He immigrated to the United States in 1896; making his Broadway debut in December of that year both directing and starring as Major Fossdyke in the Edwardian musical comedy The Girl from Paris.
[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] For the Christmas season of 1889, Smithson appeared in a new pantomime with Mulholland's company at the Grand Theatre, Nottingham; portraying the drag role of Airie Annie in Goddard Wyatt's Dick Whittington and His Cat.
[46] In the summer of 1893 Smithson joined the theatre troupe of actor Charles Lauri;[47] touring with his company as Schwindlewitz in J. W. Mabson's Le Voyage en Suisse through the autumn of that year.
[48] He then portrayed Baron Badenuff in a Christmas pantomime of Little Red Riding Hood at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham from December 1893 through February 1894,[49][50] before returning to touring the British provinces in Le Voyage en Suisse from May through July 1894.
[71][72][73][74] In 1896 Smithson immigrated to the United States;[1] making his American stage debut on October 26, 1896 at the Brooklyn Music Hall as the magician in Samuel H. Speck's burlesque Kaloma the Hoodoo.
[75][76] He was hired by the Broadway producer Edward E. Rice to direct and star in the American premiere of Ivan Caryll and George Dance's Edwardian musical comedy The Girl from Paris.
[98] Immediately following end of the tour of The Girl from Paris Smithson was hired once again by Rice to direct another Edwardian musical comedy for the Broadway, Howard Talbot and Harry Greenbank's Monte Carlo.