"Silk and satin theatre programmes were frequently produced in the 18th and 19th centuries to commemorate special theatrical and musical events, the less expensive ones with integral fringing made from fraying cut edges, and the more expensive with separately applied silk or metallic fringes. This elegant programme includes both, and was produced for an amateur performance at the Theatre Royal Melbourne on Saturday 29th September 1855, to raise money for 'the sick and wounded of the French army in the Crimea' who were fighting in the Crimean War, 1853 to 1856. The programme notes that it was under the patronage of Sir Charles Hotham (1806-1855) the Lieutenant Governor of Victoria, who would have been at the performance with Lady Hotham, along with Le Comte Morton de Chabrillon, the French Consul, and the Mayor or Melbourne. Many of the actors were officers of the British 12th (East Sussex) Regiment serving in Australia at the time, including Captain Charles Hotham (1836-1872), who played Mr. Tweezer in The Valet de Sham.\n\nThe evening consisted of the comedy The Original; the interlude The Valet de Sham; the farce The Two Bonnycastles; a scene from Rossini's La Gazza Ladra; The Queen's letter sung by the English-Australian opera singer Madame Marie Carandini (1826-1894), and a selection from Donizetti's Don Pasquale sung by Madame Carandini and Monsieur Emile Coulon. The Theatre Royal Melbourne had opened earlier that year, built by John Melton Black, in what is now Bourke Street. It held 3300 people, a similar size as London's Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres. The programme notes that carriages should stop outside the theatre with the horses' heads facing towards Russell Street, which crossed Bourke Street."@en . . "1855, United Kingdom" . . "Silk programme for Garrison Theatricals for the Benefit of the Sick and Wounded of the French Army in the Crimea, Theatre Royal, Melbourne, Saturday 29 September 1855"@en . "Silk programme for Garrison Theatricals for the Benefit of the Sick and Wounded of the French Army in the Crimea, Theatre Royal, Melbourne, Saturday 29 September 1855"@en . . "Silk and satin theatre programmes were frequently produced in the 18th and 19th centuries to commemorate special theatrical and musical events, the less expensive ones with integral fringing made from fraying cut edges, and the more expensive with separately applied silk or metallic fringes. This elegant programme includes both, and was produced for an amateur performance at the Theatre Royal Melbourne on Saturday 29th September 1855, to raise money for 'the sick and wounded of the French army in the Crimea' who were fighting in the Crimean War, 1853 to 1856. The programme notes that it was under the patronage of Sir Charles Hotham (1806-1855) the Lieutenant Governor of Victoria, who would have been at the performance with Lady Hotham, along with Le Comte Morton de Chabrillon, the French Consul, and the Mayor or Melbourne. Many of the actors were officers of the British 12th (East Sussex) Regiment serving in Australia at the time, including Captain Charles Hotham (1836-1872), who played Mr. Tweezer in The Valet de Sham.\n\nThe evening consisted of the comedy The Original; the interlude The Valet de Sham; the farce The Two Bonnycastles; a scene from Rossini's La Gazza Ladra; The Queen's letter sung by the English-Australian opera singer Madame Marie Carandini (1826-1894), and a selection from Donizetti's Don Pasquale sung by Madame Carandini and Monsieur Emile Coulon. The Theatre Royal Melbourne had opened earlier that year, built by John Melton Black, in what is now Bourke Street. It held 3300 people, a similar size as London's Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres. The programme notes that carriages should stop outside the theatre with the horses' heads facing towards Russell Street, which crossed Bourke Street."@en . "S.603-2018" . "Yellow moir\u00E9 silk programme with integral fringe top and bottom edges and appliqu\u00E9 silk edging right and left edges, printed in black ink with the details of the event and the patrons, His Excellency the Governor and the Honourable Lady Hotham"@en . . "1855, United Kingdom" . . . . . . . "Yellow moir\u00E9 silk programme with integral fringe top and bottom edges and appliqu\u00E9 silk edging right and left edges, printed in black ink with the details of the event and the patrons, His Excellency the Governor and the Honourable Lady Hotham"@en . "0.6251"^^ . .