Author Topic: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St  (Read 228966 times)

Offline baden-wurttemberg

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Re: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St
« Reply #10 on: July 03, 2010, 01:04:34 »
Wonderful garden and party Karim! Great pictures and lovely done!


Baden  :wave:
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Offline Bill Blackhurst

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Re: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St
« Reply #11 on: July 03, 2010, 03:07:30 »
Your artistic detail is second to none, Karim :wow:! The way you have blended the subtle colors is spot on! I expect the spring/summer story will be as exciting :)9!
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Offline Wolf Knight

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Re: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St
« Reply #12 on: July 03, 2010, 11:01:50 »
Karim I do not have the words to describe my enthousiam and my amazement that the beuty of this scenario has brought to me!!! Well done my friend!!! Simply faboulous!!! Waiting for the next story!!!

Offline playmofire

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Re: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St
« Reply #13 on: July 03, 2010, 16:42:03 »
Marvellous backgrounds and scenes, Karim, and the pictures you have chosen as possible backgrounds are all worth considering.   :wave:
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Offline playmovictorian

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Re: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St
« Reply #14 on: July 04, 2010, 19:12:47 »
Thank you dear Friends  :wave:

I am very excited at the idea of taking you through a journey in the world of miniatures on a 1/12th scale from the picking of the fruit and vegetable in the garden in the morning to the transformation in the kitchen through highly detailed preparation boards in the day to the serving of the feast in the pavilion in the evening  :)

This will require a very careful planning and will certainly challenge my skills at creating miniature food like never before, but if it goes according to plan, this should give a sense of continuity to the viewer who will follow the tribulations of my happy little Victorians in one of their most exciting and busy day so far !

New Victorian Ladies will be invited to the Party too  :love:

I will introduce them to you as they will join Regent St and I am currently looking for my two leading Ladies of the evening Sarah Bernhardt who will be the star of the play "The Three Muskeeters" and Maria Malbran who will sing in the evening in the Pavilion ! Needless to say that the two are getting on like cat and dog and their presence together on the same evening at the mansion should create quite a stir  :lol:

I am thinking of sending an invitation to 221b Baker St famous resident and his faithful Dr Watson as well as a certain Arsene Lupin, nicknamed in France, the Gentleman Thief  ;)

I am currently reviewing the type of grass sheet available for the lawns as well as embossed brick sheets for the walls of the elevated garden as well as the garden paths, not to forget which material to use for the street surface and the sidewalk pavement...

Miss Periwinkle and I will take you through the process of customizing trees and hedges with a touch of spring.

Oh, did I forget to mention that Miss Periwinkle will supervise the transformation of the Mansion's gardens into a heavenly scene for the afternoon high tea, evening outdoor play and party in the pavilion ?

Not to forget the decoration of the kitchen which I want to be as faithful as possible to a Victorian kitchen  8}

Needless to say that I will be everything but bored in the months to come - especially since August should see me exploring new exciting places all over the UK  8-)- and I will update you with comments and pictures accordingly...

Karim :)

« Last Edit: July 04, 2010, 21:15:09 by playmovictorian »
La, tout n'est qu'ordre et beaute, luxe, calme et volupte. L'Invitation au Voyage. Charles Baudelaire.1857.

Offline playmovictorian

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Re: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St
« Reply #15 on: July 16, 2010, 02:57:38 »
A very good morning to you dear Friends  :wave:

I am delighted to share with you the first pictures of my garden pavilion  :love:

I must say that I was impressed with the size of the building as I was expecting something slightly smaller and I think that it will fit my plans for the Summer Garden Party to perfection with its large terrace and equally large indoor space.

The following pictures will illustrate the box as well as the contents and finally the building which I have left bare as I will customize it so you will not see the features of the Wedding Pavillion 4297.























Now that the Garden Pavilion is built, I would like to introduce you to Miss Periwinkle who will create the landscaped gardens of No1 Regent St. Disciple of Gertrude Jekill, the most famous Garden Designer of the Victorian Era, she has already created her signature gardens on both sides of the Atlantic for the likes of Vanderbilt, Rockefeller and Astor in the fashionable areas of London and New York. And here she is today, working on her latest creation, the Gardens of the Mansion together with the French Head Gardener Firmin.

I have taken a few pictures of the pavilion with some of the characters of the Summer Garden Party on Regent St including the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt which can been seen in a pink dress with a hat sporting a white and green feather  :)

These pictures will hopefully give some perspective with regards to the background pictures and the nearby mansion.

As I said before, work in progress  ;)


















Karim :)
« Last Edit: July 16, 2010, 04:53:40 by playmovictorian »
La, tout n'est qu'ordre et beaute, luxe, calme et volupte. L'Invitation au Voyage. Charles Baudelaire.1857.

Offline Wolf Knight

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Re: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St
« Reply #16 on: July 16, 2010, 09:16:59 »
Oh wow this is fantastic Karim!!! What a lovely pavilion!!! and most certailny a great addition to the victorian theme!!!

