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By JOHN S. LINDSAY

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The Mormons and the
Theatre

OR

The History of Theatricals in Utah

With Reminiscences and Comments
Humorous and Critical

fr
By JOHN S> LINDSAY

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

• Z.73

library

CHAPTER I.

In rather sharp contrast to other Christian denomina-
tions, the Mormons believe in and are fond of dancing and
the theatre. So much is this the case that Friday evening
of each week during the amusement season is set apart by
them in all the settlements throughout Mormondom fo"
their dance night. Their dances are generally under the su-
pervision of the presiding bishop and are invariably opened
with prayer or invocation, and closed or dismissed in the
same manner, with a brief return of thanks to the Almighty
for the good time they have enjoyed.

The theatre is so popular among the Mormon people,
that in almost every town and settlement throughout their
domains there is an amateur dramatic company.

It is scarcely to be wondered at that Salt Lake has the
enviable distinction of being the best show town of its pop-
ulation in the United States, and when we say that, we may
as well say in the whole world. Is is a well established fact
that Salt Lake spends more money per capita in the theatre
than any city in our country.

Such a social condition among a strictly religious peo-
ple is not little peculiar, and is due, largely, to the fact that
Brigham Young was himself fond of the dance and also of
the theatre. He could "shake a leg" with the best of them,
and loved to lead the fair matrons and maidens of his flock
forth into its giddy, bewildering mazes. Certain round
dances, the waltz and polka, were always barred at dances
Brigham Young attended, and only the old-fashioned
quadrilles and cotillions and an occasional reel like Sir
Roger de Coverly or the Money Musk were tolerated by
the great Mormon leader.

That Brigham Young was fond of the theatre also, and
gave great encouragement to it, his building of the Salt
Lake Theatre was a striking proof. He recognized the nat-
ural desire for innocent amusement, and the old axiom "All
work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," had its full weight
of meaning to him. Keep the people in a pleasurable mood,
th 'ii they will not be apt to brood and ponder over tht
weightier concerns of life.

4 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

There may have been a stroke of this policy in Brigham
Young's amusement scheme ; but whether so or not he must
be credited with both wisdom and liberality, for the policy
certainly lightened the cares and made glad the hearts of the
people.

Although Salt Lake City has been the chief nursery of
these twin sources of amusement for the Mormon people, to
find the cradle in which they were fir^st nursed into life, we
will have to go back to a time and place anterior to the set-
tlement of Salt Lake. Back in the days of Nauvoo, before
Brigham Young was chief of the Mormon church, under
the rule of its original prophet, Joseph Smith, the Mormon
people were encouraged in the practice of dancing and going
to witness plays. Indeed, the Mormons have always been
a fun-loving people ; it is recorded of their founder and
prophet that he was so fond of fun -that he would often
indulge in a foot race, or pulling sticks, or even a wrestling
match. He often amazed and sometimes shocked the sen-
sibilities of the more staid and pious members of his flock
by his antics. ;

Before the Mormons ever dreamed of emigrating to
Utah (or Mexico, as it was then), they had what they called
a "Fun Hall," or theatre and dance hall combined, where
they mingled occasionally in the merry dance or sat to wit-
ness a play. Then, as later in Salt Lake, their prophet led
them through the mazy evolutions of the terpsichorean num-
bers and was the most conspicuous figure at all their social
gatherings.

While building temples and propagating their new rev-
elation to the world, the Mormons have always found time to
sing and dance and play and have a pleasant social time, ex-
cepting, of course, in their days of sore trial. Indeed, they
are an anomaly among religious sects in this respect, and
that is what has made Salt Lake City proverbially a "great
show town."

Mormonism during the Nauvoo days had numerous
missionaries in the field and many converts were added to the
new faith. Among others that were attracted to the modern
Mecca to look into the claims -of the new evangel, was
Thomas A. Lyne, known more familiarly among his theatri-
cal associates as "Tom" Lyne.

Lyne, at this time, 1842, was an actor of wide and fair
repute, in the very flush of manhood, about thirty-five years
of age. He had played leading support to Edwin Forrest,

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 5

the elder Booth, Charlotte Cnshman, Ellen Tree (before she
became Mrs. Charles Kean), besides having starred in all
the popular classic roles. Lyne was the second actor in the
United States to essay the character of Bulwer's Richelieu-
Edwin Forrest being the first.

The story of "Tom" Lyne's conversion to the Mormon
faith created quite a sensation in theatrical circles of the
time, and illustrates the great proselyting power the elders of
the new religion possessed.

Lyne, when he encountered Mormonism, was a skeptic,
having outgrown belief in all of the creeds. It was in 1841
that George J. Adams, a brother-in-law of Lyne's, turned up
suddenly in Philadelphia (Lyne's home) where he met the
popular actor and told him the story of his conversion to the
Mormon faith. Adams had been to Nauvoo, met the prophet
and become one of his most enthusiastic disciples. Adams
had been an actor, also, of more than mediocre ability, and
as a preacher proved to be one of the most brilliant and suc-
cessful expounders of the new religion. Elder Adams had
been sent as a missionary to Philadelphia in the hope that his
able exposition of the new evangel would convert that staid
city of brotherly love to the new and everlasting covenant.

In pursuance of the New Testament injunction, the
Mormon missionaries are sent out into their fields of labor
without purse or scrip, so Elder Adams, on arriving at his
field of labor, lost no time in hunting up his brother-in-law,
"Tom" Lyne, to whom he related with dramatic fervor and
religious enthusiasm the story of his wonderful conversion,
his subsequent visit to Nauvoo, his meeting with the young
''Mohammed of the West," for whom he had conceived the
greatest admiration, as well as a powerful testimony of the
divinity of his mission.

Adams was so convincing and made such an impression
on Lyne that he at once became greatly interested in the
Mormon prophet and his new revelation. This proved to be
a great help to Elder Adams, who was entirely without "the
sinews of war" with which to start his great campaign.

The brothers-in-law put their heads together in council
as to how the campaign fund was to be raised, and the result
was that they decided to rent a theatre, get a company to-
gether, and play "Richard III" for a week. Lyne was a
native of Philadelphia and at this time one of its most popu-
lar actors. It was here that Adams had met him a few years
before and had given him his sister in marriage.

6 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

The theatrical venture was carried through, Lyne play-
ing Richard and Elder Adams, Richmond. The week's
business, after paying all expenses, left a handsome profit.
Lyne generously donated his share to the new cause in which
he had now grown so deeply interested and Elder Adams
procured a suitable hall and began his missionary labors.
His eloquent exposition of the new and strange religion won
many to the faith ; one of the first fruits of his labors being
the conversion of Thomas A. Lyne.

Such an impression had Adams's description of the
Mormon prophet and the City of the Saints (Nauvoo) made
upon Lyne that he could not rest satisfied until he went and
saw for himself. He packed up his wardrobe and took the
road for Nauvoo. With a warm letter of introduction from
Elder Adams to the prophet, it was not long before Lyne
was thoroughly ingratiated in the good graces of the Mor-
mon people. He met the prophet Joseph, was enchanted with
him, and readily gave his adherence to the new and strange
doctrines which the prophet advanced, but whether with an
eye single to his eternal salvation or with both eyes open to
a lucrative engagement "this deponent saith not."

The story runs that after a long sojourn with the Saints
in Nauvoo, during which he played a round of his favorite
characters, supported by a full Mormon cast, he bade the
prophet and his followers a sorrowful farewell and returned
to his accustomed haunts in the vicinity of Liberty Hall.

During his stay in Nauvoo, Mr. Lyne played quite a
number of classical plays, including "William Tell," "Vir-
ginius," "Damon and Pythias," "The Iron Chest," and "Pi-
zarro." In the latter play, he had no less a personage than
Brigham Young in the cast ; he was selected to play the part
of the Peruvian high priest, and is said to have led the
singing in the Temple scene where the Peruvians offer up
sacrifice and sing the invocation for Rolla's victory. Brigham
Young is said to have taken a genuine interest in the charac-
ter of the high priest and to have played it with becoming
dignity and solemnity. Here was an early and unmistaka-
ble proof of Brigham Young's love for the drama.

Mr. Lyne, while relating this Nauvoo incident in his ex-
perience to the writer, broke into a humorous vein and re-
marked :

"I've always regretted having cast Brigham Young for
that part of the high priest."

"Why?" I inquired, with some surprise.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 7

With a merry twinkle in his eye and a sly chuckle in his
voice, he replied : "Why don't you see John, he's been playing
the character with great success ever since."

There are still a few survivors of the old Nauvoo dra-
matic company, who supported "Tom" Lyne, living in Salt
Lake. Bishop Clawson, one of the first managers of the
Salt Lake theatre, is among them.

Lyne played a winning hand at Nauvoo. He made a
great hit with the prophet, who took such a fancy to him that
he wanted to ordain him and send him on a mission, think-
ing that Lyne's eleocutionary powers would make him a
great preacher. But "Tom" had not become sufficiently en-
thused over the prophet's revelations to abjure the pro-
fession he so dearly loved, and become a traveling elder
going about from place to place without purse or scrip, in-
stead of a popular actor who was in demand at a good sized
salary.

Lyne had made his visit remunerative and had enshrined
himself in the hearts of the Mormon people, as the sequel
will show : but he drifted away from them as unexpectedly
as he had come. Having become a convert to the new re-
ligion, it was confidently expected that he would remain
among the Saints and be one of them ; but he drifted away
from them and the Mormons saw no more of "Tom" Lyne
till he turned up in Salt Lake twenty years later, soon after
the opening of the Salt Lake Theatre.

Lyne was the first star to tread its stage and played
quite a number of engagements during the years from '62 to
'70. He made money enough out of his engagements at
the Salt Lake Theatre to live on for the remainder of his
days. For the last twenty years of his life, he rarely ap-
peared in public except to give a reading occasionally. With
his French wife, Madeline, he settled down and took life
easy, living cosily in his own cottage, and in 1891 at the ad-
vanced age of eighty-four Thomas A. Lyne passed peace-
fully away, a firm believer in a life to come but at utter var-
iance with the Mormon creed, which he had discarded soon
after his departure from Nauvoo.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER II.

Thus far into the bowels of the land

Have we marched on without impediment.

—Shakespeare.

When the Mormons came from Nauvoo to Salt Lake
they brought with them to this wilderness in the Rocky
Mountains, the love of the drama, and as a consequence it
was not long, only a few years from 1847 to 1850, before they
began to long for something in the way of a theatre.

The pleasant recollections of the drama as interpreted
at Nauvoo by Mr. Lyne and his supporting cast, were still
fresh in their memories, and almost before many of them
had comfortable houses to live in they began to yearn for
some dramatic amusement. As a result of this strong in-
clination for the play and a still more universal desire for
dancing, it was but a short time before their wishes ma-
terialized.

As early as the fall of 1850 they had formed a club called
the Musical and Dramatic Association. The name was a
comprehensive one, intentionally so, for the organization in-
cluded the celebrated "Nauvoo Brass Band," a number of
whose members also figured in the dramatic company. In-
deed it was from this musical organization that the dra-
matic company really sprang.

The members of this original dramatic company were
John Kay, Hyrum B. Clawson, Philip Margetts, Horace K.
Whitney, Robert Campbell, R. T. Burton, George B. Grant,
Edmond Ellsworth, Henry Margetts, Edward Martin, Wil-
liam Cutler, William Clayton, Miss (Drum, Miss Margaret
Judd, and Miss Mary Badlam. Miss Badlam, in addition to
playing parts, was very popular as a dancer and gave her
dancing specialties between the acts, making something like
our up-to-date continuous performance.

The first public dramatic performances were given in the
"Bowery" (a very reminiscent name for a New York theatre
goer of that day). "The Bowery" in this case was a sum-
mer place of worship which stood on the Temple Block
near where the big Tabernacle now stands. In this place of
worship as early as the year 1850, with the aid of a little

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 9

home-made scenery and a little crude furniture, were the
first plays presented to a Salt Lake audience.

The 'first bill consisted of the old serio-comic drama,
"Robert Macaire, or the Two Murderers," dancing by Miss
Badlam, and the farce of the "Dead Shot.''

Judging by their titles, these .plays were rather a grue-
some selection to play in a church. As it is a matter of
historic interest the cast so far as procurable is appended
of "Robert Macaire :"

Robert Macaire John Kay

Jacque Stropp H. B. Clawson

Pierre Philip Margetts

Waiter Robert Campbell

Clementina Margaret Judd

Celeste Miss Orum

Several other plays were given during this first dra-
matic season and were creditably performed, affording pleas-
ure both to the audiences and actors ; the only remuneration
the actors received, by the way, for it must be remarked
that these first dramatic efforts were entirely voluntary on
the part of the company.

The orchestra which played in connection with this
first dramatic company deserves to be made a matter of rec-
ord quite as much as the company itself, for it was also
drawn from the ranks of the historic "Nauvoo Brass Band."

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

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

10 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

hall was converted into a roadside tavern and was run by
Jesse C. Little for a time.

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

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

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

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

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

The great event of this season in the amusement line
was the dramatic opening. Local artists had been employed
for some time and had stocked the stage with excellent
scenery. Bulwer's classic play "The Lady of Lyons" was
selected for the opening bill. The company had been so
strengthened that the members could cast any of the great

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 11

plays. To the original company had been added besides
a long- list of honorary members, the following named
active male members : James Ferguson, Bernard Snow,
David Candland (stage manager), John T. Caine, David
McKenzie, Joseph Simons and Henry Maiben ; to the female
contingent had been added Mrs. Cyrus Wheelock, Mrs.
Henry Tuckett, Mrs. Joseph Bull, Mrs. John Hyde, Mrs.
Sarah Cook. It will be observed that they were all married
women. This is a very noticeable feature, as it is so un-
usual in a dramatic company nowadays, either amateur or
professional. The explanation of it, however, is simple
enough. At that time there were few if any unmarried wo-
men in Utah that had arrived at the marriageable age. The
only three women whose names appear in the original com-
pany were unmarried, Miss Judd, Miss Orum and Miss
Badlam, which seems exceptional and they now seem to have
all disappeared, or they are overshadowed by the married
women, or perhaps they appear in the reorganized com-
pany under a new name with Mrs. attached.

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

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

Claud Melnotte James Ferguson

Monsieur Beauseant David Candland

Monsieur Glavis John T. Caine

Col. Damas John D. T. McAllister

Mons. Deschapples Horace K. Whitney

Landlord Philip Margetts

Pauline Deschapples Mrs. Wheelock

Madame Deschapples Mrs. M. G. Clawson

Widow Melnotte Mrs. Sarah Cook

The play was a pronounced success and the players cov-
ered themselves with glory. A number of plays were now
put on in rapid succession, for the D. D. A. had caught the
true dramatic fire, and the people were hungry for the
play. In the great plays, a number of which were essayed,
the characters were strongly filled.

12 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Bernard Snow, who had played with the elder Booth
in California, which gave him a brief professional experi-
ence, was easily in the lead of all the Mormon actors. He
played an Othello that would have done credit to Shakes-
speare anywhere, while Ferguson as lago was scarcely less
convincing. In "Damon and Pythias" also these players
shone with more than ordinary brilliancy. Snow's Damon
was pronounced a work of art, while Ferguson looked and
acted Pythias to the admiration of all who witnessed it.
Mrs. Wheelock as Calanthe and Mrs. Tuckett as Hermion
made up a quartet of players that would have graced any
stage in the country.

"Virginius" was also played here with Snow in the title
role, a favorite with him. When Lyne came ten years later
and played these same characters in the Salt Lake Theatre,
many of the old frequenters of the Social Hall ranked Ber-
nard Snow as Lyne's equal and they had to be brought to
play together in the Salt Lake Theatre to gratify the many
admirers of both.

"Pizarro" was the play chosen for this event and it
served to pack the theatre. Lyne appeared as Pizarro for
the occasion although Rolla was his favorite part. This
gave Snow the advantage as Rolla is the star part. It
proved a great hit both financially and artistically.

The Social Hall orchestra was a feature at all the dra-
matic performances, and came in for its due share of praise
and admiration. It was under the direction of Domonico
Ballo, who had formerly been a band master at West Point.
He was a fine composer and arranger, and one of the best
clarinet players ever heard. Professor Ballo was a graduate
of the Conservatory of Music at Milan. He served several
years as band master at West Point. He drifted into Utah
at an early day and cast his lot with the Mormons. He or-
ganized a fine brass band here and built a fine dance hall
which was known as "Ballo's Music Hall."

Salt Lake City has from a very early period in its
history enjoyed an enviable reputation in a musical way.
Its- first musical organization as already mentioned was the
Nauvoo Brass Band, organized originally in Nauvoo in con-
nection with the Mormon militia known as the "Nauvoo
Legion," of which Joseph Smith held the distinguished office
of Lieutenant General. The exodus from Nauvoo and the
formation soon afterwards of the "Mormon Battalion" de-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 13

moralized to a great degree both the legion and the band.
Both organizations, however, were reconstructed soon after
the settlement of Utah, and each played a conspicuous part
in its early history.

At the laying of the corner stone of the Salt Lake
Temple as early as 1853, the Nauvoo Brass Band and Bal-
lo's Brass Band were consolidated for this occasion and in-
creased to sixty-five players under the leadership of Pro-
fessor Ballo, who gave the people of Salt Lake a musical
treat that would have been a credit to any metropolitan
city. Ballo was a thorough and accomplished musician and
his masterly work at such an early period had much to do
with developing Salt Lake's musical talent.

From 1852 to 1857 tne Social Hall continued to be the
principal place of amusement for the people of Salt Lake
City, as well as those who came in from various parts of the
Territory. Those living at a distance and visiting the city
either on business or pleasure (which were generally com-
bined) deemed themselves extremely fortunate if there
chanced to be a play "on the boards" during their brief so-
journ in the city.

The fame of the Social Hall and its talented company
of players, dramatic and musical, had spread abroad in the
land and many of the smaller towns began to emulate Salt
Lake City and organized dramatic clubs.

In the year 1857 amusements as well as business of
all kinds received a sudden and severe shock from which it
took a year or more to recover. In this year a rupture oc-
curred between the Mormon chiefs and the United States
Judges, which resulted in President Buchanan sending Al-
bert Sidney Johnson to Utah with an army to crush the
incipient rebellion. The heroes of the Social Hall stage now
were cast to play more serious parts. The stage was now to
be the tented field, their music, the roll of the drum and the
ear-piercing fife.

"Jim" Ferguson, one of the leading actors, was Adju-
tant General of the "Nauvoo Legion," as the Territorial mil-
itia was called, and all the other stage heroes were enrolled
under its banners. The "Legion" was sent out into the
mountains to check the advance of the invading army. Not
only did all amusement and business generally come to a
sudden stop, but so serious was the situation that a general
exodus of the people to the south was ordered by the church
authorities and Salt Lake City was abandoned.

14 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Meeting houses, theatre, stores and nearly all the dwell-
ings in the city were vacated, and the intention was to burn
the city rather than this "hell born" army should occupy and
pollute it.

No occasion for carrying into effect this insane reso-
lution transpired, for which the people have ever since been
thankful. Soon after its adoption a better understanding
was reached between the refractory Saints and Uncle Sam's
government, and the people gradually came back to their
homes in the city, glad indeed that the sacrificial torch had
not been applied to them.

"The invading army" had passed peacefully through
the city and made its encampment forty miles away. Things
began to resume their normal condition, but the winter of
1857-8 was a blank in the Mormon amusement field.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 15

CHAPTER III.

Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this son of York,

And all the clouds that lowered upon our house,

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried ;

Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths,

Our bruised arms hung up for monuments,

Our stern alarums are changed to merry-meetings

And our dreadful marches to delighted measures.

—Richard III.

The Mormon war cloud that lowered so portentously
during the winter of 1857-8 had been dispelled without
bloodshed, and peace once more brooded over the land. The
soldiers of the "Nauvoo Legion" had "hung up their un-
bruised arms for monuments" and resumed their old avoca-
tions, and the wheels of trade, "the calm health of nations,"
were" once again running in their accustomed grooves.

The people had set to work with redoubled energy to
make up for the losses "the war" had entailed upon them,
so that they had little time or inclination for amusement.
The advent of Johnson's army into Utah, although en-
camped forty miles from the city, had its effect; it brought
in its wake, as an army always does, a lot of camp followers,
—hangers-on — a contingent that was thrown largely into Salt
Lake, and not a desirable one. This made the Mormon peo-
ple wary and suspicious, and inclined them more than ever
to isolate themselves from strangers.

Notwithstanding this condition of affairs, in the winter
of '59 they began to resume their usual amusements, and a
number of plays were given that winter in the Social Hall.

By this time the "army" having no active service, began
to feel the need of some amusement, and some of the sol-
diers improvised a theatre in the camp.

Sergt. R. C. White, better known later among Pacific
coast theatricals as "Dick" White, was the leading spirit in
this affair. White was a scholar as well as a soldier ; more-
over, he had the poetic and dramatic instinct in him, and in
common with all living creatures, he felt that he must exer-
cise his faculties. So in order to give vent to his pent up
love of the drama, he organized a dramatic company among

16 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

the soldiers of Camp Floyd. The Sergeant, or "Dick" as
he was called, was not only a clever amateur actor but a
poet, and something of an artist as well. By his sinl! in
this latter line he soon had the necessary scenery painted
for the Camp theatre. Pigments were scarce in the camp
and even in Salt Lake at that time, but White was re-
sourceful, and equal to every emergency, so he made levy on
the quartermaster's department for liberal supplies of mus-
tard, red pepper, ox blood, and other strange materials with
which to get in his color effects.

The "Camp Floyd Theatre'' as it wras called, was not a
stupendous structure, only large enough to accommodate
about two hundred persons, and the stage in proportion to the
auditorium. It was built of rough pine boards and canvas —
principally canvas — but answered all the requirements of a
theatre for the amusement of the camp.

White had but little trouble in organizing his corps
dramatique, so far as men were concerned, but the temale
contingent gave him much concern and considerable trouble
to secure. Women in the camp were scarce, and female
talent was at a premium. There were a few officers whose
wives were with them and some "hired help" of the female
persuasion, but none of the women of the camp had any ex-
perience in theatricals. Several were willing, and even eager
to try ; so White made a selection and cast a play and put
it in rehearsal, but "woe is me !" the women were all such
tyros that he was almost in despair, until he suddenly con-
ceived the project of engaging one of the Social Hall ac-
tresses to play the leading female character ; if he could do
that, then, he reasonably argued that he could get along,
but could a Mormon actress be induced to come to Camp
Floyd?

Here was a dilemma ; but the bold Richard perhaps
thought of the lines of his renowned namesake, Richard
Plantagenet :

"Dangers retreat when boldly they're confronted,
And dull delay leads impotence and fear,"

so he took courage. He opened up a correspondence with
Mrs. Tuckett of Social Hall fame. White was an accom-
plished writer, and poetical, and there is no doubt he could
write a winning letter. We have no knowledge of what in-
ducements he offered, so can only surmise that a liberal sal-
ary was the temptation held out to her. Suffice it to say

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 17

that Mrs. Tuckett accepted the offer and joined the Camp
Floyd Theatre Company, thus making a noticeable weaken-
ing of the Social Hall force, and creating a commotion
among her fellow players in Salt Lake, and the people gen-
erally, as she went in opposition to the wishes of her hus-
band and friends and the church authorities. It was re-
garded not only as an unwise step for Mrs. Tuckett to take,
but a discreditable one.

It was a reproach to the Saints to have one of their
number go and mingle with the ungodly soldiers who had
come out here to destroy them. Mrs. Tuckett was looked
upon from the moment of her departure as a lost sheep from
the fold. These apprehensions were not unfounded, for
Mrs. Tuckett, whether wearied of her Mormon environment,
or led away by the unusual attentions shown her by the
officers and men of the camp (with whom her acting soon
made her a great favorite), lost any former love she may
have had for Salt Lake, and sundered all social and family
ties there.

"Dick" White, poet, actor, artist, achieved another con-
quest ; not only had he succeeded in getting Mrs. Tuckett
away from the Social Hall company, but later on he won
the affections of the Mormon actress and took her complete-
ly away from her family, friends and church. In some
way White severed his connection with the army before
the breaking out of the Civil War and had gone to California
"taking the fair Desdemona with him." He married her and
they lived together in Folsom, California ; only a few years,
however ; Mrs. Tuckett-White died there in '63.

Mrs. Tuckett, whose maiden name was Mercy West-
wood, was of English birth, came to Utah in the early '508
where she soon afterward married as a polygamous wife.
The Westwood family had a strong predilection for the
stage; three of her brothers, Richard, Phillip and Joseph
Westwood, figured conspicuously a little later on in the
Springville Dramatic company. Her desertion from the
ranks of the Social Hall company had created a vacancy
they found it difficult to fill. She had been playing the
leading roles, filling the place of Mrs. Wheelock who also
became disaffected and went to California in '57 with a num-
ber of others, under protection of Col. Steptoe's command.

What particular reason Mrs. Wheelock had for with-
drawing from the Mormon people, we do not know. She
settled in Sacramento where after a time she became Mrs.

18 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Rattenbury, and has never returned except for a brief visit
and this quite recently.

Mrs. Tuckett was the wife of Henry Tuckett who is still
living in Salt Lake; and had four children by him at the
time she left, and in abandoning husband and children to
share the fortunes of the soldier actor Dick White, she
subjected herself to a vast amount of severe and apparently
just criticism. There is little known of her life after she
left Utah even by her relatives; she probably regretted the
step she had taken when too late.

