CHAPTER XXII.
SEASON OF '77-'78.
On October 5th, the fall Conference was provided for. The house opened for the season of '77 and '78 on this date with a reproduction of "Under One Flag." The stock played through the Conference date, reviving some of the old favorite plays, and continued playing until November 12th. On November 14th The Kellogg-Cary Concert Company opened a three nights' engagement and sang to big houses. Miss Louise Kellogg was one of the greatest singers of her day, and Miss Cary was equally popular, their concerts being very well patronized and highly appreciated by the music lovers of Salt Lake.
On November 23rd, Mrs. D. P. Bowers and Mr. "Jim" McCollom (who was
Mrs. Bowers' second husband) opened a week's engagement in
Giogametti's play of "Elizabeth," which was played for three nights,
and the week was filled out with "Lady Audley's Secret," "Married
Life" and "Camille."
Mrs. Bowers was beyond question one of the greatest actresses our country had ever produced. She was the first American actress to play the character of Elizabeth. After Ristori, the great Italian actress, had played this great character in a few of the principal cities of our country only, Mrs. Bowers took it up and starred the country with it, making a great success.
Mr. James McCollom was a very efficient support to her in the characters of Essex in "Elizabeth," Armand in "Camille" and Robert Audley in "Lady Audley's Secret." Mrs. Bowers achieved her celebrity as Mrs. Bowers and never changed her name to McCollom on the stage. Mrs. Bowers was supported by the stock company in this engagement.
On December 8th, J. K. Emmett opened a three nights' engagement in "Fritz," supported by the stock. On December 20-21-22, The Lilliputian Opera Company. Christmas Day the stock resumed operations and played through the holidays and up to the 13th of the month; they were temporarily retired again to make room for Ilma de Murska and her concert company, who gave scenes from "II Trovatore," "Martha," "Crispina," and other operas, remaining three nights, 15th to 17th, inclusive. De Murski was not only a great singer but a great actress as well, and her singing and acting were received with unusual enthusiasm.
January 18th and 19th, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Frayne were the attraction in the play of "Si Slocum." Frayne "was the fellow who won renown" by shooting an apple from his wife's head (a la William Tell), only Frayne split the apple with a rifle bullet instead of an arrow. After performing this and other dexterous feats with rifle and revolver many hundreds of times without accident, he did it once too often; he finally missed his aim and shot his wife dead. How confiding women are! Poor Mrs. Frayne! Thank heaven that did not happen here! Whether Frank ever found another woman so confident of his skill as to hold that apple on her head, we know not and hope not. He had a bull dog that played a star part in the show; he may have trained the dog to hold the apple after his wife's awful fate. Sad to relate, the stock company supported Mr. and Mrs. Frayne and the bull-dog.
On the 22nd and 23rd, Mile. Rentz's female minstrels gave Salt Lake another exhibition of musical extravaganza, the chief attraction being the free and lavish display of beautiful female shapes. A whole phalanx of voluptuous, rotund forms encased in a dazzling and bewildering variety of colors—moving in splendid harmony—keeping time, time, time, in a sort of runic rhyme. Why no wonder the baldheads crowded into the front rows and outrivaled all other spectators in applauding the bold and beautiful Amazons.
On February 22nd the community having recovered somewhat from the excitement of Amazonian marches, Rentz minstrel choruses, and the bewildering effect of so much female beauty, the present writer having accepted an offer to go to Denver to play a star engagement at the Denver theatre, summoned sufficient courage to take a "farewell benefit." The plays given on this occasion were "Evadne" and the farce of "Nan, the Good-for-Nothing." Soon after the "benefit" the writer departed for Denver, accompanied by Mr. Harry Emery, who had played with him in the recent benefit bill and on some previous occasions; his work being so satisfactory as to secure him an engagement in the Denver company that was to support me. Denver at this time had but one theatre; it was not nearly so large or so good a theatre as the Salt Lake Theatre; in fact, Denver was not then (1878) as large a city as Salt Lake. Nick Forrester was the manager, and his wife was the "leading lady" of the company, and insisted on playing all the leading lady parts whether suited to them or not. This caused Nick and the company a whole lot of trouble as she was already fair, fat and forty, and not suited to many of the parts.
My opening bill was "Hamlet," and she was my Ophelia, much to my dissatisfaction, as there was a juvenile lady in the company, Miss Baker, who should have been cast for the part; but with a woman's persistent inconsistency, in spite of my demurrer, she would be Ophelia, and Miss Baker had to do the Queen, which she was quite as unsuited to as Mrs. Forrester was for Ophelia. This was the "leading lady's" reward:
"Not all the artifices of the stage would suffice to make Mrs. Forrester look young enough for Ophelia, or Miss Baker old enough for the Queen."—Rocky Mountain News.
