Helen Lenoir

Helen Carte Boulter (born Susan Helen Couper Black; 12 May 1852 – 5 May 1913), also known as Helen Lenoir, was the second wife of impresario and hotelier Richard D'Oyly Carte. She is best known for her stewardship of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and Savoy Hotel from the end of the 19th century and into the early 20th century.

Born in Wigtown, Scotland, she attended the University of London from 1871–74 and pursued brief teaching and acting careers. In 1875, she met Richard D'Oyly Carte and soon became his assistant and business manager. She helped produce all of the Gilbert and Sullivan and other Savoy Operas, beginning with The Sorcerer in 1877 and for the rest of her life, and helped Carte with all of his business interests. One of her principal assignments was to superintend arrangements for American productions and tours of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Her grasp of detail and her diplomatic skills surpassed even those of her husband.

She married Richard D'Oyly Carte in 1888. During the 1890s, with her husband's health declining, Helen assumed greater and greater responsibility for the businesses, taking full control upon his death in 1901. She remarried in 1902 but continued to own the opera company and run most of the Carte business interests until her death, when they passed to her stepson, Rupert D'Oyly Carte. Although the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's operations decreased after Richard's death, Helen staged successful repertory seasons in London from 1906 to 1908, establishing that the Gilbert and Sullivan operas could continue to be revived profitably.

By the time of her death in 1913, the opera company had become a repertory touring company, and W. S. Gilbert had died. Helen hired J. M. Gordon to preserve the company's unique style. In her will, she left the Savoy Theatre, the Savoy Hotel and the opera company to Rupert, the last of which operated continuously until 1982.

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