The Mormons never forgave White for taking Mrs.
Tuckett from them. He visited Salt Lake about four years
after the death of his Mormon wife, in the dramatic company
of John S. Langrishe, who had Mr. C. W. Couldock with
him and was traveling by stage overland to the gold mining
towns of Montana; Virginia City of vigilante fame being
their objective point.

The Langrishe-Couldock company opened in the Salt
Lake Theatre, August the first, 1867, in the "Chimney Cor-
ner" with Couldock in his favorite character of Peter Pro-
bity. R. C. White was the Solomon Probity of the cast.
White was apprehensive of trouble if he should be discov-
ered by the friends of Mrs. Tuckett, who regarded her pe-
culiar "taking off" almost in the sense of an abduction. Con-
spicuous among Mrs. Tuckett's friends were the managers
of the theatre, H. B. Clawson and John T. Caine ; so White
discreetly kept himself secluded during the day as much as
possible, and only put in an appearance at the theatre when
it was time to dress for the play.

White was not personally known to the managers, or any
of the employees about the theatre. He had been little in
Salt Lake during the army's occupation of Camp Floyd and
consequently was scarcely known. Trusting to these cir-
cumstances he hoped to escape recognition, and avoid the
storm of abuse he felt sure would be showered on his guilty
head ; but unfortunately his name was on the program and
although a common name and one that might easily escape
especial notice, White was by no means a common man and
his performance of Solomon attracted special attention to
him.

Some man in the audience who had met him at Camp
Floyd recognized him, and quietly informed the managers
who he was. The whisper spread about with amazing
rapidity and he began to be pointed out as the "reprobate

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 19

and unscrupulous scoundrel" who had enticed Mrs. Tuck-
ett away from home and friends and people.

To make sure that this was the veritable White, the
manager made some inquiries regarding him of Jack Lan-
grishe, his manager. This was sufficient to arouse the curi-
osity of the company with regard to White's previous ex-
perience in Utah. White did not make a second appearance
at the theatre. He had caught something of the buzz that
was in the air about him, and quietly dropped out of the
Langrishe company for the remainder of its Salt Lake en-
gagement.

The Langrishes remained two weeks and then moved
on to Montana. White had not been entirely idle in the in-
terim. He had made the acquaintance of a second Salt Lake
woman, whom he prevailed upon to join him soon after his
departure, and they were married shortly after; the woman
casting in her fortune with the Langrishe troupe and doing
such parts as they thought fit to cast her in.

Mr. and Mrs. White eventually drifted into Portland,
Oregon, and made that their home for many years. It was
there the writer made their acquaintance some fifteen years
later when he went to play leads for John Maguire at the
New Market Theatre. They appeared to be living har-
moniously and had four lovely children, two boys and two
girls, the eldest about twelve years of age and a promising
young actress. White was then the editor of the "Bee," an
afternoon paper, and played on occasions in Maguire's
Stock company.

Some years later White with his family removed to San
Francisco, where he became the stage manager of the Ti-
voli. It was during his incumbency of this position that he
made the first dramatization of Rider Haggard's "She," and
gave it its first production on the stage, which proved to be
a great success and started numerous other companies to
play it.

White has now "fallen into the sere and yellow leaf"
and for the last dozen years has been affectionately called
by the profession "Daddy White."

20 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER IV.

Notwithstanding that during the winter of 1859-60 a
number of dramatic performances were given in the Social
Hall, they were nearly, if not all, revivals of plays that had
been performed there previous seasons. Interest had de-
clined from some cause or other. It was probably attribu-
table in some measure to the departure of first Mrs. Wheel-
ock and then of Mrs. Tuckett, the two leading actresses of
the company ; and then Jim Ferguson, one of the leading
actors, was now engrossed in the publication of The Moun-
taineer, a weekly paper he had started in connection with
Seth M. Blair and Hosea Stout, and for which he wrote
most of the editorials, so that he had little if any time to
devote to the playhouse. Bernard Snow, too, was absent
from the company that winter and as a consequence plays of
a lighter character were selected that did not require Snow
and Ferguson.

"The Colder Farmer," "Luke the Laborer," "Still
Waters Run Deep," "All That Glitters Is Not Gold," were
the principal plays given. During the following winter,
1 860-61, there was nothing doing in the dramatic line in
the Social Hall. One reason for this was that a new company
had arisen, which, if not exactly a rival, was a strong com-
petitor for public favor. Some of its principal members be-
longed to the Deseret Dramatic Association, and had been
conspicuous in the ranks of its performers.

The new company was called the Mechanics' Dramatic
Association, and was headed by the favorite Social Hall
comedian, Phil JVlargetts, who was president and manager
of the new organization. The members of this new company
were Phil Margetts, Harry Bowring, Henry McEwan, James
A. Thompson, Joe Barker, John B. Kelly, John Chambers,
Joseph Bull, Pat Lynch, William Wright, Bill Poulter, Wil-
liam Price, Mrs. Marion Bowring, Mrs. Bull, Mrs. McEwan,
Elizabeth Tullidge and Ellen Bowring. Harry Bowring
had in course of construction a new dwelling house ; it was
covered and the floors laid, but no finishing or plastering had
been done, no partition walls had been put in, so that the
entire lower story was one room, not more than 18x40 feet
in dimensions, about one-third the size of the Social Hall.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 21

The stage occupied about one-third of the same, leaving
an audience chamber of about 18x25 feet, not large enough,
as it proved, to accommodate the numbers that were anxious
to witness the new performances. For dressing rooms, they
had the house at the back, in which Mr. Bowring and family
resided, and which communicated with the stage by a door-
way in the new structure. The scenery and drop curtain,
which was necessarily of small dimensions, was painted by
the sterling and versatile artist, William P. Morris. The
auditorium was seated a la circus, with board seats rising
one above the other, with a row of chairs in front for the
distinguished guests and patrons.

Such was "Bowring's Theatre," as it was called.
Whether the managers christened it that, or the name was
given it by the patrons and guests, wre do not pretend to
know, nor does it matter ; but this fact may be mentioned in
relation to it, that it was first place in Salt Lake City
to be called a theatre.

The Bowery being a place of worship (although the
name was strongly suggestive of the New York Bowery the-
atre), could not consistently be called a theatre and the So-
cial Hall embracing all the social features — plays, dances
and banquets — never came to be called a theatre, Social
Hall fully covering its functions, so that the Bowring was
really the first place to be known distinctively as a theatre.
Although the theatre was so very small the company did not
appear to be circumscribed in their histrionic efforts by any
mere limitations of space or stage appurtenances, as the fol-
lowing list of plays will show :

"The Honeymoon," "The Gamester," "Luke the La-
borer," and "Othello," and the farces of "Betsy Baker" and
"Mr. and Mrs. Peter White."

In the dramas, Mr. Margetts, who was recognized as
the comedian par excellence, chose to assume the tragic
mask and appeared in the leading roles, leaving the principal
comic parts to his friend and colleague Harry Bowring. It
was somewhat of a surprise to "Phil s" friends and admirers
who knew his qualifications for comedy, to see him in these
tragic characters, but he is said to have given everybody a
pleasant surprise in them and Harry Bowring carried the
comedy roles so successfully as to divide the honors with
"Phil." Mrs. Bowring, who played the "lady leads," also
distinguished herself to such a degree that she took a prom-
inent place in the Salt Lake Theatre soon after its opening.

22 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

It was during the performance of "Betsy Baker" in
this place that "Jimmy" Thompson, who was playing the
part of Mr. Crommie, won such distinction in that character
that the name of "Crommie" has attached to him among his
acquaintances ever since. Harry McEwan, Joe Barker, Bil-
lie Wright, Bill Poulter and dear old John Kelly and Mrs.
Bull and Mrs. McEwan all achieved some celebrity in con-
nection with the little playhouse — "Bowring's Theatre."

Manager Margetts waited one day on President Brig-
ham Young and invited him, with his family, to see their
play. The President of course had heard of the new theatre,
(what was there he didn't hear of?) but affected some sur-
prise that Phil and his associates should have started what
might be considered a rival to the D. D. A.

"When do you play ?" inquired the President.

"We have a play tonight," answered Phil ; "Luke the
Laborer," but we could not accommodate your family to-
night, President Young, as the seats are mostly engaged, but
we would be pleased to reserve the house for yourself and
family for our next play, "The Honeymoon," which will be
on Friday night."

"Well," says Brigham, "I would like to see the play to-
night. Why can't Heber (meaning Heber C. Kimball, his
chief counsellor, who was sitting within hearing) and I
come tonight, and the family can come the next night ?"

The President thought to catch them in a state of unpre-
paredness by going sooner than was arranged for him, but
Phil readily acquiesced in the President's wish, and he and
Brother Kimball "took in the show" that night. They both
expressed their pleasure and spoke words of encouragement
to the performers.

On the following day Manager Margetts sent ninety
tickets, the entire seating capacity of the theatre, to Pres-
ident Young for himself and family. The tiny theatre was
packed to see "The Honeymoon." The Young family cer-
tainly was in evidence on that occasion, but there was quite
a sprinkling of "Heber's" folks and other friends to whom
the President had given tickets from his wholesale reserve.

"The Honeymoon" was a pronounced success. After
the play Phil appeared before the curtain and in a happy
way thanked the President and those of his family and
friends present for honoring the company, and expressed
regret that they had not a more commodious and comfort-
able theatre in which to entertain their friends.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 23

Brigham, evidently pleased, made a return speech from
his place in the audience and complimented the company. He
encouraged them to go ahead and told them he intended be-
fore long to build a good big theatre, where they could have
ample room to develop their dramatic art, observing in his
characteristic way, that the people must have amusement.

It will thus be seen that these performances led indirect-
ly to the building of the Salt Lake Theatre, for immediately
after this the President instructed Hyrum Clawson to re-
organize the Deseret Dramatic Association and to unite it
with the Bowring Theatre Company, for he was going to
build a big theatre. The idea had evidently entered his
mind to stay.

"Brother Brigham," as he was popularly and lovingly
called, was quick to comprehend the financial results of a
great theatre in a community whose members were all lovers
of the drama, and two large dramatic associations, bursting
with ambition and only too anxious for a good place and
opportunity to air their talents. So he gave it out in meet-
ing one Sunday, much to the gratification of his congrega-
tion, that he was going to build a big "fun hall," or theatre,
where the people could go and forget their troubles occa-
sionally, in a good, hearty laugh.

"We have a large fund on hand," said he, "for the erec-
tion of a Seventy's hall, but not enough to build such a hall
as I want for the Seventies ; so we will use that fund to help
build the theatre, and when we get the theatre running we
can pay back the Seventy's hall fund with good interest, and
in that way the Seventy's will get their hall sooner than if
they started to build it now."

The Seventy's hall has never been built !

The big theatre was planned and erected. William H.
Folsom was the architect and personally superintended the
construction of the building. This same gentleman, also,
designed and built the big turtle-shaped Tabernacle, proving
that he was a constructive genius.

On March the sixth, 1862, the Salt Lake Theatre, al-
though far from being finished, was so far completed as to
be used, and on this date it was opened with such ceremonies
as would not only be deemed unique in any other community,
but would be set down as sacriligious by pious people of
other faiths.

On this occasion the theatre was filled to its utmost
capacity by invitation. No admission fee was charged, the

24 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

invitations being extended by President Young to the church
authorities, state, county and municipal officers, the workmen
who had erected the building, some two hundred with their
families. Some even who held invitations could not get
in ; it resembled a huge revival meeting.

The President and his counsellors, a number of the
apostles and other church dignitaries sat on the stage in
front of the green baize drop curtain. The parquette was
filled with the officials, church and secular, and the dramatic
company and members of their families. The circles were
filled principally by the men who had worked on the building
and their families. There was a feeling of greatest expec-
tancy pervading the large audience. The people were there
to witness not a play on this occasion, but something deemed
of still more importance, the dedication of the new theatre.

The Mormons dedicate all of their public buildings,
whether temples, tabernacles, stake houses, ward houses,
school houses, theatres, dance halls, or co-operative stores
to the service for which they were erected.

The ceremony is much like one of their religious meet-
ings with the addition of the dedicatory prayer.

On this occasion President Brigham Young occupied trie
center of the stage. There was a program of vocal and in-
strumental music, a special choir gotten together for the oc-
casion, and the theatre orchestra, led by Professor "Charlie"
Thomas, furnished the music.

President Young called the large audience to order and
the choir sang. Then Daniel H. Wells, or "Squire" Wells
as he was popularly called, offered up the dedicatory prayer.
"Squire" Wells no doubt made a good city mayor and an
efficient general of the Nauvoo Legion, but the worthy
"Squire" was not an orator, moreover, he had his piece
written for this occasion and read it ; his peculiar mode of
delivery was tiresome even when at his best, when he had
his choice of subject and all the latitude he could desire;
but it was especially so on this occasion, when he was cir-
cumscribed to a most monotonous enumeration of every-
thing that entered into the construction of the huge building.
Beginning with the ground on which it stood and going in
systematic order up through it foundation, walls, floors,
doors, windows, to the roof, particularizing even the tim-
bers, nails and bolts, the laths and plaster, the glass and
putty, no detail he could think of was omitted. Each and all
were especially dedicated to their particular purpose and

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 25

use, and the blessing of the Almighty invoked to be and
continue with each of these materials, and with the structure
as a whole. Even to those who believed in dedications, who
were the great majority of those present, the dedicatory
prayer was just a little wearisome and the audience experi-
enced a feeling of relief when it was over and William C.
Dunbar stepped to the front and assisted by the choir and
orchestra, sang ''The Star Spangled Banner."

Brigham Young then made an address on the mission
of the drama and his object in building the theatre, which
avowedly was to furnish innocent and instructive amuse-
ment to the Saints. He inveighed somewhat extravagantly
against tragedy and declared he wouldn't have any trag-
edies or blood-curdling dramas played in this theatre. This
people had seen tragedy enough in real life and there was
no telling the far-reaching and evil effects tragedies on the
stage might have. He strongly opposed, too, the idea of hav-
ing any Gentile actors play in this theatre. We had plenty
of home talent and did not need them.

President Heber C. Kimball followed in a brief address,
strongly supportive of what President Young had said.

Apostle John Taylor then gave a short address ; then
came selections by the orchestra, and more singing by the
choir, and Mr. Dunbar sang another song written by Apos-
tle Taylor for the occasion and set to music by Professor
Thomas.

For the grand finale an anthem written for the occasion
by Eliza R. Snow and set to music also by Professor Thomas
was sung by the choir, accompanied by the orchestra and
and brass band consolidated for the occasion. The solo
parts of the anthem were sung respectively by Mr. Dunbar
and Mrs. Agnes Lynch.

The musical program ended, an announcement was
made that the theatre would be formally opened on Saturday
evening, March the eighth, when the plays of "The Pride
of the Market" and "State Secrets" would be presented.
The people anxiously awaited the opening night. The per-
formance was advertised to begin at 7 o'clock. At 5 o'clock
hundreds were at the doors waiting to get in and before the
time of the beginning every available spot of both seating
and standing room was taken. The prices of admission were
75c for parquette and first circles ; upper galleries 5oc.

The plays, both drama and farce, were capitally acted.
Dunbar's song between the plays, "Bobbin' Around," made

26 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

an immense hit. The merging of the M. D. A. into the D. D.
A. made up a strong company. The roster of the Deseret
Dramatic company as it stood at this opening performance
and the cast of the initial plays cannot fail to be of interest
after a lapse of more than forty-two years and so many of
the original players have passed away.

The members were : Hyrum B. Clawson, John T. Caine,
Managers and both players ; Philip Margetts, David McKen-
zie, William C. Dimbar, John R. Clawson, Henry Maiben,
Jos. Simmons, Horace K. Whitney, Henry E. Bowring, R.
H. Parker, George M. Ottinger, C. R. Savage, George Teas-
dale, Henry McEwan, John Kelly, Richard Mathews, John
D. T. McAllister, Sam Sirrine, Henry Snell, Mrs. Marian
Bowring, Mrs. S. A. Cook, Mrs.<*Woodmansee, Mrs. Mar-
garet Clawson, Mrs. Alice Clawson, Miss Maggie Thomas,
and Miss Sarah Alexander. Of the above-named the
following have passed away: John R. Clawson, Henry
Maiben, Jos. Simmons, H. K. Whitney, Henry McEwan,
John B. Kelly, Richard Mathews, Henry Snell, Mrs. Bow-
ring, Mrs. Alice Clawson, and Mrs. Cook. Bernard Snow
and James Ferguson of Social Hall fame were on the
roster, but not active members ; they too are gone.

The following is the opening bill :

SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 8, 1862.
A Beautiful Comedy in Three Acts,
THE PRIDE OF THE MARKET.

Cast of Characters.

Marquis de Volange John T. Caine

Baron Troptora Henry Maiben

Chevalier De Bellerive Jos. Simmons

Ravannes R. H. Parker

Dubois David McKenzie

Isadore Farine H. B. Clawson

Preval S. D. Sirrine

Servants R. Mathews and Henry Snell

Waiter John B. Kelly

Mille De Volange Mrs. Woodmansee

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 27

Norton (pride of the market) . .Mrs. M. G. Clawson
Comic Song, "Bobbing Around" . . W. C. Dunbar

To Conclude With the Laughable Farce
STATE SECRETS.
Cast of Characters.

Gregory Thimblewell (the tailor of Tarn worth).

H. E. Bowring

Robert (his son) R. H. Parker

Master Hugh Neville S. D. Sirrine

Calverton Hal W. H. Miles

Humphrey Hedgehog Phil Margetts

Maud Thimblewell (tailor's wife).. Mrs. Bowring
Letty Hedgehog (with song) Miss Maggie Thomas

Such was the superb comedy bill with which the Salt
Lake Theatre was auspiciously and successfully launched
into the great dramatic sea on which she has made such a
long and splendid voyoge.

The company played a few other plays between trie
opening date and the I5th of April, catching conference,
which closed the first season of about six weeks' duration.
They gave fifteen performances in this time. The company
during this first short season scarcely found its bearings,
much of the best talent was in the background and it took
time and opportunity to discover it and place it to the best
advantage.

During the first season of the Theatre, Miss Sarah Alex-
ander, in addition to playing many of the soubrette roles,
was the premiere danseuse of the company, and gave exhi-
bitions of her skill in the terpsichorean art between the
plays almost nightly; she was eventually superseded, how-
ever, by Miss "Totty" Clive (a daughter of Mr. Claud
Clive, the costumer), who became so proficient in the art of
dancing that before she was 15 years of age she was
an established favorite with the public, and a feature of the
theatrical entertainments.

28 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER V.

The isolation policy peculiar to the Mormons at this
period, found expression in a discouragement of all Gentiles
(as all non-Mormons were called) and Gentile enterprises
in Utah. This feeling also found expression to some ex-
tent, for a short time in the sphere of the theatre, and it was
boldly announced by some who were close in the councils of
the Mormon chief, that he would have no Gentile actors in
his theatre. A policy which was much more strongly em-
phasized at the time, however, was as to the character of the
plays that should be presented. President Young set his
foot down very firmly against the presentation of any trag-
edies, or plays of tragic character. The people he said had
seen and felt too much of the tragic side of life ; he wanted
them to be amused, and not have their feelings harrowed up
by tragic representations. This policy obtained for a short
time only ; gradually the general growing desire for the high-
er class of plays had to be taken into consideration by the
managers, Clawson and Caine, who were running the house
in the interest of the box office, chiefly, and this initial policy
of the founder of the theatre was gradually abandoned, as
well as the isolation policy which was to debar Gentile actors
from the stage of the Mormon Theatre.

During the summer of '62 the theatre was rushed to
completion. On December 24, '62, the completed theatre was
again formally dedicated and the following night, Christmas,
the Stock Company opened up for a regular winter season
in the "Honeymoon" under the direction and tutorship of
our old Nauvoo favorite, Tom Lyne, who had learned of
the opening of Brigham Young's new theatre, and saw a
chance to renew his acquaintance with his old friends, and
do a little business with them in their new temple of the
drama.

After a lapse of nearly twenty years, during which his
old friends and admirers had completely lost sight of him,
he suddenly "bobs up serenely" at Denver where he had
been playing an engagement with J. S. Langrishe ; from here
he corresponded with Manager Clawson with the result that
he was engaged to come to the Salt Lake Theatre as a tutor
to the company. He was received with great kindness by

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 29

the company and managers, and especially by Brigham
Young, who treated him with marked consideration. He
coached the company and directed several plays for them,
but that was an irksome task for Lyne ; he wanted to face
the public himself. He saw a great opportunity and did not
rest content until he had secured a starring engagement with
the managers.

Accordingly it was not long before the veteran tragedian
(Lyne was now fifty-six) was announced to appear in a
round of favorite characters supported by the Theatre
Stock Company. He opened on January I4th in "Damon"
to a packed house and played in quick succession the charac-
ters of "Richelieu," "Othello," "Richard," "William Tell,"
"Sir Giles Overreach," and Rolla in "Pizarro." In the latter
play he could not expect to have any of the old Nauvoo cast,
especially Brigham Young for the "High Priest," as he
was now reigning as High Priest in reality ; but he found a
very capable successor in the person of George Teasdale,
who since his experience in this part found promotion in
the priestly line until he became one of the chief high priests
of the church and a member of the Twelve. There is cer-
tainly some charm in that character of the "High Priest" in
"Pizarro."

Lyne's engagement was the first one made with any out-
side actor and broke almost in the very start the President's
avowed policy of having no Gentile actors in his theatre. It
was a comparatively easy step, however, as Mr. Lyne was
regarded as almost, and likely to be altogether, one of us
again, which idea, however, proved quite erroneous for Tom
Lyne, after playing several profitable engagements during his
first years in Salt Lake, where he settled down to end his
days, became unnecessarily cynical and bitter against the dom-
inant party ; and especially against the proprietor and man-
agers of the Salt Lake Theatre, when they decided that they
had played him all that was profitable. Lyne's first engage-
ment had "let down the bars," broken the isolation policy to
such an extent that other Gentile actors soon followed. The
truth is that the managers discovered even at that early period
in Salt Lake's theatrical experience that the local Stock Com-
pany could not hold up the interest unaided and alone, es-
pecially after the Lyne engagement had shown the public
the difference between a past master in the art (as Lyne
was), and a company of comparative novices however tal-
ented they might be. Another line of policy which had

30 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

been laid down by the chief of the new amusement bureau
(that he would not have any tragedies nor murder plays per-
formed in the new theatre) was sadly tangled and demoral-
ized, during the very first engagement of an outside actor.
"Virginius" was a favorite part of Mr. Lyne's and it went
on, notwithstanding some discussion and protest, with Mrs.
Alice Clawson (Brigham's prettiest daughter) as Virginia.
When Virginius thrust the death dealing butcher knife which
he purloins from the neighboring butcher stall into the trust-
ing bosom of the fair Virginia, exclaiming "It is to save thine
honor," the Rubicon was crossed — the leap was taken, and the
second cherished whim of the chief promoter of amusements
for the Saints was shattered; it fell a sacrifice to a worldly
"box office" policy ; and significant to relate, his favorite
daughter Alice was made the principal accessory to this dis-
regard of his desires and counsel.

The step once taken could not be retraced. Mr. Lyne's
"Virginius" like his "Damon" and "Richelieu" proved very
popular, and justified several repetitions. It was found
that tragedy had its votaries quite as numerous as those of the
Comic Muse ; and there were no more protests either against
the Gentile actors or the tragic plays, for the varied tastes of
theatre patrons had to be considered and from this time on
"box office" considerations wholly dictated the managerial
policy of the Salt Lake Theatre.

During the early days of the Salt Lake Theatre, that is
to say, the first short season of 1862 and part of the season
of '62-3, the company was somewhat handicapped by the lack
of a competent "leading lady." Mrs. Wheelock and Mrs.
Tuckett, the two leading actresses of the Social Hall days,
had both left the Territory for California, and this left the
D. D. A. weak in this respect. The comedy roles were well
represented in the persons of Mrs. Margaret Clawson, Miss
Sarah Alexander, Miss Maggie Thomas, and the character
parts and old women by Mrs. Sarah Cook. Mrs. Marian
Bowring was good in heavies, while pretty Alice Clawson
could make good in a walking lady or light juvenile but they
were short a "leading" woman. In the classic plays which
Lyne put on : "Virginius," "Damon and Pythias," "Rich-
elieu," etc., (Mrs. Alice Clawson was cast for the leading ju-
venile roles ; she filled all the requirements so far as looks
were concerned, but was not at all convincing where any im-
passioned acting was required) the popular verdict was
"She's pretty, but can't act." Soon the managers discovered

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 31

a very talented and promising actress to fill the place,
in one Mrs. Lydia Gibson. Lydia was the young
and pretty wife of Elder William Gibson, who had recently
converted Lydia to the Mormon faith in the old country and
brought her to Salt Lake and prevailed on her to become
Mrs. Gibson number two. She was a very lovely woman
and when she made her advent into the dramatic company
soon became a general favorite both with the company and
the public, and more than one fellow experienced a pang of
envy when he learned she was the wife of Elder Gibson, a
man old enough to be her father. Mrs. Gibson remained in
the company only two seasons, long enough to establish her-
self thoroughly in the affections of everybody, when she
sickened and shortly after died. She was buried in Brigham
Young's private burying ground near where the prophet him-
self is buried. The entire dramatic company and many of
the community followed her to her last resting place with
every evidence of genuine sorrow. Her dramatic career
was brief but brilliant.

