CHAPTER XIII.
SEASON OF '69-70.
The season of '69 and '70 opened auspiciously on September 4th with the now recuperated stock company in a new play. "The Captain of the Vulture" was played one week and another new star dawned on the horizon. September 13th Mr. Neil Warner was the star attraction. Warner was an English actor and had been in the supporting company of the late lamented Gustavus Brooke, who gave promise of becoming England's greatest tragedian, but whose already resplendent career was unfortunately cut short by the loss of the steamship London. Brooke was making a second visit to Melbourne and Sidney in '66, where he had achieved a remarkable triumph a year before, but alas! for the irony of fate, he was doomed to be cut off in the very unfolding of the most brilliant talents the English stage had yet seen. The unfortunate London went down in the Bay of Biscay and some two hundred souls perished in the wreck and among them the brilliant Gustavus Brooke. A friend of the writer, now in this city (Salt Lake), Mr. Jack Cooey, had a brother who was one of the very few survivors of that ill-fated ship, there being but sixteen in all. So America never got to see Brooke, who was regarded by his countrymen generally as the greatest of all their tragic actors.
Neil Warner was said to be a copyist of Brooke; undoubtedly he had played with him, and learned much from him, and if not as great as his acknowledged tutor, Warner was not unworthy to be called great. He had a splendid physique and a magnificent voice, which he could use with magnetic effect. Its transitions were at times marvelous and in this writer's opinion, he was the superior of all our American tragedians, with the exception of Davenport, whom he very much resembled both in the majesty of his presence and in mental superiority. Warner opened in "Richard III" and made a most decided hit in the character, notwithstanding he had several notable predecessors in the part, notably McCullough and Stark. He played twenty-four performances, embracing a wide range of legitimate plays—"Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Richelieu," and his "Macbeth" was the greatest of all his fine performances. He went to New York from here and we quite expected to hear great things about him, but for some cause or other he never played a stellar engagement in New York, and the following year the writer, much to his astonishment and disappointment, saw him playing a second heavy part in support of Charles Wyndham the English comedian at a theatre in Brooklyn. Warner did not make a go in New York, and drifted over to Montreal, Canada, where he stayed for many years; but a few years ago he toured California in connection with a rising young actress of that state, in a round of his favorite characters. Annie Lockhart played the leading female characters in all Warner's performances here. They had known each other in Australia, and there seemed to be a very warm friendship between them and it was certain that Annie was an ardent admirer of her talented countryman, and some of us rather feared she would go with him when he took his departure from Salt Lake; but something occurred between them that must have angered him, for a day or two before his engagement closed, he spoke to Miss Lockhart at a rehearsal in words and tones so heartless and insulting that the company were amazed at him, and poor Annie sought the seclusion of her dressing room to have a good cry. Conjecture was rife and pointed to a rival in the lady's affections as the cause of his tirade. Warner departed, leaving Annie with us, very much to the gratification of the company and public, but it was not for long; poor Annie Lockhart had received a wound from which she never recovered. She only lived five weeks after this and the cause of her sudden decline and death was more or less of a mystery, for up to this time she was a hale, hearty woman, in the very prime of life. She was laid away tenderly by loving hands and hearts, whom she had never known until eight months before, but whom she had endeared to her by her sweet, womanly ways. Many a tear was shed and genuine sorrow was felt when Annie Lockhart was laid away in Olivet.
The night after Warner's engagement closed, Sunday, October 12th,
Stephen Massett lectured.
October 13th, Madam Scheller opened her second engagement, playing six nights, and gave "Roll of the Drum," "Child of the Regiment," "Enoch Arden," etc. The theatre closed from the 18th to the 23rd on account of the Militia Muster. The Nauvoo Legion, as the Territorial troops were called, had a big encampment on the banks of the Jordan river and of such importance was it that the theatre had to close, as every able bodied man was expected to drill and all the women and children, of course, had to go and see them. The late George Q. Cannon and other high church dignitaries fell into the ranks on this occasion and carried muskets, whether from the love of exercise or a keen love of duty, or for the effect of example, this deponent saith not. Nearly all the dramatic company were in the big drill, so, of course, there could be no theatres until it was over. It was intended to be a great demonstration, and it was; almost every Mormon man was in the ranks. The theatre resumed business with the rest of the town, Saturday the 23rd inst., when one of Madam Scheller's pieces was repeated. This was Madam Scheller's last appearance at this theatre. She and her husband, Methua Scheller, went East from here, and died in Memphis in 1878, during the yellow fever contagion of that dread disease.
On October 25th, the Stones, Amy and Harry, opened up a return
engagement in "French Spy." They played twelve nights, giving
"Fanchon," and "Little Barefoot," etc. Their engagement closed
November 6th, after a very satisfactory engagement.
On the 8th the stock company resumed, and played "Waiting for the Verdict." Annie Lockhart, who had rested during the Stones' engagement, resumed and was playing the leading female character in this play when she was taken very ill. With the aid of kind attention she got through the night's work, but she went home so ill that she took to her bed, and on the 18th of November, died. Three days previous to her death, on the 15th of November, John Wilson and Kate Denin were ushered in as stock stars, and continued until January 5th, 1870, when they withdrew for a week to give place to Charlotte Thompson, who played a six nights' engagement, playing "Julia" in the "Hunchback," "Leah, the Forsaken," "Sea of Ice," and "Court and Stage." Miss Thompson was a pretty woman and a pleasing actress—a favorite in the South where she belonged.
From the 14th to the 24th, the stock company held down the business without stellar assistance, when Kate Denin and John Wilson returned and played another engagement. As stock stars they remained until February 14th. Then came another siege of stock work without any star, broken intermittently by lectures and concerts. Ole Bull gave concerts March 8th and 9th; Alf Barnett's entertainment, March 22nd and 23rd; Satsuma's Japanese troupe from March 25th to 30th. These attractions, of course, gave the company some respite from their arduous studies, but it was only brief, and we were already rehearsing for the ensuing conference dates. So the stock company resumed their labors and played all through April and up to May 16th when the season of '69 and '70 closed.