D'Oyly Carte, Richard

D'Oyly Carte, Richard (1844-1901), British impresario and theatre manager of the late 19th century. His principal achievement was as agent and producer for the artistic partnership of Gilbert and Sullivan, nearly all of whose comic operettas were presented by him. In 1881 he commissioned the building of the Savoy Theatre in The Strand, as a permanent home for Gilbert and Sullivan's work. The theatre opened with the premiere of Patience, and was the first theatre in London to be lit by electricity.

In 1888 he began work on the Royal English Opera House (now the Palace Theatre). This was intended as a showcase for English opera, and opened in 1891 with Arthur Sullivan's Ivanhoe. Although the opera house was initially a success, D'Oyly Carte soon realized that there were insufficient works to be presented in the 1,400 seat theatre. It was renamed the Palace Theatre of Varieties and reopened as a popular music hall.

The name D'Oyly Carte is still closely associated with light operetta, particularly in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company which continues to present traditional productions of the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.