Lydia Thompson

Today's featured burlesque artist is Lydia Thompson, who is credited with starting the popularity of burlesque in the US in the late 19th century with her troupe.

Lydia and her girls

Thompson was born in London in 1838, and began her career at 14 when she left home to become a dancer.    As a member of the corps de ballet of Her Majesty's Theatre, Thompson gained acclaim for her dance roles in numerous pantomimes and burlesques.  (Note: burlesque in the 19th century more closely followed the root of the word, and were farcical productions spoofing popular topics and celebrities of the day.)  Thanks to her growing fame, Thompson toured throughout Europe for three years.  She was considered a talented dancer as well as being known for her vivacious personality and charm.  Her performances there ranged from ballet-burlesque to traditional dances, such as the Hornpipe and Highland Fling.  She returned with a very good international reputation to continue performing in England in 1859.

Thompson dressed for the Hornpipe

Throughout the next few years Thompson continued to act and dance in burlesques, both in London and on provincial tours.  She was also known for her roles as the 'principle boy'--the leading male character in the piece.  In 1868 Thompson and her second husband sailed to New York with her troupe, called The British Blondes.  They were the most successful new theatre enterprise that season, thanks to the combination of comedy routines, scandelous costumes, cross-dressing, satire, bawdy humor, variety acts, and improvisation popular in British burlesque at the time.  The British Blondes's first successful foray into American theatre was extended from six months to six years, garnering both high praise and criticism for their performances.

Poster from a British Blondes show

Lydia Thompson's portrait on sheet music of a song written for her troupe

Unlike praise for the group, which focused on the talent of the girls and content of the performances, critiscism focused on the morality of those involved.  One particular critic, Wilbur Storey, had an ongoing back-and-forth with Thompson and her troupe.  He claimed not only that the show transgressed propriety, but also questioned the virtue of the performers.  In response, Thompson, her husband, and Pauline Markham (one of the most successful troupe members) horse-whipped Storey at gunpoint in 1870, for which they were arrested (but later released after a fine).  The incident only increased the popularity of the troupe.

Pauline Markham, a member of the British Blondes, in costume

Thompson returned to England in 1874, but continued to perform in America for the next twenty years.  In 1899 a benefit was held in her honor in London, where she recited a rhyming farewell address to the theatre community written by W. S. Gilbert (lyricist of the operetta team Gilbert and Sullivan).  In it, she reminices about the community she has been a part of:


But when I say “Good-bye” in faltering tone
To you--the truest friends I’ve ever known--
The friends whose warmth expressed in gladdening chime
Supplied the sunshine of my summer-time--
The case is somewhat different. You see,
I’m losing you—-you’re only losing me!


But this won’t do at all—-I’m off the scent,
My line’s light comedy, not sentiment.
My future tense seems cheeriness to lack,
And so, I won’t look forward—-I’ll look back.
(you can read the address in its entirety here)

After this Thompson mostly went into retirement, but she did perform again in 1904.

Thompson's British Blondes spawned several new burlesque troupes in the US, and their combination of satire, gender-bending, dance, and scandalous costumes (I once heard Thomson's troupe described as 'buxom-thighed') have all remained part of the American burlesque scene to this day.

lithograph for Thompson's jokey dance from the V&A collection

She's definitely someone I'm taking heavy inspiration from as I approach this show...although I seriously hope I don't have to horse-whip anyone for questioning my girls!