Jimmy Rogers

A carte-de-visite portrait of the comic actor James ('Jimmy') Rogers, seen here as 'Ravina' in The Miller and His Men.' a burlesque by Francis Talfourd and H.J. Byron which ran at the Royal Strand Theatre in the spring of 1860. The Era called it 'a new extravaganza from the pens of two of its best burlesque authors, who have conjointly employed their talents in a travestie of the old melodrama of The Miller and His Men. The piece is well cast, and the scenery and general embellishments are reputed to be on a very liberal scale.'

According to a review in the Morning Advertiser (10 April 1860): 'But for the excellent acting of Miss Marie Wilton, as Karl, "an English tiger from the wild jungles of Belgravia," the spicy and spirited delineations of Ravina and Lothair, by Mr Jas. Rogers and Mr J. Clarke, some graceful dancing by the ever-charming Rosina Wright, and the brilliant scenic effects of Messrs Calcott and Broadfoot, the "novelty" would not have afforded much satisfaction. But never was burlesque better played upon the stage or more admirably worked out by the principal artistes of the establishment. They felt that they had work to perform, and, with consummate ability and success, they went through it.'

Photographed in the spring of 1860 by Camille Silvy of London.