Event Comment: A new Serious Opera [1st time; SER 3, by Pietro Metastasio; a pasticcio]. The Music by various eminent Composers [Anfossi, Myslivecek and Piccinni]. Amongst them several airs by Handel. Under the Direction of Bertoni. With entire new Scenes, Dresses and Decorations, both for the Opera and Dances. Pit 10s. 6d. 1st Gallery 5s. and 2nd Gallery 3s. By Their Majesties' Command no Person can be admitted behind the Scenes. The Doors to be opened at 6:00. To begin at 7:00 [same throughtout season]. To prevent inconvenience to the Nobility and Gentry in getting to their carriages, they are most respectfully intreated to give positive orders to their Servants to set down and take up with their Horses Heads towards Pall-mall. The Door in Market Lane for Chairs only. To prevent mistakes, Ladies who have not sent the names of the Subscribers to their Boxes are particularly requested to send them as early as possible to Johnson, at the office of the Theatre, in order to [permit] their Tickets being engraved. Subscriptions are received by Johnson in Union Court, Hay Market

Event Comment: Public Advertiser, 25 Feb.: For the better Accommodation of the Subscribers to the Opera, the painted Room and Staire-case will be lighted, and the door from thence to Market-lane open after the Opera for Ladies Chairs only. The Regulation relative to the servants, by desire of many of the Subscribers, is laid aside [see 27 Nov. 1779]

Event Comment: A new Comic Opera; the Music by several celebrated Composers [chiefly Scolari], and conducted Ii.e. arranged] by Bianchi. With new Scenes, new Dresses and Decorations. Public Advertiser, 27 Nov.: L'Arcifanfano was performed for the first time on Saturday, and universally disapproved of. It will not be repeated Pit 10s. 6d. 1st Gallery 5s. 2nd Gallery 3s. By Their Majesties' Command, no Person can be admitted behind the Scenes. The Doors to be opened at 6:00. To begin at 7:00 [same throughout season, except for L'Omaggio (see 5 June 1781)]. To prevent Inconvenience to the Nobility and Gentry in getting to their Carriages, they are most respectfully intreated to give positive orders to their servants to set down and take up with their Horses' Heads towards Pall-mall. The Door in Market Lane for Chairs only

Event Comment: To prevent incovenience to the Nobility and Gentry in getting to their Carriages, they are most respectfully intreated to give positive orders to their Servants, to set down and take up with their horses heads towards Pall-Mall

Event Comment: Benefit for Walker. Mainpiece: Not acted these 30 years [not acted since 4 Oct. 1722], wrote by Mrs Ccntlivre. Afterpiece: Never performed there. The doors to be opened at 5:30. To begin at 6:30. Ladies are requested to send their servants by five o'clock to keep places. Tickets to be had of Walker, the Globe, Pall-mall

Event Comment: A revived Serious Opera; the Music by the most eminent Composers [Bertoni, Gugliclmi, Giordani, Rauzzini, Gretry, &c], under the direction of Bertoni. With entire new scenes painted by Novosielski. New Dresses and Decorations both for the Opera and Dances. The Doors to be opened at 6:00. To begin exactly at 7:00 [see 18 June 1782]. By Command of Their Majesties no Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. Pit 10s. 6d. 1st Gallery 5s. Upper Gallery 3s. To prevent inconvenience in getting to their carriages, the Nobility and Gentry are requested to order their servants to set down and take up with their horses' heads towards Pall-Mali. The Subscribers to the Opera are intreated to send their instructions to Jewell and Johnson at the Office in Union-court before the opening of the Theatre, when the final arrangement of the Boxes will take place, and those which are not retained will then be disposed of. Subscriptions to be paid on delivery of the tickets. Books of the Opera, with an account of the Pantomime Dance, to be had at the Theatre

Event Comment: A new Comic Opera [1st time; com 2, by Filippo Livigni, with alterations by Antonio Andrei]: The Music entirely new by Bertoni. [Bartolini was from the Opera, Milan.] The Music and Orchestra under the direction of Giardini. New Scenes and Decorations by Novosielski. Entirely new dresses by Lupino. Pit 10s. 6d. 1st Gallery 5s. 2nd Gallery 3s. By Command of Their Majesties no Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. The Doors to be opened at 6:00. To begin exactly at 7:00 [same throughout season]. To prevent inconvenience to the Nobility and Gentry in getting to their carriages, they are most respectfully intreated to give positive orders to their servants to set down and take up with their horses' heads towards Pall-mall. The Door in Market-lane for Chairs only. Subscription tickets will be admitted every Opera Night (Benefits excepted) during the Season

