three Acts Walter Parke , Luscombe Searelle (composer), 1883 Sydney : Williamson Garner and Musgrove , 1884 Z1413986 1883 single work musical theatre opera Set in Venice, the action moves from the shore of the Adriatic to the Palace of the Count, and finally to the Doge's Palace of Justice. The narrative concerns Estrella, betrothed to a Count, but actually in love with Lorenzo, a young advocate. The Count schemes to test his wife-to-be's affection, and having found this out Lorenzo makes a plan with his friends to carry the Count off disguised as pirates. In the second act the count (disguised as a Hebrew moneylender) tells of his own capture and death, and that he was obliged to bring his last words to the young fiancée of the count. A second ceremony is performed, now between Lorenzo and Estrella. The third act, set in the Doge's Palace, which settles the problem once and for all, has been described as being influenced by the trial scene in The Merchant of Venice (Sydney Morning Herald 29 September 1884, p.8).
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