Carlotta (performer)

Carol "Carlotta" Spencer (born Richard Lawrence Byron; 1943) is an Australian entertainer, cabaret performer and television celebrity. Often billed as "The Queen of The Cross", she began her career as an original cast member of the long-running male revue Les Girls cabaret show, which started in 1963 in the purpose built and Abe Saffron-owned Les Girls nightclub building which stood on a prominent corner in the heart of Sydney's Kings Cross, to the right of the famous El Alamein Fountain. The revue was performed entirely by costumed males in drag and Carlotta often performed spot-numbers as a singer and comedienne. Carlotta, became a transgender woman and rose through the ranks of the show to eventually become the show's compere and its most famous member.

Career

Les Girls and Carlotta became an attraction for visitors to Australia, particularly Sydney. The show was popular with visiting international celebrities. The show continued in the Les Girls building until 1993 when, inspired by the film Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the show went on the road, touring Australia. The Les Girls building, which was still standing intact with original 1960s features throughout the 1990s, was the venue for alternative cabaret, including the Sunday night club The Tender Trap.

Carlotta

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Carlotta (The Phantom of the Opera)

Carlotta is a fictional character from Gaston Leroux's 1909 novel The Phantom of the Opera.

In the novel, she is a minor character hailing from Spain. The first time that she is mentioned in the novel is during the chapter "The New Marguerite", where it is revealed that she could not perform at the ceremony for the former managers. Later in the novel, she is threatened by Erik that if she performs at the Opera House "a great misfortune will strike". She shrugs the warning off and performs anyway. When she does however croaking noises come out of her mouth and the chandelier comes crashing down. Ashamed, she hides from the public view for a few weeks, before making a return to the opera house.

In the 1943 film version, she is Mme. Biancarolli who has been drugged by the Phantom and murdered along with her maid when she tries to force him to take off his prop mask.

In Andrew Lloyd Webber's production, Carlotta (last name Giudicelli) is from Italy and is one of the major singing parts. The opera company's prima donna, she despises Christine Daaé and sees the younger woman as a threat to her job and Phantom´s courtesan, when Christine achieves prominence due to the Phantom's dirty tricks. Carlotta and tenor Ubaldo Piangi are lovers; she often turns to him for consolation when things go wrong, and she breaks down crying when his murdered body is discovered onstage. The film reveals that she likes poodles.