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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36215-8.txt b/36215-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5ce4b1b --- /dev/null +++ b/36215-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5589 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Famous Prima Donnas, by Lewis Clinton Strang + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Famous Prima Donnas + +Author: Lewis Clinton Strang + +Release Date: May 24, 2011 [EBook #36215] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS PRIMA DONNAS *** + + + + +Produced by Linda Cantoni, Bryan Ness, David E. Brown, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +Famous Prima Donnas + + + [Illustration: EDNA MAY + As Violet Grey in "The Belle of New York."] + + + + + Famous Prima + Donnas + + By + Lewis C. Strang + + _Author of_ "_Famous Actors of the Day_," "_Famous + Actresses of the Day_," "_Famous Stars + of Light Opera_," "_Players and + Plays of the Last Quarter + Century_," _etc._ + + Illustrated + + L·C·PAGE·&·COMPANY + BOSTON PUBLISHERS + + _Copyright 1900_ + + BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY + (INCORPORATED) + + _All rights reserved_ + + Third Impression, February, 1906 + + _COLONIAL PRESS_ + _Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co._ + _Boston, U. S. A._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + INTRODUCTION ix + + I. ALICE NIELSEN 1 + + II. VIRGINIA EARLE 21 + + III. LILLIAN RUSSELL 30 + + IV. JOSEPHINE HALL 46 + + V. MABELLE GILMAN 56 + + VI. FAY TEMPLETON 67 + + VII. MADGE LESSING 81 + + VIII. JESSIE BARTLETT DAVIS 88 + + IX. EDNA WALLACE HOPPER 104 + + X. PAULA EDWARDES 113 + + XI. LULU GLASER 120 + + XII. MINNIE ASHLEY 134 + + XIII. EDNA MAY 147 + + XIV. MARIE CELESTE 156 + + XV. CHRISTIE MACDONALD 172 + + XVI. MARIE DRESSLER 181 + + XVII. DELLA FOX 192 + + XVIII. CAMILLE D'ARVILLE 208 + + XIX. MARIE TEMPEST 222 + + XX. MAUD RAYMOND 233 + + XXI. PAULINE HALL 239 + + XXII. HILDA CLARK 253 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + EDNA MAY as Violet Grey in "The Belle of New York" _Frontispiece_ + + ALICE NIELSEN in "The Fortune Teller" 7 + + VIRGINIA EARLE as Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl" 21 + + LILLIAN RUSSELL as "The Queen of Brilliants" 42 + + MABELLE GILMAN in "The Casino Girl" 56 + + FAY TEMPLETON singing the "coon" song, "My Tiger Lily" 67 + + MADGE LESSING 81 + + EDNA WALLACE-HOPPER 104 + + PAULA EDWARDES 113 + + LULU GLASER 120 + + MINNIE ASHLEY 134 + + CHRISTIE MACDONALD 172 + + MARIE DRESSLER 181 + + DELLA FOX 192 + + MARIE TEMPEST 222 + + + + +Introduction + + +The musical stage in the United States may be said to be a birthright +rather than a profession. A critical examination of the conditions +quickly shows one that the number of women at present prominent in light +opera and kindred forms of entertainment, who have earned their +positions by continued endeavor and logical development in their art, is +comparatively small. The majority are, in fact, the happy victims of +personality, who have been rushed into fame chiefly by chance and a +fortunate combination of circumstances. They are without the requisite +training, either in the art of singing or in the art of impersonation, +that would entitle them to be seriously considered as great vocalists or +as great actors. They are, however, past mistresses in the one +essential for their profession,--the art of entertaining. + +The readiest proof of this peculiar state of affairs is the almost +universal brevity of the careers of the women just now in the ascendancy +in the musical drama. Ten years of professional life is more than many +of them can claim. Arising suddenly into conspicuous popularity as they +have, their reputations are founded, not on the sure basis of careful +preparation and long and diversified experience, but on the uncertain +qualities of personal magnetism and physical beauty. They shine with a +glory that is perhaps deceptive in its brilliancy; they are the sought +for by many managers, the beloved of a faddish public, and the much +exploited of the newspaper press. + +The difficulties that encumbered the path of the compiler of this book, +dealing with the women of the musical stage in this country, were +numerous. First among them was the choice of subjects. The selection +could not be made with deference to any classification by merit, for the +triumphs of personality were not amenable to such a classification. The +compiler was compelled by the conditions to bring his own personality +into the case, and to choose entirely by preference. He could not be +governed by an arbitrary standard of comparison; for how can +personality, which is a quality, an impression, hardly a fact, and +certainly not a method, be compared? In the present instance, the writer +found it expedient to limit himself to those entertainers who have given +at least some evidence of continued prominence. It may be, therefore, +that a few names have been omitted which are rightly entitled to a place +in a work of this kind. Nevertheless, the list is surely representative, +even if it be not complete. + +After the subjects had been chosen, the question, how to treat them, at +once became paramount. Again the bothersome limitations of personality +asserted themselves; and one perceived immediately that criticism, +meaning by that the consistent application of any comprehensive canon of +dramatic art, was out of the question. The vocal art of the average +light opera singer is imperfect, and the histrionic methods in vogue +show little evidence of careful training: they are neither subtle nor +complex. Indeed, the average woman in light opera is not an actress at +all in the full meaning of the word. She does not fit herself into the +parts that she is called upon to play, and she does not attempt +expositions of character that will stand even the most superficial +analysis. She acts herself under every circumstance. Describe in detail +her work in a single rôle, and she is written down for all time. + +Yet, should one limit his critical vision to a single part, he not only +fails to touch the main point at issue, but he runs the risk, as well, +of self-deception and misunderstanding. The artistic worth of a player +of personality is invariably overestimated after the first hearing; and +the sure tendency of even the experienced observer, particularly if he +be of sympathetic and sanguine temperament, and constantly on the watch +for the slightest indication of unusual talent, is to mistake +personality for art. The result is that, after indulging himself to the +full in eloquent rhapsody, he encounters, upon a more intimate +acquaintance, mortifying disillusionment. + +What is of genuine value in the player of personality is the elusive +force that makes her a possibility on the stage, and the problem is to +get that peculiar magnetism on paper. It is a problem unsolved so far as +the writer is concerned. One can dodge above, below, and aroundabout a +personality, but he cannot pierce directly into it. When it comes to the +final word, one is left face to face with his stock of adjectives. Most +unsatisfactory they are, too. None of them seems exactly to fit the +case. They serve well enough, perhaps, to convey one individual's +notions regarding the personality under discussion, but they are indeed +lame and limping when it comes to presenting any definite idea of the +personality itself. + +As for the biographical data in the book, they are as complete and as +accurate as diligence and care can make them. The woman in music is +conscientiously reticent regarding the details of her early struggles +for position and reputation. Nothing would seem to be so satisfactory to +her as a past dim and mystifying, a present of brilliancy unrivalled, +and a future of rich and unshadowed promise. + + + + +Famous Prima Donnas + + + + +CHAPTER I + +ALICE NIELSEN + + +Five years ago Alice Nielsen was an obscure church singer in Kansas +City; to-day she is the leading woman star in light opera on the +American stage. One feels an instinctive hesitation in putting her in +the first place, however sure he may be that she is justly entitled to +it. He anxiously seeks the country over for a possible rival. He feels +that Alice Nielsen has hardly been tested as yet, for she has been only +two seasons at the head of her own company, and she has not appeared in +an opera which is of itself artistically worthy of serious +consideration. Moreover, she is such a little thing,--a child, it would +seem,--and is it safe to take seriously a child, even a child of so many +and so potent fascinations? + +This feeling of doubt, caused by Miss Nielsen's stage youthfulness, is, +it appears to me, the pith of the whole difficulty, and therein lurks a +curious paradox. Alice Nielsen's great charms are her youth, her +spontaneity, and her ingenuousness; but these very qualities are the +ones that make one pause and consider before giving her the artistic +rank that she has honestly earned. Alice Nielsen seems almost too human +to be really great. She is too natural, too democratic, too free from +conceit. She is never disdainful of her public, and she is never bored +by her work. + +One cannot help being charmed by this little woman, who sings as if +singing were the best fun in the world; who is so frankly happy when her +audience likes her work and applauds her; and who goes soaring up and +away on the high notes, sounding clear and pure above chorus and +orchestra, without the slightest apparent effort and without a trace of +affectation or of artificial striving for effect. Everybody who has ever +written anything about Alice Nielsen has declared that she sings like a +bird, freely, naturally, and easily, and this metaphor describes exactly +the impression that she creates. + +Her voice one appreciates at once,--its volume and its colorful +brilliancy, its great range, and its rich, sympathetic, and musical +qualities; what he misses in her are the conventionalities of the prima +donna,--the awe-inspiring stage presence, the impressive posings and +contortious vocalizations. The world is very apt to take one at his own +estimate until it gets very well acquainted with him. Alice Nielsen has +never proclaimed herself a wonder, and the world has not yet fully made +up its mind regarding her as an artist. It acknowledges her great +personal charm, her delightful music, but it is not just sure whether +she can act. + +I regard Miss Nielsen as a thoroughly competent actress in a limited +field. She is fitted neither physically nor temperamentally for heroics, +but she is fully equal to the requirements of operatic light comedy. She +acts as she sings, simply and naturally, and her appeal to her audience +is sure and straightforward. As an instance of this, take her striking +first entrance in "The Singing Girl." She appears on a little bridge, +which extends across the back of the stage. She runs quickly to the +centre, then stops, stoops over with her hands on her knees in Gretchen +fashion, and smiles with all her might. The action is quaint and +attractive, and she wins the house at once. Alice Nielsen's smile is +really a wonderful thing, and it is one proof that she knows something +about acting. It never seems forced. Yet, when one stops to think, he +must see that a girl cannot smile at the same time, night after night, +without bringing to her aid a little art. To appear perfectly natural on +the stage is the best possible acting, and that is just what Alice +Nielsen does with her smile. + +However, "The Singing Girl," for which Victor Herbert wrote the music, +Harry Smith the lyrics, and Stanislaus Stange the libretto, like "The +Fortune Teller," in which Miss Nielsen made her début as a star during +the season of 1898-99, was from any standpoint except the purely +spectacular a pretty poor sort of an opera. There was a great deal to +attract the eye. The costuming was sumptuous, the groupings and color +effects novel and entrancing, and the action throughout mechanically +spirited. Mr. Herbert's music, which was plainly written to catch the +public fancy, fulfilled its purpose, though that was about all that +could be said in its favor. It waltzed and it marched, and it broke +continually into crashing and commonplace refrains. It was strictly +theatrical music, with more color than melody, showy and pretentious, +but without backbone. + +There was really only one song in the whole score that stuck to the +memory, and that was Miss Nielsen's solo, "So I Bid You Beware." +Possibly, even in this case I am giving Mr. Herbert more credit than +belongs to him, for Miss Nielsen's interpretation of the ditty was +nothing short of exquisite. She found a world of meaning in the simple +words, coquetted and flirted with a fascinating girlishness that was +entrancing, and flashed her merry blue eyes with an invitation so purely +personal that for a moment the footlights disappeared. + + [Illustration: ALICE NIELSEN + In "The Fortune Teller."] + +Mr. Stange's libretto was wofully weak. It seemed to be full of holes, +and into these a trio of comedians were thrust with a recklessness born +of desperation. What Mr. Stange did faithfully was to keep Miss Nielsen +on the stage practically all the time that she was not occupied in +taking off petticoats and putting on trousers--or else reversing the +process. To be sure, he succeeded in bringing about these many changes +with less bewilderment than did Harry Smith in the case of "The Fortune +Teller," the plot of which no one ever confessed to follow after the +first five minutes of the opening act. Alan Dale once described this +peculiar state of affairs in the following characteristic fashion:-- + +"In 'The Fortune Teller' the astonishing Harry B. Smith, who must have +gone about all summer perspiring librettos and dripping them into the +laps of all the stars, has woven a rôle for Miss Nielsen that is stellar +but difficult to comprehend. Miss Nielsen appeared as three people who +are always changing their clothes. Just as the poor little woman has got +through all her vocal exercises as Irma, Mr. Smith insists that she +shall be Musette in other garbs. And no sooner has she appeared as +Musette and sang something else than Mr. Smith rushes her off and claps +her into another garb as Fedor. You don't know who she intends to be +from one minute to another, and I am quite sure that she herself +doesn't. The variety of dresses, tights, wraps, jackets, and hats +sported by this ambitious and earnest little girl is simply astonishing. +It must be very difficult to accomplish these chameleon-like changes +without getting rattled. Miss Nielsen seemed to enjoy herself, however; +and as for getting rattled, she coquetted with her audience as archly +after the twelfth change as she did after the first." + +Alice Nielsen was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Her father, from whom +she probably inherited her musical talent, was a Dane. He was an +excellent violinist, but he was never able to turn his gifts to +financial advantage. During the Civil War he fought on the Union side +and received a severe wound that is believed to have been the indirect +cause of his death, which occurred when Alice was about seven years old. +Alice Nielsen's mother was of Irish parentage,--a woman of sturdy and +sterling qualities. + +After the war the family settled in Warrensburg, Missouri, and remained +there until after Mr. Nielsen's death. There were four children in the +family, three girls and a boy, and Alice was next to the oldest. After +the death of Mr. Nielsen, Mrs. Nielsen removed with her children to +Kansas City and opened a boarding-house at the corner of Thirteenth and +Cherry streets. Alice was at that time about eight years old. For some +years she attended school at St. Teresa's Academy, and later she studied +music and voice culture under a Kansas City music-teacher, Max Desci. +Many years afterward this tutor claimed the whole credit for developing +her voice and for "bringing her out," even going so far as to sue her +for $8,000, which he alleged to be due him for music lessons. He lost +the suit, however. + +Kansas City first began to talk of Alice Nielsen's voice after she +became a member of the choir of St. Patrick's Church, with which she was +connected for five years. She married the organist, Benjamin Neutwig, +from whom she was divorced in 1898. After her marriage she continued to +live in her mother's apartments at Thirteenth and Cherry streets, where, +in fact, she made her home until she left Kansas City. Appreciating his +wife's unusual gifts, Mr. Neutwig did much to develop them, and it was +perhaps due to him as much as to any one else that she became something +more than a church singer. + +The Kansas City friends of Alice Nielsen relate many interesting +incidents of her early life, nearly all of which show indications of the +spirit and strength of character that have done so much toward pushing +her forward. The following anecdotes, told by a member of St. Patrick's +Church choir, were published in the "Kansas City World":-- + +"I was in a grocery store near Twelfth and Locust streets with Alice +one day, when she was about fifteen years old, I should judge. A couple +of boys of her age were plaguing her. She took it good-naturedly for +awhile, but finally warned them to let her alone. They persisted. Then +becoming exasperated, she picked up an egg and threw it, hitting one of +her tormentors squarely in the face. Of course the egg broke, and the +boy's countenance was a sight for the gods. I understand she apologized +afterward. This may be recorded as her first hit. + +"She joined the choir of St. Patrick's Church, Eight and Cherry streets, +eleven years ago, and sang in it about five years, or until she left +Kansas City to begin her operatic career. It was there she met Benjamin +Neutwig, the organist. A great many persons were jealous of her vocal +talents, nor were certain members of the church itself entirely exempt +from twinges of envy. Indeed, a no less personage than she who was at +that time choir leader manifested symptoms of this kind to a pronounced +degree. + +"I remember one Easter service, Alice, then a girl of probably eighteen, +was down to sing a solo in Millard's Mass. The leader was angry: she +thought the solo should have been assigned to her. Alice knew of the +hostility, and it worried her, but she rose bravely and started in. +Scarcely had she sung the first line when the choir leader turned and +gave Alice a hateful look. + +"It had the desired effect. The singer's voice trembled, broke, and was +mute. She struggled bravely to regain her composure, but it was +useless,--she could not prevail against that malevolent gaze from the +choir leader. This, I believe, was the first and only time Alice Nielsen +ever failed in public. + +"It is a wonder, in the face of petty jealousies of this kind, coupled +with the poverty of her mother, which seemed an insurmountable barrier +to a musical education, that Alice's talents were not lost to the +world. For every influence tending to push her forward, there seemed a +dozen counter influences tending to pull her back. As a child, I have +seen her many a time on the street, barefooted, clothing poor and scant, +running errands for her mother. Later in life, when she was almost a +young lady, I have known her to sing in public, gowned in the cheapest +material, and she would appear time after time in the same dress. On +such occasions she was often wan and haggard, as if from anxiety or +overwork. But once in a while she received the praise which she so +richly merited. + +"One day Father Lillis received a letter from a travelling man who was +stopping at the Midland, in which he asked the name of the young woman +who sang soprano in the choir. He had attended church the day before, he +said, and had heard her sing. 'It is the most wonderful voice I ever +heard,' he wrote. 'That girl is the coming Florence Nightingale.' I +don't know whether the letter was ever answered or not, but Alice came +to know of the incident, and it pleased her. + +"Both before and after she joined the choir, Alice appeared in amateur +theatricals and in church concerts. She was always applauded and +appreciated, but it was in the character of a soubrette in +'Chantaclara,' a light opera put on at the Coates Opera House by +Professors Maderia and Merrihew, that she created the most decided +sensation. This was but a few weeks before she left Kansas City." + +Miss Nielsen bade farewell to Kansas City in 1892, going away with an +organization that styled itself the Chicago Concert Company, and which +planned to tour the small towns of Kansas and Missouri. This, her +earliest professional experience, ended in disaster, and Miss Nielsen +was stranded in St. Joseph, Missouri, before she had been out a week. +It was an eventful week, however, and Miss Nielsen vividly recalls it. + +"We got out somewhere in far Missouri," said Miss Nielsen, "with the +thermometer out of sight and hotels heated with gas jets and red +flannel. Nobody had ever heard of us. I don't think that in some of the +towns we struck they'd ever heard anything newer than the 'Maiden's +Prayer,' and that was as much as they wanted. They called me 'the +Swedish Nightingale,' and you can imagine how I felt,--a nightingale in +such a climate, and Swedish at that. But I just sang for all I was worth +and I tried to educate them, too. I sang the 'Angel's Serenade,' and +they didn't like it, because when they tried to whistle it in the +audience, they couldn't. We didn't carry any scenery; we just had a lot +of sheets with us, and used to drape the stage ourselves. + +"One 'hall' we came to, there was no dressing-room, so we strung a sheet +in one corner, and some one put a table behind with a lamp on it. The +'ladies of the company' (myself and the contralto) occupied this +improvised dressing-room. Suddenly we discovered that we were +unconsciously treating the audience to a shadow pantomime performance. +There was only one way out of the difficulty,--we women must shield each +other. So I held my skirts out while the contralto dressed, and she did +the same for me. + +"I remember in one place we had managed to excite the hayseeds into +coming to hear us, and the hall was quite full. We were giving a little +operetta. Somehow or other it didn't seem to please the public, and they +were in a mood to be disagreeable,--yes, restless. They wanted their +money's worth; they were mean enough to say so. + +"We held a consultation behind our sheetings, and the tenor suddenly +remembered that once upon a time, when he was a school-boy, he used to +amuse his comrades with tricks. 'Could he do them now?' we asked. He +would do his best, he said. So he got a wooden table, hammered a nail +into it, bent it a little, and slipped a curtain ring on his finger. + +"The trick was to lift the table with the palm of the hand, the ring and +nail being invisible. Just in the middle of the trick the nail broke. +Well, I believe that audience was ready to mob us. The bass, seeing the +situation, made a dive for the money in the front of the house, and we +escaped. It was a packed house, too. There must have been as much as +eight dollars." + +"Did you ever have to walk?" + +"Yes, indeed. We walked eight miles once to a town,--snowballed each +other all the way. It was lots of fun. When we got there the local paper +had an advance notice something like this: 'We are informed that "the +Swedish Nightingale" and others intend to give a show in the schoolhouse +to-night. Any one who pays money to go to their show will be sorry for +it.' + +"The local manager, an Irishman, asked us to sing a little piece for him +when we arrived. After we had done so, he said he had never heard +anything so bad in all his life. As to the nightingale, he would give +her three dollars to sing ballads, but the rest of the troupe were +beneath contempt. His language was a dialect blue that was awful. I tell +you it was hard luck singing in Missouri." + +In St. Joseph Miss Nielsen was fortunate enough to secure an engagement +to sing in a condensed version of the opera "Penelope" at the Eden +Musée. She received seventy-five dollars for her services, and this +money paid the railroad fares of herself and some of the members of the +defunct concert company to Denver, Colorado. There her singing attracted +the attention of the manager of the Pike Opera Company, which she joined +and accompanied to Oakland, California. + +Her first part with a professional opera company was that of Yum Yum in +"The Mikado." The Pike Opera Company later played in San Francisco, and +in that city she was heard in "La Perichole" by George E. Lask, the +stage manager of the Tivoli Theatre, which was, and is still, I believe, +given over to opera after the style of Henry W. Savage's various Castle +Square Theatre enterprises in the East. Miss Nielsen was engaged for the +Tivoli Company. She sang any small parts at first, but gradually arose +until she became the prima donna of the organization. In all, she is +said to have sung one hundred and fifty parts at the Tivoli, where she +remained for two years. + +While she was singing Lucia, H. C. Barnabee of The Bostonians, which +organization was then playing in San Francisco, read of her in the +newspapers and went to hear her. The result was the offer of an +engagement, which she accepted. Her first part with The Bostonians was +Anita in "The War Time Wedding." Then she was given the small part of +Annabelle in "Robin Hood." She also sang in "The Bohemian Girl" and was +Ninette in "Prince Ananias." The next season she created Yvonne in "The +Serenade," and was the hit of the opera,--so much of a hit, indeed, that +nothing remained for her but to go starring in "The Fortune Teller." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +VIRGINIA EARLE + + +An accomplished and versatile artist is Virginia Earle, who, because of +the variety of her attainments and the grace and finish of her art, is +entitled to rank with the foremost soubrettes on the American stage. +Miss Earle's ability has been tested in many forms of the drama. She has +appeared in light opera, in extravaganza, in musical comedy, and in the +Shakespearian drama. I question if there is another in her line now +before the public who can claim any such extensive experience. + + [Illustration: VIRGINIA EARLE + As Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl."] + +It would be strange if this diversified endeavor had not had its effect +on her art. In her we find united with a personality of curiously subtle +charm an authority in action that is restful and refreshing. In her +presentation of a part there is neither hesitancy nor misplaced +endeavor. She always has command of herself and of the rôle that she is +portraying. One never for a moment feels that she is to the slightest +degree uncertain as regards the effect that she will produce on her +audience. She knows what to do and how to do it. + +Yet, when one stops to think of it, her power over her audience is far +in excess of what one would naturally expect. Miss Earle is by no means +impressive in her stage presence. She cannot be called beautiful. Her +singing voice is a modest instrument, though a wonderfully expressive +one, it must be acknowledged. Her acting is quiet, even unassuming, but +it is also plain, easily comprehended, and always appropriate. She +apparently never does anything to attract attention, yet attention +rarely fails to be centred on her. This, of course, is due to the finish +of her art and a fine technique that makes its presence felt by its +seeming absence. + +If Miss Earle cannot justly claim any exceptional advantages in the +matter of physical beauty, she certainly has the greater advantage of an +intensely magnetic personality. Her individuality, too, is thoroughly +distinct. It is one of the paradoxes of acting that the more distinct +the artist's individuality, the greater is his ability to set apart one +from another the characters which he assumes. Miss Earle has this talent +for making each one of her rôles a separate and distinct personage to a +greater degree than any of her associates in the musical field. She does +this, too, in a strictly legitimate way, by impersonation pure and +simple without the aid of make-up. + +I remember especially what entirely different persons were her Mollie +Seamore in "The Geisha" and her Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl," so +different, in fact, that one who knew her only in the first part found +it hard to believe for some time that it really was she in the second +part. Those who saw her in "The Geisha" cannot fail to recall the +fascinating, quizzical squint that was continually getting into the +mischievous Mollie's eyes. I know that I liked it so much that when I +saw Miss Earle the next season as Winnifred Grey, the first thing I +looked for was the squint. I was astonished to find that it was not +there, and disappointed, too, for I had always associated the actress in +my own mind with that squint. No sign of it could I perceive until the +last act, when it came suddenly into view while she was singing the song +about the boy with the various kinds of guesses. It gathered around the +corners of her eyes, and it twinkled as merrily as ever. It made me +quite happy again, for I felt that I should not be compelled to revise +my imagination and repicture Miss Earle without the tantalizing squint. + +Miss Earle is a noteworthy example of the long time, the constant +endeavor, and the faithful service that are sometimes required to win +recognition in the important theatrical centres of the country. She had +been many years on the stage before George Lederer finally gave her an +engagement at the New York Casino. That was really the first chance that +she ever had to prove herself something more than a one night stand +favorite, and since that time she has only rarely played outside of New +York. + +This long-delayed recognition was one of the freaks of fortune for which +no one can account. She was apparently one of those unlucky persons who +through no fault of their own start wrong. She was born in the West, in +Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 6, 1873, and it was in the West that she +remained for a number of seasons. Her theatrical career began when she +was very young, and the Home Juvenile Opera Company was the means of +introducing her to the stage. This was in 1887, and her first part was +Nanki Poo in "The Mikado." Miss Earle also played leading rôles in the +other Gilbert and Sullivan operas then so popular,--"Patience," +"Pinafore," and "The Pirates of Penzance." + +Then she joined the Pike Opera Company and toured the West in a +repertory of the best-known light operas. In San Francisco she was +engaged by Hallen and Hart, the farce comedy team, and remained with +them for two seasons, appearing in "Later On." Her next engagement was +with Edward E. Rice, and under his management she went to Australia. +Three years were spent there, during which time she acted Taggs in "The +County Fair," Gabriel in "Evangeline," Madora in "The Corsair," Dan Deny +in "Cinderella," and Columbia in Rice's "World's Fair." + +On her return to America she was engaged for Charles Hoyt's farce +comedy, "A Hole in the Ground," acting the lunch counter girl; and +after a short but successful season with this mess of nonsense she +joined a company under the management of D. W. Truss & Company, playing +"Wang" in the places too small for DeWolf Hopper to visit. For two +seasons with this organization Miss Earle acted Della Fox's famous part +of Mataya. Canary and Lederer of the New York Casino then secured her +services, and under their management she assumed leading parts in "The +Passing Show," "The Merry World," in which she doubled the rôles of +Vaseline and Little Billee, in "Gay New York," and "The Lady Slavey." + +As soon as her contract with the Casino expired, Augustin Daly engaged +her for his musical comedy company, where she succeeded Violet Lloyd as +Mollie Seamore in "The Geisha." Not only did she present this part with +ready skill, but she made a second hit as Flora in "Meg Merrilies." Nor +did old comedy daunt her, for as still another Flora, maid to Ada Rehan +in "The Wonder," her work was much praised. She crowned her success by +appearing in Shakespeare, winning new laurels with her Ariel in "The +Tempest." In all these impersonations her readiness in song was of +service, but her vivacity counted for much; and, more than that, her +magnetic influence over her audience, which it is impossible to analyze. +A number of years before, Sarah Bernhardt had taken a fancy to Miss +Earle's Taggs in "The County Fair," and had predicted a future for her. +Notwithstanding this, however, it is not unlikely that Miss Earle +herself would have been incredulous had any one told her a few months +before, while she was playing Prince Rouge et Noir in "Gay New York," +that within a year she would be a principal in Shakespeare at Daly's. + +Dora in "The Circus Girl" and Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl" +followed, and Miss Earle's conquest of New York was complete. She had +won recognition at last as a soubrette who was an artist as well as a +personality. After Mr. Daly's death Miss Earle returned to the New York +Casino, appearing first as Percy Ethelbert Frederick Algernon +Cholmondely in "The Casino Girl." This part by no means showed her at +her best, although she did fully as well as could be expected with the +material with which she had to work. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +LILLIAN RUSSELL + + +For many years Lillian Russell held without challenge and without +serious rivalry the first place among light opera prima donnas in this +country. Her triumphs followed one after the other in rapid succession, +and her popularity in all the leading cities in the country--and she +would visit none except leading cities--was remarkable. "Queen of Comic +Opera" she was called; and what a vision of loveliness, she was, to be +sure! the most perfect doll's face on the American stage, as some one +described it. A golden-haired goddess, with big blue eyes that seemed a +bit of June sky, and perfectly rounded cheeks, soft and dimpled like a +baby's. + +There are two classes of women in the world,--pretty women, whom we see +everywhere, and beautiful women, about whom we often read, but whom we +seldom see in real life. Lillian Russell was emphatically a beautiful +woman. She was almost an ideal. I remember her in all her perfection as +Florella in "The Brigands," by W. S. Gilbert and Jacques Offenbach, +during the season of 1888-89. Later she learned to act better than she +did in those days,--but then she did not need to act. When one saw her, +he forgot all about acting. He thought of nothing except Lillian +Russell, her extraordinary loveliness of person, and her voice of golden +sweetness. She compelled admiration that was almost personal homage. And +she could sing, too! Her voice, a brilliant soprano, was rich, full, and +complete, liquid in tone, pure and musical. + +From 1888 to 1896 were the days of her greatest successes, and the list +of operas in which she appeared during that time is a remarkable one. +Besides "The Brigands," there were "The Queen's Mate," "The Grand +Duchess," "Poor Jonathan," "Apollo," "La Cigale," "Giroflé-Girofla," +"The Mountebanks," "Princess Nicotine," "Erminie," "The Tzigane," "La +Perichole," "The Little Duke," and "An American Beauty." Naturally +enough, the Lillian Russell of to-day is not the Lillian Russell of ten +years ago. Her great beauty has lost some of its freshness, and her +voice, though by no means wholly past its usefulness, is worn by the +years of constant use in the theatre. She still retains to a remarkable +extent, however, her great personal hold on the public. Although the +Lillian Russell of to-day fails to maintain the standard of the Lillian +Russell of yesterday, there are but few light opera sopranos on the +American stage who can fairly rival her even now, and there is no one +who is at present what Lillian Russell was ten years ago. + +Lillian Russell was christened Helen Louise Leonard. Tony Pastor gave +her the name of Lillian Russell, for the very practical reason, I +believe, that it had so many "l's" in it, and consequently would look +well on a bill-board. Little Miss Leonard was born in Clinton, Iowa. Her +father was the proprietor and editor of the "Clinton Weekly Herald," and +Lillian Russell's first press notice read as follows: "Born to Mr. and +Mrs. Charles E. Leonard, at their home on Fourth Avenue, December 4, +1861, a bright baby girl, weighing nine and one-half pounds." In spite +of the fact that this birth notice speaks of a high-sounding Fourth +Avenue, Lillian Russell was born in an alley. The house in Clinton, in +which the interesting event occurred, was situated in the rear of the +office building of H. B. Horton, located on Fourth Avenue, between First +and Second streets, and faced east on the alley running north and south +between Third and Fourth avenues. At that time the house was situated +almost in the centre of the business section across the street from the +Iowa Central Hotel, then the largest hotel in the state and one of the +finest west of Chicago. Shortly after the baby's birth the Leonard +family removed from their abode on the alley to 408 Seventh Avenue, +immediately in the rear of the Baptist Church, and at that time one of +the finest residences in the town. Here the remainder of their days in +Clinton was spent. + +During the first few years of her life there was nothing to distinguish +Helen Louise Leonard from any other baby; but by the time she was two +years old, she showed the marks of great beauty, having large blue eyes +and golden hair. She was not reared among all the comforts of life. Her +country editor father was not possessed of wealth, but was compelled to +work hard on his prosperous, though none too well-paying newspaper, +every day of his life. During the period of Lillian's babyhood, too, +the war forced the prices of luxuries entirely beyond the reach of all +but the rich. + +Lillian inherited her good looks from her father. Charles E. Leonard was +a man of fine appearance, and always dressed in a faultless manner. When +he went to Clinton in 1856 he was probably thirty years of age and +showed plainly the marks of early culture and training. He, too, was a +blond. That he was a man of marked ability is evidenced by the success +he achieved in his profession in what was then a scattering Western +settlement of not half a hundred houses all told, in the midst of a +country unreclaimed and almost wholly unsettled. + +On December 18, 1856, he issued the first number of the "Clinton +Herald," a weekly publication having as competitors two other +well-established newspapers at Lyons, only one mile north in the same +county. There was really no field at Clinton at that time for a +newspaper, but Leonard thought otherwise. The panic of 1857 caught the +enterprise in the weakness of infancy; but the paper survived the +financial storm and eventually came forth on the top wave of success, +all of which was undoubtedly due to the excellent business management of +Leonard and the strong personality he threw into his work. When the +general offices of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad were removed to +Chicago in 1865, Mr. Leonard moved the fine job office connected with +the "Herald" to that city, as the nucleus for the extensive printing +establishment he later acquired. + +After the family moved to Chicago, Lillian Russell spent several years +in the Convent of the Sacred Heart in that city. Her first music lessons +were on the violin, and were given by Professor Nathan Dyer. Then she +took vocal lessons from Professor Gill in Chicago. When the time came +for him to show off his pupils, he gave a musicale in Chickering Hall. +The fair-haired Lillian sang at this concert "Let Me Dream again" by +Sullivan and "Connais-tu le Pays?" from "Mignon." The papers, of course, +gave her complimentary notices, one declaring that she sang "like an old +professional." Possibly it was this notice that first turned her mind +toward the stage. For some time after that, however, she sang in St. +John's Episcopal Church on the West Side, and studied with Madame +Jennivally, who encouraged her in her ambition to become a grand opera +singer. With the idea of studying for the grand opera stage, she went to +New York to have her voice tried, and she had taken but a few lessons of +the late Dr. Damrosch when Mrs. William E. Sinn persuaded her to join +the chorus of Edward E. Rice's "Pinafore" company for the sake of the +experience on the stage. This connection lasted about two months and was +terminated by her first matrimonial experience, her marriage to Harry +Braham, the musical director of the company. She retired from the stage +for a time, but her domestic happiness did not last long. It then became +a matter of necessity for her to get an engagement, and she applied in +vain to such managers as McCaull and D'Oley Carte, who could find +nothing in her voice to warrant them in giving her a chance. + +She finally succeeded in getting a position in a curious way. She was +living in a theatrical boarding-house, and among her fellow-boarders was +a girl who was engaged by Tony Pastor for a specialty act in his +theatre, which at that time was situated on Broadway opposite Niblo's +Garden. While calling at the house one day to complete some business +transactions with this young woman, the variety manager heard Miss +Russell singing in a neighboring room. He asked who she was and said he +wanted to meet her. He did meet her, and at once offered her fifty +dollars a week to sing ballads at his theatre. Fifty dollars a week was +a good salary in those days, and the following Monday saw the name of +Lillian Russell, "the English ballad singer," described as one of the +leading attractions on the programme. + +"I was very cool and collected up to the time that I heard the first +note of the orchestra," wrote Miss Russell, in describing her first +experience at Pastor's. "From that moment until I had finished my third +song, however, I was practically in a trance. I was told afterward that +I did splendidly, but to this day I cannot tell what occurred after I +went on the stage until I reached my dressing-room and donned my street +clothes." + +She sung with considerable success such well-known songs as "The Kerry +Dance" and "Twickenham Ferry." "The Kerry Dance," in fact, created a bit +of a sensation. It was a style of vocal music quite new at that time in +the variety theatres. When Mr. Pastor introduced his stage burlesques +on "Olivette," "The Pirates of Penzance," and other popular operettas, +Miss Russell took part in them, and she also appeared in Pastor's +condensed version of "Patience." + +Then Colonel John A. McCaull enticed Miss Russell away from Mr. Pastor's +by means of a larger salary, and she sang under his management in "The +Snake Charmer" at the Bijou Opera House. Her next engagement was with a +company under the management of Frank Sanger. It was a strong +organization, and some of its members were Willie Edouin, Alice +Atherton, Jacob Kruger, Lena Merville, and Marion Elmore. Its tour +extended straight through the country to California; and the experience +that Miss Russell gained with the distinguished artists of the company +was invaluable to her. + +A season of concert work was followed by her engagement at the New York +Casino, and her appearance in the "The Sorcerer" and "The Princess of +Trebizonde." At this period in her career another man interfered, and +the fair Lillian disappeared from the Casino, as did also Edward--they +called him Teddy--Solomon, the leader of the orchestra. The couple went +to England, where they remained two years, Miss Russell appearing in two +operas which Solomon wrote for her,--"Virginia" at the Gaiety Theatre +and "Polly" at the London Novelty Theatre. + +Miss Russell left Solomon when she learned that another woman claimed to +be his wife and returned to the United States. She joined the Duff Opera +Company, with which she remained until May, 1888, when she again resumed +her place at the head of the New York Casino forces, singing first the +Princess in "Nadjy," the part originated by Isabelle Urquhart, when the +opera was first produced in New York. The revival ran for something like +two hundred nights; and the popular "Nadjy" was succeeded by "The +Brigands," which was also very successful. + +The years of her greatest success already referred to then followed. +During the season of 1897-98 Miss Russell appeared with Della Fox and +Jefferson DeAngelis in "The Wedding Day;" and her last appearances in +opera were in April, 1899, in "La Belle Hélène" with Edna Wallace +Hopper. During the season of 1899-1900, Miss Russell was with the Weber +and Fields Company, whose clever burlesques make life in New York so +merry. + +Miss Russell was recently asked which one of the many operas in which +she had appeared was her favorite. + +"'The Grand Duchess,'" she replied emphatically. "That, to my mind, was +one of the best comic operas ever written. Then I had a beautiful part +in 'Giroflé-Girofla' and 'La Perichole,' but 'The Grand Duchess' was my +favorite." + + [Illustration: LILLIAN RUSSELL + As "The Queen of Brilliants."] + +Miss Russell also described interestingly her methods of working up a +part:-- + +"How do I study my parts? Well, every one has his or her own peculiar +idea of study and rehearsal, but the true artist always arrives at the +same result, with the aid of a clever stage manager and musical +conductor. When a part is handed to me, generally six weeks before the +opening night, I read it through carefully, picture myself in different +positions in the several scenes, and then I separate the music from the +dialogue and study the music first. The majority of the operas in which +I have recently appeared are of the French or Viennese school, and in +the translation there will sometimes appear a word or a sentence that +does not harmoniously fit the music. Of course this must be altered +before it is finally committed to memory. Then, again, we are all +inclined to think ourselves wise enough to improve upon the composer's +work, and where a chance is found to introduce a phrase to show one's +voice to better advantage, as a rule, the opportunity is not neglected. + +"After I become thoroughly conversant with the music, I take up the +study of the dialogue. This, to a comic opera singer, is the hardest +task of all; for it is written in the blue book that an interpreter of +comic opera cannot act. The desire to overcome this prejudice often has +a disastrous result; and instead of doing justice to the rôle and one's +self, the fear of adverse criticism will be so overpowering that the +delivery of the dialogue, and the attempt to convey the author's idea to +the audience, become extremely painful alike to the auditor and the +artist. A great many times I have formed my own conception of a part +only to find myself entirely in the wrong at the first rehearsal; and +then to undo what I had done and to grasp the new idea would confuse me +for several days." + +To complete the Russell marriage record, it should be added that in +January, 1894, during the run of "The Princess Nicotine," she became the +wife of the tenor of the company, Signor Giovanni Perugini, known in +private life as John Chatterton. This marriage also resulted unhappily, +and was followed by a separation and a divorce. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +JOSEPHINE HALL + + +Josephine Hall soared into a prominence that she had not before enjoyed, +on the screechy strains of "Mary Jane's Top Note" in "The Girl from +Paris" during the season of 1897-98. Previous to that, however, she had +passed through a varied theatrical experience. She was born in +Greenwich, Rhode Island, and came of a very well-known family. Like many +others, she acquired her first taste for the stage by appearing in +amateur theatricals. The story is that she ran away from home to become +an actress, and journeyed to Providence, where she made it known at the +stage door of one of the theatres that she was going to win fame by +treading the boards, or die in the attempt. She was plain "Jo" Hall +when she made her professional début as Eulalie in "Evangeline" at the +Fourteenth Street Theatre, New York, under the management of Edward E. +Rice. + +After this initial appearance in extravaganza, she forsook the musical +stage entirely until she succeeded Paula Edwardes in the title rôle of +"Mam'selle 'Awkins," although in the farces with which she was +identified for a number of seasons, she usually was given a chance to +introduce one or more comic songs. After she left Mr. Rice, she became a +member of Eben Plympton's "Jack" company. Then she came under Charles +Frohman's management, and was consistently successful in such parts as +Evangeline in "All the Comforts of Home," Jennie Buckthorne in +"Shenandoah," and Katherine Ten Broeck Lawrence in "Aristocracy." The +last two plays, it will be remembered, were by Bronson Howard, and he +once took occasion to remark that Miss Hall came nearer meeting his +ideal of the two characters she impersonated than any other actress on +the stage. + +Then came her big hit in "The Girl from Paris," in which she played the +character part of Ruth, the slavey, and sang the ludicrous "Mary Jane's +Top Note." How she happened to hit upon this fantastic conception, she +once related as follows:-- + +"I felt that the song would not be a success unless I did something out +of the ordinary. The context of the song indicated a high note, which +was not given in London, so I conceived the notion of giving a high +screech at the climax, which proved to be just what it needed. It was a +difficult song to render effectively, as it had to be spoken almost +entirely; and as I have a very good ear for music, I found it difficult +to keep from singing. The high note had to be off key to make it more +ridiculous. I couldn't have sung the song for any length of time, as +the strain would have injured my speaking voice." + +During the first half of the season of 1899-1900, Miss Hall was the +Praline in "The Girl from Maxim's,"--a French farce, undeniably dirty, +but funny to those not saturated to the point of boredom with the +foreign variety of low comedy, which has all the marks of being +manufactured to order. It is farce which drives the spectator +breathlessly along the road of hilarity by means of a rapidly moving +series of mechanically conceived situations. "The Girl from Maxim's" was +bluntly suggestive and crudely salacious, as are all these off-color +French farces which are turned into English, but it was also bright and +ingenious in its machine-like way, and it was in addition very well +acted. + +Whatever patronage "The Girl from Maxim's" gained outside of New +York--and it made money, so I have understood, both in Boston and +Philadelphia--was given it, not because it was audacious, but solely on +its merits as an entertainment. It has been shown time and time again +that a farce, which is only salacious and nothing more, cannot live on +the road. "The Turtle," which was boomed as the smuttiest thing that +ever was, but which was also stupid and inane, never earned a dollar +outside of New York. "Mlle. Fifi," which was both dirty and boresome, +had a similar experience. "The Cuckoo," whose suggestiveness was much +exploited, but whose only merits were an exceedingly smart last act and +a very fine cast, was only mildly patronized. On the other hand, +"Because She Loved Him So," a delightful farce and innocent enough for +Sunday-school presentation, enjoyed two seasons of prosperity and kept +two different companies of players employed. "At the White Horse +Tavern," another fresh and unsmirched farce, also had a prosperous run. + +No, whatever success attended "The Girl from Maxim's" was rather in +spite of, instead of traceable to, its filth. It had merit as a +mirth-maker. Its spirit was unflagging, its ingenuity amazing, and its +character studies capable. There was not a suspicion of a drag until a +few minutes before the final curtain, when the indefatigable author, +George Feydeau, seemed suddenly to lose his breath. + +Josephine Hall's Praline, with all her doubtful morals and her +questionable freedom of speech and action, was an exceedingly attractive +young woman. She bubbled with merriment, and never for a moment was she +to the slightest extent worried even in the midst of the most +bewildering complications. Her unfailing good humor was really the +backbone of the play. + +Indeed, the faculty of making black appear white seems to be something +of a specialty with Miss Hall, who has exuberance of spirits without +vulgarity or coarseness, and whose unconventionality has coupled with it +refinement and inherent delicacy. Her jollity is whole-souled without +harshness. Hers is the witchery of personality joined to an art that is +authoritative and complete in its own sphere. + +"Mam'selle 'Awkins" was an indifferent conglomeration of old stage jokes +and tinkling music. That it should have succeeded at all was an odd +chance, but that it should have entertained Philadelphia for so many +weeks was indeed a mystery. Honorah 'Awkins was a Cockney, who, with a +fortune acquired in the soap trade, was on the hunt for a titled +husband. This was the plot. The part of Honorah was created by Paula +Edwardes, who took her work rather seriously and went in for a touch of +artistic character drawing. Miss Hall did not trouble herself much about +imitating nature. She relied wholly on her ability to give her audience +a good time. She played Mam'selle 'Awkins in a dazzling red wig and a +complexion that suggested an hour or two over the kitchen stove, or +better still, considering the antecedents of the fair Honorah, over the +scrubbing board. Neither did Miss Hall go very heavily into the Cockney; +she suggested rather than reproduced, and then fell back on her powers +as a fun-maker to win out with her audiences. + +For her, this method filled the bill perfectly. Of course, we knew from +previous experience that Miss Hall was a capable actress in the +hurricane variety of farce, but she did not draw heavily on that side of +her artistic equipment in "Mam'selle 'Awkins." She went in head over +heels to be as entertaining as possible with the materials at +hand,--which, it must be confessed, were not over abundant--and with +whatever else she herself could devise. She walked the tight-rope of +vulgarity with marvellous expertness, and because she was Josie Hall, +one laughed instead of turning up his nose. + +In spite of the fact that she has been continually called upon to play +all sorts of impossible foreigners, Miss Hall's humor is essentially the +humor of the average American. It is fun straight out from the shoulder +with the laugh just enough hidden to make it all the more enjoyable when +it is discovered. It is not the heavy punning variety so mysteriously +popular with the Englishman, nor the _double entendre_ of the Frenchman. + +Though she may act Cockneys and French grisettes to the end of the +chapter, Miss Hall will always be what she was born,--a jolly American +girl. And this suggests a brilliant idea,--one that may be novel to +those who up to date have had her artistic fate in their hands. Why not +give Miss Hall a chance to play the girl next door? Why scour Europe for +a human specimen which only warps a personality that belongs right here +at home? Try her once in a character--farcical naturally--that has some +native stuff in it. Let her show us a girl whom we know first-hand as +the genuine article. I think that the result would be a surprise for +somebody. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MABELLE GILMAN + + +Very much in evidence in the unusually strong and brilliant cast, even +for the New York Casino, that lent its assistance to such good purpose +in bringing into popular favor during the season of 1899-1900 that +really amusing as well as highly colored vaudeville, "The Rounders," was +Mabelle Gilman,--a young woman whose stage experience has been short, +but whose histrionic and musical talent, remarkable beauty, winsome +personality, and artistic temperament would seem to make comparatively +safe the prophecy of an especially rosy future. Miss Gilman has two most +valuable qualities that are many times lacking in girls who enter the +musical field,--strength of character and will power. One has only to +see her on the stage to be convinced that she is not one that will be +content to drift willy-nilly with the tide on the calm sea of +self-satisfaction and unambitious gratification. + + [Illustration: MABELLE GILMAN + In "The Casino Girl."] + +Equipped, as I am sure she is, with a serious art purpose, and richly +endowed, as I know that she is, with so much that brings success in the +theatre, her reputation will not long be confined, as is at present the +case, to the comparatively narrow limits of two or three of the most +important theatrical centres. + +Indeed, when one considers her youth--she is not yet twenty years +old--and the few seasons that she has been before the public, Miss +Gilman's advancement has been little short of phenomenal. Although she +was born and educated in San Francisco, the professional labors that +have won for her her present position in musical comedy have been +entirely confined to New York, with the exception of a single short +engagement in Boston and another in London. This has been, on the +whole, a fortunate circumstance, for it has undoubtedly kept her keyed +up to her best endeavor, and it has also saved her from the +energy-dissipating fatigue of constant travel, and the artistic inertia +resulting from long association with a single part. On the other hand, +it has unquestionably limited her reputation, and also deprived her of +the lessons to be learned from acting before all sorts and conditions of +humanity. The New York public is oddly provincial in its narrow +self-sufficiency, but, worse than that, it has in a highly developed +form the sheep instinct of follow-my-leader. It is both faddish and +freakish, and on that account its judgments are not always to be trusted +and its influence is sometimes to be deplored. + +New York is a wonderfully amusing city--to the outsider who watches its +antics from a safe distance. It has the atmosphere of an excessively +nervous woman, watching apprehensively a mouse-hole; it is constantly +on the verge, occasionally in the very midst of, hysteria. It enjoys no +intellectual calm, no quiet repose, no philosophical serenity. It is +always gaping widely for a sensation, real or manufactured, eager as the +child who is all eyes for the toy-balloon man in the Fourth of July +crowd. Many times has this hysterical tendency moulded the affairs of +the theatres in New York, and for that reason New York's judgment can be +by no means the all in all to the country at large. A New York +reputation, which means so much to the average man and woman connected +with the stage in this country, may result in a temporarily inflated +salary, but it does not necessarily promise long-continued success. Far +from it! New York, after all, is merely a centre, not the centre, as the +dwellers within its walls are firmly convinced is the case. It is not +London monopolizing the whole of Great Britain, and it is not Paris, by +common consent the privileged representative of France. + +In the case of Miss Gilman, however, the judgment of New York is fully +justifiable. Rarely lovely as she is,--a perfect brunette type, black +hair, black eyes, and expressive face,--she does not rely on her beauty, +nor on the attractiveness of her personality for success; she is an +actress as well. It should be understood that the spoken drama and the +musical drama are two different things. The ideal of the first is to +create an impression of naturalness and fidelity to nature. It has its +conventions, but they are every one of them evils, which are continually +being uprooted by the combined intelligence of the dramatist, the actor, +and the theatre-goer. Conventions, on the other hand, are the very life +of the musical drama, which is in its whole scheme a travesty on nature +and a violation of dramatic art. The musical drama is art purposely +artificial. Consequently, while the actor in the spoken drama strives +to the best of his ability for sincerity and conviction, and feels that +he has attained the highest when he causes the spectator of his mock +frenzy to forget absolutely that the emotion engendered is only a wilful +simulation of the genuine article, the actor in the musical comedy is +purposely and frankly artificial. He is limited to presenting the symbol +without in the least striving for deception. + +It is the quality of inherent insincerity that makes anything +approaching sentiment dangerous in the musical drama. The highly +dramatic and the essentially farcical can be utilized in this form of +stage representation with equal facility; but when the musical drama +approaches the comedy field of the spoken drama, it begins at once to +tread on dangerous ground. For this reason Miss Gilman's greatest +achievement in "The Rounders" was the remarkable success with which she +accomplished the formidable task of mixing sentiment into a musical +comedy. Her rôle of the little Quakeress married out of hand to a +sportive Frenchman really had an element of pathos in it,--a hint of +pathos, as it were, not enough to be ridiculous, but just enough to add +a touch of human interest and character contrast to the picture, and +thus to make Priscilla something more than a lay figure in a popular +vaudeville. + +There was art in the characterization, the art of the sensitive and +essentially feminine woman, and this art appealed strongly to the +chivalrous side of man's nature; he felt at once the instinctive desire +to protect this woman so remarkably impressive in her feminine way. So +modest, so demure, so innocent, and so altogether appropriate was the +quiet gray of the Quakeress gown worn by Miss Gilman, that the sight of +her later on in the bathing suit that would not, perhaps, have caused +much comment at Newport, was a distinct shock, while the dance that +went with the bathing costume song--a dance of many boneless bendings +and gymnastic kicks and contortionist feats--was only believed as a fact +because it was seen. Theoretically, one would be justified in claiming +that Miss Gilman never danced it. + +Moreover, according to all precedents, this astonishing exhibition +should have destroyed at once and forever all the sentiment in Miss +Gilman's Quakeress, but, as a matter of fact, it did nothing of the +kind. When she resumed her quiet gray, she was again the same winsome, +pathetic, in-need-of-protection little thing as before. A paradox such +as this is only explainable in one way: the perpetrator of it knows how +to act and is something more than a prettily decorated bit of +personality. + +Another surprise, which Miss Gilman has in store for those who pass +judgment regarding her complete artistic equipment at first sight of her +face, is her singing voice. I know that I expected to hear the +plaintive, faint, and indefinite piping that goes with so many girlishly +innocent soubrettes. It proved, however, a full and satisfying soprano, +rich and mellow, a soprano which did not make holes in the atmosphere on +the top notes. She has had the advantage of instruction in singing from +Mr. George Sweet of New York, who is justly proud of his pupil. + +While Miss Gilman was a student at Mills College in San Francisco, +Augustin Daly heard her recite, and was sufficiently impressed with her +ability to offer her a place in his New York company. She lost no time +in coming East and at once signed with Mr. Daly for a term of five +years. His death occurred before this contract had expired, and it was +thus that it happened that Miss Gilman was free to join George W. +Lederer's forces at the Casino in New York. + +While under the management of Mr. Daly, Miss Gilman played in "The +Tempest" and "The Merchant of Venice." Her Jessica in the latter drama +was an exquisitely charming bit, and received the especial commendation +of Mr. Daly. Of the Daly musical comedy productions she appeared in "The +Geisha," "The Circus Girl," "La Poupée," and "A Runaway Girl." +Priscilla, in "The Rounders," was her first part at the Casino, and +during the spring of 1900 she was one of the prominent features in "The +Casino Girl," a Harry B. Smith product. The fineness of Miss Gilman's +art as shown in this work was thus commented on:-- + +"The production brings distinctly to the front Miss Mabelle Gilman, one +of the most conscientious young actresses on the stage. Miss Gilman's +work shows that she is a careful student of her art. Everything is done +by method, and yet with such ease and naturalness that one might imagine +it was play and no work. Miss Gilman has a sweet, well-cultivated +voice, and uses it apparently without effort, but to the greatest +advantage." + +Miss Gilman's experience at the Casino has developed in her an +appreciation of comedy and a quiet vein of humor that she had not +previously shown. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FAY TEMPLETON + + +Born almost literally in the theatre, and cradled as a baby in a +champagne wardrobe basket, a full-fledged "professional" at the tender +age of three years, it would have been marvellous, indeed, if Fay +Templeton had become anything else except an actress. When I heard these +tales of Fay Templeton's life in the nursery period of her +existence,--stories of how she had often slept in the dressing-room +while her mother, Alice Vane, died nightly in the leading rôle of some +old-time tragedy, of the nights and the days of travel, of all the +nerve-racking hardships that made up the weary, weary life of the actor +"on the road,"--I was strongly reminded of the early life of Minnie +Maddern Fiske. Both were children of the theatre; and forthwith we who +are not children of the theatre exclaim, how pathetic that is! So they +seem to me, I must confess, these children without homes and without +companions of their own age, knowing nothing of the pleasure of +quarrelling and making up again, children whom one never thinks of as +young, and yet who cannot really be old, brought up as they are in the +indescribable and contradictory atmosphere that is characteristic of the +stage, an atmosphere of hypocrisy and simple-mindedness, of contemptible +smallness of spirit and self-sacrificing generosity, of petty +spitefulness and frank good fellowship, of foolish jealousies and +whole-souled democracy. With all their artificiality, superficiality, +and self-sufficiency, I think that there is, on the whole, more +frankness, sincerity, and honest selfishness among stage folks than +among any other class of society. In certain respects, actors are in +their relations with one another far less the actor than are many +persons who are not supposed to act at all. + + [Illustration: FAY TEMPLETON + Singing the "Coon" Song, "My Tiger Lily."] + +A strange thing must life seem to the child of the theatre, when he gets +old enough to think about it. He looks upon the world topsy-turvy, as it +were. The serious things of his life are the frivolities of the +work-a-day world, and the viewpoint of these work-a-days must be a +constant source of perplexity to him. He must wonder, for instance, why +they go to the theatre at all, why they are so foolish as to spend +money, which is such a rare and precious thing, to behold the +commonplace and dreary business of play-acting. How he, the pitied one +of the world of homes and domesticated firesides, in his turn must pity +those easily beguiled individuals who practise theatre-going! How he +must smile ironically at their sophisticated innocence and be even +shocked at their unaccountable ignorance! Thus it happens that he pities +us because we have illusions about things that he knows are the crudest +delusions, and we pity him because he lives a life so far apart from +ours that we can see nothing in it but hardship and unhappiness. We of +the homes waste our tears on him who feels no need of a home, who, +contented with his lot and glorying in his freedom, scorns publicly the +narrow monotony of a seven A.M. to six P.M. with an hour off for +luncheon at noon existence. Which is right? Both--and neither. + +But to return to Fay Templeton and Mrs. Fiske. Miss Templeton made her +first appearance on the stage when she was three years old, dressed as a +Cupid and singing fairy songs. Mrs. Fiske began even younger, and she, +too, was a singer. Arrayed in a Scotch costume of her mother's making, +she piped in a shrill treble between the tragedy and the farce a ballad +about "Jamie Coming over the Meadow." After this infantile experiment, +however, Mrs. Fiske forsook the lyric stage practically for good and +all, although she did at one time play Ralph Rackstraw in Hooley's +Juvenile Pinafore Company. Miss Templeton, on the other hand, clung +faithfully to opera and the allied forms of theatrical entertainment, +particularly that branch known as burlesque, in which she was and still +is an adept without a compare. The nearest that she ever came to being +identified with what player-folk delight to call the "legitimate" was +when at the age of seven years she played Puck in Augustin Daly's +production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Grand +Opera House in New York. This was considered a remarkable impersonation, +especially for a child of seven, and it received the special +commendation of Mr. Daly himself. Miss Templeton's success at so +youthful an age was, to be sure, most unusual, but it was by no means +inexplicable, if one only knew that she had had, even at that time, four +years' experience on the stage, and that she had starred, principally +throughout the West and South, at the head of a company managed by her +father, John Templeton. + +The generalization that infant stage prodigies never amount to anything +has fully as great a percentage of truth in its favor as any other +generalization, but there are occasional exceptions. Mrs. Fiske, already +referred to, was one; Della Fox was another; and Fay Templeton was a +third, and possibly the most remarkable case of all. Mrs. Fiske at least +had the advantage of the intellectual training of the classic drama, and +Della Fox, after her precocious success as a child, was kept faithfully +at school for a number of years by stern parental authority; but Fay +Templeton during her childhood was continually associated--with the +possible exception of Puck--with the lightest and frothiest in the +theatrical business. More than that she was at the head of the company, +the star, the praised and petted. Whoever saved her from herself and +the disastrous results of childish self-conceit is entitled to the +greatest credit. + +After her hit in New York in "A Midsummer's Night's Dream," Miss +Templeton travelled to San Francisco with her father and James A. Herne. +There she became a prima donna in miniature, and charmed the +Californians, especially by her imitations of the prominent grand opera +and comic opera artists of the day. Her San Francisco experience was +followed by her appearance at Niblo's Garden, New York, as Parepa Rosa, +Aimée, and Lucca. The next half-a-dozen years were spent principally in +the South, where she starred in a repertory of which her Puck in "A +Midsummer's Night's Dream" was the chief feature. + +Fay Templeton was fifteen years old when she became a recognized light +opera star of national reputation. She was the original in this country +and the best-known Bettina in "The Mascotte," and she also appeared in +"Giroflé-Girofla." For two years she played Gabriel, which was created +by Eliza Weatherby, one of the most beautiful of the Lydia Thompson +burlesquers, in "Evangeline," and she was also in the revival of "The +Corsair." + +At the Fourteenth Street Theatre, New York, in August, 1890, after a +period of absence from the stage, Miss Templeton brought out the +burlesque called "Hendrick Hudson; or, The Discovery of Columbus," by +Robert Frazer and William Gill. This told an imaginary story of the +meeting, at the El Dorado Spring in Florida, of Columbus lost on his +third expedition to America, and Hudson. It was not an unfruitful theme +for burlesque treatment, but the work itself was poorly put together, +disconnected, and prone to drag. Neither was Miss Templeton herself all +that could be desired. She was apparently in a state of transition. She +had lost the roguish girlishness that made her Gabriel so charming, and +she had not yet learned to give free rein to the rich individuality and +the unctuous humor that are so characteristic of her work at the present +time. No dramatic critic would say to-day, as was said at that time, of +the production of "Hendrik Hudson," that "it must be written, in +reluctant sorrow, that Miss Templeton was not sufficient in talent nor +in charm to lead a burlesque company to great success." Miss Templeton +was not seen again, after the short and inglorious career of "Hendrik +Hudson," until she brought out "Mme. Favart" during the season of +1893-94. + +The piece that re-established her in public favor, however, was +"Excelsior, Jr.;" New York, in particular, finding her impersonation of +the up-to-date young man about town very much to its liking. After she +joined the Weber and Fields organization in New York and unexpectedly +shone forth as a marvellously entrancing interpreter of "coon" songs, +she clinched her hold on the public with which she is now an established +favorite. + +During the season of 1899-1900 Fay Templeton was identified with those +two gorgeous productions, "The Man in the Moon" and "Broadway to Tokio," +besides taking a flyer into vaudeville, where she first brought out her +wonderful imitation of Fougère, the French chanteuse. In shows like "The +Man in the Moon" and "Broadway to Tokio" one is expected to have nothing +with him except the two senses of sight and hearing. It is the +spectator's part to take what comes--and it is supposed to come +constantly and rapidly--simply for the sake of the moment's fun that +there may be in it. His cue is to laugh at the stage jokes of the +hard-worked comedians, and to be dazzled into a semi-hypnotic state by +the dancing women posturing amid marvellous effects of light and color. +They are eminently entertainments to be felt and not thought about. One +is constantly receiving new impressions, and just as constantly +forgetting all about them. The result is that after the shows are all +over, one is surprised to find that from the mass of material he has +retained no one impression distinctly. He remembers only flashes here +and there. + +One figure, however, was revealed by each and every one of these memory +flashes,--that of Fay Templeton, whose wonderful versatility as an +entertainer, and whose pure virtuosity as an artist, both of them given +free rein in these spectacles, raised her head and shoulders above her +associates in the two casts. + +In "The Man in the Moon" there was nothing else that evidenced half the +art shown in her singing of the ditty "I Want a Filipino Man." It was, +it is true, a fearfully suggestive study of elemental human passion, a +song of hot blood and crude, unblushing animalism. But it was +wonderfully well done, and the swing of its rhythmic sensuality was not +to be resisted. + +Two things that Fay Templeton did in "Broadway to Tokio" I recall with +especial vividness. One was her treatment of the cake-walk, commonly a +prosaic, athletic exhibition of increasing boredom. She evolved from the +conventional prancing of the gay soubrette a dance whose appeal to the +imagination was intense, a dance into which might be read many meanings. +Her cake-walk was the embodiment of languorous grace and the acme of +sensuous charm. It breathed an atmosphere of tropical indolence. It +suggested the lazy enjoyment of the cool of the evening after a long day +of hot, fierce summer sunshine, the time when one dreams idly of fleshly +delights. It was a dance teeming with passion, passion quiescent, which +a breath would fan into a blaze. + +Miss Templeton's second remarkable achievement was her imitation of +Fougère, or, better still, her impersonation of Fougère. It is +difficult to describe intelligently just the effect of Miss Templeton's +art in this specialty. It was not a photographic copy of the external +Fougère; it was rather a reproduction of the Fougère personality. +Indeed, she pictured only with indifferent fidelity the Fougère +mannerisms, but she placed before one, with almost uncanny accuracy, the +Fougère individuality and the Fougère stage appeal. + +It was, in fact, acting as distinguished from mimicking. Fay Templeton +literally represented Fougère as she might a dramatist's imaginary +personage. Temperamentally, Miss Templeton does not in the remotest way +suggest Fougère. The French woman, indeed, is just what Fay Templeton is +not. She is thin, she is nervous with a champagne sparkle, and she is +perpetually and restlessly vivacious in her artificial French way. Fay +Templeton is not thin, and her personality is far away from +nervousness. Where Fougère would worry herself half to death, Fay +Templeton would insist on solid comfort and plenty of time to think, +even a chance to sleep, over the vexing problem. One pictures Fay +Templeton as passing her leisure moments in the luxurious embrace of a +thickly wadded couch piled high with the softest of pillows. Nor is hers +the champagne temperament,--rather that of rich and mellow old Madeira, +a wine of substance, of delicate aroma and of fruity flavor, which does +not immediately bubble itself into a state of insipidness. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MADGE LESSING + + +Madge Lessing had been on the stage a number of years before she +suddenly sprang full into the illuminating power of the limelight of +publicity as the principal part of the astonishing success of that +alluring beauty show, "Jack and the Beanstalk." At that time everybody +made the discovery that no one knew exactly who she was, and Miss +Lessing has succeeded even to this day in shrouding her early life in +mystery. This much is known,--that she ran away from home to go on the +stage. She came to the United States from London about 1890 and became a +chorus girl at Koster and Bial's in New York. She remained in that +humble position only a week, being promoted at one step to the title +rôle in the burlesque, "Belle Hélène." Her next engagement was with the +Solomon Opera Company, and this was followed by her appearance in "The +Passing Show" and "The Whirl of the Town." + + [Illustration: MADGE LESSING.] + +As far as the casual theatre-goer was concerned, however, she did not +exist until the Klaw and Erlanger production of "Jack and the +Beanstalk." This extravaganza, like "1492," also the work of R. A. +Barnet, was first brought out by the First Corps of Cadets of Boston, +and it is still counted the greatest success that this brilliant troupe +of amateurs ever had. In the Cadet performances the principals and +chorus were all men, and naturally this order of things was changed when +the extravaganza passed over into the professional hands. Otherwise it +was given practically in its original form. + +Mr. Barnet struck a veritable gold mine when he hit upon the idea of +dramatizing Mother Goose. "Jack" was his first ploughing of this field, +and although he has worked it often since, he has not yet succeeded in +getting from the old ground another crop so exactly suited to the +popular taste. Mr. Barnet undoubtedly got his general scheme from the +annual London pantomimes. His work was loosely constructed, and his +lines were not all of them of the kind that readily cross the +footlights. His wit, while wholly conventional, was also a trifle +involved. It did not sparkle. His situations, on the other hand, were +effective, and especially were they adaptable to expansion under the +gentle administration of a stage manager with an eye for light and color +and pleasing groupings. In the process of development the spectacular +qualities of "Jack and the Beanstalk" came prominently into the +foreground, while the literary qualities--a purely descriptive phrase, +which in this connection gracefully designates a condition without +stating a fact--were lost in the midst of the substitutions by players +with specialties. The stage wit of actors has one advantage over that of +writers of dialogue; it may not be analyzed, it may be utterly inane on +examination, but it does crackle for the moment. In fact, it exists only +because it crackles. + +Thus "Jack and the Beanstalk" became in the course of its evolution the +conventional spectacular extravaganza of theatrical commerce, of which +Mr. Barnet was the sponsor rather than the creator. It was also, at the +time of its production, a marvellous exploitation of feminine +loveliness, and the especial gem of the great array was the bewildering +vision of physical perfection, Madge Lessing, in the principal boy's +part of Jack. No great amount of histrionic talent was demanded of her, +for her success depended, not so much on what she did as how she looked. + +Madge Lessing then and there established herself as the exception that +proved the rule. I confess that I usually find the woman in tights a +decided disillusionment. Instead of making a subtle and seductive appeal +to the imagination, she is a prosaic fact; interesting, possibly, as an +anatomical study, she loses in a peculiar way the fascinations of the +feminine gender. When tights enter into the problem, there is a vast +difference between the womanly woman and the womanish woman. The first +is a rare and, I may also add, a pure delight. The second is merely an +embarrassment. + +Miss Lessing belonged, in "Jack and the Beanstalk," to the class of +womanly women. She was as femininely alluring amid the bald disclosures +of unblushing fleshings as amid the tantalizing exasperations of +swishing draperies. Her beauty was exuberant, voluptuous, +pulse-stirring,--a laughing, happy face, crowned and encircled with +tangled masses of dark brown hair, which made her head almost too large, +to be sure, though size counted for little amid the ravishments of +sparkling eyes and kissable dimples that danced in and out on either +cheek. + +Miss Lessing walked through this part of Jack--walking through was all +that was demanded of her--with a pretty unaffectedness that met all +requirements, and she sang with a voice of considerable sweetness, but +of no great power. Still, she has in a mild, inoffensive way some small +ability as an actress. This was shown in "A Dangerous Maid" and in "The +Rounders," which followed her engagement in that failure imported from +London, "Little Red Riding Hood," which was brought out in Boston just +before Christmas, 1899. + +In "The Rounders" Miss Lessing succeeded Mabelle Gilman as Priscilla +during the run of that brisk vaudeville at the Columbia Theatre, Boston. +It is a thankless task, that of successorship which results inevitably +in direct comparisons, but Miss Lessing met the test surprisingly well. +Without Miss Gilman's strength of personality and less apparent art, +Miss Lessing indicated with unmistakable correctness the sentimental +atmosphere of prudish modesty, which represents Priscilla as a dramatic +character. With memories of "Jack and the Beanstalk"--they seem +inevitable where Miss Lessing is concerned--one was a little bewildered +at Priscilla's embarrassment in her ballet costume during the scene in +Thea's dressing-room. This bewilderment was due to Miss Lessing's +inability to impersonate. She is always Madge Lessing acting,--never +Madge Lessing identified with another and wholly different personality; +and at the sight of Madge Lessing embarrassed because she wore tights, +one had a right to be bewildered. + +During the Spring of 1900 Miss Lessing also appeared in the title rôle +of "The Lady Slavey" when that musical farce was revived in Boston. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +JESSIE BARTLETT DAVIS + + +The name and fame of Jessie Bartlett Davis are linked inseparably with +the history of that prominent light opera organization, The Bostonians, +with which she was connected for ten years, and from which she resigned +during the summer of 1899. If the proprietors of The Bostonians had ever +acknowledged that it were possible for any one to be a star in their +troupe, that star would have been Mrs. Davis. To be sure, tradition +would have been violated by such a procedure, for Mrs. Davis is a +contralto, and tradition decrees that a soprano shall be the only woman +star in opera. The composer naturally conceives his heroine as a +soprano. In fact, his heroine must be a soprano in order that he may +invent brilliants for her to sing. You cannot do that sort of thing for +the mellow-toned contralto, and consequently she is never the centre of +feminine interest. When a composer needs a contralto for a quartette or +something of that kind, he usually puts her in tights and calls her a +man, gets her as little involved in the plot as possible, gives her some +heart-throbbing songs and uses her voice effectively for padding in the +choruses, where the high notes of his heroine soprano shine like +diamonds. + +There is, however, one seriously practical reason for the neglect of the +contralto, Sopranos, good, bad, and indifferent, are almost as common as +piano-players, but contraltos--even bad and indifferent contraltos--are +rare enough to be noted when found; while contraltos that vocally are +entitled to rank with the best light opera sopranos are so uncommon it +is not strange that no one thought it worth while to write operas +especially for them. + +When one does find such a contralto, he hears a quality of tone that is +charged with sympathetic appeal. Where the soprano is sparkling, the +contralto is thrilling. Where the soprano is vivacious, happy, +delighting in the sunshine, the contralto is fervid, passionate, and +throbbing with sentiment. In Mrs. Davis's case, with the voice is also +united an attractive personality and comely face and figure, as well as +no mean gifts as an actress. Mrs. Davis's natural voice is a magnificent +instrument, but whether she made as much of it as she might, especially +in later years, is a question. A large voice carries with it its +responsibilities. The singer, with vast resources at his command, finds +it so easy to make an impression on the unmusicianly auditor merely by +letting the big voice go, to win applause by making a tremendous volume +of sound, that one need not be surprised to discover in such a singer a +growing tendency toward broad and somewhat coarse effects and a +lessening appreciation of delicacy, of light and shade, of phrasing, and +of the finer variations of expression. + +However, if Mrs. Davis has made such a criticism not altogether +undeserved, it is equally true that she has never permitted +herself--even after her performances of Alan-a-Dale in "Robin Hood" +passed the two-thousandth mark--to become wholly a victim of musical +charlatanism, which in the "Robin Hood" instance just cited would not +only have been excusable but was wellnigh unavoidable. She has never +been forgetful of the art of interpretation and of expression, and by +means of her beautiful voice she has kept herself well in the lead among +the light opera contraltos. + +Sympathy in a contralto is a prime essential. She must appeal to the +heart with her rich, pulsating tones. It is not her province to +electrify by vocal gymnastics; she is the conveyer of emotion. If this +emotion be true and honest and sincere, then the singer brings a message +that enriches, ennobles, and broadens; if, on the other hand, the +emotion be false and artificial, the singer, however admirable her art +in other respects, fails lamentably in a most important particular. The +highest praise that can be given Mrs. Davis is that she has rarely +failed to impress her audiences with the truth and sincerity of the +emotion inspired by her music. + +Jessie Bartlett Davis was born in Morris, Illinois, a little town not +far from Chicago, in 1866. She came from good New England stock, her +parents having moved to Illinois from Keene, New Hampshire, where her +father was the school-teacher, the leader of the church choir, and the +instructor in music to the few persons in the town who cared to employ +him in that capacity. One day he fell in love with a seventeen-year-old +miss, who applied to him for a position as school-teacher, and shortly +after married her. The Bartlett family was a large one,--four girls and +four boys, besides Jessie, who might be called the pivot of the family, +three of the boys being older and three of the girls younger than she. +It is interesting to know, too, that during the Civil War Mrs. Davis's +father enlisted and served his time as a soldier. + +There was no spare money in this household to spend on a musical +education for Jessie Bartlett, who began to sing almost before she could +talk. When she could scarcely toddle, she would climb on the stool +before the old-fashioned melodeon, strike away at the notes of the +instrument with her tiny fists, and sing at the top of her voice. Her +father taught her all that he knew about music, and by the time that she +was twelve years old, she was the leading spirit in every musical event +in the town. Her voice was something tremendous,--"loud enough to drive +every one out of the schoolhouse when I opened my mouth," according to +her own statement. In fact, she was at that time chiefly concerned about +the amount of noise that she could make, and she used her big voice at +the fullest extent, habitually and wilfully drowning out anybody who +dared to join in the singing when she was present. She sang in the +church choir, and wherever else there was any one to listen to her. + +Finally, when she was fifteen years old, she became a member of Mrs. +Caroline Richings Bernard's "Old Folks'" Concert Company at a salary of +seven dollars a week, and her voice, even then, uncultivated as it was, +attracted considerable attention. When the troupe disbanded in 1876, she +returned to her home in Morris. Next she was given an engagement to sing +in the Church of the Messiah in Chicago, and the whole family moved to +that city with her. While singing in church, she also studied with Fred +Root, son of George F. Root, the composer of many popular ballads. + +The "Pinafore" craze was directly responsible for Jessie Bartlett's +entrance into opera. John Haverly heard her sing while he was making the +rounds of the church choirs looking up members for the Chicago Church +Choir "Pinafore" Company, and engaged her for the part of Little +Buttercup at a salary of fifty dollars a week. It was therefore in this +rôle that she made her début on the operatic stage. At the end of the +season she married the manager, William J. Davis, who is at present +prominently connected with theatrical affairs in Chicago. + +Mr. Davis firmly believed in his wife's future, and after her "Pinafore" +engagement was over he advised her to decline all further offers until +she had learned better how to use her voice. He took her to New York, +where she became a pupil of Signor Albites. Then Colonel Mapleson, who +was at that time managing Adelina Patti, heard her sing and advised her +to study for grand opera. It happened, not long after, that the +contralto who was to appear as Siebel in "Faust" with Patti was taken +ill. There was no substitute in the company, and Colonel Mapleson came +to Mrs. Davis in a great state of mind. It was then Saturday, and the +performance of "Faust" was to be on the following Monday. Her teacher +coached her in the part all that day, and Saturday night was spent in +memorizing the words and music. Sunday was given over to a thorough +drill in the customary stage business of Siebel's part, and the +memorable Monday night found the aspirant ready, but fearful and +trembling. + +"What frightened me more than anything else," said Mrs. Davis, "was the +romanza that Siebel sings to Marguerita. I was so afraid of Patti, whom +I considered a vocal divinity, that I finished the romanza without +having dared to look her in the face. You can imagine my surprise, +therefore, when she took my face in her hands and kissed me on both +cheeks. Afterward in the wings she threw her arms around my neck, +exclaiming: 'You're going to sing in grand opera, and I'm going to help +you.' Adelina Patti's favor and influence did more for me than two years +of hard study. There were only two weeks left of the opera season. +During that time I appeared twice as Siebel in 'Faust,' and once as the +shepherd boy in 'Dinorah.'" + +Colonel Mapleson evidently thought that he had made a find, for he +offered to send Mrs. Davis to Italy, to give her three years of study +with the greatest teachers in the world, every advantage and every +opportunity, in short, to become a world-famous singer. In return for +these favors Mrs. Davis was to sing under Colonel Mapleson's direction +for three years. Personal reasons made it impossible for her to accept +this offer, however, though she did not give up the idea of singing in +grand opera. After the birth of her son, Mrs. Davis studied a year with +Madame LaGrange in Paris. On her return she sang for a season in W. T. +Carleton's company. Her principal parts were the drummer boy in "The +Drum Major" and the German girl in "The Merry War." The next season +found her in the American Opera Company, which included Fursch-Nadi, +Emma Juch, and Pauline L'Allemand, with Theodore Thomas as musical +conductor, and the season following that she was with the reorganized +National Opera Company. + +"That was hard work," remarked Mrs. Davis, "all for no money, and so I +got home to Chicago, tired, sick, and discouraged, and vowing that I +would never sing in public as long as I lived." + +"But you changed your mind?" + +"Not immediately. While I was resting in Chicago the manager of The +Bostonians came to see me to talk about an engagement. Agnes Huntington +was their contralto, but they wanted to replace her. At first I said +'No!' point blank. I thought nothing would induce me to leave the +comfort and seclusion of my home. Then the manager came to see me again, +and--well, woman-like I changed my mind." + +During her first seasons with The Bostonians, Mrs. Davis's repertory was +an extensive one and comprised the Marchioness in "Suzette," Dorothea in +"Don Quixote," Cynisca in "Pygmalion and Galatea," Vladimir Samoiloff in +"Fatinitza," Siebel in "Faust," Nancy in "Martha," Azucena in "The +Troubadour," Carmen in "Carmen," and the Queen of the Gipsies in "The +Bohemian Girl." Her great success as Alan-a-Dale in "Robin Hood," +brought out at the Grand Opera House in Chicago on June 9, 1890, +followed, and this part kept her busy for several seasons. While The +Bostonians were on their long hunt--not yet finished, I believe--for a +successor to "Robin Hood," Mrs. Davis appeared in "The Maid of +Plymouth," "In Mexico," or, "A War-time Wedding," "The Knickerbockers," +"Prince Ananias," and "The Serenade," with its beautiful "Song of the +Angelus." + +I think it was in 1896 that Mrs. Davis estimated that she had sung "Oh, +Promise Me," that popular interpolated song in "Robin Hood," something +like five thousand times. "Robin Hood" had received at that time 2041 +performances, and she had appeared in it all but twenty-five or thirty +of them. "Oh, Promise Me" always got an encore, and often a double +encore, which brought the number up to Mrs. Davis's estimate. + +"I don't tire so much of the acting of a rôle as I do singing the same +words and music night after night," she continued. "I sang 'Oh, Promise +Me' until I thought they ought to blow paper wads at me. One day in +Denver I said to our conductor, Sam Studley, 'Sam, I'm so sick of "Oh, +Promise Me" that I've made up mind to sing something else.' 'Jessie,' he +said, 'I don't blame you!' So it was agreed that on the following night +I would substitute another of DeKoven's sentimental songs. But they +wouldn't have it. I had no sooner commenced singing it than there were +shouts from all over the house of 'Oh, Promise Me!' 'We want "Oh, +Promise Me!"' I managed to struggle through one verse, and then ran off +the stage laughing. Then Mr. Studley struck up the introductory to 'Oh, +Promise Me,' and I went back and satisfied the audience by singing their +favorite ballad. It's an awful fate to become identified with a single +song. + +"Being a singer is not like being an actress. If you are a singer, your +voice must be your first care. An actress, if she gets over-tired, can +go on and spare herself. A singer cannot. An actress can use less voice +at one time than at another. A singer cannot. Now, over-fatigue, +excitement, anxiety, all affect the voice by which the singer lives. + +"I had my grand opera experience. I wasn't very happy in it, although I +had good rôles to sing--once in a while. I did not know how to protect +myself. I was young then and too good-natured. I confess that while the +work in grand opera was more to my taste, I was happier in light opera, +and, after all, that is a great thing in the world. Sometimes I used to +sigh for more serious work, for a heavier rôle, and in that way 'In +Mexico' came to pass. I used to say sometimes 'Oh, I wish I could have a +hard part; I am tired of rigging up to show my legs. I want something to +do that is hard to do.' So when 'In Mexico' was read they said, 'Well, +here's Mrs. Davis's serious part.'" + +That opera was, indeed, very serious, so serious, in fact, that the +public would have nothing to do with it. It was brought out in San +Francisco on October 28, 1895. The music was by Oscar Weil and the book +by C. T. Dazey, the author of the popular melodrama "In Old Kentucky." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +EDNA WALLACE HOPPER + + +A captivating atom of femininity was Edna Wallace when she succeeded +Della Fox as the soubrette foil to the DeWolf Hopper's long-leggedness. +What a happy girlish smile she had,--her eyes sparkled and danced so +merrily, the little dimples in her cheeks were so altogether alluring! +Edna Wallace Hopper never was much of a singer, but she was so pretty +and so delicate that one never troubled himself about her voice; he was +chiefly concerned lest she might thoughtlessly break into bits. She was +vivacity itself, vivacity that never seemed noisy nor forced, just the +spontaneous expression of natural blithesomeness; and her magnetism +could not be escaped. Although she could not sing, she could act in +her soubrettish way, for her little experience on the stage had been +spent with plays and not with operas. + + [Illustration: Copyright, 1898, by B. J. Falk, Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y. + EDNA WALLACE-HOPPER.] + +The art of the soubrette is about the hardest thing in the world to pin +down for examination. In fact, in many cases, the word "art," in +connection with the soubrette, is purely conventional; instinct would +more correctly describe the means employed by her to gain her stage +effects. Dramatic instinct is, of course, the corner-stone of the +actor's mental equipment. Indeed, we all have to a degree that +involuntary notion what to do under certain circumstances--wholly +unexpected circumstances possibly--to create the impression we wish to +make. Preachers have it abundantly, or else their words from the pulpit +would be ineffective; lawyers are also exceptionally endowed with it, or +else their addresses to the jury would be worse than useless; teachers, +family physicians, the man who makes politics a profession, all must +have the dramatic instinct to win any great success. + +In the case of the soubrette, dramatic instinct is limited in its field. +She does not, as a general thing, attempt impersonation, and she never +is called upon to do anything more than slightly ruffle the surface of +emotional possibilities by a faint appeal to the sentiments. Her +dramatic instinct is chiefly concerned in presenting to the best +advantage an attractive personality and sparkling temperament backed up +by a pretty face and a pleasing figure. Herein lies the difficulty of +writing about soubrettes. Having called them happy, gay, graceful, +altogether charming, one finds that he has nothing more to say. He +cannot talk about their art, for their art is merely themselves, +indefinable and impossible of description. He cannot talk about the +characters they have played, for they have never played but one, and +that themselves. Edna Wallace Hopper's Paquita in "Panjandrum," for +example, was none other than her Estrelda in "El Capitan." The +environment was different and the raiment was different, but the +character was the same. + +Now a personality cannot be put on paper; it cannot be talked over +except in the most superficial and unsatisfactory way. It can only be +felt. When one has declared that a certain actor's personality is +unusually attractive, he has spoken the last word. Edna Wallace Hopper, +in common with all other light opera soubrettes, is a personality. She +is there to be liked or disliked just as the notion happens to strike +one; but whether one likes or dislikes her, there is no possible ground +for an argument about the matter. This person here, who is unmoved by +her presence, may claim that she cannot sing and that she is wholly +artificial. That person there, who finds her altogether delightful, will +declare that he does not care whether she sings or not, and such a +dainty creature is she that her frank artificiality is a positive +delight. + +Personally I have always found Edna Wallace Hopper exceptionally +entertaining. I first bowed the knee before her smile and her coaxing +dimples--a great deal of Mrs. Hopper's fascination is smiles and +dimples--when she was very new to the stage, and I have never wholly +escaped from their thraldom since that time. I acknowledge freely all +her shortcomings,--her lack of versatility and resourcefulness, her +narrowness of range,--but as long as she keeps her smile and her +dimples, I am certain that I shall never be absolutely insensible to her +allurements. She is wholly and fixedly a soubrette, a pretty, dancing, +laughing creature without a suggestion of seriousness or the slightest +trace of emotion. She is not to be studied, and she does not pretend to +any depth of illusion. She is an impression, to be admired or scorned +always in the present tense. + +Edna Wallace was born in San Francisco and was educated at the Vanness +Seminary there. It was due entirely to Roland Reed, the light comedian, +that the idea of going on the stage ever entered her head. Mr. Reed met +Miss Wallace at a reception while he was playing in San Francisco in +1891. She was then not far from seventeen years old. Impressed with her +vivacity, he laughingly offered her a position in his company, and, +behold! the mischief was done. She accepted quickly; and although her +parents did not approve of the plan in the least, she journeyed east +during the summer, and in August made her appearance at the Boston +Museum with Mr. Reed as Mabel Douglass in "The Club Friend." + +Two weeks later she acted in the same play at the Star Theatre in New +York, where six weeks later she was given the leading ingénue rôle in +"Lend Me Your Wife." She attracted the attention of Charles Frohman, and +was engaged by him, appearing successively as Lucy Mortan in "Jane," +Mrs. Patterby in "Chums," Margery in "Men and Women" and as Wilbur's +Ann, the boisterous frontier maiden, in "The Girl I Left Behind Me." + +It was while she was acting in this play in June, 1893, that she was +married to DeWolf Hopper. A few weeks after this, Della Fox, the Paquita +in "Panjandrum," was taken suddenly ill and journeyed off to Europe. +Mrs. Hopper jumped into the part and played it successfully until the +end of the New York season. The following comment on Mrs. Hopper shortly +after her first appearance in light opera is interesting:-- + +"A winsome little woman recently bounded into the affectionate regard of +New York audiences at the Broadway Theatre. The severely critical may +take occasion to compare her with her predecessor as Paquita in +'Panjandrum,'--possibly to her disadvantage in some instances,--but the +fact still remains that the audiences like her immensely, because she +is young, pretty, modest, and because she can act. Edna Wallace Hopper, +if not able to sing quite as well as some comic opera performers, is a +capable actress, and in this respect her advancement has been somewhat +remarkable." + +In the fall Mrs. Hopper returned to Charles Frohman's management, but +she was not long after released from her contract so that she could +assume the part of Merope Mallow in DeWolf Hopper's production of "Dr. +Syntax." This was a decidedly attractive bit of work natural and +artistic. On the road she also assumed Della Fox's old character of +Mataya in "Wang." When "El Capitan" was produced in Boston in April, +1896, she created the part of Estrelda, the hero-worshipping coquette, +her first original rôle, by the way, in opera, for her character in "Dr. +Syntax" was taken directly from a similar conception in "Cinderella at +School." This was her last rôle with the Hopper organization, for while +it was still a popular attraction, domestic difficulties separated her +from Mr. Hopper, and she retired from the company at the expiration of +her contract with Ben Stevens, the manager. + +Mrs. Hopper next appeared in "Yankee Doodle Dandy," an extravaganza of +doubtful merit, and with Lillian Russell in a revival of "La Belle +Hélène." During the season of 1899-1900, she shared the honors with +Jerome Sykes in the extravaganza, "Chris and the Wonderful Lamp," acting +the part of the sophisticated youth Chris. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PAULA EDWARDES + + [Illustration: PAULA EDWARDES.] + + +One of the few young and pretty women making a specialty of eccentric +comedy parts is Paula Edwardes, a Boston girl, who, starting at the foot +of the ladder only a few seasons ago, has quickly claimed a position of +prominence in the musical comedy world. Miss Edwardes's most recent +characterizations have been two different varieties of the Cockney type +in "A Runaway Girl" and "Mam'selle 'Awkins," but previous to that she +gave a taste of her ability in this line of impersonation by creating in +"The Belle of New York" the rôle of Mamie Clancy, the Bowery girl, a +type of character which is nothing more nor less than an Americanized +Cockney. I have no idea where Miss Edwardes picked up her weird and +wonderful Cockney dialect, unless she got it during her short visit in +London with "The Belle," for she was born and brought up in Boston, +where, as every one knows, nothing is spoken except the purest of +Emersonian English. Neither will I vouch for the accuracy of Miss +Edwardes's importation. However, it sounds English enough, and it is +certainly hard enough to understand to be the real thing. + +There are two ways of presenting a character study of the uncultivated +types of civilized humanity. One is faithfully to imitate the original, +sparing not in the least vulgarity, uncouthness, and coarseness. The +comedy in this method is the crude product of incongruity and contrast. +The second method is merely to retain a recognizable likeness to the +original, to tone down the vulgarity, to reduce the uncouthness to a +suggestion, and to rely for effect on an heightened sense of humor. +There is also introduced in this second method of treatment a subtle, +but nevertheless distinct, self-appreciation of one's own unfitness for +polite society and social conventions,--a cynical atmosphere, as it +were, that gives the study a touch of satire. + +The first method is usually adopted by the unpolished and unthinking +actor of variety sketch training, and often, too, by the acrobatic and +strictly mechanical comedian of light opera surroundings. It is comedy +acting which proves vastly amusing to such as desire their theatrical +entertainment as devoid as possible of any intellectual flavor, who do +not care to hunt for a fine point, and who are bored by anything that +suggests an intelligent appreciation of humor. The comedy of the second +method is on a decidedly higher plane. It suggests more than it actually +represents. It is more delicate in every way, and it requires a modicum +of intelligence on the part of the spectator to be estimated at its full +value. + +Miss Edwardes's Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl" was a genuine +characterization. She did more than to array herself in garments of +curious pattern, stain her face a gypsy tan and talk a Blackfriars-ish, +or alleged Blackfriars-ish dialect, that was wellnigh incomprehensible; +she also imparted an individuality to the rôle, and one got from her +acting a distinct impression of Carmenita, the woman. Such was the case, +too, with her Honorah in "Mam'selle 'Awkins." She evolved, from the +precious little material that was given her, a personality. Josephine +Hall, on the other hand, let the character go completely by the board, +and relied entirely for success on her ability as an entertainer. I will +not say which achieved the better results in this particular instance, +for the entertainment in which they appeared was too absurd to be +considered seriously even as an absurdity. Miss Edwardes, however, +adopted the more artistic treatment of the two. + +Paula Edwardes went into the theatrical business on the strength of a +voice, a face, and a figure, which is simply another way of saying that +she began in the chorus. It happened in Boston, and the occasion was the +professional production by Thomas Q. Seabrooke of the First Corps of +Cadets' extravaganza, "Tobasco." Miss Edwardes was understudy for Elvia +Crox, the leading soubrette, and a little luck came the chorus girl's +way at the first matinée. Miss Crox declared that she was too ill to +play, and Miss Edwardes took her part for the afternoon, succeeding so +well that Miss Crox rapidly recovered her health and was able to appear +at the evening performance. + +Nevertheless, the next season still found Miss Edwardes in the chorus, +this time with Hoyt's "A Black Sheep." Again Boston was good to her, for +when the company reached that city, Bettina Gerard, who was playing the +Queen of Burlesque, was affected by the climate or something of that +kind, threw up her part, and Miss Edwardes was pressed into service in +the emergency. Her success was sufficient to put an end for good and all +to her chorus experience. The following season Miss Edwardes was in "A +Dangerous Maid" with Laura Burt and Madge Lessing, and then she created +the part of Mamie Clancy in "The Belle of New York." She went to London +with the original company, but after a few months she became tired of +the fog and homesick for New York and the familiar surroundings of +Broadway and the Rialto. So she resigned from "The Belle" cast and took +the next steamer for the United States. Augustin Daly engaged her for +Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl," and at the conclusion of the run of that +piece in New York she was transferred to "The Great Ruby" in which she +made quite a hit as Louise Jupp, the romantically inclined hotel +cashier. + +In February, 1900, she appeared in "Mam'selle 'Awkins," creating the +title rôle, and after that she acted in Boston and New York her old part +of Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +LULU GLASER + + [Illustration: LULU GLASER.] + + +A very few years ago Lulu Glaser was known only as "Francis Wilson's new +soubrette." That continued for several seasons after she succeeded the +fascinating Marie Jansen,--she of the rippling laugh and the form of +inscrutable perfection. Lulu Glaser was a bright, sparkling girl in +those days of her earlier successes, winsome in personality and as +pretty as a picture with her light fluffy hair and her eyes that still +retained their girlishness. Her vivacity was remarkable, and her spirits +were unflagging. She worked with all her might to please, and she was +successful to an unusual degree. + +Too bad that those excellent qualities--vivacity, freshness, and +unsophisticated youthfulness--should have so nearly proved her +undoing! Too much kindness on the part of those who wished her only the +utmost good, indiscriminate praise and the conventional applausive +audience, together with association with Francis Wilson, an excellent +comedian in his own line, but not a player who will bear imitation, have +brought Miss Glaser to a most critical period in her career. Her +personal popularity, it is true, has not suffered as yet,--at least, not +to any appreciable extent,--but her reputation as an artist is already +on the wane among discriminating judges. She should rank with the very +best of our light opera soubrettes, but it would not be true to say that +she does. + +Miss Glaser's utter lack of any notion of the inherent fitness of things +and of her own position as a paid entertainer is shown most +conspicuously and most persistently in her exasperating habit of +"guying" every performance in which she participates. Here is a young +woman of unquestioned talent both as an actress and a singer, bound down +hill simply and solely for the want of restraining good sense and proper +discipline. She is much in need of the fatherly advice of a hard-headed +stage manager, who would curb that vivacity which has run riot and +squelch effectively a condition of cocksureness that is amazing in its +effrontery. The trick of "guying" may seem to those on the stage very +pretty and highly amusing, but to an audience it is at first surprising, +then bewildering, and finally utterly wearisome and disgusting. + +The actor, who systematically makes sport on the stage for the benefit +of his fellow-players instead of attending to his own business of +amusing those who have paid their money for entertainment, commits a +breach of artistic etiquette that is wholly inexcusable. The stage is a +dangerous place for one to give free rein to personal adoration. I have +known actors who were free from conceit and complete self-satisfaction, +but they are comparatively few. Fortunately, however, this generous +estimate of one's own attainments does not often, as in Miss Glaser's +case, intrude itself into the actor's art. Still, is her condition of +mind to be wondered at? She was only a girl when she began to be the +subject of kindly notoriety. She was praised, praised, praised, and, +worst of all, she was without the restraining influence of a strict +disciplinarian. + +From desiring above all else to please her audience, and with that end +in view, giving lavishly on every occasion the very best that was in +her, she developed a frame of mind that conceived her position to be +directly opposite to what it really was. She began to feel that the +favor was on her side,--that her audience should be grateful to her for +taking part in the show. She acquired an atmosphere of condescension and +patronage which would have been ridiculous if it had not been so +provoking. This curious attitude was noticeable to a considerable extent +in "The Little Corporal;" but it could be endured there, for "The Little +Corporal" was, in comparison with the average, an opera not altogether +without merit. In "Cyrano de Bergerac," however, that wretched +misconception, Miss Glaser's egotism bloomed forth in an astonishing +fashion. She was almost below the sphere of serious attention. + +It is painful to speak so harshly of a woman naturally so charming as +Miss Glaser, whom I would be only too glad to eulogize in rainbow-hued +words. I confess that I like her, but that is my weakness. Indeed, if I +did not like her, and if I were not convinced of her genuine ability, I +should not distress myself to the extent of being honest with her. +Sometimes I have even thought that she had a sense of humor until her +persistent "guying" knocked the notion out of my head. "Guying" does +not signify a sense of humor. A sense of humor includes, besides the +ability to comprehend a joke in a minstrel show, a saving appreciation +of the ridiculous in one's self as well as in humanity at large. This +quality of looking at one's self from the viewpoint of some one else is +rare in man, but it is still rarer in woman. Woman, however, is more +expert than man at "faking" a sense of humor. + +When Miss Glaser really gets down to business and makes fun wholly for +her audience, she is a most entertaining little woman. Her talent for +burlesque is unmistakable, although her characters do not always have +the atmosphere of spontaneity. Her whole experience having been with +Francis Wilson, it is not strange, perhaps, that she should have adopted +some of his methods. A comic opera comedian, whose humor is so much a +matter of individuality, is the last person in the world to be imitated. +In many cases he is an acquired taste, and almost always he is only +conventional, trading on a trick of personality. + +Lulu Glaser was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, on June 2, 1874, +and continued to live there until she joined Francis Wilson's company in +1892. + +"I surely inherited no longing for the stage," once remarked Miss +Glaser, "for none of my family ever had any professional connection with +the theatre. I just had a passionate longing to sing. I talked of it +incessantly, and finally father said to mother: 'Let her try it; she +will never be satisfied until she does. You go with her to New York, and +we shall see what comes of it.' So to New York my mother and I went, and +through a friend who knew somebody else who knew Francis Wilson's leader +of the orchestra, I got an introduction to this all-important personage. + +"Well, I think it was all of a month we had to wait before the +interview could be arranged, and then one eventful day I sang for Mr. de +Novellis on the stage of the Broadway Theatre. No, strangely enough, I +wasn't nervous in the least. The song, I remember, was 'My Lady's +Bower;' and when I had finished it, Mr. de Novellis said that he would +suggest that I should see Mr. Wilson,--'the great Wilson,' as I +described him in a letter to my father after the first interview. The +company was to produce 'The Lion Tamer,' and Mr. Wilson made me +understudy to Miss Marie Jansen, meantime giving me a place in the +chorus. + +"My chance to sing alone came sooner than I anticipated, before I was +ready for it, evidently, because on the night when Miss Jansen fell ill, +and I was to take her place, I fainted before the curtain went up. But I +was not discouraged. 'She is sure to do splendidly now,' said Mr. +Wilson, when he heard of that faint. A few months later, Miss Jansen +resigned to become a star, and Mr. Wilson informed me, while I was still +in the chorus, that I was to have her place. And he regarded it as the +greatest achievement of my life, that for the remaining weeks of the +season I never told a soul of what was in store for me." + +During her first season Miss Glaser played, besides Angelina in "The +Lion Tamer," Lazuli in "The Merry Monarch." Then she tried Javotte in +"Erminie," which performance added greatly to her reputation. It is +perhaps, the best thing that she has ever done, and certainly bears +comparison with the work of other soubrettes in the part. Her next rôle +was that of Elverine in "The Devil's Deputy," and from this came still +more praise. The rather sedate--for a soubrette--character of Rita in +"The Chieftain" was her next exploit. This was what might be termed a +"straight" part, and was only given to Miss Glaser after two other rôles +had been assigned to her. "The Chieftain" was produced in the fall of +1895. When Mr. Wilson secured the opera the previous spring, he told +Miss Glaser that she was to play Dolly. + +"Very well," said she, not in the least surprised, for the rôle was +precisely in her line. But she had scarcely begun to plan her conception +of the character when somebody discovered that Dolly appeared only in +the second and last acts. + +"That will never do, you know," said Mr. Wilson. "I tell you what we +will do, you must be Juanita, the dancing girl. That is the soubrette +part, after all." + +"Very well," said Miss Glaser again, with perfect confidence that she +would be cast to the best advantage, whatever happened. + +The season ended, Miss Glaser went with her mother to their summer home +at Sewickley, just out of Pittsburg, and Mr. Wilson sailed for Europe. +He saw "The Chieftain" in London, and at once sent a cablegram to +Sewickley: "You are to play Rita." This was indeed a surprise to Miss +Glaser,--to be the dignified prima donna of the house bill! It almost +took her breath away. + +"Do you think I can do it?" she asked Mr. Wilson, when he returned. + +"I will stake my reputation on it," was the prompt reply. + +So when Sullivan's opera was produced at Abbey's Theatre in New York in +September, the public and the critics declared that Mr. Wilson's leading +woman was as strong in the "straight" parts as she had proved herself to +be in the lighter lines in which she had first won her reputation. + +"But, oh, wasn't I nervous that first night!" confessed Miss Glaser. +"And didn't I pick up the papers the next morning with fear and +trembling!" + +Miss Glaser, before the run of the opera was over, however, found her +part in "The Chieftain" somewhat hampering, and she was pleased enough +when Pierrette in "Half a King" placed her back in the ranks of the +joyous and captivating soubrettes. Light-hearted, too, was her part in +"The Little Corporal," a rôle which travelled all the way from the long +skirts of a court lady to the not too tight trousers of a drummer boy in +the French army. + +In "The Little Corporal" one could not help but notice how great an +influence Mr. Wilson's clowning methods had exercised on Miss Glaser. +Mr. Wilson, however, was artistic in his fooling, and was not given to +overdoing the thing, which was not strange, for he had been at it a good +many years. + +Miss Glaser especially worked to the limit the old "gag" popular with +variety "artists," of laughing at the jokes on the stage as if they were +impromptu affairs gotten up for her especial benefit. She did it rather +well, although she did it too much. Perhaps because the jokes were funny +and one laughed at them himself, one liked to think that Miss +Glaser--some time before, of course--did see something funny in Mr. +Wilson's remarks, and that she laughed at them now because she +remembered how she had laughed at them at first. Marie Jansen used to +laugh, too, when she was with Mr. Wilson, and her laugh was a wonderful +achievement,--a thing of ripples, quavers, and gurgles. And this +coincidence suggests a horrible thought. Possibly Mr. Wilson himself was +to blame for these laughs. Possibly he stipulated in the bond that his +soubrettes should laugh early and often at his jokes as a cue to the +audience. In the early scenes of "The Little Corporal," regardless of +laughs and all else, Miss Glaser was captivating, and her first song--it +was something about a coquette, as I recall it--was a fetching bit of +descriptive singing. + +During the season of 1899-1900, Miss Glaser played Roxane in "Cyrano de +Bergerac," and Javotte in "Erminie." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MINNIE ASHLEY + + [Illustration: MINNIE ASHLEY.] + + +Artless girlishness, remarkable personal charm, and skill as an +imaginative dancer scarcely equalled on the American stage, account for +Minnie Ashley's sudden success in musical comedy. Aside from her +dancing, which is artistic in every sense, she is by no means an +exceptionally talented young woman. Nature was indeed good to her when +it endowed her with a most fascinating personality, a pretty, piquant +face, and a slim, graceful figure, but it was by no means lavish with +other gifts most desirable. Miss Ashley's range as an actress is +decidedly limited; she is not to the slightest degree versatile, and she +has no notion at all of the art of impersonation. Her singing voice is +more of an imagination than a reality, although one is sometimes +deceived into believing that she can sing in a modest way by the +admirable skill with which she uses the little voice that is hers. She +has a due regard for its limitations, and she delights one by the +clearness of her enunciation and the expressive daintiness of her +interpretation of the simple ballads that show her at her best. + +Nothing could be more exquisitely charming than her art in such songs as +"The Monkey on the Stick" and "The Parrot and the Canary" in "The +Geisha," "A Little Bit of String" in "The Circus Girl," and "I'm a Dear +Little Iris" and "This Naughty Little Maid" in "A Greek Slave." These +songs are all of the same class,--little humorous narratives, or, better +yet, funny stories set to music. Miss Ashley seems almost to recite +them, so perfectly understandable is every word, yet she keeps to the +tune at the same time. Not a point in the story is overlooked, and +every phase of meaning is captivatingly illustrated in pantomime. Miss +Ashley's pantomime, like her acting, is limited in quantity; so limited, +in fact, that it suggests, after one becomes familiar with it, the fear +that it is all mannerism. Even at that, I doubt if any one can escape +its persuasive appeal, can remain absolutely cold and unresponsive +before those eyes so full of roguish innocence, those lips smiling a +challenge, and that pretty bobbing head shaking a negative that means +yes. + +However, if he be unmoved by Miss Ashley's singing, he surely cannot +resist her dancing. It is as an illustrative dancer that Miss Ashley is +supreme. She is the one woman who comprehends dancing as something more +than violent physical exercise, who appreciates the art of dancing in +its classic sense as a means of symbolic and poetic expression. Minnie +Ashley dances with her whole body moving in perfect unity and in +perfect rhythm. She is the personification of grace from head to foot, +and there is vivacity and joy and fulness of life in the saucy noddings +of her head, the languorous sway of her form, the sinuous wavings of her +arms and hands, and the bewildering mingling of billowy draperies and +flashy, twinkling feet. When Minnie Ashley kicks, she does so delicately +and deliberately,--kicks that end with a shiver and quiver of the +toe-tips. + +It has been Miss Ashley's good fortune in most of her parts to be +permitted to dance in long skirts. As Gwendolyn in "Prince Pro Tem," +however, she wore the conventional soubrette skirt of knee length. It +was surprising what a handicap it was to the full effectiveness of her +dancing. Miss Ashley is not a whirlwind dancer; she does not sacrifice +grace for speed, nor dignity for astounding contortions of the body. +Knowing full well the value of the artistic repose and the crowning +fascination of suggestion, she handles her draperies with that rare +skill which makes them seem a part of herself. Their sweeping softness +destroys all crude outlines, and they are at the same time tantalizing +provokers of curiosity. The short skirt--blunt, plain-spoken, and +tactless--compelled the substitution of abandon for sensuousness, and +consequently a sacrifice of coquetry and suggestiveness. + +Minnie Ashley was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1875. Her family +name was Whitehead. When she was very young her father and mother +separated, her mother going to Boston and taking Minnie with her. The +mother afterward was married to a man by the name of Ashley, and it was +as Minnie Ashley that the dainty actress was always known during her +girlhood in Boston. She lived and went to school both in Roxbury and the +South End; and she learned her first dancing steps, as thousands of city +children do, by tripping away on the sidewalk to the grinding music of +the hand-organ. + +Her first appearances in public were made at the children's festivals on +Washington's birthday in the old Music Hall, Boston. The first year she +was the Queen of the Fairies with a number of other school-children as +subjects; and the next year, after demonstrating that she could dance, +she was promoted to the position of solo dancer, and a feature of the +entertainment was her exposition of the intricacies of "The Sailor's +Horn-pipe." Her native talent, so prettily shown at these children's +festivals, attracted the attention of a teacher of dancing, who took +Miss Minnie under her charge and gave the child the instruction that was +necessary to develop her gifts to the best advantage. + +During the summer the teacher took her promising pupil to the summer +resorts in the White Mountains. There the guests were charmed, and the +boys and girls of ambitious parents were instructed in the art +Terpsichorean. This lasted until Miss Minnie came to the conclusion that +she was doing all the work while her companion was reaping most of the +profits. So they quarrelled about it and separated, Miss Ashley +returning to Boston firmly resolved to go upon the stage as a +professional dancer. + +At that time Edward E. Rice was organizing a company to produce the R. +A. Barnet spectacle, "1492," and to him Miss Ashley applied. She +succeeded in getting a place in the chorus. When DeWolf Hopper brought +out "El Capitan" in Boston in 1896, she was still in the chorus, +although she was permitted to understudy Edna Wallace Hopper. Miss +Ashley, however, had developed since the days of "1492," and although +she was in the chorus, she was by no means of the chorus. Her +individuality was so pronounced, her magnetism so potent, that the +largest chorus could not conceal her. She literally stood forth from +the group, a graceful and beautiful figure, animated, interesting, and +pertly captivating. She had something of the spirit of France about her, +or at least what we think is the spirit of France; and it was not +altogether strange, therefore, that her first engagement outside the +chorus should have been to act a French girl. This occurred in a musical +comedy called "The Chorus Girl," which was brought out at the Boston +Museum after the close of the regular season in 1898. "The Chorus Girl" +was pretty poor stuff, but Miss Ashley's personal success was +considerable. + +The following season J. C. Duff put "The Geisha" and "The Circus Girl" +on the road, and Miss Ashley played Mollie Seamore in "The Geisha" and +Dolly Wemyss in "The Circus Girl." In May, 1899, when "Prince Pro Tem," +a musical comedy by R. A. Barnet and L. S. Thompson, which has never +played a successful engagement outside of Boston, was revived, Miss +Ashley appeared as Gwendolyn. Those who heard Josie Sadler sing "If I +could only get a Decent Sleep" in "Broadway to Tokio," may be interested +to know that this touching ballad was originally one of the chief hits +of "Prince Pro Tem." "Prince Pro Tem," with its numerous deficiencies, +had one thoroughly artistic character, Tommy Tompkins, the showman. Fred +Lenox acted the part; and a capital bit of comedy it was, too, +deliciously humorous in its depreciating self-sufficiency, wonderfully +clever as a loving and sympathetic caricature, and thoroughly convincing +as a sincere study of human nature, a Thackeray-like creation, which was +worthy of a more pretentious setting than it received in Mr. Barnet's +show. + +When "A Greek Slave" was produced in New York in November, 1899, that +city discovered Minnie Ashley and forthwith shouted her name from the +housetops. "A Greek Slave" was not a success, but Miss Ashley's Iris +was. As the "New York Telegram" said:-- + +"And there is Minnie Ashley. A slim, graceful, attractive young woman, +with scarcely the suggestion of her wonderful magnetic power in her +slender outlines. Two minutes after she had made her entrance, the house +was hers and all that therein was. She couldn't sing in the same country +with Dorothy Morton. She couldn't act in a manner to warrant attention +on that score--and she knew it, and didn't make any harrowing attempts +to reach what was beyond her. She knew herself. There was part of the +secret. She didn't endeavor to gather in impossibilities. She simply +came out and played with that audience as a little child would play with +a roomful of kittens. 'You may purr over me and lick my hand and look at +me with your great, appreciative eyes,' she told her kittens, 'and in +return, I will stroke you and soothe you, and charm you.' + +"And she certainly did charm that house. She has a pleasing little voice +which she uses with utmost judiciousness. She has an innate grace and +refinement that are most telling accomplishments. As she informed us in +her opening song, 'I'm a Dear Little Iris,' a slave girl, who knows how +to drape herself and how to execute the steps of the airiest, fairiest +dances. There have been many times at the Metropolitan Opera House when +great singers have been overwhelmed by the fierce applause of an +emotional audience. Then the bravos have been shouted and the enthusiasm +has reached a fever pitch. But before last night these scenes have +formed no part of the programme at the Herald Square. Miss Ashley +changed that old order, and changed it with the lightness and lack of +perceptible effort which characterized her whole performance. The house +simply went wild over this practically unknown girl. Her name was +called again and again, and the encores of her pretty little songs +stretched the opera out far beyond its legitimate length. The house +admired the daintiness, the womanliness, and the suggestion of the +thorough-bred in this young girl. The poise of her head, the poetical +motion of her body, the total lack of self-consciousness, these were +constant delights." + +"To Minnie Ashley," declared the "Boston Transcript," a few weeks later, +when "A Greek Slave" was played in Boston, "fell nine-tenths of the +honors of the performance, and she gave another impersonation fully as +charming as those with which she has been associated in 'The Geisha,' +'The Circus Girl,' and 'Prince Pro Tem.' She was a dainty little slave, +demure as was befitting the character, but with a way that was certainly +irresistible. She is a real comédienne, and each of the points in the +few funny lines that fell to her lot was capitally brought out. +Especially clever was the song about 'The Naughty Little Girl' in the +second act, where she made the hit of the evening. Nature never intended +her to be a prima donna, but it gave her the power to sing a song like +that in a way that leaves nothing to be desired, and when she +dances--well, it doesn't matter in what language she dances; Latin, +Japanese or Yankee, the result is just the same." + +While she was with DeWolf Hopper, Miss Ashley was married to William +Sheldon, a half-brother of Walter Jones, from whom she was afterward +separated. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +EDNA MAY + + +A pretty face and a gentle, winning personality brought Edna May into +prominence in the most dramatic fashion. Edna May Petty, the daughter of +E. C. Petty, a letter-carrier in Syracuse, New York, lovely to look upon +and demure in manner, had some talent for singing, but more for dancing, +when her parents yielded to her entreaties and said that she might go to +New York to study for the stage. She was only sixteen years old. Hardly +had she settled down to her singing and dancing lessons, however, when +along came Fred Titus, at that time the holder of the hour bicycle +record and one of the most prominent racing men in the country. They +were married, but Edna May remained just as determined as ever to go on +the stage. Her ambitions were forced for a time to be satisfied with +occasional opportunities to substitute in church choirs. Her name first +appeared on a playbill when "Santa Maria" was produced at Hammerstein's +in New York, but the part was so small as to be practically +non-existent. Then she was engaged for White's Farcical Comedy Company +and appeared in Charles H. Hoyt's "A Contented Woman." + +At this point there is a dispute as regards Miss May's next move, or at +least there was a dispute until manager and star patched up their +difficulties. George W. Lederer was wont to claim that Edna May joined +the chorus of his prospective "The Belle of New York" company. At the +last moment, the woman whom he had engaged for leading part disappointed +him. He had to do something quickly, and he cast about in his own chorus +for a girl who might fill the part for a night or two until he could +find someone to take it permanently. His discerning eye fell on the +plaintive prettiness of Edna May. "She'll look the part, anyhow," he +declared. So in this haphazard fashion, Violet Grey, the Salvation Army +lassie, was passed over to her, and, presto! her fortune was made. + +"But it was not that way at all," pouted the gentle Miss May, after she +had signed a contract to leave Mr. Lederer and return to London under +some one else's care. "I never was in Mr. Lederer's chorus. I went to +Mr. Lederer after I had been playing a small part in the 'Contented +Woman' company. I begged him to put my name down for something even if +it were ever and ever so little, and he gave me the part of Violet Grey +in 'The Belle.'" + +At this time, also,--this period devoted by Miss May to the signing of +the contracts, which never amounted to anything, after all,--a second +dispute arose regarding Miss May's indebtedness to Mr. Lederer for her +success in "The Belle." Mr. Lederer announced to a deeply impressed +public that he had trained Miss May with the most extraordinary +attention to detail. He had made her walk chalk-lines on the stage, and +had written on the music-score minute directions regarding gestures, +even indicating the exact point where she was captivatingly to cast down +her eyes. + +"No, no, no," declared Miss May. "All that is very unkind and very +untrue. He did not teach me all or nearly all I know about my art, and +he did not have to write out gestures and full directions for my conduct +on the stage. Not one word of this sort of thing was written in the +score. Mr. Lederer rehearsed me, it is true, but not as if he were +rehearsing a performing seal. He gave me an opportunity, and for that I +am very grateful. But that is all he did. I am not such a fool as Mr. +Lederer is always pretending to think me." + +However, regarding Miss May's extraordinary popular success in "The +Belle of New York" in this country, and more especially in London, there +can be no dispute. That is a fact discernible without opera glasses. It +was, however, almost wholly a triumph of personality. Violet Grey is +what actors call a "fat" part. The Salvation Army lassie, a quaint, +subdued, almost pathetic figure, thrown in the midst of the contrasting +hurly-burly and theatrical exaggerations of a typical musical farce, +appeals irresistibly to the spectator's sympathy. She touches deftly the +sentiments, for in her modest way she is a bit of real life, a touch of +human nature, in surroundings where the men and women of every-day life +are complete strangers. + +But Violet Grey is not a rôle to be acted. It is not, in the strictest +sense, a dramatic character at all, merely a picture from life, set +forth without comment and without exposition. One sees all that there is +to see, the instant Violet Grey appears on the scene; he recognizes at +once her reality and her fidelity to nature, and he falls a victim to +her charm without further ado. The actress cast for this part must in a +sense live it. She must, as Mr. Lederer said, "look the part;" she must +suggest at a glance, modesty, demureness, quaintness, spirituality, and +idealism. Coquetry, any notion of archness or frivolity, must be +rigorously banished. There her responsibility practically ends, for +folded hands, cast-down eyes, and the ability to sing a little do the +rest. + +Success in such a part as Violet Grey affords not the slightest test of +artistic ability, and Edna May's artistic future is still a matter of +doubt. She has appeared in only one operetta aside from "The +Belle,"--"An American Beauty," brought out in London by an American +company in April, 1900. + +The remarkable feature of Miss May's career was the furore that she +created in London, where, due as much to her personal popularity as to +any other one thing, "The Belle of New York" ran for eighty-five weeks. +It was wonderful, when one thinks of it, that sweet simplicity could do +so much. Of course, when Miss May returned to this country in January, +1900, she had many pleasant remarks to make about the Londoners. +Speaking of the opening night, she said: + +"I played the part during the long run in the United States, so I was +very used to it, and there was nothing out of the ordinary about the +first night in London, until the sensation caused by their tremendous +applause came to me. There is nothing like it, nothing that approaches +it. It is quite the most delicious sensation on earth. I don't expect +ever to feel it again quite as I did that night. It's like the first +kiss, you know, or the first anything. After that it's only repetition. + +"Success was particularly sweet to me at that time, but it was something +of a shock. I wasn't looking for such a reception. They not only +applauded, they shouted and deluged me with flowers. The next day I +found myself talked about everywhere. I had done nothing but be natural, +and do my best, yet they praised my talent. They kept my rooms +flower-laden; they sent me rich gifts, and what was more,--oh, a great +deal more,--they held out to me the hand of friendship, men and women +alike, and made me one of them. + +"There is one of the most marked differences between London and New +York. Here a girl who enters the profession is ostracized; there it is +considered an added charm. Here if a girl of any social position chooses +a stage career, it must be at a great personal sacrifice. There, +whatever social prestige she may have will be an aid to her in her +professional ambitions. One of the greatest helps to me in London was +the way the genuine people of the aristocracy opened their doors to me, +and made me welcome in their lives and homes. For my own part, I did not +know that it was possible for so much happiness to come to a single life +as I have realized during the past two years abroad." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +MARIE CELESTE + + +Almost as necessary as a singing voice to the young woman who would +venture into light opera and musical comedy, are physical attractiveness +and personal magnetism. An unusually good voice, daintiness of face and +figure, and a winsome personality. Marie Celeste has, and she has one +other quality which to me makes her work on the stage especially +enjoyable. That is her total lack of affectation. When one sees her he +is not conscious of that irritating screen of artificiality that so +often darkens and sometimes hides completely the personality on the +stage. An actor, to be effective, must show a personality of some sort. +It may not be his own, but it should appear to be his own. The ability, +under the conditions represented in the theatre, to convince an audience +that the personality represented is a real personality constitutes that +branch of acting known as impersonation. + +Actors try to accomplish this deception by various means. They bring to +their aid wonderful skill in make-up and astonishing ingenuity in +pantomime; but these external devices fail, every one of them, to +produce the impression desired, unless the final effect on the mind of +the person to be convinced is one of simplicity and sincerity. To create +this impression of simplicity and sincerity, the actor must project his +character mentally as well as reproduce it physically; he must appeal to +the mind as well as to the eye; he must know human nature; he must study +and experiment, and he must have the dramatic temperament. + +Simplicity and sincerity of this kind are none too common on the stage, +and especially is one not apt to find them among the men and women who +interpret any form of opera. There are two simple reasons for this. One +is that the operatic singer who has a chance to study naturally enough +seeks first of all to improve the voice on which he is so dependent. +Acting he regards as something that can be quickly acquired from the +ubiquitous stage manager. The second reason is that, even in the case of +singers who can act, the artificiality of the operatic scheme--drama +united with music--is bound to affect the player's art. The player in +opera acts, not as men and women act, but as operatic tenors or sopranos +or bassos have acted ever since opera came into being. In fact, we have +become so accustomed to strutting tenors and mincing sopranos that we +accept what they have to offer as a matter of course. If only they sing +well and their inherent artificiality be not too ridiculous, we are +satisfied. + +Yet when spontaneity and conviction are present, what a change in +conditions they cause! They make opera--even the frivolous opera of the +hardworking Harry B. Smith, who has what William J. Henderson calls the +"operetta libretto habit"--seem real. One does not have to adopt the +intended illusion by a sort of free-will process; it is forced on him. + +Marie Celeste is one of the few actresses in opera. She has spontaneity +and conviction, simplicity and sincerity, and in particular refreshing +and unconscious naïveté. Her personality is attractive, winsome, and +thoroughly feminine, and her style is vivacious, sparkling, and refined. +Her voice is a high soprano of considerable power, and might easily of +itself have won her a place on the operatic stage. As a matter of fact, +however, her greatest successes have been in parts where singing was +something of a secondary consideration. Both physically and +temperamentally, Miss Celeste is best fitted for soubrette rôles, parts +that require appreciative humor, girlish charm, and artistic finish, +ability to dance, and some pretensions as a ballad singer. Miss +Celeste's dancing is dainty and graceful, without physical violence, and +with a hint of the poetry of motion that makes dancing something more +than an athletic feat. + +As Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl"--a part in which personal charm +counted for a great deal--Miss Celeste made a splendid impression +largely through her ability as an actress. The music of the part was too +low to show her voice to the best advantage, yet she sang the fetching +"The Boy Guessed Right the Very First Time" song more effectively than +any one I have ever heard. It is, of course, a simple enough ditty, +which, however, demands considerable finesse, suggestive action, and a +strain of humor to make it go as it should. The sentiment that she put +into the second verse of the catchy little duet, "I Think 'twould Break +my Heart," was exquisitely delicate and true. Except for a pretty moment +at the end of the first act, there is little else than these two bits in +the part, aside from an attractive monotony of brightness and happiness; +and brightness and happiness, of course, are directly in the line of +every musical comedy girl. + +Marie Celeste--her full name is Marie Celeste Martin--was born and +brought up in New York City. So far as she knows, she was the first one +of her family to go upon the stage. In fact, from her mother she +inherited a strain of Quaker blood, which certainly would never have +countenanced a theatrical career. Her mother's grandfather, however, was +a Frenchman, and from him probably came her artistic temperament. He was +a bit of an inventor in his way, though apparently not a very practical +one, a man who dreamed of great things, but like Cotta in "The +Schönberg-Cotta Family" failed to bring them to an issue in time to +reap any material benefit. Of an original turn of mind and a sanguine +temperament, he experimented with many inventions from which he expected +to derive fortune and fame. None of them amounted to anything, however. + +Marie's father died when she was a girl studying music in the New York +Conservatory, and she was obliged to look about for a means whereby to +earn her livelihood. For some time she had thought of the stage,--say +rather idly speculated regarding it as a possibility without ever really +believing that she would sometime adopt it as her life-work. Naturally, +therefore, it was to the stage that she turned at this time of +adversity. Her ambition was opera. She knew that she had a voice, but +she also knew that she could not act. With rare foresight in one so +young, she made up her mind that the first thing for her to do was to +learn to act, and she pluckily took an engagement in a stock company at +Halifax, Nova Scotia. That was in 1890, and her first part was Fantile, +the maid in Ben Teal's melodrama, "The Great Metropolis." + +"Mr. Teal, whom afterward I came to know very well, and I have often +laughed over that," said Miss Celeste. "But it was hard work in that +stock company. We changed the bill twice a week, and sometimes now I +think how often I have sat with a dress-maker on one side of me and my +part in a chair near my elbow on the other side, memorizing my lines +while I sewed away for dear life on my costumes." + +Miss Celeste steadily gained in skill as an actress, and was given +characters of increasing importance. She went with the company to +Portland; and when she announced that she was going to leave the +organization and look for an opening in opera, she was offered the +position of leading woman as an inducement to stay. + +After Miss Celeste returned to New York, she studied singing for a time, +and then was engaged for the farce comedy, "Hoss and Hoss," which +exploited Charles Reed, now dead, and Willie Collier, who is at present +emulating the example of Nat Goodwin and trying to make himself over +into a legitimate comedian. The company opened at the Hollis Street +Theatre in Boston, on January 12, 1892, and Miss Celeste's character was +Polly Hoss. It was not really a character though, only a name, and she +was engaged not to act, but to sing. Everybody in the company thought +that she was a beginner, and she did not tell her associates how she had +barely escaped being leading lady of a two-bills-a-week stock-company. + +"Hoss and Hoss" was a typical farce comedy of the Charles H. Hoyt +school,--a plotless, formless thing, which was no play, but a vehicle. +The chief object of the person that conceived it was to get every person +in the company on the stage at the same time, toward the end of the +third act. When this remarkable artistic feat was accomplished, a +leading personage in the cast would remark with elaborate casualness:-- + +"Seeing we're all here and looking so well, suppose we have a little +music." + +Forthwith every one on the stage fell into the nearest chair in a +helpless sort of a way, as if life were a veritable snare and delusion, +and the master of ceremonies continued:-- + +"Miss Jones, will you kindly favor us with that beautiful ballad +entitled 'Way Down upon the Swanee River?'" + +And so they began, and thus they continued, until every one on the stage +had his chance to air his talent before a highly entertained assemblage. +It was not exactly a minstrel show, but it approached the minstrel +territory. On the bill it was called the "olio." + +Miss Celeste's part in the "olio" was to sing a ballad; and as no one +knew anything about her, she was placed almost at the end of the list of +entertainers. When she came to talk with Frank Palmer, the musical +director of the company, he asked her what song she had chosen. She told +him, and then he wanted to know what she was going to give as an encore. + +"You know," said Miss Celeste, in telling me the story, "I wasn't very +old, and I wasn't very big, and I was terribly nervous, and just a +little frightened. I knew what I intended to sing, but it took all the +courage I had to murmur gently, 'I'd like to sing, "Coming Thro' the +Rye."' + +"Never shall I forget the expression of disgust on Mr. Palmer's face. + +"'I'll rehearse you, anyway,' was all he said. + +"But I didn't tell him that I had taken a little advantage of him. As a +matter of fact, I had sung 'Coming Thro' the Rye' in Halifax, in a part +which required a song, and in which the old melody seemed appropriate. I +knew I could make a success of it. + +"We went on with the rehearsals,--Mr. Palmer and I,--and he was very +kind and considerate after he heard me sing, transposed the music to a +higher register, so as to show my voice to better advantage, and gave me +any number of little points. When it was all arranged, he said:-- + +"'Now promise me one thing. Promise that you won't tell any one in the +company what you are going to sing.' + +"I promised. I suppose he was afraid that some one of them would make +fun of me. + +"'And you won't flunk, will you?' he added. + +"'No,' I said, 'I won't flunk.' + +"On the first night," continued Miss Celeste, "'Coming Thro' the Rye' +brought me four or five recalls, and consequently after that the stage +manager gave me a much better place in the 'olio.' That is the reason I +call 'Coming Thro' the Rye' my mascot." + +After her farce comedy experience, Miss Celeste became a member of +Lillian Russell's opera company, appearing as Paquita in +"Giroflé-Girofla," Petita in "The Princess Nicotine," and Wanda in "The +Grand Duchess." During the season of 1894-95 she was with Della Fox in +"The Little Trooper," singing the part of Octavie most charmingly, and +acting as understudy to Miss Fox, whose rôle she played many times. The +next season she returned to Miss Russell's company, making so effective +as to attract considerable attention the trifling part of Ninetta in +"The Tzigane." She also sang Gaudalena in "La Perichole," and the +Duchess de Paite in "The Little Duke." + +Miss Celeste was taken seriously ill in March, 1896, and her work during +the following season was necessarily not very heavy. Under the +management of Klaw and Erlanger she appeared as the Queen in "The +Brownies," in which, by the way, she again sang "Coming Thro' the Rye;" +and the following summer she made a decided hit as Peone Burn in the +lively spectacle, "One Round of Pleasure." Mistress Mary in "Jack and +the Beanstalk" followed, and then she succeeded Christie MacDonald as +Minutezza in "The Bride Elect." Her last part was Winnifred Grey in "A +Runaway Girl." + +Miss Celeste has also sung leading parts with the Castle Square Opera +Company, under Henry W. Savage's management, in New York, and for a +brief season in Boston. Her principal part with this organization was +Santuzza in "Cavalleria Rusticana." + +"I suppose Mr. Savage thought I looked the part," said Miss Celeste, +"and so he asked me to study it. I was really frightened at the idea. I +told him that I had never tried anything heavy like Santuzza, and that +tragedy was not in my line. He insisted that I attempt it, however, and +so I did the best I could. I got into the part far better than I +believed were possible, and the result surprised me. I don't think I +could do anything with a rôle that runs the gamut of emotions, as they +say. But Santuzza is all in one key, a perfect whirlwind, and after you +once strike the pace she fairly carries you along with her own +impetuosity. + +"What is the most enjoyable part I ever had?" said Miss Celeste, +repeating my question. "That's easily answered: Mataya in 'Wang,' which +I played during a summer engagement, just before DeWolf Hopper went to +England. He's such a dear boy,--Mataya, I mean,--thinks he is so very +sporty when he isn't at all, and then he's so very much in love. I was +very fond of that boy. + +"I think there is a fascination about boys' parts, anyway. It is +something of a study to do them just right, to be feminine and still +not to be effeminate. An old stage manager once said to me, 'Be sure you +please the women. That will bring them to the theatre, and they will +bring the men.' The difficulty in playing boys is to please the women, +and at the same time to keep your boy from being a poor, weak, colorless +creature. One must never overstep the line of womanliness in seeking +masculinity, and she must still make the character a real boy and not a +girl disguised as a boy." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +CHRISTIE MACDONALD + + [Illustration: Copyright, 1896, by Aimé Dupont, N. Y. + CHRISTIE MACDONALD.] + + +After eight years of soubrette experience Christie MacDonald +unexpectedly came into prima donnaship in February, 1900. A light opera +called "The Princess Chic," book by Kirke LaShelle and music by Julian +Edwards, had been living a quiet life at the Columbia Theatre, Boston, +for several weeks. For some reason or other it did not seem to go just +as it should. It was a good opera at that--much better than the average. +Mr. LaShelle's book told a story with a genuine dramatic climax, and Mr. +Edwards's music was charming,--simple but melodious. There was action +enough apparently, but the performance dragged. It lacked snap and +vigor. + +The prima donna rôle in this opera was one of great difficulty. It +demanded an actress as well as a singer,--a woman who could be +swaggering, audacious, and masculinely incisive as the Princess, +masquerading as her own envoy, timid, modest, and shrinkingly feminine +as the make-believe peasant girl, and finally queenly and royal as the +Princess in her proper person. The plot of "The Princess Chic," by the +way, paralleled history in a curious manner, and the story of how it was +written was told me by Mr. LaShelle:-- + +"To begin with," said he, "'The Princess Chic' was not taken from the +French, though there was a French vaudeville with the same title. I got +the idea of the opera fixed in my mind after seeing Henry Irving play +'Louis XI.' during one of his visits to this country. You remember in +that drama where the envoy from the Duke of Burgundy and his clanking +guard march into Louis's presence. The envoy throws his mailed gauntlet +at Louis's feet and exclaims, 'That is the answer of Charles the Bold!' +or words to that effect, at any rate. + +"That kindled my admiration for Charles the Bold, and I have been +admiring him ever since. Consequently when I wanted a comic opera and +couldn't get any one to write it for me, I said to myself, 'Here's a +chance for Charles the Bold.' I forthwith started in on what is now the +second act of 'The Princess Chic,' and wrote backward and forward. + +"Now comes the odd part of the whole business. I had to have a woman for +my opera, so I invented the Princess Chic. I had to have a plot,--I'm a +bit old-fashioned, I know,--so I invented the intrigue of Louis XI. +plotting to cause a revolt among the subjects of the Duke of Burgundy. I +seemed to be getting along first-rate when it occurred to me that it +wouldn't do any harm to delve a bit into history. So I delved. + +"You can imagine my astonishment when I found that I had unwittingly +been duplicating to a startling extent historical fact. I discovered +that there actually had been a Princess Chic. I learned that Louis XI. +had thought to cause trouble in Charles's domain, and by this means to +open a way for the seizure of that province for France. The Duke's bold +move in arresting the King and holding him captive until the King agreed +to a treaty that suited Charles was new to me, however, and I grabbed it +quick. + +"Now you have the whole story of 'The Princess Chic.' Somebody has +accused me of coquetting with history. I deny all coquetry. 'The +Princess Chic' is to all intents and purposes genuine history, much +nearer fact than many a historical drama that makes more pretences of +sticking closely to the truth." + +However, history or no history, the opera did not act as it should, and +Mr. LaShelle decided to try what the effect of a new prima donna would +be. He wanted Camille D'Arville, but she was not available; and by some +marvellous stroke of good fortune he hit upon Christie MacDonald. How he +happened to do it is a mystery. Christie MacDonald was, of course, well +known as a very amiable little lady with a decided fancy for short +skirts and for frisky and vivacious characters, that sang prettily and +danced nimbly. Never for a moment had she been associated with the +dignified prima donna. Nor had she ever been guilty of seriousness. +Moreover, if the whole truth were to be told, her voice--though sweet, +delicate, musical, and skilfully controlled--was by no means strong. +Decidedly Christie MacDonald had other things besides a voice to make +her attractive. There was her personality, magnetically feminine, her +temperament, so sunshiny and happy, and her face, not exactly pretty, +but immensely attractive when fun lighted it up with smiles. + +Therefore Christie MacDonald's Princess Chic came as a great surprise. +At first, she was apparently feeling her way in the rôle. She was, in +fact, a model of discretion, but save in one particular her acting +lacked force and conviction. As the peasant girl, in this three-sided +impersonation, she was from the first exquisite. Never was the subtle +attack of a modest maiden upon a susceptible man's heart more daintily +or more fascinatingly exhibited. Under every circumstance Miss MacDonald +was simple and straightforward in her methods, and absolutely free from +affectation and self-consciousness. How thoroughly delightful that is! +Singers, in particular, are the victims of conventional mannerisms, +smiles that are meaningless and as a result expressionless, curious +contortions with the eyes, and strange movements of the hands. How much +they would gain by mastering the difficult art of artistically doing +nothing! + +With so much that was good in evidence during her earliest presentations +of the Princess Chic, with her faults those of omission rather than +commission, it was only natural that Miss MacDonald should improve +greatly as she became thoroughly familiar with the requirements of the +part, and as she gained experience in acting it. Especially did she seem +to catch the spirit of the Princess Chic masquerading as the handsome +young envoy. She developed a most entrancing swagger and the most +captivating nonchalance. Her voice, too, which at first seemed almost +too light for Mr. Edwards's trying music, was heard to a much better +advantage later; and in spite of its want of volume, it had a strange +insistency, a peculiar penetrating quality, which enabled it to balance +admirably the full chorus in the ensemble climaxes. + +Before she adopted the stage professionally, Christie MacDonald gained a +little experience by taking small parts in several summer "snap" +companies in her home city of Boston. Her parents were not altogether +pleased at her theatrical aspirations, and even after she had been +enrolled in 1892 as a member of Pauline Hall's company, she was +persuaded to give up the engagement in deference to their wishes. Just +at this critical point in her career, however, she chanced to meet +Francis Wilson, who had "The Lion Tamer" in rehearsal. He heard her sing +and liked her voice so well that he offered her a place in his company. +The temptation was too strong to be resisted, and Miss MacDonald +established herself under the Wilson banner. At first she was given only +a small part in "The Lion Tamer," and at the same time understudied Lulu +Glaser in both "The Lion Tamer" and "The Merry Monarch." The next season +she played Marie, the peasant girl, in "Erminie," and during Miss +Glaser's illness, Javotte. When "The Devil's Deputy" was brought out +for the season of 1894-95, she created the rôle of Bob, the valet. She +was a capital Mrs. Griggs in the pretty Sullivan opera, "The Chieftain," +her singing of the topical song, "I Think there is Something in That," +being especially popular. During the summer of 1896 she appeared in +Boston in "The Sphinx," making a pleasing impression as Shafra. The +following fall found her again with the Francis Wilson forces, playing +Lucinde in "Half a King." That summer she filled another engagement in +Boston as the Japanese maiden Woo Me, in the not-too-successful opera, +"The Walking Delegate." It was a dainty part and charmingly done. + +The next season Miss MacDonald was engaged by Klaw and Erlanger for the +Sousa opera, "The Bride Elect," with which she remained two seasons, and +this was followed by her appearance in "The Princess Chic." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MARIE DRESSLER + + [Illustration: MARIE DRESSLER.] + + +One cannot see Marie Dressler on the stage without being convinced that +she is acting no one in the world but herself. Such, I believe, is the +actual condition of affairs, although there are sometimes strange +paradoxes in theatrical life. It would not be altogether extraordinary +for the rollicking tomboy of the stage to be in private life the most +retired and the most dignified person imaginable, a woman with spinster +written all over her face and reeking in domesticity, with a decided +fondness for tea, toast, and tidies. + +However, that is not the case with Marie Dressler. She has a mental +quirk that keeps the incongruous side of life in her view practically +all the time. She cannot help pricking constantly the bubble of mirth +any more than she can help breathing. Her humor is just the kind that +one would naturally expect to find as a companion to her overflowing +physique,--ponderous, weighty, and a bit crude, perhaps, but +spontaneous, real, and thoroughly good-natured. She never stabs with the +keen shaft of cynical wit, and she does no business in the epigram +market. Her specialty is incongruity, for Marie Dressler is a burlesquer +in thought, word, and deed, and being a burlesquer she is of necessity +absolutely without illusions. When one is so susceptible to the +oddities, the inconsistencies, and the tragic pettiness of human affairs +as she is, it is a toss-up whether or not his settled condition of mind, +after a fair experience with the world, be one of gloomy pessimism or +irresponsible optimism. Had Miss Dressler been by nature cold, +suspicious, and inherently selfish, had she been unsympathetic and +without the milk of human kindness, her instinct for incongruity would +surely have turned her toward misanthropy. Her disposition, however, was +rollicking, jovial, and fun-loving. She was naturally impulsive, +generous, and warm-hearted. Consequently, life, even in its smallnesses +and its meannesses, made her laugh. With the humorist's whimsical +temperament she united also the happy faculty of being able to +communicate to others by means of the theatre her comical view of +things. Choosing to do this through the force of her own personality +rather than by infusing her personality into a dramatist's conception, +she became a droll, a professional jester. + +Miss Dressler's best-known and most characteristic work on the stage was +done in the rôle of the boisterous music-hall singer, Flo Honeydew, in +"The Lady Slavey." It was hardly a case of acting,--better call it a +case of letting herself go. Marie Dressler without subterfuge presented +herself in the guise of the unconventional Miss Honeydew. She seemed a +big, overgrown girl and a thoroughly mischievous romp with the agility +of a circus performer and the physical elasticity of a professional +contortionist. + +To call her graceful would be an unpardonable accusation. Possibly she +might have been graceful had she chosen to be; but what she was after +principally was energy, and she got it,--whole car-loads of it. Her +comic resource was inexhaustible, her animal spirits were irrepressible, +and her audacity approached the sublime. + +Yet, amid all her amazing unconventionality and her astonishing athletic +feats, one found, if he met her on her own plane of impersonal jollity, +neither vulgarity nor suggestiveness. Her mental attitude toward her +audience was absolutely clean and straightforward. She was not a woman +cutting up antics and indulging in unseemly pranks, but a royal good +fellow with an infinite variety of jest. + +With nothing especially tangible to offer as evidence, I have a +suspicion that Marie Dressler, if she could escape from her reputation +as a burlesquer, might act a "straight" part not at all badly. It is +only a fine line between burlesque and legitimate acting, only a +triflingly different mental attitude, which results in travesty instead +of seriousness. Of course, the burlesque must be set forth with the +proper amount of exaggeration to give point to the take-off, but that is +only a matter of technique. Artificiality in actors and insincerity in +dramatists very often result in unconscious burlesque. The melodramatic +school is particularly prone to this most inartistic of blunders, and +many a good laugh has followed lines that were supposed to be charged +with the most highly colored sentiments and situations that were +intended to be dramatically strong and impressive. One at all familiar +with Miss Dressler's methods cannot have failed to notice her trick of +beginning a speech with profound and even convincing seriousness and +ending it in ridiculous contrast with a sudden drop from the dramatic to +the commonplace. In spite of the fact that one knows for a certainty +that she is fooling him, she succeeds invariably in making the first +part of her sentence seem honest and sincere. + +Now, I do not believe that she could hit just the right key every time +in these startling and laughter-provoking contrasts, if she did not have +to an unusual extent the instinct for dramatic effect, which is so large +a part of the equipment of the legitimate actor. However, I hope that +she will never make the experiment. There are already enough serious +actors of ordinary calibre, while the genuine burlesquer of Marie +Dressler quality is rare indeed. + +Miss Dressler's versatility as a single entertainer was splendidly +illustrated in a curious variety act, which was called "Twenty Minutes +in Shirt Waists." It was devised for the sole purpose of showing off to +the best advantage Miss Dressler's native talent for fun-making and +travesty. It was mere hodge-podge, of course, with neither rhyme nor +reason, but it did afford Miss Dressler every chance that she could +desire to display her marvellous resource as a comic entertainer. The +title of the sketch, "Twenty Minutes in Shirt Waists," suggested some +sort of a disrobing act, but in that it was deceptive. Indeed, the +title--and possibly it was all the better for that--had no connection at +all with the act beyond the fact that Miss Dressler and her assistant, +Adele Farrington, both wore shirt waists of spotless white. It was a +very intimate and unstagy affair. The two entertainers called each other +Marie and Adele, and they kept up the illusion of spontaneous +comradeship by appearing, or seeming to appear, in the Eleanora Duse +fashion, without facial make-up. The turn itself was a continuous +"jolly," and Miss Dressler introduced before it was over about +everything funny that she ever did in the theatre, including the amusing +revolving hat of "The Lady Slavey" fame. + +Miss Dressler was born in Canada, and went on the stage when she was +sixteen years old; and in spite of the fact that she was without +experience,--in fact, before she had ever seen a comic opera,--she +rather inverted the ordinary method of procedure, and started at once to +play old women. Her first character was Katisha in "The Mikado" in a +company managed by Jules Grau. The reason, so she claims, that she made +a try at "old women" was because she was too big and healthy ever to +meet with success as a soubrette. Her Katisha was sufficiently liked to +convince her that light opera was just the place for her, and thus her +theatrical career began. + +"I might state," remarked Miss Dressler, naïvely, in speaking of her +early experiences, "that we members of the Grau Company were promised +and were supposed to receive very good salaries. All we got, however, +was the promises, and they came early and often. No, that is not +altogether true: we got besides the promises twenty-five cents which was +handed to each member of the company every night. It was supposed to be +squandered in the purchase of beer. I forgot this little circumstance, +for I did not drink beer, and consequently in my case the aforesaid +quarter of a dollar was not forthcoming. This omission hurt me so much +that I resigned from this enterprising organization, and wandered to +Philadelphia. The exchequer was about as low as it well could be, and I +was glad enough to take a place in the chorus of a summer company at +eight dollars a week,--not a great deal, to be sure, but I got it, such +as it was." + +Miss Dressler's next engagement was with the Bennett and Moulton Opera +Company, from which Della Fox was also graduated. This organization +played week stands in small cities and large towns, giving two +performances a day and changing the bill every day. This may be said to +have been Miss Dressler's school, for while under the Bennett and +Moulton management she appeared in thirty-eight different operas and +played every variety of part, from prima donna rôles to old women. + +Following this arduous experience on the road came her first appearance +in New York at the Fifth Avenue Theatre as Cunigonde in "The Robber of +the Rhine," an opera of which Maurice Barrymore, who wrote the book, and +Charles Puerner, who composed the music, never had reason to feel proud. +Her first New York success of any consequence, therefore, was not made +until she appeared with Camille D'Arville in "Madeleine, or the Magic +Kiss." Her next venture was as the Queen in "1492," the part which +brought fame to that most accomplished woman impersonator, Richard +Harlow. After the termination of this engagement she appeared for a time +at the Garden Theatre, New York, under the management of A. M. Palmer, +and then joined Lillian Russell in "Princess Nicotine." Her remarkable +success in "The Lady Slavey" came next, and since then she has been seen +in "Hotel Topsy Turvy," "The Man in the Moon," and vaudeville. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +DELLA FOX + + [Illustration: Copyright, 1894, by J. B. Falk, Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y. + DELLA FOX.] + + +It was a dozen or fifteen years ago that the hard-working organization +known as the Bennett and Moulton Opera Company was a frequent visitor to +the small cities and large towns of New England. It played week stands +with daily matinees, and it was, more than likely, the pioneer to flaunt +in the theatrical field the conquering banner of "ten, twenty, thirty." +I have every feeling of gratitude toward the Bennett and Moulton Opera +Company, for it introduced me, at the modest rate of ten cents per +introduction, which small sum purchased the right to sit aloft in the +gallery, to all the famous old-time operettas,--"Olivette," "The +Mascotte," "The Chimes of Normandy," and others. + +As I recall the annual performances of this obscure troupe, they were +surprisingly good. At least, so they seemed to me, and I can laugh even +now at the excruciatingly funny fellow who sang the topical song, "Bob +up Serenely" in "Olivette." There was also a curious dance, I remember, +that went with the song,--a spreading out simultaneously of arms and +legs in jumping-jack fashion,--and we boys thought it vastly amusing. We +clapped and stamped and whistled, and kept the poor comedian at work as +long as our breath held out and long after his had gone. + +The last time that I saw the Bennett and Moulton Opera Company was in +"Fra Diavolo," and the prima donna--the term seems ridiculous and absurd +as I think of the person to whom it is applied--was a golden-haired +little creature, wonderfully ample, tremendously in earnest, and +strangely fascinating, a dainty slip of a girl, who seemed, in truth, +only a child. I can see her now as she sat on the edge of the bed in +the chamber scene, unfastening her shoes, singing very sweetly and very +expressively her good-night song, all unconscious of the bold brigands +who were watching the proceedings from their places of concealment. She +charmed me as no singer in light opera ever had before, and the +impression that she made upon me has never been lost. The child was +Della Fox, of whom at that time no one had ever heard--Della Fox in the +humblest of surroundings, but to me more fascinating than in any of the +brilliant settings that have since been hers. + +I did not see Della Fox again until 1890, when she was playing Blanche +in "Castles in the Air" with DeWolf Hopper. She had changed greatly in +the few years, though far less than she has since the days of "Castles +in the Air," "Wang," and "Panjandrum." Her appealing, unsophisticated +girlishness had gone, and in its place was self-possession and +authority. She was charming in her daintiness, provoking in her +coquetry, a tantalizing atom of femininity. Her archness was not bold +nor unwomanly, and her vivacity was well within the bounds of refinement +and good taste. Her singing voice, too, was musical, though not over +strong. + +Della Fox was born in St. Louis on October 13, 1872. Her father, A. J. +Fox, was a photographer, who made something of a specialty of theatrical +pictures; and thus Della's babyhood was passed, not exactly in the +playhouse atmosphere, perhaps, but certainly in an atmosphere next door +to that of the greasepaint and footlights. Her experience on the stage +began when she was only seven years old as the midshipmate in a +children's "Pinafore" company, which travelled in Missouri and Illinois +for a season. She was an astonishingly precocious child, and many +persons who watched her shook their heads and predicted that her talent +had ripened too early, and that, as is the case with many promising +stage children, she would never amount to anything. + +Apparently this midshipmate experience firmly established in Miss +Della's childish mind the intention to become an actress. Her parents, +however, succeeded in keeping her in school for a few years longer, +though she appeared in several local performances where a child was +needed. When she was nine years old, for instance, she acted for a week +in St. Louis the child's part in the production of "A Celebrated Case" +of which James O'Neill was the star, and she was also at one time with a +"Muldoon's Picnic" company. Her first real professional experience, +however, was obtained with an organization known as the Dickson Sketch +Club. + +This was gotten up by four St. Louis young men, W. F. Dickson and W. G. +Smythe, both of whom became prominent theatrical managers, Augustus +Thomas, the playwright, and Edgar Smith, the author of several Casino +pieces, and at present writer-in-ordinary to Weber and Fields. Mr. +Thomas made a one-act play of Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett's story, +"Editha's Burglar," and the company also appeared in a musical farce +called "Combustion." Della Fox was the Editha in the play and the +soubrette in the musical piece, while Mr. Thomas acted Bill Lewis, the +burglar, and Mr. Smith was Paul Benton. Miss Fox's impersonation of +Editha was, according to report, very good indeed. At any rate, the +success of the play was sufficient to encourage the author to expand it +to three-acts. The result was "The Burglar," one of the first plays in +which Mr. E. H. Sothern appeared as a star. In the three-act version +Sothern acted Bill Lewis, the burglar, and Elsie Leslie was Editha. + +Mr. Dickson, who is now connected with the business staff of the +Alhambra in Chicago, referred not long ago to this early experience as +a manager. + +"Yes," he said, "that was 'Gus' Thomas's début as a dramatic author. +'Gus' was in the box office with me at the Olympic in St. Louis, and he +managed to find time during the leisure moments when he was not selling +tickets to scribble ideas in dramatic form. He read me this little +sketch, 'Editha's Burglar,' and asked me to give it a trial. Right +across the street from the theatre lived Della Fox, daughter of a +photographer, a precocious little miss, whose talents were always in +requisition whenever there were any child's parts to be filled at the +theatre. I used to send over for Della whenever there was a little part +for her, and she was delighted to get away from school and skip and trip +before the footlights. After 'Gus' had read the play to me, he suggested +that Della should play little Editha, and as a result I was induced to +put the piece on with the budding author in the principal rôle. It had +a certain sort of success, and we went on a tour, using 'The Burglar' as +a curtain raiser to another play called 'Combustion,' also from 'Gus' +Thomas's pen. Later 'The Burglar' was produced in New York as a +curtain-raiser to William Gillette's comedy, 'The Great Pink Pearl.' +Gillette himself played the burglar, and Mr. Thomas was encouraged to +expand his sketch into a pretentious three-act play, and it went on the +road, making money for the managers and familiarizing the public with +Augustus Thomas's name." + +Next came Miss Fox's connection with the Bennett and Moulton Company, +with which she appeared in the leading soprano rôles of all the light +operas,--"Fra Diavolo," "The Bohemian Girl," "The Pirates of Penzance," +"Billie Taylor," "The Mikado," and "The Chimes of Normandy." Her success +with this minor organization brought her to the notice of Heinrich +Conried, who was getting together an opera company to appear in "The +King's Fool." She was given the soubrette part, and created something of +a stir wherever the opera was given by her singing of "Fair Columbia," +one of the most popular songs of the piece. From Mr. Conried also she +received about all the real instruction in dramatic art that she had +ever had. When Davis and Locke, who had managed the Emma Juch Opera +Company, decided to launch DeWolf Hopper as a star, they began to look +about for a small-sized soubrette to act as a foil for Mr. Hopper's +great height. George W. Lederer, of the New York Casino, suggested Della +Fox, and accordingly she was engaged and opened with Hopper in "Castles +in the Air" at the Broadway Theatre, New York, in May, 1890. + +Her success in this larger field was remarkable, and before the summer +was over she was sharing the honors with Hopper and was just as strong a +popular favorite as he. Her Blanche was a delightful creation +throughout, but best remembered is the "athletic duet" in which she and +Hopper gave amusing pantomimic representations of games of billiards, +baseball, and other familiar sports. Her Mataya in "Wang," which was +brought out in New York in the summer of 1891, was another triumph. This +was, perhaps, the most artistic of all her rôles. She was cute, impish, +and jaunty in turn as the Crown Prince, and, in addition, was a picture +never to be forgotten in her perfect fitting white flannel suit, worn in +the second act. It was in this act, too, that she sang the famous +summer-night's song, which was whistled and hand-organed throughout the +land. + +Next Miss Fox created the principal soubrette rôle in Mr. Hopper's opera +"Panjandrum," in which she continued to appear until she made her début +as a star in August, 1894, at the Casino, New York, in Goodwin and +Furst's opera, "The Little Trooper." Her first season was extremely +successful. The next year she was seen in "Fleur-de-lis," another +Goodwin-Furst product. Writing of Miss Fox in this opera, Philip Hale +said:-- + +"Disagreeable qualities in the customary performance of Miss Fox were +not nearly so much in evidence as in some of her other characters. She +was not so deliberately affected, she was not so brazen in her +assurance. Even her vocal mannerisms were not so conspicuous. She almost +played with discretion, and often she was delightful. Her +self-introduction to her father was one long to be remembered. No wonder +that the audience insisted on seeing it again and again. All in all, +Miss Fox appeared greatly to her advantage." + +His criticism of the opera is also interesting: + +"It was March 31, 1885, that 'Pervenche,' an operetta, text by Duru and +Chivot, music by Audran, was first produced at the Bouffes-Parisiens. +Mrs. Thuillier-Leloir was the Pervenche, Maugé the Count des +Escarbilles, and Mesnacker the Marquis de Rosolio. The honors of the +evening, however, were borne away by Mr. and Mrs. Piccaluga, who were +respectively Frederick and Charlotte. The opera did not please, and it +ran only twenty-nine nights. Nor has it been revived. + +"In the time of Henry the Second, or Henry the Third, two nephews +disputed the right to possess a castle in Touraine that had belonged to +their late uncle, who died without will. Rosolio held the castle, and +Escarbilles tried to dislodge him. By the will, found eventually, the +castle belonged to Rosolio if Frederick, the son of Escarbilles, should +marry Pervenche, the natural daughter of Rosolio. + +"The performance was in the main poor, and the music of Audran was not +distinguished, they say. A romance of Frederick, a pastorale Tyrolienne +sung by Charlotte at the end of the second act, and a duet of menders +of faience in the third act, said to be the best of the three, alone +seemed worthy of remark. + +"So much for 'Pervenche,' the libretto of which furnished the foundation +for Mr. Goodwin's story and songs. Just how far Mr. Goodwin departed +from the situations furnished by Messrs. Durn and Chivot, I am unable to +say, for I never saw 'Pervenche' nor its libretto. However much he may +be indebted, this can be truly said: he has written an entertaining +book; the plot is coherent, and the situations laughable. The second act +is admirable throughout. The colossal effrontery of the starved Rosolio +in the castle manned by women disguised as soldiers, the reconciliation +of the nephews, the exchange of reminiscences of gay student days in +Paris, the discovery of the imposition, and the renewed +hostilities,--these are amusing and well connected. Furthermore, the +audience at the end of this act realizes at once the need of a third +act, to clear up matters. Now this is rare in operetta of to-day. Even +in the third act the interest never flags, although there was one +dreadful moment, when it looked as though the old 'Mascotte' third-act +business was to be introduced. Fortunately the suspicion was groundless, +and the audience breathed freer and forgot its fears in the enjoyment of +the delightful scenes between Des Escarbilles and the miller, and then +the ghost. + +"Not so much can be said in praise of the music. It is the same old +thing that has served in many operettas. There is a jingle, there are +the inevitable waltz tunes that always sound alike. But the music gives +the comedians an excuse for singing and dancing. It thus serves its turn +and is promptly forgotten until another operetta comes, and the hearer +has a vague impression that he has heard the tunes before." + +"The Wedding Day," with Della Fox, Lillian Russell, and Jefferson De +Angelis in the cast, was brought out in the fall of 1897, and it revived +to a degree old-time memories of players at the Casino. The opera itself +proved to be of an order of merit recalling "Falka," "The Merry War," +and "Nanon," the like of which had not appeared for many, many seasons. +The music was ambitious without being dull, and some of the concerted +numbers had genuine musicianly value. The story held its interest fairly +well, though in spots it was too complicated, and at one point in the +third act quite absurd. Still it was an excellent vehicle to display the +talents of the so-called "triple alliance" of comic opera stars. Miss +Fox, who had shown a decided tendency toward stoutness, had trained down +to within hailing distance of her former slender lithesomeness, and she +made a pretty and attractive bride. + +The following season found Miss Fox again an individual star, this time +in "The Little Host." Her last appearances in opera were made in this +piece, for after her season had begun in the fall of 1899, she was taken +seriously ill, and for a long time her death was expected. She recovered +partially, however, after months of illness, and in the spring of 1900 +she appeared for a few months in vaudeville. Even this labor proved too +much for her strength, and her friends were compelled to remove her to a +place where she might have perfect rest. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +CAMILLE D'ARVILLE + + +Camille D'Arville, like Lillian Russell, Pauline Hall, and Jessie +Bartlett Davis, is one of the old guard, in American light opera. She +has not appeared in opera for some time, for during the season of +1899-1900 she followed the general inclination and went into vaudeville. +From these appearances it was apparent that her voice was not what it +had been once--and little wonder that it had failed, when one recalls +how continuously that voice has been in use since the owner left her +Dutch home, forswore her own name of Neeltye Dykstra, and first learned +to talk a prettily accentuated English. She still had in full the power +to win an audience instantly and completely. Nor had she lost to any +perceptible degree her rare good looks. A little fuller in the figure, +perhaps, than she was five years ago, she carried herself with the same +fine grace and perfect poise which were of themselves an art. + +Camille D'Arville has temperament, and she has style. It is these two +qualities particularly that have brought her success so often in dashing +cavalier parts, parts which require that a woman shall act either a man +or a woman masquerading as a man. The modern comic opera librettist +often has but one main purpose in mind, that is, to get his prima donna +in tights as soon after the show begins as possible and keep her in them +as long as practical. Indeed, if one were looking for a practical way to +distinguish modern comic opera from extravaganza, he might find it in +this matter of tights. If the leading woman represent a woman disguised +as a man, she is an operatic prima donna; if, on the contrary, she be +represented as a man from start to finish, she is merely principal +"boy" in extravaganza. + +I suppose this tendency toward tights, which is so common as to be +almost a light-opera conventionality, is an outgrowth or heritage from +the old-fashioned burlesque. In fact, the difference between the modern +comic opera and the burlesque of thirty years ago is purely one of +degree. The relation between the two is similar to that between the +variety show of eight years ago and the so-called "fashionable +vaudeville" of to-day. Variety has been put through what managers of the +large circuits call a refining process. There is no denying that the +old-style variety show in most of its components was crude, noisy, and +vulgar, and that its surroundings were scarcely favorable to the +development of high art. But one was always sure of finding vigor and +life--plenty of both--in the old-time varieties, and there were +oftentimes spontaneity and humor--rude and bucolic, perhaps, but real, +just the same--which one is not sure of meeting in the latter-day +entertainments so carefully prepared for the mentally delicate and +sensitive. + +Modern comic opera has adopted in a modified and refined form the chief +characteristics--one of them the woman in tights and another of them the +clown with his perfunctory low comedy--of the old-fashioned burlesque. +Of course, the opera makes more pretensions than did the burlesque, and +musically it is superficially superior, not necessarily more tuneful but +orchestrated with more scholarly skill. Stage pageantry to-day is also +much further developed, and spectacular effects are far more elaborate. +The costuming is richer and more tasteful, and the women on the +stage--if not actually younger and prettier--are certainly daintier and +more feminine. The girlishness and natural beauty of many modern +light-opera choruses are simply amazing. + +If we look beneath these externals, however, we find that the comic +opera of to-day is hardly an advance over the burlesque of yesterday. +There was good stuff in most of the old burlesques. They had original +ideas, plenty of simple dramatic action, and some genuine comedy, but it +is seldom that one finds any of these three essentials in the book of +the modern comic opera. Not for ten years, I am tempted to declare, has +there been written a light-opera libretto with sufficient intrinsic +merit to attract the public attention without the assistance of the most +magnetic personalities surrounded and set forth by the most gorgeous of +stage accessories. + +Camille D'Arville's cavaliers--and in recent years she has not +played a part that did not require male attire--are a direct heritage +from the burlesque stage. When Camille D'Arville becomes a man, she +makes the change from petticoats without the slightest show of +self-consciousness. I heard her once termed the most modest woman in +tights on the stage. That was simply an acknowledgment of her complete +effacement of the personal equation. Yet her individuality was not at +all diminished, her presence was inspiring, and her acting both +vivacious and forceful. + +Camille D'Arville was born in 1863 in the village of Oldmarck, Province +of Overyseel, Holland, and came of a family that had never shown any +theatrical or especial musical talent. When she was twelve years old, +her voice gave promise of developing into something more than the +ordinary, and she was sent to the Conservatory at Amsterdam for +instruction. Here she made her first appearance in concert in 1877. +Later she went to Vienna, where she received further instruction, and +also made a successful appearance in a one-act operetta. + +"I was a big girl fourteen or fifteen years old before I saw other +lands than my own Holland," remarked Miss D'Arville, "and after I left +Amsterdam I was on the Continent and in England for a long time before I +returned home. I still claim Holland as my birthright, however, and I do +not want to be called anything but Dutch. If I have a trace of French +accent in speaking English, as some claim, it is not my fault. + +"But, do you know," she continued, "if it were purely a matter of +inclination, I think I should much rather be an actress than to be a +singer. Of course, I love music, but what can be more gratifying than to +portray the heroines of Shakespeare and other great dramatists? But my +natural endowment as a singer led me toward the operatic career. In +opera I prefer a strong dramatic rôle, a part which has only one grand +song if it afford plenty of opportunity for acting. + +"When did I first sing in public? Oh, I can't remember that. I appeared +in concerts in Amsterdam when I was a girl, and by the time I entered +my teens I took part in operatic performances given by the Conservatory +pupils. Do you mean when did I make my real début in opera? I suppose +that might be said to have occurred in March, 1883, at the Strand +Theatre, London, in an operetta entitled 'Cymbria, or the Magic +Thimble.'" + +Before this, however, Miss D'Arville had anything but a pleasant +experience in London. She went there under the supposition that she had +been engaged to sing in opera. The managerial promise she found to be +worthless, and she had to be satisfied with a chance to earn a little +money in a music hall. It was after several months of the most +uncongenial toil that she finally gained recognition in "Cymbria." + +"Harry Paulton was responsible for that appearance," continued Miss +D'Arville. "He heard me sing, and under his tuition I learned the words +of the opera and sung them before I understood their meaning. It was +not long, however, before I could speak English fairly well. The Dutch, +you know, are famous linguists. + +"In October of the same year I created the part of Gabrielle Chevrette +in 'La Vie,' an adaptation by H. B. Farnie of Offenbach's 'La Vie +Parisienne.' The critics spoke very kindly of me then, but were much +more generous in their praises when during the following spring I +appeared as Fredegonda in a revival of M. Hervé's 'Chilperic' given at +the Empire Theatre. Perhaps chief among my early successes was in 'Rip +Van Winkle.' I succeeded Miss Sadie Martinot in the leading soprano +part, and sang it until the end of the opera's long run. Fred Leslie was +the Rip Van Winkle, and very fine he was, too. It was a pity he +afterward became so thoroughly identified with burlesque." + +It was at the time of her first appearance in opera in England that the +singer adopted the name of Camille D'Arville. It was chosen for euphony +only, and had no significance whatever. + +After her success in "Rip Van Winkle" Miss D'Arville toured the English +province with "Falka," and in 1887 returned to London to play in +"Mynheer Jan." This was followed by an engagement at the Gaiety Theatre, +and her position in London seemed established, when a quarrel with the +management caused her to break her contract and she appeared at another +theatre in the title rôle of "Babette." + +Miss D'Arville first came to this country in the spring of 1888, being +under engagement to J. C. Duff; and her first appearance here was made +in New York in April in "The Queen's Mate" in the cast with Lillian +Russell. In the fall Miss D'Arville returned to London, where she +appeared in "Carina," in which piece her charming archness was a +feature. The Carl Rosa Company then engaged her to take the part of +Yvonne in "Paul Jones," in which Agnes Huntington as the hero had taken +the city by storm. With the same company she also created the title rôle +in "Marjorie," which also enjoyed a long run. During the summer of 1889 +Miss D'Arville became connected with the New York Casino, appearing in +"La Fille de Madame Angot," "The Grand Duchess," and "Poor Jonathan." +Back to London she hied herself once more, and for a time was heard at +the Trocadero and Pavillon. Then she returned to the United States, and +joined the Bostonians, with whom she sang Arline in "The Bohemian Girl," +Maid Marion in "Robin Hood," and Katherine in a revival of "The +Mascotte." She was probably the most satisfactory Maid Marion, all +things considered, that ever sang the part. Certainly she was better as +an actress than Marie Stone, who had previously taken the rôle, and she +was physically better fitted to the character than Alice Nielsen. +Critics, who up to that time had not been entirely satisfied with Miss +D'Arville, claiming that her vocal method was bad and her acting +oftentimes crude and meaningless, found her work in "Robin Hood" very +much to their taste. + +"As a singer she has improved during the past year," said one. "Her +tones are purer; she uses her voice with more discretion; and she has +discovered that a scream is not synonymous with forte. She is vivacious; +she lends a dramatic interest that has been sadly lacking in former +performances of this company, when the members were too apt to mistake +the audience for a congregation and the stage for a choir loft. She is +fair to look upon, and yet she does not strive to monopolize attention." + +After quitting the Bostonians Miss D'Arville starred in Edward E. Rice's +spectacular production of the extravaganza "Venus," which was first +acted in Boston in September, 1893. Her dashing Prince Kam, that +imaginary Thibetian potentate, who, finding no earthly beauty that +satisfied his ideal, journeyed to Mars, where he succeeded in winning +the love of Venus herself, was a thoroughly delightful characterization. + +"A Daughter of the Revolution," with which Miss D'Arville was next +identified, was made over by J. Cheever Goodwin and Ludwig Engländer +from a comic opera called "1776," produced some ten years before by a +German company playing at the Thalia Theatre in New York. It achieved +but limited popularity at that time, but in its revised form it was an +agreeable, if not exactly exciting, entertainment. It was not an ideal +comic opera, by any means. Too much of the machinery of construction was +left visible for that. There were two characters, the dealer in military +supplies and the laundress, so obviously dragged in simply because the +low-comedy man needed a foil and a soubrette to play opposite to him, +that one looked to see the marks of violence on their ears. But +librettos are hard things to write--they must be or we should +certainly find one now and then that is above reproach--so one would +fain overlook jarring circumstances for the sake of the tuneful melodies +of the score and the brisk action. Miss D'Arville sang well, and made an +attractive picture in her series of becoming costumes. + +A starring tour in "Madeleine; or the Magic Kiss," a comic opera of +considerable merit although it never won more than a fair degree of +popularity, was her next venture, and then she was engaged to create the +prima donna rôle of Lady Constance in "The Highwayman," a Reginald +DeKoven and Harry B. Smith composition. A quarrel with the management +while rehearsals were in progress caused her to retire from the company, +however, and her place was taken by Hilda Clark. