Samuel James Arnold facts for kids

Samuel James Arnold (1774–1852) was an important English writer and theatre manager. He is best known for turning the Lyceum Theatre in London into the English Opera House. Under his leadership, this theatre became the first place in England to show many famous operas. One example is Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz in 1824.

Life and Theatre Work

Samuel James Arnold was the son of Samuel Arnold, a well-known composer. Samuel James received a good education in the arts.

Early Plays

Arnold began his career by writing musical plays. In 1794, his play Auld Robin Gray was shown at the Haymarket Theatre. He wrote several other plays that were performed in London. These included The Shipwreck (1796) and The Veteran Tar (1801) at the Drury Lane Theatre. He also wrote Man and Wife, or More Secrets than One, a comedy that was performed many times in 1809.

Managing the English Opera House

In 1809, Arnold received special permission to open the Lyceum Theatre in the Strand. He wanted it to be an English opera house. Before this, the building was used for concerts and art shows.

That same year, the Drury Lane Theatre burned down. The actors from Drury Lane moved to the Lyceum for three seasons. Arnold's theatre was meant to be open only in the summer. It was also supposed to help train new singers for the bigger winter theatres. During this time, Arnold's own musical plays like Up All Night and The Devil's Bridge were performed.

A famous writer named William Hazlitt once reviewed Arnold's play Two Words. He called it "a delightful little piece" with an exciting plot about robbers.

Staging Famous Operas

In 1816, Arnold reopened the English Opera House. It had been rebuilt and made much bigger by the architect Samuel Beazley. The new building cost a lot of money.

In 1824, Arnold brought Carl Maria von Weber's opera Der Freischütz to England for the first time. Other theatres had turned it down. He also introduced other important foreign operas to England. These included Tarare by Antonio Salieri and Der Vampyr by Heinrich Marschner.

Sadly, the theatre was destroyed by fire in 1830. But it was rebuilt again by Samuel Beazley. The new Lyceum opened in 1834. Under Arnold's management, new English operas like The Mountain Sylph by John Barnett were also performed there.

Arnold was also a magistrate, which means he was a public official who dealt with legal matters.

Family Life

In 1803, Samuel James Arnold married the daughter of Henry James Pye. Pye was the Poet Laureate, a special poet for the King or Queen. Samuel James Arnold's son was named Thomas James Arnold.