John Lazar

John Lazar (1 December 1801 − 8 June 1879) was an actor and theatre manager in Australia. He was Mayor of Adelaide from 1855 to 1858. History Lazar was born in Edinburgh, a son of Abraham Lazar, stockbroker, and his wife Rachel née Lazarus, and may have been brought up in London. He had considerable stage experience in England, and there is no reason to doubt advertisements which reported him playing at Covent Garden and Drury Lane. Lazar, his wife Julia, née Solomon, and their seven children emigrated to Sydney aboard Lady Macnaghten, giving his occupation as tailor. The ship had an outbreak of typhus on board, resulting in the death of around 60 passengers including three of the Lazar children, and some four weeks were to elapse in quarantine before they reached Sydney on 14 April 1837. He immediately joined Mrs. Barnet Levy (or Levey)'s Theatre Royal company, his first appearance being as Shylock on 18 May 1837. He was well received by both the audience (in part no doubt out of sympathy as a passenger on that voyage) and critics. He served as manager of the Theatre Royal until it was closed perfunctorily by the new owner, Joseph Wyatt, on 24 March 1838, He was then engaged at the new Royal Victoria Theatre on Pitt Street as actor and stage-manager until the end of 1840, when he was engaged to appear in Adelaide at the newly completed Queen's Theatre. In Adelaide The theatre opened on 11 January 1841 with Lazar playing Othello. He had in Sydney been praised for his Shylock, but his Othello was criticised on account of his Cockney Jewish accent and his lisp, and Adelaide reviewers were parsimonious in their praise. Lazar took over management of the Queen's Theatre, taking a lease from late July 1841 but after months of losing money dismissed his company and converted the seating to something more appropriate to public meetings. He did not renew the lease.