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons. Part of the Pit will be laid into Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by Half past Four o'clock. Public Advertiser, 10 Dec: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, No. 149 in the Strand. [The most famous "point" in this play was the parting of Belvidera and Jaffier in Act III, and her words, "Remember twelve!" Boaden, Siddons, 1, 354, refers to Mrs Siddons's "querulous melancholy of tone, partaking of doubt, though still hoping for the best," in uttering these words.] Receipts: #335 5s. (157/15/0; 4/0/6; 0/12/6; tickets: 172/17/0) (charge: free). [Thus, officially, the Account-Book, but Mrs Siddons's total profit, from presents and from additional sums being added by her admirers to the usual price of her tickets, was, according to Public Advertiser, 25 Dec, over #800. This figure is almost certainly an accurate reckoning.]

Event Comment: Benefit for Smith. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by Half past Four o'clock. Receipts: #326 14s. (142/12/0; 6/14/6; 0/7/6; tickets: 177/0/0) (charge: #67 4s. 6d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Palmer. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by Half past Four o'clock. Receipts: #145 17s. (140/0/0; 5/9/6; 0/7/6; tickets: none listed) (charge: #66 7s. 4d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Miss Pope. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by Half past Four o'clock. Public Advertiser, 29 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Miss Pope at her house in Great Queen-street. Receipts: #278 3s. (86/14; 21/9; 0/10; tickets: 169/10) (charge: #106 5s. 10d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Bensley. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by Half past Four o'clock. Receipts: #315 5s.(133/11/0; 5/6/6; 0/2/6; tickets: 176/5/0) (charge: #108 1s. 6d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for a Fund for the Relief of those who from their Infirmities shall be obliged to retire from the Stage. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by Half past Four o'clock. [Mainpiece in place of Isabella, announced on playbill of 17 May.] Receipts: #292 (146/5/0; 10/12/6; 0/12/6; tickets: 134/10/0) (charge: free)

Event Comment: Benefit for the Servants, above Seventy in Number

Event Comment: A Serious Opera [1st time; ser 3, by Giovanni de Gamerra; a pasticcio, with music by Anfossi, Gluck, Alessandri, Martini, Sarti, Giordani]; the Music under the Direction of Anfossi. With new Scenes, painted by Novosielski, new Dresses and Decorations, both for the Opera and Dances. By their Majesties Command, no Person can be admitted behind the Scenes. Pit 10s. 6d. 1st Gallery 5s. 2nd Gallery 3s. The Doors to be opened at 6:00. To begin exactly at 7:00 [same throughout season]. The Subscribers' Tickets are ready to be delivered at the Office in Unionstreet. To prevent Inconvenience to the Nobility and Gentry in getting to their Carriages, they are most respectfully intreated to give positive orders to their servants to set down and take up with their Horses Heads towards Pall-Mall. The Door in Market-lane for Chairs only

Event Comment: Benefit for Kemble. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by half past Four o'clock. [Afterpiece in place of Who's the Dupe?, announced on playbill of 12 Apr.] Public Advertiser, 22 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Kemble, No. 25, Henrietta-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #290 15s. (164/0/0; 11/2/0; 1/18/0; tickets: 113/15/0) (charge: #106 17s. 7d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Brereton. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by half past Four o'clock. [Afterpiece in place of Too Civil by Half, announced on playbill of 14 Apr.] Public Advertiser, 24 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Brereton, Charles-street, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #317 19s. (133/13; 12/11; 0/9; tickets: 171/6) (charge: #107 15s. 10d.)

Event Comment: To prevent inconvenience to the Nobility and Gentry in getting to their carriages they are most respectfully intreated to give positive orders to their servants to set down and take up with their horses heads towards Pall-mall. The Doors in Market-lane for chairs only

Event Comment: Benefit for Palmer. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by half past Four o'clock. Public Advertiser, 12 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Palmer, No. 39, Goodge-street, Rathbone-place. Receipts: #308 1s. (150/16/0; 11/7/6; 0/14/6; tickets: 145/3/0) (charge: #66/1/8)

