Maie Saqui (1880 – March 27, 1907) was an Australian actress, dancer, and Gaiety Girl in London.

Maie Saqui
Maie Saqui, from a 1907 publication.
Maie Saqui, from a 1907 publication.
Born
May Vivian Saqui

1880
Melbourne
DiedMarch 27, 1907
London
NationalityAustralian
OccupationActress
Known forGaiety Girl

Early life

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May Vivian Saqui was born in the Fitzroy neighborhood of Melbourne, the daughter of John Isaac "Jack" Saqui and Ester Barnett "Stella" Saqui. Both of her parents were born in London. Her younger sisters Hazel and Gladys were also actresses.[1][2] They studied dance in Melbourne with their aunt, Julia Saqui Green. "I started dancing when I was quite a child, and — well, I didn't stop, and I don't want to stop until I am old," Maie Saqui told a magazine in 1903.[3]

Saqui's father was a gambler who eventually lost the family's fortune and was institutionalized at Yarra Bend Asylum.[4]

 
Maie Saqui, from a 1901 publication.

Career

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The Saqui sisters, Gladys, Maie, and Hazel, began their careers on the stage in Australia, then moved to England.[5] Maie became a "Gaiety Girl",[6] one of the musical performers connected to the Gaiety Theatre in London.[4][7] She was in the original cast of The Toreador (1901).[8] She also appeared on the London stage in The Circus Girl (1897),[9] The Geisha (1897-1898),[10] Harlequinade (1900), The Messenger Boy (1900-1901),[11] Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury (1902) and The Linkman, or, Gaiety Memories (1903).[12]

Personal life

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Maie Saqui married stockbroker Arthur Hope Travers in 1903, and retired from the stage.[13] She died in 1907, aged 27 years, in London.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Miss Maie Saqui's Sister". The Sketch. 40: 252. 3 December 1902.
  2. ^ "Some Celebrated Sisters". The Sketch. 44: 6. 4 November 1903.
  3. ^ "Maie Saqui". The Royal Magazine. 10: 195. July 1903.
  4. ^ a b "MAIE SAQUI SHINES". Truth (Perth, WA : 1903 - 1931). 1 October 1904. p. 2. Retrieved 11 May 2019 – via Trove.
  5. ^ "AusStage". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  6. ^ "A New Gaiety Beauty". Broadway Magazine. 3: 297. August 1899.
  7. ^ "Beauty on the London Stage" Cosmopolitan Magazine (August 1901): 580, 583.
  8. ^ Caryll, Ivan; Monckton, Lionel (1901). The Toreador: An Entirely New and Original Musical Play in Two Acts. Chappell.
  9. ^ "Borough Theatre, Stratford". The Era. 4 September 1897. p. 10. Retrieved 11 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Wearing, J. P. (21 November 2013). The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Scarecrow Press. p. 291. ISBN 9780810892828.
  11. ^ Caryll, Ivan; Tanner, James T.; Murray, Alfred; Ross, Adrian; Monckton, Lionel; Greenbank, Harry (1900). The Messenger Boy: A New and Original Musical Play. Chappell & Company. Maie Saqui.
  12. ^ Wearing, J. P. (5 December 2013). The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Scarecrow Press. pp. 3, 17, 63, 122, 132. ISBN 9780810892941.
  13. ^ "MISS MAIE SAQUI". Sunday Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1903 - 1910). 19 May 1907. p. 9. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  14. ^ "The Early Death of a Former Gaiety Star". The Sketch. 57: 404. 10 April 1907.
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