There had been some trouble on the male side of the
cast also. On Lyne's first appearance — the part of "Pythias"
was cast to the old Social Hall favorite "Jim" Ferguson —
he had played the part with Snow in the Social Hall and was
"accounted a good actor;" but on this particular occasion,
one of no small importance, being his first appearance at the
Salt Lake Theatre as well as the first appearance of Mr.
Lyne, Mr. Ferguson did not win fresh laurels. No
doubt the fact of appearing alongside of a verteran
like Lyne, made "Jim" more or less nervous. Somehow he
did not "screw his courage to the sticking place," whether
from nervousness or other causes, and failed to give a satis-
factory performance of the part ; he was over-excited, and the
Calanthe complained that he was too realistic. He terrified
the soldiers of Dionysius to such a degree that they wanted to
desert, and Mr. Lyne declared he was the most vigorous
Pythias who had ever played with him, but he could nof re-
ly on him ; his stage business was so eccentric and uncertain.
"Jim" thought he was making a great hit, but the managers
decided to make a change. At the following performance
the character was essayed by Mr. John R. Clawson, who if
not so brilliant as Ferguson, proved to be less erratic and
more steady and reliable.

Ferguson never again appeared on the stage but devoted
his brilliant talents to his paper, The Mountaineer, and the

32 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

practice of the law. John T. Caine was now nominally the
leading man of the theatre. He had played with stately dig-
nity the parts of "Dionysius" in "Damon and Pythias" and
"Pizarro" to Lyne's "Rolla," and before the season was over
a number of leading characters in plays such as "Eustace
Baudin," "Senor Valiente," "Serious Family," "All That
Glitters," etc.

Each of Lyne's characters was played twice or three
times, and went far toward filling up the season as the com-
pany played but two nights in the week. The Stock Com-
pany filled out the season of '62-63 which closed after the
April conference, '63. Soon after the opening season of
'63 and '64, the Irwins were engaged, and opening on No-
vember 4th played the entire season till April loth, 1864.

When the Irwin engagement began, November 4th,
1863, this put Mr. Selden Irwin in all the leading parts. Ear-
ly during this engagement Mr. David McKenzie, who had
already scored a success in "old man" parts, came strongly to
the front in the play of "Evadne" in which he was cast for
the part of "Colonno," a character of the "Hotspur" type.
He made a distinct and pronounced hit in this
character, fairly dividing honors with Irwin, who played
"Ludovico," a character of the "lago" type, and second only
to that "great villain," perhaps, in the whole range of the
drama. This performance brought McKenzie conspicu-
ously to the front so that he was promoted to the leading
position and held it with public approval for a number of
years.

A year or so ago a "write up" article in "Munsey"
claimed for George B. Waldron the distinction of being the
first Gentile actor to play in the Mormon theatre. How far
astray from the historical record the writer was can be
gleaned from the foregoing facts, and those which are to
follow.

Mr. Lyne's first engagement lasted into March, close
up to the April Conference, when a season of stock work
was resumed with some special attraction in the way of
spectacular effects for the conference season. It was the
custom during the first regular season to play but two nights
a week — Tuesdays and Saturdays — the other evenings
of the week being devoted to the necessary rehearsals, as it
was impracticable to get the company together in the day-
time for that purpose, as they all had other occupations
which demanded their attention. Each play was given

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 33

twice, this was the r*ule ; it was the exception when a piece
ran three nights in succession. It was the custom to put up
a new bill each week, so this gave the company about a week
to get up in a new play and a new farce ; with their daily
occupations to attend to as well. Actors today would con-
sider it a task to get up in a new play and a farce each
week with nothing else to attend to. It will readily be
understood from this statement that the original stock com-
pany of the Salt Lake Theatre had no sinecure, or "soft
snap," to phrase it in the present vernacular, especially when
it is made known that during all this season there was
no such thing as salary attached to their positions. They
were all working for honor and glory, and to help Brother
Brigham pay for the theatre; but there was no grumbling;
all went merry as a peal of wedding bells for "the labor we
delight in physics pain," and the first regular season of
the Salt Lake Theatre closed after the April Conference,
1863, with a good financial showing, much of the indebted-
ness on the building have been wiped out, and everything in
good shape for the ensuing season.

This first long season's work had to a great extent dis-
closed the respective merits of the various members of the
company, so that a number of changes were wrought out,
some members gaining promotions in accordance with pub-
lic voice and approbation.

During the summer of 1863, the interior decorations
of the theatre were completed and preparations were made
for opening the season of '63 and '64 — a little in advance
of the October Conference, which always brings the people
in even from the remotest settlements, and consequently
makes a great harvest for the theatre. The stock company
opened up the season without any assistance from the "Gen-
tile" dramatic world — no second star had as yet appeared
on our dramatic horizon. Some additional interest, however,
was lent to the stock company by the accession to its ranks
of two new members, who had been selected from an ama-
teur club called the "Thespians," whose performances, given
in a little crib, popularly known as "Cromie's Show," so
designated because the manager, "Jimmy" Thompson, had
acquired the nickname of "Cromie" from an excellent per-
formance he gave of that character in the farce of Betsy
Baker.

The new accessions were John S. Lindsay and James
M. Hardie, whom the theatre managers had picked from the

34 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

ranks of the young "Thespians" as being of promise and
worthy a place in the big theatre. The company presented
a number of comedy dramas ; did the usual S. R. O. busi-
ness during the October Conference and played well on into
the month of November, when 'The Irwins" were engaged
as stock stars for the remainder of the season. This en-
gagement proved to be a wise move on the part of the man-
agement, for the strain on the stock company was becoming
apparent, and it is questionable whether they could have
held the public interest with them throughout the season ;
so the Irwins were welcomed by both the company and the
patrons of the theatre. Selden Irwin (or as he was famil-
iarly called "Sel") was at this time in the very flush of
manhood, full of life and ambition, with a plethora of good
looks and activity. He was essentially a dashing actor, and
pleased the public immensely. Mrs. Irwin was even more
of a favorite than "Sel." If not great, she was very versa-
tile, and they gave Salt Lakers a series of plays of very
great variety, embracing classic tragedy, comedy and farce.
Everything from "Camille" and the "Lady of Lyons" to
"That Rascal Pat" and "In and Out of Place." With Mr.
and Mrs. Irwin was Harry Rainforth, a boy of sixteen years,
a son of Mrs. Irwin by a former marriage, who in after years
became a well-known manager, being a partner with Bob
Miles in the Grand Opera House at Cincinnati. Harry was
quite an actor as a boy, and helped out the cast on several
occasions ; his most conspicuous effort, however, was Lord
Dundreary in "Our American Cousin," which was put up to
give "Sel" a chance at "Asa Trenchard." It is not of rec-
ord that Harry ever became a formidable rival of Sothern's
in this part, but on this occasion he filled the role very ac-
ceptably.

The Irwins remained as stock stars to the end of the
season, which came to a close after the April Conference,
1864. They were well liked by the Utahns, and came back
for a short starring engagement the season of '66, after mak-
ing a tour of Idaho and Montana with a small road com-
pany. The Irwin engagement inaugurated the three night
performances a week and Saturday matinees. This increased
the work of the company to such an extent that they had
to neglect to a greater or less degree their regular business,
that on which they depended for their living, for it must
be understood that there was no compensation attached,
beyond the honor of acting in the Salt Lake Theatre. So

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 35

there began to be some dissatisfaction with this part of
the business, and complaints from some that they were neg-
lecting their business for the theatre and ought to be made
good, so it was arranged near the end of the season to give
two benefit performances — one for the gentlemen and tne
other for the ladies of the company, and then divide the
results pro rata among the members of the company. This
scheme was carried out and served to conciliate the players
and smooth the way to another season's work for the man-
agers.

The writer at this time was probably the youngest mem-
ber of the company and had attained but little prominence,
hence his "divvy" was a very modest one, yet quite accept-
able, as it was unexpected. The following autograph letter
of Brigham Young's will show the method adopted by the
management to carry on the business and make the com-
pany contribute liberally to the building of the theatre :

SALT LAKE CITY, April i5th, 1864.
Mr. John S. Lindsay.

DEAR BROTHER : — Inclosed please find Twenty Dollars,
being amount assigned you out of the proceeds of the Benefit
recently given at the theatre.

Appreciating your faithful services, and the alacrity
with which you have contributed to our" amusement during
the past season, I pray God to bless you, and increase your
ability to do good.

Your brother in the Gospel,

BRIGHAM YOUNG.

This plan served to keep the company in a contented
mood, and was repeated at the close of the following sea-
son with like result.

The writer had made some progress in the company, ana
at the next benefit got seventy-five dollars for his pro rata;
this was less than a dollar a performance during the season
of seven months, but then we were doing good missionary
work, in the way of amusing the people, and this company
were engaged in a labor they delighted in ; while they were
assisting in a great measure to pay for the great Thespian
temple in which they were performing, they were enjoying
the labor immensely and gave the same enthusiastic efforts
to it they would have done to a mission, had they been
called to go and preach the gospel. Moreover, they were

36 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

gaining an experience in art that would have been perhaps
impossible for them, had not this splendid theatre been
erected in the home of the Saints. Brigham Young's com-
prehensive mind had grasped the advantage to his people
of blending art with religion, and relieving the monotony
of arduous pioneer toil with innocent and refreshing amuse-
ments.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 37

CHAPTER VI.

SEASON OF '64-6$.

A Metropolitan Theatre in the Wilderness.

The Salt Lake Theatre was a source of wonder and ad-
miration to all strangers visiting it. Considering the time
and the place of its erection, the isolated condition of the
people, the meagre facilities within reach for so big a pro-
ject, the quadrupled cost of everything that had to be im-
ported, such as glass, nails, paints, cloth for scenery and
everything in the shape of decorations, it was then, and
remains today, a, monument to the liberality, foresight and
enterprise of Brigham Young. Since its erection, forty-
three years ago, theatrical architecture has been vastly
improved, and in many respects the Salt Lake Theatre is
old-fashioned, but few theatres in the country, with all the
improvements which have been introduced, surpass it in
point of comfort and convenience, especially behind the
curtain. When it is considered that not only the architec-
tural designs, the mechanical construction, but all the in-
terior decorations and the scene-painting was done by local
talent, it speaks highly for the artistic and mechanical skill
that was centered in Salt Lake even at that early period of
its history. William H. Folsom was the architect and per-
sonally superintended its construction. He was also the
architect of the big Tabernacle with its turtle-shaped roof
spanning a stretch of 150 feet without a supporting column.
The first installment of scenery was painted by W. V. Mor-
ris and George M. Ottinger, both clever artists, and with
their assistants they gave the theatre stage a very nice in-
vestiture in the way of scenery. As the seasons rolled
around the scock of scenery was continuously growing, for
every new play had to have something done for it in the way
of scenery, so that the painters were always working, and
as a consequence the Salt Lake Theatre has probably a
larger stock of scenery than any theatre in the country. The
same may be said in regard to the stage properties.
"Charley" Millard was the property man, and Charley could

38 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

manufacture anything in the shape of a "prop" from a throne
chair to a cuspidor, from a papier mache cannon to a fire-
cracker, from a basket horse to a baby ; so that in the course
of a dozen years the property room became a veritable mu-
seum, an "old curiosity shop" well worth an hour of any-
body's time to examine.

There was a wardrobe department, which was equal
in importance if not superior to the scenic arid property de-
partments. This was presided over by Mr. Claud Clive, an
expert tailor, who with his assistants, manufactured all the
costumes for the male characters of the plays, while the
female costume department was presided over by Mrs.
Marion Bowring. Mr. Robert Neslen had general charge of
the costume and wig department, and dispensed the neces-
sary apparel and wigs to the company. There was also a
tonsorial artist connected with the house, who was always
there to curl a wig or put it on in good shape for the
actors who needed such assistance. John Squires was the
tonsorial artist — he was a busy man in those days. He
had his shop in a little adobe house that stood directly op-
posite the "President's Office" on the lot where the Amelia
Palace was afterwards erected. John was the President's
barber, and had a large run of custom from the church and
tithing offices, besides nearly all the actors patronized him,
so that he was a prosperous man in the community. He
continued to shave his share of the people up to within a
recent date, when he was obliged to retire ; "age with his
stealing steps had clawed him in his clutch," so this knight
of the razor was reluctantly compelled to lay down the im-
plements of tonsorial art, the strong steady hand that once
could clean a man's cheek in about three strokes had grown
weak and tremulous, and but recently he passed peacefully
away to that better land where it is to be hoped there is no
shaving or need of hair-dye. His place is amply filled,
however, for John has a numerous progeny — and all his sons
and grandsons, so far as we know them, are barbers. Here
we find a true touch of heredity.

After such a brilliant and successful season as the
Irwins had just concluded, it seemed like a daring venture
to open up the ensuing season with the stock company un-
assisted by the strength of a star; but notwithstanding this
seeming riskiness, the managers did not wait for the en-
suing season, but bravely ushered in a supplemental season
on May I4th. Only five weeks after the Irwins had closed

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 39

their long and brilliant run, the stock were hard at it
again, notwithstanding the summer days were come; they
kept going till the i8th of June, when the "veteran trage-
dian" (Lyne, at the time 58 years of age) was engaged
to reinforce the stock, and add to the box office receipts.
He opened this, his second star engagement, on June 25th
and played up to July i6th. He repeated all his former
triumphs and achieved some new ones, notably in "Sir Giles
Overreach" in "A New Way to Pay Old Debts."

In the meantime a new star had appeared in our dra-
matic horizon ; by the time Lyne had closed his engagement,
it was in our ascendant, astrologically speaking, and by the
time it had reached our zenith, or midheaven, it had shed
another halo over the Salt Lake Theatre and the drama in
Utah. This bright particular star was George Pauncefort.
"He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one," an actor of
rare and varied accomplishments, and proved to be an in-
valuable instructor and model for the company. Under his
leadership a great progress was made. Pauncefort was an
English actor, who had acquired considerable celebrity on
the London stage. He was a married actor, and his wife
and several daughters, at the time of which I am writing,
were quite popular on the stage, and their names appeared
frequently in the London casts. Pauncefort came to the
United States as early as 1858. He was the original "Ar-
mand Duval" in "Camille," when Matilda Heron first pro-
duced that play in New York. After his New York engage-
ment, Pauncefort drifted West, and in 1864 came to Salt
Lake for a brief engagement of a week or two. He had
just concluded a stellar engagement with Jack Langrishe
at Denver. Denver at that time was not so large as Salt
Lake City, nor could it boast anything like so good a theatre.
The great overland road had not been projected at this
time, and people crossing the country from Denver to Salt
Lake or San Francisco were obliged "to stage it," or travel
with private conveyances. So George had to stage it, not a
difficult thing for an actor to do. He was accompanied by
Mrs. Florence Bell — who was featured with him as co-star
during his first engagement. He opened on July 2Oth, 1864,
just four nights after Lyne closed, in "The Romance of a
Poor Young Man," in the character of "Manuel," Mrs. Bell
playing "Marguerite." Pauncefort's "Manuel" made a great
hit, and stamped him at once as an actor of superior parts.
It was a new awakening. His style was so different from

40 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

anything we had seen, either in Lyne or Irwin. Mrs. Bell,
however, fell as far below public expectation as Paunce-
fort went above it. She was not the equal of our own
leading lady, Mrs. Gibson — who in consequence of this
engagement had to be retired from the leading roles, and
bear with what grace she might to see an inferior actress
usurping her place. The popular verdict was all in Mrs.
Gibson's favor. Mrs. Bell was a pretty woman, but a very
mediocre actress. The management would gladly have re-
tired the lady after the first performance, but there was a
contract, and she was allowed to play the leads in several
plays, during this engagement. Pauncefort played until
September 3Oth, when the season closed.

It no doubt cost the princely George a pang to realize
that Mrs. Bell had not made a favorable impression with
the public, as he had featured her on the bills. She had
found great favor in his eyes, if not so fortunate in gaining
the public favor. Their admiration was mutual and so ap-
parent that it was frowned upon by "the powers that be."
George was given plainly to understand that although Mor-
mons believed in and practiced polygamy, they drew the line
in morals at promiscuity, and he could not continue his pres-
ent intimate relations with Mrs. Bell and his engagement at
the Salt Lake Theatre. George took the hint and severed
the "entangling alliance;" all the easier, no doubt, as Mr.
Bell had come closely on their heels from Denver. Bell was
a good cornet player, and secured an engagement in the
Theatre Orchestra, where he played until the end of the
Pauncefort season, and then drifted off to Montana, "taking
the fair Desdemona along with him."

That the Bell alliance worked to Pauncefort's injury
there is no question. President Young took great offense
at it, and never attended the theatre during Pauncefort's
engagement after the opening performances, when he be-
came apprised of the intimacy existing between George and
Florence. On Brigham's first visit to the theatre after the
Pauncefort season, the writer met him on the stage near his
box and took occasion to express his pleasure at seeing him
occupy his accustomed seat after so long an absence, re-
marking, "It is a long time since you were here, President
Young." "Yes," he replied. "I told John T. and Hyrum
(the managers of the house) that I would not come into
the theatre while that man Pauncefort was here." This
showed how strong a prejudice he had conceived against

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 41

Pauncefort — and notwithstanding the very favorable impres-
sion his acting had made, it was quite a long time, nearly
four months, before he again appeared.

The Lyne and Pauncefort engagement following each
other in such close succession and in an extra season, and
that season a mid-summer one, had given the theatre-going
public a very gratifying sufficiency of theatricals, and conse-
quently it was not thought advisable to open the theatre
again until the ensuing October Conference; so the house
was closed up for a period of five weeks and reopened on
the 5th of October, just in time to catch the Conference
gatherings. Although both Lyne and Pauncefort were in
the vicinity, neither of them were engaged until after the
Conference dates were passed. The management could rely
on full houses during the Conference and could not see the
policy of sharing up the profits with a star when the stock
company could fill the house to its capacity. The Confer-
ence over, the following week T. A. Lyne opened his third
engagement and played up to the loth of December; a very
long engagement, lasting eight weeks. Pauncefort should
naturally, according to all professional ways of looking at
it, have filled this time ; and no doubt would have had the
preference over Lyne if the managers had not been handi-
capped by the strong prejudice of the "President" against
this actor ; for he was the newer and more attractive star.
Lyne had already played two long engagements and ex-
hausted his repertoire, besides Pauncefort had introduced
us to a more modern and popular school, and from financial
considerations alone, any manager would have given him
the preference, but he did not get back into the theatre for a
second engagement until after Lyne had played everything
he knew ; still he lingered in the vicinity. He went out
through the provinces — played smaller towns, such as
Springville and Provo, with their home companies — and dab-
bled in merchandising, shipping fruit to Montana; it was
bringing big prices just then. On the I7th of December,
1864, George Pauncefort began his second engagement in
"A Bachelor of Arts" and "Black-Eyed Susan." It was dur-
ing this engagement that "Hamlet" and "Macbeth" had
their initial performances in the Salt Lake Theatre. Both
of these plays were marked events in the history of the
theatre, more particularly "Macbeth," which called into re-
quisition the Tabernacle choir to play the witches and sing

42 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE,

the music of the play, which was ably conducted by Prof.
C. J. Thomas.

"Macbeth" was the last play of this engagement and
closed the second Pauncefort season on January 7th, 1865 —
a brief season of three weeks — after waiting around about
four months. Why this engagement ended so suddenly in
the very height of its brilliancy is somewhat puzzling to un-
derstand, as there was no other star to follow, and the stock
company played unassisted by any stellar attraction up till
May 2Oth, which closed the season of '64 and '65.

Pauncefort shortly after the closing of his engagement
went to San Francisco, where he remained for more than
two years — playing there at intervals.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 43

CHAPTER VII.

SEASON '65 AND '66.

The next star to appear at the Mormon theatre was
Julia Dean Hayne, and a brilliant one she proved to be.
She created on her first appearance an impression that was
profound and lasting, and each additional character she ap-
peared in only served to strengthen her hold on the admira-
tion and affection of her audiences.

The advent of such a well-known and popular actress
into the heart of the Rocky Mountain region at such a time,
years before the completion of the overland railroad, had in
it a rich tinge of romance and wild managerial venture.
Julia Dean came to Salt Lake City under the management
and in the dramatic company of the veteran Western man-
ager, John S. Potter. Some time prior to this she had gone
to San Francisco from New York by way of the Isthmus,
had played a successful engagement there, and being "at
liberty" after it was over, Mr. Potter, who was an old ac-
quaintance of Mrs. Hayne, made her a proposition to or-
ganize a company and play her through the principal towns
of California. This was done, and after the state had been
pretty thoroughly toured, the fair Julia appearing in many
places that had very "queer" theatres, the tour was extended
through the cities of Oregon and then through the sparsely
inhabited territories of Montana, Idaho and Utah, finally
arriving in Salt Lake July 26th, 1865, on a regular old-time
stage coach, a tired and jaded-looking party. There was in
this company John S. Potter, manager (then a man of sixty
or more), Julia Deane Hayne (the star), George B. Waldron
(leading man), Mr. and Mrs. O. F. Leslie (juveniles), Mr.
A. K. Mortimer (heavies), Charles Graham (comedian).
Mr. Potter himself played the "old man" parts, Miss Belle
Douglas playing characters and old woman parts, and "Jim-
mie" Martin, property man and filling-in parts. The fame
of Brigham Young's theatre had reached them in their trav-
els, and they had traveled many miles to get the opportunity
of playing in it. A week's engagement was soon effected,
and on August nth, 1865, "The Potter Company" with

44 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Julia Dean Hayne as the stellar character, opened up in the
play of "Camille." They were received by a packed, house,
and with every demonstration of welcome and approbation.
Mrs. Hayne, who was no longer girlish in face and figure
but a mature woman, verging on towards the "fair, fat and
forty" period, was nevertheless so exquisitely beautiful and
girlish-looking when made up for "Camille" or "Julia" in
the "Hunchback," that everybody sang her praises. The
entire community seemed to have fallen irresistibly in love
with the new star, and henceforward she had fair wind and
smooth sailing while her lot lay cast among the Saints.
While the Potter Company were playing in the theatre, sup-
porting Mrs. Hayne, the stock company were of course get-
ting a needed rest, but their salaries ( ?) were going on as
usual, and the management could not well afford to have
two companies on its hands, so after the first week, the
novelty being over, the Potter company were let out, and the
regular company reinstalled. The Potter Company, how-
ever, had lost its "star;" the theatre managers had effected
an engagement with Julia Dean to remain with them for
the rest of the season as stock star with George B. Waldron,
also to play her leading support, and direct the staging of
her plays.

This proved a severe blow to the Potter Company, who
now had no place to play in in Salt Lake and could not well
take to the road again, having lost their principal attraction.
Potter had not expected to have been so soon supplanted.
He came to Salt Lake, expecting to find a company of ama-
teurs, and thought no doubt the managers would be glad to
supplant them, at least for a good long season, with the
Potter Company and its distinguished star. Outside of Mrs.
Hayne and Mr. Waldron, however, the Salt Lake Company
was much more numerous, talented and capable than the
Potter Company. It took but one or two performances for
the managers to discover this, and they hastened to make
the arrangements with Julia Dean and Mr. Waldron and
to reinstate their own company.

Poor Potter and his remaning company were in a sorry
strait. Their overland jaunt, through Oregon, Montana and
Idaho, had not been very lucrative, and now they were
out in the fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains, a thousand
miles from any metropolis with a theatre, and no railroad
to get away on ; nothing but the overland coach. Potter
was a resourceful manager, however; he was not easily

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 45

daunted; with him Richmond's admonition to his army was
ever present. "True hope never tires, but mounts on eagle's
wings. Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures
kings." He found in "Tom" Lyne an old acquaintance, and
a strong ally. Lyne was by this time disgruntled and dis-
satisfied with the theatrical outlook in Salt Lake ; he was
not getting any more the plaudits and the "star's" share oi
the receipts. He wanted some place to play in. So he in-
spired Potter with the notion of building an opposition
theatre to that "monopoly" of Brigham Young's. Potter
drank in Lyne's inspiration fervidly. The idea took a fran-
tic possession of him, and plans were at once devised for get-
ting up anothe^j house as speedily as possible, for the season
was advancing and if the project was not hurried the Pot-
ter company would be scattered beyond all recovery. So it
was decided to erect a cheap frame building, and push it
to completion as rapidly as possible. This decision served to
keep the Potter Company in Salt Lake, as they all had faith
in the scheme, and faith in themselves that they could win
out. They argued that by the time the new play-house
was ready to open that Julia Dean and Waldron would be
played out at the Salt Lake Theatre, and something, new
would catch the people. Poor, deluded actors, they did not
know the people of Salt Lake ; they knew them better after.
How much money Mr. Lyne put into this scheme the writer
never could learn from him, but I opine it was very little.
He, however, secured the building site, by some kind of a
deal with "Tommy" Bullock. It was about where Din-
woodey's furniture store now stands. Potter had little or no
money with which to start such an enterprise, so Lyne in-
troduced Mr. Potter to such of the merchants and lumber-
men as he wanted to do business with. Potter played a
bold game, and really accomplished a great feat in the build-
ing of this theatre. He got from sixty to ninety days' credit
for everything nearly that went into the construction of the
building. It was a cheap affair ; built of poles, hewn to an
even size and placed in the ground like fence posts ; then
boarded on both sides with rough boards, the space between
the inside and outside boarding being filled in with sawdust
and refuse tan bark from the tanneries, to make the building
warm. The place was about half the size of the Salt Lake
Theatre ; that is, it had about half the seating capacity and a
stage about one-fourth the size of the theatre. The struc-
ture, including the lease of ground, cost about $7,000. It

46 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

was put up in about thirty days, so that Potter had a month's
more time in which to pay for the bulk of the material, but
the merchants and laborers who did the building were wor-
rying his life out long before he got it going, for their money.
He proved to be an expert at "standing off" his creditors,
however, so by hook and crook he got the building com-
pleted, his company reorganized, and the theatre started.
Some very amusing stories were related of him at the time ;
how he would cajole and stuff with promises the dissatis-
fied workmen as to what he would do as soon as he got the
house open. One man went to him with the sorrowful story
that his landlady had refused to credit him any longer, and
he must have money to pay his board and lodgings. Potter
looked at him pityingly, and expressed his regret that he
could do nothing for him till he got the theatre going. "It
will soon be finished now ; tell your landlady this, and if this
will not appease her, change your boarding house." To
such like desperate shifts and subterfuges was he obliged to
resort to keep the men at work, doling them out a few dol-
lars at a time, when they became unmanageable or threat-
ened to quit. Eventually the house was ready for opening
and "Tom" Lyne had to have the first "whack" at the new
box office receipts.

