Event Comment: Benefit for Henderson. Ode: With the Songs, Chorusses, &c. The Music by Dr Arne. "When I recited Mr Garrick's Ode in a private room, I felt what I said, and I believe gave it some effect. Very different was it upon the stage. My feelings were weakened and confounded by the band, my voice lost its scale, and was overpowered by the music in the orchestra" (Ireland, p. 47). Public Advertiser, 26 Feb.: Tickets to be had of Henderson at his house, Great Buckingham-street, York Buildings. [His 1st appearance as Sir John Brute was at Bath, 1 Jan. 1774.] Receipts: #234 13s. 6d. (charge:#105). Account-Book notes that Henderson sold 319 tickets for the boxes and 85 for the pit, together worth #92 10s., and that tickets sold at the doors were worth #142 3s. 6d

Event Comment: Benefit for Whitfield and Mrs Morton. Morning Chronicle, 2 May: Tickets to be had of Whitfield at his house, Crown-Court, Bow-street; of Mrs Morton, No. 15, Crown-Court, Covent Garden. Tickets sold at the Doors will not be admitted. Receipts: #186 7s. 6d. (87.3.6; tickets: 99.4.0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Booth, Egan & Fearon. Morning Chronicle, 9 May: Tickets to be had of Booth, No. 35, Brownlow-street, Long-Acre [others not listed]. 1st piece [1st time; PREL I, author unknown. Larpent MS 521; not published]. [For Henderson as Shylock see dl, 14 Oct. 1777.] Tickets sold at the Doors will not be admitted. Receipts: #177 3s. (61.1; tickets: 116.2) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Farren. [Afterpiece in place of The Devil to Pay, announced on playbill of 10 May.] Tickets deliver'd by Daglish, Mrs Pulley and Miss Armstrong will be taken. Public Advertiser, 9 May: Tickets to be had of Farren, No. 60, Theobald's Road. Receipts: #225 18s. (37.3; 11.7; 0.4; tickets: 177.4) (charge: none listed)

Event Comment: Benefit for Burton, Williames & Harwood, prompter. Public Advertiser, 7 May: Tickets to be had of Harwood, Blackmoor Street, Clare-market [others not listed]. Tickets sold at the Doors will not be admitted. [The playbill assigns the song in Act II to Williames, but a MS annotation on the Kemble playbill substitutes Du-Bellamy.] Receipts: #252 19s. (66/15; 34/7; 0/11; tickets: 151/6) (charge: #106 9s. 4d.)

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 Bannister. Gazetteer, 16 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Bannister, No. 7, Suffolk-street, Hay-market. King Lear [announced on playbill of 29 Mar.] cannot be performed, on account of Henderson's Indisposition. Tickets for King Lear will be admitted. Receipts: #244 9s. 6d. (140/7/6; tickets: 104/2/0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Johnstone. Tickets for The Two Gentlemen of Verona will be admitted. Public Advertiser, 21 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Johnstone, No. 23, Pall Mall. Receipts: #195 16s. 6d. (125/8/6; tickets: 70/8/0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons [whose 1st appearance as Imogen was at Bath, 15 Apr. 1779]. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion, Ladies are desired to send their Servants at half past Four o'Clock. Public Advertiser, 13 Jan.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, Gower-street, Bedford-square. "The exact receipts of Mrs Siddons's house on Monday were #332 [actually #335 5s., excluding the 2nd account and after-money], which, with bank notes for side-boxes, and gold tickets through all the boxes, raise the total to about #650 or #700. This benefit is clear of the nightly charges of the house" (Morning Chronicle, 1 Feb.). Receipts. #344 17s. 6d. (161.10.0; 9.11.6; 0.1.0; tickets: 173.15.0) (charge: free)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Martyr. Tickets sold at the Doors will not be admitted. [Prologue by John Wolcot (European Magazine, May 1790, p. 386).] Gazetteer, 15 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Martyr, No. 16, Martlet-court, Bow-street, Covent-garden. Receipts: #293 7s. 6d. (136.14.0; 13.8.6; tickets: 143.5.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Lewis. 1st piece: In 3 Acts [i.e. abridged from the original 5]. Morning Herald, 19 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Lewis, Bow-street. Receipts: #347 5s. 6d. (234.1.0; 4.14.6; tickets: 108.10.0) (charge: #105). Pencilled in the Account-Book. 234.1.0-money [taken at the doors] 4.14.6-after money [taken at the doors] 238.15.6 105-charge 133.15.6-owing Lewis [on 18 Apr. he was paid 133.14.0] [The amount of his tickets, 108.10.0, he retained; hence his profit on this night was #242 4s.

