The Mormons and the Theatre; or, The History of Theatricals in Utah

by John S. Lindsay

CHAPTER XX.

SEASON OF '75-'76.

In the following chapter, no attempt will be made to give a consecutive and complete list of the attractions which appeared during the season, but a running notice will be made of the most important engagements, and especially of the new stars that appeared.

The combination system was gradually forcing the stock company from the theatre. Engagements with the stock people were now intermittent and uncertain, and for that reason the company kept dwindling until eventually it became a thing of the past. During this season, however, they were called in to support a good many stars. It took several seasons for the combination system to completely supersede the stock system.

On August 12th, Jennie Lee, who had been a favorite soubrette in the California theatre, San Francisco, and her husband, J. T. Burnett, opened a week's engagement in the play of May Blossom, supported by the stock. Immediately following, opening on the 20th of August, came Augustin Daly's company on their way to San Francisco. They played three nights, presenting "Saratoga," "The Big Diamond" and "Divorce."

Fanny Davenport was the "leading lady" of this company. It was the first dramatic company to cross the continent direct from New York to San Francisco. The fame of Daly's company had preceded it, and as a result they played to big businesses both here and in San Francisco.

On the 27th and 28th, the English Opera Company played to good houses.

On September 25th, the stock company reopened the theatre which had been dark for several weeks. Charley Vivian, who afterwards organized the order of Elks, opened in conjunction with the company, giving his clever entertainment, and this combination pulled through the October Conference, when there was another intermission. In December, the stock company made another spurt, headed by Clara Jean Walters.

They reopened with "Cherry and Fair Star," a spectacular play which had an unusual run; with this and other pieces they managed to keep going until January 20th, 1876; from this date to April 1st, there were occasional attractions but none of great importance.

On March 1st, John S. Lindsay, who had been playing leads in the stock, was tendered a complimentary "benefit," on which occasion he appeared in the character of "Jack Cade." To show the personnel of the company at this particular period of its history, the following program of the performance is subjoined:

SALT LAKE THEATRE.

W. T. Harris ……………………… Business Manager

GRAND COMPLIMENTARY FAREWELL BENEFIT

Tendered by the Members of the Dramatic Profession, and Prominent
Citizens of Salt Lake City to the popular actor

JOHN S. LINDSAY.

On which occasion Mr. Lindsay will essay the great character of
Jack Cade.

WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 1, 1876,

Will be presented Judge Conrad's celebrated tragedy in four acts, entitled

"JACK CADE, THE CAPTAIN OF THE COMMONS."

The entire Corps Dramatique have generously volunteered.

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Nobles.

Lord Say ………………………….. Mr. Mark Wilton
Lord Clifford …………………… Mr. Emmett Mousley
Duke of Buckingham ………………… Mr. Gus M. Clark
Duke of Suffolk …………………… Mr. B. W. Wright
Courtnay …………………………. Mr. J. C. Graham

Commons.

Jack Cade }
Aylmere } ……………………… Mr. John S. Lindsay
Friar Lacy ……………………… Mr. John T. Hardie
Wat Worthy ………………………. Mr. Phil Margetts
Will Mowbray ………………………. Mr. J. E. Evans
Jack Straw …………………………. Mr. E. Mousley

Bondmen to Lord Say—

Dick Pembroke ………………………. Mr. H. Bowring
Roger Sutton ……………………….. Mr. Wm. Wright
Cade's Son (5 years old) ………….. Miss Edie Lindsay
Marinanne (Cade's wife) …………… Miss Lina Mousley
Widow Cade (Cade's mother) ………… Miss Sarah Napper
Kate Worthy, betrothed to Mowbray ….. Miss Lizzie Davis

Lords, Officers, Peasants, Bondsmen, Etc.

To be followed by a musical interlude.

Song—"Give a Poor Fellow a Lift" Mr. Phil Margetts, Jr.

For the last time, the great Specialty of the Mulligan
Guards ……………. By W. T. Harris and H. E. Bowring

The performance will conclude with the side-splitting farce,

"A BASHFUL BACHELOR."

Hector Timid ……………………… Mr. J. C. Graham
Captain Cannon …………………….. Mr. Mark Wilton
Dr. Wiseman ……………………… Mr. H. E. Bowring
Thornton ………………………….. Mr. J. E. Evans
Louisa ………………………….. Miss Lina Mousley
Chatter …………………………. Miss Sarah Napper

It would be unreasonable to expect an audience to sit through such a lengthy performance nowadays, but such was the dramatic pabulum with which we had to entice them into the theatre "in that elder day."

The "cast" in the above program shows that the stock company had become decidedly weak, a number of amateurs were worked in, and the three comedians, Margetts, Bowring and Graham, are playing parts altogether out of their line. The lady assigned the "leading lady's" part (Miss Mousley) was a clever amateur and this was about her first appearance at this theatre. The "leading ladies" "seem to have been all in retirement." Mr. Wilton, "a serio-comic," playing the "leading heavy," Lord Say, and Mr. Graham playing" the "second heavy," Courtney, shows there was a great sparsity of "heavy men," and Margetts and Bowring both playing serious "character parts," plainly indicates the low ebb the company had reached. It was now a difficult, nay an impossible, task to adequately "cast" one of the great classical plays.

Such was the status of the stock company at this period, its efficiency having been gradually weakened by the steadily increasing innovation of the combination or traveling companies.

Many of the most popular stars had not up to this time surrounded themselves with their own supporting companies, but continued to flit to and fro across the dramatic firmament, pausing to shed their luster for a new nights wherever they could find a cluster of nebula (stock company) to shine among.

On April 1st a bright and attractive star appeared in the person of Mr. Edwin Adams. Mr. Adams made a splendid impression on his first visit to Salt Lake and a full house was on hand to greet him. The train on which Mr. Adams arrived was several hours late and the audience was kept waiting more than an hour after the specified time of commencing. It was nearly ten o'clock when the curtain rang up on "The Marble Heart," but the audience exercised great patience, and when at length Mr. Adams appeared as Phidias from between the curtains that concealed the statues, exclaiming "The man whose genius formed them," he received such a warm and generous welcome as must have banished any doubts or misgivings he may have had as to how Salt Lake would receive him. As he had not rehearsed with the company, some apprehensions were felt as to how the play would go; but, after it was over, Mr. Adams warmly complimented everybody—especially the stage manager—and declared it went just as well as if he had been here to rehearse it with us. This was a notable engagement, Mr. Adams playing ten nights in all, his engagement running through the April Conference. In addition to "The Marble Heart," he played "Hamlet," "Richelieu," "Rover" (in "Wild Oats"), "Narcisse" and "Enoch Arden."

Edwin Adams was destined to a career as brief as it was brilliant. After leaving us he went to San Francisco and played a successful engagement, then went to Australia. When he returned from Australia to San Francisco he was a dying man. A benefit was given him there, and he was wheeled onto the stage in an invalid's chair to acknowledge his gratitude to the San Franciscans for their kindness to him. This was the last seen of poor Edwin Adams by the public. Only a few days later and that dramatic genius that was shedding luster on the American stage was extinct. He had contracted quick consumption in the antipodes, and by the time he got back to San Francisco his friends realized he had not long to live and did what they could to show their love for him and ease his passing to the great beyond.

The next important engagement was that of John T. Raymond, who appeared on August 5th in "A Gilded Age," the play in which Willie Gill was enjoined more than a year before. As Colonel Sellers, Raymond was simply inimitable; Mark Twain might have had him in his eye when he created the character. It ran three performances, and if there were not "millions in it," it was at least a profitable engagement both for Mr. Raymond and the manager. Notwithstanding it was the hottest part of the summer, Raymond filled out a week with Major de Boots in the "Widow Hunt," and Caleb Plummer in "Cricket on the Hearth." Raymond's engagement virtually closed the season of '75 and '76, and there was nothing of importance until the commencing of the next season.