Nina Sevening

Nina Sevening as Miss Powerscourt in A Country Girl, 1902^[1]

Nina Sevening (1885 – 1958) was an English stage actress, singer and light comedian.

Background

She was born Nina Gladys Sevening in 1885, Westminster, London. Her parents were H W Sevening a German-born commercial clerk and his English wife Gertrude. She was educated in London and Paris. She had an elder sister Dora (b. 1883), also an actress.^[2][3]

Career

Nina Sevening first appeared on stage in December 1894 in The House That Jack Built at the Opera Comique.

She appeared in

• My Innocent Boy at The Royalty 1898
• Florodora at the Lyric Theatre 1899^[4]
• The Silver Slipper at the Lyric Theatre 1901^[5]
• A Country Girl at Daly's Theatre 1902^[1][6]
• The Cingalee at Daly's Theatre 1904^[7]
• The Little Michus at Daly's Theatre 1905^[8]
• The Merveilleuses at Daly's Theatre 1906^[9]
• The Geisha at Daly's Theatre 1906^[10]
• The Merry Widow at Daly's Theatre 1907^[11]
• Susannah and Some Others at the Royalty Theater 1908^[12]
• Marjory Strode at The Playhouse 1908^[13]
• Mid Channel at St James's Theatre 1909^[14]
• The Great Mrs. Alloway at the Globe Theatre 1909^[15]
• Mid Channel at the Empire New York Theater 1910
• A Woman's Way, Comedy Theater 1910
• Grace at the Duke of York's Theatre 1910
• Passers By at Wyndham's Theatre 1911
• What Every Woman Knows at the Duke of York's Theatre 1911
• Mind the Paint Girl at the Duke of York's Theatre 1912
• The Perplexed Husband at the Empire New York Theater 1912
• Peter Pan at the Duke of York Theatre 1913^[16]
• King's Cup at the Adelphi Theater 1913^[17]
• The Clever Ones at Wyndham's Theatre 1914
• Caroline at the New Theatre 1916
• Trelawny of the 'Wells' at the New Theatre 1917

In 1903, Sevening toured in Three Little Maids. In 1905 she played the title role in Lady Madcap.^[18]

She married Victor Charles Hamilton Longstaffe and changed her last name after him.^[1] She retired from the stage in 1917.

There is a memorial to their only son, David John Longstaffe, in Aldeburgh Parish Church in Suffolk, England. David died on 16 September 1945 in Athens, where he was a Captain in the King's Royal Rifle Corps.^[19][20]

References

1. Nina Longstaffe (née Sevening) as Miss Powerscourt in 'A Country Girl'. npg.org.uk
2. Wearing, pp. 448, 676
3. Nina Sevening (c.1885-1958). stagebeauty.net
4. Andrew Lamb (2002). Leslie Stuart: Composer of Florodora. Psychology Press. pp. 86–. ISBN 978-0-415-93747-4.
5. Wearing, p. 60
6. Wearing, p. 87
7. Wearing, p. 176
8. Wearing, p. 230
9. Wearing, p. 316
10. Wearing, p. 303
11. David Slattery-Christy (2008). Anything But Merry!: The life and times of Lily Elsie. Author House. pp. 254–. ISBN 978-1-4817-7542-7.
12. Wearing, p. 391
13. Wearing, p. 400
14. Wearing, p. 487
15. Wearing, p. 494
16. Bruce K. Hanson (2011). Peter Pan on Stage and Screen, 1904-2010, 2d ed. McFarland. pp. 339–. ISBN 978-0-7864-8619-9.
17. Wearing, p. 500
18. Wearing, p. 212
19. Capt David John Longstaffe. findagrave.com
20. David John Longstaffe grave monument. gravestonephotos.com

Bibliography

• J. P. Wearing (2013). The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-9294-1.