Event Comment: Benefit for Bensley. Morning Chronicle, 16 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Bensley, No. 21, Charlotte-street, Bloomsbury. Receipts: #490 16s. (217.9.0; 92.4.6; 6.4.6; tickets: 174.18.0) (charge: #231 6s. 2d.). Account-Book breaks down Bensley's charge as follows: house #200, Mrs Siddons #20, Mrs Jordan #10 10s. Properties 5s. 8d., supernumeraries 10s. 6d., for a total of #231 6s. 2d . At the doors of the theatre #315 18s. was received. The charge subtracted from this amount leaves #84 11s. 10d., which was paid to Bensley. The Proprietors made him a gift of the #20 he paid Mrs Siddons. His own profit was therefore #104 11s. 10d., which, in addition to his tickets, gave him a grand total of #279 9s. 10d

Event Comment: Opera: With Chorusses under the Direction of Kelly. Ballet: Paul et Virginie [advertised in Morning Chronicle, 1 Jan.] is still unavoidably postponed on account of the indisposition of Mme Hilligsberg. The Subscribers are most respectfully entreated to be careful to whom they give their Tickets, as many improper persons have lately presented themsleves for admission into the Theatre with those Tickets; and the Subscribers are requested to observe that, in future, persons of this description will be conducted directly to the indentical Boxes to which such Tickets belong, instead of being admitted into any other part of the Theatre. The Public are entreated to understand that neither Ladies in Undress Hats or Bonnets, nor Gentlemen in Boots, will be admitted into the Pit of the Opera

Event Comment: Benefit for Suett. Afterpiece [1st time; F 2, by John Grubb. Larpent MS 1132; not published. Author of Prologue unknown]. Morning Herald, 16 May: Tickets to be had of Suett, No. 19, Martlet-court, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #403 13s. 6d. (152.10.0; 57.5.0; 4.16.0; tickets: 187.10.0; odd money: 1.2.6) (charge: none listed). [Account-Book: Suett to have #100 of Tickets and half those above that sum which he brings in; of which due him #43 15s.

Event Comment: Benefit for Wewitzer. Receipts: #198 15s. (72.6.6; 39.10.6; 10.3.6; tickets: 76.11.6; odd money: 0.3.0) [Account-Book: Wewitzer to have to the Amount of #100 in tickets; [although] he brought in [only] #76 11s. 6d., wit upper Gallery tickets.] (charge: none listed)

Event Comment: Benefit for Suett. True Briton, 11 May: Tickets to be had of Suett, No. 10, Hart-street, Covent-Garden. Account-Book: Suett by agreement with the proprietors to pay half the value of tickets he brings in over #100. Receipts: #319 11s. (91.16.0; 54.2.0; 1.8.6; tickets 172.4.6) (charge: not levied; see above)

Event Comment: Under the Patronage of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, H. R. H. the Duke of York, and H. R. H. the Duke of Clarence. Benefit for a Fund for the Relief of the Wounded Seamen, and also for the Widows and Orphans of the Brave Men who fell in the late Glorious Action, under Admiral Lord Viscount Duncan [see 16 Oct.]. The Tickets for the Boxes are issued under the Direction of a Committee consisting of the following Noblemen and Gentlemen, who have obligingly undertaken to attend to the arrangement of the Evening: The Duke of Leeds, The Duke of Bedford, The Earl of Guildford, The Earl of Thanet, The Right Honorable the Lord Mayor [Brook Watson], Mr Alderman Combe, M. P., Mr Alderman Skinner, John Julius Angerstein, Esq. Tickets and Places for the Boxes not disposed of by the Committee to be had of Fosbrook at the Box Office, Little Russell-Street, and at the Bar of Lloyds Coffee House. Ladies and Gentlemen having Privilege of the Theatre are requested by the Stewards to waive the use of it for this Evening. [Address by Richard Cumberland (European Magazine, Nov. 1797, p. 339). True Briton. 23 Nov. 1797, prints a letter from the Chairman of Committee of Subscribers to the performers of the theatre, thanking them for not "accepting the usual emolument on the night of performance."] Receipts: #631 8s. (357.17.6; 57.4.6; 1.11.0; money extra left at the doors: 2.14.6; tickets: 212.0.6) (charge: #161 0s. 6d.)

Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Benefit for The Choral Fund, instituted for the Relief of their decayed Members, their Widows, and Orphans. Conductor-Dr Arnold. Leader of the Band-Barthelemon. Organ-Smart Jun. Principal Instrumental Performers-Lindley, Harrington, Holmes, Smart and Sons, Betts, Hyde, Lyon and Son, Boyce, Kauntze, French, Oliver, Dickenson, Manessier, Piercy, King, Brandi, Cubit and Son, Hoffman, Charlton, Gillingham, Buckinger, Nerborn, Wilcox, Mawby, Purryer, Barrett, Windsor, Jackson, Forrett, Fenny, Flack and Son, Dressler, Zwingman, &c. Double Drums-Jenkins; The Chorus will be selected, and assisted by the Young Gentlemen of the Westminster Choir. Boxes 5s. Pit 3s. 1st Gallery 2s. 2nd Gallery 1s. The Doors to be opened at 6:00. To begin precisely at 7:00. A Subscription of One Guinea will entitle the Subscriber to Five Box Tickets. Tickets to be had at the principal Music Shops, and of the Secretary, J. Vale, Old Bethlem, Bishopsgate. Tickets and Places for the Boxes to be had of Rice, at the Theatre

Event Comment: Benefit for the Voluntary Contribution now open at the Bank, for the Defence of our Country. Boxes 10s. 6d. Pit 5s. Gallery 2s. Upper Gallery 1s. Tickets to be had and Places to be taken of Brandon, at the Stage-Door in Hart-street. Tickets also to be had at the Bar of Lloyd's Coffee-House. [Prologue by William Boscawen (Monthly Mirror, Mar. 1798, p. 178. Author of Address unknown.] "A subscription was set on foot behind the scenes," to which most of the performers contributed #10 apiece (Monthly Mirror, ibid). Account-Book, 12 May: Paid into the Bank of England in aid of the Voluntary Contribution #394 15s. Receipts: #518 8s. (280.9; 12.2; tickets: 225.17) [the difference of #123 13s. appears to have been the house charge]

Event Comment: 2nd ballet: 1st time; composed by Barre; the Music by Bossi. "Mme Hilligsberg, who possesses the first rank among the dancers of London, is a woman of distinguished merit: she succeeds with peculiar happiness in sportive and jocose expressions, and she is bewitchingly graceful as a Welch or Scotch country girl. Her figure is very handsome; but her arms are somewhat long and thin. The third dancer is Mme Laborie; she possesses an agreeable figure, much animation and native gracefulness. She might become a first-rate dancer [if] she did not trust too much to her natural talents, and bestowed more attention on the art" (Goede, 265). "Les Deux Jumelles, ou la Meprise, pouvoient tres bien faire le sujet d'unjoli divertissement; mais pour un grand ballet, il a fallu y appeller le secours des dieux, & faire descendre ce que nous appelons une gloire de nuages qui se developpent assez mal: c'est la faute du machiniste ou du charpentier. D'ailleurs, cette gloire ne sert a rien, puisque l'Amour vient dans un assez mauvais cabriolet, pousse par des hommes qu'on voit un peu trop distinctement, & s'en retourne de meme a reculons. Nous avons vu souvent le char de l'Amour aller en avant; mais il est rare qu'on le voie reculer, & cette meme gloire eprouve autant de difficulte pour remonter qu'elle en avout eue pour descendre, laissant le spectateur tres convaincu de son inutilite" (Anthony LeTexier, L'Ami des Meres, 1799, I, 192-93). The subscribers are most respectfully intreated to be careful to whom they give their Tickets, as many improper persons have lately presented themselves for admission into the Theatre with those Tickets; and the subscribers are requested to observe that, in future, persons of this description will be conducted directly to the identical Boxes to which such Tickets belong, instead of being admitted into any other part of the Theatre. And the public are intreated to understand that neither Ladies in Undress Hats or Bonnets, nor Gentlemen in Boots will be admitted into the Pit of the Opera

Event Comment: Benefit for Miss Mellon. Morning Chronicle, 17 May: Tickets to be had of Miss Mellon, No. 17, Little Russell-Street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #122 2s. 6d. (71.17.6; 48.17.6; 0.19.0; odd money: 0.8.6; tickets: Miss Mellon to pay a Moiety over #50 [total of tickets not listed]) (charge: none listed)

Event Comment: Benefit for Suett. Account-Book; Suett to have a Moiety of his tickets over #105. Morning Chronicle, 19 May: Tickets to be had of Suett, No. 21, King-street, Bloomsbury-square. Receipts: #588 18s. (359.17.6; 38.13.0; 2.2.0; tickets] 188.5.6) (charge: none listed)

Event Comment: Post Boy, 16-19 March 1700: In York Buildings, this present Tuesday, being the 19th of this Instant March, will be perform'd a Consort of Vocal and Instrumental Musick, for the Benefit of Mr Edward Keene, beginning at the usual hour. Prices 2s. 6d. Those Persons that have already any of his Tickets dated the 20th are desired to take Notice that the Performance will be this day, and not as the Tickets are dated

Event Comment: At 10 a.m. Tickets 1s. The same Tickets are also for Dancing in the Afternoon

Event Comment: The Boxes are to be open'd into the Pit, where none are to be admitted but by printed Tickets, not exceeding four hundred in number, at Five Shillings a Ticket. [In Daily Courant, 20 Jan., the announcement had specified singing by Signora Joanna Maria Lindebleim, accompanied by Signor Sajoni.