The Pollards

de Peter Downes

"In 1880, when tasmanian music teacher James Pollard formed fourteen of his children into an opera company, his plan was to create a short-lived showcase for talented youngsters. The following year, at the end of a triumphant tour of New Zealand and with many new recruits collected along the way, they had achieved such acclaim that successive Pollard child and adult troupes were to delight the public for the next thirty years. ... Throughout the [Western] world the allure of child actors performing adult roles seemed endless, but social disapproval eventually brought about their demsie. ..."--Back cover.