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374:. The press made Brocolini seem wealthy and heartless while his ex-wife starved. Florentine, however, was working as a church musician in 1888, so it appears that the press coverage was unfair. Brocolini next joined a comic opera company in Montreal. He traveled to Australia the following year, where he appeared with
127:
Brocolini began his career in the early 1860s working for newspapers, soon becoming a reporter in
Brooklyn. At the same time, still under the name John Clark, he began taking professional singing engagements, including with several touring opera companies and with Bowers and Prendergast's Minstrels
162:
and at various churches and other venues, and toured with Susan Galton's operetta company. He even produced some opera in
Brooklyn. In 1872, he sang at a concert at the Church of the Messiah in Brooklyn, held to dedicate a new organ. The same year, he was leading the newly formed Brooklyn Operatic
171:, Italy. Brocolini wrote, "The complete change in my life was effected in less than three hours.... They put in what money they could themselves, called on my wealthy friends in Brooklyn for subscriptions, and in less than three hours they raised $ 5500 for me."
178:, among others, Brocolini sailed for Milan and soon decided to adopt his new stage name to honor the borough in which he grew up. In Italy, he studied voice with Antonio Sangiovanni. While there, he wrote "Observations by a Brooklyn Student of Music", for the
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In 1897, Brocolini married Sarah (born 1856), the daughter of
Connecticut confectioner and grocer, George D. Bradley. In 1905, he began to manage the Millard Opera Company, which starred Laura Millard. Brocolini died in Brooklyn, of liver disease, in 1906.
279:. He continued to play the Pirate King in New York and on tour through June 1880. After Carte's production closed, Brocolini played the Pirate King in a non-D'Oyly Carte production, including in Boston the last two weeks of July. Carte sued Brocolini in
330:
at
Haverley's Theatre, Brooklyn, in February 1882, and then toured as the Pirate King, Christopher Crab, and Captain Corcoran with the Boston Comic Opera Company. At the Fifth Avenue Theatre in October 1882, he again played Christopher Crab in
79:, with which he returned to the United States, where he originated the role of the Pirate King. Over the next decade, he mostly toured in America, briefly visiting Australia, and played mostly in Gilbert and Sullivan roles, often with
167:, an opera by John M. Loretz. Through the early 1870s, he became increasingly well known as a singer in New York City. Finally, in 1875, his friends at the newspaper decided to raise money to send him to study singing in
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reported closely on baseball, and
Brocolini eventually began to write editorials. He became club director of the Detroit team. Brocolini helped his team to become the dominant club in Michigan and the region.
304:
in April 1881, playing
Christopher Crab. The tour continued into the summer of 1881, later under the auspices of the Rice-Goodwin Lyric Comedy Company. He then played the role of Dr Kindergarten in
111:, New York, in 1852. Young Brocolini became an avid baseball fan and player. By his teens, he was also learning the printing trade from his father, who was working for the Brooklyn publishing firm
140:
and also played first base for the newly revived
Detroit Base Ball Club. In July 1865, he married Lizzie Fox, the daughter of Robert Fox, a blacksmith. The couple had a son, Kingsley. The
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for breach of a contract to perform with D'Oyly Carte, and an order was entered against
Brocolini in August 1880 enjoining him from performing for any other company.
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from
November 1885 through May 1886. In late 1886, at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, he reprised the roles of Pooh Bah and King Hildebrand. In early 1887, he toured in
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with one of Carte's touring companies. In
November, he traveled to New York to appear as Captain Corcoran in the first authorized American production of
71:
player, while also beginning a part-time singing career. After brief study in Italy in 1875, he was engaged to sing opera in London and on tour by
370:(1875), and whom the Clarks had known in London. Florentine and Lizzie, according to the press, had fallen on hard times and were being helped by
364:
By 1884, Brocolini's marriage had ended in divorce, and Lizzie had remarried the former singer Carlos Florentine, who had appeared in Sullivan's
182:, complaining of the treatment of foreign music students by their Italian teachers. By the spring of 1876, he had been engaged to sing by
27:
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67:, as a child, Brocolini became interested in baseball and music. He began his career in the early 1870s as a journalist, then a
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in Melbourne and Sydney until June 1885. In October 1885 he was back in Boston, appearing in "Stradella" at the Bijou Theatre.
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In 1890, Brocolini had returned to Brooklyn, where his mother and sister still lived, and he became the music critic for the
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439:, which forced him to reduce his performing schedule over the next few years. He performed his usual roles in revivals of
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Brocolini started in smaller bass roles in London and was promoted to larger roles when the company toured, alongside
335:. From late 1882 to the spring of 1883, he appeared with Collier's Standard Opera Company in the role of Strephon in
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In 1868, Brocolini moved back to Brooklyn and continued his journalism career, eventually writing editorials for the
355:, as Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre. In early 1884, Brocolini played King Hildebrand in New York's first production of
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singer and actor remembered for creating the role of the Pirate King in the original New York City production of
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article dated May 24, 1896, p.1, that says that Brocolini toured singing opera in 1870 with Henry E. Abbey.
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Morris, Peter. "From First Baseman to Primo Basso: The Odd Saga of the Original Pirate King (Tra La!)",
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75:, adopting his stage name from the borough of Brooklyn, and Italianizing it. In 1879, he joined the
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proms, among other concert venues in London and elsewhere in England. In mid-1879, he sang at the
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At the time, Brooklyn was still an independent city, only later becoming part of New York City.
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664:, Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, February 15, 2003, accessed May 10, 2018
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with Stetson's company in 1889, and he continued to sing oratorio until at least 1892.
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But Didn't We Have Fun: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843–1870
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at the Boston Museum, and, with his own Paine-Brocolini Opera Company, produced
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in 1888 with the Stetson Opera Company, played the Duke of Plaza Toro in
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Moratti, Mel. Information from the Australian Theatre in Melbourne site
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Circuit Court of the United States, District of Massachusetts for Equity
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in 1892 with the Brooklyn Amateur Operetta Company. He also appeared in
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With a big sendoff from Brooklyn, including a banquet attended by Mayor
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on December 31, 1879 at the same theatre, earning a good notice from
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19:"Brocolini" redirects here. For the similarly-named vegetable, see
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and John Stetson companies. He eventually returned to Brooklyn.
46:(September 26, 1841 – June 7, 1906), was an Irish-born American
846:. Edmonton: Spring 2007. Vol. 15, Iss. 2, pp. 46–65, 169
551:"'Baritones and basses. ...' And a little baseball to boot ..."
345:. With Collier's at the Bijou, he next appeared in the musical
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the Williamson, Garner and Musgrove Royal Comic Opera Company
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by the 1870s. He continued to sing in concerts, appearing as
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210:, in 1876. The next year, he sang more substantial roles at
320:. In other non-D'Oyly Carte companies, Brocolini played in
95:(died 1874), a printer, and his wife Lilias (or Lillian)
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in London, now using his stage name, Signor Brocolini.
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in 1864. In the spring of 1865, immediately after the
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435:By 1887, Brocolini had begun to suffer from acute
202:Brocolini as the Pirate King, the role he created
844:Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture
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294:Brocolini rejoined D'Oyly Carte and
314:Fadette, or the Days of Robespierre
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553:, Kurt Gänzl's blog, May 10, 2018
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486:The Triumph of the Cross
318:The Rose of the Auvergne
194:Full-time singing career
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