Elsie Spain

She made her professional debut in 1907 as understudy to Isabel Jay as Sally in the musical Miss Hook of Holland at the Prince of Wales's Theatre, playing the role for two months in 1908.

[2] Spain joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in July 1908 in its second repertory season at the Savoy Theatre, playing Josephine in H.M.S.

[4] The show was not a particular success; it closed in December,[5] by which time Spain had returned to the Savoy, taking over from Clara Dow as Phyllis in Iolanthe from November.

She has a beautiful voice, and her charm of face and figure, coupled with some very dainty acting, are making her one of the big hits of the present season.

[8] Spain left the D'Oyly Carte when its London season ended, but she had drawn the attention of C. H. Workman, the principal comic of the company, and when he became the manager of the Savoy Theatre in late 1909, he engaged her to star as Clarice in The Mountaineers, which ran into February 1910.

[11] In London's West End, she starred as Kitty Mclan in The Islander at the Apollo Theatre in 1910; one critic commented: "Spain ... is an actress who can sing and a singer who can act".