With woeful shortsightedness they put up for the open-
ing, "Damon and Pythias," with Lyne starred as "Damon,"
a character he had already played three or four times at the
other theatre. Lyne probably thought, however, with Rich-
ard that "the king's name is a tower of strength, which
they on the adverse faction want." Such did not prove to
be the case, however, as the "adverse faction" having in view
the opening of the opposition house, put on a strong new
bill with Mrs. Hayne in a new and powerful character, so
that there was no apparent diminution of patronage, and the
Salt Lake Theatre kept on the even tenor of its way "wtth
not a downy feather ruffled by its fierceness." Potter and
Lyne had succeeded in getting "Jim" Hardie away from the
other house by offering him the part of Pythias and a larger
salary than he was getting at the older house. "Jim" at this
time was the youngest actor in the Salt Lake Theatre com-
pany, and had not yet made much advancement ; he was
ambitious, however, and this opportunity to play "Pythias"
to Lyne's "Damon" was very alluring to him, so he deserted
the ranks of the D. D. A. and allied himself with Lyne-Pot-
ter, et al., with what poor judgment the sequel will show.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 47

The new theatre was christened "The Academy of
Music," with what reason or consistency no one could ever
conceive, unless it was to give it a big sounding name, to
allure the unwary, for it was as utterly unlike an Academy
of Music as anything could be.

On the opening night, the novelty of the new theatre
opening, and curiosity to see the Academy and Mr. Lyne
with his new support, sufficed to draw a fairly full house.

Several amusing incidents transpired on that eventful
evening. First and most laughable was the following :
"Jim" Hardie had a brother-in-law named "Pat" Lynch.
Pat had been clerk of the district court for a number of years
and was well known for a big-hearted, generous man, his
greatest fault being that he would indulge occasionally too
freely in the ardent. "Pat" had loaned "Jim" ten dollars to
help him get a costume for "Pythias" — the Academy had no
wardrobe department and "Jim" could not with any grace at-
tempt to borrow one from the Salt Lake Theatre. It would
appear he had promised to get an advance as soon as the
box office had begun to take in money, and Pat nad ex-
pected the return of his money that day ; at all events, he
was present at the play, occupying a front seat in the par-
quette. He had been indulging freely, and his sight was not
so clear as usual; besides, he had the character of Pythias
and Dionysius mixed in his imagination. Mr. Potter was
playing Dionysius, and as he strode on at the rise of the
curtain and began to speak, Pat mistook him for Hardie and
bawled out at the top of his voice, "See here, Dionysius,
where's that ten dollars you owe me?" Potter was filled
with consternation; Pat's friends who were with him suc-
ceeded in quieting him and Potter made another start, this
time without interruption. Pat had discovered his mistake,
that he had dunned the wrong man, and it took but little
persuasion to get him to leave the theatre. Hardie, behind
the scenes waiting for his entrance, and fearing a second
explosion when he should make his appearance, was im-
mensely relieved to see from the side wings Pat's compan-
ions lead him up the aisle and out of the theatre. Potter, not
aware but what it was one of his numerous creditors dun-
ning him, when he made his first exit, threw up his hands in
dismay, and said to Lyne in the wings: "My G — d, they
won't give me any peace ! Even dunning me from the
audience." When Lyne, who had caught the truth of the
matter, explained to him, he was greatly relieved.

48 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Another amusing incident, and one which nearly
wrecked the scene, was furnished by the little girl they had
for Damon's boy. It has never been a difficult task to find in
Salt Lake a pretty and clever child to play the child's part in
this or any other play. On this occasion, the selection was
probably limited to a small circle, owing to the feeling en-
gendered by this oppositon to the favorite theatre ; at all
events, the "Damon's" child of the occasion was an uncul-
tured looking little miss of about six years ; she was so dark
and tawny-looking that she might have had Indian blood
in her veins, and certainly she had a touch of the obduracy
and stolidness that characterize that race; Belle Douglass
was the "Hermion" of the occasion, and she was obliged to
improvise and speak most of the child's lines for her ; when
"Damon" came on for the farewell interview with his be-
loved "Hermion" and his darling boy, he strove in vain to
get a response from his young hopeful ; the child had become
thoroughly nervous, and seemed apprehensive of some dan-
ger— and when "Damon" interrogated her, "What wouldst
thou be, my boy?" instead of the cheerful response, "A sol-
dier, father," there came only a frightened look, and the
child put its finger in its nostril, and swayed to and fro, as
if she would say, but dare not, "I want to go home," Miss
Douglass, annoyed, pulled the little hand down testily from
the child's nose, and "Damon" repeated the question, "What
wouldst thou be, my boy?" No answer, but up went the
finger again to the nose. "Hermion" again pulled down the
hand, and rather harshly demanded, "Come, say, what
wouldst thou be, my boy?" The child by this time was
nearly terrified, and only repeated the nose business with
more emphasis — and began to cry — and "Damon" utterly
disgusted with his youthful prodigy, hurried him off to pluck
the flower of welcome for him. The child's queer action of
sticking its finger up its nose sent the house almost into con-
vulsions of laughter, and came near converting one of the
greatest scenes of the play into a burlesque. Lyne played
all the other plays in his repertoire in rather rapid succes-
sion, as the aim was to keep the Academy open every night
(except Sundays) and as each play would bear but one repe-
tition, this repertoire was soon exhausted, and as there was
no other "star" in the Utah firmament to fill the place, the
Academy went into a rapid decline. As the business had
not proved to be what the promoter and manager had cal-
culated on, Potter was daily besieged by creditors, until the

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 49

poor man was almost driven frantic. The heavy creditors,
those who had furnished material on sixty days' time, now
began to grow troublesome, and one attachment after an-
other followed, until the house fell into the hands of the
sheriff — and Brigham Young, through T. B. H. Stenhouse,
as agent, made a deal by which the property came into his
hands. He soon put a force of men to work who tore it
down, hauled it away and fenced a farm with it.

Such in brief is the history of Potter's Academy of
Music. The merchants and lumbermen who had given Pot-
ter such liberal credit were now sadder but wiser men.

Potter got away as soon as possible, for matters were
very pressing and unpleasant for him. His company drifted
off in various directions, except Belle Douglass, who got
married to Captain Clipperton and settled down in Salt Lake,
and after a while got into the Salt Lake Theatre. Hardie
also got back after a time, long enough for him to become
repentant and express his regrets for what he had done.

The season, by the time the Academy's brief career had
ended, was well advanced into the spring. Julia Dean Hayne
had not only not played out, but had steadily grown in the
affection of the people. Mr. Waldron continued to toe a
favorite also ; but Julia Dean was the bright particular star
whose effulgence can never be effaced from the memorfes
of those who attended her performances during that mem-
orable engagement. She received many marks of personal
favor from President Brigham Young ; indeed, it was cur-
rent gossip that the President was very much enamored
of the fair Julia and had offered to make her Mrs. Young
number twenty-one. How much, if any, truth there was in
this gossip will perhaps never be known ; the fact that Brig-
ham did pay her unusual attention and gave several parties
in her honor and had a fine sleigh built which he named
the Julia Dean was quite enough to set the people talking.
The probability is that the President was very much charmed
with her, and sought to win her to the Mormon faith ; had
he succeeded in this, he might then have felt encouraged
to go a step further and win her to himself, for in spite
of his already numerous matrimonial alliances, he did not
consider himself ineligible. The fair Julia was not ineligible,
either, for she was divorced from her husband, Dr. Hayne,
the son of a "favorite son" of South Carolina. Speculation
was rife, and much surprise and wonder was excited in cer-
tain quarters that President Young should go out of his way

4

50 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

to show more marked attention to an actress than he had
ever shown to any of his wives ; but he was bent on getting
Julia into the fold ; once there, he could have played the good
shepherd, and have secured her an exaltation. She had an-
other man in her eye. One she had set her heart upon, too.
"As hers on him, so his was set on her, but how they met
and wooed and made exchange of vows I'll tell thee as we
pass."

James G. Cooper was at this particular time secretary of
the territory of Utah — an appointee of the United States
government. He was a cavalierly man of southern birth
and breeding — tall and handsome, and of courtly bearing, a
great lover of the theatre. He was never known to miss a
performance during Julia Dean's engagement. He was one
of the most enthusiastic admirers she had ; night after night,
all the season through, he sat in front, nearly always in the
same seat, and with eyes aglow and ears alert, he seemed to
absorb every tone of her voice and catch, every gleam of
her eyes — her every move was to him a thrill of rapture.
Out of her thousands of admirers he was the most de-
voted worshipper at her shrine. Up to a certain time he
worshipped in silence as if she were a deity. Chance had
made them neighbors : the secretary's office and Mrs.
Hayne's apartments were in adjoining houses, and it was not
long before an acquaintanceship was formed which rapidly
grew into a friendship and friendship soon ripened into love.

These lovers were discreet, however. Many happy
hours they passed in each other's company, but they did
not parade their love, nor "wear their hearts upon their
sleeves for daws to peck at." Little did her audience sus-
pect that often when she cast her most bewitching glances,
and brightened their faces with her radiant smiles, that those
smiles were mounted especially for him ; but he knew — how
could he help but know. Cupid had drawn his bow and
sped his dart.

"Where on a sudden one hath wounded me, that's by me

wounded
Both our remedies within thy help and holy physic lie."

So after the close of the season, much to the surprise
of her numerous admirers, "these 'twain were made one
flesh." They bade a rather hasty farewell to the land of
the Saints^ and wended their way to the far East by stage-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 51

coach, the terminus of the Pacific road being yet some hun-
dreds of miles from Salt Lake.

Mrs. Hayne's last appearance at the Salt Lake Theatre
was an event marked with quite as much if not more of in-
terest than her first appearance. She had become endeared
to the Salt Lake public, and they regarded her approaching
departure with genuine regret. At her last performance, June
3Oth, 1866, she appeared as "Camille," the same character
in which she opened her engagement, and was the recipient
on this occasion of many tokens of kindness and apprecia-
tion. Being called enthusiastically to the front of the curtain
after the performance, she bade a loving farewell to Salt
Lake and its people in one of the most delicately and taste-
fully worded speeches ever made in front of a theatre
drop. During her long engagement, lasting from August
nth, '65, to June 3Oth, '66, she played all the great classic
female roles that were then popular, a number of comedies,
and even took a dip into extravaganza or burlesque, appear-
ing during the holiday season in the character of Alladin in
"The Wonderful Lamp," which ran for eleven consecutive
performances. Her best remembered characters are "Ca-
mille," "Lady Macbeth," "Leah," "Parthenia," "Julia" (in the
"Hunchback"), "Lucretia Borgia," "Medea," "Marco,"
"Lady Teazle," "Peg Woffington," and "Pauline" in the
"Lady of Lyons." In her ten months' engagement, she
played a great many plays besides those mentioned, each play
being presented twice or three times, according to its popu-
larity.

Among others, an Indian play, entitled "Osceola," writ-
ten by E. L. Sloan, then editor of the Salt Lake Herald, in
which Mr. George Waldron played the title role and Mrs.
Hayne the chief's daughter. The piece had a fair success,
but has never been heard of since. Mr. Sloan wrote another
play a year or two later, about the time of the completion of
the overland railroad, which he called "Stage and Steam."
This was a melodrama with a stage coach and railway train
in it, intended to illustrate the march of civilization. It had
two presentations, and was never acted again that we are
aware of. It was during Mrs. Hayne's engagement also that
Mr. Edward W. Tullidge made his first essay as a dramatic
author — -Mrs. Hayne and Mr; Waldron had exhausted the
list of available plays and new plays were in demand. Tul-
lidge's play was entitled "Eleanor de Vere," or "The Queen's
Secret," an episode of the Elizabethan Court — in which

52 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Queen Elizabeth was a secondary character. Tullidge had
written his play with various members of the company in
his eye, and succeeded in fitting them very well. This play
made a very favorable impression and was repeated several
times to large and appreciative audiences. Mrs. Hayne's
character, "Eleanor de Vere," was one of the Queen's wait-
ing women, in love with "Rochester," and afforded the ac-
tress very good scope for her great talent, but the character
of Queen Elizabeth, although a secondary part in the play,
made such a favorable impression on Mrs. Hayne that she
asked Mr. Tullidge if he could write her a play of Elizabeth,
making the Queen a star character for her. She believed
from what Mr. Tullidge had done in "Eleanor de Vere" that
he could write a great play of Elizabeth. Tullidge felt that
he had a great subject; it was a favorite theme, however,
and one on which he was thoroughly posted, and encouraged
by Mrs Hayne's faith in his ability, he at once commenced
the task. "The labor we delight in physics pain," and Eliza-
beth became a labor of love with Edward Tullidge, for he
was very enthusiastic in his love of Julia Dean, both as a
woman and as an artist; and so familiar with all the heroes
of Elizabeth's court, that his task, though Herculean, was a
pleasant one, and before Julia Dean was ready to leave Salt
Lake, Tullidge had completed a great historical play, "Eliza-
beth of England." It was with a view of presenting it in
New York that Mrs. Hayne (now Cooper) went there soon
after her departure. Before she had concluded any arrange-
ment for its production, however, Ristori, the great Italian
actress, loomed up on the dramatic horizon in Elizabeth.
She had crowned all her former achievements in a great
triumph in this same Elizabeth of England. Although the
play was written by an Italian author (Giogimetta) and
was not as true to history as the Tullidge play, it filled the
particular historical niche so far as the stage is concerned.
Ristori had a great success with this play, both in Europe
and this country. It must have broken Julia Dean's heart
professionally. She might have been the first in the field, at
least in this country, if she had not dilly-dallied. She was
having a delightful honeymoon and was too indifferent in
this important affair, and when the advent of the great
Italian in Elizabeth awoke her from her reverie, her oppor-
tunity had gone and Tullidge's Elizabeth never saw the light.
Very keen indeed was the disappointment of the author.
Julia Dean was his ideal for Elizabeth, and when he found

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 53

to his amazement that the Italians (author and actress)
had gained the field ahead of them, poor Tullidge went crazy
with grief, and for a time had to be confined in the city
prison, there being no asylum in Utah at that time. Mr.
Lyne, who read the play to a large audience in Salt Lake,
pronounced it one of the greatest historical plays he had ever
read.

Whether the great disappointment had any effect in
hastening Mrs. Cooper's death or not can not be known, but
"it is pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful," that she did not live
longer to enjoy her new-found happiness, and add a crown-
ing glory to her brilliant career, for she was without doubt
the greatest favorite of her day in America, and Americans
everywhere would have hailed her with delight in any new
achievement. She only lived about a year after her marriage
to Mr. Cooper. She died in New York, and was buried in
Greenwood Cemetery. The news of her demise was re-
ceived with profound sorrow by her numerous Salt Lake
admirers, and many a silent tear paid tribute to her memory.

"There is a destiny that shapes our ends,
Rough hew them as we will."

Through the courtesy of Mr. C. E. Johnson, our pop-
ular photographer, I am enabled to append the following
information in relation to Julia Dean's death and burial :

THE UNMARKED GRAVE OF JULIA DEAN.
NEW YORK, August 26, 1897.
To the Editor of the Dramatic Mirror :

SIR: — While recently walking through the beautiful
Laurel Grove Cemetery at Port Jervis, New York, the aged
caretaker called my attention to a good-sized circular burial
plot overlooking a lake in the centre of which, surrounded
by mountain laurel shrubs and lilac bushes, is a sunken
mound under which the venerable keeper declared rested
"as great and fine a looking actress as the country ever had,"
and further stated that "much of a time was made over her
years ago in New York." Also that "when her body was
brought on here a big crowd of theatre folks came on to
see 'ier buried and they cried over her open grave."

Becoming thoroughly interested, I carefully noted the
location of the actress' lot, and immediately visited the little

54 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

cemetery office on the grounds, and in looking over the ad-
mirably kept records, I was astonished to find that it rep-
resented the grave of a fair member of the dramatic profes-
sion whose tomb had been entirely lost sight of, and dramatic
historians and editors have been unable for years to en-
lighten those of their readers who sought to discover her
grave rest. Beneath this mound rests all that is mortal of
the once lovely Juliet of the American stage — Julia Dean.

The complete record of the Laurel Grove Cemetery
reads :

"Name — Julia Dean-Hayne-Cooper.

"Place and time of nativity — Pleasant Valley, Near
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., July 21, 1830.

"Names of parents — Edwin and Julia Dean.

"Age — Thirty-five years.

"Place and date of death — New York City, May 19,
1866.

"Cause of death— Childbirth.

"Second .husband's name — James G. Cooper.

"Buried in Lot No. 3, Section B, owned by her father-
in-law, Mathew H. Cooper.

"Remains of deceased first placed in the Marble Ceme-
tery General Receiving Vault, Second Street, New York
City. Transferred to Laurel Grove Cemetery, Port Jervis,
April 1 6, 1868."

The lone cemetery official states all of Julia Dean's
kindred passed away years ago, and together they are buried
in the old Clove graveyard at Sussex, N. J.

At the time of their deaths, they were in reduced cir-
cumstances, and while still well-to-do, years before Julia
Dean's demise they acquired this Port Jervis burial lot that
she might await the resurrection in the place where her
childhood days were so pleasantly passed.

At the foot of the eminent actress' grave slumbers the
unnamed girl infant for whom Julia Dean surrendered her
illustrious life.

None of her relatives were ever able to erect a monu-
ment over her remains, and it seems a pity that this exqui-
site actress of another generation should forever sleep in
an unrecorded sepulchre.

Having heard and read that the noble Actors' Fund of
New York has caused' many a granite tombstone to be erected
over the graves of their worthy comrades, and as Julia Dean
was so sweet and accomplished an artiste, I thought that by

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 55

calling attention to this forgotten and out of the way tomb
through the columns of the most powerful of America's
dramatic journals, The Dramatic Mirror, it might result in
placing a modest memorial stone of granite at the head of
the mound under which so peacefully reposes Julia Dean,
whose splendid genius Dion Boucicault compared to that
of another gifted and beautiful daughter of the drama, the
ideal Juliet, Adelaide Neilson, who awaits the final call in
distant England, beneath an imposing mortuary memorial,
thanks to the influence of the loyal William Winter.

LOVER OF THE STAGE.

56 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER VIII.

SEASON OF '66-' 6f.

After the close of this eventful season, Mr. George
Waldron, who had played the leading support to Mrs.
Hayne and become an established favorite, drifted away
from Salt Lake, going into Montana ; returning a year or so
later in conjunction with Mrs. Waldron. He had found
his mate and brought her to Salt Lake to make her ac-
quainted with his many friends there. George tried very
earnestly to get a Salt Lake wife. It looked for a while as
if Miss Sarah Alexander was destined to fill that place;
she certainly filled George's eye. He was very much en-
amored of the petite and lithesome Sarah, but the expected
union did not materialize, and George sought pastures new,
and ere long returned, bringing a beautiful wife with him.
Meantime, Sarah had drifted off to the East in company
with a literary lady named Lisle Lester. They took with
them Sarah's little niece, her dead sister's baby, Baby Fin-
layson, then but two years old. Miss Finlayson, under her
aunt's careful guidance and training, developed into a very
clever and capable actress, and for many years now has
been holding leading positions in prominent companies and
theatres. She is known professionally as Lisle Leigh.

The Waldrons played a short engagement and then
bade a long farewell to Salt Lake and the West. At this writ-
ing George Waldron has been dead for ten years, his wife,
a son and a daughter survive him ; all follow the stage suc-
cessfully.

During the season of '65 and '66, there were few
changes in the supporting stock company. Mr. Waldron
doing the leads, lightened considerably the labors of the
"leading man," Mr. D. McKenzie, who was quite content
to escape the onerous study the leading parts would have
imposed, and play something easier. Before the beginning
of this season, Mr. H. B. Clawson had retired altogether
from the field as an actor, although still one of the managers
of the house, and Mr. Phil Margetts was the acknowledged
premier comedian of the company. Mr. John T. Caine, too,

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 57

Clawson's associate manager, and also stage manager,
yielded up his line of parts to John S. Lindsay and de-
voted himself exclusively to the duties of stage manager,
which in the old "stock" days meant far more than that of-
fice means today. "Why, in the elder day to be a 'stage
manager' was greater than to be a king," in any of the plays.
Briefly enumerated, his duties wrere : First, to read carefully
and then cast all the plays. The casting of a play is a most
important affair. It must be done with great care and con-
sideration so as to get the best results, and at the same time
each actor his "line" of parts as near as practicable ; then
he must write out the cast, and hang it up in the case in
the green room — write out all "calls" for rehearsals, and
hang them up in the case. Then he must direct all rehearsals.
To do this, he must study out all the "business" of the play
in advance of the rehearsals, so he will be able to direct in-
telligently. When a "star" is rehearsing, he generally di-
rects the rehearsal, .thus relieving the stage manager of a
great responsiblity ; but he must be around, and see what
is required for the play in the way of scenery and properties
and make out complete and detailed plots for scene-men and
property-men, and in this particular case where the theatre
furnished the actors with all wardrobes (except modern
clothes), the stage manager had also to make out a costume
plot. The costumer would then distribute the wardrobe for
the play according to his best judgment, and the conceit or
fancy of the actor, which often made the costumer's duty a
perplexing one, for actors are so full of conceits and fancies
that they are a hard lot to please.

In the Salt Lake Theatre a first-class copyist was con-
stantly employed in copying out parts — books were not so
easily procured in those days. It took from three to four
weeks to get a book from New York, so where the manager
had but one book all the parts had to be copied, and the stage
manager had to have his plays selected well ahead, so as to
give the copyist plenty of time to get parts ready for distri-
bution. Besides these duties, the stage manager had to
write out all the "copy" for advertisements and posters and
house programs, see to the painting of new scenes, and the
making of new properties ; also, any new costumes that had
to be made. His decision was final in all these matters, so
that the stage manager of the "old stock" days was no sine-
cure. Mr. Caine filled the position with rare ability, and his
regime in the Salt Lake Theatre was distinguished for its

58 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

prompt executive alertness, and the utter absence of any
trifling or inattention to business.

One important accession there was to the company just
before this engagement, that of Miss Annie Asenith Adams.
Miss Adams made her debut on the 25th of July, 1865, (the
same night that Julia Dean-Hayne and the Potter Com-
pany arrived in Salt Lake), in the character of Grace Otis
in the "People's Lawyer," W. C. Dunbar being the "Solon
Shingle" on the occasion. Her maiden effort proved very
successful and satisfactory to the management, and during
Julia Dean's long engagement she proved to be a valuable
acquisition to the stock company. She made rapid progress
in the dramatic art, and before the close of the season had
attained a prominent position in the company which she
held with credit to herself and satisfaction to the public until
1874, when the stock company was virtually retired to give
place to the "combination" system which then came into
vogue.