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MARIE TEMPEST + + [Illustration: MARIE TEMPEST.] + + +No better characterization of Marie Tempest, that wonderfully +fascinating personality which last appeared in this country during the +season of 1893-94 in "The Algerian," have I ever seen than that written +by Charles Frederick Nirdlinger and published several years ago in the +"Illustrated American." + +"Nell Gwynne lives again in the person of Marie Tempest," declared Mr. +Nirdlinger. "From out of a past tinkling with tuneful poesy, sparkling +with the glory of palettes that limned only beauty and grace, bubbling +with the merriment and gallantry of gay King Charlie's court, there +trips down to moderns a most convincing counterfeit of that piquant +creature. If one may trust imagination's ear, little Tempest sings as +pretty Nell did: in the same tenuous, uncertain voice, with the same +captivating tricks of tone, the same significant nuances, and the same +amorous timbre. Tempest talks just as Nell did, and walks with the same +sturdy stride,--there was nothing mincing about Nell,--and, if one may +trust to fancy's eye, she looks just as Nell looked. I have seen Nell a +hundred times, and so have you, dear reader. The mere sight of that +curt, pert, and jadish name--Nell Gwynne--calls up that strangely +alluring combination of features: the tip-tilted nose, the pouting lips, +the eyes of a drowsy Cupid, the confident, impudent poise of the head. +None of them fashioned to the taste of the painter or sculptor, but +forming in their unity a face of pleasing witchery. + +"There is no record of Nell's artistic methods, of the school of her +mimetic performance, or the style of her singing. All we know of that +sort of thing we must gather from the rhymes and rhapsodies of the +poets. Some of them wrote in prose, to be sure; but they were poets for +all that, and poets are such an unreliable lot when it comes to judging +such a girl as Nell. If she had any art, though, I'll be bound it was +like Tempest's. There is but one way to be infinitely charming in the +craft of the theatre,--the eternal verities of art prevent that it +should be otherwise,--and whatever devices of mimic mechanism Nell +employed must have been those of her modern congener. But she never +studied in Paris, some sceptic will say, and Tempest did: how could Nell +Gwynne have mastered the lightness of touch, the exquisite refinement of +gesture, the infinity of significant byplay that constitute the +distinctly Parisian method of Tempest? To that I would answer that +Tempest's method is not distinctly Parisian, that it is not at all +Parisian. She is a delightful artist, not because of her brief period of +Gallic training, but in spite of it. + +"Elsewhere I have ventured an opinion on the subject of what we have +been taught to regard as the French school of comic opera. That school, +if we may judge of its academic principles and practices by the +performances of some of its most proficient graduates, has nothing in +common with the methods of Tempest. Wanton wiles and indecent +suggestion,--these are the essential features of that ridiculously +lauded French school; kicks and winks and ogling glances, postures of +affected languor, and convincing feats of vicious sophistication. Where, +in all that, is to be found the simple graciousness, the dainty, +delicate, unobtrusive art of Marie Tempest? To liken her to the garish +product of that French school--as well liken Carot's sensuous nymph of +the wood to Bougereau's sensual nymph of the bath! For my own part, I +don't believe Tempest belongs to any school, or if she does, it is a +school of which she is at once mistress and sole pupil. Indeed, it may +be doubted whether instruction and training have any considerable part +in the charm of such a player. There are women of infinitely better +method--not manner--of singing and acting; women with whom nature has +dealt far more carefully and generously in beauty of face and figure; +women even in no degree inferior to Tempest in innate allurement. But +this little Englishwoman, with her svelte form and her bewitching face +of ugly features, her tricky voice that makes one think of a thrush that +has caught a cold, her impertinences and patronizing ways with her +audience, has about her a vague, illusive something that makes of her +the most fetching personality of the comic-opera stage." + +Marie Tempest, whose real name is Marie Etherington, was born in London +in 1867. Her father died while she was a child, and she was educated +abroad by her mother. Five or six years of her life were spent in a +convent near Brussels. From there she was sent to Paris to finish her +education, afterward going to London, where she became a student at the +Royal Academy of Music. + +At that time she had no idea of going upon the stage. Her exceptional +musical talent at once became apparent to the professors at the academy, +notably Emanuel Garcia, who, although then upward of eighty years of +age, took the liveliest interest in his young pupil. Miss Tempest worked +so successfully with Garcia that within eighteen months of her entrance +at the academy she had carried off from all other competitors the +bronze, silver, and gold medals representing the highest rewards the +academy could offer. She also studied for a time with Signor Randeggor, +in London, and in 1886 made her first appearance on any stage at the +London Comedy in "Boccaccio." It was a small part that she played in the +London company managed by Arthur Henderson, and the salary which she +received was four pounds a week. + +After that she created the soprano part in an opera called "The Fay o' +Fire" at the Opera Comique, from thence returning for a few months to +the Comedy Theatre to take Florence St. John's place in "Erminie." Miss +Tempest then took an engagement with Augustus Harris at the Drury Lane +in Hervise's comic opera, "Frivoli." In 1887 she joined Henry J. +Leslie's company, then playing at the Prince of Wales's Theatre, London, +in Alfred Cellier's opera, "Dorothy," in which she assumed the title +rôle. In this part Miss Tempest made a very great success. She played in +"Dorothy" for nearly nine hundred performances at the Prince of Wales +and Lyric theatres. Subsequently she appeared at the Lyric in Cellier's +opera of "Doris" and after that in "The Red Hussar." Although Miss +Tempest was engaged chiefly in light opera, during these years she at +various times undertook more serious work, frequently singing in +oratorio and in the high-class London concerts. + +She came to this country for the first time in the spring of 1890, +appearing in New York and after on tour as Kitty Carroll in "The Red +Hussar." Her success was remarkable, and she at once became an +established favorite. Although the prima donna of to-day might consider +Kitty Carroll, with only its three changes of costume, from soldier to +beggar girl and then to heiress, a veritable sinecure, Marie Tempest's +skill in passing quickly from one character to another was ten years ago +quite as much commented on as was her unquestionably artistic +presentation of the triple rôles. She also repeated in this country her +London success in "Dorothy," and sang in "Carmen" as well. + +Miss Tempest was next seen at the New York Casino as the successor to +Lillian Russell and Pauline Hall. In the operetta, "The Tyrolean," she +had a part scarcely equal to her abilities, although the nightingale +song, which came in the last act, was a charming melody and was so +delightfully sung by Miss Tempest as really to be the feature of the +performance. In her peasant's dress Miss Tempest was the choicest of +dainty morsels, a dream of fairylike loveliness. + +Her greatest success in this country, however, was "The Fencing Master" +in which the prima donna rôle was peculiarly suited to her personality. +This opera was built around the conceit of a master of fencing, who, not +being blessed with a son to succeed him in his profession, brought up +his daughter as a boy, and by severe training made her a most expert +user of foil and sword. In this character Miss Tempest united remarkably +well boyish freedom and masculine swagger with feminine charm and +ingenuousness, and the picture that she made was one never to be +forgotten. It was true, however, in spite of her great attractiveness in +the part, that tights and tunic did take away a little of that subtle +bewitchery, which was the root of her wonderful winsomeness in +"Dorothy." It was a Boston critic, I believe, who said of her in this +opera, that she suggested a Dresden china image that had hopped down +from the mantel and committed an indiscretion. Still another, evidently +a bit of a china connoisseur himself, applied the fancy porcelain simile +with far more searching analysis. "She reminds one of a bit of Sèvres +china," he declared, "although a pretty piece of Dresden would not be an +inappropriate simile, especially when she is dressed in that +picturesquely ragged costume in the first act. Sèvres china, however, is +to an art connoisseur what truffles and pâte-de-foie gras are to an +accomplished epicure." Whether she were Dresden china or Sèvres china, +it mattered not; the main fact remained that a thoroughly feminine woman +like Miss Tempest needed the fuss and feathers of feminine attire to +bring out her attractions in the most effective way. That the public +unconsciously felt this was proven even in "The Fencing Master," where +her appearance in the last act in all the glory of court gown and +flashing jewels was always the signal for the heartiest applause. + +In "The Algerian," by Reginald DeKoven and Glen MacDonough, which +followed "The Fencing Master," being brought out in Philadelphia in +September, 1893, Miss Tempest not only returned to the garb of her own +sex, but appeared as well in her own auburn hair with that tiny +irresistible curl hanging down the middle of her forehead, just like +that of the little girl in the old ballad. + +At the close of the run of this opera in 1894, Miss Tempest returned to +London. Her greatest hits of recent years in that city have been made as +the heroine in "The Artist's Model" and as O Mimosa San in George +Edwardes's original production of "The Geisha" at Daly's Theatre in +London. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MAUD RAYMOND + + +High in the ranks of women low comedians who have been graduated from +the variety theatre into musical comedy and extravaganza, is Maud +Raymond, who fairly shares the honors with the Rogers Brothers in their +popular vaudevilles. It would be unfair to call Miss Raymond an actress, +for she does not aspire to be anything more than a delightful +entertainer, whose unusual mimetic gifts and whose real or assumed sense +of humor led her to adopt as the most natural thing imaginable the +serious calling of making the world laugh. + +With her marked individuality, Miss Raymond drifted as a matter of +course into character impersonation. In the days when she entered the +varieties three distinct types of low-comedy characterizations were +recognized--the Irish, the Dutch, and the negro. The first two were +genuine burlesques, while the last named was the familiar minstrel +type,--a great deal of burnt cork and an insignificant amount of genuine +negro. Miss Raymond selected the Dutch type. Whether she was the first +woman to attempt a Dutch character sketch, I do not know, but I am +willing to risk the statement that she was the best one. + +An amazingly grotesque figure she presented, with her figure built on +the lines of a meal sack with a string tied around the middle, and her +huge sabots that clattered noisily every step she took. Her face was a +study in ponderous stupidity, and her movements were slow and unwieldy. +Yet, with all its grotesqueness, its mammoth exaggerations, there was +human nature in the sketch and rich, full-blooded humor, the brutal, +coarse humor of the soil, humor that had not been refined into +flavorless delicacy nor polished into insipidness for the moral +salvation of too easily shocked tenderlings. + +When the "coon" craze struck the stage, Miss Raymond was among the first +to take that up, and she has clung faithfully to it ever since. Like all +her work, her interpretation of the modern "coon" song is all her own. +She does not reproduce so fantastically as some others the antics of the +swell cake-walker, but she infuses into her work a rich humor that is +infectious. In this one particular she resembles closely Miss May Irwin. +May Irwin's "coon," however, is the Southern "mammy" type, while Maud +Raymond's is of Northern city birth and training. In this aspect of her +"coon" art, Miss Raymond seems nearer the progenitor of the up-to-date +stage negro, who was, of course, the "nigger" minstrel of a number of +decades ago. + +Miss Raymond's method was capitally illustrated in the song "I thought +that he had Money in the Bank," which was introduced in "The Rogers +Brothers in Wall Street" during the season of 1899-1900. Her dialect was +by no means extraordinary. It had not the darky softness and twang, +which one finds for instance so faithfully reproduced by Artie Hall. +Miss Raymond, however, got a curious comic effect by twisting her words +out of the corner of her mouth in a manner indescribable, by hunching up +her shoulders, one a little higher than the other, thrusting her head +forward, crooking her elbows, and letting her hands hang loose and +lifeless as if they had been broken at the wrists. + +After seeing Miss Raymond's inimitable Dutch woman, I carried away the +impression that she herself inclined toward embonpoint,--that she was +grossly notoriously fat, in fact. Later observations, however, have +caused me to revise that impression. Miss Raymond is not fat, merely +comfortably plump. She is a decided brunette with rather irregular +features, but features none the less attractive for that, snapping +black eyes that seem always to sparkle with irrepressible merriment, and +an inexhaustible amount of vivacity. Vivacity may, indeed, be said to be +her specialty. It is always in evidence, and yet it never runs riot and +it never becomes wearisome. + +Miss Raymond has been a vaudeville feature for the past twelve years. +She made her first appearance with Rice and Barton's company, and +afterward played two years with Harry Williams's Own Company. Her next +appearance was in the soubrette part in "Bill's Boot," in which Joe J. +Sullivan starred. She then joined Irwin Brothers' Company, in which she +sang with great success. She spent several weeks in the Howard Athenæum +Company when it was under James J. Armstrong's management, and finished +the season with Fields and Hanson. + +Miss Raymond was specially engaged to play the soubrette rôle in Bolivar +in Donnelly and Girard's "The Rainmakers." Those popular stars declared +that the part had never been so well done as it was by Miss Raymond, but +she was obliged to retire at the end of the season on account of +illness. During the summer she appeared on the roof gardens and in the +continuous houses. She joined Tony Pastor's company in the early fall, +and played a season of fifteen weeks with that organization, meeting +with great success. + +When the Rogers Brothers began starring with "The Reign of Error" in the +fall of 1898, she was made a prominent feature of their company, and she +continued with them as their leading support the following season in +"The Rogers Brothers in Wall Street." + +She is also the wife of one of the brothers, though whether of Max or +Gus I never can remember. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +PAULINE HALL + + +A very remarkable woman is Pauline Hall, whose stage career of +twenty-five years encompasses every experience possible in light opera +in this country. Miss Hall began as a dancer. She spent her +apprenticeship in the chorus. She sang inconsequential rôles in opera, +and she acted small parts in drama. She had her season in burlesque. She +was for years the foremost figure in the best light-opera organization +this country has ever known. She has starred, and she is to-day a better +singer than the majority of her youthful contemporaries, a better +actress than all except a very few of them, and a more satisfactory +all-around artist--if the expression be permissible--than any of them. + +When I heard her sing with Francis Wilson in "Cyrano de Bergerac"--about +the stupidest opera, by the way, ever produced--and in "Erminie" in the +spring of 1900, I was amazed; her voice was in splendid condition, +certainly better than it had been five years before, true in tone, +clear, and without huskiness. It showed its wear only in the loss of the +richness and sweetness--the music, one might say--of the old Casino +days. In figure Miss Hall was trim and youthful. Her face was plump and +rounded like a girl's. Her hair, cut short for boys' parts and +coquettishly curled, retained its dark, almost black, hue, while her +eyes--wonderfully handsome they always were--snapped and sparkled like a +débutante's. + +Pauline Hall's fame reached its height during the long run of "Erminie" +at the New York Casino. She was the originator of the rôle of the +Erminie, and she sang in the opera in all the principal cities of the +country. She was--and is still, for that matter--one of the finest +formed women on the American stage, and her stately manner and graceful +demeanor gained for her the sobriquet so commonly associated with her +name--statuesque. During her subsequent starring career Miss Hall +continued a popular favorite, although she was not consistently +successful in obtaining operas of notable merit. "Puritania" met with +excellent success, but "The Honeymooners" and "Dorcas" were neither of +them strong enough to make any lasting impression. They were both of the +familiar "prima donna in tights" type, and their librettos were without +striking originality, and their scores showed only commonplace +tunefulness. + +In spite of this handicap Miss Hall succeeded in maintaining--largely +through the force of her personality and art--her place among the +foremost in light opera in this country. During the season of 1899-1900 +she most happily again became associated with Francis Wilson, who is +also an "Erminie" product. Miss Hall, with her renewed youth and her +years of experience, at once took a position in Wilson's company, second +only to the star. In "Cyrano" she made Christian--a barren and sterile +character--vigorous, picturesque, and attractive, while her Princess in +"Erminie," barring the loss of vocal mellowness already referred to, was +stronger than it was a dozen years ago. + +Pauline Hall's active life on the stage began when she was about fifteen +years old. She was born in Cincinnati about 1860 in rather humble +quarters in the rear of her father's apothecary shop on Seventh Street. +She bore the somewhat formidable and decidedly German name of Pauline +Fredericka Schmidgall, until she adopted the simple and harmonious stage +name of Pauline Hall. + +It was in 1875, at Robinson's Opera House in Cincinnati, under the +management of Colonel R. E. J. Miles, that Miss Hall made her first +appearance on the stage. She began at the very bottom of the ladder, an +"extra girl" in the chorus and a dancer in the ballet. Next she +journeyed to the Grand Opera House in the same city, a theatre which was +also under Colonel Miles's management, where she remained until the +versatile Mr. Miles organized and put on the road his "America's Racing +Association and Hippodrome," a circus-like enterprise. She was made a +feature in the street parade tableaux of Mazeppa used to advertise the +attraction, and a very effective figure she must have been, too, for she +was a handsome girl and a picture of physical perfection. Besides luring +the public to the show, Miss Hall entertained it after it got there by +driving a Roman chariot in the races. + +After a summer of this exciting work Miss Hall returned to the theatre +as a member of the chorus of the Alice Oates Opera Company, which was +at that time making a Western tour under the management of the same +Colonel Miles. Alice Oates was then in her prime, and the most popular +operatic star in the country. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and +educated in Louisville. When she was nineteen years old she made her +début in Chicago in the Darnley burlesque, "The Field of the Cloth of +Gold." She sang in "The Little Duke," "The Mascotte," "The Pretty +Perfumer," "The Princess of Trebizonde," "The Grand Duchess," and +"Olivette," and was one of the first of the many Ralph Rackstraws in +"Pinafore" in this country. She died in Philadelphia on January 11, +1887, at the early age of thirty-seven years. She was small of figure +and pretty of face, unusually so off the stage and dazzlingly so on the +stage. Her voice was of rare compass and sympathetic in tone, and her +acting was vivacious, dashing, and hearty. + +After leaving the Alice Oates Company, small parts in Samuel Colville +Folly company gave Miss Hall a slight advance in the theatrical world, +and then she made her first and only appearance in the "legitimate." She +joined Mary Anderson's company, and for three or four months acted minor +characters in the plays of Miss Anderson's repertory, which at that time +was somewhat limited. Among Miss Hall's parts were Lady Capulet in +"Romeo and Juliet" and the Widow Melnotte in Lord Bulwer Lytton's +stilted melodrama, "The Lady of Lyons." + +In 1880, Miss Hall first began to be noticed by professional discoverers +of stage talent. She was then a member of Edward E. Rice's "Surprise +Party," with which she appeared in "Horrors" and "Revels." Next, in +Rice's greatest success, "Evangeline," Miss Hall played Gabrielle and +even Hans Wagner, being the first woman to try the droll character. In +the fall of 1882 she went on a tour with J. H. Haverly's "Merry War" +company, and sang the part of Elsa. With Haverly she also appeared in +"Patience." Following this engagement she rejoined Mr. Rice's forces, +and on December 1, 1883, opened with his company at the Bijou Opera +House, New York, where she created the part of Venus in "Orpheus and +Eurydice." She was a success from the start, and continued with Mr. Rice +until the close of the run of the burlesque on March 15 of the following +year, when she went with the company, under the management of Miles and +Barton, on the road. + +On her return to New York, Miss Hall again appeared at the Bijou, on May +6, 1884, as Hasson in a revival of "Blue Beard," following this with +another road experience that lasted until July. In August she began an +engagement at Niblo's Garden, New York, as Loresoul in Poole and +Gilmour's spectacular production of "The Seven Ravens." The part was a +singing one, and Miss Hall added considerably to her popularity among +the frequenters of the burlesque shows that were so largely patronized +in those days. In February, 1885, Miss Hall was in the title rôle of +"Ixion" at the Comedy Theatre, New York, though only for a short time, +and on April 4 she made her first appearance in a German speaking part, +singing Prince Orloffsky in "Die Fiedermaus" at the Thalia Theatre. + +On May 25 Miss Hall opened with Nat C. Goodwin at the Park Theatre, +Boston, and created the character of Oberon in the travesty "Bottom's +Dream." This was a failure, and in a few weeks Miss Hall returned to New +York, where she signed with Rudolph Aronson of the Casino, making her +first appearance as Ninon de l'Enclos in the English presentation of +"Nanon." She did well with the part, and further increased the favorable +impression that she had made by her Angelo in "Amorita" and her Saffi +in "The Gipsy Baron." Next came "Erminie," which achieved a success as +yet unequalled by any light opera in this country unless it be "Robin +Hood." The successor to "Erminie" was "Nadjy," also a famous hit, in +which, however, Miss Hall's part of the Princess Etelka was overshadowed +by the character of Nadjy, the dancer, so captivatingly played by Marie +Jansen in the original production. After "Nadjy" came "The Drum Major," +which failed, however, to make any lasting impression. + +After leaving the Casino Miss Hall began her career as a star, appearing +in "Puritania." This was followed the next year by "Amorita" and "Madame +Favart," while "Puritania" was retained in her repertory. The season +succeeding she brought out "The Honeymooners." During 1894-95 her operas +were "La Belle Hélène," a revival of "The Chimes of Normandy," and +"Dorcas." She then retired from the stage for a while, and afterward +appeared in vaudeville until she joined Francis Wilson. + +"Puritania, or the Earl and the Maid of Salem," the best known and most +successful of all her operas, was produced in Boston in the summer of +1892. The opera was written by C. M. S. McLellan, and Edgar Stillman +Kelley was responsible for the music. The story of the opera was +decidedly attractive. The action began in Salem. Elizabeth, a fair young +miss of the town, had been accused of being a witch by Abigail, a +confirmed woman-hater. Elizabeth was tried by the local tribunal and was +condemned, chiefly because she had refused to wed Jonathan Blaze, the +chief justice of the court. Just as the sentence was pronounced an +English ship arrived in the harbor, and Vivian, Earl of Barrenlands, +came ashore. He rescued Elizabeth from the mob, and captivated by her +beauty proceeded to make love to her. Nothing would do but he must take +her back to England with him. Smith, the Witch-finder-general to his +Majesty Charles II., was indignant because Vivian had won the girl, and +threatened to expose her as a witch to the king. + +The second act took place in a subterranean chamber under the king's +palace, where Killsin Burgess, a conspirator, was plotting after the Guy +Fawkes fashion to blow up everything. So deeply did he meditate on +divers plots and treasons, that he fell asleep, lighted pipe in mouth +and seated on a keg of gunpowder. The next scene showed the palace where +King Charles had just bestowed his favor on Vivian and the future +Countess of Barrenlands. Smith entered with Blaze and Abigail, and the +trio denounced Elizabeth as a witch. Elizabeth, driven half mad by their +false accusations, mockingly declared that she was a witch, and +proceeded to "weave a spell." She summoned Asmodeus, the Prince of +Eternal Darkness, to appear. A loud report was heard, and the form of +Burgess was hurled through the air. The sparks from his pipe had ignited +the keg of powder which exploded just as Elizabeth was pretending to +display her powers. Of course, Elizabeth was condemned by the king on +this _prima facie_ evidence; but Burgess, recognizing her as his +daughter, confessed his conspiracy against the king, and all ended +happily. + +Miss Hall gave the opera a first-class production, a fine cast, and +handsome scenery. Louise Beaudet acted Elizabeth, and graceful and +charming she was, too. Miss Hall herself played Vivian. Frederic Solomon +was the original Witch-finder-general, and his conception of the +character was thoroughly original. Jacques Kruger as the Judge, Eva +Davenport as Abigail, John Brand as the King, and Alf Wheelan as the +Conspirator were all happily chosen. The opera ran in Boston from June +until September. Then Miss Hall took the opera on the road for a +season. "Puritania" was tuneful and bright in action. The dialogue was +often sparkling, the fun was spontaneous, and the three comedians had +parts which had the added value of being characters. Vivian was +admirably suited to Miss Hall's talents. Her songs were given with +spirit, her acting had that freedom so characteristic of her "boys," +while her costumes were pictorially gorgeous. + +Miss Hall's first husband was Edward White, whom she met in San +Francisco in 1878, where he was engaged in mining enterprises. They were +married in St. Louis in February, 1881. Eight years later Miss Hall +secured a divorce from Mr. White, and in 1891 she was married to George +B. McLellan, the manager of her company. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +HILDA CLARK + + +The divine gift of song has placed Hilda Clark, whose ability as an +actress is by no means great, in a position of prominence in the +theatrical world. She went on the stage because she could sing, and did +not learn to sing because she was on the stage; and, owing to the fact +that there is, always has been, and always will be a demand for +attractive young women with pleasing singing voices, she has had her +fair measure of success. Miss Clark has also the added charm of more +than ordinary physical attractiveness. She is a blonde of prettily +irregular features. Her personality is winning rather than compelling, +and her stage presence is good, though there are times when this would +have been improved by more bodily grace and freedom. Byron, who hated a +"dumpy woman," would have found Miss Clark "divinely tall and most +divinely fair," but very likely he would have advised her to take a mild +course in calisthenics in order to acquire conscious control of a +somewhat unruly physique. + +Hilda Clark comes of an old Southern family, several of whose members +won military distinction. An ancestor of hers, Colonel Winston, was +awarded a sword by Congress for his services in the Revolutionary War. +Her great-grandfather, General Winston, was distinguished in the war of +1812, while several of her relatives were noted for gallantry during the +Civil War. Miss Clark was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, in the early +seventies. When her father, who was a banker, died, the family removed +to Boston, where Miss Clark was educated. As she grew into womanhood, +her voice attracted the attention of her friends, and by their advice +she went to Europe, where she studied music for two years. On her return +to this country she became the soprano of St. Mark's Church in New York +City, and it was there that Willard Spenser, the composer of "The +Princess Bonnie," first heard her sing. + +Miss Clark's voice is what is technically known as a soprano legere, and +while she excels in floria music, her voice has considerable of that +rare sympathetic quality possessed by coloratura singers. Her work in +the theatre may be summed up in a few words. She made her début in the +title rôle of "The Princess Bonnie" in September, 1895. After that she +accepted the offer of The Bostonians, with whom she appeared for a +season. In "The Serenade" she alternated in the rôle of Yvonne, the +ballet dancer, with Alice Nielsen, and she also sung Maid Marian in +"Robin Hood" and Arline in "The Bohemian Girl." Next she was engaged by +Klaw and Erlanger. She created the part of Lady Constance in "The +Highwayman" after Camille D'Arville, who was expected to take the +character, had quarrelled with the stage manager over some detail in the +action, and refused to have anything more to do with the opera. Miss +Clark was quite successful in this character, and it may be said to have +established her firmly in the ranks of the light opera prima donnas. +Next came her appearance in the prima donna rôle of John Philip Sousa's +opera "The Bride Elect," in which she is best known by the general +public. + +Sousa is the most eminent composer for the bass drum and the cymbals +that we have, and he can make music with more accents than any other man +in the business. His powerful first and third beats set the feet to +tapping and the head to nodding, and the American public thinks that it +is great stuff. So it is, the finest music for a military parade that +ever came out of a brass band. Sousa writes his music with a metronome +at his elbow clacking out the marching cadence of 120 to the minute. +Every time the machine clacks he puts in a bang on the big drum and a +clash with the cymbals. Then he weaves a stately moving melody around +the bangs and the clashes, marks the whole business "fortissimo," and +lets it go. He does not bother much about originality. His strong point +is marches, and he knows it. In "The Bride Elect," he gave us +marches--shall we say "galore"? The score was undoubtedly catchy, and +the tunes pleased for the moment. As for the book, which was also by +Sousa, it was nothing to boast of. It served admirably as a ringer-in +for the marches. + +Miss Clark's work in "The Bride Elect" was thoroughly satisfactory. She +sang the music with splendid effect and with much brilliancy. Her +acting, to be sure, was hardly all that could be desired, but, +fortunately for her success, the book did not call for any great +dramatic force. Miss Clark's career has been somewhat unusual in that +she took at once a position of importance on the stage and has continued +in positions of importance ever since. All this has happened because she +could sing; and so busy has she been with her singing that she really +has had no time to learn to act. In other words, in spite of her five +years behind the footlights, she still lacks experience. The woman who +starts in a humble capacity in the chorus and who climbs slowly to the +heights of calciumdom may have at first very crude notions regarding +action, but she learns as time goes on to be non-committal in gesture +at least. She may not develop into a histrionic genius, but she does +acquire facility in the conventions of light opera that so often stand +for acting. It is of just this facility that Hilda Clark is most in +need. + + + + +Index + + + "Algerian," + Tempest, Marie, 222, 232. + + "All the Comforts of Home," + Hall, Josephine, 47. + + "American Beauty," + May, Edna, 152. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + American Opera Company, 98. + + "Amorita," + Hall, Pauline, 247, 248. + + Anderson, Mary, 245. + + "Apollo," + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + "Aristocracy," + Hall, Josephine, 47. + + Aronson, Rudolph, 247. + + "Artist's Model," + Tempest, Marie, 232. + + Ashley, Minnie, 134. + + Atherton, Alice, 40. + + + "Babette," + D'Arville, Camille, 217. + + Barnabee, H. C., 19. + + Barnet, R. A., 82, 83, 140, 141. + + Barrymore, Maurice, 190. + + Beaudet, Louise, 251. + + "Belle Hélène," + Hall, Pauline, 248. + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 112. + Lessing, Madge, 82. + Russell, Lillian, 42. + + "Belle of New York," + Edwardes, Paula, 113, 118. + May, Edna, 148, 149, 150, 151, 153. + + Bennett & Moulton Opera Company, 189, 190, 192, 193, 194, 199. + + Bernard, Caroline Richings, 94. + + Bernhardt, Sarah, 28. + + "Billie Taylor," + Fox, Della, 199. + + "Bill's Boot," + Raymond, Maud, 137. + + "Black Sheep," + Edwardes, Paula, 117. + + "Blue Beard," + Hall, Pauline, 246. + + "Boccaccio," + Tempest, Marie, 227. + + "Bohemian Girl," + Clark, Hilda, 256. + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + Fox, Della, 199. + Nielsen, Alice, 20. + + Bostonians, + Clark, Hilda, 255, 256. + D'Arville, Camille, 218, 219. + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 88, 98, 99. + Nielsen, Alice, 19, 20. + + "Bottom's Dream," + Hall, Pauline, 247. + + Braham, Harry, 38. + + Brand, John, 251. + + "Bride Elect," + Celeste, Marie, 169. + Clark, Hilda, 256, 257, 258. + MacDonald, Christie, 180. + + "Brigands," + Russell, Lillian, 31, 32, 42. + + "Broadway to Tokio," + Templeton, Fay, 76, 78. + + "Brownies," + Celeste, Marie, 169. + + Burnett, Mrs. Frances Hodgson, 197. + + Burt, Laura, 118. + + + "Carina," + D'Arville, Camille, 217. + + Carl Rosa Opera Company, 217, 218. + + Carleton Opera Company, 98. + + "Carmen," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + Tempest, Marie, 229. + + Casino, New York, 25, 27, 29, 40, 65, 66, 200, 201, 206, 218, 229, + 240, 247, 248. + + "Casino Girl," + Earle, Virginia, 29. + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + Castle Square Opera Company, 19, 169. + + "Castles in the Air," + Fox, Della, 194, 195, 200, 201. + + "Cavalleria Rusticana," + Celeste, Marie, 169, 170. + + "Celebrated Case," + Fox, Della, 196. + + Celeste, Marie, 156. + + Cellier, Alfred, 228. + + "Chantaclara," + Nielsen, Alice, 14. + + "Chieftain," + Glaser, Lulu, 128, 129, 130, 131. + MacDonald, Christie, 180. + + "Chilperic," + D'Arville, Camille, 216. + + "Chimes of Normandy," + Fox, Della, 199. + Hall, Pauline, 248. + + "Chorus Girl," + Ashley, Minnie, 141. + + "Chris and the Wonderful Lamp," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 112. + + "Chums," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 110. + + "Cigale," + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + "Cinderella," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + + "Circus Girl," + Ashley, Minnie, 135, 141. + Earle, Virginia, 28. + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + Clark, Hilda, 221, 253. + + "Club Friend," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 109. + + Collier, Willie, 164. + + "Combustion," + Fox, Della, 197, 198, 199. + + Conried, Heinrich, 199, 200. + + "Contented Woman," + May, Edna, 148. + + "Corsair," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Templeton, Fay, 74. + + "County Fair," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + + Crox, Elvia, 117. + + "Cymbria, or the Magic Thimble," + D'Arville, Camille, 215, 216. + + "Cyrano de Bergerac," + Glaser, Lulu, 124, 133. + Hall, Pauline, 240, 242. + + + Dale, Alan, 7, 8. + + Daly, Augustin, 27, 29, 64, 71, 118. + + "Dangerous Maid," + Edwardes, Paula, 118. + Lessing, Madge, 86. + + D'Arville, Camille, 190, 208, 256. + + "Daughter of the Revolution," + D'Arville, Camille, 220, 221. + + Davenport, Eva, 251. + + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 88, 208. + + Davis, William J., 95. + + Dazey, C. T., 103. + + DeAngelis, Jefferson, 42, 206. + + DeKoven, Reginald, 221, 232. + + Desci, Max, 9. + + "Devil's Deputy," + Glaser, Lulu, 128. + MacDonald, Christie, 179, 180. + + Dickson Sketch Club, 196, 197, 198, 199. + + Dickson, W. F., 196, 197, 198, 199. + + "Dinorah," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 97. + + "Don Quixote," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + + "Dorcas," + Hall, Pauline, 241, 248. + + "Doris," + Tempest, Marie, 228. + + "Dorothy," + Tempest, Marie, 228, 229, 232. + + Dressler, Marie, 181. + + "Dr. Syntax," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 111. + + "Drum Major," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 98. + Hall, Pauline, 248. + + Duff, J. C., 141, 217. + + Duff Opera Company, 41. + + Duse, Eleanora, 187. + + + Earle, Virginia, 21. + + "Editha's Burglar," + Fox, Della, 197, 198, 199. + + Edouin, Willie, 40. + + Edwardes, George, 232. + + Edwardes, Paula, 47, 113. + + Edwards, Julian, 172, 178. + + "El Capitan," + Ashley, Minnie, 140. + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 107, 111. + + Engländer, Ludwig, 220. + + "Erminie," + Glaser, Lulu, 128, 133. + Hall, Pauline, 240, 242, 248. + MacDonald, Christie, 179. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + Tempest, Marie, 227. + + "Evangeline," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Hall, Josephine, 47. + Hall, Pauline, 245. + Templeton, Fay, 74. + + "Excelsior, Jr.," + Templeton, Fay, 75. + + + "Falka," + D'Arville, Camille, 217. + + Farnie, H. B., 216. + + Farrington, Adele, 187. + + "Fatinitza," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + + "Faust," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 96, 97, 99. + + "Fay o' Fire," + Tempest, Marie, 228. + + "Fencing Master," + Tempest, Marie, 230, 231, 232. + + "Fiedermaus," + Hall, Pauline, 247. + + "Fille de Madame Angot," + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + + First Corps of Cadets, 82, 117. + + Fiske, Minnie Maddern, 67, 70, 71, 72. + + "Fleur-de-lis," + Fox, Della, 202. + + "Fortune Teller," + Nielsen, Alice, 5, 7, 20. + + Fougère, 76, 78, 79, 80. + + "1492," 82. + Ashley, Minnie, 140. + Dressler, Marie, 190. + + Fox, Della, 27, 42, 72, 104, 110, 111, 168, 190, 192. + + "Fra Diavolo," + Fox, Della, 193, 194, 199. + + Frazer, Robert, 74. + + "Frivoli," + Tempest, Marie, 228. + + Frohman, Charles, 47, 109, 111. + + Fursch-Nadi, 98. + + Furst, William, 201, 202. + + + Garcia, Emanuel, 227. + + "Geisha," + Ashley, Minnie, 135, 141. + Earle, Virginia, 23, 24, 27. + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + Tempest, Marie, 232. + + Gerard, Bettina, 117. + + Gilbert, W. S., 19, 26, 31. + + Gill, William, 74. + + Gillette, William, 199. + + Gilman, Mabelle, 56, 86. + + "Gipsy Baron," + Hall, Pauline, 247, 248. + + "Girl from Maxim's," + Hall, Josephine, 49, 50, 51. + + "Girl from Paris," + Hall, Josephine, 46, 48. + + "Girl I Left Behind Me," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 110. + + "Giroflé-Girofla," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + Russell, Lillian, 32, 42. + Templeton, Fay, 74. + + Glaser, Lulu, 120, 179. + + Goodwin, J. Cheever, 201, 202, 204, 220. + + Goodwin, N. C., 164, 247. + + "Grand Duchess," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + Russell, Lillian, 32, 42. + + Grau, Jules, 188, 189. + + "Great Metropolis," + Celeste, Marie, 163. + + "Great Ruby," + Edwardes, Paula, 118. + + "Greek Slave," + Ashley, Minnie, 135, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146. + + + Hale, Philip, 202, 203, 204, 205. + + "Half-a-King," + Glaser, Lulu, 131. + MacDonald, Christie, 180. + + Hall, Artie, 236. + + Hall, Josephine, 46, 116. + + Hall, Pauline, 179, 208, 229, 239. + + Hallen, Fred, 26. + + Hammerstein, Oscar, 148. + + Harlow, Richard, 191. + + Harris, Augustus, 228. + + Hart, Joseph, 26. + + Haverly, J. H., 85, 246. + + Henderson, Arthur, 227. + + Henderson, William J., 159. + + "Hendrik Hudson," + Templeton, Fay, 74, 75. + + Herbert, Victor, 5, 6. + + Herne, James A., 73. + + "Highwayman," + Clark, Hilda, 256. + + "Hole in the Ground," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + + "Honeymooners," + Hall, Pauline, 241, 248. + + Hopper, DeWolf, 27, 104, 110, 111, 140, 146, 170, 200, 201. + + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 42, 104, 140. + + "Horrors," + Hall, Pauline, 245. + + "Hoss and Hoss," + Celeste, Marie, 164, 165, 166, 167. + + "Hotel Topsy Turvy," + Dressler, Marie, 191. + + Howard, Bronson, 47. + + Hoyt, Charles H., 26, 148, 164. + + Huntington, Agnes, 99, 218. + + + "In Gay New York," + Earle, Virginia, 27, 28. + + "In Mexico" (see "War Time Wedding"). + + Irwin, May, 235. + + "Ixion," + Hall, Pauline, 247. + + + "Jack," + Hall, Josephine, 47. + + "Jack and the Beanstalk," + Celeste, Marie, 169. + Lessing, Madge, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87. + + "Jane," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 110. + + Jansen, Marie, 120, 127, 128, 248. + + Jones, Walter, 146. + + Juch, Emma, 98, 200. + + + Kelley, Edgar Stillman, 249. + + "King's Fool," + Fox, Della, 200. + + Klaw and Erlanger, 82, 169, 180, 256. + + "Knickerbockers," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 100. + + Koster and Bial's, 81. + + Kruger, Jacques, 251. + + + "Lady of Lyons," + Hall, Pauline, 245. + + "Lady Slavey," + Dressler, Marie, 183, 184, 188, 191. + Earle, Virginia, 27. + Lessing, Madge, 87. + + L'Allemand, Pauline, 98. + + LaShelle, Kirk, 172, 173, 174, 175. + + Lask, George E., 19. + + "Later On," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + + Lederer, George W., 25, 27, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 200. + + "Lend Me Your Wife," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 109. + + Lenox, Fred, 142. + + Leonard, Charles E., 33, 35. + + Leslie, Elsie, 197. + + Leslie, Fred, 216. + + Leslie, Henry J., 228. + + Lessing, Madge, 81, 118. + + "Lion Tamer," + Glaser, Lulu, 127, 128. + MacDonald, Christie, 179. + + "Little Corporal," + Glaser, Lulu, 124, 131, 132. + + "Little Duke," + Celeste, Marie, 108. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + "Little Host," + Fox, Della, 207. + + "Little Red Riding Hood," + Lessing, Madge, 86. + + "Little Trooper," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + Fox, Della, 168, 201, 202. + + Lloyd, Violet, 27. + + Lucia, Alice Nielsen as, 19. + + + MacDonald, Christie, 169, 172. + + MacDonough, Glen, 232. + + "Madame Favart," + Hall, Pauline, 248. + Templeton, Fay, 75. + + "Madeleine, or, the Magic Kiss," + D'Arville, Camille, 221. + Dressler, Marie, 190. + + "Maid of Plymouth," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 100. + + "Mam'selle 'Awkins," + Edwardes, Paula, 113, 116, 119. + Hall, Josephine, 47, 52, 53. + + "Man in the Moon," + Dressler, Marie, 191. + Templeton, Fay, 76, 77. + + Mapleson, Colonel, 95, 96, 97. + + "Marjorie," + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + + "Martha," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + + Martinot, Sadie, 216. + + "Mascotte," + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + Templeton, Fay, 74. + + May, Edna, 147. + + McCaull, John A., 40. + + McLellan, C. M. S., 249. + + McLellan, George B., 252. + + "Meg Merrilies," + Earle, Virginia, 27. + + "Men and Women," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 110. + + "Merchant of Venice," + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + "Merry Monarch," + Glaser, Lulu, 128. + MacDonald, Christie, 179. + + "Merry War," + Hall, Pauline, 246. + + "Merry World," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 98. + Earle, Virginia, 27. + + "Midsummer Night's Dream," + Templeton, Fay, 71, 73. + + "Mikado," + Dressler, Marie, 188. + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Nielsen, Alice, 19. + + Miles, R. E. J., 243, 244. + + "Mountebanks," + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + "Muldoon's Picnic," + Fox, Della, 195. + + "Mynheer Jan," + D'Arville, Camille, 217. + + + "Nadjy," + Hall, Pauline, 248. + Russell, Lillian, 41. + + "Nanon," + Hall, Pauline, 247. + + National Opera Company, 98. + + Neutwig, Benjamin, 10, 11. + + Nielsen, Alice, 1, 219, 255. + + Nirdlinger, Charles Frederick, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226. + + + Oates, Alice, 243, 244. + + Offenbach, Jacques, 31, 216. + + "One Round of Pleasure," + Celeste, Marie, 169. + + O'Neill, James, 196. + + "Orpheus and Eurydice," + Hall, Pauline, 246. + + + Palmer, A. M., 191. + + Palmer, Frank, 166, 167. + + "Panjandrum," + Fox, Della, 194, 201. + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 106, 110, 111. + + "Passing Show," + Earle, Virginia, 27. + Lessing, Madge, 82. + + Pastor, Tony, 33, 38, 39, 238. + + "Patience," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Hall, Pauline, 246. + Russell, Lillian, 40. + + Patti, Adelina, 96, 97. + + "Paul Jones," + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + + "Penelope," + Nielsen, Alice, 18. + + "Perichole," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + Nielsen, Alice, 19. + Russell, Lillian, 32, 42. + + Perugini, Giovanni, 45. + + Pike Opera Company, 18, 26. + + "Pinafore," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 95. + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Fox, Della, 195, 196. + Russell, Lillian, 37. + + "Pirates of Penzance," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Fox, Della, 199. + + Plympton, Eben, 47. + + "Polly," + Russell, Lillian, 41. + + "Poor Jonathan," + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + "Poupée," + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + "Prince Ananias," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 100. + Nielsen, Alice, 20. + + "Prince Pro Tem," + Ashley, Minnie, 137, 141, 142. + + "Princess Bonnie," + Clark, Hilda, 255. + + "Princess Chic," + MacDonald, Christie, 172, 176, 177, 178, 180. + + "Princess Nicotine," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + Dressler, Marie, 191. + Russell, Lillian, 32, 45. + + "Princess of Trebizonde," + Russell, Lillian, 41, 42. + + Puerner, Charles, 190. + + "Puritania," + Hall, Pauline, 241, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252. + + + "Queen's Mate," + D'Arville, Camille, 217. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + + "Rainmakers," + Raymond, Maud, 238. + + Raymond, Maud, 233. + + "Red Hussar," + Tempest, Marie, 228, 229. + + Reed, Charles, 164. + + Reed, Roland, 109. + + Rehan, Ada, 28. + + "Reign of Error," + Raymond, Maud, 238. + + "Revels," + Hall, Pauline, 245. + + Rice, Edward E., 26, 37, 47, 140, 219, 245, 246. + + "Rip Van Winkle," + D'Arville, Camille, 216, 217. + + "Robber of the Rhine," + Dressler, Marie, 190. + + "Robin Hood," + Clark, Hilda, 255. + D'Arville, Camille, 218, 219. + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 91, 99, 100, 101. + Nielsen, Alice, 20. + + Rogers Brothers, 233, 238. + + "Rogers Brothers in Wall Street," + Raymond, Maud, 235, 236, 238. + + "Romeo and Juliet," + Hall, Pauline, 245. + + Root, Fred, 94. + + Root, George F., 95. + + "Rounders," + Gilman, Mabelle, 56, 61, 62, 63, 65, 86. + Lessing, Madge, 86, 87. + + "Runaway Girl," + Celeste, Marie, 160, 161, 169. + Earle, Virginia, 23, 24, 28. + Edwardes, Paula, 113, 115, 116, 117, 119. + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + Russell, Lillian, 30, 168, 191, 206, 208, 217, 229. + + + Sadler, Josie, 142. + + "Santa Maria," + May, Edna, 148. + + Savage, Henry W., 19, 169. + + Seabrooke, Thomas Q., 117. + + "Serenade," + Clark, Hilda, 255. + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 100. + Nielsen, Alice, 20. + + "Seven Ravens," + Hall, Pauline, 246, 247. + + Sheldon, William, 146. + + "Shenandoah," + Hall, Josephine, 47. + + "Singing Girl," + Nielsen, Alice, 4, 5. + + Smith, Edgar, 97. + + Smith, Harry B., 5, 7, 65, 159, 221. + + Smythe, W. G., 196. + + "Snake Charmer," + Russell, Lillian, 40. + + Solomon, Edward, 41. + + Solomon, Frederic, 251. + + Solomon Opera Company, 82. + + "Sorcerer," + Russell, Lillian, 40. + + Sothern, E. H., 197. + + Sousa, John Philip, 256, 257. + + Spenser, Willard, 255. + + "Sphinx," + MacDonald, Christie, 180. + + Stange, Stanislaus, 5, 6. + + St. John, Florence, 228. + + Stone, Marie, 218. + + Sullivan, Arthur, 19, 26. + + Sullivan, Joe J., 237. + + "Suzette," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + + Sykes, Jerome, 112. + + + Teal, Ben, 163. + + "Tempest," + Earle, Virginia, 28. + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + Tempest, Marie, 222. + + Templeton, Fay, 67. + + Templeton, John, 72. + + Thomas, Augustus, 196, 197, 198, 199. + + Thomas, Theodore, 98. + + Thompson, L. S., 141. + + Titus, Fred, 147. + + Tivoli Opera Company, 19. + + "Tobasco," + Edwardes, Paula, 117. + + "Troubadour," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + + "Twenty Minutes in Shirt Waists," + Dressler, Marie, 186, 187, 188. + + "Tyrolean," + Tempest, Marie, 229, 230. + + "Tzigane," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + + Urquhart, Isabelle, 41. + + + Vane, Alice, 67. + + "Venus," + D'Arville, Camille, 219, 220. + + "Vie," + D'Arville, Camille, 216. + + "Virginia," + Russell, Lillian, 41. + + + "Walking Delegate," + MacDonald, Christie, 180. + + "Wang," + Celeste, Marie, 170. + Earle, Virginia, 27. + Fox, Della, 194, 201. + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 111. + + "War Time Wedding," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 100, 102, 103. + Nielsen, Alice, 20. + + Weathersby, Eliza, 74. + + Weber and Fields, 42, 75, 197. + + "Wedding Day," + Fox, Della, 206. + Russell, Lillian, 42. + + Weil, Oscar, 103. + + Wheelan, Alf. C., 251. + + "Whirl of the Town," + Lessing, Madge, 82. + + White, Edward, 252. + + Wilson, Francis, 120, 121, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, + 179, 240, 242, 249. + + "Wonder," + Earle, Virginia, 28. + + "World's Fair," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + + + "Yankee Doodle Dandy," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 112. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + + + Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. + + Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from + the original. + + Obvious typographical errors have been corrected as follows: + Pages 176 and 212: "d'Arville" changed to "D'Arville" + Page 198: "debut" changed to "début" + + Punctuation has been corrected without note. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Famous Prima Donnas, by Lewis Clinton Strang + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS PRIMA DONNAS *** + +***** This file should be named 36215-8.txt or 36215-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/2/1/36215/ + +Produced by Linda Cantoni, Bryan Ness, David E. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/36215-8.zip b/36215-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6cd4e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/36215-8.zip diff --git a/36215-h.zip b/36215-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a893069 --- /dev/null +++ b/36215-h.zip diff --git a/36215-h/36215-h.htm b/36215-h/36215-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7044f40 --- /dev/null +++ b/36215-h/36215-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5695 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Famous Prima Donnas, by Lewis C. Strang. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + +p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + +hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + +table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + +a {text-decoration: none;} + +.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-size: 125%; font-weight: bold;} + +.figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + +.big {font-size: 125%;} +.huge {font-size: 150%;} +.giant {font-size: 200%;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Famous Prima Donnas, by Lewis Clinton Strang + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Famous Prima Donnas + +Author: Lewis Clinton Strang + +Release Date: May 24, 2011 [EBook #36215] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS PRIMA DONNAS *** + + + + +Produced by Linda Cantoni, Bryan Ness, David E. Brown, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">Famous Prima Donnas</span></p> + +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/frontispiece.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">EDNA MAY<br/> +As Violet Grey in "The Belle of New York."</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/tpage.png" alt="" /></div> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">Famous Prima<br/> +Donnas</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">By</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="huge">Lewis C. Strang</span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Author of</i> "<i>Famous Actors of the Day</i>," "<i>Famous<br /> +Actresses of the Day</i>," "<i>Famous Stars<br /> +of Light Opera</i>," "<i>Players and<br /> +Plays of the Last Quarter<br /> +Century</i>," <i>etc.</i><br /></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">Illustrated</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">L·C·PAGE·&·COMPANY<br /> +BOSTON PUBLISHERS</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><i>Copyright 1900</i><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">By L. C. Page & Company</span><br /> +(<small>INCORPORATED</small>)<br /> +<br /> +<i>All rights reserved</i><br /> +<br /> +<br/> +Third Impression, February, 1906<br /> +<br /> +<br/> +<i>COLONIAL PRESS</i><br /> +<i>Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co.</i><br /> +<i>Boston, U. S. A.</i></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CONTENTS</span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> + +<tr><td align="right"><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td> </td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_ix">ix</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td><span class="smcap">Alice Nielsen</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Virginia Earle</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Lillian Russell</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Josephine Hall</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Mabelle Gilman</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Fay Templeton</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Madge Lessing</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Jessie Bartlett Davis</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Edna Wallace Hopper</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">X.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Paula Edwardes</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Lulu Glaser</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Minnie Ashley</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Edna May</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XIV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Marie Celeste</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Christie MacDonald </span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XVI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Marie Dressler</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_181">181</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XVII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Della Fox</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XVIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Camille D'Arville</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XIX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Marie Tempest</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Maud Raymond</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Pauline Hall</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_239">239</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Hilda Clark</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td></tr></table> + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Edna May</span> as Violet Grey in "The Belle of New York"</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_ii"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Alice Nielsen</span> in "The Fortune Teller"</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Virginia Earle</span> as Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl"</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lillian Russell</span> as "The Queen of Brilliants"</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Mabelle Gilman</span> in "The Casino Girl"</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Fay Templeton</span> singing the "coon" song, "My Tiger Lily"</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Madge Lessing</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Edna Wallace-Hopper</span> </td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Paula Edwardes</span> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lulu Glaser</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Minnie Ashley</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Christie MacDonald</span></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_172">172</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Marie Dressler</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Della Fox</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Marie Tempest</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td></tr></table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">Introduction</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p>The musical stage in the United States may be said to be a birthright +rather than a profession. A critical examination of the conditions +quickly shows one that the number of women at present prominent in light +opera and kindred forms of entertainment, who have earned their +positions by continued endeavor and logical development in their art, is +comparatively small. The majority are, in fact, the happy victims of +personality, who have been rushed into fame chiefly by chance and a +fortunate combination of circumstances. They are without the requisite +training, either in the art of singing or in the art of impersonation, +that would entitle them to be seriously considered as great vocalists or +as great actors. They are, however, past mistresses in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span> one +essential for their profession,—the art of entertaining.</p> + +<p>The readiest proof of this peculiar state of affairs is the almost +universal brevity of the careers of the women just now in the ascendancy +in the musical drama. Ten years of professional life is more than many +of them can claim. Arising suddenly into conspicuous popularity as they +have, their reputations are founded, not on the sure basis of careful +preparation and long and diversified experience, but on the uncertain +qualities of personal magnetism and physical beauty. They shine with a +glory that is perhaps deceptive in its brilliancy; they are the sought +for by many managers, the beloved of a faddish public, and the much +exploited of the newspaper press.</p> + +<p>The difficulties that encumbered the path of the compiler of this book, +dealing with the women of the musical stage in this country, were +numerous. First among them was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span> choice of subjects. The selection +could not be made with deference to any classification by merit, for the +triumphs of personality were not amenable to such a classification. The +compiler was compelled by the conditions to bring his own personality +into the case, and to choose entirely by preference. He could not be +governed by an arbitrary standard of comparison; for how can +personality, which is a quality, an impression, hardly a fact, and +certainly not a method, be compared? In the present instance, the writer +found it expedient to limit himself to those entertainers who have given +at least some evidence of continued prominence. It may be, therefore, +that a few names have been omitted which are rightly entitled to a place +in a work of this kind. Nevertheless, the list is surely representative, +even if it be not complete.</p> + +<p>After the subjects had been chosen, the question, how to treat them, at +once became paramount. Again the bothersome limitations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span> of personality +asserted themselves; and one perceived immediately that criticism, +meaning by that the consistent application of any comprehensive canon of +dramatic art, was out of the question. The vocal art of the average +light opera singer is imperfect, and the histrionic methods in vogue +show little evidence of careful training: they are neither subtle nor +complex. Indeed, the average woman in light opera is not an actress at +all in the full meaning of the word. She does not fit herself into the +parts that she is called upon to play, and she does not attempt +expositions of character that will stand even the most superficial +analysis. She acts herself under every circumstance. Describe in detail +her work in a single rôle, and she is written down for all time.</p> + +<p>Yet, should one limit his critical vision to a single part, he not only +fails to touch the main point at issue, but he runs the risk, as well, +of self-deception and misunderstanding.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span> The artistic worth of a player +of personality is invariably overestimated after the first hearing; and +the sure tendency of even the experienced observer, particularly if he +be of sympathetic and sanguine temperament, and constantly on the watch +for the slightest indication of unusual talent, is to mistake +personality for art. The result is that, after indulging himself to the +full in eloquent rhapsody, he encounters, upon a more intimate +acquaintance, mortifying disillusionment.</p> + +<p>What is of genuine value in the player of personality is the elusive +force that makes her a possibility on the stage, and the problem is to +get that peculiar magnetism on paper. It is a problem unsolved so far as +the writer is concerned. One can dodge above, below, and aroundabout a +personality, but he cannot pierce directly into it. When it comes to the +final word, one is left face to face with his stock of adjectives. Most +unsatisfactory they are, too. None of them seems exactly to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span> fit the +case. They serve well enough, perhaps, to convey one individual's +notions regarding the personality under discussion, but they are indeed +lame and limping when it comes to presenting any definite idea of the +personality itself.</p> + +<p>As for the biographical data in the book, they are as complete and as +accurate as diligence and care can make them. The woman in music is +conscientiously reticent regarding the details of her early struggles +for position and reputation. Nothing would seem to be so satisfactory to +her as a past dim and mystifying, a present of brilliancy unrivalled, +and a future of rich and unshadowed promise.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">Famous Prima Donnas</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER I</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">ALICE NIELSEN</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Five years ago Alice Nielsen was an obscure church singer in Kansas +City; to-day she is the leading woman star in light opera on the +American stage. One feels an instinctive hesitation in putting her in +the first place, however sure he may be that she is justly entitled to +it. He anxiously seeks the country over for a possible rival. He feels +that Alice Nielsen has hardly been tested as yet, for she has been only +two seasons at the head of her own company, and she has not appeared in +an opera which is of itself artistically worthy of serious +consideration. Moreover, she is such a little thing,—a child, it would +seem,—and is it safe to take seriously a child, even a child of so many +and so potent fascinations?</p> + +<p>This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> feeling of doubt, caused by Miss Nielsen's stage youthfulness, is, +it appears to me, the pith of the whole difficulty, and therein lurks a +curious paradox. Alice Nielsen's great charms are her youth, her +spontaneity, and her ingenuousness; but these very qualities are the +ones that make one pause and consider before giving her the artistic +rank that she has honestly earned. Alice Nielsen seems almost too human +to be really great. She is too natural, too democratic, too free from +conceit. She is never disdainful of her public, and she is never bored +by her work.</p> + +<p>One cannot help being charmed by this little woman, who sings as if +singing were the best fun in the world; who is so frankly happy when her +audience likes her work and applauds her; and who goes soaring up and +away on the high notes, sounding clear and pure above chorus and +orchestra, without the slightest apparent effort and without a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> trace of +affectation or of artificial striving for effect. Everybody who has ever +written anything about Alice Nielsen has declared that she sings like a +bird, freely, naturally, and easily, and this metaphor describes exactly +the impression that she creates.</p> + +<p>Her voice one appreciates at once,—its volume and its colorful +brilliancy, its great range, and its rich, sympathetic, and musical +qualities; what he misses in her are the conventionalities of the prima +donna,—the awe-inspiring stage presence, the impressive posings and +contortious vocalizations. The world is very apt to take one at his own +estimate until it gets very well acquainted with him. Alice Nielsen has +never proclaimed herself a wonder, and the world has not yet fully made +up its mind regarding her as an artist. It acknowledges her great +personal charm, her delightful music, but it is not just sure whether +she can act.</p> + +<p>I regard Miss Nielsen as a thoroughly competent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> actress in a limited +field. She is fitted neither physically nor temperamentally for heroics, +but she is fully equal to the requirements of operatic light comedy. She +acts as she sings, simply and naturally, and her appeal to her audience +is sure and straightforward. As an instance of this, take her striking +first entrance in "The Singing Girl." She appears on a little bridge, +which extends across the back of the stage. She runs quickly to the +centre, then stops, stoops over with her hands on her knees in Gretchen +fashion, and smiles with all her might. The action is quaint and +attractive, and she wins the house at once. Alice Nielsen's smile is +really a wonderful thing, and it is one proof that she knows something +about acting. It never seems forced. Yet, when one stops to think, he +must see that a girl cannot smile at the same time, night after night, +without bringing to her aid a little art. To appear perfectly natural on +the stage is the best<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> possible acting, and that is just what Alice +Nielsen does with her smile.</p> + +<p>However, "The Singing Girl," for which Victor Herbert wrote the music, +Harry Smith the lyrics, and Stanislaus Stange the libretto, like "The +Fortune Teller," in which Miss Nielsen made her début as a star during +the season of 1898-99, was from any standpoint except the purely +spectacular a pretty poor sort of an opera. There was a great deal to +attract the eye. The costuming was sumptuous, the groupings and color +effects novel and entrancing, and the action throughout mechanically +spirited. Mr. Herbert's music, which was plainly written to catch the +public fancy, fulfilled its purpose, though that was about all that +could be said in its favor. It waltzed and it marched, and it broke +continually into crashing and commonplace refrains. It was strictly +theatrical music, with more color than melody, showy and pretentious, +but without backbone.</p> + +<p>There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> was really only one song in the whole score that stuck to the +memory, and that was Miss Nielsen's solo, "So I Bid You Beware." +Possibly, even in this case I am giving Mr. Herbert more credit than +belongs to him, for Miss Nielsen's interpretation of the ditty was +nothing short of exquisite. She found a world of meaning in the simple +words, coquetted and flirted with a fascinating girlishness that was +entrancing, and flashed her merry blue eyes with an invitation so purely +personal that for a moment the footlights disappeared.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stange's libretto was wofully weak. It seemed to be full of holes, +and into these a trio of comedians were thrust with a recklessness born +of desperation. What Mr. Stange did faithfully was to keep Miss Nielsen +on the stage practically all the time that she was not occupied in +taking off petticoats and putting on trousers—or else reversing the +process. To be sure, he succeeded in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> bringing about these many changes +with less bewilderment than did Harry Smith in the case of "The Fortune +Teller," the plot of which no one ever confessed to follow after the +first five minutes of the opening act. Alan Dale once described this +peculiar state of affairs in the following characteristic fashion:—</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_001.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">ALICE NIELSEN<br/> +In "The Fortune Teller."</span></p> + +<p>"In 'The Fortune Teller' the astonishing Harry B. Smith, who must have +gone about all summer perspiring librettos and dripping them into the +laps of all the stars, has woven a rôle for Miss Nielsen that is stellar +but difficult to comprehend. Miss Nielsen appeared as three people who +are always changing their clothes. Just as the poor little woman has got +through all her vocal exercises as Irma, Mr. Smith insists that she +shall be Musette in other garbs. And no sooner has she appeared as +Musette and sang something else than Mr. Smith rushes her off and claps +her into another garb as Fedor. You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> don't know who she intends to be +from one minute to another, and I am quite sure that she herself +doesn't. The variety of dresses, tights, wraps, jackets, and hats +sported by this ambitious and earnest little girl is simply astonishing. +It must be very difficult to accomplish these chameleon-like changes +without getting rattled. Miss Nielsen seemed to enjoy herself, however; +and as for getting rattled, she coquetted with her audience as archly +after the twelfth change as she did after the first."</p> + +<p>Alice Nielsen was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Her father, from whom +she probably inherited her musical talent, was a Dane. He was an +excellent violinist, but he was never able to turn his gifts to +financial advantage. During the Civil War he fought on the Union side +and received a severe wound that is believed to have been the indirect +cause of his death, which occurred when Alice was about seven years old. +Alice Nielsen's mother was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> of Irish parentage,—a woman of sturdy and +sterling qualities.</p> + +<p>After the war the family settled in Warrensburg, Missouri, and remained +there until after Mr. Nielsen's death. There were four children in the +family, three girls and a boy, and Alice was next to the oldest. After +the death of Mr. Nielsen, Mrs. Nielsen removed with her children to +Kansas City and opened a boarding-house at the corner of Thirteenth and +Cherry streets. Alice was at that time about eight years old. For some +years she attended school at St. Teresa's Academy, and later she studied +music and voice culture under a Kansas City music-teacher, Max Desci. +Many years afterward this tutor claimed the whole credit for developing +her voice and for "bringing her out," even going so far as to sue her +for $8,000, which he alleged to be due him for music lessons. He lost +the suit, however.</p> + +<p>Kansas City first began to talk of Alice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> Nielsen's voice after she +became a member of the choir of St. Patrick's Church, with which she was +connected for five years. She married the organist, Benjamin Neutwig, +from whom she was divorced in 1898. After her marriage she continued to +live in her mother's apartments at Thirteenth and Cherry streets, where, +in fact, she made her home until she left Kansas City. Appreciating his +wife's unusual gifts, Mr. Neutwig did much to develop them, and it was +perhaps due to him as much as to any one else that she became something +more than a church singer.</p> + +<p>The Kansas City friends of Alice Nielsen relate many interesting +incidents of her early life, nearly all of which show indications of the +spirit and strength of character that have done so much toward pushing +her forward. The following anecdotes, told by a member of St. Patrick's +Church choir, were published in the "Kansas City World":—</p> + +<p>"I was in a grocery store near Twelfth and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> Locust streets with Alice +one day, when she was about fifteen years old, I should judge. A couple +of boys of her age were plaguing her. She took it good-naturedly for +awhile, but finally warned them to let her alone. They persisted. Then +becoming exasperated, she picked up an egg and threw it, hitting one of +her tormentors squarely in the face. Of course the egg broke, and the +boy's countenance was a sight for the gods. I understand she apologized +afterward. This may be recorded as her first hit.</p> + +<p>"She joined the choir of St. Patrick's Church, Eight and Cherry streets, +eleven years ago, and sang in it about five years, or until she left +Kansas City to begin her operatic career. It was there she met Benjamin +Neutwig, the organist. A great many persons were jealous of her vocal +talents, nor were certain members of the church itself entirely exempt +from twinges of envy. Indeed, a no less personage than she who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> was at +that time choir leader manifested symptoms of this kind to a pronounced +degree.</p> + +<p>"I remember one Easter service, Alice, then a girl of probably eighteen, +was down to sing a solo in Millard's Mass. The leader was angry: she +thought the solo should have been assigned to her. Alice knew of the +hostility, and it worried her, but she rose bravely and started in. +Scarcely had she sung the first line when the choir leader turned and +gave Alice a hateful look.</p> + +<p>"It had the desired effect. The singer's voice trembled, broke, and was +mute. She struggled bravely to regain her composure, but it was +useless,—she could not prevail against that malevolent gaze from the +choir leader. This, I believe, was the first and only time Alice Nielsen +ever failed in public.</p> + +<p>"It is a wonder, in the face of petty jealousies of this kind, coupled +with the poverty of her mother, which seemed an insurmountable barrier +to a musical education, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> Alice's talents were not lost to the +world. For every influence tending to push her forward, there seemed a +dozen counter influences tending to pull her back. As a child, I have +seen her many a time on the street, barefooted, clothing poor and scant, +running errands for her mother. Later in life, when she was almost a +young lady, I have known her to sing in public, gowned in the cheapest +material, and she would appear time after time in the same dress. On +such occasions she was often wan and haggard, as if from anxiety or +overwork. But once in a while she received the praise which she so +richly merited.</p> + +<p>"One day Father Lillis received a letter from a travelling man who was +stopping at the Midland, in which he asked the name of the young woman +who sang soprano in the choir. He had attended church the day before, he +said, and had heard her sing. 'It is the most wonderful voice I ever +heard,' he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> wrote. 'That girl is the coming Florence Nightingale.' I +don't know whether the letter was ever answered or not, but Alice came +to know of the incident, and it pleased her.</p> + +<p>"Both before and after she joined the choir, Alice appeared in amateur +theatricals and in church concerts. She was always applauded and +appreciated, but it was in the character of a soubrette in +'Chantaclara,' a light opera put on at the Coates Opera House by +Professors Maderia and Merrihew, that she created the most decided +sensation. This was but a few weeks before she left Kansas City."</p> + +<p>Miss Nielsen bade farewell to Kansas City in 1892, going away with an +organization that styled itself the Chicago Concert Company, and which +planned to tour the small towns of Kansas and Missouri. This, her +earliest professional experience, ended in disaster, and Miss Nielsen +was stranded in St. Joseph, Missouri, before she had been out a week.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +It was an eventful week, however, and Miss Nielsen vividly recalls it.</p> + +<p>"We got out somewhere in far Missouri," said Miss Nielsen, "with the +thermometer out of sight and hotels heated with gas jets and red +flannel. Nobody had ever heard of us. I don't think that in some of the +towns we struck they'd ever heard anything newer than the 'Maiden's +Prayer,' and that was as much as they wanted. They called me 'the +Swedish Nightingale,' and you can imagine how I felt,—a nightingale in +such a climate, and Swedish at that. But I just sang for all I was worth +and I tried to educate them, too. I sang the 'Angel's Serenade,' and +they didn't like it, because when they tried to whistle it in the +audience, they couldn't. We didn't carry any scenery; we just had a lot +of sheets with us, and used to drape the stage ourselves.</p> + +<p>"One 'hall' we came to, there was no dressing-room, so we strung a sheet +in one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> corner, and some one put a table behind with a lamp on it. The +'ladies of the company' (myself and the contralto) occupied this +improvised dressing-room. Suddenly we discovered that we were +unconsciously treating the audience to a shadow pantomime performance. +There was only one way out of the difficulty,—we women must shield each +other. So I held my skirts out while the contralto dressed, and she did +the same for me.</p> + +<p>"I remember in one place we had managed to excite the hayseeds into +coming to hear us, and the hall was quite full. We were giving a little +operetta. Somehow or other it didn't seem to please the public, and they +were in a mood to be disagreeable,—yes, restless. They wanted their +money's worth; they were mean enough to say so.</p> + +<p>"We held a consultation behind our sheetings, and the tenor suddenly +remembered that once upon a time, when he was a school-boy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> he used to +amuse his comrades with tricks. 'Could he do them now?' we asked. He +would do his best, he said. So he got a wooden table, hammered a nail +into it, bent it a little, and slipped a curtain ring on his finger.</p> + +<p>"The trick was to lift the table with the palm of the hand, the ring and +nail being invisible. Just in the middle of the trick the nail broke. +Well, I believe that audience was ready to mob us. The bass, seeing the +situation, made a dive for the money in the front of the house, and we +escaped. It was a packed house, too. There must have been as much as +eight dollars."</p> + +<p>"Did you ever have to walk?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed. We walked eight miles once to a town,—snowballed each +other all the way. It was lots of fun. When we got there the local paper +had an advance notice something like this: 'We are informed that "the +Swedish Nightingale" and others intend to give a show in the schoolhouse +to-night.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> Any one who pays money to go to their show will be sorry for +it.'</p> + +<p>"The local manager, an Irishman, asked us to sing a little piece for him +when we arrived. After we had done so, he said he had never heard +anything so bad in all his life. As to the nightingale, he would give +her three dollars to sing ballads, but the rest of the troupe were +beneath contempt. His language was a dialect blue that was awful. I tell +you it was hard luck singing in Missouri."</p> + +<p>In St. Joseph Miss Nielsen was fortunate enough to secure an engagement +to sing in a condensed version of the opera "Penelope" at the Eden +Musée. She received seventy-five dollars for her services, and this +money paid the railroad fares of herself and some of the members of the +defunct concert company to Denver, Colorado. There her singing attracted +the attention of the manager of the Pike Opera Company, which she joined +and accompanied to Oakland, California.</p> + +<p>Her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> first part with a professional opera company was that of Yum Yum in +"The Mikado." The Pike Opera Company later played in San Francisco, and +in that city she was heard in "La Perichole" by George E. Lask, the +stage manager of the Tivoli Theatre, which was, and is still, I believe, +given over to opera after the style of Henry W. Savage's various Castle +Square Theatre enterprises in the East. Miss Nielsen was engaged for the +Tivoli Company. She sang any small parts at first, but gradually arose +until she became the prima donna of the organization. In all, she is +said to have sung one hundred and fifty parts at the Tivoli, where she +remained for two years.</p> + +<p>While she was singing Lucia, H. C. Barnabee of The Bostonians, which +organization was then playing in San Francisco, read of her in the +newspapers and went to hear her. The result was the offer of an +engagement, which she accepted. Her first part with The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> Bostonians was +Anita in "The War Time Wedding." Then she was given the small part of +Annabelle in "Robin Hood." She also sang in "The Bohemian Girl" and was +Ninette in "Prince Ananias." The next season she created Yvonne in "The +Serenade," and was the hit of the opera,—so much of a hit, indeed, that +nothing remained for her but to go starring in "The Fortune Teller."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER II</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">VIRGINIA EARLE</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_002.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">VIRGINIA EARLE<br/> +As Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl."</span></p> + +<p>An accomplished and versatile artist is Virginia Earle, who, because of +the variety of her attainments and the grace and finish of her art, is +entitled to rank with the foremost soubrettes on the American stage. +Miss Earle's ability has been tested in many forms of the drama. She has +appeared in light opera, in extravaganza, in musical comedy, and in the +Shakespearian drama. I question if there is another in her line now +before the public who can claim any such extensive experience.</p> + +<p>It would be strange if this diversified endeavor had not had its effect +on her art. In her we find united with a personality of curiously subtle +charm an authority in action that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> is restful and refreshing. In her +presentation of a part there is neither hesitancy nor misplaced +endeavor. She always has command of herself and of the rôle that she is +portraying. One never for a moment feels that she is to the slightest +degree uncertain as regards the effect that she will produce on her +audience. She knows what to do and how to do it.</p> + +<p>Yet, when one stops to think of it, her power over her audience is far +in excess of what one would naturally expect. Miss Earle is by no means +impressive in her stage presence. She cannot be called beautiful. Her +singing voice is a modest instrument, though a wonderfully expressive +one, it must be acknowledged. Her acting is quiet, even unassuming, but +it is also plain, easily comprehended, and always appropriate. She +apparently never does anything to attract attention, yet attention +rarely fails to be centred on her. This, of course, is due to the finish +of her art and a fine technique that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> makes its presence felt by its +seeming absence.</p> + +<p>If Miss Earle cannot justly claim any exceptional advantages in the +matter of physical beauty, she certainly has the greater advantage of an +intensely magnetic personality. Her individuality, too, is thoroughly +distinct. It is one of the paradoxes of acting that the more distinct +the artist's individuality, the greater is his ability to set apart one +from another the characters which he assumes. Miss Earle has this talent +for making each one of her rôles a separate and distinct personage to a +greater degree than any of her associates in the musical field. She does +this, too, in a strictly legitimate way, by impersonation pure and +simple without the aid of make-up.</p> + +<p>I remember especially what entirely different persons were her Mollie +Seamore in "The Geisha" and her Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl," so +different, in fact, that one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> who knew her only in the first part found +it hard to believe for some time that it really was she in the second +part. Those who saw her in "The Geisha" cannot fail to recall the +fascinating, quizzical squint that was continually getting into the +mischievous Mollie's eyes. I know that I liked it so much that when I +saw Miss Earle the next season as Winnifred Grey, the first thing I +looked for was the squint. I was astonished to find that it was not +there, and disappointed, too, for I had always associated the actress in +my own mind with that squint. No sign of it could I perceive until the +last act, when it came suddenly into view while she was singing the song +about the boy with the various kinds of guesses. It gathered around the +corners of her eyes, and it twinkled as merrily as ever. It made me +quite happy again, for I felt that I should not be compelled to revise +my imagination and repicture Miss Earle without the tantalizing squint.</p> + +<p>Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> Earle is a noteworthy example of the long time, the constant +endeavor, and the faithful service that are sometimes required to win +recognition in the important theatrical centres of the country. She had +been many years on the stage before George Lederer finally gave her an +engagement at the New York Casino. That was really the first chance that +she ever had to prove herself something more than a one night stand +favorite, and since that time she has only rarely played outside of New +York.</p> + +<p>This long-delayed recognition was one of the freaks of fortune for which +no one can account. She was apparently one of those unlucky persons who +through no fault of their own start wrong. She was born in the West, in +Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 6, 1873, and it was in the West that she +remained for a number of seasons. Her theatrical career began when she +was very young, and the Home Juvenile Opera Company was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> means of +introducing her to the stage. This was in 1887, and her first part was +Nanki Poo in "The Mikado." Miss Earle also played leading rôles in the +other Gilbert and Sullivan operas then so popular,—"Patience," +"Pinafore," and "The Pirates of Penzance."</p> + +<p>Then she joined the Pike Opera Company and toured the West in a +repertory of the best-known light operas. In San Francisco she was +engaged by Hallen and Hart, the farce comedy team, and remained with +them for two seasons, appearing in "Later On." Her next engagement was +with Edward E. Rice, and under his management she went to Australia. +Three years were spent there, during which time she acted Taggs in "The +County Fair," Gabriel in "Evangeline," Madora in "The Corsair," Dan Deny +in "Cinderella," and Columbia in Rice's "World's Fair."</p> + +<p>On her return to America she was engaged for Charles Hoyt's farce +comedy, "A Hole in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> the Ground," acting the lunch counter girl; and +after a short but successful season with this mess of nonsense she +joined a company under the management of D. W. Truss & Company, playing +"Wang" in the places too small for DeWolf Hopper to visit. For two +seasons with this organization Miss Earle acted Della Fox's famous part +of Mataya. Canary and Lederer of the New York Casino then secured her +services, and under their management she assumed leading parts in "The +Passing Show," "The Merry World," in which she doubled the rôles of +Vaseline and Little Billee, in "Gay New York," and "The Lady Slavey."</p> + +<p>As soon as her contract with the Casino expired, Augustin Daly engaged +her for his musical comedy company, where she succeeded Violet Lloyd as +Mollie Seamore in "The Geisha." Not only did she present this part with +ready skill, but she made a second hit as Flora in "Meg Merrilies."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> Nor +did old comedy daunt her, for as still another Flora, maid to Ada Rehan +in "The Wonder," her work was much praised. She crowned her success by +appearing in Shakespeare, winning new laurels with her Ariel in "The +Tempest." In all these impersonations her readiness in song was of +service, but her vivacity counted for much; and, more than that, her +magnetic influence over her audience, which it is impossible to analyze. +A number of years before, Sarah Bernhardt had taken a fancy to Miss +Earle's Taggs in "The County Fair," and had predicted a future for her. +Notwithstanding this, however, it is not unlikely that Miss Earle +herself would have been incredulous had any one told her a few months +before, while she was playing Prince Rouge et Noir in "Gay New York," +that within a year she would be a principal in Shakespeare at Daly's.</p> + +<p>Dora in "The Circus Girl" and Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl" +followed, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> Miss Earle's conquest of New York was complete. She had +won recognition at last as a soubrette who was an artist as well as a +personality. After Mr. Daly's death Miss Earle returned to the New York +Casino, appearing first as Percy Ethelbert Frederick Algernon +Cholmondely in "The Casino Girl." This part by no means showed her at +her best, although she did fully as well as could be expected with the +material with which she had to work.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER III</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">LILLIAN RUSSELL</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>For many years Lillian Russell held without challenge and without +serious rivalry the first place among light opera prima donnas in this +country. Her triumphs followed one after the other in rapid succession, +and her popularity in all the leading cities in the country—and she +would visit none except leading cities—was remarkable. "Queen of Comic +Opera" she was called; and what a vision of loveliness, she was, to be +sure! the most perfect doll's face on the American stage, as some one +described it. A golden-haired goddess, with big blue eyes that seemed a +bit of June sky, and perfectly rounded cheeks, soft and dimpled like a +baby's.</p> + +<p>There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> are two classes of women in the world,—pretty women, whom we see +everywhere, and beautiful women, about whom we often read, but whom we +seldom see in real life. Lillian Russell was emphatically a beautiful +woman. She was almost an ideal. I remember her in all her perfection as +Florella in "The Brigands," by W. S. Gilbert and Jacques Offenbach, +during the season of 1888-89. Later she learned to act better than she +did in those days,—but then she did not need to act. When one saw her, +he forgot all about acting. He thought of nothing except Lillian +Russell, her extraordinary loveliness of person, and her voice of golden +sweetness. She compelled admiration that was almost personal homage. And +she could sing, too! Her voice, a brilliant soprano, was rich, full, and +complete, liquid in tone, pure and musical.</p> + +<p>From 1888 to 1896 were the days of her greatest successes, and the list +of operas in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> which she appeared during that time is a remarkable one. +Besides "The Brigands," there were "The Queen's Mate," "The Grand +Duchess," "Poor Jonathan," "Apollo," "La Cigale," "Giroflé-Girofla," +"The Mountebanks," "Princess Nicotine," "Erminie," "The Tzigane," "La +Perichole," "The Little Duke," and "An American Beauty." Naturally +enough, the Lillian Russell of to-day is not the Lillian Russell of ten +years ago. Her great beauty has lost some of its freshness, and her +voice, though by no means wholly past its usefulness, is worn by the +years of constant use in the theatre. She still retains to a remarkable +extent, however, her great personal hold on the public. Although the +Lillian Russell of to-day fails to maintain the standard of the Lillian +Russell of yesterday, there are but few light opera sopranos on the +American stage who can fairly rival her even now, and there is no one +who is at present what Lillian Russell was ten years ago.</p> + +<p>Lillian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> Russell was christened Helen Louise Leonard. Tony Pastor gave +her the name of Lillian Russell, for the very practical reason, I +believe, that it had so many "l's" in it, and consequently would look +well on a bill-board. Little Miss Leonard was born in Clinton, Iowa. Her +father was the proprietor and editor of the "Clinton Weekly Herald," and +Lillian Russell's first press notice read as follows: "Born to Mr. and +Mrs. Charles E. Leonard, at their home on Fourth Avenue, December 4, +1861, a bright baby girl, weighing nine and one-half pounds." In spite +of the fact that this birth notice speaks of a high-sounding Fourth +Avenue, Lillian Russell was born in an alley. The house in Clinton, in +which the interesting event occurred, was situated in the rear of the +office building of H. B. Horton, located on Fourth Avenue, between First +and Second streets, and faced east on the alley running north and south +between Third and Fourth avenues. At that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> time the house was situated +almost in the centre of the business section across the street from the +Iowa Central Hotel, then the largest hotel in the state and one of the +finest west of Chicago. Shortly after the baby's birth the Leonard +family removed from their abode on the alley to 408 Seventh Avenue, +immediately in the rear of the Baptist Church, and at that time one of +the finest residences in the town. Here the remainder of their days in +Clinton was spent.