author
Henry A. Lytton
1865–1936
Best remembered as one of the great comic stars of Gilbert and Sullivan, he brought wit, speed, and warmth to the Savoy stage for decades. His memoir offers a lively backstage view of British musical theatre in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
1 Audiobook
The Secrets of a Savoyard
by Henry A. Lytton
About the author
Born Henry Alfred Jones in London on January 3, 1865, he became famous under the stage name Henry A. Lytton and later Sir Henry Lytton. He was an English actor and singer closely associated with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, where he became a leading performer in Gilbert and Sullivan operas, especially the comic patter-baritone roles.
His stage career stretched across roughly fifty years, and he was especially admired for parts such as Ko-Ko in The Mikado, the Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe, and Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard. He was knighted in 1930 for services to the British theatre, a rare distinction for a performer so strongly linked with Gilbert and Sullivan.
For readers, he is also the author of The Secrets of a Savoyard (1922), a memoir that mixes personal recollection with stories from the theatrical world he knew so well. He died in London on August 15, 1936, but his name still stands out wherever the history of Savoy opera is told.