What an amazing garden set up!! Miss Periwinkle and the head gardener have their hands full!!! Great work in progress!!!

Offline basilsdad

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Re: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St
« Reply #17 on: July 16, 2010, 23:23:24 »
Beautiful Karim!  The flowers are so perfect.  My favorite character is the head gardener.  I want to know what he is going to plant next.   ;D
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Offline playmovictorian

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Re: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St
« Reply #18 on: July 17, 2010, 02:19:32 »
Thank you dear Friends  :wave:

To say that Ms Periwinkle and Mr Firmin have their hands full with this project is a sweet understatement  :lol:

If everything goes to plan or to "plant", shall I say, Mr Firmin should create a vegetable garden for the early morning scene and he is going to be busy boy  ;)

Karim :)
« Last Edit: July 17, 2010, 17:39:48 by playmovictorian »
La, tout n'est qu'ordre et beaute, luxe, calme et volupte. L'Invitation au Voyage. Charles Baudelaire.1857.

Offline playmovictorian

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Re: The Making of : Summer Garden Party on Regent St
« Reply #19 on: July 22, 2010, 02:13:45 »
A press conference announcing the Summer Garden Party was hold today in the garden pavilion of No1 Regent St in which the famous Impresario, Sergei Diaghilev unveiled the details of the most anticipated Event of the Social Calendar surrounded by two of the brightest Stars of the Era, Actress Sarah Bernhardt and Opera Singer Maria Malibran !

In what will be front page material to society magazines such as the Delineator ( London ), La Gazette du Bon Ton ( Paris ) and Cosmopolitan ( New York ), the article will read :

"Sergei Diaghilev can be seen on the steps of the Garden Pavilion announcing The Event of the Season with two of the most celebrated Women of their time, Sarah Bernhardt who has just returned on the latest Cunard Steamer from her triumphant tour of the major American cities theatres and Maria Malibran who has recently delighted the Imperial Courts of Europe with her unique voice, which they say can be heard simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic !

The two Celebrities are seen together for the first time in years as they are well known for not sharing the limelight with anyone and their venue to No 1 Regent St will certainly bring its lot of gossip, tantrums and demands.

We heard that the gardens which are currently being redesigned by the famous Gardener, Miss Periwinkle, will host amongst other events, an evening play by Monsieur Alexandre Dumas called "The Three Musketeers" in which Sarah Bernhardt will be Constance and Maria Malibran will delight the distinguished Guests which list willl be read like a Who's Who of Victorian Society, with the opera arias she is so famous for !

Maria Malibran can be seen wearing her signature black, red and gold dress with a black hat sporting a red feather and Sarah Bernhardt a pink dress with a pink hat sporting a white and green feather.

The press conference also attracted Ladies of the London Society which can be seen here dressed to the latest fashion for our great delight !"












Sarah Bernhardt



(October 22, 1844 - March 26, 1923) was a French stage actress.

She was born in Paris as Henriette Rosine Bernard, the eldest surviving illegitimate daughter of Judith van Hard, a Dutch Jewish courtesan known as "Youle." Her father was reportedly Edouard Bernard, a French lawyer, and she was educated in French Catholic convents. To support herself, she combined the career of an actress with that of a courtesan - at the time, the two were considered scandalous to a roughly equal degree. She was sponsored into the Conservatoire de Musique et Déclamation by the Duc de Morny in 1859 for theatrical training.



Her stage career started in 1862, largely in comic theatre and burlesque. She made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s, and was soon in demand all over Europe and in the United States. She soon developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the title, "The Divine Sarah"; arguably, she may have been the most famous actress of the 19th century.



Although primarily a stage actress, Bernhardt made several cylinders and discs of famous dialogue from various productions. One of the earliest was a reading from Phèdre by Jean Racine, at Thomas Edison's home on a visit to New York City in the 1880s. Multi-talented, she was involved with the visual arts as well as acting, painting and sculpting herself, as well as modelling for Antonio de La Gandara. She was also to publish a series of books and plays throughout her life.



Her social life was as continuously active. She had an affair with a Belgian nobleman, Charles-Joseph-Eugene-Henri, Prince de Ligne, with whom she had her only child, the writer Maurice Bernhardt, in 1864 (he married a Polish princess, Maria Jablonowska, 1863-1914). Later lovers included several artists (Gustave Doré and Georges Clarin) and actors (Mounet-Sully and Lou Tellegen). She married Greek-born actor Aristides Damala (aka Jacques Damala) in London in 1882, but the marriage, which legally endured until Damala's death in 1889 at age 34, was quickly collapsed, largely due to the young actor's dependence on morphine.



Bernhardt was also one of the pioneer silent movie actresses, debuting as Hamlet in Le Duel d'Hamlet in 1900. (Technically, this was not a silent film, as it had accompanying cylinders with dubbed dialogue.) She went on to star in eight motion pictures and two biographical films in all. The latter included Sarah Bernhardt à Belle-Isle (1912), a film about her daily life at home.

