page_title: J. C. Williamson
section_title: Visiting, and then moving to, Australia
hierarchical_section_title: J. C. Williamson / Life and career / Visiting, and then moving to, Australia
caption_attribution_description: English: Print for a 1907 J.C. Williamson production of A Country Girl.
context_page_description: James Cassius Williamson was an American actor and later Australia's foremost theatrical manager, founding J. C. Williamson Ltd.
  Born in Pennsylvania, Williamson moved with his family to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father died when he was eleven years old. He acted in amateur theatricals and joined a local theatre company as a call-boy at the age of 15, soon taking roles and eventually moving to New York where he played for several years at Wallack's Theatre and then other New York theatres. In 1871, he became the leading comedian at the California Theatre in San Francisco and the next year married comedian Maggie Moore.
  The two found success touring in Australia, and then playing in London, the U.S. and elsewhere in a comedy called Struck Oil. In 1879, Williamson obtained the right to present H.M.S. Pinafore and then other Gilbert and Sullivan operas in Australia. He soon formed his Royal Comic Opera Company.
context_section_description: The Williamsons then visited Australia, travelling on the S.S. Mikado.  In 1874, they opened a season at The Theatre Royal, Melbourne, beginning with Struck Oil, which became an instant success.  Its run of 43 nights was the longest yet known in the colonial theatre.  It proved equally popular around the rest of the country.  What was meant to be a 12-week tour of Australia ended up lasting for fifteen months (including Struck Oil and other pieces) and netting Williamson £15,000. Williamson used this money to launch his career as a theatre manager, and Maggie Moore became one of the most popular performers on the Australian stage.
  Williamson and Moore played seasons in Australia and toured extensively with several pieces, including Struck Oil, to India, the US, Europe, Britain and elsewhere.  Everywhere they went, Struck Oil was a great success.  When they opened the play at the Adelphi Theatre in London at Easter in 1876, The Graphic wrote, "Struck Oil is but a poor play; but the acting of Mr. Williamson in the part of Stofel, the Pennsylvanian Dutchman, exhibits genuine humour and pathos."  Williamson and Moore later had a bitter divorce, and he tried unsuccessfully to stop her from appearing in the play, which she continued to revive throughout her career; she starred in the 1919 film version in her late 60s.
  In 1879, Williamson acquired a one-year exclusive right to perform H.M.S. Pinafore in Australia and New Zealand for £300.  They began their 1879–80 Australian season with Struck Oil and staged the first legitimate Australian production of Pinafore at the Theatre Royal, Sydney in November with great success, with the Williamsons playing Sir Joseph Porter and Josephine.  In early 1880, Williamson formed his Royal Comic Opera Company.  Williamson then acquired the Australian performing rights from the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for The Pirates of Penzance for £1,000 and opened that work at the Theatre Royal Sydney in 1881. Between their appearances in Gilbert and Sullivan operas, James and Maggie Williamson continued to play engagements of Struck Oil along with similar popular favourites, The Danites, Arrah-na-Pogue, The Colleen Bawn and Rip Van Winkle.
caption: Poster for A Country Girl and La Mascotte, 1907
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