</p> + +<p>During the first few years of her life there was nothing to distinguish +Helen Louise Leonard from any other baby; but by the time she was two +years old, she showed the marks of great beauty, having large blue eyes +and golden hair. She was not reared among all the comforts of life. Her +country editor father was not possessed of wealth, but was compelled to +work hard on his prosperous, though none too well-paying newspaper, +every day of his life. During the period of Lillian's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> babyhood, too, +the war forced the prices of luxuries entirely beyond the reach of all +but the rich.</p> + +<p>Lillian inherited her good looks from her father. Charles E. Leonard was +a man of fine appearance, and always dressed in a faultless manner. When +he went to Clinton in 1856 he was probably thirty years of age and +showed plainly the marks of early culture and training. He, too, was a +blond. That he was a man of marked ability is evidenced by the success +he achieved in his profession in what was then a scattering Western +settlement of not half a hundred houses all told, in the midst of a +country unreclaimed and almost wholly unsettled.</p> + +<p>On December 18, 1856, he issued the first number of the "Clinton +Herald," a weekly publication having as competitors two other +well-established newspapers at Lyons, only one mile north in the same +county. There was really no field at Clinton at that time for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> a +newspaper, but Leonard thought otherwise. The panic of 1857 caught the +enterprise in the weakness of infancy; but the paper survived the +financial storm and eventually came forth on the top wave of success, +all of which was undoubtedly due to the excellent business management of +Leonard and the strong personality he threw into his work. When the +general offices of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad were removed to +Chicago in 1865, Mr. Leonard moved the fine job office connected with +the "Herald" to that city, as the nucleus for the extensive printing +establishment he later acquired.</p> + +<p>After the family moved to Chicago, Lillian Russell spent several years +in the Convent of the Sacred Heart in that city. Her first music lessons +were on the violin, and were given by Professor Nathan Dyer. Then she +took vocal lessons from Professor Gill in Chicago. When the time came +for him to show off his pupils, he gave a musicale in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> Chickering Hall. +The fair-haired Lillian sang at this concert "Let Me Dream again" by +Sullivan and "Connais-tu le Pays?" from "Mignon." The papers, of course, +gave her complimentary notices, one declaring that she sang "like an old +professional." Possibly it was this notice that first turned her mind +toward the stage. For some time after that, however, she sang in St. +John's Episcopal Church on the West Side, and studied with Madame +Jennivally, who encouraged her in her ambition to become a grand opera +singer. With the idea of studying for the grand opera stage, she went to +New York to have her voice tried, and she had taken but a few lessons of +the late Dr. Damrosch when Mrs. William E. Sinn persuaded her to join +the chorus of Edward E. Rice's "Pinafore" company for the sake of the +experience on the stage. This connection lasted about two months and was +terminated by her first matrimonial experience, her marriage to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> Harry +Braham, the musical director of the company. She retired from the stage +for a time, but her domestic happiness did not last long. It then became +a matter of necessity for her to get an engagement, and she applied in +vain to such managers as McCaull and D'Oley Carte, who could find +nothing in her voice to warrant them in giving her a chance.</p> + +<p>She finally succeeded in getting a position in a curious way. She was +living in a theatrical boarding-house, and among her fellow-boarders was +a girl who was engaged by Tony Pastor for a specialty act in his +theatre, which at that time was situated on Broadway opposite Niblo's +Garden. While calling at the house one day to complete some business +transactions with this young woman, the variety manager heard Miss +Russell singing in a neighboring room. He asked who she was and said he +wanted to meet her. He did meet her, and at once offered her fifty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +dollars a week to sing ballads at his theatre. Fifty dollars a week was +a good salary in those days, and the following Monday saw the name of +Lillian Russell, "the English ballad singer," described as one of the +leading attractions on the programme.</p> + +<p>"I was very cool and collected up to the time that I heard the first +note of the orchestra," wrote Miss Russell, in describing her first +experience at Pastor's. "From that moment until I had finished my third +song, however, I was practically in a trance. I was told afterward that +I did splendidly, but to this day I cannot tell what occurred after I +went on the stage until I reached my dressing-room and donned my street +clothes."</p> + +<p>She sung with considerable success such well-known songs as "The Kerry +Dance" and "Twickenham Ferry." "The Kerry Dance," in fact, created a bit +of a sensation. It was a style of vocal music quite new at that time in +the variety theatres. When Mr. Pastor introduced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> his stage burlesques +on "Olivette," "The Pirates of Penzance," and other popular operettas, +Miss Russell took part in them, and she also appeared in Pastor's +condensed version of "Patience."</p> + +<p>Then Colonel John A. McCaull enticed Miss Russell away from Mr. Pastor's +by means of a larger salary, and she sang under his management in "The +Snake Charmer" at the Bijou Opera House. Her next engagement was with a +company under the management of Frank Sanger. It was a strong +organization, and some of its members were Willie Edouin, Alice +Atherton, Jacob Kruger, Lena Merville, and Marion Elmore. Its tour +extended straight through the country to California; and the experience +that Miss Russell gained with the distinguished artists of the company +was invaluable to her.</p> + +<p>A season of concert work was followed by her engagement at the New York +Casino, and her appearance in the "The Sorcerer"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> and "The Princess of +Trebizonde." At this period in her career another man interfered, and +the fair Lillian disappeared from the Casino, as did also Edward—they +called him Teddy—Solomon, the leader of the orchestra. The couple went +to England, where they remained two years, Miss Russell appearing in two +operas which Solomon wrote for her,—"Virginia" at the Gaiety Theatre +and "Polly" at the London Novelty Theatre.</p> + +<p>Miss Russell left Solomon when she learned that another woman claimed to +be his wife and returned to the United States. She joined the Duff Opera +Company, with which she remained until May, 1888, when she again resumed +her place at the head of the New York Casino forces, singing first the +Princess in "Nadjy," the part originated by Isabelle Urquhart, when the +opera was first produced in New York. The revival ran for something like +two hundred nights; and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> popular "Nadjy" was succeeded by "The +Brigands," which was also very successful.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_003.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">LILLIAN RUSSELL<br/> +As "The Queen of Brilliants."</span></p> + +<p>The years of her greatest success already referred to then followed. +During the season of 1897-98 Miss Russell appeared with Della Fox and +Jefferson DeAngelis in "The Wedding Day;" and her last appearances in +opera were in April, 1899, in "La Belle Hélène" with Edna Wallace +Hopper. During the season of 1899-1900, Miss Russell was with the Weber +and Fields Company, whose clever burlesques make life in New York so +merry.</p> + +<p>Miss Russell was recently asked which one of the many operas in which +she had appeared was her favorite.</p> + +<p>"'The Grand Duchess,'" she replied emphatically. "That, to my mind, was +one of the best comic operas ever written. Then I had a beautiful part +in 'Giroflé-Girofla' and 'La Perichole,' but 'The Grand Duchess' was my +favorite."</p> + +<p>Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> Russell also described interestingly her methods of working up a +part:—</p> + +<p>"How do I study my parts? Well, every one has his or her own peculiar +idea of study and rehearsal, but the true artist always arrives at the +same result, with the aid of a clever stage manager and musical +conductor. When a part is handed to me, generally six weeks before the +opening night, I read it through carefully, picture myself in different +positions in the several scenes, and then I separate the music from the +dialogue and study the music first. The majority of the operas in which +I have recently appeared are of the French or Viennese school, and in +the translation there will sometimes appear a word or a sentence that +does not harmoniously fit the music. Of course this must be altered +before it is finally committed to memory. Then, again, we are all +inclined to think ourselves wise enough to improve upon the composer's +work, and where a chance is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> found to introduce a phrase to show one's +voice to better advantage, as a rule, the opportunity is not neglected.</p> + +<p>"After I become thoroughly conversant with the music, I take up the +study of the dialogue. This, to a comic opera singer, is the hardest +task of all; for it is written in the blue book that an interpreter of +comic opera cannot act. The desire to overcome this prejudice often has +a disastrous result; and instead of doing justice to the rôle and one's +self, the fear of adverse criticism will be so overpowering that the +delivery of the dialogue, and the attempt to convey the author's idea to +the audience, become extremely painful alike to the auditor and the +artist. A great many times I have formed my own conception of a part +only to find myself entirely in the wrong at the first rehearsal; and +then to undo what I had done and to grasp the new idea would confuse me +for several days."</p> + +<p>To complete the Russell marriage record,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> it should be added that in +January, 1894, during the run of "The Princess Nicotine," she became the +wife of the tenor of the company, Signor Giovanni Perugini, known in +private life as John Chatterton. This marriage also resulted unhappily, +and was followed by a separation and a divorce.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER IV</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">JOSEPHINE HALL</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Josephine Hall soared into a prominence that she had not before enjoyed, +on the screechy strains of "Mary Jane's Top Note" in "The Girl from +Paris" during the season of 1897-98. Previous to that, however, she had +passed through a varied theatrical experience. She was born in +Greenwich, Rhode Island, and came of a very well-known family. Like many +others, she acquired her first taste for the stage by appearing in +amateur theatricals. The story is that she ran away from home to become +an actress, and journeyed to Providence, where she made it known at the +stage door of one of the theatres that she was going to win fame by +treading the boards, or die in the attempt. She was plain "Jo" Hall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +when she made her professional début as Eulalie in "Evangeline" at the +Fourteenth Street Theatre, New York, under the management of Edward E. +Rice.</p> + +<p>After this initial appearance in extravaganza, she forsook the musical +stage entirely until she succeeded Paula Edwardes in the title rôle of +"Mam'selle 'Awkins," although in the farces with which she was +identified for a number of seasons, she usually was given a chance to +introduce one or more comic songs. After she left Mr. Rice, she became a +member of Eben Plympton's "Jack" company. Then she came under Charles +Frohman's management, and was consistently successful in such parts as +Evangeline in "All the Comforts of Home," Jennie Buckthorne in +"Shenandoah," and Katherine Ten Broeck Lawrence in "Aristocracy." The +last two plays, it will be remembered, were by Bronson Howard, and he +once took occasion to remark that Miss Hall came nearer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> meeting his +ideal of the two characters she impersonated than any other actress on +the stage.</p> + +<p>Then came her big hit in "The Girl from Paris," in which she played the +character part of Ruth, the slavey, and sang the ludicrous "Mary Jane's +Top Note." How she happened to hit upon this fantastic conception, she +once related as follows:—</p> + +<p>"I felt that the song would not be a success unless I did something out +of the ordinary. The context of the song indicated a high note, which +was not given in London, so I conceived the notion of giving a high +screech at the climax, which proved to be just what it needed. It was a +difficult song to render effectively, as it had to be spoken almost +entirely; and as I have a very good ear for music, I found it difficult +to keep from singing. The high note had to be off key to make it more +ridiculous. I couldn't have sung the song for any length of time, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +the strain would have injured my speaking voice."</p> + +<p>During the first half of the season of 1899-1900, Miss Hall was the +Praline in "The Girl from Maxim's,"—a French farce, undeniably dirty, +but funny to those not saturated to the point of boredom with the +foreign variety of low comedy, which has all the marks of being +manufactured to order. It is farce which drives the spectator +breathlessly along the road of hilarity by means of a rapidly moving +series of mechanically conceived situations. "The Girl from Maxim's" was +bluntly suggestive and crudely salacious, as are all these off-color +French farces which are turned into English, but it was also bright and +ingenious in its machine-like way, and it was in addition very well +acted.</p> + +<p>Whatever patronage "The Girl from Maxim's" gained outside of New +York—and it made money, so I have understood, both in Boston and +Philadelphia—was given it, not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> because it was audacious, but solely on +its merits as an entertainment. It has been shown time and time again +that a farce, which is only salacious and nothing more, cannot live on +the road. "The Turtle," which was boomed as the smuttiest thing that +ever was, but which was also stupid and inane, never earned a dollar +outside of New York. "Mlle. Fifi," which was both dirty and boresome, +had a similar experience. "The Cuckoo," whose suggestiveness was much +exploited, but whose only merits were an exceedingly smart last act and +a very fine cast, was only mildly patronized. On the other hand, +"Because She Loved Him So," a delightful farce and innocent enough for +Sunday-school presentation, enjoyed two seasons of prosperity and kept +two different companies of players employed. "At the White Horse +Tavern," another fresh and unsmirched farce, also had a prosperous run.</p> + +<p>No, whatever success attended "The Girl<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> from Maxim's" was rather in +spite of, instead of traceable to, its filth. It had merit as a +mirth-maker. Its spirit was unflagging, its ingenuity amazing, and its +character studies capable. There was not a suspicion of a drag until a +few minutes before the final curtain, when the indefatigable author, +George Feydeau, seemed suddenly to lose his breath.</p> + +<p>Josephine Hall's Praline, with all her doubtful morals and her +questionable freedom of speech and action, was an exceedingly attractive +young woman. She bubbled with merriment, and never for a moment was she +to the slightest extent worried even in the midst of the most +bewildering complications. Her unfailing good humor was really the +backbone of the play.</p> + +<p>Indeed, the faculty of making black appear white seems to be something +of a specialty with Miss Hall, who has exuberance of spirits without +vulgarity or coarseness, and whose unconventionality has coupled with it +refinement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> and inherent delicacy. Her jollity is whole-souled without +harshness. Hers is the witchery of personality joined to an art that is +authoritative and complete in its own sphere.</p> + +<p>"Mam'selle 'Awkins" was an indifferent conglomeration of old stage jokes +and tinkling music. That it should have succeeded at all was an odd +chance, but that it should have entertained Philadelphia for so many +weeks was indeed a mystery. Honorah 'Awkins was a Cockney, who, with a +fortune acquired in the soap trade, was on the hunt for a titled +husband. This was the plot. The part of Honorah was created by Paula +Edwardes, who took her work rather seriously and went in for a touch of +artistic character drawing. Miss Hall did not trouble herself much about +imitating nature. She relied wholly on her ability to give her audience +a good time. She played Mam'selle 'Awkins in a dazzling red wig and a +complexion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> that suggested an hour or two over the kitchen stove, or +better still, considering the antecedents of the fair Honorah, over the +scrubbing board. Neither did Miss Hall go very heavily into the Cockney; +she suggested rather than reproduced, and then fell back on her powers +as a fun-maker to win out with her audiences.</p> + +<p>For her, this method filled the bill perfectly. Of course, we knew from +previous experience that Miss Hall was a capable actress in the +hurricane variety of farce, but she did not draw heavily on that side of +her artistic equipment in "Mam'selle 'Awkins." She went in head over +heels to be as entertaining as possible with the materials at +hand,—which, it must be confessed, were not over abundant—and with +whatever else she herself could devise. She walked the tight-rope of +vulgarity with marvellous expertness, and because she was Josie Hall, +one laughed instead of turning up his nose.</p> + +<p>In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> spite of the fact that she has been continually called upon to play +all sorts of impossible foreigners, Miss Hall's humor is essentially the +humor of the average American. It is fun straight out from the shoulder +with the laugh just enough hidden to make it all the more enjoyable when +it is discovered. It is not the heavy punning variety so mysteriously +popular with the Englishman, nor the <i>double entendre</i> of the Frenchman.</p> + +<p>Though she may act Cockneys and French grisettes to the end of the +chapter, Miss Hall will always be what she was born,—a jolly American +girl. And this suggests a brilliant idea,—one that may be novel to +those who up to date have had her artistic fate in their hands. Why not +give Miss Hall a chance to play the girl next door? Why scour Europe for +a human specimen which only warps a personality that belongs right here +at home? Try her once in a character—farcical naturally—that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> has some +native stuff in it. Let her show us a girl whom we know first-hand as +the genuine article. I think that the result would be a surprise for +somebody.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER V</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">MABELLE GILMAN</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_004.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">MABELLE GILMAN<br/> +In "The Casino Girl."</span></p> + + +<p>Very much in evidence in the unusually strong and brilliant cast, even +for the New York Casino, that lent its assistance to such good purpose +in bringing into popular favor during the season of 1899-1900 that +really amusing as well as highly colored vaudeville, "The Rounders," was +Mabelle Gilman,—a young woman whose stage experience has been short, +but whose histrionic and musical talent, remarkable beauty, winsome +personality, and artistic temperament would seem to make comparatively +safe the prophecy of an especially rosy future. Miss Gilman has two most +valuable qualities that are many times lacking in girls who enter the +musical field,—strength of character and will power. One<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> has only to +see her on the stage to be convinced that she is not one that will be +content to drift willy-nilly with the tide on the calm sea of +self-satisfaction and unambitious gratification.</p> + +<p>Equipped, as I am sure she is, with a serious art purpose, and richly +endowed, as I know that she is, with so much that brings success in the +theatre, her reputation will not long be confined, as is at present the +case, to the comparatively narrow limits of two or three of the most +important theatrical centres.</p> + +<p>Indeed, when one considers her youth—she is not yet twenty years +old—and the few seasons that she has been before the public, Miss +Gilman's advancement has been little short of phenomenal. Although she +was born and educated in San Francisco, the professional labors that +have won for her her present position in musical comedy have been +entirely confined to New York, with the exception of a single short +engagement in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> Boston and another in London. This has been, on the +whole, a fortunate circumstance, for it has undoubtedly kept her keyed +up to her best endeavor, and it has also saved her from the +energy-dissipating fatigue of constant travel, and the artistic inertia +resulting from long association with a single part. On the other hand, +it has unquestionably limited her reputation, and also deprived her of +the lessons to be learned from acting before all sorts and conditions of +humanity. The New York public is oddly provincial in its narrow +self-sufficiency, but, worse than that, it has in a highly developed +form the sheep instinct of follow-my-leader. It is both faddish and +freakish, and on that account its judgments are not always to be trusted +and its influence is sometimes to be deplored.</p> + +<p>New York is a wonderfully amusing city—to the outsider who watches its +antics from a safe distance. It has the atmosphere of an excessively +nervous woman, watching apprehensively<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> a mouse-hole; it is constantly +on the verge, occasionally in the very midst of, hysteria. It enjoys no +intellectual calm, no quiet repose, no philosophical serenity. It is +always gaping widely for a sensation, real or manufactured, eager as the +child who is all eyes for the toy-balloon man in the Fourth of July +crowd. Many times has this hysterical tendency moulded the affairs of +the theatres in New York, and for that reason New York's judgment can be +by no means the all in all to the country at large. A New York +reputation, which means so much to the average man and woman connected +with the stage in this country, may result in a temporarily inflated +salary, but it does not necessarily promise long-continued success. Far +from it! New York, after all, is merely a centre, not the centre, as the +dwellers within its walls are firmly convinced is the case. It is not +London monopolizing the whole of Great Britain, and it is not Paris,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> by +common consent the privileged representative of France.</p> + +<p>In the case of Miss Gilman, however, the judgment of New York is fully +justifiable. Rarely lovely as she is,—a perfect brunette type, black +hair, black eyes, and expressive face,—she does not rely on her beauty, +nor on the attractiveness of her personality for success; she is an +actress as well. It should be understood that the spoken drama and the +musical drama are two different things. The ideal of the first is to +create an impression of naturalness and fidelity to nature. It has its +conventions, but they are every one of them evils, which are continually +being uprooted by the combined intelligence of the dramatist, the actor, +and the theatre-goer. Conventions, on the other hand, are the very life +of the musical drama, which is in its whole scheme a travesty on nature +and a violation of dramatic art. The musical drama is art purposely +artificial. Consequently, while the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> actor in the spoken drama strives +to the best of his ability for sincerity and conviction, and feels that +he has attained the highest when he causes the spectator of his mock +frenzy to forget absolutely that the emotion engendered is only a wilful +simulation of the genuine article, the actor in the musical comedy is +purposely and frankly artificial. He is limited to presenting the symbol +without in the least striving for deception.</p> + +<p>It is the quality of inherent insincerity that makes anything +approaching sentiment dangerous in the musical drama. The highly +dramatic and the essentially farcical can be utilized in this form of +stage representation with equal facility; but when the musical drama +approaches the comedy field of the spoken drama, it begins at once to +tread on dangerous ground. For this reason Miss Gilman's greatest +achievement in "The Rounders" was the remarkable success with which she +accomplished the formidable task of mixing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> sentiment into a musical +comedy. Her rôle of the little Quakeress married out of hand to a +sportive Frenchman really had an element of pathos in it,—a hint of +pathos, as it were, not enough to be ridiculous, but just enough to add +a touch of human interest and character contrast to the picture, and +thus to make Priscilla something more than a lay figure in a popular +vaudeville.</p> + +<p>There was art in the characterization, the art of the sensitive and +essentially feminine woman, and this art appealed strongly to the +chivalrous side of man's nature; he felt at once the instinctive desire +to protect this woman so remarkably impressive in her feminine way. So +modest, so demure, so innocent, and so altogether appropriate was the +quiet gray of the Quakeress gown worn by Miss Gilman, that the sight of +her later on in the bathing suit that would not, perhaps, have caused +much comment at Newport, was a distinct shock, while the dance that +went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> with the bathing costume song—a dance of many boneless bendings +and gymnastic kicks and contortionist feats—was only believed as a fact +because it was seen. Theoretically, one would be justified in claiming +that Miss Gilman never danced it.</p> + +<p>Moreover, according to all precedents, this astonishing exhibition +should have destroyed at once and forever all the sentiment in Miss +Gilman's Quakeress, but, as a matter of fact, it did nothing of the +kind. When she resumed her quiet gray, she was again the same winsome, +pathetic, in-need-of-protection little thing as before. A paradox such +as this is only explainable in one way: the perpetrator of it knows how +to act and is something more than a prettily decorated bit of +personality.</p> + +<p>Another surprise, which Miss Gilman has in store for those who pass +judgment regarding her complete artistic equipment at first sight of her +face, is her singing voice. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> know that I expected to hear the +plaintive, faint, and indefinite piping that goes with so many girlishly +innocent soubrettes. It proved, however, a full and satisfying soprano, +rich and mellow, a soprano which did not make holes in the atmosphere on +the top notes. She has had the advantage of instruction in singing from +Mr. George Sweet of New York, who is justly proud of his pupil.</p> + +<p>While Miss Gilman was a student at Mills College in San Francisco, +Augustin Daly heard her recite, and was sufficiently impressed with her +ability to offer her a place in his New York company. She lost no time +in coming East and at once signed with Mr. Daly for a term of five +years. His death occurred before this contract had expired, and it was +thus that it happened that Miss Gilman was free to join George W. +Lederer's forces at the Casino in New York.</p> + +<p>While under the management of Mr. Daly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> Miss Gilman played in "The +Tempest" and "The Merchant of Venice." Her Jessica in the latter drama +was an exquisitely charming bit, and received the especial commendation +of Mr. Daly. Of the Daly musical comedy productions she appeared in "The +Geisha," "The Circus Girl," "La Poupée," and "A Runaway Girl." +Priscilla, in "The Rounders," was her first part at the Casino, and +during the spring of 1900 she was one of the prominent features in "The +Casino Girl," a Harry B. Smith product. The fineness of Miss Gilman's +art as shown in this work was thus commented on:—</p> + +<p>"The production brings distinctly to the front Miss Mabelle Gilman, one +of the most conscientious young actresses on the stage. Miss Gilman's +work shows that she is a careful student of her art. Everything is done +by method, and yet with such ease and naturalness that one might imagine +it was play and no work. Miss Gilman has a sweet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> well-cultivated +voice, and uses it apparently without effort, but to the greatest +advantage."</p> + +<p>Miss Gilman's experience at the Casino has developed in her an +appreciation of comedy and a quiet vein of humor that she had not +previously shown.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER VI</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">FAY TEMPLETON</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_005.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">FAY TEMPLETON<br/> +Singing the "Coon" Song, "My Tiger Lily."</span></p> + + +<p>Born almost literally in the theatre, and cradled as a baby in a +champagne wardrobe basket, a full-fledged "professional" at the tender +age of three years, it would have been marvellous, indeed, if Fay +Templeton had become anything else except an actress. When I heard these +tales of Fay Templeton's life in the nursery period of her +existence,—stories of how she had often slept in the dressing-room +while her mother, Alice Vane, died nightly in the leading rôle of some +old-time tragedy, of the nights and the days of travel, of all the +nerve-racking hardships that made up the weary, weary life of the actor +"on the road,"—I was strongly reminded of the early life of Minnie +Maddern Fiske.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> Both were children of the theatre; and forthwith we who +are not children of the theatre exclaim, how pathetic that is! So they +seem to me, I must confess, these children without homes and without +companions of their own age, knowing nothing of the pleasure of +quarrelling and making up again, children whom one never thinks of as +young, and yet who cannot really be old, brought up as they are in the +indescribable and contradictory atmosphere that is characteristic of the +stage, an atmosphere of hypocrisy and simple-mindedness, of contemptible +smallness of spirit and self-sacrificing generosity, of petty +spitefulness and frank good fellowship, of foolish jealousies and +whole-souled democracy. With all their artificiality, superficiality, +and self-sufficiency, I think that there is, on the whole, more +frankness, sincerity, and honest selfishness among stage folks than +among any other class of society. In certain respects, actors are in +their relations with one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> another far less the actor than are many +persons who are not supposed to act at all.</p> + +<p>A strange thing must life seem to the child of the theatre, when he gets +old enough to think about it. He looks upon the world topsy-turvy, as it +were. The serious things of his life are the frivolities of the +work-a-day world, and the viewpoint of these work-a-days must be a +constant source of perplexity to him. He must wonder, for instance, why +they go to the theatre at all, why they are so foolish as to spend +money, which is such a rare and precious thing, to behold the +commonplace and dreary business of play-acting. How he, the pitied one +of the world of homes and domesticated firesides, in his turn must pity +those easily beguiled individuals who practise theatre-going! How he +must smile ironically at their sophisticated innocence and be even +shocked at their unaccountable ignorance! Thus it happens that he pities +us because we have illusions about things that he knows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> are the crudest +delusions, and we pity him because he lives a life so far apart from +ours that we can see nothing in it but hardship and unhappiness. We of +the homes waste our tears on him who feels no need of a home, who, +contented with his lot and glorying in his freedom, scorns publicly the +narrow monotony of a seven <span class="smcap">A.M.</span> to six <span class="smcap">P.M.</span> with an hour off for +luncheon at noon existence. Which is right? Both—and neither.</p> + +<p>But to return to Fay Templeton and Mrs. Fiske. Miss Templeton made her +first appearance on the stage when she was three years old, dressed as a +Cupid and singing fairy songs. Mrs. Fiske began even younger, and she, +too, was a singer. Arrayed in a Scotch costume of her mother's making, +she piped in a shrill treble between the tragedy and the farce a ballad +about "Jamie Coming over the Meadow." After this infantile experiment, +however, Mrs. Fiske forsook the lyric stage practically for good and +all,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> although she did at one time play Ralph Rackstraw in Hooley's +Juvenile Pinafore Company. Miss Templeton, on the other hand, clung +faithfully to opera and the allied forms of theatrical entertainment, +particularly that branch known as burlesque, in which she was and still +is an adept without a compare. The nearest that she ever came to being +identified with what player-folk delight to call the "legitimate" was +when at the age of seven years she played Puck in Augustin Daly's +production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Grand +Opera House in New York. This was considered a remarkable impersonation, +especially for a child of seven, and it received the special +commendation of Mr. Daly himself. Miss Templeton's success at so +youthful an age was, to be sure, most unusual, but it was by no means +inexplicable, if one only knew that she had had, even at that time, four +years' experience on the stage, and that she had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> starred, principally +throughout the West and South, at the head of a company managed by her +father, John Templeton.</p> + +<p>The generalization that infant stage prodigies never amount to anything +has fully as great a percentage of truth in its favor as any other +generalization, but there are occasional exceptions. Mrs. Fiske, already +referred to, was one; Della Fox was another; and Fay Templeton was a +third, and possibly the most remarkable case of all. Mrs. Fiske at least +had the advantage of the intellectual training of the classic drama, and +Della Fox, after her precocious success as a child, was kept faithfully +at school for a number of years by stern parental authority; but Fay +Templeton during her childhood was continually associated—with the +possible exception of Puck—with the lightest and frothiest in the +theatrical business. More than that she was at the head of the company, +the star, the praised and petted. Whoever saved her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> from herself and +the disastrous results of childish self-conceit is entitled to the +greatest credit.</p> + +<p>After her hit in New York in "A Midsummer's Night's Dream," Miss +Templeton travelled to San Francisco with her father and James A. Herne. +There she became a prima donna in miniature, and charmed the +Californians, especially by her imitations of the prominent grand opera +and comic opera artists of the day. Her San Francisco experience was +followed by her appearance at Niblo's Garden, New York, as Parepa Rosa, +Aimée, and Lucca. The next half-a-dozen years were spent principally in +the South, where she starred in a repertory of which her Puck in "A +Midsummer's Night's Dream" was the chief feature.</p> + +<p>Fay Templeton was fifteen years old when she became a recognized light +opera star of national reputation. She was the original in this country +and the best-known Bettina in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> "The Mascotte," and she also appeared in +"Giroflé-Girofla." For two years she played Gabriel, which was created +by Eliza Weatherby, one of the most beautiful of the Lydia Thompson +burlesquers, in "Evangeline," and she was also in the revival of "The +Corsair."</p> + +<p>At the Fourteenth Street Theatre, New York, in August, 1890, after a +period of absence from the stage, Miss Templeton brought out the +burlesque called "Hendrick Hudson; or, The Discovery of Columbus," by +Robert Frazer and William Gill. This told an imaginary story of the +meeting, at the El Dorado Spring in Florida, of Columbus lost on his +third expedition to America, and Hudson. It was not an unfruitful theme +for burlesque treatment, but the work itself was poorly put together, +disconnected, and prone to drag. Neither was Miss Templeton herself all +that could be desired. She was apparently in a state of transition. She +had lost the roguish girlishness that made her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> Gabriel so charming, and +she had not yet learned to give free rein to the rich individuality and +the unctuous humor that are so characteristic of her work at the present +time. No dramatic critic would say to-day, as was said at that time, of +the production of "Hendrik Hudson," that "it must be written, in +reluctant sorrow, that Miss Templeton was not sufficient in talent nor +in charm to lead a burlesque company to great success." Miss Templeton +was not seen again, after the short and inglorious career of "Hendrik +Hudson," until she brought out "Mme. Favart" during the season of +1893-94.</p> + +<p>The piece that re-established her in public favor, however, was +"Excelsior, Jr.;" New York, in particular, finding her impersonation of +the up-to-date young man about town very much to its liking. After she +joined the Weber and Fields organization in New York and unexpectedly +shone forth as a marvellously entrancing interpreter of "coon" songs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +she clinched her hold on the public with which she is now an established +favorite.</p> + +<p>During the season of 1899-1900 Fay Templeton was identified with those +two gorgeous productions, "The Man in the Moon" and "Broadway to Tokio," +besides taking a flyer into vaudeville, where she first brought out her +wonderful imitation of Fougère, the French chanteuse. In shows like "The +Man in the Moon" and "Broadway to Tokio" one is expected to have nothing +with him except the two senses of sight and hearing. It is the +spectator's part to take what comes—and it is supposed to come +constantly and rapidly—simply for the sake of the moment's fun that +there may be in it. His cue is to laugh at the stage jokes of the +hard-worked comedians, and to be dazzled into a semi-hypnotic state by +the dancing women posturing amid marvellous effects of light and color. +They are eminently entertainments to be felt and not thought about. One<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +is constantly receiving new impressions, and just as constantly +forgetting all about them. The result is that after the shows are all +over, one is surprised to find that from the mass of material he has +retained no one impression distinctly. He remembers only flashes here +and there.</p> + +<p>One figure, however, was revealed by each and every one of these memory +flashes,—that of Fay Templeton, whose wonderful versatility as an +entertainer, and whose pure virtuosity as an artist, both of them given +free rein in these spectacles, raised her head and shoulders above her +associates in the two casts.</p> + +<p>In "The Man in the Moon" there was nothing else that evidenced half the +art shown in her singing of the ditty "I Want a Filipino Man." It was, +it is true, a fearfully suggestive study of elemental human passion, a +song of hot blood and crude, unblushing animalism. But it was +wonderfully well done,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> and the swing of its rhythmic sensuality was not +to be resisted.</p> + +<p>Two things that Fay Templeton did in "Broadway to Tokio" I recall with +especial vividness. One was her treatment of the cake-walk, commonly a +prosaic, athletic exhibition of increasing boredom. She evolved from the +conventional prancing of the gay soubrette a dance whose appeal to the +imagination was intense, a dance into which might be read many meanings. +Her cake-walk was the embodiment of languorous grace and the acme of +sensuous charm. It breathed an atmosphere of tropical indolence. It +suggested the lazy enjoyment of the cool of the evening after a long day +of hot, fierce summer sunshine, the time when one dreams idly of fleshly +delights. It was a dance teeming with passion, passion quiescent, which +a breath would fan into a blaze.</p> + +<p>Miss Templeton's second remarkable achievement was her imitation of +Fougère,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> or, better still, her impersonation of Fougère. It is +difficult to describe intelligently just the effect of Miss Templeton's +art in this specialty. It was not a photographic copy of the external +Fougère; it was rather a reproduction of the Fougère personality. +Indeed, she pictured only with indifferent fidelity the Fougère +mannerisms, but she placed before one, with almost uncanny accuracy, the +Fougère individuality and the Fougère stage appeal.</p> + +<p>It was, in fact, acting as distinguished from mimicking. Fay Templeton +literally represented Fougère as she might a dramatist's imaginary +personage. Temperamentally, Miss Templeton does not in the remotest way +suggest Fougère. The French woman, indeed, is just what Fay Templeton is +not. She is thin, she is nervous with a champagne sparkle, and she is +perpetually and restlessly vivacious in her artificial French way. Fay +Templeton is not thin, and her personality is far away<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> from +nervousness. Where Fougère would worry herself half to death, Fay +Templeton would insist on solid comfort and plenty of time to think, +even a chance to sleep, over the vexing problem. One pictures Fay +Templeton as passing her leisure moments in the luxurious embrace of a +thickly wadded couch piled high with the softest of pillows. Nor is hers +the champagne temperament,—rather that of rich and mellow old Madeira, +a wine of substance, of delicate aroma and of fruity flavor, which does +not immediately bubble itself into a state of insipidness.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER VII</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">MADGE LESSING</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_006.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">MADGE LESSING.</span></p> + + +<p>Madge Lessing had been on the stage a number of years before she +suddenly sprang full into the illuminating power of the limelight of +publicity as the principal part of the astonishing success of that +alluring beauty show, "Jack and the Beanstalk." At that time everybody +made the discovery that no one knew exactly who she was, and Miss +Lessing has succeeded even to this day in shrouding her early life in +mystery. This much is known,—that she ran away from home to go on the +stage. She came to the United States from London about 1890 and became a +chorus girl at Koster and Bial's in New York. She remained in that +humble position only a week, being promoted at one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> step to the title +rôle in the burlesque, "Belle Hélène." Her next engagement was with the +Solomon Opera Company, and this was followed by her appearance in "The +Passing Show" and "The Whirl of the Town."</p> + +<p>As far as the casual theatre-goer was concerned, however, she did not +exist until the Klaw and Erlanger production of "Jack and the +Beanstalk." This extravaganza, like "1492," also the work of R. A. +Barnet, was first brought out by the First Corps of Cadets of Boston, +and it is still counted the greatest success that this brilliant troupe +of amateurs ever had. In the Cadet performances the principals and +chorus were all men, and naturally this order of things was changed when +the extravaganza passed over into the professional hands. Otherwise it +was given practically in its original form.</p> + +<p>Mr. Barnet struck a veritable gold mine when he hit upon the idea of +dramatizing Mother Goose. "Jack" was his first ploughing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> of this field, +and although he has worked it often since, he has not yet succeeded in +getting from the old ground another crop so exactly suited to the +popular taste. Mr. Barnet undoubtedly got his general scheme from the +annual London pantomimes. His work was loosely constructed, and his +lines were not all of them of the kind that readily cross the +footlights. His wit, while wholly conventional, was also a trifle +involved. It did not sparkle. His situations, on the other hand, were +effective, and especially were they adaptable to expansion under the +gentle administration of a stage manager with an eye for light and color +and pleasing groupings. In the process of development the spectacular +qualities of "Jack and the Beanstalk" came prominently into the +foreground, while the literary qualities—a purely descriptive phrase, +which in this connection gracefully designates a condition without +stating a fact—were lost in the midst of the substitutions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> by players +with specialties. The stage wit of actors has one advantage over that of +writers of dialogue; it may not be analyzed, it may be utterly inane on +examination, but it does crackle for the moment. In fact, it exists only +because it crackles.</p> + +<p>Thus "Jack and the Beanstalk" became in the course of its evolution the +conventional spectacular extravaganza of theatrical commerce, of which +Mr. Barnet was the sponsor rather than the creator. It was also, at the +time of its production, a marvellous exploitation of feminine +loveliness, and the especial gem of the great array was the bewildering +vision of physical perfection, Madge Lessing, in the principal boy's +part of Jack. No great amount of histrionic talent was demanded of her, +for her success depended, not so much on what she did as how she looked.</p> + +<p>Madge Lessing then and there established herself as the exception that +proved the rule. I confess that I usually find the woman in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> tights a +decided disillusionment. Instead of making a subtle and seductive appeal +to the imagination, she is a prosaic fact; interesting, possibly, as an +anatomical study, she loses in a peculiar way the fascinations of the +feminine gender. When tights enter into the problem, there is a vast +difference between the womanly woman and the womanish woman. The first +is a rare and, I may also add, a pure delight. The second is merely an +embarrassment.</p> + +<p>Miss Lessing belonged, in "Jack and the Beanstalk," to the class of +womanly women. She was as femininely alluring amid the bald disclosures +of unblushing fleshings as amid the tantalizing exasperations of +swishing draperies. Her beauty was exuberant, voluptuous, +pulse-stirring,—a laughing, happy face, crowned and encircled with +tangled masses of dark brown hair, which made her head almost too large, +to be sure, though size counted for little amid the ravishments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> of +sparkling eyes and kissable dimples that danced in and out on either +cheek.</p> + +<p>Miss Lessing walked through this part of Jack—walking through was all +that was demanded of her—with a pretty unaffectedness that met all +requirements, and she sang with a voice of considerable sweetness, but +of no great power. Still, she has in a mild, inoffensive way some small +ability as an actress. This was shown in "A Dangerous Maid" and in "The +Rounders," which followed her engagement in that failure imported from +London, "Little Red Riding Hood," which was brought out in Boston just +before Christmas, 1899.</p> + +<p>In "The Rounders" Miss Lessing succeeded Mabelle Gilman as Priscilla +during the run of that brisk vaudeville at the Columbia Theatre, Boston. +It is a thankless task, that of successorship which results inevitably +in direct comparisons, but Miss Lessing met the test surprisingly well. +Without Miss Gilman's strength of personality and less apparent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> art, +Miss Lessing indicated with unmistakable correctness the sentimental +atmosphere of prudish modesty, which represents Priscilla as a dramatic +character. With memories of "Jack and the Beanstalk"—they seem +inevitable where Miss Lessing is concerned—one was a little bewildered +at Priscilla's embarrassment in her ballet costume during the scene in +Thea's dressing-room. This bewilderment was due to Miss Lessing's +inability to impersonate. She is always Madge Lessing acting,—never +Madge Lessing identified with another and wholly different personality; +and at the sight of Madge Lessing embarrassed because she wore tights, +one had a right to be bewildered.</p> + +<p>During the Spring of 1900 Miss Lessing also appeared in the title rôle +of "The Lady Slavey" when that musical farce was revived in Boston.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER VIII</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">JESSIE BARTLETT DAVIS</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The name and fame of Jessie Bartlett Davis are linked inseparably with +the history of that prominent light opera organization, The Bostonians, +with which she was connected for ten years, and from which she resigned +during the summer of 1899. If the proprietors of The Bostonians had ever +acknowledged that it were possible for any one to be a star in their +troupe, that star would have been Mrs. Davis. To be sure, tradition +would have been violated by such a procedure, for Mrs. Davis is a +contralto, and tradition decrees that a soprano shall be the only woman +star in opera. The composer naturally conceives his heroine as a +soprano. In fact, his heroine must be a soprano in order that he may +invent brilliants for her to sing. You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> cannot do that sort of thing for +the mellow-toned contralto, and consequently she is never the centre of +feminine interest. When a composer needs a contralto for a quartette or +something of that kind, he usually puts her in tights and calls her a +man, gets her as little involved in the plot as possible, gives her some +heart-throbbing songs and uses her voice effectively for padding in the +choruses, where the high notes of his heroine soprano shine like +diamonds.</p> + +<p>There is, however, one seriously practical reason for the neglect of the +contralto, Sopranos, good, bad, and indifferent, are almost as common as +piano-players, but contraltos—even bad and indifferent contraltos—are +rare enough to be noted when found; while contraltos that vocally are +entitled to rank with the best light opera sopranos are so uncommon it +is not strange that no one thought it worth while to write operas +especially for them.</p> + +<p>When<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> one does find such a contralto, he hears a quality of tone that is +charged with sympathetic appeal. Where the soprano is sparkling, the +contralto is thrilling. Where the soprano is vivacious, happy, +delighting in the sunshine, the contralto is fervid, passionate, and +throbbing with sentiment. In Mrs. Davis's case, with the voice is also +united an attractive personality and comely face and figure, as well as +no mean gifts as an actress. Mrs. Davis's natural voice is a magnificent +instrument, but whether she made as much of it as she might, especially +in later years, is a question. A large voice carries with it its +responsibilities. The singer, with vast resources at his command, finds +it so easy to make an impression on the unmusicianly auditor merely by +letting the big voice go, to win applause by making a tremendous volume +of sound, that one need not be surprised to discover in such a singer a +growing tendency toward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> broad and somewhat coarse effects and a +lessening appreciation of delicacy, of light and shade, of phrasing, and +of the finer variations of expression.</p> + +<p>However, if Mrs. Davis has made such a criticism not altogether +undeserved, it is equally true that she has never permitted +herself—even after her performances of Alan-a-Dale in "Robin Hood" +passed the two-thousandth mark—to become wholly a victim of musical +charlatanism, which in the "Robin Hood" instance just cited would not +only have been excusable but was wellnigh unavoidable. She has never +been forgetful of the art of interpretation and of expression, and by +means of her beautiful voice she has kept herself well in the lead among +the light opera contraltos.</p> + +<p>Sympathy in a contralto is a prime essential. She must appeal to the +heart with her rich, pulsating tones. It is not her province to +electrify by vocal gymnastics; she is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> conveyer of emotion. If this +emotion be true and honest and sincere, then the singer brings a message +that enriches, ennobles, and broadens; if, on the other hand, the +emotion be false and artificial, the singer, however admirable her art +in other respects, fails lamentably in a most important particular. The +highest praise that can be given Mrs. Davis is that she has rarely +failed to impress her audiences with the truth and sincerity of the +emotion inspired by her music.</p> + +<p>Jessie Bartlett Davis was born in Morris, Illinois, a little town not +far from Chicago, in 1866. She came from good New England stock, her +parents having moved to Illinois from Keene, New Hampshire, where her +father was the school-teacher, the leader of the church choir, and the +instructor in music to the few persons in the town who cared to employ +him in that capacity. One day he fell in love with a seventeen-year-old +miss, who applied to him for a position as school-teacher,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> and shortly +after married her. The Bartlett family was a large one,—four girls and +four boys, besides Jessie, who might be called the pivot of the family, +three of the boys being older and three of the girls younger than she. +It is interesting to know, too, that during the Civil War Mrs. Davis's +father enlisted and served his time as a soldier.</p> + +<p>There was no spare money in this household to spend on a musical +education for Jessie Bartlett, who began to sing almost before she could +talk. When she could scarcely toddle, she would climb on the stool +before the old-fashioned melodeon, strike away at the notes of the +instrument with her tiny fists, and sing at the top of her voice. Her +father taught her all that he knew about music, and by the time that she +was twelve years old, she was the leading spirit in every musical event +in the town. Her voice was something tremendous,—"loud enough to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> drive +every one out of the schoolhouse when I opened my mouth," according to +her own statement. In fact, she was at that time chiefly concerned about +the amount of noise that she could make, and she used her big voice at +the fullest extent, habitually and wilfully drowning out anybody who +dared to join in the singing when she was present. She sang in the +church choir, and wherever else there was any one to listen to her.</p> + +<p>Finally, when she was fifteen years old, she became a member of Mrs. +Caroline Richings Bernard's "Old Folks'" Concert Company at a salary of +seven dollars a week, and her voice, even then, uncultivated as it was, +attracted considerable attention. When the troupe disbanded in 1876, she +returned to her home in Morris. Next she was given an engagement to sing +in the Church of the Messiah in Chicago, and the whole family moved to +that city with her. While singing in church, she also studied with Fred +Root,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> son of George F. Root, the composer of many popular ballads.</p> + +<p>The "Pinafore" craze was directly responsible for Jessie Bartlett's +entrance into opera. John Haverly heard her sing while he was making the +rounds of the church choirs looking up members for the Chicago Church +Choir "Pinafore" Company, and engaged her for the part of Little +Buttercup at a salary of fifty dollars a week. It was therefore in this +rôle that she made her début on the operatic stage. At the end of the +season she married the manager, William J. Davis, who is at present +prominently connected with theatrical affairs in Chicago.</p> + +<p>Mr. Davis firmly believed in his wife's future, and after her "Pinafore" +engagement was over he advised her to decline all further offers until +she had learned better how to use her voice. He took her to New York, +where she became a pupil of Signor Albites. Then Colonel Mapleson, who +was at that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> time managing Adelina Patti, heard her sing and advised her +to study for grand opera. It happened, not long after, that the +contralto who was to appear as Siebel in "Faust" with Patti was taken +ill. There was no substitute in the company, and Colonel Mapleson came +to Mrs. Davis in a great state of mind. It was then Saturday, and the +performance of "Faust" was to be on the following Monday. Her teacher +coached her in the part all that day, and Saturday night was spent in +memorizing the words and music. Sunday was given over to a thorough +drill in the customary stage business of Siebel's part, and the +memorable Monday night found the aspirant ready, but fearful and +trembling.</p> + +<p>"What frightened me more than anything else," said Mrs. Davis, "was the +romanza that Siebel sings to Marguerita. I was so afraid of Patti, whom +I considered a vocal divinity, that I finished the romanza without +having dared to look her in the face. You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> can imagine my surprise, +therefore, when she took my face in her hands and kissed me on both +cheeks. Afterward in the wings she threw her arms around my neck, +exclaiming: 'You're going to sing in grand opera, and I'm going to help +you.' Adelina Patti's favor and influence did more for me than two years +of hard study. There were only two weeks left of the opera season. +During that time I appeared twice as Siebel in 'Faust,' and once as the +shepherd boy in 'Dinorah.'"</p> + +<p>Colonel Mapleson evidently thought that he had made a find, for he +offered to send Mrs. Davis to Italy, to give her three years of study +with the greatest teachers in the world, every advantage and every +opportunity, in short, to become a world-famous singer. In return for +these favors Mrs. Davis was to sing under Colonel Mapleson's direction +for three years. Personal reasons made it impossible for her to accept +this offer, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> though she did not give up the idea of singing in +grand opera. After the birth of her son, Mrs. Davis studied a year with +Madame LaGrange in Paris. On her return she sang for a season in W. T. +Carleton's company. Her principal parts were the drummer boy in "The +Drum Major" and the German girl in "The Merry War." The next season +found her in the American Opera Company, which included Fursch-Nadi, +Emma Juch, and Pauline L'Allemand, with Theodore Thomas as musical +conductor, and the season following that she was with the reorganized +National Opera Company.</p> + +<p>"That was hard work," remarked Mrs. Davis, "all for no money, and so I +got home to Chicago, tired, sick, and discouraged, and vowing that I +would never sing in public as long as I lived."</p> + +<p>"But you changed your mind?"</p> + +<p>"Not immediately. While I was resting in Chicago the manager of The +Bostonians<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> came to see me to talk about an engagement. Agnes Huntington +was their contralto, but they wanted to replace her. At first I said +'No!' point blank. I thought nothing would induce me to leave the +comfort and seclusion of my home. Then the manager came to see me again, +and—well, woman-like I changed my mind."</p> + +<p>During her first seasons with The Bostonians, Mrs. Davis's repertory was +an extensive one and comprised the Marchioness in "Suzette," Dorothea in +"Don Quixote," Cynisca in "Pygmalion and Galatea," Vladimir Samoiloff in +"Fatinitza," Siebel in "Faust," Nancy in "Martha," Azucena in "The +Troubadour," Carmen in "Carmen," and the Queen of the Gipsies in "The +Bohemian Girl." Her great success as Alan-a-Dale in "Robin Hood," +brought out at the Grand Opera House in Chicago on June 9, 1890, +followed, and this part kept her busy for several seasons. While The +Bostonians were on their long hunt—not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> yet finished, I believe—for a +successor to "Robin Hood," Mrs. Davis appeared in "The Maid of +Plymouth," "In Mexico," or, "A War-time Wedding," "The Knickerbockers," +"Prince Ananias," and "The Serenade," with its beautiful "Song of the +Angelus."</p> + +<p>I think it was in 1896 that Mrs. Davis estimated that she had sung "Oh, +Promise Me," that popular interpolated song in "Robin Hood," something +like five thousand times. "Robin Hood" had received at that time 2041 +performances, and she had appeared in it all but twenty-five or thirty +of them. "Oh, Promise Me" always got an encore, and often a double +encore, which brought the number up to Mrs. Davis's estimate.</p> + +<p>"I don't tire so much of the acting of a rôle as I do singing the same +words and music night after night," she continued. "I sang 'Oh, Promise +Me' until I thought they ought to blow paper wads at me. One day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> in +Denver I said to our conductor, Sam Studley, 'Sam, I'm so sick of "Oh, +Promise Me" that I've made up mind to sing something else.' 'Jessie,' he +said, 'I don't blame you!' So it was agreed that on the following night +I would substitute another of DeKoven's sentimental songs. But they +wouldn't have it. I had no sooner commenced singing it than there were +shouts from all over the house of 'Oh, Promise Me!' 'We want "Oh, +Promise Me!"' I managed to struggle through one verse, and then ran off +the stage laughing. Then Mr. Studley struck up the introductory to 'Oh, +Promise Me,' and I went back and satisfied the audience by singing their +favorite ballad. It's an awful fate to become identified with a single +song.</p> + +<p>"Being a singer is not like being an actress. If you are a singer, your +voice must be your first care. An actress, if she gets over-tired, can +go on and spare herself. A singer cannot.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> An actress can use less voice +at one time than at another. A singer cannot. Now, over-fatigue, +excitement, anxiety, all affect the voice by which the singer lives.</p> + +<p>"I had my grand opera experience. I wasn't very happy in it, although I +had good rôles to sing—once in a while. I did not know how to protect +myself. I was young then and too good-natured. I confess that while the +work in grand opera was more to my taste, I was happier in light opera, +and, after all, that is a great thing in the world. Sometimes I used to +sigh for more serious work, for a heavier rôle, and in that way 'In +Mexico' came to pass. I used to say sometimes 'Oh, I wish I could have a +hard part; I am tired of rigging up to show my legs. I want something to +do that is hard to do.' So when 'In Mexico' was read they said, 'Well, +here's Mrs. Davis's serious part.'"</p> + +<p>That opera was, indeed, very serious, so serious, in fact, that the +public would have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> nothing to do with it. It was brought out in San +Francisco on October 28, 1895. The music was by Oscar Weil and the book +by C. T. Dazey, the author of the popular melodrama "In Old Kentucky."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER IX</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">EDNA WALLACE HOPPER</span></p> + + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_007.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><small>Copyright, 1898, by B. J. Falk, Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y.</small></p> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">EDNA WALLACE-HOPPER.</span></p> + + +<p>A captivating atom of femininity was Edna Wallace when she succeeded +Della Fox as the soubrette foil to the DeWolf Hopper's long-leggedness. +What a happy girlish smile she had,—her eyes sparkled and danced so +merrily, the little dimples in her cheeks were so altogether alluring! +Edna Wallace Hopper never was much of a singer, but she was so pretty +and so delicate that one never troubled himself about her voice; he was +chiefly concerned lest she might thoughtlessly break into bits. She was +vivacity itself, vivacity that never seemed noisy nor forced, just the +spontaneous expression of natural blithesomeness; and her magnetism +could not be escaped. Although she could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> sing, she could act in +her soubrettish way, for her little experience on the stage had been +spent with plays and not with operas.</p> + +<p>The art of the soubrette is about the hardest thing in the world to pin +down for examination. In fact, in many cases, the word "art," in +connection with the soubrette, is purely conventional; instinct would +more correctly describe the means employed by her to gain her stage +effects. Dramatic instinct is, of course, the corner-stone of the +actor's mental equipment. Indeed, we all have to a degree that +involuntary notion what to do under certain circumstances—wholly +unexpected circumstances possibly—to create the impression we wish to +make. Preachers have it abundantly, or else their words from the pulpit +would be ineffective; lawyers are also exceptionally endowed with it, or +else their addresses to the jury would be worse than useless; teachers, +family physicians, the man who makes politics a profession, all must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +have the dramatic instinct to win any great success.</p> + +<p>In the case of the soubrette, dramatic instinct is limited in its field. +She does not, as a general thing, attempt impersonation, and she never +is called upon to do anything more than slightly ruffle the surface of +emotional possibilities by a faint appeal to the sentiments. Her +dramatic instinct is chiefly concerned in presenting to the best +advantage an attractive personality and sparkling temperament backed up +by a pretty face and a pleasing figure. Herein lies the difficulty of +writing about soubrettes. Having called them happy, gay, graceful, +altogether charming, one finds that he has nothing more to say. He +cannot talk about their art, for their art is merely themselves, +indefinable and impossible of description. He cannot talk about the +characters they have played, for they have never played but one, and +that themselves. Edna Wallace Hopper's Paquita in "Panjandrum," for +example,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> was none other than her Estrelda in "El Capitan." The +environment was different and the raiment was different, but the +character was the same.</p> + +<p>Now a personality cannot be put on paper; it cannot be talked over +except in the most superficial and unsatisfactory way. It can only be +felt. When one has declared that a certain actor's personality is +unusually attractive, he has spoken the last word. Edna Wallace Hopper, +in common with all other light opera soubrettes, is a personality. She +is there to be liked or disliked just as the notion happens to strike +one; but whether one likes or dislikes her, there is no possible ground +for an argument about the matter. This person here, who is unmoved by +her presence, may claim that she cannot sing and that she is wholly +artificial. That person there, who finds her altogether delightful, will +declare that he does not care whether she sings or not, and such a +dainty creature is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> she that her frank artificiality is a positive +delight.</p> + +<p>Personally I have always found Edna Wallace Hopper exceptionally +entertaining. I first bowed the knee before her smile and her coaxing +dimples—a great deal of Mrs. Hopper's fascination is smiles and +dimples—when she was very new to the stage, and I have never wholly +escaped from their thraldom since that time. I acknowledge freely all +her shortcomings,—her lack of versatility and resourcefulness, her +narrowness of range,—but as long as she keeps her smile and her +dimples, I am certain that I shall never be absolutely insensible to her +allurements. She is wholly and fixedly a soubrette, a pretty, dancing, +laughing creature without a suggestion of seriousness or the slightest +trace of emotion. She is not to be studied, and she does not pretend to +any depth of illusion. She is an impression, to be admired or scorned +always in the present tense.</p> + +<p>Edna<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> Wallace was born in San Francisco and was educated at the Vanness +Seminary there. It was due entirely to Roland Reed, the light comedian, +that the idea of going on the stage ever entered her head. Mr. Reed met +Miss Wallace at a reception while he was playing in San Francisco in +1891. She was then not far from seventeen years old. Impressed with her +vivacity, he laughingly offered her a position in his company, and, +behold! the mischief was done. She accepted quickly; and although her +parents did not approve of the plan in the least, she journeyed east +during the summer, and in August made her appearance at the Boston +Museum with Mr. Reed as Mabel Douglass in "The Club Friend."</p> + +<p>Two weeks later she acted in the same play at the Star Theatre in New +York, where six weeks later she was given the leading ingénue rôle in +"Lend Me Your Wife." She attracted the attention of Charles Frohman, and +was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> engaged by him, appearing successively as Lucy Mortan in "Jane," +Mrs. Patterby in "Chums," Margery in "Men and Women" and as Wilbur's +Ann, the boisterous frontier maiden, in "The Girl I Left Behind Me."</p> + +<p>It was while she was acting in this play in June, 1893, that she was +married to DeWolf Hopper. A few weeks after this, Della Fox, the Paquita +in "Panjandrum," was taken suddenly ill and journeyed off to Europe. +Mrs. Hopper jumped into the part and played it successfully until the +end of the New York season. The following comment on Mrs. Hopper shortly +after her first appearance in light opera is interesting:—</p> + +<p>"A winsome little woman recently bounded into the affectionate regard of +New York audiences at the Broadway Theatre. The severely critical may +take occasion to compare her with her predecessor as Paquita in +'Panjandrum,'—possibly to her disadvantage in some instances,—but the +fact still remains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> that the audiences like her immensely, because she +is young, pretty, modest, and because she can act. Edna Wallace Hopper, +if not able to sing quite as well as some comic opera performers, is a +capable actress, and in this respect her advancement has been somewhat +remarkable."</p> + +<p>In the fall Mrs. Hopper returned to Charles Frohman's management, but +she was not long after released from her contract so that she could +assume the part of Merope Mallow in DeWolf Hopper's production of "Dr. +Syntax." This was a decidedly attractive bit of work natural and +artistic. On the road she also assumed Della Fox's old character of +Mataya in "Wang." When "El Capitan" was produced in Boston in April, +1896, she created the part of Estrelda, the hero-worshipping coquette, +her first original rôle, by the way, in opera, for her character in "Dr. +Syntax" was taken directly from a similar conception in "Cinderella at +School." This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> was her last rôle with the Hopper organization, for while +it was still a popular attraction, domestic difficulties separated her +from Mr. Hopper, and she retired from the company at the expiration of +her contract with Ben Stevens, the manager.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hopper next appeared in "Yankee Doodle Dandy," an extravaganza of +doubtful merit, and with Lillian Russell in a revival of "La Belle +Hélène." During the season of 1899-1900, she shared the honors with +Jerome Sykes in the extravaganza, "Chris and the Wonderful Lamp," acting +the part of the sophisticated youth Chris.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER X</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">PAULA EDWARDES</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_008.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">PAULA EDWARDES.</span></p> + + +<p>One of the few young and pretty women making a specialty of eccentric +comedy parts is Paula Edwardes, a Boston girl, who, starting at the foot +of the ladder only a few seasons ago, has quickly claimed a position of +prominence in the musical comedy world. Miss Edwardes's most recent +characterizations have been two different varieties of the Cockney type +in "A Runaway Girl" and "Mam'selle 'Awkins," but previous to that she +gave a taste of her ability in this line of impersonation by creating in +"The Belle of New York" the rôle of Mamie Clancy, the Bowery girl, a +type of character which is nothing more nor less than an Americanized +Cockney. I have no idea where Miss Edwardes picked up her weird and +wonderful Cockney dialect, unless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> she got it during her short visit in +London with "The Belle," for she was born and brought up in Boston, +where, as every one knows, nothing is spoken except the purest of +Emersonian English. Neither will I vouch for the accuracy of Miss +Edwardes's importation. However, it sounds English enough, and it is +certainly hard enough to understand to be the real thing.</p> + +<p>There are two ways of presenting a character study of the uncultivated +types of civilized humanity. One is faithfully to imitate the original, +sparing not in the least vulgarity, uncouthness, and coarseness. The +comedy in this method is the crude product of incongruity and contrast. +The second method is merely to retain a recognizable likeness to the +original, to tone down the vulgarity, to reduce the uncouthness to a +suggestion, and to rely for effect on an heightened sense of humor. +There is also introduced in this second method of treatment a subtle, +but nevertheless distinct,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> self-appreciation of one's own unfitness for +polite society and social conventions,—a cynical atmosphere, as it +were, that gives the study a touch of satire.</p> + +<p>The first method is usually adopted by the unpolished and unthinking +actor of variety sketch training, and often, too, by the acrobatic and +strictly mechanical comedian of light opera surroundings. It is comedy +acting which proves vastly amusing to such as desire their theatrical +entertainment as devoid as possible of any intellectual flavor, who do +not care to hunt for a fine point, and who are bored by anything that +suggests an intelligent appreciation of humor. The comedy of the second +method is on a decidedly higher plane. It suggests more than it actually +represents. It is more delicate in every way, and it requires a modicum +of intelligence on the part of the spectator to be estimated at its full +value.</p> + +<p>Miss Edwardes's Carmenita in "A Runaway<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> Girl" was a genuine +characterization. She did more than to array herself in garments of +curious pattern, stain her face a gypsy tan and talk a Blackfriars-ish, +or alleged Blackfriars-ish dialect, that was wellnigh incomprehensible; +she also imparted an individuality to the rôle, and one got from her +acting a distinct impression of Carmenita, the woman. Such was the case, +too, with her Honorah in "Mam'selle 'Awkins." She evolved, from the +precious little material that was given her, a personality. Josephine +Hall, on the other hand, let the character go completely by the board, +and relied entirely for success on her ability as an entertainer. I will +not say which achieved the better results in this particular instance, +for the entertainment in which they appeared was too absurd to be +considered seriously even as an absurdity. Miss Edwardes, however, +adopted the more artistic treatment of the two.</p> + +<p>Paula<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> Edwardes went into the theatrical business on the strength of a +voice, a face, and a figure, which is simply another way of saying that +she began in the chorus. It happened in Boston, and the occasion was the +professional production by Thomas Q. Seabrooke of the First Corps of +Cadets' extravaganza, "Tobasco." Miss Edwardes was understudy for Elvia +Crox, the leading soubrette, and a little luck came the chorus girl's +way at the first matinée. Miss Crox declared that she was too ill to +play, and Miss Edwardes took her part for the afternoon, succeeding so +well that Miss Crox rapidly recovered her health and was able to appear +at the evening performance.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the next season still found Miss Edwardes in the chorus, +this time with Hoyt's "A Black Sheep." Again Boston was good to her, for +when the company reached that city, Bettina Gerard, who was playing the +Queen of Burlesque, was affected by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> climate or something of that +kind, threw up her part, and Miss Edwardes was pressed into service in +the emergency. Her success was sufficient to put an end for good and all +to her chorus experience. The following season Miss Edwardes was in "A +Dangerous Maid" with Laura Burt and Madge Lessing, and then she created +the part of Mamie Clancy in "The Belle of New York." She went to London +with the original company, but after a few months she became tired of +the fog and homesick for New York and the familiar surroundings of +Broadway and the Rialto. So she resigned from "The Belle" cast and took +the next steamer for the United States. Augustin Daly engaged her for +Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl," and at the conclusion of the run of that +piece in New York she was transferred to "The Great Ruby" in which she +made quite a hit as Louise Jupp, the romantically inclined hotel +cashier.</p> + +<p>In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> February, 1900, she appeared in "Mam'selle 'Awkins," creating the +title rôle, and after that she acted in Boston and New York her old part +of Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XI</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">LULU GLASER</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_009.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">LULU GLASER.</span></p> + + +<p>A very few years ago Lulu Glaser was known only as "Francis Wilson's new +soubrette." That continued for several seasons after she succeeded the +fascinating Marie Jansen,—she of the rippling laugh and the form of +inscrutable perfection. Lulu Glaser was a bright, sparkling girl in +those days of her earlier successes, winsome in personality and as +pretty as a picture with her light fluffy hair and her eyes that still +retained their girlishness. Her vivacity was remarkable, and her spirits +were unflagging. She worked with all her might to please, and she was +successful to an unusual degree.</p> + +<p>Too bad that those excellent qualities—vivacity, freshness, and +unsophisticated youthfulness—should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> have so nearly proved her +undoing! Too much kindness on the part of those who wished her only the +utmost good, indiscriminate praise and the conventional applausive +audience, together with association with Francis Wilson, an excellent +comedian in his own line, but not a player who will bear imitation, have +brought Miss Glaser to a most critical period in her career. Her +personal popularity, it is true, has not suffered as yet,—at least, not +to any appreciable extent,—but her reputation as an artist is already +on the wane among discriminating judges. She should rank with the very +best of our light opera soubrettes, but it would not be true to say that +she does.</p> + +<p>Miss Glaser's utter lack of any notion of the inherent fitness of things +and of her own position as a paid entertainer is shown most +conspicuously and most persistently in her exasperating habit of +"guying" every performance in which she participates. Here is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> a young +woman of unquestioned talent both as an actress and a singer, bound down +hill simply and solely for the want of restraining good sense and proper +discipline. She is much in need of the fatherly advice of a hard-headed +stage manager, who would curb that vivacity which has run riot and +squelch effectively a condition of cocksureness that is amazing in its +effrontery. The trick of "guying" may seem to those on the stage very +pretty and highly amusing, but to an audience it is at first surprising, +then bewildering, and finally utterly wearisome and disgusting.</p> + +<p>The actor, who systematically makes sport on the stage for the benefit +of his fellow-players instead of attending to his own business of +amusing those who have paid their money for entertainment, commits a +breach of artistic etiquette that is wholly inexcusable. The stage is a +dangerous place for one to give free rein to personal adoration.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> I have +known actors who were free from conceit and complete self-satisfaction, +but they are comparatively few. Fortunately, however, this generous +estimate of one's own attainments does not often, as in Miss Glaser's +case, intrude itself into the actor's art. Still, is her condition of +mind to be wondered at? She was only a girl when she began to be the +subject of kindly notoriety. She was praised, praised, praised, and, +worst of all, she was without the restraining influence of a strict +disciplinarian.</p> + +<p>From desiring above all else to please her audience, and with that end +in view, giving lavishly on every occasion the very best that was in +her, she developed a frame of mind that conceived her position to be +directly opposite to what it really was. She began to feel that the +favor was on her side,—that her audience should be grateful to her for +taking part in the show. She acquired an atmosphere of condescension and +patronage which would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> have been ridiculous if it had not been so +provoking. This curious attitude was noticeable to a considerable extent +in "The Little Corporal;" but it could be endured there, for "The Little +Corporal" was, in comparison with the average, an opera not altogether +without merit. In "Cyrano de Bergerac," however, that wretched +misconception, Miss Glaser's egotism bloomed forth in an astonishing +fashion. She was almost below the sphere of serious attention.</p> + +<p>It is painful to speak so harshly of a woman naturally so charming as +Miss Glaser, whom I would be only too glad to eulogize in rainbow-hued +words. I confess that I like her, but that is my weakness. Indeed, if I +did not like her, and if I were not convinced of her genuine ability, I +should not distress myself to the extent of being honest with her. +Sometimes I have even thought that she had a sense of humor until her +persistent "guying" knocked the notion out of my head.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> "Guying" does +not signify a sense of humor. A sense of humor includes, besides the +ability to comprehend a joke in a minstrel show, a saving appreciation +of the ridiculous in one's self as well as in humanity at large. This +quality of looking at one's self from the viewpoint of some one else is +rare in man, but it is still rarer in woman. Woman, however, is more +expert than man at "faking" a sense of humor.</p> + +<p>When Miss Glaser really gets down to business and makes fun wholly for +her audience, she is a most entertaining little woman. Her talent for +burlesque is unmistakable, although her characters do not always have +the atmosphere of spontaneity. Her whole experience having been with +Francis Wilson, it is not strange, perhaps, that she should have adopted +some of his methods. A comic opera comedian, whose humor is so much a +matter of individuality, is the last person in the world to be imitated. +In many cases<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> he is an acquired taste, and almost always he is only +conventional, trading on a trick of personality.</p> + +<p>Lulu Glaser was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, on June 2, 1874, +and continued to live there until she joined Francis Wilson's company in +1892.</p> + +<p>"I surely inherited no longing for the stage," once remarked Miss +Glaser, "for none of my family ever had any professional connection with +the theatre. I just had a passionate longing to sing. I talked of it +incessantly, and finally father said to mother: 'Let her try it; she +will never be satisfied until she does. You go with her to New York, and +we shall see what comes of it.' So to New York my mother and I went, and +through a friend who knew somebody else who knew Francis Wilson's leader +of the orchestra, I got an introduction to this all-important personage.</p> + +<p>"Well, I think it was all of a month we had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> to wait before the +interview could be arranged, and then one eventful day I sang for Mr. de +Novellis on the stage of the Broadway Theatre. No, strangely enough, I +wasn't nervous in the least. The song, I remember, was 'My Lady's +Bower;' and when I had finished it, Mr. de Novellis said that he would +suggest that I should see Mr. Wilson,—'the great Wilson,' as I +described him in a letter to my father after the first interview. The +company was to produce 'The Lion Tamer,' and Mr. Wilson made me +understudy to Miss Marie Jansen, meantime giving me a place in the +chorus.</p> + +<p>"My chance to sing alone came sooner than I anticipated, before I was +ready for it, evidently, because on the night when Miss Jansen fell ill, +and I was to take her place, I fainted before the curtain went up. But I +was not discouraged. 'She is sure to do splendidly now,' said Mr. +Wilson, when he heard of that faint. A few months later,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> Miss Jansen +resigned to become a star, and Mr. Wilson informed me, while I was still +in the chorus, that I was to have her place. And he regarded it as the +greatest achievement of my life, that for the remaining weeks of the +season I never told a soul of what was in store for me."</p> + +<p>During her first season Miss Glaser played, besides Angelina in "The +Lion Tamer," Lazuli in "The Merry Monarch." Then she tried Javotte in +"Erminie," which performance added greatly to her reputation. It is +perhaps, the best thing that she has ever done, and certainly bears +comparison with the work of other soubrettes in the part. Her next rôle +was that of Elverine in "The Devil's Deputy," and from this came still +more praise. The rather sedate—for a soubrette—character of Rita in +"The Chieftain" was her next exploit. This was what might be termed a +"straight" part, and was only given to Miss Glaser after two other rôles +had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> been assigned to her. "The Chieftain" was produced in the fall of +1895. When Mr. Wilson secured the opera the previous spring, he told +Miss Glaser that she was to play Dolly.</p> + +<p>"Very well," said she, not in the least surprised, for the rôle was +precisely in her line. But she had scarcely begun to plan her conception +of the character when somebody discovered that Dolly appeared only in +the second and last acts.</p> + +<p>"That will never do, you know," said Mr. Wilson. "I tell you what we +will do, you must be Juanita, the dancing girl. That is the soubrette +part, after all."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Miss Glaser again, with perfect confidence that she +would be cast to the best advantage, whatever happened.</p> + +<p>The season ended, Miss Glaser went with her mother to their summer home +at Sewickley, just out of Pittsburg, and Mr. Wilson sailed for Europe. +He saw "The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> Chieftain" in London, and at once sent a cablegram to +Sewickley: "You are to play Rita." This was indeed a surprise to Miss +Glaser,—to be the dignified prima donna of the house bill! It almost +took her breath away.</p> + +<p>"Do you think I can do it?" she asked Mr. Wilson, when he returned.</p> + +<p>"I will stake my reputation on it," was the prompt reply.</p> + +<p>So when Sullivan's opera was produced at Abbey's Theatre in New York in +September, the public and the critics declared that Mr. Wilson's leading +woman was as strong in the "straight" parts as she had proved herself to +be in the lighter lines in which she had first won her reputation.</p> + +<p>"But, oh, wasn't I nervous that first night!" confessed Miss Glaser. +"And didn't I pick up the papers the next morning with fear and +trembling!"</p> + +<p>Miss Glaser, before the run of the opera<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> was over, however, found her +part in "The Chieftain" somewhat hampering, and she was pleased enough +when Pierrette in "Half a King" placed her back in the ranks of the +joyous and captivating soubrettes. Light-hearted, too, was her part in +"The Little Corporal," a rôle which travelled all the way from the long +skirts of a court lady to the not too tight trousers of a drummer boy in +the French army.</p> + +<p>In "The Little Corporal" one could not help but notice how great an +influence Mr. Wilson's clowning methods had exercised on Miss Glaser. +Mr. Wilson, however, was artistic in his fooling, and was not given to +overdoing the thing, which was not strange, for he had been at it a good +many years.</p> + +<p>Miss Glaser especially worked to the limit the old "gag" popular with +variety "artists," of laughing at the jokes on the stage as if they were +impromptu affairs gotten up for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> her especial benefit. She did it rather +well, although she did it too much. Perhaps because the jokes were funny +and one laughed at them himself, one liked to think that Miss +Glaser—some time before, of course—did see something funny in Mr. +Wilson's remarks, and that she laughed at them now because she +remembered how she had laughed at them at first. Marie Jansen used to +laugh, too, when she was with Mr. Wilson, and her laugh was a wonderful +achievement,—a thing of ripples, quavers, and gurgles. And this +coincidence suggests a horrible thought. Possibly Mr. Wilson himself was +to blame for these laughs. Possibly he stipulated in the bond that his +soubrettes should laugh early and often at his jokes as a cue to the +audience. In the early scenes of "The Little Corporal," regardless of +laughs and all else, Miss Glaser was captivating, and her first song—it +was something about a coquette, as I recall it—was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> a fetching bit of +descriptive singing.</p> + +<p>During the season of 1899-1900, Miss Glaser played Roxane in "Cyrano de +Bergerac," and Javotte in "Erminie."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XII</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">MINNIE ASHLEY</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_010.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">MINNIE ASHLEY.</span></p> + + +<p>Artless girlishness, remarkable personal charm, and skill as an +imaginative dancer scarcely equalled on the American stage, account for +Minnie Ashley's sudden success in musical comedy. Aside from her +dancing, which is artistic in every sense, she is by no means an +exceptionally talented young woman. Nature was indeed good to her when +it endowed her with a most fascinating personality, a pretty, piquant +face, and a slim, graceful figure, but it was by no means lavish with +other gifts most desirable. Miss Ashley's range as an actress is +decidedly limited; she is not to the slightest degree versatile, and she +has no notion at all of the art of impersonation. Her singing voice is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +more of an imagination than a reality, although one is sometimes +deceived into believing that she can sing in a modest way by the +admirable skill with which she uses the little voice that is hers. She +has a due regard for its limitations, and she delights one by the +clearness of her enunciation and the expressive daintiness of her +interpretation of the simple ballads that show her at her best.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be more exquisitely charming than her art in such songs as +"The Monkey on the Stick" and "The Parrot and the Canary" in "The +Geisha," "A Little Bit of String" in "The Circus Girl," and "I'm a Dear +Little Iris" and "This Naughty Little Maid" in "A Greek Slave." These +songs are all of the same class,—little humorous narratives, or, better +yet, funny stories set to music. Miss Ashley seems almost to recite +them, so perfectly understandable is every word, yet she keeps to the +tune at the same time. Not a point in the story<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> is overlooked, and +every phase of meaning is captivatingly illustrated in pantomime. Miss +Ashley's pantomime, like her acting, is limited in quantity; so limited, +in fact, that it suggests, after one becomes familiar with it, the fear +that it is all mannerism. Even at that, I doubt if any one can escape +its persuasive appeal, can remain absolutely cold and unresponsive +before those eyes so full of roguish innocence, those lips smiling a +challenge, and that pretty bobbing head shaking a negative that means +yes.</p> + +<p>However, if he be unmoved by Miss Ashley's singing, he surely cannot +resist her dancing. It is as an illustrative dancer that Miss Ashley is +supreme. She is the one woman who comprehends dancing as something more +than violent physical exercise, who appreciates the art of dancing in +its classic sense as a means of symbolic and poetic expression. Minnie +Ashley dances with her whole body moving in perfect unity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> and in +perfect rhythm. She is the personification of grace from head to foot, +and there is vivacity and joy and fulness of life in the saucy noddings +of her head, the languorous sway of her form, the sinuous wavings of her +arms and hands, and the bewildering mingling of billowy draperies and +flashy, twinkling feet. When Minnie Ashley kicks, she does so delicately +and deliberately,—kicks that end with a shiver and quiver of the +toe-tips.</p> + +<p>It has been Miss Ashley's good fortune in most of her parts to be +permitted to dance in long skirts. As Gwendolyn in "Prince Pro Tem," +however, she wore the conventional soubrette skirt of knee length. It +was surprising what a handicap it was to the full effectiveness of her +dancing. Miss Ashley is not a whirlwind dancer; she does not sacrifice +grace for speed, nor dignity for astounding contortions of the body. +Knowing full well the value of the artistic repose and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> crowning +fascination of suggestion, she handles her draperies with that rare +skill which makes them seem a part of herself. Their sweeping softness +destroys all crude outlines, and they are at the same time tantalizing +provokers of curiosity. The short skirt—blunt, plain-spoken, and +tactless—compelled the substitution of abandon for sensuousness, and +consequently a sacrifice of coquetry and suggestiveness.</p> + +<p>Minnie Ashley was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1875. Her family +name was Whitehead. When she was very young her father and mother +separated, her mother going to Boston and taking Minnie with her. The +mother afterward was married to a man by the name of Ashley, and it was +as Minnie Ashley that the dainty actress was always known during her +girlhood in Boston. She lived and went to school both in Roxbury and the +South End; and she learned her first dancing steps, as thousands of city +children<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> do, by tripping away on the sidewalk to the grinding music of +the hand-organ.</p> + +<p>Her first appearances in public were made at the children's festivals on +Washington's birthday in the old Music Hall, Boston. The first year she +was the Queen of the Fairies with a number of other school-children as +subjects; and the next year, after demonstrating that she could dance, +she was promoted to the position of solo dancer, and a feature of the +entertainment was her exposition of the intricacies of "The Sailor's +Horn-pipe." Her native talent, so prettily shown at these children's +festivals, attracted the attention of a teacher of dancing, who took +Miss Minnie under her charge and gave the child the instruction that was +necessary to develop her gifts to the best advantage.