Sarah Bernhardt was made a member of France's Legion of Honor in 1914.

In 1915, ten years after a serious injury, her right leg was amputated, confining her to a wheelchair for several months. Nonetheless, she continued her career, in spite of the need to use a wooden prosthetic limb. She died in the arms of her son Maurice. She is buried in Le Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France.

Sarah Bernhardt has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1751 Vine Street.

The actress La Berma, a fictional character in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time was inspired by Bernhardt.

Sarah Bernhardt's quotes :

“Once the curtain is raised, the actor ceases to belong to himself. He belongs to his character, to his author, to his public. He must do the impossible to identify himself with the first, not to betray the second, and not to disappoint the third.”

Maria Malibran



(24 March 1808 – 23 September 1836)

The mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran, was one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death at age 28. Contemporary accounts of her voice describe its range, power and flexibility as extraordinary.

Malibran was born in Paris as María Felicia García Sitches into a famous Spanish musical family. Her father, Manuel García, was a celebrated tenor much admired by Rossini, having created the role of Count Almaviva in his The Barber of Seville. García was also a composer and an influential vocal instructor, and he was her first voice teacher. He was described as inflexible and tyrannical; the lessons he gave his daughter became constant quarrels between two powerful egos.

Malibran first appeared on stage in Naples with her father in Paër’s Agnese, when she was 8 years old. When she was 17, she was a singer in the choir of the King's Theatre in London. When prima donna Giuditta Pasta became indisposed, García suggested that his daughter take over in the role of Rosina in The Barber of Seville. The audience loved the young mezzo, and she continued to sing this role until the end of the season. When the season closed, Garcia immediately took his operatic troupe to New York. The troupe consisted primarily of the members of his family: Maria, her brother, Manuel, and her younger sister, Pauline García-Viardot, who would later become a famous singer in her own right.


 
La Malibran, François Bouchot (1834). musée de la Vie romantique, dépôt du Louvre, Paris
Malibran's Hotel 1899 -town hall todayThis was the first time that Italian opera was performed in New York. Over a period of nine months, Maria sang the lead roles in eight operas, two of which were written by her father. In New York, she met and hastily married a banker, Francois Eugene Malibran, who was 28 years her senior. It is thought that her father forced Maria to marry him in return for the banker's promise to give Manuel Garcia 100,000 francs. However, according to other accounts, she married simply to escape her tyrannical father. A few months after the wedding, her husband declared bankruptcy, and Maria was forced to support him through her performances. After a year, she left Malibran and returned to Europe.



In Europe, Malibran sang the title role at the premiere of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda The opera, based on Friedrich Schiller's play Mary Stuart, aroused the fury of the censors, who demanded textual amendments, which Malibran typically ignored. Malibran became romantically involved with the Belgian violinist, Charles de Beriot. The pair lived together as a common-law couple for six years and a child was born to them in 1833, before Maria obtained an annulment of her marriage to Malibran. Felix Mendelssohn wrote an aria accompanied by a solo violin especially for the couple. Malibran sang at the Paris Opera among other major opera houses. In Paris, she met and performed with Michael Balfe.



In 1834, Malibran moved to England and began to perform in London. In late-May 1836, she starred in The Maid of Artois, written for her by Balfe. In July 1836, Malibran fell from her horse and suffered injuries from which she never recovered. She refused to see a physician and continued to perform. She died several months after the accident in Manchester. She is buried in Laken, Belgium.

Sergei Diaghilev



(31 March 1872 – 19 August 1929)

Born to a wealthy family, Sergei Siaghilev (or Sergey Pavlovich), was born in Novrogod, Russian, on March 31, 1872. He completed Perm Gymnasium and studied law at St. Petersburg University while also enrolled in music and singing at the Conservatory of Music. One of his music professors was Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. He was primarily aided by Alexandre Benois in belonging to the influential circle of artists and in focusing to develop Western and Russian Art. Initially, his dream was to become a composer.



With strong support from influential associates including Alexandre Benois and Leon Bakst, he published an important art periodical Mir Iskusstva (The World of Art) in St. Petersburg and mounted a massive exhibition of historical portraits. From Russia, he travelled to the West – first in Paris, with an exhibition of Russian painting, concerts of Russian music, and the first production outside Russia, of Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov with Challapin.



Through ballet, Sergei Diaghilev found an art form which combined the disciplines of choreography, music and painting: his passion for experiment along with patronage of artists in these fields produced numerous 20th-century masterpieces. Ballets Russes had a profound influence on Europe's cultural life. He died aged 57. Diaghilev's enormous achievement can be measured by the range of artists he employed and often 'discovered':

Maria Malibran is no stranger to the Mansion on No1 Regent St as she already performed last year for an unforgetable evening of Songs to the great delight of our hosts  :love:





Karim :)




« Last Edit: July 22, 2010, 02:49:14 by playmovictorian »
La, tout n'est qu'ordre et beaute, luxe, calme et volupte. L'Invitation au Voyage. Charles Baudelaire.1857.