On August 1 5th, 1869, a ^tle niore than four years
after her debut, Miss Adams was married to Mr. James H.
Kiskadden. Between the time of her debut and her mar-
riage, Asenith (she was always called "Senith" in those
days) was not only a favorite with the public, but she had a
number of ardent admirers among the "opposite sex."
There was quite a rivalry for her affections between several
members of the company, but the most ardent of them were
already married, and although they did not consider that a
bar to their hopes, in Annie's case they were not eligible ;
so the chief rivalry existed on the outside of the theatre.
Mr. Kiskadden, or "Jim," as he was universally called by
his acquaintances, was cashier in his brother William's
bank (the location is the identical room where Walker Broth-
ers' Bank is today). Jim was a dashing sort of fellow,
big and manly, with a determined kind of air, that seemed
to say, "Things must go my way." He drew a good salary,
dressed well, and always wore immaculate linen, his shirt
front always illuminated with a large diamond. He was in-
clined to "sporting," and was recognized as the champion
billiard player of the town in those days. How much appre-
hension "Jim" endured regarding "Senith's" married suit-
ors in the theatre we have no means of knowing, but it is
probable she set his doubts at rest on that score by assuring
him that she would never marry an already married man.
She had seen enough of that to make her dread it. How-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 59

ever this might be, "Jim" had a rival and a dangerous one
in the person of Mr. Jack O'Neil. Jack was beyond ques-
tion the handsomer fellow of the two ; indeed, he was hand-
some as a prince, always dressed superbly and was one of
the most attractive looking men in Salt Lake. Jack was
very much infatuated with the rising young actress and
missed no opportunity to make known to her his apprecia-
tion of her talents and his admiration and adoration of her-
self. The rivalry between Jack and Jim was at white heat
for a spell, and it would not have been very much of a sur-
prise to their intimates if there had been a challenge sent and
accepted, and a duel fought over the young Mormon ac-
tress. Unfortunately for Jack and his aspirations for the
lady's affections, he was a professional sport, and that was
against him. He had no other profession, and handsome
and cavalierly as he could be, he was classed as a gambler ;
while Jim could flip the pasteboards just as skillfully, and
lay them all out at billiards, he did not follow it for a "stiddy
liven," but held the cashier's box in his brother's bank,
for a steady job, and only sported on the side, and so it came
to pass that in the course of time Jim distanced his hand-
some rival and bore off the prize. Many of "Senith's" friends
regretted this, as Jim did not belong to the household of
faith, but was a rank, out-spoken Gentile, utterly opposed
to Mormon ways, and not afraid to say so. Whereas all of
"Senith's" folks were staunch adherents of the Mormon
faith and were striving to live their religion in all its phases.
So they did not rejoice over "Senith's" marriage to a Gen-
tile (as all non-Mormons were called — Jews included).
They regarded it as equivalent to apostasy from the faith
in which she had been reared, periling her soul's salvation.
She was not appalled, however, by the gloomy and hopeless
pictures some of her friends were kind enough to paint for
her, and bravely married the man she had set her heart
upon and stuck by him through thick and thin, sunshine and
storm, prosperity and adversity. On November nth, -1872,
Maude Kiskadden was born, within a stone's throw of the
Salt Lake Theatre, and before she was a year old made her
debut on the stage where her mother was a debutante some
eight years before. It looks now as if it were fate, as if
she was predestined for a great stage career. There was an
emergency and Maude, not yet a year old, was there to fill it.
It happened in the following manner. In those palmy days
of the profession, the old stock days as they are now called,

60 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

it was customary to supplement the play with a farce — no
matter how long the play — even if a five-act tragedy, the
evening's performance was not considered complete without
a farce to conclude with. On this particular occasion, the
farce was the "Lost Child/' a favorite with our comedian,
Mr. Phil Margetts. He played Jones, a fond and loving
parent, who goes distracted over his lost child. Instead of
providing a real baby, as the property man had been in-
structed to do, he had a grotesque-looking rag baby, not at
all to the comedian's taste in the matter. Millard, the prop-
erty man, declared he had been unable to procure a live
baby, nobody was willing to lend a baby for the part — older
children he could get, but he could not get a baby, and
the rag baby was the best that he could do under the cir-
cumstances, and on such short notice. Margetts was in dis-
tress. "What, in Utah !" he exclaimed. "The idea !" Where
babies are our best crop, to be unable to procure one for his
favorite farce. It was simply preposterous, absurd, incred-
ible ; he objected to play with nothing but a miserable make-
shift of a rag baby. In agony he appealed to the stage man-
ager, Mr. Caine, to know if the farce was to be ruined or
made a double farce by the introduction into it of a gro-
tesque doll like that ! It would be worse than a Punch ana
Judy show. Sudden as a bolt from a clouded sky, while the
altercation was still at its height, Mrs. Kiskadden appeared
in the centre of the stage with her baby in her arms, and
in a good-natured tone that ended all the trouble, exclaimed,
"Here's Maude, use her !" Maude was indeed a good sub-
stitute for the inartistic-looking "prop" the property man
had provided. Phil was happy and played the distracted
parent with a realism and a pathos he never could have
summoned for the rag baby. When the cue came, Maude
was ushered into the mimic scene, making her first entrance
on a large tray carried by a waiter. Then she was taken from
the tray into somebody's arms and tossed from one nurse to
another throughout the farce, until finally, as it ends, she is
lodged safely in the arms of Mr. Jones, her distracted father.
To her credit, be it recorded, she never whimpered or made
any outcry or showed any signs of alarm, but played her first
part bravely, though perhaps unconsciously ; winning the
admiration and love of the entire company. It was a lucky
accident that Maude was in the theatre that evening, for her
mother was not in the habit of bringing her to the theatre
when she had any one at home to take care of her, but this

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 61

evening was the "nurse's evening out," and "Maudie" had to
be toted to the theatre and carefully put to sleep before mam-
ma could "make up" and go through her part. Here she was
safely stowed away in a safe and quiet corner of the green
room, where she had been blissfully reposing all through the
first play, and was now rather rudely awakened to fill the
distressing emergency.

It will be readily seen from this narration that Maude
Adams was virtually "born to the stage," her mother study-
ing assiduously and playing parts both before and after
Maude's birth, often taking Maudie with her, both to re-
hearsals and performances, so that she became a familiar
little object in the theatre before she could walk or talk,
and long before she could ever essay a speaking part she
was the pet of the Green Room.

We had a Green Room in the Salt Lake Theatre in those
days, and a very capacious and comfortable one, too. Such
a commodious and luxurious adjunct is scarcely known in
the theatres today. Here the actors could retire between the
acts or during the scenes they were not engaged in, and
study over their lines, or if already easy in their parts, pass
the time in reading or social chat. It was the prompter's
business to send the "call boy" to the Green Room and all
dressing rooms to "call the act," a few minutes before he
was ready to "ring up." The act being called, each actor
was required to be at his entrance on time ; if he should be
late and make a "stage wait," the stage manager might repri-
mand him, and impose a fine. Fines were also imposed for
being tardy at rehearsals. There was seldom any occasion
for the enforcement of this penalty, except in the case of
"Jim" Hardie. "Jim" was a notorious laggard, and often
kept the company waiting for him. On one occasion the
company had been waiting his arrival for fifteen or twenty
minutes, when he strode in very hurriedly and taking the
centre of the stage, took off his hat and wiping the perspira-
tion from his brow, began an apology to the stage manager
for being late. He had only just begun to talk when a gen-
eral laugh broke the gravity of the occasion. Jim had just
come from the barber's where he had his head shaved, and
his entire scalp down to the hat line was as smoth as a billiard
ball. His monkish appearance created much merriment,
in which the stage manager and Jim himself joined. Jim at
a very early age showed a tendency to baldness, and he had
been told that shaving the head was not only a check to it,

62 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

but would stimulate the growth of the hair, so he had to get
his head shaved, even though he kept the rehearsal waiting.
I think the fine was omitted on this occasion, owing to the
fun the company had over it.

In the fall of 1874, after a connection of nine years
with the Salt Lake Theatre, Mrs. Kiskadden and her hus-
band, no longer a cashier, the bank having been long a
thing of the past, removed to Virginia City, where Miss
Adams was engaged with a number of others from the Salt
Lake Theatre Company, including the writer, to form a
stock company for Mr. John Piper, the Virginia City man-
ager. "Maudie," now nearly two years old, formed one of
the party. After playing a season with Mr. Piper, Miss
Adams went to San Francisco, where her husband had pre-
ceded her some months previous, and secured a good position
as bookkeeper for the firm of Park & Lacy. Here they made
their home for about eight years, Annie playing at the San
Francisco theatres whenever she could get an engagement,
and making occasional excursions with dramatic. companies
into the neighboring cities.

In September, 1877, before she was five years old,
"Maudie" played her first speaking part with Joe Emmett in
"Fritz" at the Bush Street Theatre. When the question of
Maudie playing in Joe Emmett's piece was under
consideration by Mrs. Kiskadden and she informed
Mr. Kiskadden she had an offer from Mr. Emmett
for Maudie to play the child's part, Mr. Kiskad-
den did not encourage the idea; he had a plenty
of the theatre as it was, so he rather bluffly remarked:
"No, indeed, we don't want Maude to make a fool of her-
self; one actress in the family is quite enough." Maude
looked up with a touch of his own determination in her
voice : "Papa, I won't make a fool of myself." She was ir-
resistible— her papa had to consent. Her second part was
Crystal in Herne and Belasco's "Hearts of Oak," then
played under the name of "Chums." She afterwards played
a part with Oliver Doud Byron — and in 1878, when six years
old, played little "Adriene" in "A Celebrated Case" at the
Baldwin Theatre. In this character she made a decided
hit. After the run of the play at the Baldwin, it was taken
to Portland, Oregon, and produced under John Maguire's
management at the New Market Theatre, with Annie
Adams and little Maude specially featured in the cast, the
writer playing "Jean Renan" in this production. "Ten

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 63

Nights in a Bar Room" was then put on, little Maude being
made a feature as Mary Morgan, the writer playing "Joe."
After the close of the season at the New Market Theatre,
the company went out under the writer's management and
played the Puget Sound circuit in those two plays, little
Maude being made a special feature.

During this trip Maude had her first "Benefit" at Walla
Walla, Washington. She was "put up" for a "benefit," ex-
tensively advertised, and helped out the company's treas-
ury— after netting something liberal for her. In this tour
Maude played in all the Puget Sound towns from Portland
to Victoria and all the principal towns of Washington. At its
conclusion, she and her mother returned to San Francisco,
and she was not seen again in public for some years. Mr.
Kiskadden died in San Francisco in '83, and Mrs. Kiskad-
den took his remains to Salt Lake for burial. There she set-
tled down for a time and sent Maudie to school. Here in the
city of her birth she attended school for the next four or five
years, but always had a yearning to get back to the stage ;
and eventually her mother secured an engagement for her-
self and Maude in "My Geraldine" and the "Paymaster" un-
der the manager of Duncan B. Harrison. From that she got
into Frohman's "Lost Paradise," and from that on her his-
tory is known to the theatre world.

64 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER IX.
SEASON OF '66-'67.

An Interesting Prayer Meeting,

Julia Dean Hayne's final appearance closed the fourth
season of the Salt Lake Theatre, counting the opening
one which only lasted from March 8th, '62, to the end of
April, about eight weeks, the Irwin season of '63 and '64,
the Pauncefort season of '64 and '65, and the Julia Dean
Hayne season of '65 and '66.

Up to this time the only compensation the stock com-
pany received was a pro rata dividend of the benefits given
at the end of each season — no one had been put on a salary.
The stars, of course, got good liberal percentages or salar-
ies, but even the leading people of the stock company real-
ized but a very meager compensation from the two perform-
ances that were gotten up as benefits, one for the ladies of the
company and the other for the gentlemen — the two nights'
receipts were aggregated and divided up among the com-
pany according to their respective merits or worth to the
management. These two benefit performances alone prob-
ably aggregated twenty-five hundred dollars, which, divided
up among about thirty performers, actors and musicians,
did not prove satisfactory to a number of the company —
more especially some of the orchestra. As a consequence,
the ensuing season approaching, the salary question came
to the front again very strongly, and the "management''
found a well-grounded reluctance on the part of the com-
pany to enter upon a new season's work without a certain
and satisfactory compensation. This feeling was even
stronger among the orchestra than among the stage players,
a number of them being quite outspoken in their sentiment :
"No pay, no play." The principal agitator among the musi-
cians was Mark Croxall, the brilliant young cornetist re-
cently from England. Mark could not see the propriety or
consistency of playing to help pay for the theatre. He had
not been used to that kind of thing in England, and although
he had been playing but a very short time as compared
with the majority, both of the orchestra and the dramatic

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 65

company, he vowed he would play no longer without a
stipulated salary. This, of course, aroused all the others to
a certain show of opposition. The leader of the orchestra.
Prof. Thomas, or "Charlie," as he was affectionately called
by his familiars, was probably as dissatisfied with the exist-
ing regime as Croxall or David Evans, the second violin,
who was another Britisher of recent importation and quite
pronounced in his views about the way the theatre should
be run. Prof. Thomas was not of the stuff that kickers are
made of, and could doubtless have been managed with the
majority of his orchestra had it not been for the recal-
citrant Croxall, and the equally pugnacious Evans. The dis-
satisfaction spread rapidly and alarmingly to the manage-
ment, until the entire dramatic company as well as the or-
chestra, was in a state of semi-rebellion. All the actors and
most of the musicians had other occupations, as I have
stated in a former chapter, and now the number of perform-
ances and rehearsals had increased their work to such an
extent they could not see how they could give satisfaction
to their various employers and keep up their work at the
theatre too. Some of these declared it had to be one thing
or the other, the theatre now demanded the greater part of
their time, and the employers had in several instances inti-
mated that they would have to give up the theatre or be
replaced in their employ by others. Mr. David McKenzie,
the leading man of the company, held a clerkship in Presi-
dent Young's or the Church office ; "Joe" Simmons, our juve-
nile man, and Horace Whitney, the "old man" in the com-
pany, also held clerkships in the same office ; Mr. W. C. Dun-
bar, the Irish comedian, was a clerk in the "tithing office,"
so their time went on whether they were working in the
"Church offices" or at the theatre ; of course all their night
work at the theatre was extra work, but the day time they
put in at the theatre they were not docked for at the office ;
but with the other leading members of the company it was
quite different ; the hours they spent at the theatre in the day
time was a positive loss to them. Phil Margetts was a
blacksmith, Lindsay and Hardie were carpenters, Evans and
Kelly were printers, and so on. So that several hours each
day spent in rehearsal meant a heavy tax when at the end
of each week they were docked for time lost, so there was a
committee appointed to wait upon the managers, Clawson
and Caine, and present the situation. The managers being
only employees of Brigham Young and not proprietors or

66 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

lessees, passed the company's grievance up to their chief.
The managers saw plainly that a crisis had come, and a new
departure must be made. "The President," accustomed to
having things his own way, and with confidence in his in-
fluence, thought he could effect a compromise, or adjust the
matter without much trouble or cost, so in pursuance of this
idea a notice was posted for all the company and orchestra
to assemble in the Green Room of the theatre on a certain
evening to consider the question of salary. There was no
tardiness on that occasion, even "Jim" Hardie, notorious
for being tardy, was on time. Every employee of the theatre
was there from the managers to the night-watchman. The
orchestra was in full force, and the ladies of the company,
even to the smallest utility, were there, all inspired with the
hope of being put upon the theatre salary list. The Green
Room was found to be too small to accommodate all the
company, so the meeting was shifted to the stage, which
afforded the necessary room. President Young called the
meeting to order, and requested the company to join him in
prayer. It is customary in the Mormon Church to open all
meetings with prayer, even political ones where those pres-
ent are all of the household of faith. Brigham offered up a
fervent prayer, asking the blessing of the Almighty upon
that meeting, and each and every one present, that they
might all see with an eye single to the glory of God, and the
building up of his Kingdom here on the earth. The prayer
over, the President arose and in a brief but very adroit
speech, told the object he had in view in building the theatre,
the recreation and amusement of the people, thanked those
who had contributed to that end, whether as actors or musi-
cians, told them that they were missionaries as much as if
they were called to go out into the world and preach the
gospel, and the Lord would bless their efforts just as much
if they performed their parts in the same spirit. He under-
stood there was some dissatisfaction, however, and some of
the brethren thought it was too much of a tax upon their
time to continue to do this without proper compensation.
He called on the brethren to state their feelings in regard
to this question that he might judge what was best to do in
the matter. It seemed as if the prayer and speech had almost
made them forget that they had any cause or grievance to
present, or it had blunted the edge of their courage. Every
one was expecting to see Mark Croxall, the principal agita-
tor, get up and make a statement in behalf of himself and

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 67

the orchestra ; but Mark's courage, like that of many an-
other agitator, seemed to have sunk into his boots, when the
ordeal came ; he opened not his mouth. So the second vio-
linist, David Evans, who was a shoemaker by trade and a
cripple from birth, pulled himself to a standing position by
the aid of his crutches and spoke to the question. He told
how hard he had to work, and what a loss of time the re-
hearsals and plays occasioned him ; being up so much at
nights, he could not get up very early in the morning —
and could not but lose several hours every day. Besides, he
said he did not think it right and just, when the theatre
was taking in such large sums of money at every perform-
ance, that those who furnished the entertainment, whether
in the art of music or the drama, should be expected to con-
tinue to do it gratuitously. It was a bold, fearless, manly
speech and coming from a man who was obliged to sling
himself along through life on a pair of crutches, and a re-
cent comer from the old country, it sent a thrill of astonish-
ment through the company and fired some of the others
with a spark of courage, too. Mr. Phil Margetts, the lead-
ing comedian, arose and made an explanation of his case;
then a number of the other fellows followed suit. A sort of
"no pay, no play" sentiment pervaded the entire company.
President Young saw here an end of the old method; he
discovered that a new deal would have to be made with his
actors if he wanted to continue in the amusement business,
so he tried an expedient. He was evidently a little irri-
tated at Evans, the crippled shoemaker, who had presumed
to take the initiative in the affair and express his views so
fearlessly, inspiring the others with a little of his own cour-
age, but Brigham did not show the lion's paw but spoke in
rather a patronizing way of Brother Evans's crippled condi-
tion, and said it was right that he should have some addi-
tional pay, owing to his misfortune of being a cripple. He
told Evans he could have anything he needed out of his
private store ; that if he would leave his flour sack there, it
should be regularly filled, and whatever else was there he
was welcome to what he needed of it. This savored a little
too much of charity for Evans, who although badly crippled
in his limbs, was by no means a weakling in his brains ;
and hurt a little by the President's patronizing manner, he
arose and said about as follows :

"President Young, I have had my flour sack at your
store for more than a month, and every time I have gone in

68 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

to try and get it filled, the clerk has told me the flour was
all out." Evans's unique relation of the flour sack incident
injected a spark of humor into the proceedings ; a suppressed
titter ran through the crowd, and even Brigham, although
nettled at this unexpected sally, could not repress a grim
smile.

That the reader may better understand the flour sack
incident it must be explained here that what little pay the
actors and musicians had been receiving for their services
through the benefits was not all in cash, but store orders
mostly on the tithing store. The cash receipts of the theatre
up to this time and indeed as late as 1870 were probably
en^-third of the gross receipts, the other two-thirds consisting
of orders on various stores or tithing pay, which consisted of
all kinds of home products — so that when the "benefits" were
divided up among the company each member got about one-
third of his "divvy" in cash and the other two-thirds in store
orders and orders on the tithing office. Evans was the pos-
sessor of an order on Brigham Young's private store, and
he felt chagrined that he had been so often with that order
and failed to draw it. Flour was flour in those days, run-
ning as high at one time as twenty dollars per hundred, but
the uniform church or tithing office price was six dollars
per hundred, which was what the actors had to pay for it, but
it was doled out very sparingly to them at times when it was
commanding high prices in outside markets. With these
orders they drew about all their provisions from the tithing
store. Artemus Ward amused the world by telling how the
Salt Lake Theatre used to take in exchange for tickets cab-
bage, potatoes, wheat, carrots, and even sucking pigs through
the box office window. It was perhaps nearer the truth than
he himself suspected, for these tithing office orders were
good for all these things.

After the titter had subsided Brigham arose again, and
answered Brother Evans that he was sorry he had been dis-
appointed so, but there really had been a great scarcity of
flour during the past month or so, but he would see to it in
the future that he would meet no more disappointments. To
Brother Phil Margetts he made an offer to come and work in
his blacksmith shop (Phil was running one of his own)
and then he need not lose any time ; his pay would go on
whether working in the shop or in the theatre. Brother
Lindsay could bring his carpenter tools to the theatre and
he could find plenty of work for him to fill up the time be-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 69

tween the rehearsals. To others he made similar proposi-
tions ; but these suggestions were not in harmony with the
feelings of the company, who thought they had given their
time to Brother Brigham long enough, and now contended
with Brother Evans, that as they were furnishing the amuse-
ments for the people, it was only right that they should be
paid for their services, so the result of the meeting was
that the company was put on salary. Salaries ranged from
$15.00 to $50.00 per week, one-third cash, the balance in
store orders and tithing office pay.

70 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER X.

SEASON OF '66 AND '67.

The season of '66 and '67 opened on September 8th
with Alonzo R. Phelps as the star attraction. Mr. Phelps
opened in the character of "Damon" and made a fairly good
showing, although he appeared to much greater advantage
in some lighter roles, and particularly as "Crepin," the Cob-
bler, in "A Wonderful Woman." His engagement lasted
two weeks, when the Irwins returned after an absence of
over two years. They opened on September 29th, just in
time to get well ready with a repertory of plays for the ap-
proaching conference. Their engagement lasted up to No-
vember 1 5th, when they departed for the East and Salt Lake
was never favored with a visit from them afterwards. "Sel"
Frwin "died young in years, not service," after very intense
suffering for several years from rheumatism, which virtually
made a helpless cripple of him. He died in New York in
1886, being only a little over fifty years of age. His widow,
Maria Irwin, still survives, and up to a recent date was
playing in a road company. Harry Rainforth, her son by
her first marriage, who was a mere boy of sixteen when they
played their first engagement in Salt Lake, has been for
many years manager of the Pike Grand Opera House, Cin-
cinnati, the associate and partner of "Bob" Miles. It was
during this last Irwin engagement that Miss Nellie Cole-
brook, who later on became leading lady of the company,
made her debut. Her first appearance was in the comedy of
"Dominique, the Deserter." The first line she had to speak
was, "Oh, I'm half dead with fear," which was literally
true of Miss Colebrook on the occasion. She was shaking
like an aspen leaf in a strong wind, but her nervous condi-
tion fitted the character remarkably well and the lady sailed
at once into public favor. Miss Colebrook was tall and
stately, with a very winning face and musical voice ; she went
rapidly to the front, being especially well suited to many of
the leading roles. Mrs. Lydia Gibson, the leading actress
of the theatre, died on January 8th, 1866, a little less than
three years after her first appearance. This left a vacancy

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 71

in the company difficult to fill, and afforded Miss Colebrook
many excellent opportunities in leading roles, which she
always filled satisfactorily, so that by the time Pauncefort
returned to play his third engagement — after an absence 01
more than two years — Miss Colebrook was doing most of
the leading female roles.

After the departure of the Irwins, the stock company
finished out the season without the assistance of a star, play-
ing from November I5th until after April Conference.
It was during the conference that our old friend George
Pauncefort, suddenly and unexpectedly to most of us, re-
turned from San Francisco after an absence in that metro-
polis of more than two years. He opened a return engage-
ment on April i6th in "Don Caesar de Bazan." The
season was virtually over after the April Conference, but
notwithstanding he played to splendid business, he gave
repetitions of his previous plays and won out splendidly on
a production of "Arrah Na Pogue," in which he had played
"Col. O'Grady" during a successful run of this play in San
Francisco.

"A:rrah Na Pogue" drew good houses for three or four
nights, and closed the season of '66 and '67. Robert Heller
got in a three nights engagement, commencing May the
2oth, while the company was getting up in "Arrah Na
Pogue." He was the first to introduce the mysterious sec-
ond sight illusions and succeeded in bewildering and mysti-
fying the patrons of the theatre to an unusual degree.

During the last engagement of Pauncefort most of the
opposite roles to his own were assigned to Miss Colebrook,
who had in the past year, since Mrs. Gibson's demise, di-
vided honors with Miss Adams, and owing to her more
stately appearance had been entrusted with many of the
leading lady roles and was an established favorite. Paunce-
fort, who had never met her before (her debut having oc-
curred after his departure for the coast), was much sur-
prised and pleased to find a new and attractive leading lady
in the company. He took an especial interest in her, and
she was cast for all the leading roles during his engagement,
beginning with "Maritana" in "Don Caesar," and including
"Lady Macbeth" and "Ophelia." Pauncefort discovered that
she had exceptional dramatic ability and encouraged her in
every possible way ; for "Miss Nellie" was not over-confi-
dent of her own abilities, and suffered keenly from nervous-
ness or stage fright, especially on the first time in a part;

72 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

and to receive encouragement and compliments from a star
of Pauncefort's acknowledged luster was doubtless sweet
and flattering to the lady, who as yet was all unconscious of
the impression she had made on the susceptible George.
"The fair Elizabeth has caught my eye, and like a new star,
lights onward to my wishes." Possessed of a sweet and
loveable disposition and a musical voice added to her
charms of personal appearance, Miss Colebrook was a gen-
eral favorite, not only with the public, but with the com-
pany. She had numerous admirers, and several rival aspir-
ants for her affections, both in the company and out. With
what surprised and ill-concealed chagrin they viewed the
growing attentions of the reigning star can better be imag-
ined than described. The princely George had enrolled him-
self in the list of her devotees and it was very much in evi-
dence that he was enamored of the lady, for George had a
keen eye for the beautiful, and "a free and open nature, too,"
most susceptible to female charms, so he entered the race
with the others for the fair "Nellie's" hand. While he was
considerably older than any of his competitors, being now
close onto fifty, he probably had the advantage over them
all in looks, being generally regarded as a handsome man,
and most decidedly he had the advantage of experience, for
George had been a gay Lothario. He seemed in a fair way
to carry off the much-coveted prize. Notwithstanding the
disparity of age, the fair "Nellie" seemed strongly attracted
to the princely George. Playing "Ophelia" to his "Hamlet"
and "Lady Macbeth" to his "Macbeth," and a long series of
opposite characters to him, he had not failed to make a pow-
erful impression on her, and if she had been left to herself
without guidance or counsel, there is little question but what
Pauncefort would have won her; but her mother had more
penetration, and could see the objections which "Nellie"
either did not see, or care to raise, so the chief arbitrator
of the Church, President Young, was appealed to by Miss
"Nellie's" mother to decide the case for them. Brigham de-
cided very quickly and positively against an alliance be-
tween his fair leading lady and the "stock star," with a
great big emphatic No. He had formed a strong prejudice
against Pauncefort during his first engagement, owing to
his reputed intimacy with Mrs. Bell, which was rather
flaunted in the face of the community on their arrival in
Salt Lake. So this ended the Pauncefort-Colebrook ro-
mance.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 73

During this engagement, Panncefort played in addition
to his previous repertory "The Dead Heart/' "Man with the
Iron Mask," "Lavater," and "Arrah Na Pogue." The latter
piece closed the season on June the I5th, being the fourth
performance of the piece. Very soon after, Pauncefort pur-
chased a horse and chaise, fitting himself out with gun and
fishing tackle for a long jaunt. He headed for Portland,
giving readings by the way — hunting and fishing by day —
and evenings entertaining the towns along his route. How
far he got with his one horse chaise is not exactly known,
but the probability is he traded it off before he passed the
Utah border line, and took the stage for Virginia City, Ne-
vada, where he played for a short time and then drifted over
to the coast, and finally got lost to view.

A dozen years later he was discovered by some Ameri-
can actors in Japan, keeping a roadside tea house for trav-
elers with a set of pretty Japanese girls for waiters. He
married a Japanese girl and latest reports credited him with
a fine young Japanese colony of his own. A picture ot him-
self and Japanese wife and three children in the possession
of Jack Langrishe's widow at Wardner, Idaho, was shown
to the writer there recently, and was a strong verification of
what had been told by parties who had seen Pauncefort in
Japan. George had let his beard grow and was quite a
patriarchal looking man when Joseph Arthur met him there
in 1880. Pauncefort died in Japan in 1893, leaving a Japa-
nese wife and four semi-Jap children. George Pauncefort
missed the greatest opportunity of his life by not joining the
Mormon Church ; he had all the natural endowments to
make a great patriarch.

74 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER XL

SEASON OF '67~'68.

On the first of August, this same year, '67, C. W. Coul-
dock made his first appearance at the Salt Lake Theatre, sup-
ported by Jack Langrishe and his company from Denver,
where they had been running a stock company. It was an
unfavorable time for opening, in the hottest nights of sum-
mer, but there were no resorts in those days and it was not
so hard to get them into the theatre as it would be now.
Langrishe had a full road company and was traveling
through to Montana in his own teams, the Union Pacific
Railroad not being nearer than Rawlins at that time. The
company comprised Mr. Couldock and his daughter, Eliza
Conldock, John S. Langrishe and Mrs. Langrishe, Richard
C. White (he of Camp Floyd fame, referred to in a previous
chapter). The Langrishe company played a week, then
went to Virginia City, Montana. Couldock and his daugh-
ter returned later and played a long engagement as stock
stars.

On the 5th of September, Amy Stone, supported by
her husband, H. F. Stone, began a stock star engagement
which lasted a little more than four months. Opening the
regular fall season on September 5th, by the time the
fall Conference came on, October 6th, the Stones had
the stock company up in a very attractive repertoire of plays
to present to "our country cousins" attending the Confer-
ence. Fanchon, Pearl of Savoy, "Little Barefoot," "French
Spy," "Wept of the Wishton Wish," were leading favorites
in the Stone repertory, and proved to be very popular, serv-
ing to keep the exchequer in a satisfactory condition. Their
engagement lasted until January the 6th, 1868. Amy, if not
a great actress, was at least a fascinating one. She was
blessed with a superb form and an attractive face ; she fairly
reveled in parts where she could wear tights and display her
shapely form, and it must be frankly confessed that "the
folks" loved to see her in that kind of attire. She was more
at home in it than in an evening dress with a bothersome
train; there was a freedom of movement and a candor of

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 75

expression about Amy that was positively refreshing, and
we all liked her and got along with her with very little
trouble. "Harry," as her husband was always called, was
not a brilliant but a good, useful actor, and had a good
knowledge of her plays, and could direct the staging of
them. Besides, he attended to the making of engagements,
and the financial end of the business, and as he was de-
voted to Amy, they were apparently one of the happiest
couples I have ever met in the theatrical business. The
Stones were a very prudent and saving couple, and by the
time they had finished a four months' stock star engagement,
they had a very handsome deposit in the local bank, and they
left Zion feeling a very warm affection for the Saints, and so
Avent on their way rejoicing.

On the night immediately following the close of the
Stones' engagement, January 7th, Mr. James Stark opened
in John Howard Payne's play of "Brutus, or the Fall of Tar-
quin." This was the first presentation of this play in Salt
Lake. Mr. Stark made a fine impression as Brutus. He fol-
lowed it in quick succession with Richelieu, Damon, Jack
Cade, Alfred Evelyn in "Money." His engagement lasted
two weeks and closed with the play of "Victorine, or Married
for Money." Stark was a very talented tragedian of the
Forrest school, and his engagement proved quite popular and
successful. He went to San Francisco, and played an en-
gagement there, and returned to New York by the Isthmus,
the Overland railroad not yet being completed. Mr. Stark
had a brother, Daniel Stark, a pioneer Mormon, who settled
at Provo among the earliest settlers of that place. James, who
had not seen him for many years, availed himself of the
opportunity his Salt Lake engagement afforded him, and
arranged a meeting with his "long lost brother" (?). He
paid Daniel and his family a visit, and was most hospitably
received and entertained. The family made much ado over
him, and Daniel, like his namesake of old, "prophet-like,"
sought to show James the error of his ways, pointing out to
him the emptiness and effervescence of dramatic fame, and
the poor illusive thing that was as compared with the real
joys and blessings of the Latter-Day Gospel. "Jim" ac-
cepted it all in good part, but he could not see "eye to eye"
with his elder brother Daniel, but he promised to consider
seriously what he had heard and bade them a loving good-
bye till they could meet again. He rather expected to play

76 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

a return engagement when he left here, and see the folks
again, but he never returned. Stark died in New York be-
fore the close of the year 1868, in his 5Oth year.

After the Stark engagement, the stock company con-
tinued the season, starting off with a series of annual bene-
fits which by this time were given the leading actors of the
company in addition to salaries. January the 23rd, D.
McKenzie "Benefits," playing "Huguenot Captain," with
an Olio and a farce to conclude. February 4th, John S.
Lindsay "Benefits" and essays Hamlet for the first time.
The farce that followed Hamlet was "Boots at the Swan;"
think of it, "ye modern school actors." A five-act play and a
farce, this meant being in the theatre from seven o'clock till
midnight, but the people stayed to see it all, and many of
them would have stayed till morning, if we could have kept
on playing pieces for them. J. M. Hardie "Benefits" with
"Jack Cade," Miss Colebrook with "Leah," etc., and so the
season ran along without a star from January 23rd till April
the 23rd, when the company was stiffened up again by the
accession of Mr. and Mrs. George B. Waldron, who played
up till May i6th. On May the ipth, Madam Scheller
opened in "Pearl of Savoy," gave us "Pauline" in "Lady
of Lyons," "Enoch Arden," "Lorlie," "The Phantom" and
"Hamlet." Madam Scheller was Edwin Booth's "Ophelia"
during the one hundred nights' run of Hamlet at Winter
Garden Theatre, in New York.

Very naturally the Salt Lakers conversant with the
facts were anxious to see her in "Ophelia," so Lindsay who
had recently played "Hamlet" for his "benefit," was admon-
ished to prepare himself for another go at the melancholy
Dane with the new "Ophelia ;" and in due time we had the
novelty of Scheller's "Ophelia." She was irresistibly charm-
ing in it, in spite of her German accent, which in moments
of unusual excitement was quite pronounced. Madam Schel-
ler proved to be a pleasing and accomplished actress and
filled a long engagement at the Salt Lake Theatre. She was
accompanied by her husband, Mr. Methua, who was a skill-
ful scenic artist, and put in a lot of new scenes for the
theatre during his wife's engagement. Here was a model
couple, courteous and refined ; they left many warm friends
in Salt Lake at their departure, whose best wishes for their
success went with them. Unhappy to relate, this worthy and
respected pair died of yellow fever during the deadly siege

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 77

of that disease at Memphis in 1878. "United in life, in death
they were not separated."

On January Qth, after playing three weeks Madam
Scheller was rested for a week to give an opening to Char-
lotte Crampton. Crampton was a genius and in her younger
years had astonished the dramatic world by her histrionic
gymnastics. She affected the male characters almost ex-
clusively—"Hamlet," "Richard III," "Shylock," "Don
Caesar," and in "Lady Macbeth" and "Meg Merrilles" she
rivaled the great Charlotte Cushman. The writer remem-
bers seeing her when a boy at the old Bates's Theatre, St.
Louis, which was her home. She was erratic as a comet,
and her eccentricities were the town's talk. How often she
was married this deponent saith not, but remembers that at
the time he saw her playing in St. Louis in 1857, she was
the wife of a Mr. Istenour. When she appeared here in
Salt Lake City in 1868, she was far past the meridian of
life and was accompanied by her husband, "Mr. Cook,"
young enough to be her son. The novelty of a woman es-
saying those characters was a strong one, and served to draw
out good houses. She played "Hamlet," "Shylock," "Rich-
ard III," and "Don Caesar," which with two repeats, filled
up her week.

Crampton was a woman rather below the medium
height, and looked insignificant dressed up for those male
characters, but when she got animated she made you forget
her size, and at times she seemed to fill not only the center
of the stage but the entire stage. She had passed the
zenith of her fame some years before she made this trip to
the coast. She bore all the evidences of an erratic life
and premature age ; her sun had nearly set when she played
with us here ; and after her departure for the East, we
heard but little of her. Charlotte Crampton's engagement
was like the flashing of a meteor across the dramatic firma-
ment. Like the elder Booth, she was notorious for her eccen-
tricities, and in genius was akin to him. "How close to mad-
ness great wits are allied."

After the passing of this meteor, the steady star, Madam
Scheller, resumed her reign, reappearing as "Laura Court-
land" in "Under the Gas Light." This was the first produc-
tion of this play in Salt Lake City, and it had an unprece-
dented run, going for an unbroken week to full houses. As
an index to the personnel of the company at this time, June
1 6th, 1868, we append the cast of "Under the Gas Light."

78 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

"UNDER THE GAS LIGHT."

Ray Trafford John S. Lindsay

De Milt Mark Wilton

Wilton Bert Merrill

Byke Phil Margetts

Joe Snorkey David McKenzie

Bermudas John C. Graham

Peanuts Johnny Matson

Station Man Mark Wilton

Police Judge J. M. Hardie

O'Rafferty John E. Evans

Martin John B. Kelly

Police Patrol Richard Mathews

Laura Courtland Madam Scheller

Pearl Courtland Miss Annie Adams

Mrs. Van Dam Nellie Colebrook

Sue Earlie Alice Clawson

Peachblossom Miss Sara Alexander

Judas Mrs. M. A. Clawson

Summer heat had but little affect on the business of
the Salt Lake Theatre in those days of which I am writing.
Madam Scheller played from May iQth to August ist, ex-
cepting the one week allotted to Charlotte Crampton, all
through the hot nights of June and July — and there was no
perceptible or serious diminution in the attendance. This
can only be accounted for in the fact that there were no re-
sorts in those days, and the theatre was the coolest place in
the city. We naturally looked for and expected a rest
through August after the long season we had put in, but
there was no respite. On the 4th of August, Annette Ince
opened in "Julia" in the "Hunchback" and gave in rapid
succession "Evadne," "Medea," "Ion," "Mary Stuart,"
"Elizabeth," "As You Like It," "Camilla," and other pieces
filling a three weeks' engagement. She was followed by E.
L. Davenport, who opened on August the 2/th in "Riche-
lieu," supported by Annette Ince as "Julia de Mauprat," and
the full strength of the company. Mr. Davenport gave us
his "Richelieu," "Julian St. Pierre," in "The Wife," "Ham-
let," "William" in "Black-Eyed Susan," "Rover" in "Wild
Oats" and "Sir Giles Overreach" in "A New Way to Pay
Old Debts." Mrs. Davenport (Fanny Vining) appeared in
conjunction with Mr. Davenport in this engagement, playing
the "Queen" in "Hamlet" and kindred parts, and with Miss

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 79

Ince in the leading female roles, Mr. Davenport had a sup-
porting company in every way worthy of him. His engage-
ment was a memorable one, as Mr. Davenport was thought
by many to be our greatest American actor. He was cer-
tainly a worthy rival of Edwin Booth and had he, like that
actor, confined his brilliant talents to the great Shakespear-
ian roles, he would undoubtedly have made a greater name
for himself, but he was too versatile and he scattered his
efforts on the "Williams" and "Rovers" and the other trifles
that he should have dropped as he advanced in years and
concentrated his efforts on a repertory of his greatest char-
acters only. When he played this Salt Lake engagement he
had declined into "the vale of years." As Hamlet, he looked
older than the "Queen" but he possessed all the fire and ani-
mation necessary ; as 'St. Pierre" in the "Wife," he was at
his best, and fairly lifted the audience into enthusiastic de-
monstrations of applause. It was not long after this that
Davenport was pitted against the English tragedian Barry
Sullivan in New York. An exceedingly interesting and
able criticism and comparison of these two great actors ap-
peared in Wilke's "Spirit of the Times," headed "The Two
Rossi." This was Davenport's last memorable engagement.
He was already an old man and failing fast. He died in
1871.

"Ay, but to die and go, we know not where, to lie in cold
obstruction and to rot,

This sensible warm motion to become a kneaded clod,

And the delighted spirit to bathe in fiery floods,

Or to reside in chilling regions of thick ribbed ice,

To be imprisoned in the viewless winds,

And blown with restless violence about the pendant world.

'Tis too horrible ! The weariest and most loathed worldly
life,

That age, ache, penury, and imprisonment can lay on na-
ture,

Is paradise to what we fear of death."

It will be observed that there was no summer vacation
this year of 1868. The Davenport engagement carried us
into September, the time for opening the season of '68 and
'69. Miss Ince's engagement following the Davenports was
really the beginning of the season '68 and '69.

80 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER XII.
SEASON OF '68 AND '69.

Davenport's engagement ended, Miss Ince resumed and
played from September the 5th to the I7th, then departed
for the Golden Shores of the Pacific. Now again, after
this brilliant succession of stars, the stock company was
left to its own unaided efforts, and from September the I7th
to November the 26th they kept the wheel turning with a
steady stream of stock pieces, and the old mill grinds, and
the box office does business and the actors get their salaries.
"Stars may come and stars may go, but the stock keeps on
for aye." This was a good long stretch of stock work from
September the i/th, through the October Conference and
away to nearly the end of November, ten weeks of it ;
broken only by a rest of three nights, when Perepa Rosa
gave us a series of Operatic Concerts, November the I4th,
1 5th and i6th. Salt Lake even then had a great love of
music and turned out large audiences to hear the famous
prima donna and her talented support, including her hus-
band, the brilliant violinist and conductor, Carl Rosa.

Now we arrive at another important event in our
theatre's history, the first engagement of John McCul-
lough. For several years Lawrence Barrett and John McCul-
lough had been the lessees and managers of the old Cali-
fornia Theatre in San Francisco, and in spite of Barrett's
known sagacity as a manager and notwithstanding the suc-
cession of brilliant stars presented at the California and the
magnificent stock company kept to support them, the ven-
ture was not a financial success, and Barrett and McCul-
lough were forced to succumb. Then it was that McCullough
began his career as a star ; what reputation he had made up
to this time was as Edwin Forrest's leading man. "Larry"
Barrett had "starred" some in the character of Elliott Gray
in "Rosedale," now they were both out of a job and looking
for engagement. Barrett went East and resumed his starring
in "Rosedale" and gradually drifted into the Shakespearian
roles. McCullough went to Virginia City, Nevada, with a
picked-up company, and played his first star engagement.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 81

They took to the "genial" John very kindly there, and
worked him him up a rousing big benefit ; those were the
palmy days of the Comstock and everybody had money, ac-
tors were at a premium in the camp and the old theatre was
packed at every performance. The "Benefit" netted McCul-
lough over two thousand dollars and "John" was glad he
was an actor. He knew we had a fine theatre and a good
company in Salt Lake, so he made arrangements to come
and play with us a spell. On November the 26th, he opened
in "Damon" and followed it in quick succession (playing
nightly) with "Richelieu," "Hamlet," "Othello," "Shy-
lock," Volage in "Marble Heart," "Richard III," "Robbers,"
"Macbeth," "Brutus/* "Romeo and Juliet," etc., etc.

This was a very notable engagement, in more ways
than one. It was notable for its length, covering a stretch
of twenty-three nights ; likewise for its strength, as George
B. Waldron and Madam Scheller, who had both returned
from a Montana tour, were added to the company to stiffen
the cast — here we had really three stars and a strong, cap-
able, self-sustaining stock company in the cast of all the
plays during McCullough's first Salt Lake engagement,
which lasted three weeks, terminating on September I7th.
Again the stock company was left to its own strength and
resources and even after this brilliant trio of dramatic ar-
tists, McCullough, Scheller and Waldron dropped away
from us, the managers, with never-failing confidence ana
temerity, put forward the stock once more to plough through
the billowy Christmas time, past the new year and on to
February loth, when we welcomed another acquisition to
the ranks in the person of Miss Annie Lockhart.

Miss Lockhart was an English lady of liberal educa-
tion, refined and cultured; and although she had not posed
as a "star actress," she had an extended and varied experi-
ence on the stage. She had been for several years in Aus-
tralia in the stock companies of Melbourne and Sidney, where
she had met, loved and married an actor by the name of
Harry Jackson. Harry was a talented character man, but
the flowing bowl was his weakness and Annie in time
wearied of his indiscretions and indulgences, "shook
him off to beggarly divorcement," left him in San Fran-
cisco and came to Salt Lake in quest of an engagement. She
must have made a very favorable impression on the mana-
gers, for they put her in as stock "star" up to March 1st,
and she continued a member of the company up to her fatal!

82 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

illness in the following November. Annie Lockhart was at
this time about thirty-two years of age, a woman of come-
ly appearance and gentle mien, and if not great like Julia
Dean, Annette Ince, or Charlotte Crampton, was always
pleasing and satisfactory. She delighted in such characters
as "Matida" in "Led Astray," the dual role in "Two Loves
and a Life," "Janet Pride," "Peg Woffington" and kindred
light comedy characters. Miss Lockhart was a very taste-
ful dresser; she always made a good appearance in her
part. During her long stay with the stock company a number
of stars appeared. The first after her engagement was James
A. Herne, who opened on March ist, 1869, in "Rip Van
Winkle." Herne's "Rip" made a great hit and had an extra-
ordinary run of five nights. Herne played ten nights doing
"Solon Shingle," "Captain Cuttle," and some other charac-
ters. Then he was joined by Lucille Western who appeared
as the leading stellar attraction supported by Herne and the
stock company. Miss Western opened in her original char-
acter of "Lady Isabel" in "East Lynne." It was undoubt-
edly a great performance of the character, but the recollec-
tion of Julia Dean Hayne in the part was still fresh in the
public mind, and she had made such a powerful impression
in this character that Lucille Western was compared with
her only to her disadvantage, notwithstanding she was the
original "Lady Isabel." We had now in rapid succession
Western's entire repertory which included "The Child Steal-
er," "Green Bushes," "Oliver Twist," "Flowers of the For-
est," "Don Caesar de Bazan" (with Western as the Don),
and "Foul Play." Miss Western's engagement proceeded
smoothly and drew large audiences. One of the Herne-
Western performances created a genuine sensation in Salt
Lake. It was "Oliver Twist." In the scene where Bill
Sykes (Herne) kills Nancy (Miss Western), both Herne
and Miss Western sought to make the murder as realistic
and blood curdling as possible. The murder is done off
the stage in a room on the left ; Sykes is supposed to beat
Nancy to death with his ugly stick which he carries through
the play. To carry out the realism of the beating a pad was
made of a number of wet towels ; these Herne struck with
a piece of board, making a sickening thud which Lucille
accompanied with a scream, each one growing fainter, until
it became a groan, then Bill steals across the stage and off at
an outer door and Nancy, almost dead, drags herself on till
she gets to the centre of the stage, her face completely hidden

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 83

by her dishevelled hair ; when she gets to position centre she
turns her face which has been covered from the audience,
throws her hair back and reveals her face covered with stage
gore. On this occasion the picture was so revolting that
several women in the audience fainted — everybody was
shocked. The actress had made it as revolting as possible,
thinking to make a sensation. She succeeded, but had she
been a woman of finer feelings, instead of seeking to make
the picture as horrible and repulsive as she could she would
have studied how to make it effective without being repul-
sive. President Young was very angry over it. The picture
was very abhorrent; there is no knowing what the physio-
logical results were ; it was rumored afterwards that a num-
ber of children were birthmarked as the result of it. The
President gave orders that the piece should not be played
again and sent messengers all over the city to tell the peo-
ple not to go and see it if it was put on again. Of course
the managers withdrew it in deference to his wish, but there
is no doubt the house would have been crowded had it been
repeated, for the prohibition only aroused a greater curiosity
to see it ; forbidden fruit, you know, is generally most hank-
ered after. The play has been done here several times since
President Young's death, but never in such a shocking
manner.

On the night of the "Benefit" Lucille chose to show us
what she looked like in male attire, so she put up "Don
Caesar" and appeared in' the role of the ragged cavalier.
Before the play was over it was very apparent that Lucille
had been indulging in the ardent, but she managed to get
through without materially marring the play. The next
night, however, was Charles Reade's "Foul Play." This
piece was entirely new to the company, never having been
done in the theatre before, so that the stock company was
hard pushed with study to get their lines, but with their
accustomed industry and regularity they were all au fait on
this first occasion, and the play might have scored a gen-
uine success if the "star" had done her part towards it ;
but she repeated her indulgence of the night before and to
such a degree that by the opening of the fourth act she was
in a very sorry plight. This act is on an uninhabited island ;
there has been a shipwreck and the hero and heroine have
been washed or driven or blown onto this island and with a
few of the ship's crew are the only survivors. As the act
opens Robert Pen fold (Lindsay) and Helen Rolleston (Miss

84 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Western) are discovered on a high cliff looking for a sail.
The few survivors of the crew have gone in search of
fresh water and something to eat, and the two leading
characters have the entire act between them until the finale
when a rescuing party arrives with a boat. Here was a di-
lemma ; never was a stage lover placed in a more embarrass-
ing position. It was quite apparent to him as they ascended to
the cliff before the rise of the curtain that the stalwart Lu-
cille was not in proper condition for climbing cliffs, more
particularly stage cliffs, which are generally pretty shaky
affairs, and the probability of a sudden and unlocked for
descent was anything but a pleasing prospect to Mr. Lind-
say. To still further embarrass him he discovered that Lu-
cille's tongue was decidedly thick, in fact she could scarcely
articulate. The curtain should never have gone up ; it would
have saved the management, the actors, and particularly
Miss Western, a vast amount of humiliation ; Miss Western
should have been suddenly ill ; or an announcement made to
that effect and the audience dismissed and their money re-
funded if necessary ; they should have been spared the ag-
ony of witnessing a really great artiste rendered imbecile
and helpless by an uncontrollable appetite for liquor. But
the curtain did go up and down went Lucille. At the very
first step she made to descend she staggered, and in spite of
all that her stage lover could do to steady her she made a
sudden unsteady descent and landed in a kneeling position
on the stage. Oh ! the agony of that moment ! With as-
sistance she staggered to her feet, and now as she attempted
to speak her first speech in the act, a new terror seized me.
Her words were thick and inarticulate — not heard at all by
the majority of the audience, who now began to realize the
true condition. It was evident to everybody on the stage
that she could never get through the act, and so the stage
manager, after another abortive attempt on her part to say
her lines, sent on the boat with the rescue party and the
finale of the act was reached. Never was such a scene be-
tween a pair of stage lovers so horribly mutilated as this ;
never was an act so fearfully and unintelligibly abbreviated
as this one, and never did a rescue party arrive more oppor-
tunely. It plucked the "star" from immediate disgrace,
an embarassed actor from despair. It was no wonder the
audience remained for the last act, for they had before the
end of the fourth act divined the true state of affairs and
they stayed, curious to see how it would or could end. The

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 85

last act was a court room scene and the star had to sit on
the witness stand. She did not make a very intelligent wit-
ness but sat there with a bright green silk gown, with a face
flushed to redness, and looking the picture of helplessness.
How we got through that act, I don't think anyone engaged
in it could have told, but with the prompter's assistance read-
ing most of Miss Western's lines, we blundered through and
the final drop came on the most inglorious and trying per-
formance I ever had part in.

The manager promptly cancelled Miss Western's en-
gagement, although she had one more night to play. The
following night "Arrah Na Pogue" was put up with Mr.
Herne in the part of "Shaun the Post," but as if the fates
had decreed that this Herne- Western engagement should
end disgracefully, if not disastrously, this last night went
on record as losing one for the managers and a discredit-
able one to the solitary remaining star. Owing to the fiasco
of the night before, a rather slender audience was in attend-
ance to witness Mr. Herne's last appearance. Whether
this fact had to do with the sudden indisposition and col-
lapse of Mr. Herne on this occasion, there is no means of
knowing, but the writer has ever been of the opinion that
it was the very perceptible falling away of the patronage
and his chagrin and vexation over Miss Western's conduct
of the night before that wrought upon the actor's nervous
system to such a degree that he declared himself unable to
appear. The writer's dressing room was so situated that
he could not hear what was transpiring on the stage. When
the curtain time arrived and I came down to the stage all
made up for "Michael Feeney," to my great surprise I was
informed there was to be no performance ; the audience had
been dismissed owing to the sudden illness of Mr. Herne.
Herne was seated on the big curtain roller and a number of
the company around him, offering sympathy and assistance
to the disabled star who appeared to be in great agony. I
returned hastily to my dressing room and divested myself
of Michael Feeney's habiliments, and resuming my own at-
tire, was soon back to Mr. Herne's side and proffered my
assistance to help him to his hotel. In the meantime a doc-
tor, who kept his office a few doors west of the theatre, had
been called in and he requested us to bring Herne to his
office. There were few hacks or gurney cabs in those days,
and so with the assistance of Mr. Hardie and myself, Mr.
Herne managed with difficulty to reach the doctor's office.

86 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

This doctor was one of the old school of practitioners and
like Felix Callighan, in "His Last Legs," he proceeded
to "cup" or bleed the patient. After he had relieved Herne
of a quart or so of superfluous blood, he bandaged the cup-
ping ; gave the patient a dose of regulation stimulant and
directed the patient to be taken to his hotel and placed com-
fortably in bed. It was a quarter of a mile to the White
House and there was not a hack or vehicle of any kind avail-
able, so Hardie and 1 formed a seat for the sick actor by
locking our hands together and getting the patient's hands
over our shoulders, we carried him to the White House. By
the time we got him up a long flight of stairs to his room, we
were tired and winded, although Margetts and McKenzie,
who had accompanied us, took turns at the carrying business.
Scarcely had \ve got the sick actor in bed before a knock at
the door (a sort of frightened knock) was heard, and as
we said "come in" the door opened and Miss Western, clad
in her night gown, with a shawl around her, timidly entered
and inquired with great anxiety what the matter was. On
being informed that Mr. Herne had been taken so ill that
the audience had to be dismissed, and he carried home to his
room, she became hysterical. Bursting into tears she ex-
claimed, piteously, "Oh, my God ! This is awful ! Oh, Jim-
mie !" addressing herself passionately to Herne. "I wish
we were home with mother !" She evidently had not fully
recovered from her carousal of the night before, and in her
half stupid, half hysterical conditon, moaned and prayed as
if some terrible calamity had befallen her. Herne rapidly
recovered from his illness and the co-stars left Salt Lake.
Lucille never returned, but Herne came back early in 1874
and hovered between Salt Lake and Ogden for a long
time, and finally drifted to San Francisco, where he became
the stage manager of the Bush Street and afterward of the
Baldwin theatre when Tom Maguire, "The Napoleon" of the
Pacific coast, as he was called at the time, opened that pop-
ular theatre. That was before any of the Eastern managers
had invaded San Francisco.

The Herne- Western engagement closed on April I7th
and was closely followed by Fannie Morgan Phelps, who
played from April 2oth to May 2oth, appearing in a new
line of plays for the diversion of the stock company as well
as the public. She opened in "Meg's Diversion," and
proved to be a prime favorite. "The Deal Boatman," "Black
Eyed Susan," she seemed to have a partiality for nautical

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 87

pieces and succeeded in making the seashore heroines very
attractive. Fanny stayed four weeks with us, then went to
Montana. She never paid us a second visit although Salt
Lake treated her very handsomely in the way of patronage.
Mrs. Phelps was a widow ; her husband, Ralph Phelps, a
popular actor, was killed by a blow from a tackle block on
board of the steamer coming from Australia.

Our next stellar attraction was Charles Wheatleigh, who
opened on May 2Oth in "Sam," supported by Annie Lockhart
and the stock company. Wheatleigh gave nine perform-
ances, the pieces presented being "Sam," "Lottery of
Life," "Arrah Na Pogue," "After Dark," and "Under the
Gaslight." Charley Wheatleigh was rather a brilliant co-
median. His plays proved very popular and he played a
memorable engagement.

The next engagement was one that eased the labors of
the stock company, giving most of us a rest. It was the
Howson Opera company. It was quite a family affair. The
company consisted of Pere Howson, Mere Howson, John
Howson, Frank Howson, Clelia Howson, and Fannie How-
son. They were a very talented musical family and played
light opera very well indeed. They opened in the "Grand
Duchess," their cast being filled up with members of the
stock company' who could sing. They played from January
ist to the 2Oth, each opera being played twice or three times.
The Howsons were well liked and made many friends, both
in and out of the theatre.

Prof. Hartz, a magician, followed the Howson engage-
ment, holding the stage from January 2ist to the 26th.

On June 28th, 1869, George D. Chaplin made his first
appearance at this theatre in "Hamlet," playing thirteen per-
formances, closing July loth in "Armadale." Chaplin made
a very favorable impression and later played a longer engage-
ment. He had been leading man for Ben DeBar in St.
Louis, and was a versatile actor, fond of playing "Hamlet"
and "Macbeth," in which, if not great, he was always pleas-
ing. Then, as if to prove his versatility, he would put on
a burlesque called "The .. Seven Sisters," and appear as the
principal sister. George had a handsome face, and a very
plump physique, and made up for a woman, he was a study.

On July 1 2th, Lotta opened in "Little Nell," and played
during the week "Captain Charlotte," "Firefly," and "Top-
sy" in "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

George Chaplin resumed on July iQth, opening in the

88 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

burlesque of "The Seven Sisters" and filled out a week with
"Ten Nights in a Barroom," "Money," and the burlesque
of "Pocahontas," in which he played "Powhattan" very clev-
erly.

July 26th, Kennedy's Scottish Entertainment held the
boards, and on the 28th a new star was ushered in that gave
the stock company more work, just as we were expecting
a brief summer vacation — Geraldine Warden. She played
four nights and a matinee. This engagement closed the
season as far as the stock company was concerned. It was
now July 3 ist and the company had the month of August in
which to rest from study and rehearsals, for the fall season
would open early in September.

The theatre was not entirely closed, however, in August.
On the 1 8th of that month, Murphy and Mack's minstrels
opened and continued until the 28th giving eleven perform-
ances. This was Joe Murphy's first visit to Salt Lake, when
he was a black face artist, and before he had dreamed of be-
coming an Irish comedian. The fact of this company giv-
ing eleven performances in the theatre in August shows
how very popular they were, and how Salt Lake liked min-
strelsy.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 89

CHAPTER XIII.
SEASON OF '69-70.

The season of '69 and '70 opened auspiciously on Sep-
tember 4th with the now recuperated stock company in a new
play. 'The Captain of the Vulture" was played one week
and another new star dawned on the horizon. September
1 3th Mr. Neil Warner was the star attraction. Warner was
an English actor and had been in the supporting company
of the late lamented Gustavus Brooke, who gave promise
of becoming England's greatest tragedian, but whose al-
ready resplendent career was unfortunately cut short by the
loss of the steamship London. Brooke was making a second
visit to Melbourne and Sidney in '66, where he had achieved
a remarkable triumph a year before, but alas ! for the irony of
fate, he was doomed to be cut off in the very unfolding ot the
most brilliant talents the English stage had yet seen. The
unfortunate London went down in the Bay of Biscay and
some two hundred souls perished in the wreck and among
them the brilliant Gustavus Brooke. A friend of the writer,
now in this city (Salt Lake), Mr. Jack Cooey, had a brother
who was one of the very few survivors of that illfated ship,
there being but sixteen in all. So America never got to see
Brooke, who was regarded by his countrymen generally as
the greatest of all their tragic actors.

Neil Warner was said to be a copyist of Brooke; un-
doubtedly he had played with him, and learned much from
him, and if not as great as his acknowledged tutor, Warner
was not unworthy to be called great. He had a splendid
physique and a magnificent voice, which he could use with
magnetic effect. Its transitions were at times marvelous and
in this writer's opinion, he was the superior of all our Amer-
ican tragedians, with the exception of Davenport, whom he
very much resembled both in the majesty of his presence
and in mental superiority. Warner opened in "Richard III."
and made a most decided hit in the character, notwithstand-
ing he had several notable predecessors in the part, notably
McCullough and Stark. He played twenty-four perform-
ances, embracing a wide range of legitimate plays — ''Ham-

90 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

let," "Macbeth," "Richelieu," and his "Macbeth" was the
greatest of all his fine performances. He went to New York
from here and we quite expected to hear great things about
him, but for some cause or other he never played a stellar
engagement in New York, and the following year the writer,
much to his astonishment and disappointment, saw him play-
ing a second heavy part in support of Charles Wyndham the
English comedian at a theatre in Brooklyn. Warner did
not make a go in New York, and drifted over to Montreal,
Canada, where he stayed for many years ; but a few years
ago he toured California in connection with a rising young
actress of that state, in a round of his favorite characters.
Annie Lockhart played the leading female characters in all
Warner's performances here. They .had known each other
in Australia, and there seemed to be a very warm friendship
between them and it was certain that Annie was an ardent
admirer of her talented countryman, and some of us rather
feared she would go with him when he took his departure
from Salt Lake ; but something occurred between them that
must have angered him, for a day or two before his engage-
ment closed, he spoke to Miss Lockhart at a rehearsal in
words and tones so heartless and insulting that the company
were amazed at him, and poor Annie sought the seclusion of
her dressing room to have a good cry. Conjecture was rife
and pointed to a rival in the lady's affections as the cause of
his tirade. Warner departed, leaving Annie with us, very
much to the gratification of the company and public, but it
was not for long; poor Annie Lockhart had received a
wound from which she never recovered. She only lived
five weeks after this and the cause of her sudden decline
and death was more or less of a mystery, for up to this time
she was a hale, hearty woman, in the very prime of life. She
was laid away tenderly by loving hands and hearts, whom
she had never known until eight months before, but whom
she had endeared to her by her sweet, womanly ways. Many
a tear was shed and genuine sorrow was felt when Annie
Lockhart was laid away in Olivet.

The night after Warner's engagement closed, Sunday,
October I2th, Stephen Massett lectured.

October I3th, Madam Scheller opened her second en-
gagement, playing six nights, and gave "Roll of the Drum,"
"Child of the Regiment," "Enoch Arden," etc. The theatre
closed from the 1 8th to the 23rd on account of the Militia
Muster. The Nauvoo Legion, as the Territorial troops

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 91

were called, had a big encampment on the banks of the Jor-
dan river and of such importance was it that the theatre had
to close, as every able bodied man was expected to drill and
all the women and children, of course, had to go and see
them. The late George Q. Cannon and other high church
dignitaries fell into the ranks on this occasion and carried
muskets, whether from the love of exercise or a keen love
of duty, or for the effect of example, this deponent saith
not. Nearly all the dramatic company were in the big drill,
so, of course, there could be no theatres until it was over.
It was intended to be a great demonstration, and it was ;
almost every Mormon man was in the ranks. The theatre
resumed business with the rest of the town, Saturday the
23rd inst., when one of Madam Scheller's pieces was re-
peated. This was Madam Scheller's last appearance at this
theatre. She and her husband, Methua Scheller, went East
from here, and died in Memphis in 1878, during the yellow
fever contagion of that dread disease.

On October 25th, the Stones, Amy and Harry, opened
up a return engagement in ''French Spy." They played
twelve nights, giving "Fanchon," and "Little Barefoot," etc.
Their engagement closed November 6th, after a very satis-
factory engagement.

On the 8th the stock company resumed, and played
"Waiting for the Verdict." Annie Lockhart, who had rested
during the Stones' engagement, resumed and was playing
the leading female character in this play when she was taken
very ill. With the aid of kind attention she got through the
night's work,, but she went home so ill that she took to her
bed, and on the i8th of November, died. Three days pre-
vious to her death, on the I5th of November, John Wilson
and Kate Denin were ushered in as stock stars, and contin-
ued until January 5th, 1870, when they withdrew for a week
to give place to Charlotte Thompson, who played a six
nights' engagement, playing "Julia" in the "Hunchback,"
"Leah, the Forsaken," "Sea of Ice," and "Court and Stage."
Miss Thompson was a pretty woman and a pleasing actress —
a favorite in the South where she belonged.

From the I4th to the 24th, the stock company held
down the business without stellar assistance, when Kate
Denin and John Wilson returned and played another en-
gagement. As stock stars they remained until February
1 4th. Then came another siege of stock work without any
star, broken intermittently by lectures and concerts. Ole

92

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Bull gave concerts March 8th and gth ; Alf Barnett's en-
tertainment, March 22nd and 23rd; Satsuma's Japanese
troupe from March 25th to 3Oth. These attractions, of
course, gave the company some respite from their arduous
studies, but it was only brief, and we were already re-
hearsing for the ensuing conference dates. So the stock
company resumed their labors and played all through April
and up to May i6th when the season of '69 and '70 closed.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 93

CHAPTER XIV.

SEASON OF '7O-'7I.

The theatre did not reopen until August the 27th when
the season of '70 and '71 was ushered in with a "Benefit" to
Miss Colebrook. This was really the first summer the
theatre had remained closed and given the company a needed
rest. The stock company played one week only when the
veteran tragedian, T. A. Lyne, began an engagement which
ran from September the 3rd to the 2oth. This was Lyne's
fourth engagement since the opening of the theatre, and it
proved what a remarkable hold he had upon our theatre
goers when he repeated his well known and well worn rep-
ertoire to splendid business. As there was no other star in
the dramatic firmament when Lyne's engagement expired,
the stock company was put on its own resources once again
and continued successfully up to the loth of December, when
the monotony was in some measure broken by the accession
to the company of Mr. and Mrs. John S. Langrishe, and the
following week C. W. Couldock and his daughter, Eliza,
floated the stellar flag for the third time, repeating a portion
of their old repertoire. They played from the 26th to the
3 1 st. Mr. Couldock went East, leaving Eliza (who was in
poor health) here to recuperate. They were succeeded by
George W. Thompson and Sallie Hinckley, who played a
week's engagement, presenting "Man and Wife" and the
"Persecuted Dutchman," filling dates January 2nd to the
7th, of 1871. The stock company then played along again
until February I3th, when McKee Rankin, Kitty Blanch-
ard and W. H. Power opened a stellar engagement, playing
two weeks to February 25th. Everywhere else the
Rankins were playing "The Danites," but owing to
the odious light in which that play presented the Mor-
mon leaders, they did not dare to produce it at the
Salt Lake Theatre. Of course the managers would
not consent, and the great wonder is that Rankin
could secure dates at all at Brigham Young's theatre while
he was starring through the country in a play so well cal-
culated to stir up prejudice against the Mormons. "The
Danites" had to be eliminated while the Rankins fell back
onto some old plays in which the stock company was up in.
"Rip Van Winkle," "Little Barefoot," and "Colleen Bawn"
were given.

94 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

It may be of interest to note the fact here that "The
Danites" has never been played in Salt Lake or anywhere
in Utah.

About this time George B. Waldron turned up again
in Salt- Lake, and was installed as leading man to strengthen
the company and ease somewhat the labors of David Mc-
Kenzie.

Rose Evans, a lady who was enamoured of "Hamlet,'''
and made a specialty of playing it, was introduced to Salt
Lake soon after Waldron's accession to the company, and we
had during her engagement which ran through the April
conference, "Hamlet," "Twixt Axe and Crown," "Ingomar ;"
Miss Evans as "Parthenia" and Waldron as "Ingomar;"
"Lady Audrey's Secret," "Romeo and Juliet;" Waldron as
"Romeo." Rose Evans established herself very strongly in
the favor of the Salt Lake theatre goers. Her "Hamlet"
was liked, and she played it intelligently and perhaps as well
as a woman could play it, but no woman can ever play
"Hamlet" satisfactorily to the critical mind; and very few
men out of the thousands of actors ever reach and handle
it satisfactorily. Her "Juliet" was very acceptable, but Wal-
dron's voice was' too basso profundo for "Romeo." it was
hard to imagine him as the youthful love-distraught Romeo
with his deep set vocal organ.

Miss Evans closed on April 8th and was closely fol-
lowed by Mile. Marie Ravel, who opened on the loth, sup-
ported by Waldron and the stock company and played an en-
gagement of twenty nights. On May 4th Herr Daniel E.
Bandmann and his wife (his first one) opened an engage-
ment of five nights, presenting "Macbeth," "Hamlet," "Mer-
chant of Venice," "Narcisse," and "Richard III."
Bandmann, at this time, was a very popular tragedian. He
had played as early as '65 in San Francisco a very success-
ful engagement. He was now returning from his second
visit to San Francisco. He spoke with a decided German
accent, which was, however, not disagreeable to the ear,
his voice being musical and his reading very artistic and
finished. Bandmann bought a ranch near Missoula, Mon-
tana, some ten or twelve years ago and went into semi-re-
tirement. He had a curious advertisement in the Dramatic
Mirror, about as follows: "Daniel E. Bandmann, Trag-
edian and breeder of fine horses and cattle." He also bred a
large family of children on that same ranch. When he went
into retirement he took with him his latest "leading lady,"

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 95

Mary Kelly, as his wife, and they have a number of heirs to
succeed to the tragedy and breeding business. His first
wife, Millie Palmer, still figures in London theatricals, and
she has a son who is conspicuous in theatrical manage-
ment. Herr Bandmann still makes spasmodic incursions
into the surrounding country with an improvised dramatic
company and plays his favorite characters.

The next star to shine in our firmament was J. K. Em-
mett. "Joe," as he was familiarly called, was just at the
zenith of his fame about this time, and he filled the theatre
from pit to dome. The character of "Fritz" appealed strong-
ly to nearly all theatre goers, and "Joe" Emmett with his be-
witching voice and catchy lullabies, had an easy road to
fame and fortune. Emmett played from the loth to the
1 3th.

The Couldocks, father and daughter, now played a re-
turn engagement, covering two weeks, from May 22nd to
June 5th, repeating mostly old repertoire. They were fol-
lowed closely by Mr. and Mrs. Ida Hernandez, a Polish
couple, who came to this country with Madam Modjeska, and
were now working their way to the East. They were clever
performers, but being unknown, they did not draw heavy
houses. June 8th to the nth.

The Lingards followed Hernandez in a brief engagement
of three nights, June I2th to I4th. The following week was
filled in by the Hernandez and the Carter-Cogswell con-
tingent of the Salt Lake stock company. J. M. Carter and
his wife, Carrie Carter (nee Lyne-Cogswell) had recently
arrived from Denver and had been added to the stock com-
pany, which had been weakened materially by the loss of
several of its prominent members. Hardie had gone to the
Virginia City theatre; Lindsay had gone on a visit to Eng-
land and had withdrawn from the company for a time;
Miss Alexander had also drifted away to the East, so that
when the Carters arrived and sought engagement, the man-
agers readily availed themselves of their services. They
played here for a few weeks and at the close of the season
went on to California.

On July 3rd, Edwin Adams made his first appear-
ance at this theatre. He opened in the character of "Rover"
in "Wild Oats" and played in addition, "Extremes," "Enoch
Arden," and "William" in "Black Eyed Susan." Mr. Adams
filled out a week with great satisfaction to our theatre
goers, the managers, and the company, and with very sat-

96 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

isfactory financial results to himself. He was a gratification
to both eyes and ears — a brilliant actor with a melodious
voice, and in appearance the ideal actor.

The following week John McCullough, who had with
him Helen Tracy as a leading female support, played a
notable engagement, rendered more so by the fact that Ed-
win Adams was retained to appear in conjunction with
Mr. McCullough. They gave "Damon and Pythias," with
McCullough as "Damon" and Adams as "Pythias," and
notwithstanding McCullough made an excellent "Damon,"
so convincing was Adams as "Pythias," that the critical
Salt Lakers declared it was "Pythias" and "Damon" on that
occasion, putting the brilliant Adams ahead of McCullough
in their admiration. Adams played "lago" to McCullough's
"Othello" and even strengthened the favorable opinion of
him. For their closing performance together, "Hamlet"
was given with Adams as the Prince and McCullough as
the King. Miss Helen Tracy lent some lustre to the triple
alliance and this engagement is remembered as one of the
most notable ever given in the now historic theatre.

Just how it chanced that McCullough and Adams got
dates so close together, the one immediately succeeding
the other, I have forgotten, but as Adams was going to the
Pacific coast and McCullough and Miss Tracy were going
East, I presume that their meeting here was purely acci-
dental.

They wrere very glad to see each other, "John" and
"Ned," and decided to have a good time while they were to-
gether ; to that end Adams, who was in no great hurry to
get to San Francisco, decided to stay over during McCul-
lough's engagement and play in some of his pieces with
him, which he did as stated above. The combination was a
strong one, and no doubt helped McCullough's engagement,
as this was his second visit; but the primary object of the
combination was evidently to have a good time. We had
an actors' club here at that early day which must not be
forgotten.

On January i6th preceding, Milton Nobles played the
"Marble Heart," appearing as Raphael. Nobles was then a
young actor, comparatively unknown. He was on his way
to the East, where some years later he became widely known
through his plays of "The Phoenix," "From Sire to Son,"
etc.

There was at this time residing in Salt Lake a gentle-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 97

man by the name of Bentham Fabian. Fabian was widely
and favorably known for certain peculiarities. He was
extremely fond of the theatre, and every actor was his
friend. He was one of those versatile fellows that could
turn his hand to many things. He organized a public library
here, which he called "The Salt Lake Exchange and Read-
ing Rooms," and he was the librarian. It was while Milton
Nobles was here that Fabian worked up a "benefit" for this
library, at which Governor Vaughn, (then Governor of
Utah), recited Poe's" "Bells," and Nobles and the writer
gave the third act of "Othello" (in evening dress), Nobles
reading "lago," and the writer "Othello." There were sev-
eral other numbers by Fabian and others, and music by the
Military band from Fort Douglas. One of Fabian's strong
peculiarities was that he loved his pipe and glass and occa-
sionally his courtly bearing and Chesterfieldian manners
would get a little lopsided and obscure. This benefit, being
a sort of royal occasion with Bentham, he had a fresh keg of
beer in his den behind the library, and after the entertain-
ment was over he invited all the performers (except the
"band") to go and help drink it.

Governor Vaughn having a prior engagement, declined,
but the rest of us adjourned to the library. Fabian, eager to
treat "the boys," made haste to tap the keg, but there was a
decided uncertainty about his manipulation of the mallet
and tap, which plainly indicated that he had already been
tapping something. So Cyrus Hawley (Judge Hawley's
son) rather impatiently and dramatically exclaimed, "Give
me the daggers!" (the mallet and tap), and taking them
from Fabian with the air of an expert tapster, he proceeded
to drive the tap ; he made a misslick, and in an instant he
was covered from head to foot in foamy beer. His nice
clothes were apparently ruined, and he was roundly sworn at
for wasting so much good beer. After stopping the flood,
there proved to be sufficient left to make all hands merry
and happy.

About this time Fabian, who was a great projector of
schemes, succeeded in organizing an actors' club, to which
he made us all pay tribute, not only the actors, but a num-
ber of other professional men and good fellows were made
members, and when the transient "stars" came along, we
generally contrived to give them a good time, although our
quarters were not so pretentious as those of the Alta or Com-
cial clubs of today. During the Adams-McCullough en-

98 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

gagements these actors were the guests of "the club," and
dear old Fabian was in his glory. Fabian was the president
of the club, and he certainly wined and dined McCullough
and Adams to their hearts' content. On their closing night
we had a great carousal, even Miss Tracy did not escape. It
was a memorable night truly. Everybody present seemed
determined to give "John" McCullough and "Ned" Adams
a royal time, and they had it.

"Care mad to see a man sae happy ;
E'en drowned himsel among the nappy.
Kings may be blest, but Tarn was glorious,
O'er all the ills of life victorious."

Burns' "Tarn O'Shanter.

The stock company played one week, even after this
brilliant triumvirate had united its course, with Mr. and Mrs.
Carter doing leads. That they could hold the interest of
the public after such a combinaton of talent as Adams,
McCullough and Tracy dropped away from them was not
to be expected,. In looking back at it from this distance, the
wise thing for the managers to have done would have been
to close the season with that extraordinary engagement, but
the Carters were here and had a play or two to exploit, and
struggled through a week when the management were glad
to close the season, with the Pioneer holiday, July 24th. Here
was another case of playing 'all summer, for the theatre
only remained closed about ten nights, opening on the loth
of August. The advent of the Carters into Salt Lake and
their engagement at the Salt Lake theatre was not devoid of
interest. It was well-known to many that Mrs. Carter ( Car-
rie Cogswell) had been the wife of the veteran tragedian,
Mr. T. A. Lyne, who was very much perturbed at their
presence here. He declared that she had come here expressly
to annoy him, and nothing could convince him to the con-
trary, so when after a short stay here, Mr. and Mrs. Carter
and their son, Lincoln J., now the celebrated Chicago play-
builder and manager, took their departure for California,
Lyne's heart was joyful. There were two children, a boy
and a girl, the offspring of the Lyne-Cogswell marriage.
The court, in giving Lyne the deliverance which he sought
on the grounds of desertion, gave him the custody of the
two children, and he had them in Salt Lake attending school,
and he was very apprehensive that the mother might kid-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 99

nap them. So when she had departed without any signs of
having molested the children the veteran was happy, for he
never dreamed they would return, but alas ! for the contrari-
ness of human nature, in this he was doomed to disappoint-
ment. Lyne had been for the second time a widower when
he met Miss Carrie Cogswell. She was about sixteen and
he about fifty. Lyne at this age was an active, fine-looking
man with hair as dark as a raven's wing and a very com-
manding presence. Miss Cogswell was enamored of the stage
and soon became not only Mrs. Lyne, but "leading lady"
for Lyne. After some years of married life, and two chil-
dren had been born to them, there came a cloud in their sky.
In the same company chanced a young man by the name of
Carter, whose father, Jared Carter, had been a leading light
in the Mormon Church in the Nauvoo days. Disparity in
age and incompatibility of temperament between Mr. and
Mrs. Lyne gradually brought about a separation and di-
vorce. By this time both had sought and found new matri-
monial alliances. Mrs. Lyne had some years now been Mrs.
Carter and Mr. Lyne had found consolation in a French
widow whose Christian name was Madeline. Such was the
situation at the time when the Carters made their first visit
to Salt Lake, and the veteran tragedian having settled down
in Salt Lake to end his days, was in mortal dread of the Car-
ters fixing their future home here too.