Event Comment: A new Comic Opera [in 2 acts]; the Music entirely new by Paisiello, under the direction of [i.e. with additions by] Cherubini. Public Advertiser, 26 Jan.: "Il Marchese Tulipano was in its original state a petite piece [in 1 act] of Paisiello [entitled Le Finte Contesse; performed at this theatre on 26 Mar. 1778 as Il Marchese Villano], enlarged to the size in which it is now before us by Cherubini." By Their Majesties Command no Person can be admitted behind the Scenes. Pit 10s. 6d. 1st Gallery 5s. 2nd Gallery 3s. The Doors to be opened at 6:30. To begin exactly at 7:30 [same throughout season]. Subscriptions are received at Messrs. Ransom, Morland and Hammersley's, Bankers, No. 57, Pall-mall, who will deliver the Subscription Tickets. The Nobility and Gentry, Subscribers to the Opera-house, are respectfully entreated to send for them, in order to prevent future mistakes, as nobody can be admitted without producing a ticket. N.B. To prevent Inconvenience to the Nobility and Gentry in getting to their Carriages they are most respectfully entreated to give positive Orders to their Servants to set down and take up with their Horses Heads towards Pall-Mall. The Doors in Market-Lane for Chairs only. All Persons claiming free Admission into this Theatre by Renters' Shares or otherwise are requested to bring their Titles to the Office every Day, from Eleven to Twelve o'clock in the Forenoon, in order that they may be registered previous to the opening of the House

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Abington. Pit and Boxes will be laid together. Ladies and Gentlemen are most earnestly requested to come early, to prevent Inconvenience in getting to their Places, and to send their Servants to keep them by Four o'clock. "At the close of the entertainment Mrs Abington came forward, and delivered a short poetical address to her fashionable auditory [written by Maurice Morgann (Monthly Mirror, Nov. 1797, p. 263)], apposite to her feelings on the present occasion" (Morning Herald, 11 Feb.). "The character [of Scrub] throughout was well conceived, and executed with a sprightliness and degree of humour that kept the house in a continual roar of laughter" (Public Advertiser, 11 Feb.) "Mrs Abington's voice was in its usual tone; her manners and deportment were inattentive and torpid, rather than active and interesting" (Morning Post, 11 Feb.). "With all her endeavours to give new points to the character, she entirely failed. Her appearance en culottes, so preposterously padded, exceeded nature. Her gestures to look comical could not get the least hold of the audience, though they had seen her before in men's clothes, when playing Portia in The Merchant of Venice, where her figure, dressed as a lawyer in his gown, gave effect to her excellent delivery on mercy, and the audience had been always delighted. But this leu de benefice, comparatively speaking, was disgusting and absurd as she dressed the character ... However, I have heard it originated in a bet she had previously made" (Henry Angelo, Reminiscenes, 11, 281-82). Receipts: #406 13s. 6d. (249/9/6; 1/9/0; tickets: 155/15/0) (charge: free)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Henderson. Pit and Boxes will be laid together. Ladies and Gentlemen are most earnestly requested to come early, to prevent Inconvenience in getting to their Places, and to send their Servants to keep them by Four o'clock. [Prologue by Arthur Murphy {Works, 1786, VII, 369).] Morning Herald, 14 Feb.: Tickets to be had at the house of the late Mr Henderson [see 8 Nov. 1785], Buckingham-street, York Buildings. "The poetical address delivered by Mrs Siddons before the play was written by Murphy, and was so very dull that we will charitably suppose his feelings obstructed the operation of his fancy" (General Advertiser, 27 Feb.). Receipts: #141 9s. 6d. (140/15/0; 0/14/6; tickets: none listed) (charge: free)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons. Part of the Pit [6 rows (Public Advertiser, 6 Mar.)] will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by half past Four o'clock. [In mainpiece the playbill assigns Orestes to Smith, but he "was indisposed . . . Throughout the whole [of his part] Kemble's skill was apparent. In the last scene he displayed as fine a picture of horror as was ever given from the stage" (Morning Chronicle, 6 Mar.).] Morning Herald, 24 Feb.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, Gower-street, Bedford-square. Receipts: #293 11s. (122/17/0; 10/1/6; 1/2/6; tickets: 159/10/0) (charge: free)

Event Comment: Benefit for Smith. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by half past Four o'clock. Morning Chronicle, 25 Feb.: Tickets to be had of Smith, No. 7, Beaufort Buildings, Strand. Receipts: #325 17s. 6d.(163/2/0; 8/2/6; 0/16/0; tickets: 153/17/0) (charge: #65 10s.)