</p> + +<p>During the summer the teacher took her promising pupil to the summer +resorts in the White Mountains. There the guests were charmed, and the +boys and girls of ambitious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> parents were instructed in the art +Terpsichorean. This lasted until Miss Minnie came to the conclusion that +she was doing all the work while her companion was reaping most of the +profits. So they quarrelled about it and separated, Miss Ashley +returning to Boston firmly resolved to go upon the stage as a +professional dancer.</p> + +<p>At that time Edward E. Rice was organizing a company to produce the R. +A. Barnet spectacle, "1492," and to him Miss Ashley applied. She +succeeded in getting a place in the chorus. When DeWolf Hopper brought +out "El Capitan" in Boston in 1896, she was still in the chorus, +although she was permitted to understudy Edna Wallace Hopper. Miss +Ashley, however, had developed since the days of "1492," and although +she was in the chorus, she was by no means of the chorus. Her +individuality was so pronounced, her magnetism so potent, that the +largest chorus could not conceal her. She literally stood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> forth from +the group, a graceful and beautiful figure, animated, interesting, and +pertly captivating. She had something of the spirit of France about her, +or at least what we think is the spirit of France; and it was not +altogether strange, therefore, that her first engagement outside the +chorus should have been to act a French girl. This occurred in a musical +comedy called "The Chorus Girl," which was brought out at the Boston +Museum after the close of the regular season in 1898. "The Chorus Girl" +was pretty poor stuff, but Miss Ashley's personal success was +considerable.</p> + +<p>The following season J. C. Duff put "The Geisha" and "The Circus Girl" +on the road, and Miss Ashley played Mollie Seamore in "The Geisha" and +Dolly Wemyss in "The Circus Girl." In May, 1899, when "Prince Pro Tem," +a musical comedy by R. A. Barnet and L. S. Thompson, which has never +played a successful engagement outside of Boston,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> was revived, Miss +Ashley appeared as Gwendolyn. Those who heard Josie Sadler sing "If I +could only get a Decent Sleep" in "Broadway to Tokio," may be interested +to know that this touching ballad was originally one of the chief hits +of "Prince Pro Tem." "Prince Pro Tem," with its numerous deficiencies, +had one thoroughly artistic character, Tommy Tompkins, the showman. Fred +Lenox acted the part; and a capital bit of comedy it was, too, +deliciously humorous in its depreciating self-sufficiency, wonderfully +clever as a loving and sympathetic caricature, and thoroughly convincing +as a sincere study of human nature, a Thackeray-like creation, which was +worthy of a more pretentious setting than it received in Mr. Barnet's +show.</p> + +<p>When "A Greek Slave" was produced in New York in November, 1899, that +city discovered Minnie Ashley and forthwith shouted her name from the +housetops. "A Greek<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> Slave" was not a success, but Miss Ashley's Iris +was. As the "New York Telegram" said:—</p> + +<p>"And there is Minnie Ashley. A slim, graceful, attractive young woman, +with scarcely the suggestion of her wonderful magnetic power in her +slender outlines. Two minutes after she had made her entrance, the house +was hers and all that therein was. She couldn't sing in the same country +with Dorothy Morton. She couldn't act in a manner to warrant attention +on that score—and she knew it, and didn't make any harrowing attempts +to reach what was beyond her. She knew herself. There was part of the +secret. She didn't endeavor to gather in impossibilities. She simply +came out and played with that audience as a little child would play with +a roomful of kittens. 'You may purr over me and lick my hand and look at +me with your great, appreciative eyes,' she told her kittens, 'and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> in +return, I will stroke you and soothe you, and charm you.'</p> + +<p>"And she certainly did charm that house. She has a pleasing little voice +which she uses with utmost judiciousness. She has an innate grace and +refinement that are most telling accomplishments. As she informed us in +her opening song, 'I'm a Dear Little Iris,' a slave girl, who knows how +to drape herself and how to execute the steps of the airiest, fairiest +dances. There have been many times at the Metropolitan Opera House when +great singers have been overwhelmed by the fierce applause of an +emotional audience. Then the bravos have been shouted and the enthusiasm +has reached a fever pitch. But before last night these scenes have +formed no part of the programme at the Herald Square. Miss Ashley +changed that old order, and changed it with the lightness and lack of +perceptible effort which characterized her whole performance. The house +simply went wild<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> over this practically unknown girl. Her name was +called again and again, and the encores of her pretty little songs +stretched the opera out far beyond its legitimate length. The house +admired the daintiness, the womanliness, and the suggestion of the +thorough-bred in this young girl. The poise of her head, the poetical +motion of her body, the total lack of self-consciousness, these were +constant delights."</p> + +<p>"To Minnie Ashley," declared the "Boston Transcript," a few weeks later, +when "A Greek Slave" was played in Boston, "fell nine-tenths of the +honors of the performance, and she gave another impersonation fully as +charming as those with which she has been associated in 'The Geisha,' +'The Circus Girl,' and 'Prince Pro Tem.' She was a dainty little slave, +demure as was befitting the character, but with a way that was certainly +irresistible. She is a real comédienne, and each of the points in the +few funny lines that fell to her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> lot was capitally brought out. +Especially clever was the song about 'The Naughty Little Girl' in the +second act, where she made the hit of the evening. Nature never intended +her to be a prima donna, but it gave her the power to sing a song like +that in a way that leaves nothing to be desired, and when she +dances—well, it doesn't matter in what language she dances; Latin, +Japanese or Yankee, the result is just the same."</p> + +<p>While she was with DeWolf Hopper, Miss Ashley was married to William +Sheldon, a half-brother of Walter Jones, from whom she was afterward +separated.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XIII</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">EDNA MAY</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>A pretty face and a gentle, winning personality brought Edna May into +prominence in the most dramatic fashion. Edna May Petty, the daughter of +E. C. Petty, a letter-carrier in Syracuse, New York, lovely to look upon +and demure in manner, had some talent for singing, but more for dancing, +when her parents yielded to her entreaties and said that she might go to +New York to study for the stage. She was only sixteen years old. Hardly +had she settled down to her singing and dancing lessons, however, when +along came Fred Titus, at that time the holder of the hour bicycle +record and one of the most prominent racing men in the country. They +were married, but Edna May remained just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> as determined as ever to go on +the stage. Her ambitions were forced for a time to be satisfied with +occasional opportunities to substitute in church choirs. Her name first +appeared on a playbill when "Santa Maria" was produced at Hammerstein's +in New York, but the part was so small as to be practically +non-existent. Then she was engaged for White's Farcical Comedy Company +and appeared in Charles H. Hoyt's "A Contented Woman."</p> + +<p>At this point there is a dispute as regards Miss May's next move, or at +least there was a dispute until manager and star patched up their +difficulties. George W. Lederer was wont to claim that Edna May joined +the chorus of his prospective "The Belle of New York" company. At the +last moment, the woman whom he had engaged for leading part disappointed +him. He had to do something quickly, and he cast about in his own chorus +for a girl who might fill the part<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> for a night or two until he could +find someone to take it permanently. His discerning eye fell on the +plaintive prettiness of Edna May. "She'll look the part, anyhow," he +declared. So in this haphazard fashion, Violet Grey, the Salvation Army +lassie, was passed over to her, and, presto! her fortune was made.</p> + +<p>"But it was not that way at all," pouted the gentle Miss May, after she +had signed a contract to leave Mr. Lederer and return to London under +some one else's care. "I never was in Mr. Lederer's chorus. I went to +Mr. Lederer after I had been playing a small part in the 'Contented +Woman' company. I begged him to put my name down for something even if +it were ever and ever so little, and he gave me the part of Violet Grey +in 'The Belle.'"</p> + +<p>At this time, also,—this period devoted by Miss May to the signing of +the contracts, which never amounted to anything, after all,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>—a second +dispute arose regarding Miss May's indebtedness to Mr. Lederer for her +success in "The Belle." Mr. Lederer announced to a deeply impressed +public that he had trained Miss May with the most extraordinary +attention to detail. He had made her walk chalk-lines on the stage, and +had written on the music-score minute directions regarding gestures, +even indicating the exact point where she was captivatingly to cast down +her eyes.</p> + +<p>"No, no, no," declared Miss May. "All that is very unkind and very +untrue. He did not teach me all or nearly all I know about my art, and +he did not have to write out gestures and full directions for my conduct +on the stage. Not one word of this sort of thing was written in the +score. Mr. Lederer rehearsed me, it is true, but not as if he were +rehearsing a performing seal. He gave me an opportunity, and for that I +am very grateful. But that is all he did. I am not such a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> fool as Mr. +Lederer is always pretending to think me."</p> + +<p>However, regarding Miss May's extraordinary popular success in "The +Belle of New York" in this country, and more especially in London, there +can be no dispute. That is a fact discernible without opera glasses. It +was, however, almost wholly a triumph of personality. Violet Grey is +what actors call a "fat" part. The Salvation Army lassie, a quaint, +subdued, almost pathetic figure, thrown in the midst of the contrasting +hurly-burly and theatrical exaggerations of a typical musical farce, +appeals irresistibly to the spectator's sympathy. She touches deftly the +sentiments, for in her modest way she is a bit of real life, a touch of +human nature, in surroundings where the men and women of every-day life +are complete strangers.</p> + +<p>But Violet Grey is not a rôle to be acted. It is not, in the strictest +sense, a dramatic character at all, merely a picture from life, set<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +forth without comment and without exposition. One sees all that there is +to see, the instant Violet Grey appears on the scene; he recognizes at +once her reality and her fidelity to nature, and he falls a victim to +her charm without further ado. The actress cast for this part must in a +sense live it. She must, as Mr. Lederer said, "look the part;" she must +suggest at a glance, modesty, demureness, quaintness, spirituality, and +idealism. Coquetry, any notion of archness or frivolity, must be +rigorously banished. There her responsibility practically ends, for +folded hands, cast-down eyes, and the ability to sing a little do the +rest.</p> + +<p>Success in such a part as Violet Grey affords not the slightest test of +artistic ability, and Edna May's artistic future is still a matter of +doubt. She has appeared in only one operetta aside from "The +Belle,"—"An American Beauty," brought out in London by an American +company in April, 1900.</p> + +<p>The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> remarkable feature of Miss May's career was the furore that she +created in London, where, due as much to her personal popularity as to +any other one thing, "The Belle of New York" ran for eighty-five weeks. +It was wonderful, when one thinks of it, that sweet simplicity could do +so much. Of course, when Miss May returned to this country in January, +1900, she had many pleasant remarks to make about the Londoners. +Speaking of the opening night, she said:</p> + +<p>"I played the part during the long run in the United States, so I was +very used to it, and there was nothing out of the ordinary about the +first night in London, until the sensation caused by their tremendous +applause came to me. There is nothing like it, nothing that approaches +it. It is quite the most delicious sensation on earth. I don't expect +ever to feel it again quite as I did that night. It's like the first +kiss, you know, or the first anything. After that it's only repetition.</p> + +<p>"Success<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> was particularly sweet to me at that time, but it was something +of a shock. I wasn't looking for such a reception. They not only +applauded, they shouted and deluged me with flowers. The next day I +found myself talked about everywhere. I had done nothing but be natural, +and do my best, yet they praised my talent. They kept my rooms +flower-laden; they sent me rich gifts, and what was more,—oh, a great +deal more,—they held out to me the hand of friendship, men and women +alike, and made me one of them.</p> + +<p>"There is one of the most marked differences between London and New +York. Here a girl who enters the profession is ostracized; there it is +considered an added charm. Here if a girl of any social position chooses +a stage career, it must be at a great personal sacrifice. There, +whatever social prestige she may have will be an aid to her in her +professional ambitions. One of the greatest helps to me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> in London was +the way the genuine people of the aristocracy opened their doors to me, +and made me welcome in their lives and homes. For my own part, I did not +know that it was possible for so much happiness to come to a single life +as I have realized during the past two years abroad."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XIV</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">MARIE CELESTE</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Almost as necessary as a singing voice to the young woman who would +venture into light opera and musical comedy, are physical attractiveness +and personal magnetism. An unusually good voice, daintiness of face and +figure, and a winsome personality. Marie Celeste has, and she has one +other quality which to me makes her work on the stage especially +enjoyable. That is her total lack of affectation. When one sees her he +is not conscious of that irritating screen of artificiality that so +often darkens and sometimes hides completely the personality on the +stage. An actor, to be effective, must show a personality of some sort. +It may not be his own, but it should appear to be his own. The ability,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +under the conditions represented in the theatre, to convince an audience +that the personality represented is a real personality constitutes that +branch of acting known as impersonation.</p> + +<p>Actors try to accomplish this deception by various means. They bring to +their aid wonderful skill in make-up and astonishing ingenuity in +pantomime; but these external devices fail, every one of them, to +produce the impression desired, unless the final effect on the mind of +the person to be convinced is one of simplicity and sincerity. To create +this impression of simplicity and sincerity, the actor must project his +character mentally as well as reproduce it physically; he must appeal to +the mind as well as to the eye; he must know human nature; he must study +and experiment, and he must have the dramatic temperament.</p> + +<p>Simplicity and sincerity of this kind are none too common on the stage, +and especially<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> is one not apt to find them among the men and women who +interpret any form of opera. There are two simple reasons for this. One +is that the operatic singer who has a chance to study naturally enough +seeks first of all to improve the voice on which he is so dependent. +Acting he regards as something that can be quickly acquired from the +ubiquitous stage manager. The second reason is that, even in the case of +singers who can act, the artificiality of the operatic scheme—drama +united with music—is bound to affect the player's art. The player in +opera acts, not as men and women act, but as operatic tenors or sopranos +or bassos have acted ever since opera came into being. In fact, we have +become so accustomed to strutting tenors and mincing sopranos that we +accept what they have to offer as a matter of course. If only they sing +well and their inherent artificiality be not too ridiculous, we are +satisfied.</p> + +<p>Yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> when spontaneity and conviction are present, what a change in +conditions they cause! They make opera—even the frivolous opera of the +hardworking Harry B. Smith, who has what William J. Henderson calls the +"operetta libretto habit"—seem real. One does not have to adopt the +intended illusion by a sort of free-will process; it is forced on him.</p> + +<p>Marie Celeste is one of the few actresses in opera. She has spontaneity +and conviction, simplicity and sincerity, and in particular refreshing +and unconscious naïveté. Her personality is attractive, winsome, and +thoroughly feminine, and her style is vivacious, sparkling, and refined. +Her voice is a high soprano of considerable power, and might easily of +itself have won her a place on the operatic stage. As a matter of fact, +however, her greatest successes have been in parts where singing was +something of a secondary consideration. Both physically and +temperamentally,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> Miss Celeste is best fitted for soubrette rôles, parts +that require appreciative humor, girlish charm, and artistic finish, +ability to dance, and some pretensions as a ballad singer. Miss +Celeste's dancing is dainty and graceful, without physical violence, and +with a hint of the poetry of motion that makes dancing something more +than an athletic feat.</p> + +<p>As Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl"—a part in which personal charm +counted for a great deal—Miss Celeste made a splendid impression +largely through her ability as an actress. The music of the part was too +low to show her voice to the best advantage, yet she sang the fetching +"The Boy Guessed Right the Very First Time" song more effectively than +any one I have ever heard. It is, of course, a simple enough ditty, +which, however, demands considerable finesse, suggestive action, and a +strain of humor to make it go as it should. The sentiment that she put +into the second verse of the catchy little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> duet, "I Think 'twould Break +my Heart," was exquisitely delicate and true. Except for a pretty moment +at the end of the first act, there is little else than these two bits in +the part, aside from an attractive monotony of brightness and happiness; +and brightness and happiness, of course, are directly in the line of +every musical comedy girl.</p> + +<p>Marie Celeste—her full name is Marie Celeste Martin—was born and +brought up in New York City. So far as she knows, she was the first one +of her family to go upon the stage. In fact, from her mother she +inherited a strain of Quaker blood, which certainly would never have +countenanced a theatrical career. Her mother's grandfather, however, was +a Frenchman, and from him probably came her artistic temperament. He was +a bit of an inventor in his way, though apparently not a very practical +one, a man who dreamed of great things, but like Cotta in "The +Schönberg-Cotta Family" failed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> bring them to an issue in time to +reap any material benefit. Of an original turn of mind and a sanguine +temperament, he experimented with many inventions from which he expected +to derive fortune and fame. None of them amounted to anything, however.</p> + +<p>Marie's father died when she was a girl studying music in the New York +Conservatory, and she was obliged to look about for a means whereby to +earn her livelihood. For some time she had thought of the stage,—say +rather idly speculated regarding it as a possibility without ever really +believing that she would sometime adopt it as her life-work. Naturally, +therefore, it was to the stage that she turned at this time of +adversity. Her ambition was opera. She knew that she had a voice, but +she also knew that she could not act. With rare foresight in one so +young, she made up her mind that the first thing for her to do was to +learn to act, and she pluckily took an engagement in a stock<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> company at +Halifax, Nova Scotia. That was in 1890, and her first part was Fantile, +the maid in Ben Teal's melodrama, "The Great Metropolis."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Teal, whom afterward I came to know very well, and I have often +laughed over that," said Miss Celeste. "But it was hard work in that +stock company. We changed the bill twice a week, and sometimes now I +think how often I have sat with a dress-maker on one side of me and my +part in a chair near my elbow on the other side, memorizing my lines +while I sewed away for dear life on my costumes."</p> + +<p>Miss Celeste steadily gained in skill as an actress, and was given +characters of increasing importance. She went with the company to +Portland; and when she announced that she was going to leave the +organization and look for an opening in opera, she was offered the +position of leading woman as an inducement to stay.</p> + +<p>After<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> Miss Celeste returned to New York, she studied singing for a time, +and then was engaged for the farce comedy, "Hoss and Hoss," which +exploited Charles Reed, now dead, and Willie Collier, who is at present +emulating the example of Nat Goodwin and trying to make himself over +into a legitimate comedian. The company opened at the Hollis Street +Theatre in Boston, on January 12, 1892, and Miss Celeste's character was +Polly Hoss. It was not really a character though, only a name, and she +was engaged not to act, but to sing. Everybody in the company thought +that she was a beginner, and she did not tell her associates how she had +barely escaped being leading lady of a two-bills-a-week stock-company.</p> + +<p>"Hoss and Hoss" was a typical farce comedy of the Charles H. Hoyt +school,—a plotless, formless thing, which was no play, but a vehicle. +The chief object of the person that conceived it was to get every person +in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> the company on the stage at the same time, toward the end of the +third act. When this remarkable artistic feat was accomplished, a +leading personage in the cast would remark with elaborate casualness:—</p> + +<p>"Seeing we're all here and looking so well, suppose we have a little +music."</p> + +<p>Forthwith every one on the stage fell into the nearest chair in a +helpless sort of a way, as if life were a veritable snare and delusion, +and the master of ceremonies continued:—</p> + +<p>"Miss Jones, will you kindly favor us with that beautiful ballad +entitled 'Way Down upon the Swanee River?'"</p> + +<p>And so they began, and thus they continued, until every one on the stage +had his chance to air his talent before a highly entertained assemblage. +It was not exactly a minstrel show, but it approached the minstrel +territory. On the bill it was called the "olio."</p> + +<p>Miss Celeste's part in the "olio" was to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> sing a ballad; and as no one +knew anything about her, she was placed almost at the end of the list of +entertainers. When she came to talk with Frank Palmer, the musical +director of the company, he asked her what song she had chosen. She told +him, and then he wanted to know what she was going to give as an encore.</p> + +<p>"You know," said Miss Celeste, in telling me the story, "I wasn't very +old, and I wasn't very big, and I was terribly nervous, and just a +little frightened. I knew what I intended to sing, but it took all the +courage I had to murmur gently, 'I'd like to sing, "Coming Thro' the +Rye."'</p> + +<p>"Never shall I forget the expression of disgust on Mr. Palmer's face.</p> + +<p>"'I'll rehearse you, anyway,' was all he said.</p> + +<p>"But I didn't tell him that I had taken a little advantage of him. As a +matter of fact, I had sung 'Coming Thro' the Rye' in Halifax, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> a part +which required a song, and in which the old melody seemed appropriate. I +knew I could make a success of it.</p> + +<p>"We went on with the rehearsals,—Mr. Palmer and I,—and he was very +kind and considerate after he heard me sing, transposed the music to a +higher register, so as to show my voice to better advantage, and gave me +any number of little points. When it was all arranged, he said:—</p> + +<p>"'Now promise me one thing. Promise that you won't tell any one in the +company what you are going to sing.'</p> + +<p>"I promised. I suppose he was afraid that some one of them would make +fun of me.</p> + +<p>"'And you won't flunk, will you?' he added.</p> + +<p>"'No,' I said, 'I won't flunk.'</p> + +<p>"On the first night," continued Miss Celeste, "'Coming Thro' the Rye' +brought me four or five recalls, and consequently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> after that the stage +manager gave me a much better place in the 'olio.' That is the reason I +call 'Coming Thro' the Rye' my mascot."</p> + +<p>After her farce comedy experience, Miss Celeste became a member of +Lillian Russell's opera company, appearing as Paquita in +"Giroflé-Girofla," Petita in "The Princess Nicotine," and Wanda in "The +Grand Duchess." During the season of 1894-95 she was with Della Fox in +"The Little Trooper," singing the part of Octavie most charmingly, and +acting as understudy to Miss Fox, whose rôle she played many times. The +next season she returned to Miss Russell's company, making so effective +as to attract considerable attention the trifling part of Ninetta in +"The Tzigane." She also sang Gaudalena in "La Perichole," and the +Duchess de Paite in "The Little Duke."</p> + +<p>Miss Celeste was taken seriously ill in March, 1896, and her work during +the following season was necessarily not very heavy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> Under the +management of Klaw and Erlanger she appeared as the Queen in "The +Brownies," in which, by the way, she again sang "Coming Thro' the Rye;" +and the following summer she made a decided hit as Peone Burn in the +lively spectacle, "One Round of Pleasure." Mistress Mary in "Jack and +the Beanstalk" followed, and then she succeeded Christie MacDonald as +Minutezza in "The Bride Elect." Her last part was Winnifred Grey in "A +Runaway Girl."</p> + +<p>Miss Celeste has also sung leading parts with the Castle Square Opera +Company, under Henry W. Savage's management, in New York, and for a +brief season in Boston. Her principal part with this organization was +Santuzza in "Cavalleria Rusticana."</p> + +<p>"I suppose Mr. Savage thought I looked the part," said Miss Celeste, +"and so he asked me to study it. I was really frightened at the idea. I +told him that I had never tried anything heavy like Santuzza, and that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +tragedy was not in my line. He insisted that I attempt it, however, and +so I did the best I could. I got into the part far better than I +believed were possible, and the result surprised me. I don't think I +could do anything with a rôle that runs the gamut of emotions, as they +say. But Santuzza is all in one key, a perfect whirlwind, and after you +once strike the pace she fairly carries you along with her own +impetuosity.</p> + +<p>"What is the most enjoyable part I ever had?" said Miss Celeste, +repeating my question. "That's easily answered: Mataya in 'Wang,' which +I played during a summer engagement, just before DeWolf Hopper went to +England. He's such a dear boy,—Mataya, I mean,—thinks he is so very +sporty when he isn't at all, and then he's so very much in love. I was +very fond of that boy.</p> + +<p>"I think there is a fascination about boys' parts, anyway. It is +something of a study to do them just right, to be feminine and still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +not to be effeminate. An old stage manager once said to me, 'Be sure you +please the women. That will bring them to the theatre, and they will +bring the men.' The difficulty in playing boys is to please the women, +and at the same time to keep your boy from being a poor, weak, colorless +creature. One must never overstep the line of womanliness in seeking +masculinity, and she must still make the character a real boy and not a +girl disguised as a boy."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XV</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">CHRISTIE MACDONALD</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_011.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><small>Copyright, 1896, by Aimé Dupont, N. Y.</small></p> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">CHRISTIE MACDONALD.</span></p> + + +<p>After eight years of soubrette experience Christie MacDonald +unexpectedly came into prima donnaship in February, 1900. A light opera +called "The Princess Chic," book by Kirke LaShelle and music by Julian +Edwards, had been living a quiet life at the Columbia Theatre, Boston, +for several weeks. For some reason or other it did not seem to go just +as it should. It was a good opera at that—much better than the average. +Mr. LaShelle's book told a story with a genuine dramatic climax, and Mr. +Edwards's music was charming,—simple but melodious. There was action +enough apparently, but the performance dragged. It lacked snap and +vigor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p><p>The prima donna rôle in this opera was one of great difficulty. It +demanded an actress as well as a singer,—a woman who could be +swaggering, audacious, and masculinely incisive as the Princess, +masquerading as her own envoy, timid, modest, and shrinkingly feminine +as the make-believe peasant girl, and finally queenly and royal as the +Princess in her proper person. The plot of "The Princess Chic," by the +way, paralleled history in a curious manner, and the story of how it was +written was told me by Mr. LaShelle:—</p> + +<p>"To begin with," said he, "'The Princess Chic' was not taken from the +French, though there was a French vaudeville with the same title. I got +the idea of the opera fixed in my mind after seeing Henry Irving play +'Louis XI.' during one of his visits to this country. You remember in +that drama where the envoy from the Duke of Burgundy and his clanking +guard march into Louis's presence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> The envoy throws his mailed gauntlet +at Louis's feet and exclaims, 'That is the answer of Charles the Bold!' +or words to that effect, at any rate.</p> + +<p>"That kindled my admiration for Charles the Bold, and I have been +admiring him ever since. Consequently when I wanted a comic opera and +couldn't get any one to write it for me, I said to myself, 'Here's a +chance for Charles the Bold.' I forthwith started in on what is now the +second act of 'The Princess Chic,' and wrote backward and forward.</p> + +<p>"Now comes the odd part of the whole business. I had to have a woman for +my opera, so I invented the Princess Chic. I had to have a plot,—I'm a +bit old-fashioned, I know,—so I invented the intrigue of Louis XI. +plotting to cause a revolt among the subjects of the Duke of Burgundy. I +seemed to be getting along first-rate when it occurred to me that it +wouldn't do any harm to delve a bit into history. So I delved.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>"You can imagine my astonishment when I found that I had unwittingly +been duplicating to a startling extent historical fact. I discovered +that there actually had been a Princess Chic. I learned that Louis XI. +had thought to cause trouble in Charles's domain, and by this means to +open a way for the seizure of that province for France. The Duke's bold +move in arresting the King and holding him captive until the King agreed +to a treaty that suited Charles was new to me, however, and I grabbed it +quick.</p> + +<p>"Now you have the whole story of 'The Princess Chic.' Somebody has +accused me of coquetting with history. I deny all coquetry. 'The +Princess Chic' is to all intents and purposes genuine history, much +nearer fact than many a historical drama that makes more pretences of +sticking closely to the truth."</p> + +<p>However, history or no history, the opera did not act as it should, and +Mr. LaShelle decided to try what the effect of a new prima<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> donna would +be. He wanted Camille D'Arville, but she was not available; and by some +marvellous stroke of good fortune he hit upon Christie MacDonald. How he +happened to do it is a mystery. Christie MacDonald was, of course, well +known as a very amiable little lady with a decided fancy for short +skirts and for frisky and vivacious characters, that sang prettily and +danced nimbly. Never for a moment had she been associated with the +dignified prima donna. Nor had she ever been guilty of seriousness. +Moreover, if the whole truth were to be told, her voice—though sweet, +delicate, musical, and skilfully controlled—was by no means strong. +Decidedly Christie MacDonald had other things besides a voice to make +her attractive. There was her personality, magnetically feminine, her +temperament, so sunshiny and happy, and her face, not exactly pretty, +but immensely attractive when fun lighted it up with smiles.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>Therefore Christie MacDonald's Princess Chic came as a great surprise. +At first, she was apparently feeling her way in the rôle. She was, in +fact, a model of discretion, but save in one particular her acting +lacked force and conviction. As the peasant girl, in this three-sided +impersonation, she was from the first exquisite. Never was the subtle +attack of a modest maiden upon a susceptible man's heart more daintily +or more fascinatingly exhibited. Under every circumstance Miss MacDonald +was simple and straightforward in her methods, and absolutely free from +affectation and self-consciousness. How thoroughly delightful that is! +Singers, in particular, are the victims of conventional mannerisms, +smiles that are meaningless and as a result expressionless, curious +contortions with the eyes, and strange movements of the hands. How much +they would gain by mastering the difficult art of artistically doing +nothing!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>With so much that was good in evidence during her earliest presentations +of the Princess Chic, with her faults those of omission rather than +commission, it was only natural that Miss MacDonald should improve +greatly as she became thoroughly familiar with the requirements of the +part, and as she gained experience in acting it. Especially did she seem +to catch the spirit of the Princess Chic masquerading as the handsome +young envoy. She developed a most entrancing swagger and the most +captivating nonchalance. Her voice, too, which at first seemed almost +too light for Mr. Edwards's trying music, was heard to a much better +advantage later; and in spite of its want of volume, it had a strange +insistency, a peculiar penetrating quality, which enabled it to balance +admirably the full chorus in the ensemble climaxes.</p> + +<p>Before she adopted the stage professionally, Christie MacDonald gained a +little experience by taking small parts in several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> summer "snap" +companies in her home city of Boston. Her parents were not altogether +pleased at her theatrical aspirations, and even after she had been +enrolled in 1892 as a member of Pauline Hall's company, she was +persuaded to give up the engagement in deference to their wishes. Just +at this critical point in her career, however, she chanced to meet +Francis Wilson, who had "The Lion Tamer" in rehearsal. He heard her sing +and liked her voice so well that he offered her a place in his company. +The temptation was too strong to be resisted, and Miss MacDonald +established herself under the Wilson banner. At first she was given only +a small part in "The Lion Tamer," and at the same time understudied Lulu +Glaser in both "The Lion Tamer" and "The Merry Monarch." The next season +she played Marie, the peasant girl, in "Erminie," and during Miss +Glaser's illness, Javotte. When "The Devil's Deputy" was brought out +for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> the season of 1894-95, she created the rôle of Bob, the valet. She +was a capital Mrs. Griggs in the pretty Sullivan opera, "The Chieftain," +her singing of the topical song, "I Think there is Something in That," +being especially popular. During the summer of 1896 she appeared in +Boston in "The Sphinx," making a pleasing impression as Shafra. The +following fall found her again with the Francis Wilson forces, playing +Lucinde in "Half a King." That summer she filled another engagement in +Boston as the Japanese maiden Woo Me, in the not-too-successful opera, +"The Walking Delegate." It was a dainty part and charmingly done.</p> + +<p>The next season Miss MacDonald was engaged by Klaw and Erlanger for the +Sousa opera, "The Bride Elect," with which she remained two seasons, and +this was followed by her appearance in "The Princess Chic."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XVI</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">MARIE DRESSLER</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_012.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">MARIE DRESSLER.</span></p> + + +<p>One cannot see Marie Dressler on the stage without being convinced that +she is acting no one in the world but herself. Such, I believe, is the +actual condition of affairs, although there are sometimes strange +paradoxes in theatrical life. It would not be altogether extraordinary +for the rollicking tomboy of the stage to be in private life the most +retired and the most dignified person imaginable, a woman with spinster +written all over her face and reeking in domesticity, with a decided +fondness for tea, toast, and tidies.</p> + +<p>However, that is not the case with Marie Dressler. She has a mental +quirk that keeps the incongruous side of life in her view practically +all the time. She cannot help pricking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> constantly the bubble of mirth +any more than she can help breathing. Her humor is just the kind that +one would naturally expect to find as a companion to her overflowing +physique,—ponderous, weighty, and a bit crude, perhaps, but +spontaneous, real, and thoroughly good-natured. She never stabs with the +keen shaft of cynical wit, and she does no business in the epigram +market. Her specialty is incongruity, for Marie Dressler is a burlesquer +in thought, word, and deed, and being a burlesquer she is of necessity +absolutely without illusions. When one is so susceptible to the +oddities, the inconsistencies, and the tragic pettiness of human affairs +as she is, it is a toss-up whether or not his settled condition of mind, +after a fair experience with the world, be one of gloomy pessimism or +irresponsible optimism. Had Miss Dressler been by nature cold, +suspicious, and inherently selfish, had she been unsympathetic and +without the milk of human kindness, her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> instinct for incongruity would +surely have turned her toward misanthropy. Her disposition, however, was +rollicking, jovial, and fun-loving. She was naturally impulsive, +generous, and warm-hearted. Consequently, life, even in its smallnesses +and its meannesses, made her laugh. With the humorist's whimsical +temperament she united also the happy faculty of being able to +communicate to others by means of the theatre her comical view of +things. Choosing to do this through the force of her own personality +rather than by infusing her personality into a dramatist's conception, +she became a droll, a professional jester.</p> + +<p>Miss Dressler's best-known and most characteristic work on the stage was +done in the rôle of the boisterous music-hall singer, Flo Honeydew, in +"The Lady Slavey." It was hardly a case of acting,—better call it a +case of letting herself go. Marie Dressler without subterfuge presented +herself in the guise of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> the unconventional Miss Honeydew. She seemed a +big, overgrown girl and a thoroughly mischievous romp with the agility +of a circus performer and the physical elasticity of a professional +contortionist.</p> + +<p>To call her graceful would be an unpardonable accusation. Possibly she +might have been graceful had she chosen to be; but what she was after +principally was energy, and she got it,—whole car-loads of it. Her +comic resource was inexhaustible, her animal spirits were irrepressible, +and her audacity approached the sublime.</p> + +<p>Yet, amid all her amazing unconventionality and her astonishing athletic +feats, one found, if he met her on her own plane of impersonal jollity, +neither vulgarity nor suggestiveness. Her mental attitude toward her +audience was absolutely clean and straightforward. She was not a woman +cutting up antics and indulging in unseemly pranks, but a royal good +fellow with an infinite variety of jest.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>With nothing especially tangible to offer as evidence, I have a +suspicion that Marie Dressler, if she could escape from her reputation +as a burlesquer, might act a "straight" part not at all badly. It is +only a fine line between burlesque and legitimate acting, only a +triflingly different mental attitude, which results in travesty instead +of seriousness. Of course, the burlesque must be set forth with the +proper amount of exaggeration to give point to the take-off, but that is +only a matter of technique. Artificiality in actors and insincerity in +dramatists very often result in unconscious burlesque. The melodramatic +school is particularly prone to this most inartistic of blunders, and +many a good laugh has followed lines that were supposed to be charged +with the most highly colored sentiments and situations that were +intended to be dramatically strong and impressive. One at all familiar +with Miss Dressler's methods cannot have failed to notice her trick of +beginning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> a speech with profound and even convincing seriousness and +ending it in ridiculous contrast with a sudden drop from the dramatic to +the commonplace. In spite of the fact that one knows for a certainty +that she is fooling him, she succeeds invariably in making the first +part of her sentence seem honest and sincere.</p> + +<p>Now, I do not believe that she could hit just the right key every time +in these startling and laughter-provoking contrasts, if she did not have +to an unusual extent the instinct for dramatic effect, which is so large +a part of the equipment of the legitimate actor. However, I hope that +she will never make the experiment. There are already enough serious +actors of ordinary calibre, while the genuine burlesquer of Marie +Dressler quality is rare indeed.</p> + +<p>Miss Dressler's versatility as a single entertainer was splendidly +illustrated in a curious variety act, which was called "Twenty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> Minutes +in Shirt Waists." It was devised for the sole purpose of showing off to +the best advantage Miss Dressler's native talent for fun-making and +travesty. It was mere hodge-podge, of course, with neither rhyme nor +reason, but it did afford Miss Dressler every chance that she could +desire to display her marvellous resource as a comic entertainer. The +title of the sketch, "Twenty Minutes in Shirt Waists," suggested some +sort of a disrobing act, but in that it was deceptive. Indeed, the +title—and possibly it was all the better for that—had no connection at +all with the act beyond the fact that Miss Dressler and her assistant, +Adele Farrington, both wore shirt waists of spotless white. It was a +very intimate and unstagy affair. The two entertainers called each other +Marie and Adele, and they kept up the illusion of spontaneous +comradeship by appearing, or seeming to appear, in the Eleanora Duse +fashion, without facial make-up. The turn itself was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> continuous +"jolly," and Miss Dressler introduced before it was over about +everything funny that she ever did in the theatre, including the amusing +revolving hat of "The Lady Slavey" fame.</p> + +<p>Miss Dressler was born in Canada, and went on the stage when she was +sixteen years old; and in spite of the fact that she was without +experience,—in fact, before she had ever seen a comic opera,—she +rather inverted the ordinary method of procedure, and started at once to +play old women. Her first character was Katisha in "The Mikado" in a +company managed by Jules Grau. The reason, so she claims, that she made +a try at "old women" was because she was too big and healthy ever to +meet with success as a soubrette. Her Katisha was sufficiently liked to +convince her that light opera was just the place for her, and thus her +theatrical career began.</p> + +<p>"I might state," remarked Miss Dressler, naïvely, in speaking of her +early experiences,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> "that we members of the Grau Company were promised +and were supposed to receive very good salaries. All we got, however, +was the promises, and they came early and often. No, that is not +altogether true: we got besides the promises twenty-five cents which was +handed to each member of the company every night. It was supposed to be +squandered in the purchase of beer. I forgot this little circumstance, +for I did not drink beer, and consequently in my case the aforesaid +quarter of a dollar was not forthcoming. This omission hurt me so much +that I resigned from this enterprising organization, and wandered to +Philadelphia. The exchequer was about as low as it well could be, and I +was glad enough to take a place in the chorus of a summer company at +eight dollars a week,—not a great deal, to be sure, but I got it, such +as it was."</p> + +<p>Miss Dressler's next engagement was with the Bennett and Moulton Opera +Company,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> from which Della Fox was also graduated. This organization +played week stands in small cities and large towns, giving two +performances a day and changing the bill every day. This may be said to +have been Miss Dressler's school, for while under the Bennett and +Moulton management she appeared in thirty-eight different operas and +played every variety of part, from prima donna rôles to old women.</p> + +<p>Following this arduous experience on the road came her first appearance +in New York at the Fifth Avenue Theatre as Cunigonde in "The Robber of +the Rhine," an opera of which Maurice Barrymore, who wrote the book, and +Charles Puerner, who composed the music, never had reason to feel proud. +Her first New York success of any consequence, therefore, was not made +until she appeared with Camille D'Arville in "Madeleine, or the Magic +Kiss." Her next venture was as the Queen in "1492," the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> part which +brought fame to that most accomplished woman impersonator, Richard +Harlow. After the termination of this engagement she appeared for a time +at the Garden Theatre, New York, under the management of A. M. Palmer, +and then joined Lillian Russell in "Princess Nicotine." Her remarkable +success in "The Lady Slavey" came next, and since then she has been seen +in "Hotel Topsy Turvy," "The Man in the Moon," and vaudeville.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XVII</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">DELLA FOX</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_013.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><small>Copyright, 1894, by J. B. Falk, Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y.</small></p> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">DELLA FOX.</span></p> + + +<p>It was a dozen or fifteen years ago that the hard-working organization +known as the Bennett and Moulton Opera Company was a frequent visitor to +the small cities and large towns of New England. It played week stands +with daily matinees, and it was, more than likely, the pioneer to flaunt +in the theatrical field the conquering banner of "ten, twenty, thirty." +I have every feeling of gratitude toward the Bennett and Moulton Opera +Company, for it introduced me, at the modest rate of ten cents per +introduction, which small sum purchased the right to sit aloft in the +gallery, to all the famous old-time operettas,—"Olivette," "The +Mascotte," "The Chimes of Normandy," and others.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>As I recall the annual performances of this obscure troupe, they were +surprisingly good. At least, so they seemed to me, and I can laugh even +now at the excruciatingly funny fellow who sang the topical song, "Bob +up Serenely" in "Olivette." There was also a curious dance, I remember, +that went with the song,—a spreading out simultaneously of arms and +legs in jumping-jack fashion,—and we boys thought it vastly amusing. We +clapped and stamped and whistled, and kept the poor comedian at work as +long as our breath held out and long after his had gone.</p> + +<p>The last time that I saw the Bennett and Moulton Opera Company was in +"Fra Diavolo," and the prima donna—the term seems ridiculous and absurd +as I think of the person to whom it is applied—was a golden-haired +little creature, wonderfully ample, tremendously in earnest, and +strangely fascinating, a dainty slip of a girl, who seemed, in truth, +only a child. I can see her now as she sat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> on the edge of the bed in +the chamber scene, unfastening her shoes, singing very sweetly and very +expressively her good-night song, all unconscious of the bold brigands +who were watching the proceedings from their places of concealment. She +charmed me as no singer in light opera ever had before, and the +impression that she made upon me has never been lost. The child was +Della Fox, of whom at that time no one had ever heard—Della Fox in the +humblest of surroundings, but to me more fascinating than in any of the +brilliant settings that have since been hers.</p> + +<p>I did not see Della Fox again until 1890, when she was playing Blanche +in "Castles in the Air" with DeWolf Hopper. She had changed greatly in +the few years, though far less than she has since the days of "Castles +in the Air," "Wang," and "Panjandrum." Her appealing, unsophisticated +girlishness had gone, and in its place was self-possession<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> and +authority. She was charming in her daintiness, provoking in her +coquetry, a tantalizing atom of femininity. Her archness was not bold +nor unwomanly, and her vivacity was well within the bounds of refinement +and good taste. Her singing voice, too, was musical, though not over +strong.</p> + +<p>Della Fox was born in St. Louis on October 13, 1872. Her father, A. J. +Fox, was a photographer, who made something of a specialty of theatrical +pictures; and thus Della's babyhood was passed, not exactly in the +playhouse atmosphere, perhaps, but certainly in an atmosphere next door +to that of the greasepaint and footlights. Her experience on the stage +began when she was only seven years old as the midshipmate in a +children's "Pinafore" company, which travelled in Missouri and Illinois +for a season. She was an astonishingly precocious child, and many +persons who watched her shook their heads and predicted that her talent +had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> ripened too early, and that, as is the case with many promising +stage children, she would never amount to anything.</p> + +<p>Apparently this midshipmate experience firmly established in Miss +Della's childish mind the intention to become an actress. Her parents, +however, succeeded in keeping her in school for a few years longer, +though she appeared in several local performances where a child was +needed. When she was nine years old, for instance, she acted for a week +in St. Louis the child's part in the production of "A Celebrated Case" +of which James O'Neill was the star, and she was also at one time with a +"Muldoon's Picnic" company. Her first real professional experience, +however, was obtained with an organization known as the Dickson Sketch +Club.</p> + +<p>This was gotten up by four St. Louis young men, W. F. Dickson and W. G. +Smythe, both of whom became prominent theatrical managers, Augustus +Thomas, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> playwright, and Edgar Smith, the author of several Casino +pieces, and at present writer-in-ordinary to Weber and Fields. Mr. +Thomas made a one-act play of Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett's story, +"Editha's Burglar," and the company also appeared in a musical farce +called "Combustion." Della Fox was the Editha in the play and the +soubrette in the musical piece, while Mr. Thomas acted Bill Lewis, the +burglar, and Mr. Smith was Paul Benton. Miss Fox's impersonation of +Editha was, according to report, very good indeed. At any rate, the +success of the play was sufficient to encourage the author to expand it +to three-acts. The result was "The Burglar," one of the first plays in +which Mr. E. H. Sothern appeared as a star. In the three-act version +Sothern acted Bill Lewis, the burglar, and Elsie Leslie was Editha.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dickson, who is now connected with the business staff of the +Alhambra in Chicago,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> referred not long ago to this early experience as +a manager.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, "that was 'Gus' Thomas's début as a dramatic author. +'Gus' was in the box office with me at the Olympic in St. Louis, and he +managed to find time during the leisure moments when he was not selling +tickets to scribble ideas in dramatic form. He read me this little +sketch, 'Editha's Burglar,' and asked me to give it a trial. Right +across the street from the theatre lived Della Fox, daughter of a +photographer, a precocious little miss, whose talents were always in +requisition whenever there were any child's parts to be filled at the +theatre. I used to send over for Della whenever there was a little part +for her, and she was delighted to get away from school and skip and trip +before the footlights. After 'Gus' had read the play to me, he suggested +that Della should play little Editha, and as a result I was induced to +put the piece on with the budding author in the principal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> rôle. It had +a certain sort of success, and we went on a tour, using 'The Burglar' as +a curtain raiser to another play called 'Combustion,' also from 'Gus' +Thomas's pen. Later 'The Burglar' was produced in New York as a +curtain-raiser to William Gillette's comedy, 'The Great Pink Pearl.' +Gillette himself played the burglar, and Mr. Thomas was encouraged to +expand his sketch into a pretentious three-act play, and it went on the +road, making money for the managers and familiarizing the public with +Augustus Thomas's name."</p> + +<p>Next came Miss Fox's connection with the Bennett and Moulton Company, +with which she appeared in the leading soprano rôles of all the light +operas,—"Fra Diavolo," "The Bohemian Girl," "The Pirates of Penzance," +"Billie Taylor," "The Mikado," and "The Chimes of Normandy." Her success +with this minor organization brought her to the notice of Heinrich +Conried, who was getting together<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> an opera company to appear in "The +King's Fool." She was given the soubrette part, and created something of +a stir wherever the opera was given by her singing of "Fair Columbia," +one of the most popular songs of the piece. From Mr. Conried also she +received about all the real instruction in dramatic art that she had +ever had. When Davis and Locke, who had managed the Emma Juch Opera +Company, decided to launch DeWolf Hopper as a star, they began to look +about for a small-sized soubrette to act as a foil for Mr. Hopper's +great height. George W. Lederer, of the New York Casino, suggested Della +Fox, and accordingly she was engaged and opened with Hopper in "Castles +in the Air" at the Broadway Theatre, New York, in May, 1890.</p> + +<p>Her success in this larger field was remarkable, and before the summer +was over she was sharing the honors with Hopper and was just as strong a +popular favorite as he. Her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> Blanche was a delightful creation +throughout, but best remembered is the "athletic duet" in which she and +Hopper gave amusing pantomimic representations of games of billiards, +baseball, and other familiar sports. Her Mataya in "Wang," which was +brought out in New York in the summer of 1891, was another triumph. This +was, perhaps, the most artistic of all her rôles. She was cute, impish, +and jaunty in turn as the Crown Prince, and, in addition, was a picture +never to be forgotten in her perfect fitting white flannel suit, worn in +the second act. It was in this act, too, that she sang the famous +summer-night's song, which was whistled and hand-organed throughout the +land.</p> + +<p>Next Miss Fox created the principal soubrette rôle in Mr. Hopper's opera +"Panjandrum," in which she continued to appear until she made her début +as a star in August, 1894, at the Casino, New York, in Goodwin and +Furst's opera, "The Little Trooper."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> Her first season was extremely +successful. The next year she was seen in "Fleur-de-lis," another +Goodwin-Furst product. Writing of Miss Fox in this opera, Philip Hale +said:—</p> + +<p>"Disagreeable qualities in the customary performance of Miss Fox were +not nearly so much in evidence as in some of her other characters. She +was not so deliberately affected, she was not so brazen in her +assurance. Even her vocal mannerisms were not so conspicuous. She almost +played with discretion, and often she was delightful. Her +self-introduction to her father was one long to be remembered. No wonder +that the audience insisted on seeing it again and again. All in all, +Miss Fox appeared greatly to her advantage."</p> + +<p>His criticism of the opera is also interesting:</p> + +<p>"It was March 31, 1885, that 'Pervenche,' an operetta, text by Duru and +Chivot, music by Audran, was first produced at the Bouffes-Parisiens.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> +Mrs. Thuillier-Leloir was the Pervenche, Maugé the Count des +Escarbilles, and Mesnacker the Marquis de Rosolio. The honors of the +evening, however, were borne away by Mr. and Mrs. Piccaluga, who were +respectively Frederick and Charlotte. The opera did not please, and it +ran only twenty-nine nights. Nor has it been revived.</p> + +<p>"In the time of Henry the Second, or Henry the Third, two nephews +disputed the right to possess a castle in Touraine that had belonged to +their late uncle, who died without will. Rosolio held the castle, and +Escarbilles tried to dislodge him. By the will, found eventually, the +castle belonged to Rosolio if Frederick, the son of Escarbilles, should +marry Pervenche, the natural daughter of Rosolio.</p> + +<p>"The performance was in the main poor, and the music of Audran was not +distinguished, they say. A romance of Frederick, a pastorale Tyrolienne +sung by Charlotte at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> the end of the second act, and a duet of menders +of faience in the third act, said to be the best of the three, alone +seemed worthy of remark.</p> + +<p>"So much for 'Pervenche,' the libretto of which furnished the foundation +for Mr. Goodwin's story and songs. Just how far Mr. Goodwin departed +from the situations furnished by Messrs. Durn and Chivot, I am unable to +say, for I never saw 'Pervenche' nor its libretto. However much he may +be indebted, this can be truly said: he has written an entertaining +book; the plot is coherent, and the situations laughable. The second act +is admirable throughout. The colossal effrontery of the starved Rosolio +in the castle manned by women disguised as soldiers, the reconciliation +of the nephews, the exchange of reminiscences of gay student days in +Paris, the discovery of the imposition, and the renewed +hostilities,—these are amusing and well connected. Furthermore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> the +audience at the end of this act realizes at once the need of a third +act, to clear up matters. Now this is rare in operetta of to-day. Even +in the third act the interest never flags, although there was one +dreadful moment, when it looked as though the old 'Mascotte' third-act +business was to be introduced. Fortunately the suspicion was groundless, +and the audience breathed freer and forgot its fears in the enjoyment of +the delightful scenes between Des Escarbilles and the miller, and then +the ghost.</p> + +<p>"Not so much can be said in praise of the music. It is the same old +thing that has served in many operettas. There is a jingle, there are +the inevitable waltz tunes that always sound alike. But the music gives +the comedians an excuse for singing and dancing. It thus serves its turn +and is promptly forgotten until another operetta comes, and the hearer +has a vague impression that he has heard the tunes before."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>"The Wedding Day," with Della Fox, Lillian Russell, and Jefferson De +Angelis in the cast, was brought out in the fall of 1897, and it revived +to a degree old-time memories of players at the Casino. The opera itself +proved to be of an order of merit recalling "Falka," "The Merry War," +and "Nanon," the like of which had not appeared for many, many seasons. +The music was ambitious without being dull, and some of the concerted +numbers had genuine musicianly value. The story held its interest fairly +well, though in spots it was too complicated, and at one point in the +third act quite absurd. Still it was an excellent vehicle to display the +talents of the so-called "triple alliance" of comic opera stars. Miss +Fox, who had shown a decided tendency toward stoutness, had trained down +to within hailing distance of her former slender lithesomeness, and she +made a pretty and attractive bride.</p> + +<p>The following season found Miss Fox again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> an individual star, this time +in "The Little Host." Her last appearances in opera were made in this +piece, for after her season had begun in the fall of 1899, she was taken +seriously ill, and for a long time her death was expected. She recovered +partially, however, after months of illness, and in the spring of 1900 +she appeared for a few months in vaudeville. Even this labor proved too +much for her strength, and her friends were compelled to remove her to a +place where she might have perfect rest.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XVIII</span></p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="big">CAMILLE D'ARVILLE</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Camille D'Arville, like Lillian Russell, Pauline Hall, and Jessie +Bartlett Davis, is one of the old guard, in American light opera. She +has not appeared in opera for some time, for during the season of +1899-1900 she followed the general inclination and went into vaudeville. +From these appearances it was apparent that her voice was not what it +had been once—and little wonder that it had failed, when one recalls +how continuously that voice has been in use since the owner left her +Dutch home, forswore her own name of Neeltye Dykstra, and first learned +to talk a prettily accentuated English. She still had in full the power +to win an audience instantly and completely. Nor had she lost to any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +perceptible degree her rare good looks. A little fuller in the figure, +perhaps, than she was five years ago, she carried herself with the same +fine grace and perfect poise which were of themselves an art.</p> + +<p>Camille D'Arville has temperament, and she has style. It is these two +qualities particularly that have brought her success so often in dashing +cavalier parts, parts which require that a woman shall act either a man +or a woman masquerading as a man. The modern comic opera librettist +often has but one main purpose in mind, that is, to get his prima donna +in tights as soon after the show begins as possible and keep her in them +as long as practical. Indeed, if one were looking for a practical way to +distinguish modern comic opera from extravaganza, he might find it in +this matter of tights. If the leading woman represent a woman disguised +as a man, she is an operatic prima donna; if, on the contrary, she be +represented as a man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> from start to finish, she is merely principal +"boy" in extravaganza.</p> + +<p>I suppose this tendency toward tights, which is so common as to be +almost a light-opera conventionality, is an outgrowth or heritage from +the old-fashioned burlesque. In fact, the difference between the modern +comic opera and the burlesque of thirty years ago is purely one of +degree. The relation between the two is similar to that between the +variety show of eight years ago and the so-called "fashionable +vaudeville" of to-day. Variety has been put through what managers of the +large circuits call a refining process. There is no denying that the +old-style variety show in most of its components was crude, noisy, and +vulgar, and that its surroundings were scarcely favorable to the +development of high art. But one was always sure of finding vigor and +life—plenty of both—in the old-time varieties, and there were +oftentimes spontaneity and humor—rude and bucolic,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> perhaps, but real, +just the same—which one is not sure of meeting in the latter-day +entertainments so carefully prepared for the mentally delicate and +sensitive.</p> + +<p>Modern comic opera has adopted in a modified and refined form the chief +characteristics—one of them the woman in tights and another of them the +clown with his perfunctory low comedy—of the old-fashioned burlesque. +Of course, the opera makes more pretensions than did the burlesque, and +musically it is superficially superior, not necessarily more tuneful but +orchestrated with more scholarly skill. Stage pageantry to-day is also +much further developed, and spectacular effects are far more elaborate. +The costuming is richer and more tasteful, and the women on the +stage—if not actually younger and prettier—are certainly daintier and +more feminine. The girlishness and natural beauty of many modern +light-opera choruses are simply amazing.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>If we look beneath these externals, however, we find that the comic +opera of to-day is hardly an advance over the burlesque of yesterday. +There was good stuff in most of the old burlesques. They had original +ideas, plenty of simple dramatic action, and some genuine comedy, but it +is seldom that one finds any of these three essentials in the book of +the modern comic opera. Not for ten years, I am tempted to declare, has +there been written a light-opera libretto with sufficient intrinsic +merit to attract the public attention without the assistance of the most +magnetic personalities surrounded and set forth by the most gorgeous of +stage accessories.</p> + +<p>Camille D'Arville's cavaliers—and in recent years she has not played a +part that did not require male attire—are a direct heritage from the +burlesque stage. When Camille D'Arville becomes a man, she makes the +change from petticoats without the slightest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> show of +self-consciousness. I heard her once termed the most modest woman in +tights on the stage. That was simply an acknowledgment of her complete +effacement of the personal equation. Yet her individuality was not at +all diminished, her presence was inspiring, and her acting both +vivacious and forceful.</p> + +<p>Camille D'Arville was born in 1863 in the village of Oldmarck, Province +of Overyseel, Holland, and came of a family that had never shown any +theatrical or especial musical talent. When she was twelve years old, +her voice gave promise of developing into something more than the +ordinary, and she was sent to the Conservatory at Amsterdam for +instruction. Here she made her first appearance in concert in 1877. +Later she went to Vienna, where she received further instruction, and +also made a successful appearance in a one-act operetta.</p> + +<p>"I was a big girl fourteen or fifteen years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> old before I saw other +lands than my own Holland," remarked Miss D'Arville, "and after I left +Amsterdam I was on the Continent and in England for a long time before I +returned home. I still claim Holland as my birthright, however, and I do +not want to be called anything but Dutch. If I have a trace of French +accent in speaking English, as some claim, it is not my fault.</p> + +<p>"But, do you know," she continued, "if it were purely a matter of +inclination, I think I should much rather be an actress than to be a +singer. Of course, I love music, but what can be more gratifying than to +portray the heroines of Shakespeare and other great dramatists? But my +natural endowment as a singer led me toward the operatic career. In +opera I prefer a strong dramatic rôle, a part which has only one grand +song if it afford plenty of opportunity for acting.</p> + +<p>"When did I first sing in public? Oh, I can't remember that. I appeared +in concerts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> in Amsterdam when I was a girl, and by the time I entered +my teens I took part in operatic performances given by the Conservatory +pupils. Do you mean when did I make my real début in opera? I suppose +that might be said to have occurred in March, 1883, at the Strand +Theatre, London, in an operetta entitled 'Cymbria, or the Magic +Thimble.'"</p> + +<p>Before this, however, Miss D'Arville had anything but a pleasant +experience in London. She went there under the supposition that she had +been engaged to sing in opera. The managerial promise she found to be +worthless, and she had to be satisfied with a chance to earn a little +money in a music hall. It was after several months of the most +uncongenial toil that she finally gained recognition in "Cymbria."</p> + +<p>"Harry Paulton was responsible for that appearance," continued Miss +D'Arville. "He heard me sing, and under his tuition I learned the words +of the opera and sung them before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> I understood their meaning. It was +not long, however, before I could speak English fairly well. The Dutch, +you know, are famous linguists.</p> + +<p>"In October of the same year I created the part of Gabrielle Chevrette +in 'La Vie,' an adaptation by H. B. Farnie of Offenbach's 'La Vie +Parisienne.' The critics spoke very kindly of me then, but were much +more generous in their praises when during the following spring I +appeared as Fredegonda in a revival of M. Hervé's 'Chilperic' given at +the Empire Theatre. Perhaps chief among my early successes was in 'Rip +Van Winkle.' I succeeded Miss Sadie Martinot in the leading soprano +part, and sang it until the end of the opera's long run. Fred Leslie was +the Rip Van Winkle, and very fine he was, too. It was a pity he +afterward became so thoroughly identified with burlesque."</p> + +<p>It was at the time of her first appearance in opera in England that the +singer adopted the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> name of Camille D'Arville. It was chosen for euphony +only, and had no significance whatever.</p> + +<p>After her success in "Rip Van Winkle" Miss D'Arville toured the English +province with "Falka," and in 1887 returned to London to play in +"Mynheer Jan." This was followed by an engagement at the Gaiety Theatre, +and her position in London seemed established, when a quarrel with the +management caused her to break her contract and she appeared at another +theatre in the title rôle of "Babette."</p> + +<p>Miss D'Arville first came to this country in the spring of 1888, being +under engagement to J. C. Duff; and her first appearance here was made +in New York in April in "The Queen's Mate" in the cast with Lillian +Russell. In the fall Miss D'Arville returned to London, where she +appeared in "Carina," in which piece her charming archness was a +feature. The Carl Rosa Company then engaged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> her to take the part of +Yvonne in "Paul Jones," in which Agnes Huntington as the hero had taken +the city by storm. With the same company she also created the title rôle +in "Marjorie," which also enjoyed a long run. During the summer of 1889 +Miss D'Arville became connected with the New York Casino, appearing in +"La Fille de Madame Angot," "The Grand Duchess," and "Poor Jonathan." +Back to London she hied herself once more, and for a time was heard at +the Trocadero and Pavillon. Then she returned to the United States, and +joined the Bostonians, with whom she sang Arline in "The Bohemian Girl," +Maid Marion in "Robin Hood," and Katherine in a revival of "The +Mascotte." She was probably the most satisfactory Maid Marion, all +things considered, that ever sang the part. Certainly she was better as +an actress than Marie Stone, who had previously taken the rôle, and she +was physically better fitted to the character than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> Alice Nielsen. +Critics, who up to that time had not been entirely satisfied with Miss +D'Arville, claiming that her vocal method was bad and her acting +oftentimes crude and meaningless, found her work in "Robin Hood" very +much to their taste.</p> + +<p>"As a singer she has improved during the past year," said one. "Her +tones are purer; she uses her voice with more discretion; and she has +discovered that a scream is not synonymous with forte. She is vivacious; +she lends a dramatic interest that has been sadly lacking in former +performances of this company, when the members were too apt to mistake +the audience for a congregation and the stage for a choir loft. She is +fair to look upon, and yet she does not strive to monopolize attention."</p> + +<p>After quitting the Bostonians Miss D'Arville starred in Edward E. Rice's +spectacular production of the extravaganza "Venus," which was first +acted in Boston in September, 1893.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> Her dashing Prince Kam, that +imaginary Thibetian potentate, who, finding no earthly beauty that +satisfied his ideal, journeyed to Mars, where he succeeded in winning +the love of Venus herself, was a thoroughly delightful characterization.</p> + +<p>"A Daughter of the Revolution," with which Miss D'Arville was next +identified, was made over by J. Cheever Goodwin and Ludwig Engländer +from a comic opera called "1776," produced some ten years before by a +German company playing at the Thalia Theatre in New York. It achieved +but limited popularity at that time, but in its revised form it was an +agreeable, if not exactly exciting, entertainment. It was not an ideal +comic opera, by any means. Too much of the machinery of construction was +left visible for that. There were two characters, the dealer in military +supplies and the laundress, so obviously dragged in simply because the +low-comedy man needed a foil and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> soubrette to play opposite to him, +that one looked to see the marks of violence on their ears. But +librettos are hard things to write—they must be or we should +certainly find one now and then that is above reproach—so one would +fain overlook jarring circumstances for the sake of the tuneful melodies +of the score and the brisk action. Miss D'Arville sang well, and made an +attractive picture in her series of becoming costumes.</p> + +<p>A starring tour in "Madeleine; or the Magic Kiss," a comic opera of +considerable merit although it never won more than a fair degree of +popularity, was her next venture, and then she was engaged to create the +prima donna rôle of Lady Constance in "The Highwayman," a Reginald +DeKoven and Harry B. Smith composition. A quarrel with the management +while rehearsals were in progress caused her to retire from the company, +however, and her place was taken by Hilda Clark.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XIX</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">MARIE TEMPEST</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/fig_014.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="caption">MARIE TEMPEST.</span></p> + + +<p>No better characterization of Marie Tempest, that wonderfully +fascinating personality which last appeared in this country during the +season of 1893-94 in "The Algerian," have I ever seen than that written +by Charles Frederick Nirdlinger and published several years ago in the +"Illustrated American."</p> + +<p>"Nell Gwynne lives again in the person of Marie Tempest," declared Mr. +Nirdlinger. "From out of a past tinkling with tuneful poesy, sparkling +with the glory of palettes that limned only beauty and grace, bubbling +with the merriment and gallantry of gay King Charlie's court, there +trips down to moderns a most convincing counterfeit of that piquant +creature. If one may trust imagination's ear, little Tempest sings as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +pretty Nell did: in the same tenuous, uncertain voice, with the same +captivating tricks of tone, the same significant nuances, and the same +amorous timbre. Tempest talks just as Nell did, and walks with the same +sturdy stride,—there was nothing mincing about Nell,—and, if one may +trust to fancy's eye, she looks just as Nell looked. I have seen Nell a +hundred times, and so have you, dear reader. The mere sight of that +curt, pert, and jadish name—Nell Gwynne—calls up that strangely +alluring combination of features: the tip-tilted nose, the pouting lips, +the eyes of a drowsy Cupid, the confident, impudent poise of the head. +None of them fashioned to the taste of the painter or sculptor, but +forming in their unity a face of pleasing witchery.</p> + +<p>"There is no record of Nell's artistic methods, of the school of her +mimetic performance, or the style of her singing. All we know of that +sort of thing we must gather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> from the rhymes and rhapsodies of the +poets. Some of them wrote in prose, to be sure; but they were poets for +all that, and poets are such an unreliable lot when it comes to judging +such a girl as Nell. If she had any art, though, I'll be bound it was +like Tempest's. There is but one way to be infinitely charming in the +craft of the theatre,—the eternal verities of art prevent that it +should be otherwise,—and whatever devices of mimic mechanism Nell +employed must have been those of her modern congener. But she never +studied in Paris, some sceptic will say, and Tempest did: how could Nell +Gwynne have mastered the lightness of touch, the exquisite refinement of +gesture, the infinity of significant byplay that constitute the +distinctly Parisian method of Tempest? To that I would answer that +Tempest's method is not distinctly Parisian, that it is not at all +Parisian. She is a delightful artist, not because of her brief period of +Gallic training, but in spite of it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>"Elsewhere I have ventured an opinion on the subject of what we have +been taught to regard as the French school of comic opera. That school, +if we may judge of its academic principles and practices by the +performances of some of its most proficient graduates, has nothing in +common with the methods of Tempest. Wanton wiles and indecent +suggestion,—these are the essential features of that ridiculously +lauded French school; kicks and winks and ogling glances, postures of +affected languor, and convincing feats of vicious sophistication. Where, +in all that, is to be found the simple graciousness, the dainty, +delicate, unobtrusive art of Marie Tempest? To liken her to the garish +product of that French school—as well liken Carot's sensuous nymph of +the wood to Bougereau's sensual nymph of the bath! For my own part, I +don't believe Tempest belongs to any school, or if she does, it is a +school of which she is at once mistress and sole pupil. Indeed, it may +be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> doubted whether instruction and training have any considerable part +in the charm of such a player. There are women of infinitely better +method—not manner—of singing and acting; women with whom nature has +dealt far more carefully and generously in beauty of face and figure; +women even in no degree inferior to Tempest in innate allurement. But +this little Englishwoman, with her svelte form and her bewitching face +of ugly features, her tricky voice that makes one think of a thrush that +has caught a cold, her impertinences and patronizing ways with her +audience, has about her a vague, illusive something that makes of her +the most fetching personality of the comic-opera stage."</p> + +<p>Marie Tempest, whose real name is Marie Etherington, was born in London +in 1867. Her father died while she was a child, and she was educated +abroad by her mother. Five or six years of her life were spent in a +convent near Brussels. From there she was sent to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> Paris to finish her +education, afterward going to London, where she became a student at the +Royal Academy of Music.</p> + +<p>At that time she had no idea of going upon the stage. Her exceptional +musical talent at once became apparent to the professors at the academy, +notably Emanuel Garcia, who, although then upward of eighty years of +age, took the liveliest interest in his young pupil. Miss Tempest worked +so successfully with Garcia that within eighteen months of her entrance +at the academy she had carried off from all other competitors the +bronze, silver, and gold medals representing the highest rewards the +academy could offer. She also studied for a time with Signor Randeggor, +in London, and in 1886 made her first appearance on any stage at the +London Comedy in "Boccaccio." It was a small part that she played in the +London company managed by Arthur Henderson, and the salary which she +received was four pounds a week.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>After that she created the soprano part in an opera called "The Fay o' +Fire" at the Opera Comique, from thence returning for a few months to +the Comedy Theatre to take Florence St. John's place in "Erminie." Miss +Tempest then took an engagement with Augustus Harris at the Drury Lane +in Hervise's comic opera, "Frivoli." In 1887 she joined Henry J. +Leslie's company, then playing at the Prince of Wales's Theatre, London, +in Alfred Cellier's opera, "Dorothy," in which she assumed the title +rôle. In this part Miss Tempest made a very great success. She played in +"Dorothy" for nearly nine hundred performances at the Prince of Wales +and Lyric theatres. Subsequently she appeared at the Lyric in Cellier's +opera of "Doris" and after that in "The Red Hussar." Although Miss +Tempest was engaged chiefly in light opera, during these years she at +various times undertook more serious work, frequently singing in +oratorio and in the high-class London concerts.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>She came to this country for the first time in the spring of 1890, +appearing in New York and after on tour as Kitty Carroll in "The Red +Hussar." Her success was remarkable, and she at once became an +established favorite. Although the prima donna of to-day might consider +Kitty Carroll, with only its three changes of costume, from soldier to +beggar girl and then to heiress, a veritable sinecure, Marie Tempest's +skill in passing quickly from one character to another was ten years ago +quite as much commented on as was her unquestionably artistic +presentation of the triple rôles. She also repeated in this country her +London success in "Dorothy," and sang in "Carmen" as well.</p> + +<p>Miss Tempest was next seen at the New York Casino as the successor to +Lillian Russell and Pauline Hall. In the operetta, "The Tyrolean," she +had a part scarcely equal to her abilities, although the nightingale +song, which came in the last act, was a charming melody<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> and was so +delightfully sung by Miss Tempest as really to be the feature of the +performance. In her peasant's dress Miss Tempest was the choicest of +dainty morsels, a dream of fairylike loveliness.</p> + +<p>Her greatest success in this country, however, was "The Fencing Master" +in which the prima donna rôle was peculiarly suited to her personality. +This opera was built around the conceit of a master of fencing, who, not +being blessed with a son to succeed him in his profession, brought up +his daughter as a boy, and by severe training made her a most expert +user of foil and sword. In this character Miss Tempest united remarkably +well boyish freedom and masculine swagger with feminine charm and +ingenuousness, and the picture that she made was one never to be +forgotten. It was true, however, in spite of her great attractiveness in +the part, that tights and tunic did take away a little of that subtle +bewitchery, which was the root of her wonderful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> winsomeness in +"Dorothy." It was a Boston critic, I believe, who said of her in this +opera, that she suggested a Dresden china image that had hopped down +from the mantel and committed an indiscretion. Still another, evidently +a bit of a china connoisseur himself, applied the fancy porcelain simile +with far more searching analysis. "She reminds one of a bit of Sèvres +china," he declared, "although a pretty piece of Dresden would not be an +inappropriate simile, especially when she is dressed in that +picturesquely ragged costume in the first act. Sèvres china, however, is +to an art connoisseur what truffles and pâte-de-foie gras are to an +accomplished epicure." Whether she were Dresden china or Sèvres china, +it mattered not; the main fact remained that a thoroughly feminine woman +like Miss Tempest needed the fuss and feathers of feminine attire to +bring out her attractions in the most effective way. That the public +unconsciously felt this was proven even in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> "The Fencing Master," where +her appearance in the last act in all the glory of court gown and +flashing jewels was always the signal for the heartiest applause.</p> + +<p>In "The Algerian," by Reginald DeKoven and Glen MacDonough, which +followed "The Fencing Master," being brought out in Philadelphia in +September, 1893, Miss Tempest not only returned to the garb of her own +sex, but appeared as well in her own auburn hair with that tiny +irresistible curl hanging down the middle of her forehead, just like +that of the little girl in the old ballad.</p> + +<p>At the close of the run of this opera in 1894, Miss Tempest returned to +London. Her greatest hits of recent years in that city have been made as +the heroine in "The Artist's Model" and as O Mimosa San in George +Edwardes's original production of "The Geisha" at Daly's Theatre in +London.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XX</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">MAUD RAYMOND</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>High in the ranks of women low comedians who have been graduated from +the variety theatre into musical comedy and extravaganza, is Maud +Raymond, who fairly shares the honors with the Rogers Brothers in their +popular vaudevilles. It would be unfair to call Miss Raymond an actress, +for she does not aspire to be anything more than a delightful +entertainer, whose unusual mimetic gifts and whose real or assumed sense +of humor led her to adopt as the most natural thing imaginable the +serious calling of making the world laugh.</p> + +<p>With her marked individuality, Miss Raymond drifted as a matter of +course into character impersonation. In the days when she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> entered the +varieties three distinct types of low-comedy characterizations were +recognized—the Irish, the Dutch, and the negro. The first two were +genuine burlesques, while the last named was the familiar minstrel +type,—a great deal of burnt cork and an insignificant amount of genuine +negro. Miss Raymond selected the Dutch type. Whether she was the first +woman to attempt a Dutch character sketch, I do not know, but I am +willing to risk the statement that she was the best one.</p> + +<p>An amazingly grotesque figure she presented, with her figure built on +the lines of a meal sack with a string tied around the middle, and her +huge sabots that clattered noisily every step she took. Her face was a +study in ponderous stupidity, and her movements were slow and unwieldy. +Yet, with all its grotesqueness, its mammoth exaggerations, there was +human nature in the sketch and rich, full-blooded humor, the brutal, +coarse humor of the soil, humor that had not been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> refined into +flavorless delicacy nor polished into insipidness for the moral +salvation of too easily shocked tenderlings.</p> + +<p>When the "coon" craze struck the stage, Miss Raymond was among the first +to take that up, and she has clung faithfully to it ever since. Like all +her work, her interpretation of the modern "coon" song is all her own. +She does not reproduce so fantastically as some others the antics of the +swell cake-walker, but she infuses into her work a rich humor that is +infectious. In this one particular she resembles closely Miss May Irwin. +May Irwin's "coon," however, is the Southern "mammy" type, while Maud +Raymond's is of Northern city birth and training. In this aspect of her +"coon" art, Miss Raymond seems nearer the progenitor of the up-to-date +stage negro, who was, of course, the "nigger" minstrel of a number of +decades ago.</p> + +<p>Miss Raymond's method was capitally illustrated in the song "I thought +that he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> Money in the Bank," which was introduced in "The Rogers +Brothers in Wall Street" during the season of 1899-1900. Her dialect was +by no means extraordinary. It had not the darky softness and twang, +which one finds for instance so faithfully reproduced by Artie Hall. +Miss Raymond, however, got a curious comic effect by twisting her words +out of the corner of her mouth in a manner indescribable, by hunching up +her shoulders, one a little higher than the other, thrusting her head +forward, crooking her elbows, and letting her hands hang loose and +lifeless as if they had been broken at the wrists.</p> + +<p>After seeing Miss Raymond's inimitable Dutch woman, I carried away the +impression that she herself inclined toward embonpoint,—that she was +grossly notoriously fat, in fact. Later observations, however, have +caused me to revise that impression. Miss Raymond is not fat, merely +comfortably plump. She is a decided brunette with rather irregular +features,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> but features none the less attractive for that, snapping +black eyes that seem always to sparkle with irrepressible merriment, and +an inexhaustible amount of vivacity. Vivacity may, indeed, be said to be +her specialty. It is always in evidence, and yet it never runs riot and +it never becomes wearisome.</p> + +<p>Miss Raymond has been a vaudeville feature for the past twelve years. +She made her first appearance with Rice and Barton's company, and +afterward played two years with Harry Williams's Own Company. Her next +appearance was in the soubrette part in "Bill's Boot," in which Joe J. +Sullivan starred. She then joined Irwin Brothers' Company, in which she +sang with great success. She spent several weeks in the Howard Athenæum +Company when it was under James J. Armstrong's management, and finished +the season with Fields and Hanson.</p> + +<p>Miss Raymond was specially engaged to play the soubrette rôle in Bolivar +in Donnelly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> and Girard's "The Rainmakers." Those popular stars declared +that the part had never been so well done as it was by Miss Raymond, but +she was obliged to retire at the end of the season on account of +illness. During the summer she appeared on the roof gardens and in the +continuous houses. She joined Tony Pastor's company in the early fall, +and played a season of fifteen weeks with that organization, meeting +with great success.</p> + +<p>When the Rogers Brothers began starring with "The Reign of Error" in the +fall of 1898, she was made a prominent feature of their company, and she +continued with them as their leading support the following season in +"The Rogers Brothers in Wall Street."</p> + +<p>She is also the wife of one of the brothers, though whether of Max or +Gus I never can remember.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XXI</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">PAULINE HALL</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>A very remarkable woman is Pauline Hall, whose stage career of +twenty-five years encompasses every experience possible in light opera +in this country. Miss Hall began as a dancer. She spent her +apprenticeship in the chorus. She sang inconsequential rôles in opera, +and she acted small parts in drama. She had her season in burlesque. She +was for years the foremost figure in the best light-opera organization +this country has ever known. She has starred, and she is to-day a better +singer than the majority of her youthful contemporaries, a better +actress than all except a very few of them, and a more satisfactory +all-around artist—if the expression be permissible—than any of them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>When I heard her sing with Francis Wilson in "Cyrano de Bergerac"—about +the stupidest opera, by the way, ever produced—and in "Erminie" in the +spring of 1900, I was amazed; her voice was in splendid condition, +certainly better than it had been five years before, true in tone, +clear, and without huskiness. It showed its wear only in the loss of the +richness and sweetness—the music, one might say—of the old Casino +days. In figure Miss Hall was trim and youthful. Her face was plump and +rounded like a girl's. Her hair, cut short for boys' parts and +coquettishly curled, retained its dark, almost black, hue, while her +eyes—wonderfully handsome they always were—snapped and sparkled like a +débutante's.</p> + +<p>Pauline Hall's fame reached its height during the long run of "Erminie" +at the New York Casino. She was the originator of the rôle of the +Erminie, and she sang in the opera in all the principal cities of the +country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> She was—and is still, for that matter—one of the finest +formed women on the American stage, and her stately manner and graceful +demeanor gained for her the sobriquet so commonly associated with her +name—statuesque. During her subsequent starring career Miss Hall +continued a popular favorite, although she was not consistently +successful in obtaining operas of notable merit. "Puritania" met with +excellent success, but "The Honeymooners" and "Dorcas" were neither of +them strong enough to make any lasting impression. They were both of the +familiar "prima donna in tights" type, and their librettos were without +striking originality, and their scores showed only commonplace +tunefulness.</p> + +<p>In spite of this handicap Miss Hall succeeded in maintaining—largely +through the force of her personality and art—her place among the +foremost in light opera in this country. During the season of 1899-1900<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> +she most happily again became associated with Francis Wilson, who is +also an "Erminie" product. Miss Hall, with her renewed youth and her +years of experience, at once took a position in Wilson's company, second +only to the star. In "Cyrano" she made Christian—a barren and sterile +character—vigorous, picturesque, and attractive, while her Princess in +"Erminie," barring the loss of vocal mellowness already referred to, was +stronger than it was a dozen years ago.</p> + +<p>Pauline Hall's active life on the stage began when she was about fifteen +years old. She was born in Cincinnati about 1860 in rather humble +quarters in the rear of her father's apothecary shop on Seventh Street. +She bore the somewhat formidable and decidedly German name of Pauline +Fredericka Schmidgall, until she adopted the simple and harmonious stage +name of Pauline Hall.</p> + +<p>It was in 1875, at Robinson's Opera House in Cincinnati, under the +management of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> Colonel R. E. J. Miles, that Miss Hall made her first +appearance on the stage. She began at the very bottom of the ladder, an +"extra girl" in the chorus and a dancer in the ballet. Next she +journeyed to the Grand Opera House in the same city, a theatre which was +also under Colonel Miles's management, where she remained until the +versatile Mr. Miles organized and put on the road his "America's Racing +Association and Hippodrome," a circus-like enterprise. She was made a +feature in the street parade tableaux of Mazeppa used to advertise the +attraction, and a very effective figure she must have been, too, for she +was a handsome girl and a picture of physical perfection. Besides luring +the public to the show, Miss Hall entertained it after it got there by +driving a Roman chariot in the races.