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

by John S. Lindsay

William Pitt, the captain of the band, was the leader of the orchestra. He could "play the fiddle like an angel," handling the bow with his left hand at that. The associate players of Captain Pitt were William Clayton, James Smithers, Jacob Hutchinson, David Smith, and George Warde. The Musical and Dramatic Association played in the Bowery occasionally from 1850 to 1852.

The first amusement hall built in Salt Lake, which was used chiefly for dancing, was erected at the Warm Springs in the year 1850. It was a good sized adobe building and served as a social hall until 1852, when the Social Hall proper was completed. It was built at this out of the way place so as to combine the use of the Warm Springs for bathing with the social meetings held there. But it proved to be too difficult to get to, when the nights were dark and the roads were bad, so Brigham Young had the Social Hall built which was quite central and the Warm Springs music hall was converted into a roadside tavern and was run by Jesse C. Little for a time.

The first string band to furnish music for dances played at this hall and was composed of Hopkins C. (familiarly known as "Hop") Fender, Jesse Earl and Jake Hutchinson. These gentlemen deserve to be remembered in the musical history of Salt Lake City as the first to furnish the inspiring strains to which the worthy pioneers danced.

In the fall of 1852, the Musical and Dramatic Association was reorganized and renamed the "Deseret Dramatic Association." In this year the historic Social Hall was erected, and with a view to opening it with becoming brilliancy the original company was greatly added to, for the drama had become a popular amusement with the Saints, and many of the chiefs of the church, including President Young, held honorary membership in the "D. D. A."

The Social Hall, which is still standing and in well preserved condition, is one of the old landmarks that are fast disappearing. It is a comparatively small structure about 40x80 feet. It was considered in its time a fine amusement hall but has long since become dwarfed by the greater buildings which have gone up around it. It has a stage twenty feet deep, two dressing rooms under the stage, an ample basement under the hall for banqueting purposes. This auditorium is about 40x60 feet with a level floor for dancing for the amusement of the play and dancing were fairly and considerately alternated by the managers of the D. D. A.

In the early winter of 1852 this hall was opened with a dance to which the elect were invited, and it was a great crush. The first social gathering in the new hall formed a sort of punctuation mark in the social caste among the Saints.

Of course, the hall being small, the invitations had to be limited and many there were who felt slighted because they were not among the invited. Envy on the one hand and a supercilious superiority on the other gave birth to a feeling of caste which was altogether in bad taste among professing Saints.

The great event of this season in the amusement line was the dramatic opening. Local artists had been employed for some time and had stocked the stage with excellent scenery. Bulwer's classic play "The Lady of Lyons" was selected for the opening bill. The company had been so strengthened that the members could cast any of the great plays. To the original company had been added besides a long list of honorary members, the following named active male members: James Ferguson, Bernard Snow, David Candland (stage manager), John T. Caine, David McKenzie, Joseph Simons and Henry Maiben; to the female contingent had been added Mrs. Cyrus Wheelock, Mrs. Henry Tuckett, Mrs. Joseph Bull, Mrs. John Hyde, Mrs. Sarah Cook. It will be observed that they were all married women. This is a very noticeable feature, as it is so unusual in a dramatic company nowadays, either amateur or professional. The explanation of it, however, is simple enough. At that time there were few if any unmarried women in Utah that had arrived at the marriageable age. The only three women whose names appear in the original company were unmarried, Miss Judd, Miss Orum and Miss Badlam, which seems exceptional and they now seem to have all disappeared, or they are overshadowed by the married women, or perhaps they appear in the reorganized company under a new name with Mrs. attached.

The Social Hall theatrical opening was an event in the history of Utah. It may be truly said that it marked an epoch in the development of civilization in the Rocky Mountain region and the growth of the drama in the far West. Even San Francisco had not up to this time made any such ambitious attempt in the dramatic line.

I have not been able to procure a program of this opening performance but the cast of the principal characters was as follows: