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Ruth Vincent made her debut at the Savoy in "The Chieftain" in 1894. In the original production of "The Grand Duke" she was the understudy to Ilka von Palmay. The following year she replaced Mme Palmay as Elsie in "The Yeomen of the Guard". Sullivan saw her in the Savoy production of "The Lucky Star" and noted in his diary, "Ruth Vincent looked as if she were furious at being relegated to the chorus."
The next production at the Savoy, however, was "The Gondoliers", and Miss Vincent played Casilda. She had the lead in the ill-fated production of "The Beauty Stone", and then played Aline in "The Sorcerer" and Josephine in "H.M.S. Pinafore".
This was followed by "The Rose of Persia". When Miss Vincent learned that there were to be two leading sopranos in the cast she was far from pleased, especially as the other soprano was the American, Ellen Beach Yaw, for whom Sullivan was writing special music. One week before the opening, Miss Vincent walked out! One of the few times anyone ever walked out at the Savoy. "Miss Vincent threw up her part, silly girl," Sullivan wrote in his diary [29 November 1899] so we put Jessie Rose into it"
On leaving the Savoy, Ruth Vincent had a successful career in the West End, starring in "Veronique", "Tom Jones" (by Edward German), and "The Belle of Brittany". She then appeared with the Beecham Opera Company and at Covent Garden in "Hansel and Gretel", "A Village Romeo and Juliet", and "Carmen" (Michaela). In 1912 she began singing in oratorios and at Festivals. In the final phase of her career, she appeared at the Palladium and Variety Theatres.
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