</p> + +<p>After a summer of this exciting work Miss Hall returned to the theatre +as a member of the chorus of the Alice Oates Opera Company,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> which was +at that time making a Western tour under the management of the same +Colonel Miles. Alice Oates was then in her prime, and the most popular +operatic star in the country. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and +educated in Louisville. When she was nineteen years old she made her +début in Chicago in the Darnley burlesque, "The Field of the Cloth of +Gold." She sang in "The Little Duke," "The Mascotte," "The Pretty +Perfumer," "The Princess of Trebizonde," "The Grand Duchess," and +"Olivette," and was one of the first of the many Ralph Rackstraws in +"Pinafore" in this country. She died in Philadelphia on January 11, +1887, at the early age of thirty-seven years. She was small of figure +and pretty of face, unusually so off the stage and dazzlingly so on the +stage. Her voice was of rare compass and sympathetic in tone, and her +acting was vivacious, dashing, and hearty.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>After leaving the Alice Oates Company, small parts in Samuel Colville +Folly company gave Miss Hall a slight advance in the theatrical world, +and then she made her first and only appearance in the "legitimate." She +joined Mary Anderson's company, and for three or four months acted minor +characters in the plays of Miss Anderson's repertory, which at that time +was somewhat limited. Among Miss Hall's parts were Lady Capulet in +"Romeo and Juliet" and the Widow Melnotte in Lord Bulwer Lytton's +stilted melodrama, "The Lady of Lyons."</p> + +<p>In 1880, Miss Hall first began to be noticed by professional discoverers +of stage talent. She was then a member of Edward E. Rice's "Surprise +Party," with which she appeared in "Horrors" and "Revels." Next, in +Rice's greatest success, "Evangeline," Miss Hall played Gabrielle and +even Hans Wagner, being the first woman to try the droll character. In +the fall of 1882 she went on a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> tour with J. H. Haverly's "Merry War" +company, and sang the part of Elsa. With Haverly she also appeared in +"Patience." Following this engagement she rejoined Mr. Rice's forces, +and on December 1, 1883, opened with his company at the Bijou Opera +House, New York, where she created the part of Venus in "Orpheus and +Eurydice." She was a success from the start, and continued with Mr. Rice +until the close of the run of the burlesque on March 15 of the following +year, when she went with the company, under the management of Miles and +Barton, on the road.</p> + +<p>On her return to New York, Miss Hall again appeared at the Bijou, on May +6, 1884, as Hasson in a revival of "Blue Beard," following this with +another road experience that lasted until July. In August she began an +engagement at Niblo's Garden, New York, as Loresoul in Poole and +Gilmour's spectacular production of "The Seven Ravens." The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> part was a +singing one, and Miss Hall added considerably to her popularity among +the frequenters of the burlesque shows that were so largely patronized +in those days. In February, 1885, Miss Hall was in the title rôle of +"Ixion" at the Comedy Theatre, New York, though only for a short time, +and on April 4 she made her first appearance in a German speaking part, +singing Prince Orloffsky in "Die Fiedermaus" at the Thalia Theatre.</p> + +<p>On May 25 Miss Hall opened with Nat C. Goodwin at the Park Theatre, +Boston, and created the character of Oberon in the travesty "Bottom's +Dream." This was a failure, and in a few weeks Miss Hall returned to New +York, where she signed with Rudolph Aronson of the Casino, making her +first appearance as Ninon de l'Enclos in the English presentation of +"Nanon." She did well with the part, and further increased the favorable +impression that she had made by her Angelo in "Amorita" and her Saffi +in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> "The Gipsy Baron." Next came "Erminie," which achieved a success as +yet unequalled by any light opera in this country unless it be "Robin +Hood." The successor to "Erminie" was "Nadjy," also a famous hit, in +which, however, Miss Hall's part of the Princess Etelka was overshadowed +by the character of Nadjy, the dancer, so captivatingly played by Marie +Jansen in the original production. After "Nadjy" came "The Drum Major," +which failed, however, to make any lasting impression.</p> + +<p>After leaving the Casino Miss Hall began her career as a star, appearing +in "Puritania." This was followed the next year by "Amorita" and "Madame +Favart," while "Puritania" was retained in her repertory. The season +succeeding she brought out "The Honeymooners." During 1894-95 her operas +were "La Belle Hélène," a revival of "The Chimes of Normandy," and +"Dorcas." She then retired from the stage for a while, and afterward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +appeared in vaudeville until she joined Francis Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Puritania, or the Earl and the Maid of Salem," the best known and most +successful of all her operas, was produced in Boston in the summer of +1892. The opera was written by C. M. S. McLellan, and Edgar Stillman +Kelley was responsible for the music. The story of the opera was +decidedly attractive. The action began in Salem. Elizabeth, a fair young +miss of the town, had been accused of being a witch by Abigail, a +confirmed woman-hater. Elizabeth was tried by the local tribunal and was +condemned, chiefly because she had refused to wed Jonathan Blaze, the +chief justice of the court. Just as the sentence was pronounced an +English ship arrived in the harbor, and Vivian, Earl of Barrenlands, +came ashore. He rescued Elizabeth from the mob, and captivated by her +beauty proceeded to make love to her. Nothing would do but he must take +her back to England<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> with him. Smith, the Witch-finder-general to his +Majesty Charles II., was indignant because Vivian had won the girl, and +threatened to expose her as a witch to the king.</p> + +<p>The second act took place in a subterranean chamber under the king's +palace, where Killsin Burgess, a conspirator, was plotting after the Guy +Fawkes fashion to blow up everything. So deeply did he meditate on +divers plots and treasons, that he fell asleep, lighted pipe in mouth +and seated on a keg of gunpowder. The next scene showed the palace where +King Charles had just bestowed his favor on Vivian and the future +Countess of Barrenlands. Smith entered with Blaze and Abigail, and the +trio denounced Elizabeth as a witch. Elizabeth, driven half mad by their +false accusations, mockingly declared that she was a witch, and +proceeded to "weave a spell." She summoned Asmodeus, the Prince of +Eternal Darkness, to appear. A loud report was heard, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> form of +Burgess was hurled through the air. The sparks from his pipe had ignited +the keg of powder which exploded just as Elizabeth was pretending to +display her powers. Of course, Elizabeth was condemned by the king on +this <i>prima facie</i> evidence; but Burgess, recognizing her as his +daughter, confessed his conspiracy against the king, and all ended +happily.</p> + +<p>Miss Hall gave the opera a first-class production, a fine cast, and +handsome scenery. Louise Beaudet acted Elizabeth, and graceful and +charming she was, too. Miss Hall herself played Vivian. Frederic Solomon +was the original Witch-finder-general, and his conception of the +character was thoroughly original. Jacques Kruger as the Judge, Eva +Davenport as Abigail, John Brand as the King, and Alf Wheelan as the +Conspirator were all happily chosen. The opera ran in Boston from June +until September. Then Miss Hall took the opera on the road for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> +season. "Puritania" was tuneful and bright in action. The dialogue was +often sparkling, the fun was spontaneous, and the three comedians had +parts which had the added value of being characters. Vivian was +admirably suited to Miss Hall's talents. Her songs were given with +spirit, her acting had that freedom so characteristic of her "boys," +while her costumes were pictorially gorgeous.</p> + +<p>Miss Hall's first husband was Edward White, whom she met in San +Francisco in 1878, where he was engaged in mining enterprises. They were +married in St. Louis in February, 1881. Eight years later Miss Hall +secured a divorce from Mr. White, and in 1891 she was married to George +B. McLellan, the manager of her company.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XXII</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">HILDA CLARK</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The divine gift of song has placed Hilda Clark, whose ability as an +actress is by no means great, in a position of prominence in the +theatrical world. She went on the stage because she could sing, and did +not learn to sing because she was on the stage; and, owing to the fact +that there is, always has been, and always will be a demand for +attractive young women with pleasing singing voices, she has had her +fair measure of success. Miss Clark has also the added charm of more +than ordinary physical attractiveness. She is a blonde of prettily +irregular features. Her personality is winning rather than compelling, +and her stage presence is good, though there are times when this would +have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> been improved by more bodily grace and freedom. Byron, who hated a +"dumpy woman," would have found Miss Clark "divinely tall and most +divinely fair," but very likely he would have advised her to take a mild +course in calisthenics in order to acquire conscious control of a +somewhat unruly physique.</p> + +<p>Hilda Clark comes of an old Southern family, several of whose members +won military distinction. An ancestor of hers, Colonel Winston, was +awarded a sword by Congress for his services in the Revolutionary War. +Her great-grandfather, General Winston, was distinguished in the war of +1812, while several of her relatives were noted for gallantry during the +Civil War. Miss Clark was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, in the early +seventies. When her father, who was a banker, died, the family removed +to Boston, where Miss Clark was educated. As she grew into womanhood,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> +her voice attracted the attention of her friends, and by their advice +she went to Europe, where she studied music for two years. On her return +to this country she became the soprano of St. Mark's Church in New York +City, and it was there that Willard Spenser, the composer of "The +Princess Bonnie," first heard her sing.</p> + +<p>Miss Clark's voice is what is technically known as a soprano legere, and +while she excels in floria music, her voice has considerable of that +rare sympathetic quality possessed by coloratura singers. Her work in +the theatre may be summed up in a few words. She made her début in the +title rôle of "The Princess Bonnie" in September, 1895. After that she +accepted the offer of The Bostonians, with whom she appeared for a +season. In "The Serenade" she alternated in the rôle of Yvonne, the +ballet dancer, with Alice Nielsen, and she also sung Maid Marian in +"Robin Hood" and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> Arline in "The Bohemian Girl." Next she was engaged by +Klaw and Erlanger. She created the part of Lady Constance in "The +Highwayman" after Camille D'Arville, who was expected to take the +character, had quarrelled with the stage manager over some detail in the +action, and refused to have anything more to do with the opera. Miss +Clark was quite successful in this character, and it may be said to have +established her firmly in the ranks of the light opera prima donnas. +Next came her appearance in the prima donna rôle of John Philip Sousa's +opera "The Bride Elect," in which she is best known by the general +public.</p> + +<p>Sousa is the most eminent composer for the bass drum and the cymbals +that we have, and he can make music with more accents than any other man +in the business. His powerful first and third beats set the feet to +tapping and the head to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> nodding, and the American public thinks that it +is great stuff. So it is, the finest music for a military parade that +ever came out of a brass band. Sousa writes his music with a metronome +at his elbow clacking out the marching cadence of 120 to the minute. +Every time the machine clacks he puts in a bang on the big drum and a +clash with the cymbals. Then he weaves a stately moving melody around +the bangs and the clashes, marks the whole business "fortissimo," and +lets it go. He does not bother much about originality. His strong point +is marches, and he knows it. In "The Bride Elect," he gave us +marches—shall we say "galore"? The score was undoubtedly catchy, and +the tunes pleased for the moment. As for the book, which was also by +Sousa, it was nothing to boast of. It served admirably as a ringer-in +for the marches.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>Miss Clark's work in "The Bride Elect" was thoroughly satisfactory. She +sang the music with splendid effect and with much brilliancy. Her +acting, to be sure, was hardly all that could be desired, but, +fortunately for her success, the book did not call for any great +dramatic force. Miss Clark's career has been somewhat unusual in that +she took at once a position of importance on the stage and has continued +in positions of importance ever since. All this has happened because she +could sing; and so busy has she been with her singing that she really +has had no time to learn to act. In other words, in spite of her five +years behind the footlights, she still lacks experience. The woman who +starts in a humble capacity in the chorus and who climbs slowly to the +heights of calciumdom may have at first very crude notions regarding +action, but she learns as time goes on to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> non-committal in gesture +at least. She may not develop into a histrionic genius, but she does +acquire facility in the conventions of light opera that so often stand +for acting. It is of just this facility that Hilda Clark is most in +need.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">Index</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p> +"Algerian,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"All the Comforts of Home,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Josephine, <a href="#Page_47">47.</a></span><br /> +<br /> +"American Beauty,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">May, Edna, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +American Opera Company, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Amorita,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Anderson, Mary, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Apollo,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Aristocracy,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Josephine, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Aronson, Rudolph, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Artist's Model,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Ashley, Minnie, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Atherton, Alice, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"Babette,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Barnabee, H. C., <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Barnet, R. A., <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Barrymore, Maurice, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Beaudet, Louise, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Belle Hélène,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lessing, Madge, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Belle of New York,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Edwardes, Paula, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">May, Edna, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Bennett & Moulton Opera Company, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bernard, Caroline Richings, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Bernhardt, Sarah, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Billie Taylor,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Bill's Boot,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Raymond, Maud, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Black Sheep,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Edwardes, Paula, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Blue Beard,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Boccaccio,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Bohemian Girl,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clark, Hilda, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Bostonians,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clark, Hilda, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Bottom's Dream,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Braham, Harry, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Brand, John, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Bride Elect,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clark, Hilda, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Brigands,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Broadway to Tokio,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Brownies,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Burnett, Mrs. Frances Hodgson, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Burt, Laura, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"Carina,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Carl Rosa Opera Company, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Carleton Opera Company, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Carmen,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Casino, New York, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Casino Girl,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gilman, Mabelle, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Castle Square Opera Company, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Castles in the Air,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Cavalleria Rusticana,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Celebrated Case,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Cellier, Alfred, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Chantaclara,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Chieftain,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Glaser, Lulu, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Chilperic,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Chimes of Normandy,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Chorus Girl,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ashley, Minnie, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Chris and the Wonderful Lamp,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Chums,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Cigale,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Cinderella,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Circus Girl,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ashley, Minnie, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gilman, Mabelle, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Clark, Hilda, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Club Friend,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Collier, Willie, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Combustion,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Conried, Heinrich, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Contented Woman,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">May, Edna, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Corsair,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"County Fair,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Crox, Elvia, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Cymbria, or the Magic Thimble,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Cyrano de Bergerac,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Glaser, Lulu, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Dale, Alan, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Daly, Augustin, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Dangerous Maid,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Edwardes, Paula, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lessing, Madge, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Daughter of the Revolution,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Davenport, Eva, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Davis, William J., <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dazey, C. T., <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.<br /> +<br /> +DeAngelis, Jefferson, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.<br /> +<br /> +DeKoven, Reginald, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Desci, Max, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Devil's Deputy,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Glaser, Lulu, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Dickson Sketch Club, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Dickson, W. F., <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Dinorah,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Don Quixote,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Dorcas,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Doris,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Dorothy,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Dressler, Marie, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Dr. Syntax,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Drum Major,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Duff, J. C., <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Duff Opera Company, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Duse, Eleanora, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Editha's Burglar,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Edouin, Willie, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Edwardes, George, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Edwardes, Paula, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Edwards, Julian, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"El Capitan,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ashley, Minnie, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Engländer, Ludwig, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Erminie,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Glaser, Lulu, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Evangeline,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Josephine, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Excelsior, Jr.,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"Falka,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Farnie, H. B., <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Farrington, Adele, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Fatinitza,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Faust,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Fay o' Fire,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Fencing Master,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Fiedermaus,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Fille de Madame Angot,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +First Corps of Cadets, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Fiske, Minnie Maddern, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Fleur-de-lis,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Fortune Teller,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Fougère, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"1492," <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ashley, Minnie, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dressler, Marie, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Fra Diavolo,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Frazer, Robert, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Frivoli,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Frohman, Charles, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Fursch-Nadi, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Furst, William, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Garcia, Emanuel, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Geisha,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ashley, Minnie, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gilman, Mabelle, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Gerard, Bettina, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Gilbert, W. S., <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Gill, William, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Gillette, William, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Gilman, Mabelle, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Gipsy Baron,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Girl from Maxim's,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Josephine, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Girl from Paris,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Josephine, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Girl I Left Behind Me,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Giroflé-Girofla,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Glaser, Lulu, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Goodwin, J. Cheever, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Goodwin, N. C., <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Grand Duchess,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Grau, Jules, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Great Metropolis,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Great Ruby,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Edwardes, Paula, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Greek Slave,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ashley, Minnie, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Hale, Philip, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Half-a-King,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Glaser, Lulu, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Hall, Artie, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hall, Josephine, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hallen, Fred, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hammerstein, Oscar, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Harlow, Richard, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Harris, Augustus, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hart, Joseph, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Haverly, J. H., <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Henderson, Arthur, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Henderson, William J., <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Hendrik Hudson,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Herbert, Victor, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Herne, James A., <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Highwayman,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clark, Hilda, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Hole in the Ground,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Honeymooners,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Hopper, DeWolf, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Horrors,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Hoss and Hoss,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Hotel Topsy Turvy,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dressler, Marie, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Howard, Bronson, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Hoyt, Charles H., <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Huntington, Agnes, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"In Gay New York,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"In Mexico" (see "War Time Wedding").<br /> +<br /> +Irwin, May, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Ixion,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"Jack,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Josephine, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Jack and the Beanstalk,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lessing, Madge, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Jane,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Jansen, Marie, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Jones, Walter, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Juch, Emma, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Kelley, Edgar Stillman, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"King's Fool,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Klaw and Erlanger, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +"Knickerbockers,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Koster and Bial's, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Kruger, Jacques, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"Lady of Lyons,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Lady Slavey,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dressler, Marie, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lessing, Madge, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +L'Allemand, Pauline, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> +<br /> +LaShelle, Kirk, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lask, George E., <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Later On,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Lederer, George W., <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Lend Me Your Wife,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Lenox, Fred, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Leonard, Charles E., <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Leslie, Elsie, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Leslie, Fred, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Leslie, Henry J., <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lessing, Madge, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Lion Tamer,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Glaser, Lulu, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Little Corporal,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Glaser, Lulu, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Little Duke,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Little Host,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Little Red Riding Hood,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lessing, Madge, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Little Trooper,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Lloyd, Violet, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Lucia, Alice Nielsen as, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> +<br /> +MacDonough, Glen, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Madame Favart,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Madeleine, or, the Magic Kiss,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dressler, Marie, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Maid of Plymouth,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Mam'selle 'Awkins,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Edwardes, Paula, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Josephine, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Man in the Moon,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dressler, Marie, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Mapleson, Colonel, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Marjorie,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Martha,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Martinot, Sadie, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Mascotte,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +May, Edna, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +McCaull, John A., <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.<br /> +<br /> +McLellan, C. M. S., <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> +<br /> +McLellan, George B., <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Meg Merrilies,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Men and Women,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Merchant of Venice,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gilman, Mabelle, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Merry Monarch,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Glaser, Lulu, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Merry War,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Merry World,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Midsummer Night's Dream,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Mikado,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dressler, Marie, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Miles, R. E. J., <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Mountebanks,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Muldoon's Picnic,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Mynheer Jan,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"Nadjy,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Nanon,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +National Opera Company, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Neutwig, Benjamin, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Nirdlinger, Charles Frederick, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Oates, Alice, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Offenbach, Jacques, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"One Round of Pleasure,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +O'Neill, James, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Orpheus and Eurydice,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Palmer, A. M., <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Palmer, Frank, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Panjandrum,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Passing Show,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lessing, Madge, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Pastor, Tony, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Patience,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Patti, Adelina, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Paul Jones,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Penelope,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Perichole,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Perugini, Giovanni, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Pike Opera Company, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Pinafore,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Pirates of Penzance,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Plympton, Eben, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Polly,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Poor Jonathan,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Poupée,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gilman, Mabelle, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Prince Ananias,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Prince Pro Tem,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ashley, Minnie, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Princess Bonnie,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clark, Hilda, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Princess Chic,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Princess Nicotine,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dressler, Marie, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Princess of Trebizonde,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Puerner, Charles, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Puritania,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"Queen's Mate,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"Rainmakers,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Raymond, Maud, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Raymond, Maud, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Red Hussar,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Reed, Charles, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Reed, Roland, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Rehan, Ada, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Reign of Error,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Raymond, Maud, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Revels,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Rice, Edward E., <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Rip Van Winkle,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Robber of the Rhine,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dressler, Marie, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Robin Hood,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clark, Hilda, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Rogers Brothers, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Rogers Brothers in Wall Street,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Raymond, Maud, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Romeo and Juliet,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Root, Fred, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Root, George F., <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Rounders,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gilman, Mabelle, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lessing, Madge, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Runaway Girl,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Edwardes, Paula, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gilman, Mabelle, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Sadler, Josie, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Santa Maria,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">May, Edna, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Savage, Henry W., <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Seabrooke, Thomas Q., <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Serenade,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clark, Hilda, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Seven Ravens,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Pauline, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Sheldon, William, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Shenandoah,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Josephine, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Singing Girl,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Smith, Edgar, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Smith, Harry B., <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Smythe, W. G., <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Snake Charmer,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Solomon, Edward, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Solomon, Frederic, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Solomon Opera Company, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Sorcerer,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Sothern, E. H., <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Sousa, John Philip, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Spenser, Willard, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Sphinx,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Stange, Stanislaus, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.<br /> +<br /> +St. John, Florence, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Stone, Marie, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Sullivan, Arthur, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Sullivan, Joe J., <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Suzette,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Sykes, Jerome, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Teal, Ben, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Tempest,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gilman, Mabelle, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Templeton, Fay, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Templeton, John, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Thomas, Augustus, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Thomas, Theodore, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Thompson, L. S., <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Titus, Fred, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Tivoli Opera Company, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Tobasco,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Edwardes, Paula, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Troubadour,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Twenty Minutes in Shirt Waists,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dressler, Marie, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Tyrolean,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tempest, Marie, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Tzigane,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Urquhart, Isabelle, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Vane, Alice, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Venus,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Vie,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">D'Arville, Camille, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Virginia,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"Walking Delegate,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">MacDonald, Christie, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Wang,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Celeste, Marie, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"War Time Wedding,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Davis, Jessie Bartlett, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nielsen, Alice, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Weathersby, Eliza, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Weber and Fields, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Wedding Day,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fox, Della, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Russell, Lillian, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Weil, Oscar, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Wheelan, Alf. C., <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Whirl of the Town,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lessing, Madge, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +White, Edward, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.<br /> +<br /> +Wilson, Francis, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> +<br /> +"Wonder,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +"World's Fair,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earle, Virginia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"Yankee Doodle Dandy,"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hopper, Edna Wallace, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</span><br /> +</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p>Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.</p> +<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected as follows:</p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pages 176 and 212: <i>d'Arville</i> changed to <i>D'Arville</i></span><br/> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Page 198: <i>debut</i> changed to <i>début</i></span></p> +<p>Punctuation has been corrected without note.</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Famous Prima Donnas, by Lewis Clinton Strang + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS PRIMA DONNAS *** + +***** This file should be named 36215-h.htm or 36215-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/2/1/36215/ + +Produced by Linda Cantoni, Bryan Ness, David E. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Famous Prima Donnas + +Author: Lewis Clinton Strang + +Release Date: May 24, 2011 [EBook #36215] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS PRIMA DONNAS *** + + + + +Produced by Linda Cantoni, Bryan Ness, David E. Brown, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +Famous Prima Donnas + + + [Illustration: EDNA MAY + As Violet Grey in "The Belle of New York."] + + + + + Famous Prima + Donnas + + By + Lewis C. Strang + + _Author of_ "_Famous Actors of the Day_," "_Famous + Actresses of the Day_," "_Famous Stars + of Light Opera_," "_Players and + Plays of the Last Quarter + Century_," _etc._ + + Illustrated + + L.C.PAGE.&.COMPANY + BOSTON PUBLISHERS + + _Copyright 1900_ + + BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY + (INCORPORATED) + + _All rights reserved_ + + Third Impression, February, 1906 + + _COLONIAL PRESS_ + _Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co._ + _Boston, U. S. A._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + INTRODUCTION ix + + I. ALICE NIELSEN 1 + + II. VIRGINIA EARLE 21 + + III. LILLIAN RUSSELL 30 + + IV. JOSEPHINE HALL 46 + + V. MABELLE GILMAN 56 + + VI. FAY TEMPLETON 67 + + VII. MADGE LESSING 81 + + VIII. JESSIE BARTLETT DAVIS 88 + + IX. EDNA WALLACE HOPPER 104 + + X. PAULA EDWARDES 113 + + XI. LULU GLASER 120 + + XII. MINNIE ASHLEY 134 + + XIII. EDNA MAY 147 + + XIV. MARIE CELESTE 156 + + XV. CHRISTIE MACDONALD 172 + + XVI. MARIE DRESSLER 181 + + XVII. DELLA FOX 192 + + XVIII. CAMILLE D'ARVILLE 208 + + XIX. MARIE TEMPEST 222 + + XX. MAUD RAYMOND 233 + + XXI. PAULINE HALL 239 + + XXII. HILDA CLARK 253 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + EDNA MAY as Violet Grey in "The Belle of New York" _Frontispiece_ + + ALICE NIELSEN in "The Fortune Teller" 7 + + VIRGINIA EARLE as Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl" 21 + + LILLIAN RUSSELL as "The Queen of Brilliants" 42 + + MABELLE GILMAN in "The Casino Girl" 56 + + FAY TEMPLETON singing the "coon" song, "My Tiger Lily" 67 + + MADGE LESSING 81 + + EDNA WALLACE-HOPPER 104 + + PAULA EDWARDES 113 + + LULU GLASER 120 + + MINNIE ASHLEY 134 + + CHRISTIE MACDONALD 172 + + MARIE DRESSLER 181 + + DELLA FOX 192 + + MARIE TEMPEST 222 + + + + +Introduction + + +The musical stage in the United States may be said to be a birthright +rather than a profession. A critical examination of the conditions +quickly shows one that the number of women at present prominent in light +opera and kindred forms of entertainment, who have earned their +positions by continued endeavor and logical development in their art, is +comparatively small. The majority are, in fact, the happy victims of +personality, who have been rushed into fame chiefly by chance and a +fortunate combination of circumstances. They are without the requisite +training, either in the art of singing or in the art of impersonation, +that would entitle them to be seriously considered as great vocalists or +as great actors. They are, however, past mistresses in the one +essential for their profession,--the art of entertaining. + +The readiest proof of this peculiar state of affairs is the almost +universal brevity of the careers of the women just now in the ascendancy +in the musical drama. Ten years of professional life is more than many +of them can claim. Arising suddenly into conspicuous popularity as they +have, their reputations are founded, not on the sure basis of careful +preparation and long and diversified experience, but on the uncertain +qualities of personal magnetism and physical beauty. They shine with a +glory that is perhaps deceptive in its brilliancy; they are the sought +for by many managers, the beloved of a faddish public, and the much +exploited of the newspaper press. + +The difficulties that encumbered the path of the compiler of this book, +dealing with the women of the musical stage in this country, were +numerous. First among them was the choice of subjects. The selection +could not be made with deference to any classification by merit, for the +triumphs of personality were not amenable to such a classification. The +compiler was compelled by the conditions to bring his own personality +into the case, and to choose entirely by preference. He could not be +governed by an arbitrary standard of comparison; for how can +personality, which is a quality, an impression, hardly a fact, and +certainly not a method, be compared? In the present instance, the writer +found it expedient to limit himself to those entertainers who have given +at least some evidence of continued prominence. It may be, therefore, +that a few names have been omitted which are rightly entitled to a place +in a work of this kind. Nevertheless, the list is surely representative, +even if it be not complete. + +After the subjects had been chosen, the question, how to treat them, at +once became paramount. Again the bothersome limitations of personality +asserted themselves; and one perceived immediately that criticism, +meaning by that the consistent application of any comprehensive canon of +dramatic art, was out of the question. The vocal art of the average +light opera singer is imperfect, and the histrionic methods in vogue +show little evidence of careful training: they are neither subtle nor +complex. Indeed, the average woman in light opera is not an actress at +all in the full meaning of the word. She does not fit herself into the +parts that she is called upon to play, and she does not attempt +expositions of character that will stand even the most superficial +analysis. She acts herself under every circumstance. Describe in detail +her work in a single role, and she is written down for all time. + +Yet, should one limit his critical vision to a single part, he not only +fails to touch the main point at issue, but he runs the risk, as well, +of self-deception and misunderstanding. The artistic worth of a player +of personality is invariably overestimated after the first hearing; and +the sure tendency of even the experienced observer, particularly if he +be of sympathetic and sanguine temperament, and constantly on the watch +for the slightest indication of unusual talent, is to mistake +personality for art. The result is that, after indulging himself to the +full in eloquent rhapsody, he encounters, upon a more intimate +acquaintance, mortifying disillusionment. + +What is of genuine value in the player of personality is the elusive +force that makes her a possibility on the stage, and the problem is to +get that peculiar magnetism on paper. It is a problem unsolved so far as +the writer is concerned. One can dodge above, below, and aroundabout a +personality, but he cannot pierce directly into it. When it comes to the +final word, one is left face to face with his stock of adjectives. Most +unsatisfactory they are, too. None of them seems exactly to fit the +case. They serve well enough, perhaps, to convey one individual's +notions regarding the personality under discussion, but they are indeed +lame and limping when it comes to presenting any definite idea of the +personality itself. + +As for the biographical data in the book, they are as complete and as +accurate as diligence and care can make them. The woman in music is +conscientiously reticent regarding the details of her early struggles +for position and reputation. Nothing would seem to be so satisfactory to +her as a past dim and mystifying, a present of brilliancy unrivalled, +and a future of rich and unshadowed promise. + + + + +Famous Prima Donnas + + + + +CHAPTER I + +ALICE NIELSEN + + +Five years ago Alice Nielsen was an obscure church singer in Kansas +City; to-day she is the leading woman star in light opera on the +American stage. One feels an instinctive hesitation in putting her in +the first place, however sure he may be that she is justly entitled to +it. He anxiously seeks the country over for a possible rival. He feels +that Alice Nielsen has hardly been tested as yet, for she has been only +two seasons at the head of her own company, and she has not appeared in +an opera which is of itself artistically worthy of serious +consideration. Moreover, she is such a little thing,--a child, it would +seem,--and is it safe to take seriously a child, even a child of so many +and so potent fascinations? + +This feeling of doubt, caused by Miss Nielsen's stage youthfulness, is, +it appears to me, the pith of the whole difficulty, and therein lurks a +curious paradox. Alice Nielsen's great charms are her youth, her +spontaneity, and her ingenuousness; but these very qualities are the +ones that make one pause and consider before giving her the artistic +rank that she has honestly earned. Alice Nielsen seems almost too human +to be really great. She is too natural, too democratic, too free from +conceit. She is never disdainful of her public, and she is never bored +by her work. + +One cannot help being charmed by this little woman, who sings as if +singing were the best fun in the world; who is so frankly happy when her +audience likes her work and applauds her; and who goes soaring up and +away on the high notes, sounding clear and pure above chorus and +orchestra, without the slightest apparent effort and without a trace of +affectation or of artificial striving for effect. Everybody who has ever +written anything about Alice Nielsen has declared that she sings like a +bird, freely, naturally, and easily, and this metaphor describes exactly +the impression that she creates. + +Her voice one appreciates at once,--its volume and its colorful +brilliancy, its great range, and its rich, sympathetic, and musical +qualities; what he misses in her are the conventionalities of the prima +donna,--the awe-inspiring stage presence, the impressive posings and +contortious vocalizations. The world is very apt to take one at his own +estimate until it gets very well acquainted with him. Alice Nielsen has +never proclaimed herself a wonder, and the world has not yet fully made +up its mind regarding her as an artist. It acknowledges her great +personal charm, her delightful music, but it is not just sure whether +she can act. + +I regard Miss Nielsen as a thoroughly competent actress in a limited +field. She is fitted neither physically nor temperamentally for heroics, +but she is fully equal to the requirements of operatic light comedy. She +acts as she sings, simply and naturally, and her appeal to her audience +is sure and straightforward. As an instance of this, take her striking +first entrance in "The Singing Girl." She appears on a little bridge, +which extends across the back of the stage. She runs quickly to the +centre, then stops, stoops over with her hands on her knees in Gretchen +fashion, and smiles with all her might. The action is quaint and +attractive, and she wins the house at once. Alice Nielsen's smile is +really a wonderful thing, and it is one proof that she knows something +about acting. It never seems forced. Yet, when one stops to think, he +must see that a girl cannot smile at the same time, night after night, +without bringing to her aid a little art. To appear perfectly natural on +the stage is the best possible acting, and that is just what Alice +Nielsen does with her smile. + +However, "The Singing Girl," for which Victor Herbert wrote the music, +Harry Smith the lyrics, and Stanislaus Stange the libretto, like "The +Fortune Teller," in which Miss Nielsen made her debut as a star during +the season of 1898-99, was from any standpoint except the purely +spectacular a pretty poor sort of an opera. There was a great deal to +attract the eye. The costuming was sumptuous, the groupings and color +effects novel and entrancing, and the action throughout mechanically +spirited. Mr. Herbert's music, which was plainly written to catch the +public fancy, fulfilled its purpose, though that was about all that +could be said in its favor. It waltzed and it marched, and it broke +continually into crashing and commonplace refrains. It was strictly +theatrical music, with more color than melody, showy and pretentious, +but without backbone. + +There was really only one song in the whole score that stuck to the +memory, and that was Miss Nielsen's solo, "So I Bid You Beware." +Possibly, even in this case I am giving Mr. Herbert more credit than +belongs to him, for Miss Nielsen's interpretation of the ditty was +nothing short of exquisite. She found a world of meaning in the simple +words, coquetted and flirted with a fascinating girlishness that was +entrancing, and flashed her merry blue eyes with an invitation so purely +personal that for a moment the footlights disappeared. + + [Illustration: ALICE NIELSEN + In "The Fortune Teller."] + +Mr. Stange's libretto was wofully weak. It seemed to be full of holes, +and into these a trio of comedians were thrust with a recklessness born +of desperation. What Mr. Stange did faithfully was to keep Miss Nielsen +on the stage practically all the time that she was not occupied in +taking off petticoats and putting on trousers--or else reversing the +process. To be sure, he succeeded in bringing about these many changes +with less bewilderment than did Harry Smith in the case of "The Fortune +Teller," the plot of which no one ever confessed to follow after the +first five minutes of the opening act. Alan Dale once described this +peculiar state of affairs in the following characteristic fashion:-- + +"In 'The Fortune Teller' the astonishing Harry B. Smith, who must have +gone about all summer perspiring librettos and dripping them into the +laps of all the stars, has woven a role for Miss Nielsen that is stellar +but difficult to comprehend. Miss Nielsen appeared as three people who +are always changing their clothes. Just as the poor little woman has got +through all her vocal exercises as Irma, Mr. Smith insists that she +shall be Musette in other garbs. And no sooner has she appeared as +Musette and sang something else than Mr. Smith rushes her off and claps +her into another garb as Fedor. You don't know who she intends to be +from one minute to another, and I am quite sure that she herself +doesn't. The variety of dresses, tights, wraps, jackets, and hats +sported by this ambitious and earnest little girl is simply astonishing. +It must be very difficult to accomplish these chameleon-like changes +without getting rattled. Miss Nielsen seemed to enjoy herself, however; +and as for getting rattled, she coquetted with her audience as archly +after the twelfth change as she did after the first." + +Alice Nielsen was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Her father, from whom +she probably inherited her musical talent, was a Dane. He was an +excellent violinist, but he was never able to turn his gifts to +financial advantage. During the Civil War he fought on the Union side +and received a severe wound that is believed to have been the indirect +cause of his death, which occurred when Alice was about seven years old. +Alice Nielsen's mother was of Irish parentage,--a woman of sturdy and +sterling qualities. + +After the war the family settled in Warrensburg, Missouri, and remained +there until after Mr. Nielsen's death. There were four children in the +family, three girls and a boy, and Alice was next to the oldest. After +the death of Mr. Nielsen, Mrs. Nielsen removed with her children to +Kansas City and opened a boarding-house at the corner of Thirteenth and +Cherry streets. Alice was at that time about eight years old. For some +years she attended school at St. Teresa's Academy, and later she studied +music and voice culture under a Kansas City music-teacher, Max Desci. +Many years afterward this tutor claimed the whole credit for developing +her voice and for "bringing her out," even going so far as to sue her +for $8,000, which he alleged to be due him for music lessons. He lost +the suit, however. + +Kansas City first began to talk of Alice Nielsen's voice after she +became a member of the choir of St. Patrick's Church, with which she was +connected for five years. She married the organist, Benjamin Neutwig, +from whom she was divorced in 1898. After her marriage she continued to +live in her mother's apartments at Thirteenth and Cherry streets, where, +in fact, she made her home until she left Kansas City. Appreciating his +wife's unusual gifts, Mr. Neutwig did much to develop them, and it was +perhaps due to him as much as to any one else that she became something +more than a church singer. + +The Kansas City friends of Alice Nielsen relate many interesting +incidents of her early life, nearly all of which show indications of the +spirit and strength of character that have done so much toward pushing +her forward. The following anecdotes, told by a member of St. Patrick's +Church choir, were published in the "Kansas City World":-- + +"I was in a grocery store near Twelfth and Locust streets with Alice +one day, when she was about fifteen years old, I should judge. A couple +of boys of her age were plaguing her. She took it good-naturedly for +awhile, but finally warned them to let her alone. They persisted. Then +becoming exasperated, she picked up an egg and threw it, hitting one of +her tormentors squarely in the face. Of course the egg broke, and the +boy's countenance was a sight for the gods. I understand she apologized +afterward. This may be recorded as her first hit. + +"She joined the choir of St. Patrick's Church, Eight and Cherry streets, +eleven years ago, and sang in it about five years, or until she left +Kansas City to begin her operatic career. It was there she met Benjamin +Neutwig, the organist. A great many persons were jealous of her vocal +talents, nor were certain members of the church itself entirely exempt +from twinges of envy. Indeed, a no less personage than she who was at +that time choir leader manifested symptoms of this kind to a pronounced +degree. + +"I remember one Easter service, Alice, then a girl of probably eighteen, +was down to sing a solo in Millard's Mass. The leader was angry: she +thought the solo should have been assigned to her. Alice knew of the +hostility, and it worried her, but she rose bravely and started in. +Scarcely had she sung the first line when the choir leader turned and +gave Alice a hateful look. + +"It had the desired effect. The singer's voice trembled, broke, and was +mute. She struggled bravely to regain her composure, but it was +useless,--she could not prevail against that malevolent gaze from the +choir leader. This, I believe, was the first and only time Alice Nielsen +ever failed in public. + +"It is a wonder, in the face of petty jealousies of this kind, coupled +with the poverty of her mother, which seemed an insurmountable barrier +to a musical education, that Alice's talents were not lost to the +world. For every influence tending to push her forward, there seemed a +dozen counter influences tending to pull her back. As a child, I have +seen her many a time on the street, barefooted, clothing poor and scant, +running errands for her mother. Later in life, when she was almost a +young lady, I have known her to sing in public, gowned in the cheapest +material, and she would appear time after time in the same dress. On +such occasions she was often wan and haggard, as if from anxiety or +overwork. But once in a while she received the praise which she so +richly merited. + +"One day Father Lillis received a letter from a travelling man who was +stopping at the Midland, in which he asked the name of the young woman +who sang soprano in the choir. He had attended church the day before, he +said, and had heard her sing. 'It is the most wonderful voice I ever +heard,' he wrote. 'That girl is the coming Florence Nightingale.' I +don't know whether the letter was ever answered or not, but Alice came +to know of the incident, and it pleased her. + +"Both before and after she joined the choir, Alice appeared in amateur +theatricals and in church concerts. She was always applauded and +appreciated, but it was in the character of a soubrette in +'Chantaclara,' a light opera put on at the Coates Opera House by +Professors Maderia and Merrihew, that she created the most decided +sensation. This was but a few weeks before she left Kansas City." + +Miss Nielsen bade farewell to Kansas City in 1892, going away with an +organization that styled itself the Chicago Concert Company, and which +planned to tour the small towns of Kansas and Missouri. This, her +earliest professional experience, ended in disaster, and Miss Nielsen +was stranded in St. Joseph, Missouri, before she had been out a week. +It was an eventful week, however, and Miss Nielsen vividly recalls it. + +"We got out somewhere in far Missouri," said Miss Nielsen, "with the +thermometer out of sight and hotels heated with gas jets and red +flannel. Nobody had ever heard of us. I don't think that in some of the +towns we struck they'd ever heard anything newer than the 'Maiden's +Prayer,' and that was as much as they wanted. They called me 'the +Swedish Nightingale,' and you can imagine how I felt,--a nightingale in +such a climate, and Swedish at that. But I just sang for all I was worth +and I tried to educate them, too. I sang the 'Angel's Serenade,' and +they didn't like it, because when they tried to whistle it in the +audience, they couldn't. We didn't carry any scenery; we just had a lot +of sheets with us, and used to drape the stage ourselves. + +"One 'hall' we came to, there was no dressing-room, so we strung a sheet +in one corner, and some one put a table behind with a lamp on it. The +'ladies of the company' (myself and the contralto) occupied this +improvised dressing-room. Suddenly we discovered that we were +unconsciously treating the audience to a shadow pantomime performance. +There was only one way out of the difficulty,--we women must shield each +other. So I held my skirts out while the contralto dressed, and she did +the same for me. + +"I remember in one place we had managed to excite the hayseeds into +coming to hear us, and the hall was quite full. We were giving a little +operetta. Somehow or other it didn't seem to please the public, and they +were in a mood to be disagreeable,--yes, restless. They wanted their +money's worth; they were mean enough to say so. + +"We held a consultation behind our sheetings, and the tenor suddenly +remembered that once upon a time, when he was a school-boy, he used to +amuse his comrades with tricks. 'Could he do them now?' we asked. He +would do his best, he said. So he got a wooden table, hammered a nail +into it, bent it a little, and slipped a curtain ring on his finger. + +"The trick was to lift the table with the palm of the hand, the ring and +nail being invisible. Just in the middle of the trick the nail broke. +Well, I believe that audience was ready to mob us. The bass, seeing the +situation, made a dive for the money in the front of the house, and we +escaped. It was a packed house, too. There must have been as much as +eight dollars." + +"Did you ever have to walk?" + +"Yes, indeed. We walked eight miles once to a town,--snowballed each +other all the way. It was lots of fun. When we got there the local paper +had an advance notice something like this: 'We are informed that "the +Swedish Nightingale" and others intend to give a show in the schoolhouse +to-night. Any one who pays money to go to their show will be sorry for +it.' + +"The local manager, an Irishman, asked us to sing a little piece for him +when we arrived. After we had done so, he said he had never heard +anything so bad in all his life. As to the nightingale, he would give +her three dollars to sing ballads, but the rest of the troupe were +beneath contempt. His language was a dialect blue that was awful. I tell +you it was hard luck singing in Missouri." + +In St. Joseph Miss Nielsen was fortunate enough to secure an engagement +to sing in a condensed version of the opera "Penelope" at the Eden +Musee. She received seventy-five dollars for her services, and this +money paid the railroad fares of herself and some of the members of the +defunct concert company to Denver, Colorado. There her singing attracted +the attention of the manager of the Pike Opera Company, which she joined +and accompanied to Oakland, California. + +Her first part with a professional opera company was that of Yum Yum in +"The Mikado." The Pike Opera Company later played in San Francisco, and +in that city she was heard in "La Perichole" by George E. Lask, the +stage manager of the Tivoli Theatre, which was, and is still, I believe, +given over to opera after the style of Henry W. Savage's various Castle +Square Theatre enterprises in the East. Miss Nielsen was engaged for the +Tivoli Company. She sang any small parts at first, but gradually arose +until she became the prima donna of the organization. In all, she is +said to have sung one hundred and fifty parts at the Tivoli, where she +remained for two years. + +While she was singing Lucia, H. C. Barnabee of The Bostonians, which +organization was then playing in San Francisco, read of her in the +newspapers and went to hear her. The result was the offer of an +engagement, which she accepted. Her first part with The Bostonians was +Anita in "The War Time Wedding." Then she was given the small part of +Annabelle in "Robin Hood." She also sang in "The Bohemian Girl" and was +Ninette in "Prince Ananias." The next season she created Yvonne in "The +Serenade," and was the hit of the opera,--so much of a hit, indeed, that +nothing remained for her but to go starring in "The Fortune Teller." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +VIRGINIA EARLE + + +An accomplished and versatile artist is Virginia Earle, who, because of +the variety of her attainments and the grace and finish of her art, is +entitled to rank with the foremost soubrettes on the American stage. +Miss Earle's ability has been tested in many forms of the drama. She has +appeared in light opera, in extravaganza, in musical comedy, and in the +Shakespearian drama. I question if there is another in her line now +before the public who can claim any such extensive experience. + + [Illustration: VIRGINIA EARLE + As Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl."] + +It would be strange if this diversified endeavor had not had its effect +on her art. In her we find united with a personality of curiously subtle +charm an authority in action that is restful and refreshing. In her +presentation of a part there is neither hesitancy nor misplaced +endeavor. She always has command of herself and of the role that she is +portraying. One never for a moment feels that she is to the slightest +degree uncertain as regards the effect that she will produce on her +audience. She knows what to do and how to do it. + +Yet, when one stops to think of it, her power over her audience is far +in excess of what one would naturally expect. Miss Earle is by no means +impressive in her stage presence. She cannot be called beautiful. Her +singing voice is a modest instrument, though a wonderfully expressive +one, it must be acknowledged. Her acting is quiet, even unassuming, but +it is also plain, easily comprehended, and always appropriate. She +apparently never does anything to attract attention, yet attention +rarely fails to be centred on her. This, of course, is due to the finish +of her art and a fine technique that makes its presence felt by its +seeming absence. + +If Miss Earle cannot justly claim any exceptional advantages in the +matter of physical beauty, she certainly has the greater advantage of an +intensely magnetic personality. Her individuality, too, is thoroughly +distinct. It is one of the paradoxes of acting that the more distinct +the artist's individuality, the greater is his ability to set apart one +from another the characters which he assumes. Miss Earle has this talent +for making each one of her roles a separate and distinct personage to a +greater degree than any of her associates in the musical field. She does +this, too, in a strictly legitimate way, by impersonation pure and +simple without the aid of make-up. + +I remember especially what entirely different persons were her Mollie +Seamore in "The Geisha" and her Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl," so +different, in fact, that one who knew her only in the first part found +it hard to believe for some time that it really was she in the second +part. Those who saw her in "The Geisha" cannot fail to recall the +fascinating, quizzical squint that was continually getting into the +mischievous Mollie's eyes. I know that I liked it so much that when I +saw Miss Earle the next season as Winnifred Grey, the first thing I +looked for was the squint. I was astonished to find that it was not +there, and disappointed, too, for I had always associated the actress in +my own mind with that squint. No sign of it could I perceive until the +last act, when it came suddenly into view while she was singing the song +about the boy with the various kinds of guesses. It gathered around the +corners of her eyes, and it twinkled as merrily as ever. It made me +quite happy again, for I felt that I should not be compelled to revise +my imagination and repicture Miss Earle without the tantalizing squint. + +Miss Earle is a noteworthy example of the long time, the constant +endeavor, and the faithful service that are sometimes required to win +recognition in the important theatrical centres of the country. She had +been many years on the stage before George Lederer finally gave her an +engagement at the New York Casino. That was really the first chance that +she ever had to prove herself something more than a one night stand +favorite, and since that time she has only rarely played outside of New +York. + +This long-delayed recognition was one of the freaks of fortune for which +no one can account. She was apparently one of those unlucky persons who +through no fault of their own start wrong. She was born in the West, in +Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 6, 1873, and it was in the West that she +remained for a number of seasons. Her theatrical career began when she +was very young, and the Home Juvenile Opera Company was the means of +introducing her to the stage. This was in 1887, and her first part was +Nanki Poo in "The Mikado." Miss Earle also played leading roles in the +other Gilbert and Sullivan operas then so popular,--"Patience," +"Pinafore," and "The Pirates of Penzance." + +Then she joined the Pike Opera Company and toured the West in a +repertory of the best-known light operas. In San Francisco she was +engaged by Hallen and Hart, the farce comedy team, and remained with +them for two seasons, appearing in "Later On." Her next engagement was +with Edward E. Rice, and under his management she went to Australia. +Three years were spent there, during which time she acted Taggs in "The +County Fair," Gabriel in "Evangeline," Madora in "The Corsair," Dan Deny +in "Cinderella," and Columbia in Rice's "World's Fair." + +On her return to America she was engaged for Charles Hoyt's farce +comedy, "A Hole in the Ground," acting the lunch counter girl; and +after a short but successful season with this mess of nonsense she +joined a company under the management of D. W. Truss & Company, playing +"Wang" in the places too small for DeWolf Hopper to visit. For two +seasons with this organization Miss Earle acted Della Fox's famous part +of Mataya. Canary and Lederer of the New York Casino then secured her +services, and under their management she assumed leading parts in "The +Passing Show," "The Merry World," in which she doubled the roles of +Vaseline and Little Billee, in "Gay New York," and "The Lady Slavey." + +As soon as her contract with the Casino expired, Augustin Daly engaged +her for his musical comedy company, where she succeeded Violet Lloyd as +Mollie Seamore in "The Geisha." Not only did she present this part with +ready skill, but she made a second hit as Flora in "Meg Merrilies." Nor +did old comedy daunt her, for as still another Flora, maid to Ada Rehan +in "The Wonder," her work was much praised. She crowned her success by +appearing in Shakespeare, winning new laurels with her Ariel in "The +Tempest." In all these impersonations her readiness in song was of +service, but her vivacity counted for much; and, more than that, her +magnetic influence over her audience, which it is impossible to analyze. +A number of years before, Sarah Bernhardt had taken a fancy to Miss +Earle's Taggs in "The County Fair," and had predicted a future for her. +Notwithstanding this, however, it is not unlikely that Miss Earle +herself would have been incredulous had any one told her a few months +before, while she was playing Prince Rouge et Noir in "Gay New York," +that within a year she would be a principal in Shakespeare at Daly's. + +Dora in "The Circus Girl" and Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl" +followed, and Miss Earle's conquest of New York was complete. She had +won recognition at last as a soubrette who was an artist as well as a +personality. After Mr. Daly's death Miss Earle returned to the New York +Casino, appearing first as Percy Ethelbert Frederick Algernon +Cholmondely in "The Casino Girl." This part by no means showed her at +her best, although she did fully as well as could be expected with the +material with which she had to work. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +LILLIAN RUSSELL + + +For many years Lillian Russell held without challenge and without +serious rivalry the first place among light opera prima donnas in this +country. Her triumphs followed one after the other in rapid succession, +and her popularity in all the leading cities in the country--and she +would visit none except leading cities--was remarkable. "Queen of Comic +Opera" she was called; and what a vision of loveliness, she was, to be +sure! the most perfect doll's face on the American stage, as some one +described it. A golden-haired goddess, with big blue eyes that seemed a +bit of June sky, and perfectly rounded cheeks, soft and dimpled like a +baby's. + +There are two classes of women in the world,--pretty women, whom we see +everywhere, and beautiful women, about whom we often read, but whom we +seldom see in real life. Lillian Russell was emphatically a beautiful +woman. She was almost an ideal. I remember her in all her perfection as +Florella in "The Brigands," by W. S. Gilbert and Jacques Offenbach, +during the season of 1888-89. Later she learned to act better than she +did in those days,--but then she did not need to act. When one saw her, +he forgot all about acting. He thought of nothing except Lillian +Russell, her extraordinary loveliness of person, and her voice of golden +sweetness. She compelled admiration that was almost personal homage. And +she could sing, too! Her voice, a brilliant soprano, was rich, full, and +complete, liquid in tone, pure and musical. + +From 1888 to 1896 were the days of her greatest successes, and the list +of operas in which she appeared during that time is a remarkable one. +Besides "The Brigands," there were "The Queen's Mate," "The Grand +Duchess," "Poor Jonathan," "Apollo," "La Cigale," "Girofle-Girofla," +"The Mountebanks," "Princess Nicotine," "Erminie," "The Tzigane," "La +Perichole," "The Little Duke," and "An American Beauty." Naturally +enough, the Lillian Russell of to-day is not the Lillian Russell of ten +years ago. Her great beauty has lost some of its freshness, and her +voice, though by no means wholly past its usefulness, is worn by the +years of constant use in the theatre. She still retains to a remarkable +extent, however, her great personal hold on the public. Although the +Lillian Russell of to-day fails to maintain the standard of the Lillian +Russell of yesterday, there are but few light opera sopranos on the +American stage who can fairly rival her even now, and there is no one +who is at present what Lillian Russell was ten years ago. + +Lillian Russell was christened Helen Louise Leonard. Tony Pastor gave +her the name of Lillian Russell, for the very practical reason, I +believe, that it had so many "l's" in it, and consequently would look +well on a bill-board. Little Miss Leonard was born in Clinton, Iowa. Her +father was the proprietor and editor of the "Clinton Weekly Herald," and +Lillian Russell's first press notice read as follows: "Born to Mr. and +Mrs. Charles E. Leonard, at their home on Fourth Avenue, December 4, +1861, a bright baby girl, weighing nine and one-half pounds." In spite +of the fact that this birth notice speaks of a high-sounding Fourth +Avenue, Lillian Russell was born in an alley. The house in Clinton, in +which the interesting event occurred, was situated in the rear of the +office building of H. B. Horton, located on Fourth Avenue, between First +and Second streets, and faced east on the alley running north and south +between Third and Fourth avenues. At that time the house was situated +almost in the centre of the business section across the street from the +Iowa Central Hotel, then the largest hotel in the state and one of the +finest west of Chicago. Shortly after the baby's birth the Leonard +family removed from their abode on the alley to 408 Seventh Avenue, +immediately in the rear of the Baptist Church, and at that time one of +the finest residences in the town. Here the remainder of their days in +Clinton was spent. + +During the first few years of her life there was nothing to distinguish +Helen Louise Leonard from any other baby; but by the time she was two +years old, she showed the marks of great beauty, having large blue eyes +and golden hair. She was not reared among all the comforts of life. Her +country editor father was not possessed of wealth, but was compelled to +work hard on his prosperous, though none too well-paying newspaper, +every day of his life. During the period of Lillian's babyhood, too, +the war forced the prices of luxuries entirely beyond the reach of all +but the rich. + +Lillian inherited her good looks from her father. Charles E. Leonard was +a man of fine appearance, and always dressed in a faultless manner. When +he went to Clinton in 1856 he was probably thirty years of age and +showed plainly the marks of early culture and training. He, too, was a +blond. That he was a man of marked ability is evidenced by the success +he achieved in his profession in what was then a scattering Western +settlement of not half a hundred houses all told, in the midst of a +country unreclaimed and almost wholly unsettled. + +On December 18, 1856, he issued the first number of the "Clinton +Herald," a weekly publication having as competitors two other +well-established newspapers at Lyons, only one mile north in the same +county. There was really no field at Clinton at that time for a +newspaper, but Leonard thought otherwise. The panic of 1857 caught the +enterprise in the weakness of infancy; but the paper survived the +financial storm and eventually came forth on the top wave of success, +all of which was undoubtedly due to the excellent business management of +Leonard and the strong personality he threw into his work. When the +general offices of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad were removed to +Chicago in 1865, Mr. Leonard moved the fine job office connected with +the "Herald" to that city, as the nucleus for the extensive printing +establishment he later acquired. + +After the family moved to Chicago, Lillian Russell spent several years +in the Convent of the Sacred Heart in that city. Her first music lessons +were on the violin, and were given by Professor Nathan Dyer. Then she +took vocal lessons from Professor Gill in Chicago. When the time came +for him to show off his pupils, he gave a musicale in Chickering Hall. +The fair-haired Lillian sang at this concert "Let Me Dream again" by +Sullivan and "Connais-tu le Pays?" from "Mignon." The papers, of course, +gave her complimentary notices, one declaring that she sang "like an old +professional." Possibly it was this notice that first turned her mind +toward the stage. For some time after that, however, she sang in St. +John's Episcopal Church on the West Side, and studied with Madame +Jennivally, who encouraged her in her ambition to become a grand opera +singer. With the idea of studying for the grand opera stage, she went to +New York to have her voice tried, and she had taken but a few lessons of +the late Dr. Damrosch when Mrs. William E. Sinn persuaded her to join +the chorus of Edward E. Rice's "Pinafore" company for the sake of the +experience on the stage. This connection lasted about two months and was +terminated by her first matrimonial experience, her marriage to Harry +Braham, the musical director of the company. She retired from the stage +for a time, but her domestic happiness did not last long. It then became +a matter of necessity for her to get an engagement, and she applied in +vain to such managers as McCaull and D'Oley Carte, who could find +nothing in her voice to warrant them in giving her a chance. + +She finally succeeded in getting a position in a curious way. She was +living in a theatrical boarding-house, and among her fellow-boarders was +a girl who was engaged by Tony Pastor for a specialty act in his +theatre, which at that time was situated on Broadway opposite Niblo's +Garden. While calling at the house one day to complete some business +transactions with this young woman, the variety manager heard Miss +Russell singing in a neighboring room. He asked who she was and said he +wanted to meet her. He did meet her, and at once offered her fifty +dollars a week to sing ballads at his theatre. Fifty dollars a week was +a good salary in those days, and the following Monday saw the name of +Lillian Russell, "the English ballad singer," described as one of the +leading attractions on the programme. + +"I was very cool and collected up to the time that I heard the first +note of the orchestra," wrote Miss Russell, in describing her first +experience at Pastor's. "From that moment until I had finished my third +song, however, I was practically in a trance. I was told afterward that +I did splendidly, but to this day I cannot tell what occurred after I +went on the stage until I reached my dressing-room and donned my street +clothes." + +She sung with considerable success such well-known songs as "The Kerry +Dance" and "Twickenham Ferry." "The Kerry Dance," in fact, created a bit +of a sensation. It was a style of vocal music quite new at that time in +the variety theatres. When Mr. Pastor introduced his stage burlesques +on "Olivette," "The Pirates of Penzance," and other popular operettas, +Miss Russell took part in them, and she also appeared in Pastor's +condensed version of "Patience." + +Then Colonel John A. McCaull enticed Miss Russell away from Mr. Pastor's +by means of a larger salary, and she sang under his management in "The +Snake Charmer" at the Bijou Opera House. Her next engagement was with a +company under the management of Frank Sanger. It was a strong +organization, and some of its members were Willie Edouin, Alice +Atherton, Jacob Kruger, Lena Merville, and Marion Elmore. Its tour +extended straight through the country to California; and the experience +that Miss Russell gained with the distinguished artists of the company +was invaluable to her. + +A season of concert work was followed by her engagement at the New York +Casino, and her appearance in the "The Sorcerer" and "The Princess of +Trebizonde." At this period in her career another man interfered, and +the fair Lillian disappeared from the Casino, as did also Edward--they +called him Teddy--Solomon, the leader of the orchestra. The couple went +to England, where they remained two years, Miss Russell appearing in two +operas which Solomon wrote for her,--"Virginia" at the Gaiety Theatre +and "Polly" at the London Novelty Theatre. + +Miss Russell left Solomon when she learned that another woman claimed to +be his wife and returned to the United States. She joined the Duff Opera +Company, with which she remained until May, 1888, when she again resumed +her place at the head of the New York Casino forces, singing first the +Princess in "Nadjy," the part originated by Isabelle Urquhart, when the +opera was first produced in New York. The revival ran for something like +two hundred nights; and the popular "Nadjy" was succeeded by "The +Brigands," which was also very successful. + +The years of her greatest success already referred to then followed. +During the season of 1897-98 Miss Russell appeared with Della Fox and +Jefferson DeAngelis in "The Wedding Day;" and her last appearances in +opera were in April, 1899, in "La Belle Helene" with Edna Wallace +Hopper. During the season of 1899-1900, Miss Russell was with the Weber +and Fields Company, whose clever burlesques make life in New York so +merry. + +Miss Russell was recently asked which one of the many operas in which +she had appeared was her favorite. + +"'The Grand Duchess,'" she replied emphatically. "That, to my mind, was +one of the best comic operas ever written. Then I had a beautiful part +in 'Girofle-Girofla' and 'La Perichole,' but 'The Grand Duchess' was my +favorite." + + [Illustration: LILLIAN RUSSELL + As "The Queen of Brilliants."] + +Miss Russell also described interestingly her methods of working up a +part:-- + +"How do I study my parts? Well, every one has his or her own peculiar +idea of study and rehearsal, but the true artist always arrives at the +same result, with the aid of a clever stage manager and musical +conductor. When a part is handed to me, generally six weeks before the +opening night, I read it through carefully, picture myself in different +positions in the several scenes, and then I separate the music from the +dialogue and study the music first. The majority of the operas in which +I have recently appeared are of the French or Viennese school, and in +the translation there will sometimes appear a word or a sentence that +does not harmoniously fit the music. Of course this must be altered +before it is finally committed to memory. Then, again, we are all +inclined to think ourselves wise enough to improve upon the composer's +work, and where a chance is found to introduce a phrase to show one's +voice to better advantage, as a rule, the opportunity is not neglected. + +"After I become thoroughly conversant with the music, I take up the +study of the dialogue. This, to a comic opera singer, is the hardest +task of all; for it is written in the blue book that an interpreter of +comic opera cannot act. The desire to overcome this prejudice often has +a disastrous result; and instead of doing justice to the role and one's +self, the fear of adverse criticism will be so overpowering that the +delivery of the dialogue, and the attempt to convey the author's idea to +the audience, become extremely painful alike to the auditor and the +artist. A great many times I have formed my own conception of a part +only to find myself entirely in the wrong at the first rehearsal; and +then to undo what I had done and to grasp the new idea would confuse me +for several days." + +To complete the Russell marriage record, it should be added that in +January, 1894, during the run of "The Princess Nicotine," she became the +wife of the tenor of the company, Signor Giovanni Perugini, known in +private life as John Chatterton. This marriage also resulted unhappily, +and was followed by a separation and a divorce. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +JOSEPHINE HALL + + +Josephine Hall soared into a prominence that she had not before enjoyed, +on the screechy strains of "Mary Jane's Top Note" in "The Girl from +Paris" during the season of 1897-98. Previous to that, however, she had +passed through a varied theatrical experience. She was born in +Greenwich, Rhode Island, and came of a very well-known family. Like many +others, she acquired her first taste for the stage by appearing in +amateur theatricals. The story is that she ran away from home to become +an actress, and journeyed to Providence, where she made it known at the +stage door of one of the theatres that she was going to win fame by +treading the boards, or die in the attempt. She was plain "Jo" Hall +when she made her professional debut as Eulalie in "Evangeline" at the +Fourteenth Street Theatre, New York, under the management of Edward E. +Rice. + +After this initial appearance in extravaganza, she forsook the musical +stage entirely until she succeeded Paula Edwardes in the title role of +"Mam'selle 'Awkins," although in the farces with which she was +identified for a number of seasons, she usually was given a chance to +introduce one or more comic songs. After she left Mr. Rice, she became a +member of Eben Plympton's "Jack" company. Then she came under Charles +Frohman's management, and was consistently successful in such parts as +Evangeline in "All the Comforts of Home," Jennie Buckthorne in +"Shenandoah," and Katherine Ten Broeck Lawrence in "Aristocracy." The +last two plays, it will be remembered, were by Bronson Howard, and he +once took occasion to remark that Miss Hall came nearer meeting his +ideal of the two characters she impersonated than any other actress on +the stage. + +Then came her big hit in "The Girl from Paris," in which she played the +character part of Ruth, the slavey, and sang the ludicrous "Mary Jane's +Top Note." How she happened to hit upon this fantastic conception, she +once related as follows:-- + +"I felt that the song would not be a success unless I did something out +of the ordinary. The context of the song indicated a high note, which +was not given in London, so I conceived the notion of giving a high +screech at the climax, which proved to be just what it needed. It was a +difficult song to render effectively, as it had to be spoken almost +entirely; and as I have a very good ear for music, I found it difficult +to keep from singing. The high note had to be off key to make it more +ridiculous. I couldn't have sung the song for any length of time, as +the strain would have injured my speaking voice." + +During the first half of the season of 1899-1900, Miss Hall was the +Praline in "The Girl from Maxim's,"--a French farce, undeniably dirty, +but funny to those not saturated to the point of boredom with the +foreign variety of low comedy, which has all the marks of being +manufactured to order. It is farce which drives the spectator +breathlessly along the road of hilarity by means of a rapidly moving +series of mechanically conceived situations. "The Girl from Maxim's" was +bluntly suggestive and crudely salacious, as are all these off-color +French farces which are turned into English, but it was also bright and +ingenious in its machine-like way, and it was in addition very well +acted. + +Whatever patronage "The Girl from Maxim's" gained outside of New +York--and it made money, so I have understood, both in Boston and +Philadelphia--was given it, not because it was audacious, but solely on +its merits as an entertainment. It has been shown time and time again +that a farce, which is only salacious and nothing more, cannot live on +the road. "The Turtle," which was boomed as the smuttiest thing that +ever was, but which was also stupid and inane, never earned a dollar +outside of New York. "Mlle. Fifi," which was both dirty and boresome, +had a similar experience. "The Cuckoo," whose suggestiveness was much +exploited, but whose only merits were an exceedingly smart last act and +a very fine cast, was only mildly patronized. On the other hand, +"Because She Loved Him So," a delightful farce and innocent enough for +Sunday-school presentation, enjoyed two seasons of prosperity and kept +two different companies of players employed. "At the White Horse +Tavern," another fresh and unsmirched farce, also had a prosperous run. + +No, whatever success attended "The Girl from Maxim's" was rather in +spite of, instead of traceable to, its filth. It had merit as a +mirth-maker. Its spirit was unflagging, its ingenuity amazing, and its +character studies capable. There was not a suspicion of a drag until a +few minutes before the final curtain, when the indefatigable author, +George Feydeau, seemed suddenly to lose his breath. + +Josephine Hall's Praline, with all her doubtful morals and her +questionable freedom of speech and action, was an exceedingly attractive +young woman. She bubbled with merriment, and never for a moment was she +to the slightest extent worried even in the midst of the most +bewildering complications. Her unfailing good humor was really the +backbone of the play. + +Indeed, the faculty of making black appear white seems to be something +of a specialty with Miss Hall, who has exuberance of spirits without +vulgarity or coarseness, and whose unconventionality has coupled with it +refinement and inherent delicacy. Her jollity is whole-souled without +harshness. Hers is the witchery of personality joined to an art that is +authoritative and complete in its own sphere. + +"Mam'selle 'Awkins" was an indifferent conglomeration of old stage jokes +and tinkling music. That it should have succeeded at all was an odd +chance, but that it should have entertained Philadelphia for so many +weeks was indeed a mystery. Honorah 'Awkins was a Cockney, who, with a +fortune acquired in the soap trade, was on the hunt for a titled +husband. This was the plot. The part of Honorah was created by Paula +Edwardes, who took her work rather seriously and went in for a touch of +artistic character drawing. Miss Hall did not trouble herself much about +imitating nature. She relied wholly on her ability to give her audience +a good time. She played Mam'selle 'Awkins in a dazzling red wig and a +complexion that suggested an hour or two over the kitchen stove, or +better still, considering the antecedents of the fair Honorah, over the +scrubbing board. Neither did Miss Hall go very heavily into the Cockney; +she suggested rather than reproduced, and then fell back on her powers +as a fun-maker to win out with her audiences. + +For her, this method filled the bill perfectly. Of course, we knew from +previous experience that Miss Hall was a capable actress in the +hurricane variety of farce, but she did not draw heavily on that side of +her artistic equipment in "Mam'selle 'Awkins." She went in head over +heels to be as entertaining as possible with the materials at +hand,--which, it must be confessed, were not over abundant--and with +whatever else she herself could devise. She walked the tight-rope of +vulgarity with marvellous expertness, and because she was Josie Hall, +one laughed instead of turning up his nose. + +In spite of the fact that she has been continually called upon to play +all sorts of impossible foreigners, Miss Hall's humor is essentially the +humor of the average American. It is fun straight out from the shoulder +with the laugh just enough hidden to make it all the more enjoyable when +it is discovered. It is not the heavy punning variety so mysteriously +popular with the Englishman, nor the _double entendre_ of the Frenchman. + +Though she may act Cockneys and French grisettes to the end of the +chapter, Miss Hall will always be what she was born,--a jolly American +girl. And this suggests a brilliant idea,--one that may be novel to +those who up to date have had her artistic fate in their hands. Why not +give Miss Hall a chance to play the girl next door? Why scour Europe for +a human specimen which only warps a personality that belongs right here +at home? Try her once in a character--farcical naturally--that has some +native stuff in it. Let her show us a girl whom we know first-hand as +the genuine article. I think that the result would be a surprise for +somebody. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MABELLE GILMAN + + +Very much in evidence in the unusually strong and brilliant cast, even +for the New York Casino, that lent its assistance to such good purpose +in bringing into popular favor during the season of 1899-1900 that +really amusing as well as highly colored vaudeville, "The Rounders," was +Mabelle Gilman,--a young woman whose stage experience has been short, +but whose histrionic and musical talent, remarkable beauty, winsome +personality, and artistic temperament would seem to make comparatively +safe the prophecy of an especially rosy future. Miss Gilman has two most +valuable qualities that are many times lacking in girls who enter the +musical field,--strength of character and will power. One has only to +see her on the stage to be convinced that she is not one that will be +content to drift willy-nilly with the tide on the calm sea of +self-satisfaction and unambitious gratification. + + [Illustration: MABELLE GILMAN + In "The Casino Girl."] + +Equipped, as I am sure she is, with a serious art purpose, and richly +endowed, as I know that she is, with so much that brings success in the +theatre, her reputation will not long be confined, as is at present the +case, to the comparatively narrow limits of two or three of the most +important theatrical centres. + +Indeed, when one considers her youth--she is not yet twenty years +old--and the few seasons that she has been before the public, Miss +Gilman's advancement has been little short of phenomenal. Although she +was born and educated in San Francisco, the professional labors that +have won for her her present position in musical comedy have been +entirely confined to New York, with the exception of a single short +engagement in Boston and another in London. This has been, on the +whole, a fortunate circumstance, for it has undoubtedly kept her keyed +up to her best endeavor, and it has also saved her from the +energy-dissipating fatigue of constant travel, and the artistic inertia +resulting from long association with a single part. On the other hand, +it has unquestionably limited her reputation, and also deprived her of +the lessons to be learned from acting before all sorts and conditions of +humanity. The New York public is oddly provincial in its narrow +self-sufficiency, but, worse than that, it has in a highly developed +form the sheep instinct of follow-my-leader. It is both faddish and +freakish, and on that account its judgments are not always to be trusted +and its influence is sometimes to be deplored. + +New York is a wonderfully amusing city--to the outsider who watches its +antics from a safe distance. It has the atmosphere of an excessively +nervous woman, watching apprehensively a mouse-hole; it is constantly +on the verge, occasionally in the very midst of, hysteria. It enjoys no +intellectual calm, no quiet repose, no philosophical serenity. It is +always gaping widely for a sensation, real or manufactured, eager as the +child who is all eyes for the toy-balloon man in the Fourth of July +crowd. Many times has this hysterical tendency moulded the affairs of +the theatres in New York, and for that reason New York's judgment can be +by no means the all in all to the country at large. A New York +reputation, which means so much to the average man and woman connected +with the stage in this country, may result in a temporarily inflated +salary, but it does not necessarily promise long-continued success. Far +from it! New York, after all, is merely a centre, not the centre, as the +dwellers within its walls are firmly convinced is the case. It is not +London monopolizing the whole of Great Britain, and it is not Paris, by +common consent the privileged representative of France. + +In the case of Miss Gilman, however, the judgment of New York is fully +justifiable. Rarely lovely as she is,--a perfect brunette type, black +hair, black eyes, and expressive face,--she does not rely on her beauty, +nor on the attractiveness of her personality for success; she is an +actress as well. It should be understood that the spoken drama and the +musical drama are two different things. The ideal of the first is to +create an impression of naturalness and fidelity to nature. It has its +conventions, but they are every one of them evils, which are continually +being uprooted by the combined intelligence of the dramatist, the actor, +and the theatre-goer. Conventions, on the other hand, are the very life +of the musical drama, which is in its whole scheme a travesty on nature +and a violation of dramatic art. The musical drama is art purposely +artificial. Consequently, while the actor in the spoken drama strives +to the best of his ability for sincerity and conviction, and feels that +he has attained the highest when he causes the spectator of his mock +frenzy to forget absolutely that the emotion engendered is only a wilful +simulation of the genuine article, the actor in the musical comedy is +purposely and frankly artificial. He is limited to presenting the symbol +without in the least striving for deception. + +It is the quality of inherent insincerity that makes anything +approaching sentiment dangerous in the musical drama. The highly +dramatic and the essentially farcical can be utilized in this form of +stage representation with equal facility; but when the musical drama +approaches the comedy field of the spoken drama, it begins at once to +tread on dangerous ground. For this reason Miss Gilman's greatest +achievement in "The Rounders" was the remarkable success with which she +accomplished the formidable task of mixing sentiment into a musical +comedy. Her role of the little Quakeress married out of hand to a +sportive Frenchman really had an element of pathos in it,--a hint of +pathos, as it were, not enough to be ridiculous, but just enough to add +a touch of human interest and character contrast to the picture, and +thus to make Priscilla something more than a lay figure in a popular +vaudeville. + +There was art in the characterization, the art of the sensitive and +essentially feminine woman, and this art appealed strongly to the +chivalrous side of man's nature; he felt at once the instinctive desire +to protect this woman so remarkably impressive in her feminine way. So +modest, so demure, so innocent, and so altogether appropriate was the +quiet gray of the Quakeress gown worn by Miss Gilman, that the sight of +her later on in the bathing suit that would not, perhaps, have caused +much comment at Newport, was a distinct shock, while the dance that +went with the bathing costume song--a dance of many boneless bendings +and gymnastic kicks and contortionist feats--was only believed as a fact +because it was seen. Theoretically, one would be justified in claiming +that Miss Gilman never danced it. + +Moreover, according to all precedents, this astonishing exhibition +should have destroyed at once and forever all the sentiment in Miss +Gilman's Quakeress, but, as a matter of fact, it did nothing of the +kind. When she resumed her quiet gray, she was again the same winsome, +pathetic, in-need-of-protection little thing as before. A paradox such +as this is only explainable in one way: the perpetrator of it knows how +to act and is something more than a prettily decorated bit of +personality. + +Another surprise, which Miss Gilman has in store for those who pass +judgment regarding her complete artistic equipment at first sight of her +face, is her singing voice. I know that I expected to hear the +plaintive, faint, and indefinite piping that goes with so many girlishly +innocent soubrettes. It proved, however, a full and satisfying soprano, +rich and mellow, a soprano which did not make holes in the atmosphere on +the top notes. She has had the advantage of instruction in singing from +Mr. George Sweet of New York, who is justly proud of his pupil. + +While Miss Gilman was a student at Mills College in San Francisco, +Augustin Daly heard her recite, and was sufficiently impressed with her +ability to offer her a place in his New York company. She lost no time +in coming East and at once signed with Mr. Daly for a term of five +years. His death occurred before this contract had expired, and it was +thus that it happened that Miss Gilman was free to join George W. +Lederer's forces at the Casino in New York. + +While under the management of Mr. Daly, Miss Gilman played in "The +Tempest" and "The Merchant of Venice." Her Jessica in the latter drama +was an exquisitely charming bit, and received the especial commendation +of Mr. Daly. Of the Daly musical comedy productions she appeared in "The +Geisha," "The Circus Girl," "La Poupee," and "A Runaway Girl." +Priscilla, in "The Rounders," was her first part at the Casino, and +during the spring of 1900 she was one of the prominent features in "The +Casino Girl," a Harry B. Smith product. The fineness of Miss Gilman's +art as shown in this work was thus commented on:-- + +"The production brings distinctly to the front Miss Mabelle Gilman, one +of the most conscientious young actresses on the stage. Miss Gilman's +work shows that she is a careful student of her art. Everything is done +by method, and yet with such ease and naturalness that one might imagine +it was play and no work. Miss Gilman has a sweet, well-cultivated +voice, and uses it apparently without effort, but to the greatest +advantage." + +Miss Gilman's experience at the Casino has developed in her an +appreciation of comedy and a quiet vein of humor that she had not +previously shown. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FAY TEMPLETON + + +Born almost literally in the theatre, and cradled as a baby in a +champagne wardrobe basket, a full-fledged "professional" at the tender +age of three years, it would have been marvellous, indeed, if Fay +Templeton had become anything else except an actress. When I heard these +tales of Fay Templeton's life in the nursery period of her +existence,--stories of how she had often slept in the dressing-room +while her mother, Alice Vane, died nightly in the leading role of some +old-time tragedy, of the nights and the days of travel, of all the +nerve-racking hardships that made up the weary, weary life of the actor +"on the road,"--I was strongly reminded of the early life of Minnie +Maddern Fiske. Both were children of the theatre; and forthwith we who +are not children of the theatre exclaim, how pathetic that is! So they +seem to me, I must confess, these children without homes and without +companions of their own age, knowing nothing of the pleasure of +quarrelling and making up again, children whom one never thinks of as +young, and yet who cannot really be old, brought up as they are in the +indescribable and contradictory atmosphere that is characteristic of the +stage, an atmosphere of hypocrisy and simple-mindedness, of contemptible +smallness of spirit and self-sacrificing generosity, of petty +spitefulness and frank good fellowship, of foolish jealousies and +whole-souled democracy. With all their artificiality, superficiality, +and self-sufficiency, I think that there is, on the whole, more +frankness, sincerity, and honest selfishness among stage folks than +among any other class of society. In certain respects, actors are in +their relations with one another far less the actor than are many +persons who are not supposed to act at all. + + [Illustration: FAY TEMPLETON + Singing the "Coon" Song, "My Tiger Lily."] + +A strange thing must life seem to the child of the theatre, when he gets +old enough to think about it. He looks upon the world topsy-turvy, as it +were. The serious things of his life are the frivolities of the +work-a-day world, and the viewpoint of these work-a-days must be a +constant source of perplexity to him. He must wonder, for instance, why +they go to the theatre at all, why they are so foolish as to spend +money, which is such a rare and precious thing, to behold the +commonplace and dreary business of play-acting. How he, the pitied one +of the world of homes and domesticated firesides, in his turn must pity +those easily beguiled individuals who practise theatre-going! How he +must smile ironically at their sophisticated innocence and be even +shocked at their unaccountable ignorance! Thus it happens that he pities +us because we have illusions about things that he knows are the crudest +delusions, and we pity him because he lives a life so far apart from +ours that we can see nothing in it but hardship and unhappiness. We of +the homes waste our tears on him who feels no need of a home, who, +contented with his lot and glorying in his freedom, scorns publicly the +narrow monotony of a seven A.M. to six P.M. with an hour off for +luncheon at noon existence. Which is right? Both--and neither. + +But to return to Fay Templeton and Mrs. Fiske. Miss Templeton made her +first appearance on the stage when she was three years old, dressed as a +Cupid and singing fairy songs. Mrs. Fiske began even younger, and she, +too, was a singer. Arrayed in a Scotch costume of her mother's making, +she piped in a shrill treble between the tragedy and the farce a ballad +about "Jamie Coming over the Meadow." After this infantile experiment, +however, Mrs. Fiske forsook the lyric stage practically for good and +all, although she did at one time play Ralph Rackstraw in Hooley's +Juvenile Pinafore Company. Miss Templeton, on the other hand, clung +faithfully to opera and the allied forms of theatrical entertainment, +particularly that branch known as burlesque, in which she was and still +is an adept without a compare. The nearest that she ever came to being +identified with what player-folk delight to call the "legitimate" was +when at the age of seven years she played Puck in Augustin Daly's +production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Grand +Opera House in New York. This was considered a remarkable impersonation, +especially for a child of seven, and it received the special +commendation of Mr. Daly himself. Miss Templeton's success at so +youthful an age was, to be sure, most unusual, but it was by no means +inexplicable, if one only knew that she had had, even at that time, four +years' experience on the stage, and that she had starred, principally +throughout the West and South, at the head of a company managed by her +father, John Templeton. + +The generalization that infant stage prodigies never amount to anything +has fully as great a percentage of truth in its favor as any other +generalization, but there are occasional exceptions. Mrs. Fiske, already +referred to, was one; Della Fox was another; and Fay Templeton was a +third, and possibly the most remarkable case of all. Mrs. Fiske at least +had the advantage of the intellectual training of the classic drama, and +Della Fox, after her precocious success as a child, was kept faithfully +at school for a number of years by stern parental authority; but Fay +Templeton during her childhood was continually associated--with the +possible exception of Puck--with the lightest and frothiest in the +theatrical business. More than that she was at the head of the company, +the star, the praised and petted. Whoever saved her from herself and +the disastrous results of childish self-conceit is entitled to the +greatest credit. + +After her hit in New York in "A Midsummer's Night's Dream," Miss +Templeton travelled to San Francisco with her father and James A. Herne. +There she became a prima donna in miniature, and charmed the +Californians, especially by her imitations of the prominent grand opera +and comic opera artists of the day. Her San Francisco experience was +followed by her appearance at Niblo's Garden, New York, as Parepa Rosa, +Aimee, and Lucca. The next half-a-dozen years were spent principally in +the South, where she starred in a repertory of which her Puck in "A +Midsummer's Night's Dream" was the chief feature. + +Fay Templeton was fifteen years old when she became a recognized light +opera star of national reputation. She was the original in this country +and the best-known Bettina in "The Mascotte," and she also appeared in +"Girofle-Girofla." For two years she played Gabriel, which was created +by Eliza Weatherby, one of the most beautiful of the Lydia Thompson +burlesquers, in "Evangeline," and she was also in the revival of "The +Corsair." + +At the Fourteenth Street Theatre, New York, in August, 1890, after a +period of absence from the stage, Miss Templeton brought out the +burlesque called "Hendrick Hudson; or, The Discovery of Columbus," by +Robert Frazer and William Gill. This told an imaginary story of the +meeting, at the El Dorado Spring in Florida, of Columbus lost on his +third expedition to America, and Hudson. It was not an unfruitful theme +for burlesque treatment, but the work itself was poorly put together, +disconnected, and prone to drag. Neither was Miss Templeton herself all +that could be desired. She was apparently in a state of transition. She +had lost the roguish girlishness that made her Gabriel so charming, and +she had not yet learned to give free rein to the rich individuality and +the unctuous humor that are so characteristic of her work at the present +time. No dramatic critic would say to-day, as was said at that time, of +the production of "Hendrik Hudson," that "it must be written, in +reluctant sorrow, that Miss Templeton was not sufficient in talent nor +in charm to lead a burlesque company to great success." Miss Templeton +was not seen again, after the short and inglorious career of "Hendrik +Hudson," until she brought out "Mme. Favart" during the season of +1893-94. + +The piece that re-established her in public favor, however, was +"Excelsior, Jr.;" New York, in particular, finding her impersonation of +the up-to-date young man about town very much to its liking. After she +joined the Weber and Fields organization in New York and unexpectedly +shone forth as a marvellously entrancing interpreter of "coon" songs, +she clinched her hold on the public with which she is now an established +favorite. + +During the season of 1899-1900 Fay Templeton was identified with those +two gorgeous productions, "The Man in the Moon" and "Broadway to Tokio," +besides taking a flyer into vaudeville, where she first brought out her +wonderful imitation of Fougere, the French chanteuse. In shows like "The +Man in the Moon" and "Broadway to Tokio" one is expected to have nothing +with him except the two senses of sight and hearing. It is the +spectator's part to take what comes--and it is supposed to come +constantly and rapidly--simply for the sake of the moment's fun that +there may be in it. His cue is to laugh at the stage jokes of the +hard-worked comedians, and to be dazzled into a semi-hypnotic state by +the dancing women posturing amid marvellous effects of light and color. +They are eminently entertainments to be felt and not thought about. One +is constantly receiving new impressions, and just as constantly +forgetting all about them. The result is that after the shows are all +over, one is surprised to find that from the mass of material he has +retained no one impression distinctly. He remembers only flashes here +and there. + +One figure, however, was revealed by each and every one of these memory +flashes,--that of Fay Templeton, whose wonderful versatility as an +entertainer, and whose pure virtuosity as an artist, both of them given +free rein in these spectacles, raised her head and shoulders above her +associates in the two casts. + +In "The Man in the Moon" there was nothing else that evidenced half the +art shown in her singing of the ditty "I Want a Filipino Man." It was, +it is true, a fearfully suggestive study of elemental human passion, a +song of hot blood and crude, unblushing animalism. But it was +wonderfully well done, and the swing of its rhythmic sensuality was not +to be resisted. + +Two things that Fay Templeton did in "Broadway to Tokio" I recall with +especial vividness. One was her treatment of the cake-walk, commonly a +prosaic, athletic exhibition of increasing boredom. She evolved from the +conventional prancing of the gay soubrette a dance whose appeal to the +imagination was intense, a dance into which might be read many meanings. +Her cake-walk was the embodiment of languorous grace and the acme of +sensuous charm. It breathed an atmosphere of tropical indolence. It +suggested the lazy enjoyment of the cool of the evening after a long day +of hot, fierce summer sunshine, the time when one dreams idly of fleshly +delights. It was a dance teeming with passion, passion quiescent, which +a breath would fan into a blaze. + +Miss Templeton's second remarkable achievement was her imitation of +Fougere, or, better still, her impersonation of Fougere. It is +difficult to describe intelligently just the effect of Miss Templeton's +art in this specialty. It was not a photographic copy of the external +Fougere; it was rather a reproduction of the Fougere personality. +Indeed, she pictured only with indifferent fidelity the Fougere +mannerisms, but she placed before one, with almost uncanny accuracy, the +Fougere individuality and the Fougere stage appeal. + +It was, in fact, acting as distinguished from mimicking. Fay Templeton +literally represented Fougere as she might a dramatist's imaginary +personage. Temperamentally, Miss Templeton does not in the remotest way +suggest Fougere. The French woman, indeed, is just what Fay Templeton is +not. She is thin, she is nervous with a champagne sparkle, and she is +perpetually and restlessly vivacious in her artificial French way. Fay +Templeton is not thin, and her personality is far away from +nervousness. Where Fougere would worry herself half to death, Fay +Templeton would insist on solid comfort and plenty of time to think, +even a chance to sleep, over the vexing problem. One pictures Fay +Templeton as passing her leisure moments in the luxurious embrace of a +thickly wadded couch piled high with the softest of pillows. Nor is hers +the champagne temperament,--rather that of rich and mellow old Madeira, +a wine of substance, of delicate aroma and of fruity flavor, which does +not immediately bubble itself into a state of insipidness. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MADGE LESSING + + +Madge Lessing had been on the stage a number of years before she +suddenly sprang full into the illuminating power of the limelight of +publicity as the principal part of the astonishing success of that +alluring beauty show, "Jack and the Beanstalk." At that time everybody +made the discovery that no one knew exactly who she was, and Miss +Lessing has succeeded even to this day in shrouding her early life in +mystery. This much is known,--that she ran away from home to go on the +stage. She came to the United States from London about 1890 and became a +chorus girl at Koster and Bial's in New York. She remained in that +humble position only a week, being promoted at one step to the title +role in the burlesque, "Belle Helene." Her next engagement was with the +Solomon Opera Company, and this was followed by her appearance in "The +Passing Show" and "The Whirl of the Town." + + [Illustration: MADGE LESSING.] + +As far as the casual theatre-goer was concerned, however, she did not +exist until the Klaw and Erlanger production of "Jack and the +Beanstalk." This extravaganza, like "1492," also the work of R. A. +Barnet, was first brought out by the First Corps of Cadets of Boston, +and it is still counted the greatest success that this brilliant troupe +of amateurs ever had. In the Cadet performances the principals and +chorus were all men, and naturally this order of things was changed when +the extravaganza passed over into the professional hands. Otherwise it +was given practically in its original form. + +Mr. Barnet struck a veritable gold mine when he hit upon the idea of +dramatizing Mother Goose. "Jack" was his first ploughing of this field, +and although he has worked it often since, he has not yet succeeded in +getting from the old ground another crop so exactly suited to the +popular taste. Mr. Barnet undoubtedly got his general scheme from the +annual London pantomimes. His work was loosely constructed, and his +lines were not all of them of the kind that readily cross the +footlights. His wit, while wholly conventional, was also a trifle +involved. It did not sparkle. His situations, on the other hand, were +effective, and especially were they adaptable to expansion under the +gentle administration of a stage manager with an eye for light and color +and pleasing groupings. In the process of development the spectacular +qualities of "Jack and the Beanstalk" came prominently into the +foreground, while the literary qualities--a purely descriptive phrase, +which in this connection gracefully designates a condition without +stating a fact--were lost in the midst of the substitutions by players +with specialties. The stage wit of actors has one advantage over that of +writers of dialogue; it may not be analyzed, it may be utterly inane on +examination, but it does crackle for the moment. In fact, it exists only +because it crackles. + +Thus "Jack and the Beanstalk" became in the course of its evolution the +conventional spectacular extravaganza of theatrical commerce, of which +Mr. Barnet was the sponsor rather than the creator. It was also, at the +time of its production, a marvellous exploitation of feminine +loveliness, and the especial gem of the great array was the bewildering +vision of physical perfection, Madge Lessing, in the principal boy's +part of Jack. No great amount of histrionic talent was demanded of her, +for her success depended, not so much on what she did as how she looked. + +Madge Lessing then and there established herself as the exception that +proved the rule. I confess that I usually find the woman in tights a +decided disillusionment. Instead of making a subtle and seductive appeal +to the imagination, she is a prosaic fact; interesting, possibly, as an +anatomical study, she loses in a peculiar way the fascinations of the +feminine gender. When tights enter into the problem, there is a vast +difference between the womanly woman and the womanish woman. The first +is a rare and, I may also add, a pure delight. The second is merely an +embarrassment. + +Miss Lessing belonged, in "Jack and the Beanstalk," to the class of +womanly women. She was as femininely alluring amid the bald disclosures +of unblushing fleshings as amid the tantalizing exasperations of +swishing draperies. Her beauty was exuberant, voluptuous, +pulse-stirring,--a laughing, happy face, crowned and encircled with +tangled masses of dark brown hair, which made her head almost too large, +to be sure, though size counted for little amid the ravishments of +sparkling eyes and kissable dimples that danced in and out on either +cheek. + +Miss Lessing walked through this part of Jack--walking through was all +that was demanded of her--with a pretty unaffectedness that met all +requirements, and she sang with a voice of considerable sweetness, but +of no great power. Still, she has in a mild, inoffensive way some small +ability as an actress. This was shown in "A Dangerous Maid" and in "The +Rounders," which followed her engagement in that failure imported from +London, "Little Red Riding Hood," which was brought out in Boston just +before Christmas, 1899. + +In "The Rounders" Miss Lessing succeeded Mabelle Gilman as Priscilla +during the run of that brisk vaudeville at the Columbia Theatre, Boston. +It is a thankless task, that of successorship which results inevitably +in direct comparisons, but Miss Lessing met the test surprisingly well. +Without Miss Gilman's strength of personality and less apparent art, +Miss Lessing indicated with unmistakable correctness the sentimental +atmosphere of prudish modesty, which represents Priscilla as a dramatic +character. With memories of "Jack and the Beanstalk"--they seem +inevitable where Miss Lessing is concerned--one was a little bewildered +at Priscilla's embarrassment in her ballet costume during the scene in +Thea's dressing-room. This bewilderment was due to Miss Lessing's +inability to impersonate. She is always Madge Lessing acting,--never +Madge Lessing identified with another and wholly different personality; +and at the sight of Madge Lessing embarrassed because she wore tights, +one had a right to be bewildered. + +During the Spring of 1900 Miss Lessing also appeared in the title role +of "The Lady Slavey" when that musical farce was revived in Boston. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +JESSIE BARTLETT DAVIS + + +The name and fame of Jessie Bartlett Davis are linked inseparably with +the history of that prominent light opera organization, The Bostonians, +with which she was connected for ten years, and from which she resigned +during the summer of 1899. If the proprietors of The Bostonians had ever +acknowledged that it were possible for any one to be a star in their +troupe, that star would have been Mrs. Davis. To be sure, tradition +would have been violated by such a procedure, for Mrs. Davis is a +contralto, and tradition decrees that a soprano shall be the only woman +star in opera. The composer naturally conceives his heroine as a +soprano. In fact, his heroine must be a soprano in order that he may +invent brilliants for her to sing. You cannot do that sort of thing for +the mellow-toned contralto, and consequently she is never the centre of +feminine interest. When a composer needs a contralto for a quartette or +something of that kind, he usually puts her in tights and calls her a +man, gets her as little involved in the plot as possible, gives her some +heart-throbbing songs and uses her voice effectively for padding in the +choruses, where the high notes of his heroine soprano shine like +diamonds. + +There is, however, one seriously practical reason for the neglect of the +contralto, Sopranos, good, bad, and indifferent, are almost as common as +piano-players, but contraltos--even bad and indifferent contraltos--are +rare enough to be noted when found; while contraltos that vocally are +entitled to rank with the best light opera sopranos are so uncommon it +is not strange that no one thought it worth while to write operas +especially for them. + +When one does find such a contralto, he hears a quality of tone that is +charged with sympathetic appeal. Where the soprano is sparkling, the +contralto is thrilling. Where the soprano is vivacious, happy, +delighting in the sunshine, the contralto is fervid, passionate, and +throbbing with sentiment. In Mrs. Davis's case, with the voice is also +united an attractive personality and comely face and figure, as well as +no mean gifts as an actress. Mrs. Davis's natural voice is a magnificent +instrument, but whether she made as much of it as she might, especially +in later years, is a question. A large voice carries with it its +responsibilities. The singer, with vast resources at his command, finds +it so easy to make an impression on the unmusicianly auditor merely by +letting the big voice go, to win applause by making a tremendous volume +of sound, that one need not be surprised to discover in such a singer a +growing tendency toward broad and somewhat coarse effects and a +lessening appreciation of delicacy, of light and shade, of phrasing, and +of the finer variations of expression. + +However, if Mrs. Davis has made such a criticism not altogether +undeserved, it is equally true that she has never permitted +herself--even after her performances of Alan-a-Dale in "Robin Hood" +passed the two-thousandth mark--to become wholly a victim of musical +charlatanism, which in the "Robin Hood" instance just cited would not +only have been excusable but was wellnigh unavoidable. She has never +been forgetful of the art of interpretation and of expression, and by +means of her beautiful voice she has kept herself well in the lead among +the light opera contraltos. + +Sympathy in a contralto is a prime essential. She must appeal to the +heart with her rich, pulsating tones. It is not her province to +electrify by vocal gymnastics; she is the conveyer of emotion. If this +emotion be true and honest and sincere, then the singer brings a message +that enriches, ennobles, and broadens; if, on the other hand, the +emotion be false and artificial, the singer, however admirable her art +in other respects, fails lamentably in a most important particular. The +highest praise that can be given Mrs. Davis is that she has rarely +failed to impress her audiences with the truth and sincerity of the +emotion inspired by her music. + +Jessie Bartlett Davis was born in Morris, Illinois, a little town not +far from Chicago, in 1866. She came from good New England stock, her +parents having moved to Illinois from Keene, New Hampshire, where her +father was the school-teacher, the leader of the church choir, and the +instructor in music to the few persons in the town who cared to employ +him in that capacity. One day he fell in love with a seventeen-year-old +miss, who applied to him for a position as school-teacher, and shortly +after married her. The Bartlett family was a large one,--four girls and +four boys, besides Jessie, who might be called the pivot of the family, +three of the boys being older and three of the girls younger than she. +It is interesting to know, too, that during the Civil War Mrs. Davis's +father enlisted and served his time as a soldier. + +There was no spare money in this household to spend on a musical +education for Jessie Bartlett, who began to sing almost before she could +talk. When she could scarcely toddle, she would climb on the stool +before the old-fashioned melodeon, strike away at the notes of the +instrument with her tiny fists, and sing at the top of her voice. Her +father taught her all that he knew about music, and by the time that she +was twelve years old, she was the leading spirit in every musical event +in the town. Her voice was something tremendous,--"loud enough to drive +every one out of the schoolhouse when I opened my mouth," according to +her own statement. In fact, she was at that time chiefly concerned about +the amount of noise that she could make, and she used her big voice at +the fullest extent, habitually and wilfully drowning out anybody who +dared to join in the singing when she was present. She sang in the +church choir, and wherever else there was any one to listen to her. + +Finally, when she was fifteen years old, she became a member of Mrs. +Caroline Richings Bernard's "Old Folks'" Concert Company at a salary of +seven dollars a week, and her voice, even then, uncultivated as it was, +attracted considerable attention. When the troupe disbanded in 1876, she +returned to her home in Morris. Next she was given an engagement to sing +in the Church of the Messiah in Chicago, and the whole family moved to +that city with her. While singing in church, she also studied with Fred +Root, son of George F. Root, the composer of many popular ballads. + +The "Pinafore" craze was directly responsible for Jessie Bartlett's +entrance into opera. John Haverly heard her sing while he was making the +rounds of the church choirs looking up members for the Chicago Church +Choir "Pinafore" Company, and engaged her for the part of Little +Buttercup at a salary of fifty dollars a week. It was therefore in this +role that she made her debut on the operatic stage. At the end of the +season she married the manager, William J. Davis, who is at present +prominently connected with theatrical affairs in Chicago. + +Mr. Davis firmly believed in his wife's future, and after her "Pinafore" +engagement was over he advised her to decline all further offers until +she had learned better how to use her voice. He took her to New York, +where she became a pupil of Signor Albites. Then Colonel Mapleson, who +was at that time managing Adelina Patti, heard her sing and advised her +to study for grand opera. It happened, not long after, that the +contralto who was to appear as Siebel in "Faust" with Patti was taken +ill. There was no substitute in the company, and Colonel Mapleson came +to Mrs. Davis in a great state of mind. It was then Saturday, and the +performance of "Faust" was to be on the following Monday. Her teacher +coached her in the part all that day, and Saturday night was spent in +memorizing the words and music. Sunday was given over to a thorough +drill in the customary stage business of Siebel's part, and the +memorable Monday night found the aspirant ready, but fearful and +trembling. + +"What frightened me more than anything else," said Mrs. Davis, "was the +romanza that Siebel sings to Marguerita. I was so afraid of Patti, whom +I considered a vocal divinity, that I finished the romanza without +having dared to look her in the face. You can imagine my surprise, +therefore, when she took my face in her hands and kissed me on both +cheeks. Afterward in the wings she threw her arms around my neck, +exclaiming: 'You're going to sing in grand opera, and I'm going to help +you.' Adelina Patti's favor and influence did more for me than two years +of hard study. There were only two weeks left of the opera season. +During that time I appeared twice as Siebel in 'Faust,' and once as the +shepherd boy in 'Dinorah.'" + +Colonel Mapleson evidently thought that he had made a find, for he +offered to send Mrs. Davis to Italy, to give her three years of study +with the greatest teachers in the world, every advantage and every +opportunity, in short, to become a world-famous singer. In return for +these favors Mrs. Davis was to sing under Colonel Mapleson's direction +for three years. Personal reasons made it impossible for her to accept +this offer, however, though she did not give up the idea of singing in +grand opera. After the birth of her son, Mrs. Davis studied a year with +Madame LaGrange in Paris. On her return she sang for a season in W. T. +Carleton's company. Her principal parts were the drummer boy in "The +Drum Major" and the German girl in "The Merry War." The next season +found her in the American Opera Company, which included Fursch-Nadi, +Emma Juch, and Pauline L'Allemand, with Theodore Thomas as musical +conductor, and the season following that she was with the reorganized +National Opera Company. + +"That was hard work," remarked Mrs. Davis, "all for no money, and so I +got home to Chicago, tired, sick, and discouraged, and vowing that I +would never sing in public as long as I lived." + +"But you changed your mind?" + +"Not immediately. While I was resting in Chicago the manager of The +Bostonians came to see me to talk about an engagement. Agnes Huntington +was their contralto, but they wanted to replace her. At first I said +'No!' point blank. I thought nothing would induce me to leave the +comfort and seclusion of my home. Then the manager came to see me again, +and--well, woman-like I changed my mind." + +During her first seasons with The Bostonians, Mrs. Davis's repertory was +an extensive one and comprised the Marchioness in "Suzette," Dorothea in +"Don Quixote," Cynisca in "Pygmalion and Galatea," Vladimir Samoiloff in +"Fatinitza," Siebel in "Faust," Nancy in "Martha," Azucena in "The +Troubadour," Carmen in "Carmen," and the Queen of the Gipsies in "The +Bohemian Girl." Her great success as Alan-a-Dale in "Robin Hood," +brought out at the Grand Opera House in Chicago on June 9, 1890, +followed, and this part kept her busy for several seasons. While The +Bostonians were on their long hunt--not yet finished, I believe--for a +successor to "Robin Hood," Mrs. Davis appeared in "The Maid of +Plymouth," "In Mexico," or, "A War-time Wedding," "The Knickerbockers," +"Prince Ananias," and "The Serenade," with its beautiful "Song of the +Angelus." + +I think it was in 1896 that Mrs. Davis estimated that she had sung "Oh, +Promise Me," that popular interpolated song in "Robin Hood," something +like five thousand times. "Robin Hood" had received at that time 2041 +performances, and she had appeared in it all but twenty-five or thirty +of them. "Oh, Promise Me" always got an encore, and often a double +encore, which brought the number up to Mrs. Davis's estimate. + +"I don't tire so much of the acting of a role as I do singing the same +words and music night after night," she continued. "I sang 'Oh, Promise +Me' until I thought they ought to blow paper wads at me. One day in +Denver I said to our conductor, Sam Studley, 'Sam, I'm so sick of "Oh, +Promise Me" that I've made up mind to sing something else.' 'Jessie,' he +said, 'I don't blame you!' So it was agreed that on the following night +I would substitute another of DeKoven's sentimental songs. But they +wouldn't have it. I had no sooner commenced singing it than there were +shouts from all over the house of 'Oh, Promise Me!' 'We want "Oh, +Promise Me!"' I managed to struggle through one verse, and then ran off +the stage laughing. Then Mr. Studley struck up the introductory to 'Oh, +Promise Me,' and I went back and satisfied the audience by singing their +favorite ballad. It's an awful fate to become identified with a single +song. + +"Being a singer is not like being an actress. If you are a singer, your +voice must be your first care. An actress, if she gets over-tired, can +go on and spare herself. A singer cannot. An actress can use less voice +at one time than at another. A singer cannot. Now, over-fatigue, +excitement, anxiety, all affect the voice by which the singer lives. + +"I had my grand opera experience. I wasn't very happy in it, although I +had good roles to sing--once in a while. I did not know how to protect +myself. I was young then and too good-natured. I confess that while the +work in grand opera was more to my taste, I was happier in light opera, +and, after all, that is a great thing in the world. Sometimes I used to +sigh for more serious work, for a heavier role, and in that way 'In +Mexico' came to pass. I used to say sometimes 'Oh, I wish I could have a +hard part; I am tired of rigging up to show my legs. I want something to +do that is hard to do.' So when 'In Mexico' was read they said, 'Well, +here's Mrs. Davis's serious part.'" + +That opera was, indeed, very serious, so serious, in fact, that the +public would have nothing to do with it. It was brought out in San +Francisco on October 28, 1895. The music was by Oscar Weil and the book +by C. T. Dazey, the author of the popular melodrama "In Old Kentucky." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +EDNA WALLACE HOPPER + + +A captivating atom of femininity was Edna Wallace when she succeeded +Della Fox as the soubrette foil to the DeWolf Hopper's long-leggedness. +What a happy girlish smile she had,--her eyes sparkled and danced so +merrily, the little dimples in her cheeks were so altogether alluring! +Edna Wallace Hopper never was much of a singer, but she was so pretty +and so delicate that one never troubled himself about her voice; he was +chiefly concerned lest she might thoughtlessly break into bits. She was +vivacity itself, vivacity that never seemed noisy nor forced, just the +spontaneous expression of natural blithesomeness; and her magnetism +could not be escaped. Although she could not sing, she could act in +her soubrettish way, for her little experience on the stage had been +spent with plays and not with operas. + + [Illustration: Copyright, 1898, by B. J. Falk, Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y. + EDNA WALLACE-HOPPER.] + +The art of the soubrette is about the hardest thing in the world to pin +down for examination. In fact, in many cases, the word "art," in +connection with the soubrette, is purely conventional; instinct would +more correctly describe the means employed by her to gain her stage +effects. Dramatic instinct is, of course, the corner-stone of the +actor's mental equipment. Indeed, we all have to a degree that +involuntary notion what to do under certain circumstances--wholly +unexpected circumstances possibly--to create the impression we wish to +make. Preachers have it abundantly, or else their words from the pulpit +would be ineffective; lawyers are also exceptionally endowed with it, or +else their addresses to the jury would be worse than useless; teachers, +family physicians, the man who makes politics a profession, all must +have the dramatic instinct to win any great success. + +In the case of the soubrette, dramatic instinct is limited in its field. +She does not, as a general thing, attempt impersonation, and she never +is called upon to do anything more than slightly ruffle the surface of +emotional possibilities by a faint appeal to the sentiments. Her +dramatic instinct is chiefly concerned in presenting to the best +advantage an attractive personality and sparkling temperament backed up +by a pretty face and a pleasing figure. Herein lies the difficulty of +writing about soubrettes. Having called them happy, gay, graceful, +altogether charming, one finds that he has nothing more to say. He +cannot talk about their art, for their art is merely themselves, +indefinable and impossible of description. He cannot talk about the +characters they have played, for they have never played but one, and +that themselves. Edna Wallace Hopper's Paquita in "Panjandrum," for +example, was none other than her Estrelda in "El Capitan." The +environment was different and the raiment was different, but the +character was the same. + +Now a personality cannot be put on paper; it cannot be talked over +except in the most superficial and unsatisfactory way. It can only be +felt. When one has declared that a certain actor's personality is +unusually attractive, he has spoken the last word. Edna Wallace Hopper, +in common with all other light opera soubrettes, is a personality. She +is there to be liked or disliked just as the notion happens to strike +one; but whether one likes or dislikes her, there is no possible ground +for an argument about the matter. This person here, who is unmoved by +her presence, may claim that she cannot sing and that she is wholly +artificial. That person there, who finds her altogether delightful, will +declare that he does not care whether she sings or not, and such a +dainty creature is she that her frank artificiality is a positive +delight. + +Personally I have always found Edna Wallace Hopper exceptionally +entertaining. I first bowed the knee before her smile and her coaxing +dimples--a great deal of Mrs. Hopper's fascination is smiles and +dimples--when she was very new to the stage, and I have never wholly +escaped from their thraldom since that time. I acknowledge freely all +her shortcomings,--her lack of versatility and resourcefulness, her +narrowness of range,--but as long as she keeps her smile and her +dimples, I am certain that I shall never be absolutely insensible to her +allurements. She is wholly and fixedly a soubrette, a pretty, dancing, +laughing creature without a suggestion of seriousness or the slightest +trace of emotion. She is not to be studied, and she does not pretend to +any depth of illusion. She is an impression, to be admired or scorned +always in the present tense. + +Edna Wallace was born in San Francisco and was educated at the Vanness +Seminary there. It was due entirely to Roland Reed, the light comedian, +that the idea of going on the stage ever entered her head. Mr. Reed met +Miss Wallace at a reception while he was playing in San Francisco in +1891. She was then not far from seventeen years old. Impressed with her +vivacity, he laughingly offered her a position in his company, and, +behold! the mischief was done. She accepted quickly; and although her +parents did not approve of the plan in the least, she journeyed east +during the summer, and in August made her appearance at the Boston +Museum with Mr. Reed as Mabel Douglass in "The Club Friend." + +Two weeks later she acted in the same play at the Star Theatre in New +York, where six weeks later she was given the leading ingenue role in +"Lend Me Your Wife." She attracted the attention of Charles Frohman, and +was engaged by him, appearing successively as Lucy Mortan in "Jane," +Mrs. Patterby in "Chums," Margery in "Men and Women" and as Wilbur's +Ann, the boisterous frontier maiden, in "The Girl I Left Behind Me." + +It was while she was acting in this play in June, 1893, that she was +married to DeWolf Hopper. A few weeks after this, Della Fox, the Paquita +in "Panjandrum," was taken suddenly ill and journeyed off to Europe. +Mrs. Hopper jumped into the part and played it successfully until the +end of the New York season. The following comment on Mrs. Hopper shortly +after her first appearance in light opera is interesting:-- + +"A winsome little woman recently bounded into the affectionate regard of +New York audiences at the Broadway Theatre. The severely critical may +take occasion to compare her with her predecessor as Paquita in +'Panjandrum,'--possibly to her disadvantage in some instances,--but the +fact still remains that the audiences like her immensely, because she +is young, pretty, modest, and because she can act. Edna Wallace Hopper, +if not able to sing quite as well as some comic opera performers, is a +capable actress, and in this respect her advancement has been somewhat +remarkable." + +In the fall Mrs. Hopper returned to Charles Frohman's management, but +she was not long after released from her contract so that she could +assume the part of Merope Mallow in DeWolf Hopper's production of "Dr. +Syntax." This was a decidedly attractive bit of work natural and +artistic. On the road she also assumed Della Fox's old character of +Mataya in "Wang." When "El Capitan" was produced in Boston in April, +1896, she created the part of Estrelda, the hero-worshipping coquette, +her first original role, by the way, in opera, for her character in "Dr. +Syntax" was taken directly from a similar conception in "Cinderella at +School." This was her last role with the Hopper organization, for while +it was still a popular attraction, domestic difficulties separated her +from Mr. Hopper, and she retired from the company at the expiration of +her contract with Ben Stevens, the manager. + +Mrs. Hopper next appeared in "Yankee Doodle Dandy," an extravaganza of +doubtful merit, and with Lillian Russell in a revival of "La Belle +Helene." During the season of 1899-1900, she shared the honors with +Jerome Sykes in the extravaganza, "Chris and the Wonderful Lamp," acting +the part of the sophisticated youth Chris. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PAULA EDWARDES + + [Illustration: PAULA EDWARDES.] + + +One of the few young and pretty women making a specialty of eccentric +comedy parts is Paula Edwardes, a Boston girl, who, starting at the foot +of the ladder only a few seasons ago, has quickly claimed a position of +prominence in the musical comedy world. Miss Edwardes's most recent +characterizations have been two different varieties of the Cockney type +in "A Runaway Girl" and "Mam'selle 'Awkins," but previous to that she +gave a taste of her ability in this line of impersonation by creating in +"The Belle of New York" the role of Mamie Clancy, the Bowery girl, a +type of character which is nothing more nor less than an Americanized +Cockney. I have no idea where Miss Edwardes picked up her weird and +wonderful Cockney dialect, unless she got it during her short visit in +London with "The Belle," for she was born and brought up in Boston, +where, as every one knows, nothing is spoken except the purest of +Emersonian English. Neither will I vouch for the accuracy of Miss +Edwardes's importation. However, it sounds English enough, and it is +certainly hard enough to understand to be the real thing. + +There are two ways of presenting a character study of the uncultivated +types of civilized humanity. One is faithfully to imitate the original, +sparing not in the least vulgarity, uncouthness, and coarseness. The +comedy in this method is the crude product of incongruity and contrast. +The second method is merely to retain a recognizable likeness to the +original, to tone down the vulgarity, to reduce the uncouthness to a +suggestion, and to rely for effect on an heightened sense of humor. +There is also introduced in this second method of treatment a subtle, +but nevertheless distinct, self-appreciation of one's own unfitness for +polite society and social conventions,--a cynical atmosphere, as it +were, that gives the study a touch of satire. + +The first method is usually adopted by the unpolished and unthinking +actor of variety sketch training, and often, too, by the acrobatic and +strictly mechanical comedian of light opera surroundings. It is comedy +acting which proves vastly amusing to such as desire their theatrical +entertainment as devoid as possible of any intellectual flavor, who do +not care to hunt for a fine point, and who are bored by anything that +suggests an intelligent appreciation of humor. The comedy of the second +method is on a decidedly higher plane. It suggests more than it actually +represents. It is more delicate in every way, and it requires a modicum +of intelligence on the part of the spectator to be estimated at its full +value. + +Miss Edwardes's Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl" was a genuine +characterization. She did more than to array herself in garments of +curious pattern, stain her face a gypsy tan and talk a Blackfriars-ish, +or alleged Blackfriars-ish dialect, that was wellnigh incomprehensible; +she also imparted an individuality to the role, and one got from her +acting a distinct impression of Carmenita, the woman. Such was the case, +too, with her Honorah in "Mam'selle 'Awkins." She evolved, from the +precious little material that was given her, a personality. Josephine +Hall, on the other hand, let the character go completely by the board, +and relied entirely for success on her ability as an entertainer. I will +not say which achieved the better results in this particular instance, +for the entertainment in which they appeared was too absurd to be +considered seriously even as an absurdity. Miss Edwardes, however, +adopted the more artistic treatment of the two. + +Paula Edwardes went into the theatrical business on the strength of a +voice, a face, and a figure, which is simply another way of saying that +she began in the chorus. It happened in Boston, and the occasion was the +professional production by Thomas Q. Seabrooke of the First Corps of +Cadets' extravaganza, "Tobasco." Miss Edwardes was understudy for Elvia +Crox, the leading soubrette, and a little luck came the chorus girl's +way at the first matinee. Miss Crox declared that she was too ill to +play, and Miss Edwardes took her part for the afternoon, succeeding so +well that Miss Crox rapidly recovered her health and was able to appear +at the evening performance. + +Nevertheless, the next season still found Miss Edwardes in the chorus, +this time with Hoyt's "A Black Sheep." Again Boston was good to her, for +when the company reached that city, Bettina Gerard, who was playing the +Queen of Burlesque, was affected by the climate or something of that +kind, threw up her part, and Miss Edwardes was pressed into service in +the emergency. Her success was sufficient to put an end for good and all +to her chorus experience. The following season Miss Edwardes was in "A +Dangerous Maid" with Laura Burt and Madge Lessing, and then she created +the part of Mamie Clancy in "The Belle of New York." She went to London +with the original company, but after a few months she became tired of +the fog and homesick for New York and the familiar surroundings of +Broadway and the Rialto. So she resigned from "The Belle" cast and took +the next steamer for the United States. Augustin Daly engaged her for +Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl," and at the conclusion of the run of that +piece in New York she was transferred to "The Great Ruby" in which she +made quite a hit as Louise Jupp, the romantically inclined hotel +cashier. + +In February, 1900, she appeared in "Mam'selle 'Awkins," creating the +title role, and after that she acted in Boston and New York her old part +of Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +LULU GLASER + + [Illustration: LULU GLASER.] + + +A very few years ago Lulu Glaser was known only as "Francis Wilson's new +soubrette." That continued for several seasons after she succeeded the +fascinating Marie Jansen,--she of the rippling laugh and the form of +inscrutable perfection. Lulu Glaser was a bright, sparkling girl in +those days of her earlier successes, winsome in personality and as +pretty as a picture with her light fluffy hair and her eyes that still +retained their girlishness. Her vivacity was remarkable, and her spirits +were unflagging. She worked with all her might to please, and she was +successful to an unusual degree. + +Too bad that those excellent qualities--vivacity, freshness, and +unsophisticated youthfulness--should have so nearly proved her +undoing! Too much kindness on the part of those who wished her only the +utmost good, indiscriminate praise and the conventional applausive +audience, together with association with Francis Wilson, an excellent +comedian in his own line, but not a player who will bear imitation, have +brought Miss Glaser to a most critical period in her career. Her +personal popularity, it is true, has not suffered as yet,--at least, not +to any appreciable extent,--but her reputation as an artist is already +on the wane among discriminating judges. She should rank with the very +best of our light opera soubrettes, but it would not be true to say that +she does. + +Miss Glaser's utter lack of any notion of the inherent fitness of things +and of her own position as a paid entertainer is shown most +conspicuously and most persistently in her exasperating habit of +"guying" every performance in which she participates. Here is a young +woman of unquestioned talent both as an actress and a singer, bound down +hill simply and solely for the want of restraining good sense and proper +discipline. She is much in need of the fatherly advice of a hard-headed +stage manager, who would curb that vivacity which has run riot and +squelch effectively a condition of cocksureness that is amazing in its +effrontery. The trick of "guying" may seem to those on the stage very +pretty and highly amusing, but to an audience it is at first surprising, +then bewildering, and finally utterly wearisome and disgusting. + +The actor, who systematically makes sport on the stage for the benefit +of his fellow-players instead of attending to his own business of +amusing those who have paid their money for entertainment, commits a +breach of artistic etiquette that is wholly inexcusable. The stage is a +dangerous place for one to give free rein to personal adoration. I have +known actors who were free from conceit and complete self-satisfaction, +but they are comparatively few. Fortunately, however, this generous +estimate of one's own attainments does not often, as in Miss Glaser's +case, intrude itself into the actor's art. Still, is her condition of +mind to be wondered at? She was only a girl when she began to be the +subject of kindly notoriety. She was praised, praised, praised, and, +worst of all, she was without the restraining influence of a strict +disciplinarian. + +From desiring above all else to please her audience, and with that end +in view, giving lavishly on every occasion the very best that was in +her, she developed a frame of mind that conceived her position to be +directly opposite to what it really was. She began to feel that the +favor was on her side,--that her audience should be grateful to her for +taking part in the show. She acquired an atmosphere of condescension and +patronage which would have been ridiculous if it had not been so +provoking. This curious attitude was noticeable to a considerable extent +in "The Little Corporal;" but it could be endured there, for "The Little +Corporal" was, in comparison with the average, an opera not altogether +without merit. In "Cyrano de Bergerac," however, that wretched +misconception, Miss Glaser's egotism bloomed forth in an astonishing +fashion. She was almost below the sphere of serious attention. + +It is painful to speak so harshly of a woman naturally so charming as +Miss Glaser, whom I would be only too glad to eulogize in rainbow-hued +words. I confess that I like her, but that is my weakness. Indeed, if I +did not like her, and if I were not convinced of her genuine ability, I +should not distress myself to the extent of being honest with her. +Sometimes I have even thought that she had a sense of humor until her +persistent "guying" knocked the notion out of my head. "Guying" does +not signify a sense of humor. A sense of humor includes, besides the +ability to comprehend a joke in a minstrel show, a saving appreciation +of the ridiculous in one's self as well as in humanity at large. This +quality of looking at one's self from the viewpoint of some one else is +rare in man, but it is still rarer in woman. Woman, however, is more +expert than man at "faking" a sense of humor. + +When Miss Glaser really gets down to business and makes fun wholly for +her audience, she is a most entertaining little woman. Her talent for +burlesque is unmistakable, although her characters do not always have +the atmosphere of spontaneity. Her whole experience having been with +Francis Wilson, it is not strange, perhaps, that she should have adopted +some of his methods. A comic opera comedian, whose humor is so much a +matter of individuality, is the last person in the world to be imitated. +In many cases he is an acquired taste, and almost always he is only +conventional, trading on a trick of personality. + +Lulu Glaser was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, on June 2, 1874, +and continued to live there until she joined Francis Wilson's company in +1892. + +"I surely inherited no longing for the stage," once remarked Miss +Glaser, "for none of my family ever had any professional connection with +the theatre. I just had a passionate longing to sing. I talked of it +incessantly, and finally father said to mother: 'Let her try it; she +will never be satisfied until she does. You go with her to New York, and +we shall see what comes of it.' So to New York my mother and I went, and +through a friend who knew somebody else who knew Francis Wilson's leader +of the orchestra, I got an introduction to this all-important personage. + +"Well, I think it was all of a month we had to wait before the +interview could be arranged, and then one eventful day I sang for Mr. de +Novellis on the stage of the Broadway Theatre. No, strangely enough, I +wasn't nervous in the least. The song, I remember, was 'My Lady's +Bower;' and when I had finished it, Mr. de Novellis said that he would +suggest that I should see Mr. Wilson,--'the great Wilson,' as I +described him in a letter to my father after the first interview. The +company was to produce 'The Lion Tamer,' and Mr. Wilson made me +understudy to Miss Marie Jansen, meantime giving me a place in the +chorus. + +"My chance to sing alone came sooner than I anticipated, before I was +ready for it, evidently, because on the night when Miss Jansen fell ill, +and I was to take her place, I fainted before the curtain went up. But I +was not discouraged. 'She is sure to do splendidly now,' said Mr. +Wilson, when he heard of that faint. A few months later, Miss Jansen +resigned to become a star, and Mr. Wilson informed me, while I was still +in the chorus, that I was to have her place. And he regarded it as the +greatest achievement of my life, that for the remaining weeks of the +season I never told a soul of what was in store for me." + +During her first season Miss Glaser played, besides Angelina in "The +Lion Tamer," Lazuli in "The Merry Monarch." Then she tried Javotte in +"Erminie," which performance added greatly to her reputation. It is +perhaps, the best thing that she has ever done, and certainly bears +comparison with the work of other soubrettes in the part. Her next role +was that of Elverine in "The Devil's Deputy," and from this came still +more praise. The rather sedate--for a soubrette--character of Rita in +"The Chieftain" was her next exploit. This was what might be termed a +"straight" part, and was only given to Miss Glaser after two other roles +had been assigned to her. "The Chieftain" was produced in the fall of +1895. When Mr. Wilson secured the opera the previous spring, he told +Miss Glaser that she was to play Dolly. + +"Very well," said she, not in the least surprised, for the role was +precisely in her line. But she had scarcely begun to plan her conception +of the character when somebody discovered that Dolly appeared only in +the second and last acts. + +"That will never do, you know," said Mr. Wilson. "I tell you what we +will do, you must be Juanita, the dancing girl. That is the soubrette +part, after all." + +"Very well," said Miss Glaser again, with perfect confidence that she +would be cast to the best advantage, whatever happened. + +The season ended, Miss Glaser went with her mother to their summer home +at Sewickley, just out of Pittsburg, and Mr. Wilson sailed for Europe. +He saw "The Chieftain" in London, and at once sent a cablegram to +Sewickley: "You are to play Rita." This was indeed a surprise to Miss +Glaser,--to be the dignified prima donna of the house bill! It almost +took her breath away. + +"Do you think I can do it?" she asked Mr. Wilson, when he returned. + +"I will stake my reputation on it," was the prompt reply. + +So when Sullivan's opera was produced at Abbey's Theatre in New York in +September, the public and the critics declared that Mr. Wilson's leading +woman was as strong in the "straight" parts as she had proved herself to +be in the lighter lines in which she had first won her reputation. + +"But, oh, wasn't I nervous that first night!" confessed Miss Glaser. +"And didn't I pick up the papers the next morning with fear and +trembling!" + +Miss Glaser, before the run of the opera was over, however, found her +part in "The Chieftain" somewhat hampering, and she was pleased enough +when Pierrette in "Half a King" placed her back in the ranks of the +joyous and captivating soubrettes. Light-hearted, too, was her part in +"The Little Corporal," a role which travelled all the way from the long +skirts of a court lady to the not too tight trousers of a drummer boy in +the French army. + +In "The Little Corporal" one could not help but notice how great an +influence Mr. Wilson's clowning methods had exercised on Miss Glaser. +Mr. Wilson, however, was artistic in his fooling, and was not given to +overdoing the thing, which was not strange, for he had been at it a good +many years. + +Miss Glaser especially worked to the limit the old "gag" popular with +variety "artists," of laughing at the jokes on the stage as if they were +impromptu affairs gotten up for her especial benefit. She did it rather +well, although she did it too much. Perhaps because the jokes were funny +and one laughed at them himself, one liked to think that Miss +Glaser--some time before, of course--did see something funny in Mr. +Wilson's remarks, and that she laughed at them now because she +remembered how she had laughed at them at first. Marie Jansen used to +laugh, too, when she was with Mr. Wilson, and her laugh was a wonderful +achievement,--a thing of ripples, quavers, and gurgles. And this +coincidence suggests a horrible thought. Possibly Mr. Wilson himself was +to blame for these laughs. Possibly he stipulated in the bond that his +soubrettes should laugh early and often at his jokes as a cue to the +audience. In the early scenes of "The Little Corporal," regardless of +laughs and all else, Miss Glaser was captivating, and her first song--it +was something about a coquette, as I recall it--was a fetching bit of +descriptive singing. + +During the season of 1899-1900, Miss Glaser played Roxane in "Cyrano de +Bergerac," and Javotte in "Erminie." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MINNIE ASHLEY + + [Illustration: MINNIE ASHLEY.] + + +Artless girlishness, remarkable personal charm, and skill as an +imaginative dancer scarcely equalled on the American stage, account for +Minnie Ashley's sudden success in musical comedy. Aside from her +dancing, which is artistic in every sense, she is by no means an +exceptionally talented young woman. Nature was indeed good to her when +it endowed her with a most fascinating personality, a pretty, piquant +face, and a slim, graceful figure, but it was by no means lavish with +other gifts most desirable. Miss Ashley's range as an actress is +decidedly limited; she is not to the slightest degree versatile, and she +has no notion at all of the art of impersonation. Her singing voice is +more of an imagination than a reality, although one is sometimes +deceived into believing that she can sing in a modest way by the +admirable skill with which she uses the little voice that is hers. She +has a due regard for its limitations, and she delights one by the +clearness of her enunciation and the expressive daintiness of her +interpretation of the simple ballads that show her at her best. + +Nothing could be more exquisitely charming than her art in such songs as +"The Monkey on the Stick" and "The Parrot and the Canary" in "The +Geisha," "A Little Bit of String" in "The Circus Girl," and "I'm a Dear +Little Iris" and "This Naughty Little Maid" in "A Greek Slave." These +songs are all of the same class,--little humorous narratives, or, better +yet, funny stories set to music. Miss Ashley seems almost to recite +them, so perfectly understandable is every word, yet she keeps to the +tune at the same time. Not a point in the story is overlooked, and +every phase of meaning is captivatingly illustrated in pantomime. Miss +Ashley's pantomime, like her acting, is limited in quantity; so limited, +in fact, that it suggests, after one becomes familiar with it, the fear +that it is all mannerism. Even at that, I doubt if any one can escape +its persuasive appeal, can remain absolutely cold and unresponsive +before those eyes so full of roguish innocence, those lips smiling a +challenge, and that pretty bobbing head shaking a negative that means +yes. + +However, if he be unmoved by Miss Ashley's singing, he surely cannot +resist her dancing. It is as an illustrative dancer that Miss Ashley is +supreme. She is the one woman who comprehends dancing as something more +than violent physical exercise, who appreciates the art of dancing in +its classic sense as a means of symbolic and poetic expression. Minnie +Ashley dances with her whole body moving in perfect unity and in +perfect rhythm. She is the personification of grace from head to foot, +and there is vivacity and joy and fulness of life in the saucy noddings +of her head, the languorous sway of her form, the sinuous wavings of her +arms and hands, and the bewildering mingling of billowy draperies and +flashy, twinkling feet. When Minnie Ashley kicks, she does so delicately +and deliberately,--kicks that end with a shiver and quiver of the +toe-tips. + +It has been Miss Ashley's good fortune in most of her parts to be +permitted to dance in long skirts. As Gwendolyn in "Prince Pro Tem," +however, she wore the conventional soubrette skirt of knee length. It +was surprising what a handicap it was to the full effectiveness of her +dancing. Miss Ashley is not a whirlwind dancer; she does not sacrifice +grace for speed, nor dignity for astounding contortions of the body. +Knowing full well the value of the artistic repose and the crowning +fascination of suggestion, she handles her draperies with that rare +skill which makes them seem a part of herself. Their sweeping softness +destroys all crude outlines, and they are at the same time tantalizing +provokers of curiosity. The short skirt--blunt, plain-spoken, and +tactless--compelled the substitution of abandon for sensuousness, and +consequently a sacrifice of coquetry and suggestiveness. + +Minnie Ashley was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1875. Her family +name was Whitehead. When she was very young her father and mother +separated, her mother going to Boston and taking Minnie with her. The +mother afterward was married to a man by the name of Ashley, and it was +as Minnie Ashley that the dainty actress was always known during her +girlhood in Boston. She lived and went to school both in Roxbury and the +South End; and she learned her first dancing steps, as thousands of city +children do, by tripping away on the sidewalk to the grinding music of +the hand-organ. + +Her first appearances in public were made at the children's festivals on +Washington's birthday in the old Music Hall, Boston. The first year she +was the Queen of the Fairies with a number of other school-children as +subjects; and the next year, after demonstrating that she could dance, +she was promoted to the position of solo dancer, and a feature of the +entertainment was her exposition of the intricacies of "The Sailor's +Horn-pipe." Her native talent, so prettily shown at these children's +festivals, attracted the attention of a teacher of dancing, who took +Miss Minnie under her charge and gave the child the instruction that was +necessary to develop her gifts to the best advantage. + +During the summer the teacher took her promising pupil to the summer +resorts in the White Mountains. There the guests were charmed, and the +boys and girls of ambitious parents were instructed in the art +Terpsichorean. This lasted until Miss Minnie came to the conclusion that +she was doing all the work while her companion was reaping most of the +profits. So they quarrelled about it and separated, Miss Ashley +returning to Boston firmly resolved to go upon the stage as a +professional dancer. + +At that time Edward E. Rice was organizing a company to produce the R. +A. Barnet spectacle, "1492," and to him Miss Ashley applied. She +succeeded in getting a place in the chorus. When DeWolf Hopper brought +out "El Capitan" in Boston in 1896, she was still in the chorus, +although she was permitted to understudy Edna Wallace Hopper. Miss +Ashley, however, had developed since the days of "1492," and although +she was in the chorus, she was by no means of the chorus. Her +individuality was so pronounced, her magnetism so potent, that the +largest chorus could not conceal her. She literally stood forth from +the group, a graceful and beautiful figure, animated, interesting, and +pertly captivating. She had something of the spirit of France about her, +or at least what we think is the spirit of France; and it was not +altogether strange, therefore, that her first engagement outside the +chorus should have been to act a French girl. This occurred in a musical +comedy called "The Chorus Girl," which was brought out at the Boston +Museum after the close of the regular season in 1898. "The Chorus Girl" +was pretty poor stuff, but Miss Ashley's personal success was +considerable. + +The following season J. C. Duff put "The Geisha" and "The Circus Girl" +on the road, and Miss Ashley played Mollie Seamore in "The Geisha" and +Dolly Wemyss in "The Circus Girl." In May, 1899, when "Prince Pro Tem," +a musical comedy by R. A. Barnet and L. S. Thompson, which has never +played a successful engagement outside of Boston, was revived, Miss +Ashley appeared as Gwendolyn. Those who heard Josie Sadler sing "If I +could only get a Decent Sleep" in "Broadway to Tokio," may be interested +to know that this touching ballad was originally one of the chief hits +of "Prince Pro Tem." "Prince Pro Tem," with its numerous deficiencies, +had one thoroughly artistic character, Tommy Tompkins, the showman. Fred +Lenox acted the part; and a capital bit of comedy it was, too, +deliciously humorous in its depreciating self-sufficiency, wonderfully +clever as a loving and sympathetic caricature, and thoroughly convincing +as a sincere study of human nature, a Thackeray-like creation, which was +worthy of a more pretentious setting than it received in Mr. Barnet's +show. + +When "A Greek Slave" was produced in New York in November, 1899, that +city discovered Minnie Ashley and forthwith shouted her name from the +housetops. "A Greek Slave" was not a success, but Miss Ashley's Iris +was. As the "New York Telegram" said:-- + +"And there is Minnie Ashley. A slim, graceful, attractive young woman, +with scarcely the suggestion of her wonderful magnetic power in her +slender outlines. Two minutes after she had made her entrance, the house +was hers and all that therein was. She couldn't sing in the same country +with Dorothy Morton. She couldn't act in a manner to warrant attention +on that score--and she knew it, and didn't make any harrowing attempts +to reach what was beyond her. She knew herself. There was part of the +secret. She didn't endeavor to gather in impossibilities. She simply +came out and played with that audience as a little child would play with +a roomful of kittens. 'You may purr over me and lick my hand and look at +me with your great, appreciative eyes,' she told her kittens, 'and in +return, I will stroke you and soothe you, and charm you.' + +"And she certainly did charm that house. She has a pleasing little voice +which she uses with utmost judiciousness. She has an innate grace and +refinement that are most telling accomplishments. As she informed us in +her opening song, 'I'm a Dear Little Iris,' a slave girl, who knows how +to drape herself and how to execute the steps of the airiest, fairiest +dances. There have been many times at the Metropolitan Opera House when +great singers have been overwhelmed by the fierce applause of an +emotional audience. Then the bravos have been shouted and the enthusiasm +has reached a fever pitch. But before last night these scenes have +formed no part of the programme at the Herald Square. Miss Ashley +changed that old order, and changed it with the lightness and lack of +perceptible effort which characterized her whole performance. The house +simply went wild over this practically unknown girl. Her name was +called again and again, and the encores of her pretty little songs +stretched the opera out far beyond its legitimate length. The house +admired the daintiness, the womanliness, and the suggestion of the +thorough-bred in this young girl. The poise of her head, the poetical +motion of her body, the total lack of self-consciousness, these were +constant delights." + +"To Minnie Ashley," declared the "Boston Transcript," a few weeks later, +when "A Greek Slave" was played in Boston, "fell nine-tenths of the +honors of the performance, and she gave another impersonation fully as +charming as those with which she has been associated in 'The Geisha,' +'The Circus Girl,' and 'Prince Pro Tem.' She was a dainty little slave, +demure as was befitting the character, but with a way that was certainly +irresistible. She is a real comedienne, and each of the points in the +few funny lines that fell to her lot was capitally brought out. +Especially clever was the song about 'The Naughty Little Girl' in the +second act, where she made the hit of the evening. Nature never intended +her to be a prima donna, but it gave her the power to sing a song like +that in a way that leaves nothing to be desired, and when she +dances--well, it doesn't matter in what language she dances; Latin, +Japanese or Yankee, the result is just the same." + +While she was with DeWolf Hopper, Miss Ashley was married to William +Sheldon, a half-brother of Walter Jones, from whom she was afterward +separated. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +EDNA MAY + + +A pretty face and a gentle, winning personality brought Edna May into +prominence in the most dramatic fashion. Edna May Petty, the daughter of +E. C. Petty, a letter-carrier in Syracuse, New York, lovely to look upon +and demure in manner, had some talent for singing, but more for dancing, +when her parents yielded to her entreaties and said that she might go to +New York to study for the stage. She was only sixteen years old. Hardly +had she settled down to her singing and dancing lessons, however, when +along came Fred Titus, at that time the holder of the hour bicycle +record and one of the most prominent racing men in the country. They +were married, but Edna May remained just as determined as ever to go on +the stage. Her ambitions were forced for a time to be satisfied with +occasional opportunities to substitute in church choirs. Her name first +appeared on a playbill when "Santa Maria" was produced at Hammerstein's +in New York, but the part was so small as to be practically +non-existent. Then she was engaged for White's Farcical Comedy Company +and appeared in Charles H. Hoyt's "A Contented Woman." + +At this point there is a dispute as regards Miss May's next move, or at +least there was a dispute until manager and star patched up their +difficulties. George W. Lederer was wont to claim that Edna May joined +the chorus of his prospective "The Belle of New York" company. At the +last moment, the woman whom he had engaged for leading part disappointed +him. He had to do something quickly, and he cast about in his own chorus +for a girl who might fill the part for a night or two until he could +find someone to take it permanently. His discerning eye fell on the +plaintive prettiness of Edna May. "She'll look the part, anyhow," he +declared. So in this haphazard fashion, Violet Grey, the Salvation Army +lassie, was passed over to her, and, presto! her fortune was made. + +"But it was not that way at all," pouted the gentle Miss May, after she +had signed a contract to leave Mr. Lederer and return to London under +some one else's care. "I never was in Mr. Lederer's chorus. I went to +Mr. Lederer after I had been playing a small part in the 'Contented +Woman' company. I begged him to put my name down for something even if +it were ever and ever so little, and he gave me the part of Violet Grey +in 'The Belle.'" + +At this time, also,--this period devoted by Miss May to the signing of +the contracts, which never amounted to anything, after all,--a second +dispute arose regarding Miss May's indebtedness to Mr. Lederer for her +success in "The Belle." Mr. Lederer announced to a deeply impressed +public that he had trained Miss May with the most extraordinary +attention to detail. He had made her walk chalk-lines on the stage, and +had written on the music-score minute directions regarding gestures, +even indicating the exact point where she was captivatingly to cast down +her eyes. + +"No, no, no," declared Miss May. "All that is very unkind and very +untrue. He did not teach me all or nearly all I know about my art, and +he did not have to write out gestures and full directions for my conduct +on the stage. Not one word of this sort of thing was written in the +score. Mr. Lederer rehearsed me, it is true, but not as if he were +rehearsing a performing seal. He gave me an opportunity, and for that I +am very grateful. But that is all he did. I am not such a fool as Mr. +Lederer is always pretending to think me." + +However, regarding Miss May's extraordinary popular success in "The +Belle of New York" in this country, and more especially in London, there +can be no dispute. That is a fact discernible without opera glasses. It +was, however, almost wholly a triumph of personality. Violet Grey is +what actors call a "fat" part. The Salvation Army lassie, a quaint, +subdued, almost pathetic figure, thrown in the midst of the contrasting +hurly-burly and theatrical exaggerations of a typical musical farce, +appeals irresistibly to the spectator's sympathy. She touches deftly the +sentiments, for in her modest way she is a bit of real life, a touch of +human nature, in surroundings where the men and women of every-day life +are complete strangers. + +But Violet Grey is not a role to be acted. It is not, in the strictest +sense, a dramatic character at all, merely a picture from life, set +forth without comment and without exposition. One sees all that there is +to see, the instant Violet Grey appears on the scene; he recognizes at +once her reality and her fidelity to nature, and he falls a victim to +her charm without further ado. The actress cast for this part must in a +sense live it. She must, as Mr. Lederer said, "look the part;" she must +suggest at a glance, modesty, demureness, quaintness, spirituality, and +idealism. Coquetry, any notion of archness or frivolity, must be +rigorously banished. There her responsibility practically ends, for +folded hands, cast-down eyes, and the ability to sing a little do the +rest. + +Success in such a part as Violet Grey affords not the slightest test of +artistic ability, and Edna May's artistic future is still a matter of +doubt. She has appeared in only one operetta aside from "The +Belle,"--"An American Beauty," brought out in London by an American +company in April, 1900. + +The remarkable feature of Miss May's career was the furore that she +created in London, where, due as much to her personal popularity as to +any other one thing, "The Belle of New York" ran for eighty-five weeks. +It was wonderful, when one thinks of it, that sweet simplicity could do +so much. Of course, when Miss May returned to this country in January, +1900, she had many pleasant remarks to make about the Londoners. +Speaking of the opening night, she said: + +"I played the part during the long run in the United States, so I was +very used to it, and there was nothing out of the ordinary about the +first night in London, until the sensation caused by their tremendous +applause came to me. There is nothing like it, nothing that approaches +it. It is quite the most delicious sensation on earth. I don't expect +ever to feel it again quite as I did that night. It's like the first +kiss, you know, or the first anything. After that it's only repetition. + +"Success was particularly sweet to me at that time, but it was something +of a shock. I wasn't looking for such a reception. They not only +applauded, they shouted and deluged me with flowers. The next day I +found myself talked about everywhere. I had done nothing but be natural, +and do my best, yet they praised my talent. They kept my rooms +flower-laden; they sent me rich gifts, and what was more,--oh, a great +deal more,--they held out to me the hand of friendship, men and women +alike, and made me one of them. + +"There is one of the most marked differences between London and New +York. Here a girl who enters the profession is ostracized; there it is +considered an added charm. Here if a girl of any social position chooses +a stage career, it must be at a great personal sacrifice. There, +whatever social prestige she may have will be an aid to her in her +professional ambitions. One of the greatest helps to me in London was +the way the genuine people of the aristocracy opened their doors to me, +and made me welcome in their lives and homes. For my own part, I did not +know that it was possible for so much happiness to come to a single life +as I have realized during the past two years abroad." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +MARIE CELESTE + + +Almost as necessary as a singing voice to the young woman who would +venture into light opera and musical comedy, are physical attractiveness +and personal magnetism. An unusually good voice, daintiness of face and +figure, and a winsome personality. Marie Celeste has, and she has one +other quality which to me makes her work on the stage especially +enjoyable. That is her total lack of affectation. When one sees her he +is not conscious of that irritating screen of artificiality that so +often darkens and sometimes hides completely the personality on the +stage. An actor, to be effective, must show a personality of some sort. +It may not be his own, but it should appear to be his own. The ability, +under the conditions represented in the theatre, to convince an audience +that the personality represented is a real personality constitutes that +branch of acting known as impersonation. + +Actors try to accomplish this deception by various means. They bring to +their aid wonderful skill in make-up and astonishing ingenuity in +pantomime; but these external devices fail, every one of them, to +produce the impression desired, unless the final effect on the mind of +the person to be convinced is one of simplicity and sincerity. To create +this impression of simplicity and sincerity, the actor must project his +character mentally as well as reproduce it physically; he must appeal to +the mind as well as to the eye; he must know human nature; he must study +and experiment, and he must have the dramatic temperament. + +Simplicity and sincerity of this kind are none too common on the stage, +and especially is one not apt to find them among the men and women who +interpret any form of opera. There are two simple reasons for this. One +is that the operatic singer who has a chance to study naturally enough +seeks first of all to improve the voice on which he is so dependent. +Acting he regards as something that can be quickly acquired from the +ubiquitous stage manager. The second reason is that, even in the case of +singers who can act, the artificiality of the operatic scheme--drama +united with music--is bound to affect the player's art. The player in +opera acts, not as men and women act, but as operatic tenors or sopranos +or bassos have acted ever since opera came into being. In fact, we have +become so accustomed to strutting tenors and mincing sopranos that we +accept what they have to offer as a matter of course. If only they sing +well and their inherent artificiality be not too ridiculous, we are +satisfied. + +Yet when spontaneity and conviction are present, what a change in +conditions they cause! They make opera--even the frivolous opera of the +hardworking Harry B. Smith, who has what William J. Henderson calls the +"operetta libretto habit"--seem real. One does not have to adopt the +intended illusion by a sort of free-will process; it is forced on him. + +Marie Celeste is one of the few actresses in opera. She has spontaneity +and conviction, simplicity and sincerity, and in particular refreshing +and unconscious naivete. Her personality is attractive, winsome, and +thoroughly feminine, and her style is vivacious, sparkling, and refined. +Her voice is a high soprano of considerable power, and might easily of +itself have won her a place on the operatic stage. As a matter of fact, +however, her greatest successes have been in parts where singing was +something of a secondary consideration. Both physically and +temperamentally, Miss Celeste is best fitted for soubrette roles, parts +that require appreciative humor, girlish charm, and artistic finish, +ability to dance, and some pretensions as a ballad singer. Miss +Celeste's dancing is dainty and graceful, without physical violence, and +with a hint of the poetry of motion that makes dancing something more +than an athletic feat. + +As Winnifred Grey in "A Runaway Girl"--a part in which personal charm +counted for a great deal--Miss Celeste made a splendid impression +largely through her ability as an actress. The music of the part was too +low to show her voice to the best advantage, yet she sang the fetching +"The Boy Guessed Right the Very First Time" song more effectively than +any one I have ever heard. It is, of course, a simple enough ditty, +which, however, demands considerable finesse, suggestive action, and a +strain of humor to make it go as it should. The sentiment that she put +into the second verse of the catchy little duet, "I Think 'twould Break +my Heart," was exquisitely delicate and true. Except for a pretty moment +at the end of the first act, there is little else than these two bits in +the part, aside from an attractive monotony of brightness and happiness; +and brightness and happiness, of course, are directly in the line of +every musical comedy girl. + +Marie Celeste--her full name is Marie Celeste Martin--was born and +brought up in New York City. So far as she knows, she was the first one +of her family to go upon the stage. In fact, from her mother she +inherited a strain of Quaker blood, which certainly would never have +countenanced a theatrical career. Her mother's grandfather, however, was +a Frenchman, and from him probably came her artistic temperament. He was +a bit of an inventor in his way, though apparently not a very practical +one, a man who dreamed of great things, but like Cotta in "The +Schoenberg-Cotta Family" failed to bring them to an issue in time to +reap any material benefit. Of an original turn of mind and a sanguine +temperament, he experimented with many inventions from which he expected +to derive fortune and fame. None of them amounted to anything, however. + +Marie's father died when she was a girl studying music in the New York +Conservatory, and she was obliged to look about for a means whereby to +earn her livelihood. For some time she had thought of the stage,--say +rather idly speculated regarding it as a possibility without ever really +believing that she would sometime adopt it as her life-work. Naturally, +therefore, it was to the stage that she turned at this time of +adversity. Her ambition was opera. She knew that she had a voice, but +she also knew that she could not act. With rare foresight in one so +young, she made up her mind that the first thing for her to do was to +learn to act, and she pluckily took an engagement in a stock company at +Halifax, Nova Scotia. That was in 1890, and her first part was Fantile, +the maid in Ben Teal's melodrama, "The Great Metropolis." + +"Mr. Teal, whom afterward I came to know very well, and I have often +laughed over that," said Miss Celeste. "But it was hard work in that +stock company. We changed the bill twice a week, and sometimes now I +think how often I have sat with a dress-maker on one side of me and my +part in a chair near my elbow on the other side, memorizing my lines +while I sewed away for dear life on my costumes." + +Miss Celeste steadily gained in skill as an actress, and was given +characters of increasing importance. She went with the company to +Portland; and when she announced that she was going to leave the +organization and look for an opening in opera, she was offered the +position of leading woman as an inducement to stay. + +After Miss Celeste returned to New York, she studied singing for a time, +and then was engaged for the farce comedy, "Hoss and Hoss," which +exploited Charles Reed, now dead, and Willie Collier, who is at present +emulating the example of Nat Goodwin and trying to make himself over +into a legitimate comedian. The company opened at the Hollis Street +Theatre in Boston, on January 12, 1892, and Miss Celeste's character was +Polly Hoss. It was not really a character though, only a name, and she +was engaged not to act, but to sing. Everybody in the company thought +that she was a beginner, and she did not tell her associates how she had +barely escaped being leading lady of a two-bills-a-week stock-company. + +"Hoss and Hoss" was a typical farce comedy of the Charles H. Hoyt +school,--a plotless, formless thing, which was no play, but a vehicle. +The chief object of the person that conceived it was to get every person +in the company on the stage at the same time, toward the end of the +third act. When this remarkable artistic feat was accomplished, a +leading personage in the cast would remark with elaborate casualness:-- + +"Seeing we're all here and looking so well, suppose we have a little +music." + +Forthwith every one on the stage fell into the nearest chair in a +helpless sort of a way, as if life were a veritable snare and delusion, +and the master of ceremonies continued:-- + +"Miss Jones, will you kindly favor us with that beautiful ballad +entitled 'Way Down upon the Swanee River?'" + +And so they began, and thus they continued, until every one on the stage +had his chance to air his talent before a highly entertained assemblage. +It was not exactly a minstrel show, but it approached the minstrel +territory. On the bill it was called the "olio." + +Miss Celeste's part in the "olio" was to sing a ballad; and as no one +knew anything about her, she was placed almost at the end of the list of +entertainers. When she came to talk with Frank Palmer, the musical +director of the company, he asked her what song she had chosen. She told +him, and then he wanted to know what she was going to give as an encore. + +"You know," said Miss Celeste, in telling me the story, "I wasn't very +old, and I wasn't very big, and I was terribly nervous, and just a +little frightened. I knew what I intended to sing, but it took all the +courage I had to murmur gently, 'I'd like to sing, "Coming Thro' the +Rye."' + +"Never shall I forget the expression of disgust on Mr. Palmer's face. + +"'I'll rehearse you, anyway,' was all he said. + +"But I didn't tell him that I had taken a little advantage of him. As a +matter of fact, I had sung 'Coming Thro' the Rye' in Halifax, in a part +which required a song, and in which the old melody seemed appropriate. I +knew I could make a success of it. + +"We went on with the rehearsals,--Mr. Palmer and I,--and he was very +kind and considerate after he heard me sing, transposed the music to a +higher register, so as to show my voice to better advantage, and gave me +any number of little points. When it was all arranged, he said:-- + +"'Now promise me one thing. Promise that you won't tell any one in the +company what you are going to sing.' + +"I promised. I suppose he was afraid that some one of them would make +fun of me. + +"'And you won't flunk, will you?' he added. + +"'No,' I said, 'I won't flunk.' + +"On the first night," continued Miss Celeste, "'Coming Thro' the Rye' +brought me four or five recalls, and consequently after that the stage +manager gave me a much better place in the 'olio.' That is the reason I +call 'Coming Thro' the Rye' my mascot." + +After her farce comedy experience, Miss Celeste became a member of +Lillian Russell's opera company, appearing as Paquita in +"Girofle-Girofla," Petita in "The Princess Nicotine," and Wanda in "The +Grand Duchess." During the season of 1894-95 she was with Della Fox in +"The Little Trooper," singing the part of Octavie most charmingly, and +acting as understudy to Miss Fox, whose role she played many times. The +next season she returned to Miss Russell's company, making so effective +as to attract considerable attention the trifling part of Ninetta in +"The Tzigane." She also sang Gaudalena in "La Perichole," and the +Duchess de Paite in "The Little Duke." + +Miss Celeste was taken seriously ill in March, 1896, and her work during +the following season was necessarily not very heavy. Under the +management of Klaw and Erlanger she appeared as the Queen in "The +Brownies," in which, by the way, she again sang "Coming Thro' the Rye;" +and the following summer she made a decided hit as Peone Burn in the +lively spectacle, "One Round of Pleasure." Mistress Mary in "Jack and +the Beanstalk" followed, and then she succeeded Christie MacDonald as +Minutezza in "The Bride Elect." Her last part was Winnifred Grey in "A +Runaway Girl." + +Miss Celeste has also sung leading parts with the Castle Square Opera +Company, under Henry W. Savage's management, in New York, and for a +brief season in Boston. Her principal part with this organization was +Santuzza in "Cavalleria Rusticana." + +"I suppose Mr. Savage thought I looked the part," said Miss Celeste, +"and so he asked me to study it. I was really frightened at the idea. I +told him that I had never tried anything heavy like Santuzza, and that +tragedy was not in my line. He insisted that I attempt it, however, and +so I did the best I could. I got into the part far better than I +believed were possible, and the result surprised me. I don't think I +could do anything with a role that runs the gamut of emotions, as they +say. But Santuzza is all in one key, a perfect whirlwind, and after you +once strike the pace she fairly carries you along with her own +impetuosity. + +"What is the most enjoyable part I ever had?" said Miss Celeste, +repeating my question. "That's easily answered: Mataya in 'Wang,' which +I played during a summer engagement, just before DeWolf Hopper went to +England. He's such a dear boy,--Mataya, I mean,--thinks he is so very +sporty when he isn't at all, and then he's so very much in love. I was +very fond of that boy. + +"I think there is a fascination about boys' parts, anyway. It is +something of a study to do them just right, to be feminine and still +not to be effeminate. An old stage manager once said to me, 'Be sure you +please the women. That will bring them to the theatre, and they will +bring the men.' The difficulty in playing boys is to please the women, +and at the same time to keep your boy from being a poor, weak, colorless +creature. One must never overstep the line of womanliness in seeking +masculinity, and she must still make the character a real boy and not a +girl disguised as a boy." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +CHRISTIE MACDONALD + + [Illustration: Copyright, 1896, by Aime Dupont, N. Y. + CHRISTIE MACDONALD.] + + +After eight years of soubrette experience Christie MacDonald +unexpectedly came into prima donnaship in February, 1900. A light opera +called "The Princess Chic," book by Kirke LaShelle and music by Julian +Edwards, had been living a quiet life at the Columbia Theatre, Boston, +for several weeks. For some reason or other it did not seem to go just +as it should. It was a good opera at that--much better than the average. +Mr. LaShelle's book told a story with a genuine dramatic climax, and Mr. +Edwards's music was charming,--simple but melodious. There was action +enough apparently, but the performance dragged. It lacked snap and +vigor. + +The prima donna role in this opera was one of great difficulty. It +demanded an actress as well as a singer,--a woman who could be +swaggering, audacious, and masculinely incisive as the Princess, +masquerading as her own envoy, timid, modest, and shrinkingly feminine +as the make-believe peasant girl, and finally queenly and royal as the +Princess in her proper person. The plot of "The Princess Chic," by the +way, paralleled history in a curious manner, and the story of how it was +written was told me by Mr. LaShelle:-- + +"To begin with," said he, "'The Princess Chic' was not taken from the +French, though there was a French vaudeville with the same title. I got +the idea of the opera fixed in my mind after seeing Henry Irving play +'Louis XI.' during one of his visits to this country. You remember in +that drama where the envoy from the Duke of Burgundy and his clanking +guard march into Louis's presence. The envoy throws his mailed gauntlet +at Louis's feet and exclaims, 'That is the answer of Charles the Bold!' +or words to that effect, at any rate. + +"That kindled my admiration for Charles the Bold, and I have been +admiring him ever since. Consequently when I wanted a comic opera and +couldn't get any one to write it for me, I said to myself, 'Here's a +chance for Charles the Bold.' I forthwith started in on what is now the +second act of 'The Princess Chic,' and wrote backward and forward. + +"Now comes the odd part of the whole business. I had to have a woman for +my opera, so I invented the Princess Chic. I had to have a plot,--I'm a +bit old-fashioned, I know,--so I invented the intrigue of Louis XI. +plotting to cause a revolt among the subjects of the Duke of Burgundy. I +seemed to be getting along first-rate when it occurred to me that it +wouldn't do any harm to delve a bit into history. So I delved. + +"You can imagine my astonishment when I found that I had unwittingly +been duplicating to a startling extent historical fact. I discovered +that there actually had been a Princess Chic. I learned that Louis XI. +had thought to cause trouble in Charles's domain, and by this means to +open a way for the seizure of that province for France. The Duke's bold +move in arresting the King and holding him captive until the King agreed +to a treaty that suited Charles was new to me, however, and I grabbed it +quick. + +"Now you have the whole story of 'The Princess Chic.' Somebody has +accused me of coquetting with history. I deny all coquetry. 'The +Princess Chic' is to all intents and purposes genuine history, much +nearer fact than many a historical drama that makes more pretences of +sticking closely to the truth." + +However, history or no history, the opera did not act as it should, and +Mr. LaShelle decided to try what the effect of a new prima donna would +be. He wanted Camille D'Arville, but she was not available; and by some +marvellous stroke of good fortune he hit upon Christie MacDonald. How he +happened to do it is a mystery. Christie MacDonald was, of course, well +known as a very amiable little lady with a decided fancy for short +skirts and for frisky and vivacious characters, that sang prettily and +danced nimbly. Never for a moment had she been associated with the +dignified prima donna. Nor had she ever been guilty of seriousness. +Moreover, if the whole truth were to be told, her voice--though sweet, +delicate, musical, and skilfully controlled--was by no means strong. +Decidedly Christie MacDonald had other things besides a voice to make +her attractive. There was her personality, magnetically feminine, her +temperament, so sunshiny and happy, and her face, not exactly pretty, +but immensely attractive when fun lighted it up with smiles. + +Therefore Christie MacDonald's Princess Chic came as a great surprise. +At first, she was apparently feeling her way in the role. She was, in +fact, a model of discretion, but save in one particular her acting +lacked force and conviction. As the peasant girl, in this three-sided +impersonation, she was from the first exquisite. Never was the subtle +attack of a modest maiden upon a susceptible man's heart more daintily +or more fascinatingly exhibited. Under every circumstance Miss MacDonald +was simple and straightforward in her methods, and absolutely free from +affectation and self-consciousness. How thoroughly delightful that is! +Singers, in particular, are the victims of conventional mannerisms, +smiles that are meaningless and as a result expressionless, curious +contortions with the eyes, and strange movements of the hands. How much +they would gain by mastering the difficult art of artistically doing +nothing! + +With so much that was good in evidence during her earliest presentations +of the Princess Chic, with her faults those of omission rather than +commission, it was only natural that Miss MacDonald should improve +greatly as she became thoroughly familiar with the requirements of the +part, and as she gained experience in acting it. Especially did she seem +to catch the spirit of the Princess Chic masquerading as the handsome +young envoy. She developed a most entrancing swagger and the most +captivating nonchalance. Her voice, too, which at first seemed almost +too light for Mr. Edwards's trying music, was heard to a much better +advantage later; and in spite of its want of volume, it had a strange +insistency, a peculiar penetrating quality, which enabled it to balance +admirably the full chorus in the ensemble climaxes. + +Before she adopted the stage professionally, Christie MacDonald gained a +little experience by taking small parts in several summer "snap" +companies in her home city of Boston. Her parents were not altogether +pleased at her theatrical aspirations, and even after she had been +enrolled in 1892 as a member of Pauline Hall's company, she was +persuaded to give up the engagement in deference to their wishes. Just +at this critical point in her career, however, she chanced to meet +Francis Wilson, who had "The Lion Tamer" in rehearsal. He heard her sing +and liked her voice so well that he offered her a place in his company. +The temptation was too strong to be resisted, and Miss MacDonald +established herself under the Wilson banner. At first she was given only +a small part in "The Lion Tamer," and at the same time understudied Lulu +Glaser in both "The Lion Tamer" and "The Merry Monarch." The next season +she played Marie, the peasant girl, in "Erminie," and during Miss +Glaser's illness, Javotte. When "The Devil's Deputy" was brought out +for the season of 1894-95, she created the role of Bob, the valet. She +was a capital Mrs. Griggs in the pretty Sullivan opera, "The Chieftain," +her singing of the topical song, "I Think there is Something in That," +being especially popular. During the summer of 1896 she appeared in +Boston in "The Sphinx," making a pleasing impression as Shafra. The +following fall found her again with the Francis Wilson forces, playing +Lucinde in "Half a King." That summer she filled another engagement in +Boston as the Japanese maiden Woo Me, in the not-too-successful opera, +"The Walking Delegate." It was a dainty part and charmingly done. + +The next season Miss MacDonald was engaged by Klaw and Erlanger for the +Sousa opera, "The Bride Elect," with which she remained two seasons, and +this was followed by her appearance in "The Princess Chic." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MARIE DRESSLER + + [Illustration: MARIE DRESSLER.] + + +One cannot see Marie Dressler on the stage without being convinced that +she is acting no one in the world but herself. Such, I believe, is the +actual condition of affairs, although there are sometimes strange +paradoxes in theatrical life. It would not be altogether extraordinary +for the rollicking tomboy of the stage to be in private life the most +retired and the most dignified person imaginable, a woman with spinster +written all over her face and reeking in domesticity, with a decided +fondness for tea, toast, and tidies. + +However, that is not the case with Marie Dressler. She has a mental +quirk that keeps the incongruous side of life in her view practically +all the time. She cannot help pricking constantly the bubble of mirth +any more than she can help breathing. Her humor is just the kind that +one would naturally expect to find as a companion to her overflowing +physique,--ponderous, weighty, and a bit crude, perhaps, but +spontaneous, real, and thoroughly good-natured. She never stabs with the +keen shaft of cynical wit, and she does no business in the epigram +market. Her specialty is incongruity, for Marie Dressler is a burlesquer +in thought, word, and deed, and being a burlesquer she is of necessity +absolutely without illusions. When one is so susceptible to the +oddities, the inconsistencies, and the tragic pettiness of human affairs +as she is, it is a toss-up whether or not his settled condition of mind, +after a fair experience with the world, be one of gloomy pessimism or +irresponsible optimism. Had Miss Dressler been by nature cold, +suspicious, and inherently selfish, had she been unsympathetic and +without the milk of human kindness, her instinct for incongruity would +surely have turned her toward misanthropy. Her disposition, however, was +rollicking, jovial, and fun-loving. She was naturally impulsive, +generous, and warm-hearted. Consequently, life, even in its smallnesses +and its meannesses, made her laugh. With the humorist's whimsical +temperament she united also the happy faculty of being able to +communicate to others by means of the theatre her comical view of +things. Choosing to do this through the force of her own personality +rather than by infusing her personality into a dramatist's conception, +she became a droll, a professional jester. + +Miss Dressler's best-known and most characteristic work on the stage was +done in the role of the boisterous music-hall singer, Flo Honeydew, in +"The Lady Slavey." It was hardly a case of acting,--better call it a +case of letting herself go. Marie Dressler without subterfuge presented +herself in the guise of the unconventional Miss Honeydew. She seemed a +big, overgrown girl and a thoroughly mischievous romp with the agility +of a circus performer and the physical elasticity of a professional +contortionist. + +To call her graceful would be an unpardonable accusation. Possibly she +might have been graceful had she chosen to be; but what she was after +principally was energy, and she got it,--whole car-loads of it. Her +comic resource was inexhaustible, her animal spirits were irrepressible, +and her audacity approached the sublime. + +Yet, amid all her amazing unconventionality and her astonishing athletic +feats, one found, if he met her on her own plane of impersonal jollity, +neither vulgarity nor suggestiveness. Her mental attitude toward her +audience was absolutely clean and straightforward. She was not a woman +cutting up antics and indulging in unseemly pranks, but a royal good +fellow with an infinite variety of jest. + +With nothing especially tangible to offer as evidence, I have a +suspicion that Marie Dressler, if she could escape from her reputation +as a burlesquer, might act a "straight" part not at all badly. It is +only a fine line between burlesque and legitimate acting, only a +triflingly different mental attitude, which results in travesty instead +of seriousness. Of course, the burlesque must be set forth with the +proper amount of exaggeration to give point to the take-off, but that is +only a matter of technique. Artificiality in actors and insincerity in +dramatists very often result in unconscious burlesque. The melodramatic +school is particularly prone to this most inartistic of blunders, and +many a good laugh has followed lines that were supposed to be charged +with the most highly colored sentiments and situations that were +intended to be dramatically strong and impressive. One at all familiar +with Miss Dressler's methods cannot have failed to notice her trick of +beginning a speech with profound and even convincing seriousness and +ending it in ridiculous contrast with a sudden drop from the dramatic to +the commonplace. In spite of the fact that one knows for a certainty +that she is fooling him, she succeeds invariably in making the first +part of her sentence seem honest and sincere. + +Now, I do not believe that she could hit just the right key every time +in these startling and laughter-provoking contrasts, if she did not have +to an unusual extent the instinct for dramatic effect, which is so large +a part of the equipment of the legitimate actor. However, I hope that +she will never make the experiment. There are already enough serious +actors of ordinary calibre, while the genuine burlesquer of Marie +Dressler quality is rare indeed. + +Miss Dressler's versatility as a single entertainer was splendidly +illustrated in a curious variety act, which was called "Twenty Minutes +in Shirt Waists." It was devised for the sole purpose of showing off to +the best advantage Miss Dressler's native talent for fun-making and +travesty. It was mere hodge-podge, of course, with neither rhyme nor +reason, but it did afford Miss Dressler every chance that she could +desire to display her marvellous resource as a comic entertainer. The +title of the sketch, "Twenty Minutes in Shirt Waists," suggested some +sort of a disrobing act, but in that it was deceptive. Indeed, the +title--and possibly it was all the better for that--had no connection at +all with the act beyond the fact that Miss Dressler and her assistant, +Adele Farrington, both wore shirt waists of spotless white. It was a +very intimate and unstagy affair. The two entertainers called each other +Marie and Adele, and they kept up the illusion of spontaneous +comradeship by appearing, or seeming to appear, in the Eleanora Duse +fashion, without facial make-up. The turn itself was a continuous +"jolly," and Miss Dressler introduced before it was over about +everything funny that she ever did in the theatre, including the amusing +revolving hat of "The Lady Slavey" fame. + +Miss Dressler was born in Canada, and went on the stage when she was +sixteen years old; and in spite of the fact that she was without +experience,--in fact, before she had ever seen a comic opera,--she +rather inverted the ordinary method of procedure, and started at once to +play old women. Her first character was Katisha in "The Mikado" in a +company managed by Jules Grau. The reason, so she claims, that she made +a try at "old women" was because she was too big and healthy ever to +meet with success as a soubrette. Her Katisha was sufficiently liked to +convince her that light opera was just the place for her, and thus her +theatrical career began. + +"I might state," remarked Miss Dressler, naively, in speaking of her +early experiences, "that we members of the Grau Company were promised +and were supposed to receive very good salaries. All we got, however, +was the promises, and they came early and often. No, that is not +altogether true: we got besides the promises twenty-five cents which was +handed to each member of the company every night. It was supposed to be +squandered in the purchase of beer. I forgot this little circumstance, +for I did not drink beer, and consequently in my case the aforesaid +quarter of a dollar was not forthcoming. This omission hurt me so much +that I resigned from this enterprising organization, and wandered to +Philadelphia. The exchequer was about as low as it well could be, and I +was glad enough to take a place in the chorus of a summer company at +eight dollars a week,--not a great deal, to be sure, but I got it, such +as it was." + +Miss Dressler's next engagement was with the Bennett and Moulton Opera +Company, from which Della Fox was also graduated. This organization +played week stands in small cities and large towns, giving two +performances a day and changing the bill every day. This may be said to +have been Miss Dressler's school, for while under the Bennett and +Moulton management she appeared in thirty-eight different operas and +played every variety of part, from prima donna roles to old women. + +Following this arduous experience on the road came her first appearance +in New York at the Fifth Avenue Theatre as Cunigonde in "The Robber of +the Rhine," an opera of which Maurice Barrymore, who wrote the book, and +Charles Puerner, who composed the music, never had reason to feel proud. +Her first New York success of any consequence, therefore, was not made +until she appeared with Camille D'Arville in "Madeleine, or the Magic +Kiss." Her next venture was as the Queen in "1492," the part which +brought fame to that most accomplished woman impersonator, Richard +Harlow. After the termination of this engagement she appeared for a time +at the Garden Theatre, New York, under the management of A. M. Palmer, +and then joined Lillian Russell in "Princess Nicotine." Her remarkable +success in "The Lady Slavey" came next, and since then she has been seen +in "Hotel Topsy Turvy," "The Man in the Moon," and vaudeville. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +DELLA FOX + + [Illustration: Copyright, 1894, by J. B. Falk, Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y. + DELLA FOX.] + + +It was a dozen or fifteen years ago that the hard-working organization +known as the Bennett and Moulton Opera Company was a frequent visitor to +the small cities and large towns of New England. It played week stands +with daily matinees, and it was, more than likely, the pioneer to flaunt +in the theatrical field the conquering banner of "ten, twenty, thirty." +I have every feeling of gratitude toward the Bennett and Moulton Opera +Company, for it introduced me, at the modest rate of ten cents per +introduction, which small sum purchased the right to sit aloft in the +gallery, to all the famous old-time operettas,--"Olivette," "The +Mascotte," "The Chimes of Normandy," and others. + +As I recall the annual performances of this obscure troupe, they were +surprisingly good. At least, so they seemed to me, and I can laugh even +now at the excruciatingly funny fellow who sang the topical song, "Bob +up Serenely" in "Olivette." There was also a curious dance, I remember, +that went with the song,--a spreading out simultaneously of arms and +legs in jumping-jack fashion,--and we boys thought it vastly amusing. We +clapped and stamped and whistled, and kept the poor comedian at work as +long as our breath held out and long after his had gone. + +The last time that I saw the Bennett and Moulton Opera Company was in +"Fra Diavolo," and the prima donna--the term seems ridiculous and absurd +as I think of the person to whom it is applied--was a golden-haired +little creature, wonderfully ample, tremendously in earnest, and +strangely fascinating, a dainty slip of a girl, who seemed, in truth, +only a child. I can see her now as she sat on the edge of the bed in +the chamber scene, unfastening her shoes, singing very sweetly and very +expressively her good-night song, all unconscious of the bold brigands +who were watching the proceedings from their places of concealment. She +charmed me as no singer in light opera ever had before, and the +impression that she made upon me has never been lost. The child was +Della Fox, of whom at that time no one had ever heard--Della Fox in the +humblest of surroundings, but to me more fascinating than in any of the +brilliant settings that have since been hers. + +I did not see Della Fox again until 1890, when she was playing Blanche +in "Castles in the Air" with DeWolf Hopper. She had changed greatly in +the few years, though far less than she has since the days of "Castles +in the Air," "Wang," and "Panjandrum." Her appealing, unsophisticated +girlishness had gone, and in its place was self-possession and +authority. She was charming in her daintiness, provoking in her +coquetry, a tantalizing atom of femininity. Her archness was not bold +nor unwomanly, and her vivacity was well within the bounds of refinement +and good taste. Her singing voice, too, was musical, though not over +strong. + +Della Fox was born in St. Louis on October 13, 1872. Her father, A. J. +Fox, was a photographer, who made something of a specialty of theatrical +pictures; and thus Della's babyhood was passed, not exactly in the +playhouse atmosphere, perhaps, but certainly in an atmosphere next door +to that of the greasepaint and footlights. Her experience on the stage +began when she was only seven years old as the midshipmate in a +children's "Pinafore" company, which travelled in Missouri and Illinois +for a season. She was an astonishingly precocious child, and many +persons who watched her shook their heads and predicted that her talent +had ripened too early, and that, as is the case with many promising +stage children, she would never amount to anything. + +Apparently this midshipmate experience firmly established in Miss +Della's childish mind the intention to become an actress. Her parents, +however, succeeded in keeping her in school for a few years longer, +though she appeared in several local performances where a child was +needed. When she was nine years old, for instance, she acted for a week +in St. Louis the child's part in the production of "A Celebrated Case" +of which James O'Neill was the star, and she was also at one time with a +"Muldoon's Picnic" company. Her first real professional experience, +however, was obtained with an organization known as the Dickson Sketch +Club. + +This was gotten up by four St. Louis young men, W. F. Dickson and W. G. +Smythe, both of whom became prominent theatrical managers, Augustus +Thomas, the playwright, and Edgar Smith, the author of several Casino +pieces, and at present writer-in-ordinary to Weber and Fields. Mr. +Thomas made a one-act play of Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett's story, +"Editha's Burglar," and the company also appeared in a musical farce +called "Combustion." Della Fox was the Editha in the play and the +soubrette in the musical piece, while Mr. Thomas acted Bill Lewis, the +burglar, and Mr. Smith was Paul Benton. Miss Fox's impersonation of +Editha was, according to report, very good indeed. At any rate, the +success of the play was sufficient to encourage the author to expand it +to three-acts. The result was "The Burglar," one of the first plays in +which Mr. E. H. Sothern appeared as a star. In the three-act version +Sothern acted Bill Lewis, the burglar, and Elsie Leslie was Editha. + +Mr. Dickson, who is now connected with the business staff of the +Alhambra in Chicago, referred not long ago to this early experience as +a manager. + +"Yes," he said, "that was 'Gus' Thomas's debut as a dramatic author. +'Gus' was in the box office with me at the Olympic in St. Louis, and he +managed to find time during the leisure moments when he was not selling +tickets to scribble ideas in dramatic form. He read me this little +sketch, 'Editha's Burglar,' and asked me to give it a trial. Right +across the street from the theatre lived Della Fox, daughter of a +photographer, a precocious little miss, whose talents were always in +requisition whenever there were any child's parts to be filled at the +theatre. I used to send over for Della whenever there was a little part +for her, and she was delighted to get away from school and skip and trip +before the footlights. After 'Gus' had read the play to me, he suggested +that Della should play little Editha, and as a result I was induced to +put the piece on with the budding author in the principal role. It had +a certain sort of success, and we went on a tour, using 'The Burglar' as +a curtain raiser to another play called 'Combustion,' also from 'Gus' +Thomas's pen. Later 'The Burglar' was produced in New York as a +curtain-raiser to William Gillette's comedy, 'The Great Pink Pearl.' +Gillette himself played the burglar, and Mr. Thomas was encouraged to +expand his sketch into a pretentious three-act play, and it went on the +road, making money for the managers and familiarizing the public with +Augustus Thomas's name." + +Next came Miss Fox's connection with the Bennett and Moulton Company, +with which she appeared in the leading soprano roles of all the light +operas,--"Fra Diavolo," "The Bohemian Girl," "The Pirates of Penzance," +"Billie Taylor," "The Mikado," and "The Chimes of Normandy." Her success +with this minor organization brought her to the notice of Heinrich +Conried, who was getting together an opera company to appear in "The +King's Fool." She was given the soubrette part, and created something of +a stir wherever the opera was given by her singing of "Fair Columbia," +one of the most popular songs of the piece. From Mr. Conried also she +received about all the real instruction in dramatic art that she had +ever had. When Davis and Locke, who had managed the Emma Juch Opera +Company, decided to launch DeWolf Hopper as a star, they began to look +about for a small-sized soubrette to act as a foil for Mr. Hopper's +great height. George W. Lederer, of the New York Casino, suggested Della +Fox, and accordingly she was engaged and opened with Hopper in "Castles +in the Air" at the Broadway Theatre, New York, in May, 1890. + +Her success in this larger field was remarkable, and before the summer +was over she was sharing the honors with Hopper and was just as strong a +popular favorite as he. Her Blanche was a delightful creation +throughout, but best remembered is the "athletic duet" in which she and +Hopper gave amusing pantomimic representations of games of billiards, +baseball, and other familiar sports. Her Mataya in "Wang," which was +brought out in New York in the summer of 1891, was another triumph. This +was, perhaps, the most artistic of all her roles. She was cute, impish, +and jaunty in turn as the Crown Prince, and, in addition, was a picture +never to be forgotten in her perfect fitting white flannel suit, worn in +the second act. It was in this act, too, that she sang the famous +summer-night's song, which was whistled and hand-organed throughout the +land. + +Next Miss Fox created the principal soubrette role in Mr. Hopper's opera +"Panjandrum," in which she continued to appear until she made her debut +as a star in August, 1894, at the Casino, New York, in Goodwin and +Furst's opera, "The Little Trooper." Her first season was extremely +successful. The next year she was seen in "Fleur-de-lis," another +Goodwin-Furst product. Writing of Miss Fox in this opera, Philip Hale +said:-- + +"Disagreeable qualities in the customary performance of Miss Fox were +not nearly so much in evidence as in some of her other characters. She +was not so deliberately affected, she was not so brazen in her +assurance. Even her vocal mannerisms were not so conspicuous. She almost +played with discretion, and often she was delightful. Her +self-introduction to her father was one long to be remembered. No wonder +that the audience insisted on seeing it again and again. All in all, +Miss Fox appeared greatly to her advantage." + +His criticism of the opera is also interesting: + +"It was March 31, 1885, that 'Pervenche,' an operetta, text by Duru and +Chivot, music by Audran, was first produced at the Bouffes-Parisiens. +Mrs. Thuillier-Leloir was the Pervenche, Mauge the Count des +Escarbilles, and Mesnacker the Marquis de Rosolio. The honors of the +evening, however, were borne away by Mr. and Mrs. Piccaluga, who were +respectively Frederick and Charlotte. The opera did not please, and it +ran only twenty-nine nights. Nor has it been revived. + +"In the time of Henry the Second, or Henry the Third, two nephews +disputed the right to possess a castle in Touraine that had belonged to +their late uncle, who died without will. Rosolio held the castle, and +Escarbilles tried to dislodge him. By the will, found eventually, the +castle belonged to Rosolio if Frederick, the son of Escarbilles, should +marry Pervenche, the natural daughter of Rosolio. + +"The performance was in the main poor, and the music of Audran was not +distinguished, they say. A romance of Frederick, a pastorale Tyrolienne +sung by Charlotte at the end of the second act, and a duet of menders +of faience in the third act, said to be the best of the three, alone +seemed worthy of remark. + +"So much for 'Pervenche,' the libretto of which furnished the foundation +for Mr. Goodwin's story and songs. Just how far Mr. Goodwin departed +from the situations furnished by Messrs. Durn and Chivot, I am unable to +say, for I never saw 'Pervenche' nor its libretto. However much he may +be indebted, this can be truly said: he has written an entertaining +book; the plot is coherent, and the situations laughable. The second act +is admirable throughout. The colossal effrontery of the starved Rosolio +in the castle manned by women disguised as soldiers, the reconciliation +of the nephews, the exchange of reminiscences of gay student days in +Paris, the discovery of the imposition, and the renewed +hostilities,--these are amusing and well connected. Furthermore, the +audience at the end of this act realizes at once the need of a third +act, to clear up matters. Now this is rare in operetta of to-day. Even +in the third act the interest never flags, although there was one +dreadful moment, when it looked as though the old 'Mascotte' third-act +business was to be introduced. Fortunately the suspicion was groundless, +and the audience breathed freer and forgot its fears in the enjoyment of +the delightful scenes between Des Escarbilles and the miller, and then +the ghost. + +"Not so much can be said in praise of the music. It is the same old +thing that has served in many operettas. There is a jingle, there are +the inevitable waltz tunes that always sound alike. But the music gives +the comedians an excuse for singing and dancing. It thus serves its turn +and is promptly forgotten until another operetta comes, and the hearer +has a vague impression that he has heard the tunes before." + +"The Wedding Day," with Della Fox, Lillian Russell, and Jefferson De +Angelis in the cast, was brought out in the fall of 1897, and it revived +to a degree old-time memories of players at the Casino. The opera itself +proved to be of an order of merit recalling "Falka," "The Merry War," +and "Nanon," the like of which had not appeared for many, many seasons. +The music was ambitious without being dull, and some of the concerted +numbers had genuine musicianly value. The story held its interest fairly +well, though in spots it was too complicated, and at one point in the +third act quite absurd. Still it was an excellent vehicle to display the +talents of the so-called "triple alliance" of comic opera stars. Miss +Fox, who had shown a decided tendency toward stoutness, had trained down +to within hailing distance of her former slender lithesomeness, and she +made a pretty and attractive bride. + +The following season found Miss Fox again an individual star, this time +in "The Little Host." Her last appearances in opera were made in this +piece, for after her season had begun in the fall of 1899, she was taken +seriously ill, and for a long time her death was expected. She recovered +partially, however, after months of illness, and in the spring of 1900 +she appeared for a few months in vaudeville. Even this labor proved too +much for her strength, and her friends were compelled to remove her to a +place where she might have perfect rest. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +CAMILLE D'ARVILLE + + +Camille D'Arville, like Lillian Russell, Pauline Hall, and Jessie +Bartlett Davis, is one of the old guard, in American light opera. She +has not appeared in opera for some time, for during the season of +1899-1900 she followed the general inclination and went into vaudeville. +From these appearances it was apparent that her voice was not what it +had been once--and little wonder that it had failed, when one recalls +how continuously that voice has been in use since the owner left her +Dutch home, forswore her own name of Neeltye Dykstra, and first learned +to talk a prettily accentuated English. She still had in full the power +to win an audience instantly and completely. Nor had she lost to any +perceptible degree her rare good looks. A little fuller in the figure, +perhaps, than she was five years ago, she carried herself with the same +fine grace and perfect poise which were of themselves an art. + +Camille D'Arville has temperament, and she has style. It is these two +qualities particularly that have brought her success so often in dashing +cavalier parts, parts which require that a woman shall act either a man +or a woman masquerading as a man. The modern comic opera librettist +often has but one main purpose in mind, that is, to get his prima donna +in tights as soon after the show begins as possible and keep her in them +as long as practical. Indeed, if one were looking for a practical way to +distinguish modern comic opera from extravaganza, he might find it in +this matter of tights. If the leading woman represent a woman disguised +as a man, she is an operatic prima donna; if, on the contrary, she be +represented as a man from start to finish, she is merely principal +"boy" in extravaganza. + +I suppose this tendency toward tights, which is so common as to be +almost a light-opera conventionality, is an outgrowth or heritage from +the old-fashioned burlesque. In fact, the difference between the modern +comic opera and the burlesque of thirty years ago is purely one of +degree. The relation between the two is similar to that between the +variety show of eight years ago and the so-called "fashionable +vaudeville" of to-day. Variety has been put through what managers of the +large circuits call a refining process. There is no denying that the +old-style variety show in most of its components was crude, noisy, and +vulgar, and that its surroundings were scarcely favorable to the +development of high art. But one was always sure of finding vigor and +life--plenty of both--in the old-time varieties, and there were +oftentimes spontaneity and humor--rude and bucolic, perhaps, but real, +just the same--which one is not sure of meeting in the latter-day +entertainments so carefully prepared for the mentally delicate and +sensitive. + +Modern comic opera has adopted in a modified and refined form the chief +characteristics--one of them the woman in tights and another of them the +clown with his perfunctory low comedy--of the old-fashioned burlesque. +Of course, the opera makes more pretensions than did the burlesque, and +musically it is superficially superior, not necessarily more tuneful but +orchestrated with more scholarly skill. Stage pageantry to-day is also +much further developed, and spectacular effects are far more elaborate. +The costuming is richer and more tasteful, and the women on the +stage--if not actually younger and prettier--are certainly daintier and +more feminine. The girlishness and natural beauty of many modern +light-opera choruses are simply amazing. + +If we look beneath these externals, however, we find that the comic +opera of to-day is hardly an advance over the burlesque of yesterday. +There was good stuff in most of the old burlesques. They had original +ideas, plenty of simple dramatic action, and some genuine comedy, but it +is seldom that one finds any of these three essentials in the book of +the modern comic opera. Not for ten years, I am tempted to declare, has +there been written a light-opera libretto with sufficient intrinsic +merit to attract the public attention without the assistance of the most +magnetic personalities surrounded and set forth by the most gorgeous of +stage accessories. + +Camille D'Arville's cavaliers--and in recent years she has not +played a part that did not require male attire--are a direct heritage +from the burlesque stage. When Camille D'Arville becomes a man, she +makes the change from petticoats without the slightest show of +self-consciousness. I heard her once termed the most modest woman in +tights on the stage. That was simply an acknowledgment of her complete +effacement of the personal equation. Yet her individuality was not at +all diminished, her presence was inspiring, and her acting both +vivacious and forceful. + +Camille D'Arville was born in 1863 in the village of Oldmarck, Province +of Overyseel, Holland, and came of a family that had never shown any +theatrical or especial musical talent. When she was twelve years old, +her voice gave promise of developing into something more than the +ordinary, and she was sent to the Conservatory at Amsterdam for +instruction. Here she made her first appearance in concert in 1877. +Later she went to Vienna, where she received further instruction, and +also made a successful appearance in a one-act operetta. + +"I was a big girl fourteen or fifteen years old before I saw other +lands than my own Holland," remarked Miss D'Arville, "and after I left +Amsterdam I was on the Continent and in England for a long time before I +returned home. I still claim Holland as my birthright, however, and I do +not want to be called anything but Dutch. If I have a trace of French +accent in speaking English, as some claim, it is not my fault. + +"But, do you know," she continued, "if it were purely a matter of +inclination, I think I should much rather be an actress than to be a +singer. Of course, I love music, but what can be more gratifying than to +portray the heroines of Shakespeare and other great dramatists? But my +natural endowment as a singer led me toward the operatic career. In +opera I prefer a strong dramatic role, a part which has only one grand +song if it afford plenty of opportunity for acting. + +"When did I first sing in public? Oh, I can't remember that. I appeared +in concerts in Amsterdam when I was a girl, and by the time I entered +my teens I took part in operatic performances given by the Conservatory +pupils. Do you mean when did I make my real debut in opera? I suppose +that might be said to have occurred in March, 1883, at the Strand +Theatre, London, in an operetta entitled 'Cymbria, or the Magic +Thimble.'" + +Before this, however, Miss D'Arville had anything but a pleasant +experience in London. She went there under the supposition that she had +been engaged to sing in opera. The managerial promise she found to be +worthless, and she had to be satisfied with a chance to earn a little +money in a music hall. It was after several months of the most +uncongenial toil that she finally gained recognition in "Cymbria." + +"Harry Paulton was responsible for that appearance," continued Miss +D'Arville. "He heard me sing, and under his tuition I learned the words +of the opera and sung them before I understood their meaning. It was +not long, however, before I could speak English fairly well. The Dutch, +you know, are famous linguists. + +"In October of the same year I created the part of Gabrielle Chevrette +in 'La Vie,' an adaptation by H. B. Farnie of Offenbach's 'La Vie +Parisienne.' The critics spoke very kindly of me then, but were much +more generous in their praises when during the following spring I +appeared as Fredegonda in a revival of M. Herve's 'Chilperic' given at +the Empire Theatre. Perhaps chief among my early successes was in 'Rip +Van Winkle.' I succeeded Miss Sadie Martinot in the leading soprano +part, and sang it until the end of the opera's long run. Fred Leslie was +the Rip Van Winkle, and very fine he was, too. It was a pity he +afterward became so thoroughly identified with burlesque." + +It was at the time of her first appearance in opera in England that the +singer adopted the name of Camille D'Arville. It was chosen for euphony +only, and had no significance whatever. + +After her success in "Rip Van Winkle" Miss D'Arville toured the English +province with "Falka," and in 1887 returned to London to play in +"Mynheer Jan." This was followed by an engagement at the Gaiety Theatre, +and her position in London seemed established, when a quarrel with the +management caused her to break her contract and she appeared at another +theatre in the title role of "Babette." + +Miss D'Arville first came to this country in the spring of 1888, being +under engagement to J. C. Duff; and her first appearance here was made +in New York in April in "The Queen's Mate" in the cast with Lillian +Russell. In the fall Miss D'Arville returned to London, where she +appeared in "Carina," in which piece her charming archness was a +feature. The Carl Rosa Company then engaged her to take the part of +Yvonne in "Paul Jones," in which Agnes Huntington as the hero had taken +the city by storm. With the same company she also created the title role +in "Marjorie," which also enjoyed a long run. During the summer of 1889 +Miss D'Arville became connected with the New York Casino, appearing in +"La Fille de Madame Angot," "The Grand Duchess," and "Poor Jonathan." +Back to London she hied herself once more, and for a time was heard at +the Trocadero and Pavillon. Then she returned to the United States, and +joined the Bostonians, with whom she sang Arline in "The Bohemian Girl," +Maid Marion in "Robin Hood," and Katherine in a revival of "The +Mascotte." She was probably the most satisfactory Maid Marion, all +things considered, that ever sang the part. Certainly she was better as +an actress than Marie Stone, who had previously taken the role, and she +was physically better fitted to the character than Alice Nielsen. +Critics, who up to that time had not been entirely satisfied with Miss +D'Arville, claiming that her vocal method was bad and her acting +oftentimes crude and meaningless, found her work in "Robin Hood" very +much to their taste. + +"As a singer she has improved during the past year," said one. "Her +tones are purer; she uses her voice with more discretion; and she has +discovered that a scream is not synonymous with forte. She is vivacious; +she lends a dramatic interest that has been sadly lacking in former +performances of this company, when the members were too apt to mistake +the audience for a congregation and the stage for a choir loft. She is +fair to look upon, and yet she does not strive to monopolize attention." + +After quitting the Bostonians Miss D'Arville starred in Edward E. Rice's +spectacular production of the extravaganza "Venus," which was first +acted in Boston in September, 1893. Her dashing Prince Kam, that +imaginary Thibetian potentate, who, finding no earthly beauty that +satisfied his ideal, journeyed to Mars, where he succeeded in winning +the love of Venus herself, was a thoroughly delightful characterization. + +"A Daughter of the Revolution," with which Miss D'Arville was next +identified, was made over by J. Cheever Goodwin and Ludwig Englaender +from a comic opera called "1776," produced some ten years before by a +German company playing at the Thalia Theatre in New York. It achieved +but limited popularity at that time, but in its revised form it was an +agreeable, if not exactly exciting, entertainment. It was not an ideal +comic opera, by any means. Too much of the machinery of construction was +left visible for that. There were two characters, the dealer in military +supplies and the laundress, so obviously dragged in simply because the +low-comedy man needed a foil and a soubrette to play opposite to him, +that one looked to see the marks of violence on their ears. But +librettos are hard things to write--they must be or we should +certainly find one now and then that is above reproach--so one would +fain overlook jarring circumstances for the sake of the tuneful melodies +of the score and the brisk action. Miss D'Arville sang well, and made an +attractive picture in her series of becoming costumes. + +A starring tour in "Madeleine; or the Magic Kiss," a comic opera of +considerable merit although it never won more than a fair degree of +popularity, was her next venture, and then she was engaged to create the +prima donna role of Lady Constance in "The Highwayman," a Reginald +DeKoven and Harry B. Smith composition. A quarrel with the management +while rehearsals were in progress caused her to retire from the company, +however, and her place was taken by Hilda Clark. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MARIE TEMPEST + + [Illustration: MARIE TEMPEST.] + + +No better characterization of Marie Tempest, that wonderfully +fascinating personality which last appeared in this country during the +season of 1893-94 in "The Algerian," have I ever seen than that written +by Charles Frederick Nirdlinger and published several years ago in the +"Illustrated American." + +"Nell Gwynne lives again in the person of Marie Tempest," declared Mr. +Nirdlinger. "From out of a past tinkling with tuneful poesy, sparkling +with the glory of palettes that limned only beauty and grace, bubbling +with the merriment and gallantry of gay King Charlie's court, there +trips down to moderns a most convincing counterfeit of that piquant +creature. If one may trust imagination's ear, little Tempest sings as +pretty Nell did: in the same tenuous, uncertain voice, with the same +captivating tricks of tone, the same significant nuances, and the same +amorous timbre. Tempest talks just as Nell did, and walks with the same +sturdy stride,--there was nothing mincing about Nell,--and, if one may +trust to fancy's eye, she looks just as Nell looked. I have seen Nell a +hundred times, and so have you, dear reader. The mere sight of that +curt, pert, and jadish name--Nell Gwynne--calls up that strangely +alluring combination of features: the tip-tilted nose, the pouting lips, +the eyes of a drowsy Cupid, the confident, impudent poise of the head. +None of them fashioned to the taste of the painter or sculptor, but +forming in their unity a face of pleasing witchery. + +"There is no record of Nell's artistic methods, of the school of her +mimetic performance, or the style of her singing. All we know of that +sort of thing we must gather from the rhymes and rhapsodies of the +poets. Some of them wrote in prose, to be sure; but they were poets for +all that, and poets are such an unreliable lot when it comes to judging +such a girl as Nell. If she had any art, though, I'll be bound it was +like Tempest's. There is but one way to be infinitely charming in the +craft of the theatre,--the eternal verities of art prevent that it +should be otherwise,--and whatever devices of mimic mechanism Nell +employed must have been those of her modern congener. But she never +studied in Paris, some sceptic will say, and Tempest did: how could Nell +Gwynne have mastered the lightness of touch, the exquisite refinement of +gesture, the infinity of significant byplay that constitute the +distinctly Parisian method of Tempest? To that I would answer that +Tempest's method is not distinctly Parisian, that it is not at all +Parisian. She is a delightful artist, not because of her brief period of +Gallic training, but in spite of it. + +"Elsewhere I have ventured an opinion on the subject of what we have +been taught to regard as the French school of comic opera. That school, +if we may judge of its academic principles and practices by the +performances of some of its most proficient graduates, has nothing in +common with the methods of Tempest. Wanton wiles and indecent +suggestion,--these are the essential features of that ridiculously +lauded French school; kicks and winks and ogling glances, postures of +affected languor, and convincing feats of vicious sophistication. Where, +in all that, is to be found the simple graciousness, the dainty, +delicate, unobtrusive art of Marie Tempest? To liken her to the garish +product of that French school--as well liken Carot's sensuous nymph of +the wood to Bougereau's sensual nymph of the bath! For my own part, I +don't believe Tempest belongs to any school, or if she does, it is a +school of which she is at once mistress and sole pupil. Indeed, it may +be doubted whether instruction and training have any considerable part +in the charm of such a player. There are women of infinitely better +method--not manner--of singing and acting; women with whom nature has +dealt far more carefully and generously in beauty of face and figure; +women even in no degree inferior to Tempest in innate allurement. But +this little Englishwoman, with her svelte form and her bewitching face +of ugly features, her tricky voice that makes one think of a thrush that +has caught a cold, her impertinences and patronizing ways with her +audience, has about her a vague, illusive something that makes of her +the most fetching personality of the comic-opera stage." + +Marie Tempest, whose real name is Marie Etherington, was born in London +in 1867. Her father died while she was a child, and she was educated +abroad by her mother. Five or six years of her life were spent in a +convent near Brussels. From there she was sent to Paris to finish her +education, afterward going to London, where she became a student at the +Royal Academy of Music. + +At that time she had no idea of going upon the stage. Her exceptional +musical talent at once became apparent to the professors at the academy, +notably Emanuel Garcia, who, although then upward of eighty years of +age, took the liveliest interest in his young pupil. Miss Tempest worked +so successfully with Garcia that within eighteen months of her entrance +at the academy she had carried off from all other competitors the +bronze, silver, and gold medals representing the highest rewards the +academy could offer. She also studied for a time with Signor Randeggor, +in London, and in 1886 made her first appearance on any stage at the +London Comedy in "Boccaccio." It was a small part that she played in the +London company managed by Arthur Henderson, and the salary which she +received was four pounds a week. + +After that she created the soprano part in an opera called "The Fay o' +Fire" at the Opera Comique, from thence returning for a few months to +the Comedy Theatre to take Florence St. John's place in "Erminie." Miss +Tempest then took an engagement with Augustus Harris at the Drury Lane +in Hervise's comic opera, "Frivoli." In 1887 she joined Henry J. +Leslie's company, then playing at the Prince of Wales's Theatre, London, +in Alfred Cellier's opera, "Dorothy," in which she assumed the title +role. In this part Miss Tempest made a very great success. She played in +"Dorothy" for nearly nine hundred performances at the Prince of Wales +and Lyric theatres. Subsequently she appeared at the Lyric in Cellier's +opera of "Doris" and after that in "The Red Hussar." Although Miss +Tempest was engaged chiefly in light opera, during these years she at +various times undertook more serious work, frequently singing in +oratorio and in the high-class London concerts. + +She came to this country for the first time in the spring of 1890, +appearing in New York and after on tour as Kitty Carroll in "The Red +Hussar." Her success was remarkable, and she at once became an +established favorite. Although the prima donna of to-day might consider +Kitty Carroll, with only its three changes of costume, from soldier to +beggar girl and then to heiress, a veritable sinecure, Marie Tempest's +skill in passing quickly from one character to another was ten years ago +quite as much commented on as was her unquestionably artistic +presentation of the triple roles. She also repeated in this country her +London success in "Dorothy," and sang in "Carmen" as well. + +Miss Tempest was next seen at the New York Casino as the successor to +Lillian Russell and Pauline Hall. In the operetta, "The Tyrolean," she +had a part scarcely equal to her abilities, although the nightingale +song, which came in the last act, was a charming melody and was so +delightfully sung by Miss Tempest as really to be the feature of the +performance. In her peasant's dress Miss Tempest was the choicest of +dainty morsels, a dream of fairylike loveliness. + +Her greatest success in this country, however, was "The Fencing Master" +in which the prima donna role was peculiarly suited to her personality. +This opera was built around the conceit of a master of fencing, who, not +being blessed with a son to succeed him in his profession, brought up +his daughter as a boy, and by severe training made her a most expert +user of foil and sword. In this character Miss Tempest united remarkably +well boyish freedom and masculine swagger with feminine charm and +ingenuousness, and the picture that she made was one never to be +forgotten. It was true, however, in spite of her great attractiveness in +the part, that tights and tunic did take away a little of that subtle +bewitchery, which was the root of her wonderful winsomeness in +"Dorothy." It was a Boston critic, I believe, who said of her in this +opera, that she suggested a Dresden china image that had hopped down +from the mantel and committed an indiscretion. Still another, evidently +a bit of a china connoisseur himself, applied the fancy porcelain simile +with far more searching analysis. "She reminds one of a bit of Sevres +china," he declared, "although a pretty piece of Dresden would not be an +inappropriate simile, especially when she is dressed in that +picturesquely ragged costume in the first act. Sevres china, however, is +to an art connoisseur what truffles and pate-de-foie gras are to an +accomplished epicure." Whether she were Dresden china or Sevres china, +it mattered not; the main fact remained that a thoroughly feminine woman +like Miss Tempest needed the fuss and feathers of feminine attire to +bring out her attractions in the most effective way. That the public +unconsciously felt this was proven even in "The Fencing Master," where +her appearance in the last act in all the glory of court gown and +flashing jewels was always the signal for the heartiest applause. + +In "The Algerian," by Reginald DeKoven and Glen MacDonough, which +followed "The Fencing Master," being brought out in Philadelphia in +September, 1893, Miss Tempest not only returned to the garb of her own +sex, but appeared as well in her own auburn hair with that tiny +irresistible curl hanging down the middle of her forehead, just like +that of the little girl in the old ballad. + +At the close of the run of this opera in 1894, Miss Tempest returned to +London. Her greatest hits of recent years in that city have been made as +the heroine in "The Artist's Model" and as O Mimosa San in George +Edwardes's original production of "The Geisha" at Daly's Theatre in +London. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MAUD RAYMOND + + +High in the ranks of women low comedians who have been graduated from +the variety theatre into musical comedy and extravaganza, is Maud +Raymond, who fairly shares the honors with the Rogers Brothers in their +popular vaudevilles. It would be unfair to call Miss Raymond an actress, +for she does not aspire to be anything more than a delightful +entertainer, whose unusual mimetic gifts and whose real or assumed sense +of humor led her to adopt as the most natural thing imaginable the +serious calling of making the world laugh. + +With her marked individuality, Miss Raymond drifted as a matter of +course into character impersonation. In the days when she entered the +varieties three distinct types of low-comedy characterizations were +recognized--the Irish, the Dutch, and the negro. The first two were +genuine burlesques, while the last named was the familiar minstrel +type,--a great deal of burnt cork and an insignificant amount of genuine +negro. Miss Raymond selected the Dutch type. Whether she was the first +woman to attempt a Dutch character sketch, I do not know, but I am +willing to risk the statement that she was the best one. + +An amazingly grotesque figure she presented, with her figure built on +the lines of a meal sack with a string tied around the middle, and her +huge sabots that clattered noisily every step she took. Her face was a +study in ponderous stupidity, and her movements were slow and unwieldy. +Yet, with all its grotesqueness, its mammoth exaggerations, there was +human nature in the sketch and rich, full-blooded humor, the brutal, +coarse humor of the soil, humor that had not been refined into +flavorless delicacy nor polished into insipidness for the moral +salvation of too easily shocked tenderlings. + +When the "coon" craze struck the stage, Miss Raymond was among the first +to take that up, and she has clung faithfully to it ever since. Like all +her work, her interpretation of the modern "coon" song is all her own. +She does not reproduce so fantastically as some others the antics of the +swell cake-walker, but she infuses into her work a rich humor that is +infectious. In this one particular she resembles closely Miss May Irwin. +May Irwin's "coon," however, is the Southern "mammy" type, while Maud +Raymond's is of Northern city birth and training. In this aspect of her +"coon" art, Miss Raymond seems nearer the progenitor of the up-to-date +stage negro, who was, of course, the "nigger" minstrel of a number of +decades ago. + +Miss Raymond's method was capitally illustrated in the song "I thought +that he had Money in the Bank," which was introduced in "The Rogers +Brothers in Wall Street" during the season of 1899-1900. Her dialect was +by no means extraordinary. It had not the darky softness and twang, +which one finds for instance so faithfully reproduced by Artie Hall. +Miss Raymond, however, got a curious comic effect by twisting her words +out of the corner of her mouth in a manner indescribable, by hunching up +her shoulders, one a little higher than the other, thrusting her head +forward, crooking her elbows, and letting her hands hang loose and +lifeless as if they had been broken at the wrists. + +After seeing Miss Raymond's inimitable Dutch woman, I carried away the +impression that she herself inclined toward embonpoint,--that she was +grossly notoriously fat, in fact. Later observations, however, have +caused me to revise that impression. Miss Raymond is not fat, merely +comfortably plump. She is a decided brunette with rather irregular +features, but features none the less attractive for that, snapping +black eyes that seem always to sparkle with irrepressible merriment, and +an inexhaustible amount of vivacity. Vivacity may, indeed, be said to be +her specialty. It is always in evidence, and yet it never runs riot and +it never becomes wearisome. + +Miss Raymond has been a vaudeville feature for the past twelve years. +She made her first appearance with Rice and Barton's company, and +afterward played two years with Harry Williams's Own Company. Her next +appearance was in the soubrette part in "Bill's Boot," in which Joe J. +Sullivan starred. She then joined Irwin Brothers' Company, in which she +sang with great success. She spent several weeks in the Howard Athenaeum +Company when it was under James J. Armstrong's management, and finished +the season with Fields and Hanson. + +Miss Raymond was specially engaged to play the soubrette role in Bolivar +in Donnelly and Girard's "The Rainmakers." Those popular stars declared +that the part had never been so well done as it was by Miss Raymond, but +she was obliged to retire at the end of the season on account of +illness. During the summer she appeared on the roof gardens and in the +continuous houses. She joined Tony Pastor's company in the early fall, +and played a season of fifteen weeks with that organization, meeting +with great success. + +When the Rogers Brothers began starring with "The Reign of Error" in the +fall of 1898, she was made a prominent feature of their company, and she +continued with them as their leading support the following season in +"The Rogers Brothers in Wall Street." + +She is also the wife of one of the brothers, though whether of Max or +Gus I never can remember. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +PAULINE HALL + + +A very remarkable woman is Pauline Hall, whose stage career of +twenty-five years encompasses every experience possible in light opera +in this country. Miss Hall began as a dancer. She spent her +apprenticeship in the chorus. She sang inconsequential roles in opera, +and she acted small parts in drama. She had her season in burlesque. She +was for years the foremost figure in the best light-opera organization +this country has ever known. She has starred, and she is to-day a better +singer than the majority of her youthful contemporaries, a better +actress than all except a very few of them, and a more satisfactory +all-around artist--if the expression be permissible--than any of them. + +When I heard her sing with Francis Wilson in "Cyrano de Bergerac"--about +the stupidest opera, by the way, ever produced--and in "Erminie" in the +spring of 1900, I was amazed; her voice was in splendid condition, +certainly better than it had been five years before, true in tone, +clear, and without huskiness. It showed its wear only in the loss of the +richness and sweetness--the music, one might say--of the old Casino +days. In figure Miss Hall was trim and youthful. Her face was plump and +rounded like a girl's. Her hair, cut short for boys' parts and +coquettishly curled, retained its dark, almost black, hue, while her +eyes--wonderfully handsome they always were--snapped and sparkled like a +debutante's. + +Pauline Hall's fame reached its height during the long run of "Erminie" +at the New York Casino. She was the originator of the role of the +Erminie, and she sang in the opera in all the principal cities of the +country. She was--and is still, for that matter--one of the finest +formed women on the American stage, and her stately manner and graceful +demeanor gained for her the sobriquet so commonly associated with her +name--statuesque. During her subsequent starring career Miss Hall +continued a popular favorite, although she was not consistently +successful in obtaining operas of notable merit. "Puritania" met with +excellent success, but "The Honeymooners" and "Dorcas" were neither of +them strong enough to make any lasting impression. They were both of the +familiar "prima donna in tights" type, and their librettos were without +striking originality, and their scores showed only commonplace +tunefulness. + +In spite of this handicap Miss Hall succeeded in maintaining--largely +through the force of her personality and art--her place among the +foremost in light opera in this country. During the season of 1899-1900 +she most happily again became associated with Francis Wilson, who is +also an "Erminie" product. Miss Hall, with her renewed youth and her +years of experience, at once took a position in Wilson's company, second +only to the star. In "Cyrano" she made Christian--a barren and sterile +character--vigorous, picturesque, and attractive, while her Princess in +"Erminie," barring the loss of vocal mellowness already referred to, was +stronger than it was a dozen years ago. + +Pauline Hall's active life on the stage began when she was about fifteen +years old. She was born in Cincinnati about 1860 in rather humble +quarters in the rear of her father's apothecary shop on Seventh Street. +She bore the somewhat formidable and decidedly German name of Pauline +Fredericka Schmidgall, until she adopted the simple and harmonious stage +name of Pauline Hall. + +It was in 1875, at Robinson's Opera House in Cincinnati, under the +management of Colonel R. E. J. Miles, that Miss Hall made her first +appearance on the stage. She began at the very bottom of the ladder, an +"extra girl" in the chorus and a dancer in the ballet. Next she +journeyed to the Grand Opera House in the same city, a theatre which was +also under Colonel Miles's management, where she remained until the +versatile Mr. Miles organized and put on the road his "America's Racing +Association and Hippodrome," a circus-like enterprise. She was made a +feature in the street parade tableaux of Mazeppa used to advertise the +attraction, and a very effective figure she must have been, too, for she +was a handsome girl and a picture of physical perfection. Besides luring +the public to the show, Miss Hall entertained it after it got there by +driving a Roman chariot in the races. + +After a summer of this exciting work Miss Hall returned to the theatre +as a member of the chorus of the Alice Oates Opera Company, which was +at that time making a Western tour under the management of the same +Colonel Miles. Alice Oates was then in her prime, and the most popular +operatic star in the country. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and +educated in Louisville. When she was nineteen years old she made her +debut in Chicago in the Darnley burlesque, "The Field of the Cloth of +Gold." She sang in "The Little Duke," "The Mascotte," "The Pretty +Perfumer," "The Princess of Trebizonde," "The Grand Duchess," and +"Olivette," and was one of the first of the many Ralph Rackstraws in +"Pinafore" in this country. She died in Philadelphia on January 11, +1887, at the early age of thirty-seven years. She was small of figure +and pretty of face, unusually so off the stage and dazzlingly so on the +stage. Her voice was of rare compass and sympathetic in tone, and her +acting was vivacious, dashing, and hearty. + +After leaving the Alice Oates Company, small parts in Samuel Colville +Folly company gave Miss Hall a slight advance in the theatrical world, +and then she made her first and only appearance in the "legitimate." She +joined Mary Anderson's company, and for three or four months acted minor +characters in the plays of Miss Anderson's repertory, which at that time +was somewhat limited. Among Miss Hall's parts were Lady Capulet in +"Romeo and Juliet" and the Widow Melnotte in Lord Bulwer Lytton's +stilted melodrama, "The Lady of Lyons." + +In 1880, Miss Hall first began to be noticed by professional discoverers +of stage talent. She was then a member of Edward E. Rice's "Surprise +Party," with which she appeared in "Horrors" and "Revels." Next, in +Rice's greatest success, "Evangeline," Miss Hall played Gabrielle and +even Hans Wagner, being the first woman to try the droll character. In +the fall of 1882 she went on a tour with J. H. Haverly's "Merry War" +company, and sang the part of Elsa. With Haverly she also appeared in +"Patience." Following this engagement she rejoined Mr. Rice's forces, +and on December 1, 1883, opened with his company at the Bijou Opera +House, New York, where she created the part of Venus in "Orpheus and +Eurydice." She was a success from the start, and continued with Mr. Rice +until the close of the run of the burlesque on March 15 of the following +year, when she went with the company, under the management of Miles and +Barton, on the road. + +On her return to New York, Miss Hall again appeared at the Bijou, on May +6, 1884, as Hasson in a revival of "Blue Beard," following this with +another road experience that lasted until July. In August she began an +engagement at Niblo's Garden, New York, as Loresoul in Poole and +Gilmour's spectacular production of "The Seven Ravens." The part was a +singing one, and Miss Hall added considerably to her popularity among +the frequenters of the burlesque shows that were so largely patronized +in those days. In February, 1885, Miss Hall was in the title role of +"Ixion" at the Comedy Theatre, New York, though only for a short time, +and on April 4 she made her first appearance in a German speaking part, +singing Prince Orloffsky in "Die Fiedermaus" at the Thalia Theatre. + +On May 25 Miss Hall opened with Nat C. Goodwin at the Park Theatre, +Boston, and created the character of Oberon in the travesty "Bottom's +Dream." This was a failure, and in a few weeks Miss Hall returned to New +York, where she signed with Rudolph Aronson of the Casino, making her +first appearance as Ninon de l'Enclos in the English presentation of +"Nanon." She did well with the part, and further increased the favorable +impression that she had made by her Angelo in "Amorita" and her Saffi +in "The Gipsy Baron." Next came "Erminie," which achieved a success as +yet unequalled by any light opera in this country unless it be "Robin +Hood." The successor to "Erminie" was "Nadjy," also a famous hit, in +which, however, Miss Hall's part of the Princess Etelka was overshadowed +by the character of Nadjy, the dancer, so captivatingly played by Marie +Jansen in the original production. After "Nadjy" came "The Drum Major," +which failed, however, to make any lasting impression. + +After leaving the Casino Miss Hall began her career as a star, appearing +in "Puritania." This was followed the next year by "Amorita" and "Madame +Favart," while "Puritania" was retained in her repertory. The season +succeeding she brought out "The Honeymooners." During 1894-95 her operas +were "La Belle Helene," a revival of "The Chimes of Normandy," and +"Dorcas." She then retired from the stage for a while, and afterward +appeared in vaudeville until she joined Francis Wilson. + +"Puritania, or the Earl and the Maid of Salem," the best known and most +successful of all her operas, was produced in Boston in the summer of +1892. The opera was written by C. M. S. McLellan, and Edgar Stillman +Kelley was responsible for the music. The story of the opera was +decidedly attractive. The action began in Salem. Elizabeth, a fair young +miss of the town, had been accused of being a witch by Abigail, a +confirmed woman-hater. Elizabeth was tried by the local tribunal and was +condemned, chiefly because she had refused to wed Jonathan Blaze, the +chief justice of the court. Just as the sentence was pronounced an +English ship arrived in the harbor, and Vivian, Earl of Barrenlands, +came ashore. He rescued Elizabeth from the mob, and captivated by her +beauty proceeded to make love to her. Nothing would do but he must take +her back to England with him. Smith, the Witch-finder-general to his +Majesty Charles II., was indignant because Vivian had won the girl, and +threatened to expose her as a witch to the king. + +The second act took place in a subterranean chamber under the king's +palace, where Killsin Burgess, a conspirator, was plotting after the Guy +Fawkes fashion to blow up everything. So deeply did he meditate on +divers plots and treasons, that he fell asleep, lighted pipe in mouth +and seated on a keg of gunpowder. The next scene showed the palace where +King Charles had just bestowed his favor on Vivian and the future +Countess of Barrenlands. Smith entered with Blaze and Abigail, and the +trio denounced Elizabeth as a witch. Elizabeth, driven half mad by their +false accusations, mockingly declared that she was a witch, and +proceeded to "weave a spell." She summoned Asmodeus, the Prince of +Eternal Darkness, to appear. A loud report was heard, and the form of +Burgess was hurled through the air. The sparks from his pipe had ignited +the keg of powder which exploded just as Elizabeth was pretending to +display her powers. Of course, Elizabeth was condemned by the king on +this _prima facie_ evidence; but Burgess, recognizing her as his +daughter, confessed his conspiracy against the king, and all ended +happily. + +Miss Hall gave the opera a first-class production, a fine cast, and +handsome scenery. Louise Beaudet acted Elizabeth, and graceful and +charming she was, too. Miss Hall herself played Vivian. Frederic Solomon +was the original Witch-finder-general, and his conception of the +character was thoroughly original. Jacques Kruger as the Judge, Eva +Davenport as Abigail, John Brand as the King, and Alf Wheelan as the +Conspirator were all happily chosen. The opera ran in Boston from June +until September. Then Miss Hall took the opera on the road for a +season. "Puritania" was tuneful and bright in action. The dialogue was +often sparkling, the fun was spontaneous, and the three comedians had +parts which had the added value of being characters. Vivian was +admirably suited to Miss Hall's talents. Her songs were given with +spirit, her acting had that freedom so characteristic of her "boys," +while her costumes were pictorially gorgeous. + +Miss Hall's first husband was Edward White, whom she met in San +Francisco in 1878, where he was engaged in mining enterprises. They were +married in St. Louis in February, 1881. Eight years later Miss Hall +secured a divorce from Mr. White, and in 1891 she was married to George +B. McLellan, the manager of her company. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +HILDA CLARK + + +The divine gift of song has placed Hilda Clark, whose ability as an +actress is by no means great, in a position of prominence in the +theatrical world. She went on the stage because she could sing, and did +not learn to sing because she was on the stage; and, owing to the fact +that there is, always has been, and always will be a demand for +attractive young women with pleasing singing voices, she has had her +fair measure of success. Miss Clark has also the added charm of more +than ordinary physical attractiveness. She is a blonde of prettily +irregular features. Her personality is winning rather than compelling, +and her stage presence is good, though there are times when this would +have been improved by more bodily grace and freedom. Byron, who hated a +"dumpy woman," would have found Miss Clark "divinely tall and most +divinely fair," but very likely he would have advised her to take a mild +course in calisthenics in order to acquire conscious control of a +somewhat unruly physique. + +Hilda Clark comes of an old Southern family, several of whose members +won military distinction. An ancestor of hers, Colonel Winston, was +awarded a sword by Congress for his services in the Revolutionary War. +Her great-grandfather, General Winston, was distinguished in the war of +1812, while several of her relatives were noted for gallantry during the +Civil War. Miss Clark was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, in the early +seventies. When her father, who was a banker, died, the family removed +to Boston, where Miss Clark was educated. As she grew into womanhood, +her voice attracted the attention of her friends, and by their advice +she went to Europe, where she studied music for two years. On her return +to this country she became the soprano of St. Mark's Church in New York +City, and it was there that Willard Spenser, the composer of "The +Princess Bonnie," first heard her sing. + +Miss Clark's voice is what is technically known as a soprano legere, and +while she excels in floria music, her voice has considerable of that +rare sympathetic quality possessed by coloratura singers. Her work in +the theatre may be summed up in a few words. She made her debut in the +title role of "The Princess Bonnie" in September, 1895. After that she +accepted the offer of The Bostonians, with whom she appeared for a +season. In "The Serenade" she alternated in the role of Yvonne, the +ballet dancer, with Alice Nielsen, and she also sung Maid Marian in +"Robin Hood" and Arline in "The Bohemian Girl." Next she was engaged by +Klaw and Erlanger. She created the part of Lady Constance in "The +Highwayman" after Camille D'Arville, who was expected to take the +character, had quarrelled with the stage manager over some detail in the +action, and refused to have anything more to do with the opera. Miss +Clark was quite successful in this character, and it may be said to have +established her firmly in the ranks of the light opera prima donnas. +Next came her appearance in the prima donna role of John Philip Sousa's +opera "The Bride Elect," in which she is best known by the general +public. + +Sousa is the most eminent composer for the bass drum and the cymbals +that we have, and he can make music with more accents than any other man +in the business. His powerful first and third beats set the feet to +tapping and the head to nodding, and the American public thinks that it +is great stuff. So it is, the finest music for a military parade that +ever came out of a brass band. Sousa writes his music with a metronome +at his elbow clacking out the marching cadence of 120 to the minute. +Every time the machine clacks he puts in a bang on the big drum and a +clash with the cymbals. Then he weaves a stately moving melody around +the bangs and the clashes, marks the whole business "fortissimo," and +lets it go. He does not bother much about originality. His strong point +is marches, and he knows it. In "The Bride Elect," he gave us +marches--shall we say "galore"? The score was undoubtedly catchy, and +the tunes pleased for the moment. As for the book, which was also by +Sousa, it was nothing to boast of. It served admirably as a ringer-in +for the marches. + +Miss Clark's work in "The Bride Elect" was thoroughly satisfactory. She +sang the music with splendid effect and with much brilliancy. Her +acting, to be sure, was hardly all that could be desired, but, +fortunately for her success, the book did not call for any great +dramatic force. Miss Clark's career has been somewhat unusual in that +she took at once a position of importance on the stage and has continued +in positions of importance ever since. All this has happened because she +could sing; and so busy has she been with her singing that she really +has had no time to learn to act. In other words, in spite of her five +years behind the footlights, she still lacks experience. The woman who +starts in a humble capacity in the chorus and who climbs slowly to the +heights of calciumdom may have at first very crude notions regarding +action, but she learns as time goes on to be non-committal in gesture +at least. She may not develop into a histrionic genius, but she does +acquire facility in the conventions of light opera that so often stand +for acting. It is of just this facility that Hilda Clark is most in +need. + + + + +Index + + + "Algerian," + Tempest, Marie, 222, 232. + + "All the Comforts of Home," + Hall, Josephine, 47. + + "American Beauty," + May, Edna, 152. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + American Opera Company, 98. + + "Amorita," + Hall, Pauline, 247, 248. + + Anderson, Mary, 245. + + "Apollo," + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + "Aristocracy," + Hall, Josephine, 47. + + Aronson, Rudolph, 247. + + "Artist's Model," + Tempest, Marie, 232. + + Ashley, Minnie, 134. + + Atherton, Alice, 40. + + + "Babette," + D'Arville, Camille, 217. + + Barnabee, H. C., 19. + + Barnet, R. A., 82, 83, 140, 141. + + Barrymore, Maurice, 190. + + Beaudet, Louise, 251. + + "Belle Helene," + Hall, Pauline, 248. + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 112. + Lessing, Madge, 82. + Russell, Lillian, 42. + + "Belle of New York," + Edwardes, Paula, 113, 118. + May, Edna, 148, 149, 150, 151, 153. + + Bennett & Moulton Opera Company, 189, 190, 192, 193, 194, 199. + + Bernard, Caroline Richings, 94. + + Bernhardt, Sarah, 28. + + "Billie Taylor," + Fox, Della, 199. + + "Bill's Boot," + Raymond, Maud, 137. + + "Black Sheep," + Edwardes, Paula, 117. + + "Blue Beard," + Hall, Pauline, 246. + + "Boccaccio," + Tempest, Marie, 227. + + "Bohemian Girl," + Clark, Hilda, 256. + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + Fox, Della, 199. + Nielsen, Alice, 20. + + Bostonians, + Clark, Hilda, 255, 256. + D'Arville, Camille, 218, 219. + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 88, 98, 99. + Nielsen, Alice, 19, 20. + + "Bottom's Dream," + Hall, Pauline, 247. + + Braham, Harry, 38. + + Brand, John, 251. + + "Bride Elect," + Celeste, Marie, 169. + Clark, Hilda, 256, 257, 258. + MacDonald, Christie, 180. + + "Brigands," + Russell, Lillian, 31, 32, 42. + + "Broadway to Tokio," + Templeton, Fay, 76, 78. + + "Brownies," + Celeste, Marie, 169. + + Burnett, Mrs. Frances Hodgson, 197. + + Burt, Laura, 118. + + + "Carina," + D'Arville, Camille, 217. + + Carl Rosa Opera Company, 217, 218. + + Carleton Opera Company, 98. + + "Carmen," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + Tempest, Marie, 229. + + Casino, New York, 25, 27, 29, 40, 65, 66, 200, 201, 206, 218, 229, + 240, 247, 248. + + "Casino Girl," + Earle, Virginia, 29. + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + Castle Square Opera Company, 19, 169. + + "Castles in the Air," + Fox, Della, 194, 195, 200, 201. + + "Cavalleria Rusticana," + Celeste, Marie, 169, 170. + + "Celebrated Case," + Fox, Della, 196. + + Celeste, Marie, 156. + + Cellier, Alfred, 228. + + "Chantaclara," + Nielsen, Alice, 14. + + "Chieftain," + Glaser, Lulu, 128, 129, 130, 131. + MacDonald, Christie, 180. + + "Chilperic," + D'Arville, Camille, 216. + + "Chimes of Normandy," + Fox, Della, 199. + Hall, Pauline, 248. + + "Chorus Girl," + Ashley, Minnie, 141. + + "Chris and the Wonderful Lamp," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 112. + + "Chums," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 110. + + "Cigale," + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + "Cinderella," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + + "Circus Girl," + Ashley, Minnie, 135, 141. + Earle, Virginia, 28. + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + Clark, Hilda, 221, 253. + + "Club Friend," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 109. + + Collier, Willie, 164. + + "Combustion," + Fox, Della, 197, 198, 199. + + Conried, Heinrich, 199, 200. + + "Contented Woman," + May, Edna, 148. + + "Corsair," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Templeton, Fay, 74. + + "County Fair," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + + Crox, Elvia, 117. + + "Cymbria, or the Magic Thimble," + D'Arville, Camille, 215, 216. + + "Cyrano de Bergerac," + Glaser, Lulu, 124, 133. + Hall, Pauline, 240, 242. + + + Dale, Alan, 7, 8. + + Daly, Augustin, 27, 29, 64, 71, 118. + + "Dangerous Maid," + Edwardes, Paula, 118. + Lessing, Madge, 86. + + D'Arville, Camille, 190, 208, 256. + + "Daughter of the Revolution," + D'Arville, Camille, 220, 221. + + Davenport, Eva, 251. + + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 88, 208. + + Davis, William J., 95. + + Dazey, C. T., 103. + + DeAngelis, Jefferson, 42, 206. + + DeKoven, Reginald, 221, 232. + + Desci, Max, 9. + + "Devil's Deputy," + Glaser, Lulu, 128. + MacDonald, Christie, 179, 180. + + Dickson Sketch Club, 196, 197, 198, 199. + + Dickson, W. F., 196, 197, 198, 199. + + "Dinorah," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 97. + + "Don Quixote," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + + "Dorcas," + Hall, Pauline, 241, 248. + + "Doris," + Tempest, Marie, 228. + + "Dorothy," + Tempest, Marie, 228, 229, 232. + + Dressler, Marie, 181. + + "Dr. Syntax," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 111. + + "Drum Major," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 98. + Hall, Pauline, 248. + + Duff, J. C., 141, 217. + + Duff Opera Company, 41. + + Duse, Eleanora, 187. + + + Earle, Virginia, 21. + + "Editha's Burglar," + Fox, Della, 197, 198, 199. + + Edouin, Willie, 40. + + Edwardes, George, 232. + + Edwardes, Paula, 47, 113. + + Edwards, Julian, 172, 178. + + "El Capitan," + Ashley, Minnie, 140. + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 107, 111. + + Englaender, Ludwig, 220. + + "Erminie," + Glaser, Lulu, 128, 133. + Hall, Pauline, 240, 242, 248. + MacDonald, Christie, 179. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + Tempest, Marie, 227. + + "Evangeline," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Hall, Josephine, 47. + Hall, Pauline, 245. + Templeton, Fay, 74. + + "Excelsior, Jr.," + Templeton, Fay, 75. + + + "Falka," + D'Arville, Camille, 217. + + Farnie, H. B., 216. + + Farrington, Adele, 187. + + "Fatinitza," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + + "Faust," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 96, 97, 99. + + "Fay o' Fire," + Tempest, Marie, 228. + + "Fencing Master," + Tempest, Marie, 230, 231, 232. + + "Fiedermaus," + Hall, Pauline, 247. + + "Fille de Madame Angot," + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + + First Corps of Cadets, 82, 117. + + Fiske, Minnie Maddern, 67, 70, 71, 72. + + "Fleur-de-lis," + Fox, Della, 202. + + "Fortune Teller," + Nielsen, Alice, 5, 7, 20. + + Fougere, 76, 78, 79, 80. + + "1492," 82. + Ashley, Minnie, 140. + Dressler, Marie, 190. + + Fox, Della, 27, 42, 72, 104, 110, 111, 168, 190, 192. + + "Fra Diavolo," + Fox, Della, 193, 194, 199. + + Frazer, Robert, 74. + + "Frivoli," + Tempest, Marie, 228. + + Frohman, Charles, 47, 109, 111. + + Fursch-Nadi, 98. + + Furst, William, 201, 202. + + + Garcia, Emanuel, 227. + + "Geisha," + Ashley, Minnie, 135, 141. + Earle, Virginia, 23, 24, 27. + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + Tempest, Marie, 232. + + Gerard, Bettina, 117. + + Gilbert, W. S., 19, 26, 31. + + Gill, William, 74. + + Gillette, William, 199. + + Gilman, Mabelle, 56, 86. + + "Gipsy Baron," + Hall, Pauline, 247, 248. + + "Girl from Maxim's," + Hall, Josephine, 49, 50, 51. + + "Girl from Paris," + Hall, Josephine, 46, 48. + + "Girl I Left Behind Me," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 110. + + "Girofle-Girofla," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + Russell, Lillian, 32, 42. + Templeton, Fay, 74. + + Glaser, Lulu, 120, 179. + + Goodwin, J. Cheever, 201, 202, 204, 220. + + Goodwin, N. C., 164, 247. + + "Grand Duchess," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + Russell, Lillian, 32, 42. + + Grau, Jules, 188, 189. + + "Great Metropolis," + Celeste, Marie, 163. + + "Great Ruby," + Edwardes, Paula, 118. + + "Greek Slave," + Ashley, Minnie, 135, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146. + + + Hale, Philip, 202, 203, 204, 205. + + "Half-a-King," + Glaser, Lulu, 131. + MacDonald, Christie, 180. + + Hall, Artie, 236. + + Hall, Josephine, 46, 116. + + Hall, Pauline, 179, 208, 229, 239. + + Hallen, Fred, 26. + + Hammerstein, Oscar, 148. + + Harlow, Richard, 191. + + Harris, Augustus, 228. + + Hart, Joseph, 26. + + Haverly, J. H., 85, 246. + + Henderson, Arthur, 227. + + Henderson, William J., 159. + + "Hendrik Hudson," + Templeton, Fay, 74, 75. + + Herbert, Victor, 5, 6. + + Herne, James A., 73. + + "Highwayman," + Clark, Hilda, 256. + + "Hole in the Ground," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + + "Honeymooners," + Hall, Pauline, 241, 248. + + Hopper, DeWolf, 27, 104, 110, 111, 140, 146, 170, 200, 201. + + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 42, 104, 140. + + "Horrors," + Hall, Pauline, 245. + + "Hoss and Hoss," + Celeste, Marie, 164, 165, 166, 167. + + "Hotel Topsy Turvy," + Dressler, Marie, 191. + + Howard, Bronson, 47. + + Hoyt, Charles H., 26, 148, 164. + + Huntington, Agnes, 99, 218. + + + "In Gay New York," + Earle, Virginia, 27, 28. + + "In Mexico" (see "War Time Wedding"). + + Irwin, May, 235. + + "Ixion," + Hall, Pauline, 247. + + + "Jack," + Hall, Josephine, 47. + + "Jack and the Beanstalk," + Celeste, Marie, 169. + Lessing, Madge, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87. + + "Jane," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 110. + + Jansen, Marie, 120, 127, 128, 248. + + Jones, Walter, 146. + + Juch, Emma, 98, 200. + + + Kelley, Edgar Stillman, 249. + + "King's Fool," + Fox, Della, 200. + + Klaw and Erlanger, 82, 169, 180, 256. + + "Knickerbockers," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 100. + + Koster and Bial's, 81. + + Kruger, Jacques, 251. + + + "Lady of Lyons," + Hall, Pauline, 245. + + "Lady Slavey," + Dressler, Marie, 183, 184, 188, 191. + Earle, Virginia, 27. + Lessing, Madge, 87. + + L'Allemand, Pauline, 98. + + LaShelle, Kirk, 172, 173, 174, 175. + + Lask, George E., 19. + + "Later On," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + + Lederer, George W., 25, 27, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 200. + + "Lend Me Your Wife," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 109. + + Lenox, Fred, 142. + + Leonard, Charles E., 33, 35. + + Leslie, Elsie, 197. + + Leslie, Fred, 216. + + Leslie, Henry J., 228. + + Lessing, Madge, 81, 118. + + "Lion Tamer," + Glaser, Lulu, 127, 128. + MacDonald, Christie, 179. + + "Little Corporal," + Glaser, Lulu, 124, 131, 132. + + "Little Duke," + Celeste, Marie, 108. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + "Little Host," + Fox, Della, 207. + + "Little Red Riding Hood," + Lessing, Madge, 86. + + "Little Trooper," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + Fox, Della, 168, 201, 202. + + Lloyd, Violet, 27. + + Lucia, Alice Nielsen as, 19. + + + MacDonald, Christie, 169, 172. + + MacDonough, Glen, 232. + + "Madame Favart," + Hall, Pauline, 248. + Templeton, Fay, 75. + + "Madeleine, or, the Magic Kiss," + D'Arville, Camille, 221. + Dressler, Marie, 190. + + "Maid of Plymouth," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 100. + + "Mam'selle 'Awkins," + Edwardes, Paula, 113, 116, 119. + Hall, Josephine, 47, 52, 53. + + "Man in the Moon," + Dressler, Marie, 191. + Templeton, Fay, 76, 77. + + Mapleson, Colonel, 95, 96, 97. + + "Marjorie," + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + + "Martha," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + + Martinot, Sadie, 216. + + "Mascotte," + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + Templeton, Fay, 74. + + May, Edna, 147. + + McCaull, John A., 40. + + McLellan, C. M. S., 249. + + McLellan, George B., 252. + + "Meg Merrilies," + Earle, Virginia, 27. + + "Men and Women," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 110. + + "Merchant of Venice," + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + "Merry Monarch," + Glaser, Lulu, 128. + MacDonald, Christie, 179. + + "Merry War," + Hall, Pauline, 246. + + "Merry World," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 98. + Earle, Virginia, 27. + + "Midsummer Night's Dream," + Templeton, Fay, 71, 73. + + "Mikado," + Dressler, Marie, 188. + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Nielsen, Alice, 19. + + Miles, R. E. J., 243, 244. + + "Mountebanks," + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + "Muldoon's Picnic," + Fox, Della, 195. + + "Mynheer Jan," + D'Arville, Camille, 217. + + + "Nadjy," + Hall, Pauline, 248. + Russell, Lillian, 41. + + "Nanon," + Hall, Pauline, 247. + + National Opera Company, 98. + + Neutwig, Benjamin, 10, 11. + + Nielsen, Alice, 1, 219, 255. + + Nirdlinger, Charles Frederick, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226. + + + Oates, Alice, 243, 244. + + Offenbach, Jacques, 31, 216. + + "One Round of Pleasure," + Celeste, Marie, 169. + + O'Neill, James, 196. + + "Orpheus and Eurydice," + Hall, Pauline, 246. + + + Palmer, A. M., 191. + + Palmer, Frank, 166, 167. + + "Panjandrum," + Fox, Della, 194, 201. + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 106, 110, 111. + + "Passing Show," + Earle, Virginia, 27. + Lessing, Madge, 82. + + Pastor, Tony, 33, 38, 39, 238. + + "Patience," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Hall, Pauline, 246. + Russell, Lillian, 40. + + Patti, Adelina, 96, 97. + + "Paul Jones," + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + + "Penelope," + Nielsen, Alice, 18. + + "Perichole," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + Nielsen, Alice, 19. + Russell, Lillian, 32, 42. + + Perugini, Giovanni, 45. + + Pike Opera Company, 18, 26. + + "Pinafore," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 95. + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Fox, Della, 195, 196. + Russell, Lillian, 37. + + "Pirates of Penzance," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + Fox, Della, 199. + + Plympton, Eben, 47. + + "Polly," + Russell, Lillian, 41. + + "Poor Jonathan," + D'Arville, Camille, 218. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + "Poupee," + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + "Prince Ananias," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 100. + Nielsen, Alice, 20. + + "Prince Pro Tem," + Ashley, Minnie, 137, 141, 142. + + "Princess Bonnie," + Clark, Hilda, 255. + + "Princess Chic," + MacDonald, Christie, 172, 176, 177, 178, 180. + + "Princess Nicotine," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + Dressler, Marie, 191. + Russell, Lillian, 32, 45. + + "Princess of Trebizonde," + Russell, Lillian, 41, 42. + + Puerner, Charles, 190. + + "Puritania," + Hall, Pauline, 241, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252. + + + "Queen's Mate," + D'Arville, Camille, 217. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + + "Rainmakers," + Raymond, Maud, 238. + + Raymond, Maud, 233. + + "Red Hussar," + Tempest, Marie, 228, 229. + + Reed, Charles, 164. + + Reed, Roland, 109. + + Rehan, Ada, 28. + + "Reign of Error," + Raymond, Maud, 238. + + "Revels," + Hall, Pauline, 245. + + Rice, Edward E., 26, 37, 47, 140, 219, 245, 246. + + "Rip Van Winkle," + D'Arville, Camille, 216, 217. + + "Robber of the Rhine," + Dressler, Marie, 190. + + "Robin Hood," + Clark, Hilda, 255. + D'Arville, Camille, 218, 219. + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 91, 99, 100, 101. + Nielsen, Alice, 20. + + Rogers Brothers, 233, 238. + + "Rogers Brothers in Wall Street," + Raymond, Maud, 235, 236, 238. + + "Romeo and Juliet," + Hall, Pauline, 245. + + Root, Fred, 94. + + Root, George F., 95. + + "Rounders," + Gilman, Mabelle, 56, 61, 62, 63, 65, 86. + Lessing, Madge, 86, 87. + + "Runaway Girl," + Celeste, Marie, 160, 161, 169. + Earle, Virginia, 23, 24, 28. + Edwardes, Paula, 113, 115, 116, 117, 119. + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + Russell, Lillian, 30, 168, 191, 206, 208, 217, 229. + + + Sadler, Josie, 142. + + "Santa Maria," + May, Edna, 148. + + Savage, Henry W., 19, 169. + + Seabrooke, Thomas Q., 117. + + "Serenade," + Clark, Hilda, 255. + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 100. + Nielsen, Alice, 20. + + "Seven Ravens," + Hall, Pauline, 246, 247. + + Sheldon, William, 146. + + "Shenandoah," + Hall, Josephine, 47. + + "Singing Girl," + Nielsen, Alice, 4, 5. + + Smith, Edgar, 97. + + Smith, Harry B., 5, 7, 65, 159, 221. + + Smythe, W. G., 196. + + "Snake Charmer," + Russell, Lillian, 40. + + Solomon, Edward, 41. + + Solomon, Frederic, 251. + + Solomon Opera Company, 82. + + "Sorcerer," + Russell, Lillian, 40. + + Sothern, E. H., 197. + + Sousa, John Philip, 256, 257. + + Spenser, Willard, 255. + + "Sphinx," + MacDonald, Christie, 180. + + Stange, Stanislaus, 5, 6. + + St. John, Florence, 228. + + Stone, Marie, 218. + + Sullivan, Arthur, 19, 26. + + Sullivan, Joe J., 237. + + "Suzette," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + + Sykes, Jerome, 112. + + + Teal, Ben, 163. + + "Tempest," + Earle, Virginia, 28. + Gilman, Mabelle, 65. + + Tempest, Marie, 222. + + Templeton, Fay, 67. + + Templeton, John, 72. + + Thomas, Augustus, 196, 197, 198, 199. + + Thomas, Theodore, 98. + + Thompson, L. S., 141. + + Titus, Fred, 147. + + Tivoli Opera Company, 19. + + "Tobasco," + Edwardes, Paula, 117. + + "Troubadour," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 99. + + "Twenty Minutes in Shirt Waists," + Dressler, Marie, 186, 187, 188. + + "Tyrolean," + Tempest, Marie, 229, 230. + + "Tzigane," + Celeste, Marie, 168. + Russell, Lillian, 32. + + + Urquhart, Isabelle, 41. + + + Vane, Alice, 67. + + "Venus," + D'Arville, Camille, 219, 220. + + "Vie," + D'Arville, Camille, 216. + + "Virginia," + Russell, Lillian, 41. + + + "Walking Delegate," + MacDonald, Christie, 180. + + "Wang," + Celeste, Marie, 170. + Earle, Virginia, 27. + Fox, Della, 194, 201. + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 111. + + "War Time Wedding," + Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 100, 102, 103. + Nielsen, Alice, 20. + + Weathersby, Eliza, 74. + + Weber and Fields, 42, 75, 197. + + "Wedding Day," + Fox, Della, 206. + Russell, Lillian, 42. + + Weil, Oscar, 103. + + Wheelan, Alf. C., 251. + + "Whirl of the Town," + Lessing, Madge, 82. + + White, Edward, 252. + + Wilson, Francis, 120, 121, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, + 179, 240, 242, 249. + + "Wonder," + Earle, Virginia, 28. + + "World's Fair," + Earle, Virginia, 26. + + + "Yankee Doodle Dandy," + Hopper, Edna Wallace, 112. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + + + Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. + + Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from + the original. + + Obvious typographical errors have been corrected as follows: + Pages 176 and 212: "d'Arville" changed to "D'Arville" + Page 198: "debut" changed to "debut" + + Punctuation has been corrected without note. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Famous Prima Donnas, by Lewis Clinton Strang + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS PRIMA DONNAS *** + +***** This file should be named 36215.txt or 36215.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/2/1/36215/ + +Produced by Linda Cantoni, Bryan Ness, David E. 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