After "Hamlet," "Richelieu" was given (my first appearance in the character), then "Jack Cade," Bulwer's comedy of "Money" and my own play, "Under One Flag." After filling in three more weeks with the Forresters on their circuit, Mr. Joe Wallace, the comedian of Mr. Forrester's company, made a contract with me to play me through the state of Colorado, supported by the Forrester Stock Company. The season was over in Denver, so we went en tour. Before the tour ended we went to Leadville with teams from Canon City, and gave the first dramatic performance ever given in Leadville. This was in the summer of '78; the boom did not strike Leadville till '79. We were there too early to do much in the theatrical way—the population was not there. Emery and I got back to Salt Lake about the first of August. The next attraction at the Salt Lake Theatre after "Evadne" was the Union Square Theatre Company with Charley Thorne at the head of it. On February 12th, this company opened in the Russian play, "The Danicheffs," following it with "The Two Orphans" and "Pink Dominoes." It was the foremost company of the time, and of course gave great satisfaction. On February 22nd, Washington's Birthday was celebrated by a big masquerade ball in the theatre, given by the L. H. B. Society. This was a big affair, this masquerade. Hundreds of maskers were on the floor and the grand march, led by our late lamented friend Ned Wallin, and the writer, was a very fine pageant—and it was altogether a very successful revel.
Next came Fanny Louise Buckingham and her finely trained horse, James Mellville. They starred in conjunction for three nights in the play of "Mazeppa," supported by the stock company. This was the last performance the writer took part in before leaving for his Denver engagement. There was much more satisfaction in supporting Fanny and her horse than there was in supporting Frayne and his bulldog. Fanny was a beautiful creature, so also was her horse James; and although Fanny couldn't act Mazeppa very well, James did his part splendidly, and Fanny could stick on him in good shape, and James carried her through all right. The following week we were in Denver together, she playing, I rehearsing, so we saw a good deal of each other, and when she parted from us at Denver, she had established a reputation among us for a "jolly good fellow." She loved her horse James Mellville, and she loved a jolly crowd.
Next came J. Al. Sawtelle, who had been touring around in Utah and Montana, and put his name up for a performance at the Salt Lake Theatre. As he had only played there one season and had not been there since '74, he was almost a stranger. He played "Rosedale" on March 2nd. On March 5th, Denman Thompson opened a three nights' engagement in "Joshua Whitcomb." The 11th and 12th, Signor Eduardo Majeroni, a very clever Italian actor, played "The Old Corporal" and "Jealousy."
On the 14th, Ada Richmond opened for a week, supported by the stock, which also supported the three preceding attractions. On April 4th, 5th and 6th, Haverly's minstrels filled the time, giving the Conference visitors a taste of genuine minstrelsy.
The last nights of Conference, 7th and 8th, were filled by the stock, who kept it going until Oliver Doud Byron came in on the 15th and 16th to crave their help "Across the Continent." On the 19th Frank C. Bangs, one of the big four in the "Julius Caesar" production at Booth's theatre, gave a reading entertainment. Why he didn't give a play I don't know, the same old reliable stock was here and had just supported Oliver Doud Byron. The only reason I can assign is that he hadn't time to stay.
April 25th and 26th Ada Gray appeared in "Whose Wife?" and "Miss
Multon."
May 2nd Prof. La Mar, leader of the Fort Douglas Band, gave a band concert. La Mar was a very clever musician and had a fine band; he deserved to be well patronized for he was very accommodating, and volunteered the services of his band on numerous "benefit occasions."
On the 7th and 8th Dick Roberts in "Humpty Dumpty;" 13th and 14th, Sol
Smith Russell and Rice's Evangeline combination.
On the 27th and 28th Harrigan and Hart in "Doyle Brothers," "Old
Lavender" and "Sullivan's Christmas."
June 14th and 15th, Salisbury's Troubadores.
July 15th, Joseph Jefferson in "Rip Van Winkle."
September 10th, Henry Ward Beecher in lecture, "Wastes and Burdens." This was after the notorious Beecher-Tilton scandal and Henry had been studying social economy. The Mormons didn't like Henry very much, but he had a big house.
September 12th and 13th, entertainments were given for the benefit of the yellow fever sufferers in Memphis and vicinity. These entertainments did not "pan out" very well, and the theatre managers decided to get all the dramatic talent they could get to volunteer and give a popular play, in hopes to materially increase the charity fund. The "School for Scandal" was selected and given with a pretty strong cast, embracing Miss Colebrook as Lady Teazle, David McKenzie as Sir Peter, John T. Caine as Charles Surface, John S. Lindsay as Joseph Surface. Phil Margetts and John C. Graham were in the cast, and a number of others, I cannot remember. The play was given on September 16th, and netted a very tidy sum for the sufferers.
On the 18th, 19th and 20th, Calender's Georgia minstrels held the boards, and business was light. The writer and Harry Emery had but recently returned from their Colorado tour, and both were anxious to be doing something, so I got a cast together and put on "Richelieu," which I had recently played in Denver, and received flattering notices for, from the press of that city. I had given away my first appearance for the "benefit" to the yellow fever sufferers, so there was no other attraction than to see me in a new part and that did not prove sufficient to save me from disaster. I had a losing game of it, the receipts being some $75 less than the expenses of the performance. This was the only time I ever failed to make something when I had rented the theatre and taken chances, which was quite often. This performance, given on the 25th of September, virtually closed the season of '77 and '78.