AustLit

In December 1898 Thomas Delohery, James Craydon and Ted Holland brought their Elite Vaudeville Company to Brisbane, initially staging shows at the Theatre Royal. After returning from a regional Queensland tour (ca. February to May) Delohery and Holland joined forces with Percy St John to run the Elite shows. During this partnership they staged several of St John's original works, including the pantomimes - Humpty Dumpty (20 May), Cinderella (27 May), and Dick Whittington and His Cat (10 June), and his one-act musical comedy Topsy Turvy (1 July).

Between 8 and 22 July, the Royal's management was reduced to Delohery and St John, with this period seeing the entertainment change from minstrelsy and vaudeville to a season of drama by the Williamson-Woods company. The two works staged, Hands Across the Sea and East Lynne starred Maud Williamson, Alfred Woods, and Alf Boothman, with several of the Elite company artists appearing in minor roles. Delohery and St John had meanwhile taken up the lease of another Brisbane theatre, the Opera House, where they arranged for Charles MacMahon's Lyceum Company to appear with several of its recent successes beginning 5 August. Among the works staged were: F. A. Scudamore's 'powerful sensation drama' Flight for Life and James Poole's Irish drama The Kerry Gow. Highlights staged during the remainder of the year were the Woods-Williamson return season (including Called to Arms and The Kelly Gang, Theatre Royal; ca. September) and M. L. Raphael's production of Jack and the Beanstalk (Theatre Royal; beginning 4 November). By the end of November, however, St John had become the sole lessee of both the Theatre Royal and the Opera House.

The movements of Delohery Craydon and Holland over the next 12 months are unclear. Certainly by June 1900 their long-standing partnership had ended. Percy St John in the meantime remained in Brisbane, where he became largely associated with the Theatre Royal and later as co-lessee of the Empire Theatre with Ted Holland.