page_title: Charles Dibdin the younger
section_title: Peak years
hierarchical_section_title: Charles Dibdin the younger / Biography / Peak years
caption_attribution_description: English: The interior of Sadler's Wells theatre in around 1809. By Thomas Rowlandson, and Augustus Charles Pugin, aquatinted by J. Bluck.
context_page_description: Charles Isaac Mungo Dibdin, or Charles Pitt or Charles Dibdin the younger, as he was professionally known, was an English dramatist, composer, writer and theatre proprietor. He was perhaps best known for his proprietorship of the Sadler's Wells Theatre and for the pantomimes and satirical farces that he wrote, and which were staged at many theatres across London. He employed Joseph Grimaldi at Sadler's Wells where Grimaldi appeared in many of his most successful pantomimes. He was the son of Charles Dibdin, brother of Thomas John Dibdin and godson of David Garrick.
context_section_description: Dibdin and his wife conducted a tour with the Astley company, travelling to Dublin and Liverpool as well as performing in London. It was during this period that Dibdin became a fluent and prolific composer, writing many songs, prologues, epilogues, and one-act musical plays. In 1799, Dibdin left Astley and sought alternative employment following his wife's dismissal for sewing during rehearsals.  That autumn, the Dibdins joined a touring equestrian company, managed by William Davis and toured to such cities as Liverpool, Bristol, and Manchester.
  In 1800, Dibdin took over as manager at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London with the pantomime ballet Filial Love, or the Double Marriage being one of the first pieces to be staged under his managership. He hired a band of notable performers, including Edmund Kean and Joseph Grimaldi as well as many singers, tightrope-walkers, and pugilists. Throughout the seasons, he introduced many of his self-composed works that met the varied public taste. These spectacles improved the fortunes of Sadler's Wells, and by 1802 he, his brother Thomas and a syndicate of wealthy businessmen, including the scene painter Robert Andrews and composer William Reeve, became shareholders in the theatre. In 1803–4, Dibdin installed a large water tank and advertised the venue as an aquatic theatre that performed aqua dramas.
  On 15 October 1807, eighteen people were killed in a stampede to escape when a mistaken fire alarm was given at the theatre.  Although his proprietorship survived the disaster, the Napoleonic wars of 1803-1815 had ruined public demand for Dibdin's type of entertainment, and his fortunes fell until, in 1819, he was declared bankrupt and was incarcerated in a debtors' prison.  He was released two years later upon the sale of his shares in Sadler's Wells which bought him out of debt.  He continued with his compositions, writing many songs and pantomimes for various London theatres and took up the role of stage director at the Royal Amphitheatre  from 1822–23 and manager of the Surrey Theatre from 1825–26.
caption: The Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1809
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2012:12:14 15:34:26", "Image ExifOffset": "172", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "310", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7757", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "641", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "479"}