100 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER XV.

SEASON OF '7I-'72.

The season of '71 and '72 opened on August the 4th,
only two weeks after the closing of '70 and '71. The Lin-
gards were the opening attraction ; they played only two
nights. The Lingards consisted of Horace W. Lingard, Alice
Lingard, his wife, and "Dickie" Lingard, a sister to Horace.
They played short cast pieces and did not require many mem-
bers of the company. The repertoire included "Caste," "The
Weaver of Spitaefield," "Morning Call," "A Happy Pair,"
etc. They were followed closely by Kate Newton and
Charlie Backus of minstrel fame, who stayed two nights ;
and these were succeeded by the Hyers Sisters, a colored
concert troupe, who gave five concerts, opening August the
9th and playing up to the I3th.

On the 21 st Joseph and Mrs. Murphy made their debut
in drama — the medium being a hash-up of improbable inci-
dents put together to string Joe's specialties on. He played
a sort of stage detective and disguised variously as an Irish-
man, a Swede, a Dutch Girl, and a Nigger. This was the
first performance of "Help" on any stage, and should have
been the last, if merit alone counted.

The Salt Lake Theatre was made the bridge to carry a
number of new dramatic ventures across the quicksands of
dramatic speculation. Afraid to make the trial of a new
play in San Francisco or New York, they have brought them
to Salt Lake to "try them on the dog." "Help" ran three
nights, 2 ist to the 24th, and was fairly launched on the dra-
matic sea, and Joe Murphy was no longer a blackfaced
comedian but a versatile actor of the Irish comedy per-
suasion. "Help" served Joe faithfully for several seasons
and put him on Easy street, financially.

August 25th the Stock Company, strengthened with the
Cogswell-Carter troupe, resumed. J. W. Carter was en-
gaged to play leads for a time ; McKenzie was absent, Lind-
say was gone, Hardie had deserted, and the management
were in sore straits for a leading actor. The Stock played
from August 25th to September 25th, when Mrs. Lander
opened a star engagement in "Mary Stuart," continuing one

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 101

week, during which she gave, in addition to "Mary Stuart,"
"Camilla," "The Hunchback" and "Marie Antoinette." Mrs.
Lander was at this time one of the bright particular stars of
the American stage. She was a woman of superior intelli-
gence and rare dramatic talent and played a fine engage-
ment.

After the Lander engagement, the house closed for a
few nights, to give the Stock company a chance to prepare
for the approaching October conference. The management
could always count on packed houses during these confer-
ences, and it was like giving money away to engage any
stellar attractions at these times, so the Stock company was
up against their work once more. On October 3rd they
opened and played through conference, to the Qth.

On the loth Robert Me Wade made his first bow to a
Salt Lake audience, in "Rip Van Winkle." McWade had a
very good reputation through the west in this character,
and drew a very good house for his first night. If we had
never seen "Jim Hearne" as "Rip Van Winkle" we might
have thought more of McWade, but the impression Hearne
made in the character was so strong and still so fresh in
the public mind that McWade's "Rip" did not become a fa-
vorite. He played some five nights and then the Stock had
to go alone again for a while, so on the i6th they resumed
and played up to November 7, only relieved a little by the
Japanese jugglers, who put in an hour each evening for a
week, from October 23rd to 28th. On November Qth,
Johnny Allen and Alice Harrison opened a four nights' en-
gagement, closing on the I3th. On the I5th the Stock re-
sumed the even tenor of its way, and played unassisted up
to December loth, when J. M. Ward came in with "Through
by Daylight," and got through by gaslight in two nights.
Jim \Vard was a very versatile and capable acter with a racy
Irish brogue, that was suggestive of the "ould sod." He
has had rare experiences in theatrical life, and they would
make a volume of interesting reading, but as he is still hav-
ing them, being yet upon the stage, it is too early to add
his experiences to the general history of the stage, especially
his matrimonial ones.

An entire troupe of juvenile actors followed Jim Ward's
advent into Salt Lake City. Whether Jim was in any way
ace ^untable, we are not advised ; they were called "The
Nathan Juvenile Troupe," and put in one week from the
1 5th to the 20th.

102 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Oliver Doud Byron followed them, opening on Decem-
ber 2 ist, and playing till January 3rd, "Across the Conti-
nent," being his piece de resistance. Ben McCullough filled
out the week. Eliza Couldock, who was in delicate health,
and had been left here by her father after their last engage-
ment, was now called in for a week to assist the Stock in a
production of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Miss Couldock was
cast for the character of Eliza. The writer, who was play-
ing George Harris and Legree, well remembers how ner-
vous and poorly the lady was during this week's engage-
ment. She was over ambitious and worked beyond her
strength, and it was evident she was in a decline. This was
her last appearance, poor girl, and it was not long before
we were paying the last respects, and with loving hands
laying her gently i' the earth, alongside of dear Annie
Lockhart, whom we had performed the same service for
only a short time before. "Lay her i' the earth and from her
fair and unpolluted flesh may violets spring."

Rose Evans came to us for a second engagement, after
the "Uncle Tom" week, and played from January 8th to the
27th, repeating her former repertory. Stock company put
in the following week alone, then followed E. T. Stetson for
a week in his melodramas, "Neck and Neck" and "Old Ken-
tuck." This puts us along to February 7th, '72, when the
Stock played another week without any star ; then the Stock
got a week's rest, the time from the I5th to the 2Oth being
filled by Purdy, Scott, and Fostelle's minstrels. Refreshed
with a week's vacation, the Stock company started in afresh
on February 22nd — great George's birthday — and played till
April Qth, getting through another conference without the
aid of a star. Here the company had another brief respite
while "The Child American Concert Company" filled time
from April loth to the I3th, when the company resumed
their labors and played up to the 2oth. On April 22nd, Mr.
and Mrs. F. M. Bates began a stellar engagement which ran
three weeks, up to May nth. Mrs. Bates was the lead horse
in this team, and the repertory was selected to give her
prominence as the principal star, and the announcement
should have been Mrs. and Mr. F. M. Bates. She played
"Pigeon the Torment," "Camille," "Leah," and "Lu-
cretia Borgia," and all the great popular roles for tragedi-
ennes, and was the first to introduce to us the great historic
play of "Elizabeth." The Bateses made a very good impres-
sion and were so pleased with the result of their engage-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 103

ment that they remained in Salt Lake during the ensuing
summer. Blanche Bates, now a very successful star under
David Belasco's management, was with the Bateses then,
and as she had not been christened Blanche, she was just
called Baby Bates.

May 1 3th to i6th was filled by Berger's Swiss Bell
Ringers, and Sol Smith Russell, who was then doing spe-
cialties with the Bergers — little dreaming of his "Poor Re-
lation" or "Peaceful Valley."

A few nights of stock followed this, and not proving
strong, the Bateses were re-engaged and put in another
week, from the 22nd to the 28th, introducing some new
plays of lighter caliber.

May 29th the Majiltons put in a date, and the stock
then played a lone hand up to June 8th. Billy Emerson's
minstrels held the boards June loth, nth and I2th, and Joe
Murphy came and gave us some more of his "Help," I3th,
1 4th, 1 5th. Stock put in another week alone, I7th to 22nd,
when Charles Wheatleigh opened a return engagement, 24th
and played till July ist. Wheatleigh gave "Lottery of Life,"
"Flying Scud," "After Dark" and "Arrah Na Pogue."
That was Charley Wheatleigh's farewell, we never saw him
more.

The Bergers and Sol Smith Russell had swung around
the circle and came back for a second engagement. They
found Salt Lake a congenial and profitable place and put
in another three nights with us, 4th, 5th and 6th.

James M. Hardie, who had just returned from a long
professional engagement in San Francisco, played a two
nights' engagement, opening in a play called "Early Cali-
fornia." Season closed June 8th. "Jim" Hardie left Salt
Lake for the East soon after this — his last appearance here,
as it proved, for he has never since returned. After play-
ing in support of stars several seasons, "Hoey and Hardie"
starred for several seasons in "A Child of the State," but it
was not a money maker, and after several losing seasons
the firm of Hoey and Hardie dissolved, and Jim cast about
for a new "angel." Hoey's "old man" had been the angel
in the "Child of State" venture and it was understood at the
time that after making up some rather heavy deficits, he
grew weary and refused to put up any longer for "The Child
of the State." Hardie had some money which came to him
through his wife, who had an annuity, but "Jim" had a
strong touch of the "canny Scot" in him, that always im-

104 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

pelled him to let someone else "put up," In time he found
a new "angel," and one more to his taste, for this one was of
the female persuasion, and Jim always was a favorite with
the ladies. He caught a society woman who was stage
struck and wanted to star; she had the money to pay for
the privilege, and this was just such a snap as "Jim" want-
ed. So the lady put up the money to put out the show, and
she was starred in conjunction with Jim. The firm name
stood "Hardie and Von Leer." "A Brave Woman" was
the name of the play they chose for the venture ; there was
a great significance in that title. The show went out with
a stock of $1,200 worth of special printing, so Hardie him-
self informed me in New York. They went into the south,
but in six weeks the company was disbanded and Hardie
and Von Leer were back in New York. Then they got up a
cheaper company and went into the dime museums, where
they made a little money. The dime museums were very
popular just then and a number of good attractions played
them. The play of "A Brave Woman," however, was not
an unqualified success, although Sarah Von Leer seemed to
be, and held onto her partnership through thick and thin.
After a while Hardie got a play called "On the Frontier,"
and conceived the idea of getting a brass band made up of
real Indians. It proved a ten strike, and, after doing a big
business with it in this country for two seasons, he took it
to England in '93 and made a barrel of money with it. Sarah
is still his partner and still stays by him. They built a fine
theatre in Manchester, which has been their headquarters
for the last twenty years. Mrs. Hardie and her daughters
have been back in Salt Lake for a number of years. They
have never crossed the ocean to join the husband and father.
It must be acknowledged that the dramatic profession is
altogether too prolific of this sort of thing. Its tendencies
are to draw even well mated couples apart — a hundred cases
could be cited; but we will let the reader think the matter
over and divine the cause.

On July 3 ist Jim McKnight, a young fellow of am-
bition and talent, put on a play of his own writing, which
he called "The Robbers of the Rocky Mountains," with an
exclusive amateur company. Young McKnight drew on his
imagination for his robbers; had he written years later he
could have taken his characters from life, with Butch Cas-
sidy and the whole Robber's Roost gang in the cast.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 105

CHAPTER XVI.

SEASON OF '72-^73.

The season of '72 and '73 opened on August 7th with
George Chaplin and Clara Jean Walters as stock stars. They
opened in the classical drama of "Buffalo Bill." This was
a long time before Cody started his wild west show and
probably this play was what put him in the notion of start-
ing in the show business. Chaplin made a fine Buffalo Bill,
and if Cody saw him in the part it must have made him
envious to see another fellow stealing his thunder. The
combination ran two weeks, when Stetson came in "Neck
and Neck" with us and played a week, presenting also
"Daring Dick" and "The Fatal Glass." Chaplin had a de-
cided objection to supporting male stars of mediocre ability,
and second class repertory, and so he generally laid off on
such occasions as the Stetson engagement; besides it was a
matter of economy with the management ; they did not need
him, so George laid off during Stetson's week, and then
came with his "Seven Sisters" the following week. George
was immense as the big sister and was just a trifle vain over
the fact that he could outshine all the women in the com-
pany in female apparel.

On September 2nd Ada Gray opened a week's engage-
ment in "Article 47" and gave besides, "Jezebel" and
"Whose Wife." Ada was a pleasing actress, of fine ap-
pearance, but didn't seem to quicken the pulse of her Salt
Lake patrons, after their seeing some of the greater ones.

On the 9th Chaplin and Walters resumed as stock stars
and played continuously up to the 23rd, T. A. Lyne taking a
benefit on the 2Oth instant and playing "Richelieu." On the
23rd Chaplin dropped out of the company, closing in
"School," and on the 25th the stock company kept right
along with Clara Jean Walters featured through the October
Conference and up to the I2th.

On October 1st W. T. Harris made his initial bow to
the Salt Lake public ; he came from one of the Omaha thea-
tres, accompanied by Annie Ward and Miss Blanche de Bar,
a sister of the popular manager and actor, Ben de Bar. Miss

106 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

De Bar had already grown old in the profession, but proved
nevertheless a very useful member of the stock company.
She played old women and characters and on more than
one occasion proved her agility in spite of years and gray
hairs, by doing an Irish jig or a "Dolly Varden" lilt. The
rag time had not yet come in vogue or Miss De Bar could
have done a cake walk with the best.

"Jimmy" Harris, as he was familiarly called, cut quite a
figure in the future history of the theatre as manager and
deserves more than a passing notice. He was featured on
his opening night in an Irish farce, "That Rascal Pat," and
made a very fair impression. Miss Annie Ward, who ac-
companied Harris to Salt Lake, and who at first was sup-
posed to be "Jimmy's" wife or fiancee (from all appear-
ances), was a young woman who had been beautiful, but
her face was now so deeply pitted with small pox that she
invariably in public kept it covered with a veil, except when
on the stage, where she could veil the blemish under a thick
coat of grease paint, and, this artistically done, she present-
ed as fair a face as one could wish to look at. "Annie,"
'twas said, had been the fiancee of the great African ex-
plorer, Henry Stanley, before he caught the African fever,
which tore him away from her and all his early associations.
Annie found consolation for her bereavement in a close
friendship with "Jimmy." So close was their alliance that
on their joining the stock company here together, everybody
judged they were man and wife, or ought to be. They had
taken a room together in old man McDonald's house, just
under the shadow of St. Mark's church, and everything
went well for a little while — but by some inadvertence the
good Mr. McDonald discovered that they had not secured
the necessary license for rooming together, and he very
promptly and perhaps rudely gave them notice to vacate.
They thought the old man was a crank and quite unreason-
able, to turn them out of his house for such a slight offense,
in a community where many of the men were living with a
plurality of wives. They had an idea it was a sort of Oneida
community here; free love, etc. They secured another
lodging house, but the lady who ran that was a very strict
Mormon also, and so soon as she found out how matters
stood she served them with a notice to quit. "Jimmy" got a
"hunch" from some one that he would have to marry
Annie or sever the alliance altogether, as the Mormons
would not stand for anything of this kind. It was even in-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 107

timated to him that he might be indicted for lascivious co-
hob, which so terrified him that he suddenly ceased his rela-
tionship with Annie altogether, and left her to paddle her
own canoe. Those who were acquainted with the circum-
stances have always blamed Harris for his treatment of
Annie Ward ; he should have married her, was the^ r
thought, but he turned away from her in this time of mutual
trouble. His offense was condoned, and gradually he
worked himself into favor until he became quite an object
of interest with the ladies about the theatre, while those same
ladies turned up their noses at Miss Ward, and made it so
unpleasant for her, that she was glad to terminate her en-
gagement long before the season was over, and go back to
her former haunts. Poor girl ! She went down hill rapidly
after returning and died wretchedly in St. Louis a year or so
later, while Harris remained here, married one of Brigham
Young's daughters and was given the management of the
theatre, which he held for several years. Harris and his
wife went to New York in about '80, where they have re-
sided ever since. "Jimmy," who has wealthy relatives there,
has a good easy position and raised a nice family of four or
five children, to whom he has bequeathed his real name of
Ferguson, that of Harris being merely adopted to hide him
from his relatives while he was a profane stage player. So
runs the wheel of fortune.

Hamlet. I did love you once.

Ophelia. Indeed, my honored lord, you made me be-
lieve so.

Hamlet. You should not have believed me ; for virtue
can not so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it.
I loved you not.

Ophelia. I was the more deceived.

Hamlet. Get thee to a nunnery.

— Shakespeare.

On November 8th Mr. Al Thorne was added to the
stock company and made his first appearance in the play
of "Maud's Peril." Al Thorne came to Utah as a soldier
in Johnston's army. He was a member of the Camp Floyd
Theatre company and played with Dick White, Mrs. Tuckett
et al. He contrived in some way to remain in Utah
when the Civil War broke out, instead of following "the un-
certain chance of war." He had married and settled in the

108 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

north part of the territory, and was associated with the
Richmond Dramatic Company for several years and now
found a place in the Salt Lake stock, where he remained
for several years, doing excellent work in "heavies" and
"old men." Thorne joined the Mormon church and got
more family than he could take care of — two families in
fact, which proved his ruin. He became estranged from
them both, and for the last twenty years of his life was
practically an exile, living a solitary life in the mining camps
of Nevada. He died three years ago at De Lamar, Nevada, a
prematurely old man, with no relative near. But Al always
had friends, for he was a good natured, generous hearted
man — his own worst enemy. "Requiescat in pace."

George Chaplin having exhausted his extensive and
variegated repertory, and taken his departure for pastures
new, the stock company, with Clara Jean Walters, played
through the October conference. The very palpable weak-
ness occasioned by Chaplin's retirement was filled by F. M.
Bates, who with his wife and Baby Blanche had been rusti-
cating in the vicinity ever since their engagement in the
previous May. Bates opened on the I4th of October, as
joint star with Miss Walters, and continued until November
2 ist, the only interruption being a three nights' engagement
of the Australian actor, James J. Bartlett, who gave "David
Garrick," "New Magdalen," and "Married for Money."

On November 25th Mrs. Bates opened her second en-
gagement at this theatre, supported by her husband
(Frank), Miss Walters and the stock company. She played
two weeks, repeating mostly her favorite roles, "Elizabeth,"
"Lucretia Borgia," "Camille," etc. Mrs. Bates during the
time her husband, Frank, had been playing with the stock
company, had played an engagement with John Piper, the
Virginia City manager. Returning here she sent ahead of
her to exploit her return engagement Mr. John Maguire,
who has since made a name as a theatrical manager, but who
was then a very enthusiastic disciple of Thespis, and was
ambitious to make a mark in the histrionic art. Maguire
by his own confession had been educated for the Catholic
priesthood, and certainly a good priest was spoiled when
John turned Thespian, but the stage fever caught him, and
struck in so deep that he was irrevocably lost to a profession
which he was capable of adorning, and exposed "to the
slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" that are generally
in quiver to be hurled at the unfortunate actor or manager

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 109

who does not achieve an unqualified success. At the time
of which I write, 1872, John Maguire was young (about 30,
eh, John ?) , and handsome ; he was often mistaken for Law-
rence Barrett, the tragedian, which was a flattering compli-
ment to John, as he was a very great admirer of "Larry"
Barrett. We don't know just how it came about, but he
was cast in Mrs. Bates' opening performance of "Eliza-
beth" for the part of the young Scottish king, James VI, un-
less it was that he had played it in Virginia City with the
lady, and she thought he looked the part so well. Any way
the company was numerous and the managers let John out
after his performance of King James. The week following
the Bates engagement, there being no star attraction booked,
the managers gave it to the writer, who had not been play-
ing in the stock company that season. I arranged a reper-
toire for the week which included "The Duke's Motto,"
"Macbeth," "Louis XI," "The Stranger," "Jack Cade," and
"The Three Guardsmen." A very ambitious attempt, as
I view it now, but all parts that I was "up" in, having played
them in the company before. While rehearsing before I
opened, Maguire, who was out of a job and evidently out of
money, come to me and in a very friendly and confidential
way informed me that he had just received the bells. "The
bells?" I inquired, "what bells?" "Why Henry Irving's
Bells, that has just completed a year's run in London."
"Take my advice, John," said he, "take down some of those
'old' chestnuts you have billed and put on 'The Bells' for
two nights in their place and you'll be money in by it." "Oh,
that's impossible," I objected, "my plans for the week are ar-
ranged and cast, besides I know nothing about the play of
The Bells.' ': Maguire was earnest, however, for he had
a point to make, so he urged me to make a change. "I have
two printed copies of the play," says he, "and will let you
have them and copy the remainder of the parts for you for
$10. I want to get to Pioche; things are booming there
and I am short of money ; you can advertise the wonderful
run the play has had in London, and you'll be the first to
play it west of New York, where Studley is playing it now."
John arguments prevailed with me and I took down
"Louis XI" and "The Strangers" and put up "The Bells"
for the Wednesday and Thursday nights. Maguire deliv-
ered the goods, got his money and took the stage for Pioche.
Bidding me good bye and good luck, he says, "There's a
theatre down there, and if I can secure it, you will hear

110 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

from me before long." "The Bells" gave me the hardest
day's study I ever did; playing "Macbeth" the night before
and staying out later than was discreet, I was reading
"Mathias" at rehearsal next morning to play that night, but
we got through it fairly well, and to my surprise the local
papers praised the performance highly next morning, but
"The Bells" did not prove the great drawing card Maguire
had so sanguinely predicted, the older and better known
plays drawing better.

On Friday evening, while playing "Jack Cade," a few
of my admirers sent up a request to have me play "Othello"
on the following night instead of "The Guardsmen," with
Mr. F. M. Bates as Othello, Mrs. Bates as Emelia and my-
self as lago. I should have promptly decided not to make
the change, but nothing in the way of work seemed too
onerous for me, and too willing to oblige, I sent back word
that if they could get Mr. and Mrs. Bates to volunteer I
would make the change. Some of them waited on the
Bateses with the result that Mrs. Bates declined to be
Emelia, and Mr. Bates had never played Othello, but would
play lago if I would do Othello. I was in Mr. Bates' fix,
having played lago several times but never Othello.
However, I consented to try it and gave myself another
hard day's study to get perfect in Othello. Next
morning Sloan, in the Herald, roasted me for playing
a "star" part like Othello in stock costumes, notwith-
standing I had been wearing stock costumes all the week.
He spoke rather favorably of my acting, however, which
was more than I should have expected. I would not be
nearly so accommodating now. This my first "stellar en-
gagement closed on December I4th, 1872. The record
shows that the farce of "The Spectre Bridegroom" was
played after Othello, with Phil Margetts in his great part
of Diggory. In those "palmy days of the drama," it was
quite usual to have a farce after a five-act tragedy. On bene-
fit occasions not infrequently there would be a long play,
then an olio of singing and a fancy dance, and a farce to
close the "evening's entertainment."

During this engagement Clara Jean Walters played
the leading female roles, and rendered effective support, as
indeed she always did. She was the most capable and versa-
tile "leading lady" the stock company ever had and remained
with it for several seasons a well-established favorite.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. H]

Carl Bosco, a very clever magician, put in two nights
following the Lindsay engagement, i6th and I7th, and Mrs.
Chanfrau opened the I9th inst. for two nights and appeared
in "A Wife's Ordeal" and "The Honeymoon." On the 26th
John T. Raymond opened a two weeks' engagement, giving
•Toodles," "Only a Jew," "Rip Van Winkle," and "The
Cricket on the Hearth." Johnny Allen and Alice Harrison
and "Little Mac" for three nights. These parties put in from
January 6th to the I5th. Johnny Allen and Alice Harrison
were a great attraction in those days ; how many remember
them now? And "Little Mac," that homely dwarf, what
wonderful stunts he could do with those stunted legs of
his ! — a circus in himself was Little Mac.

On the 2Oth of January William J. Cogswell joined
the stock as leading man, Miss Walters still retaining posi-
tion of leading lady. A Miss Florence Kent (Mrs. Mc-
Cabe) had been added to the company, and being petite and
good looking, as well as talented, Miss Walters saw a chance
to gratify a long-cherished ambition, which was to play
Romeo. (She would show some of us men folks how to
make love.) So the piece was put up with Miss Walters as
Romeo and Kent as Juliet ; they made a pretty couple. Miss
Walters looked very dashing, being a nice size for Romeo,
but making love to one of her own sex was not such an easy
task as she imagined and although it was a very fair "Romeo
and Juliet," it did not make so great a mark as many of her
female performances. The stock with the new leading man,
Cogswell, played along till February 3rd, when Yankee Rob-
inson came in for a week in "Sam Patch" and "The Days
of '76," February 3rd to the 8th inst.

112 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER XVIL

SEASON OF '72-'73. CONTINUED.

Before this time John Maguire had been heard from ; he
had found on his arrival at Pioche that there was some sort
of a theatre there. It had been built for a minstrel com-
pany of whom Harry Larraine, formerly of the Fort Doug-
las band, was the leader. At the expiration of the minstrel
engagement, Maguire secured the theatre when he imme-
diately set about to put a dramatic company in there. He
telegraphed for Mr. and Mrs. Bates, offering them a strong
inducement to go there. He also telegraphed for the writer,
offering him a salary that was sufficient inducement for
him to go. John W. Dunne, a young Californian, who had
been in the Salt Lake Theatre company, was also engaged.
Our fares were arranged for and about the middle of Jan-
uary this nucleus for a dramatic company left Salt Lake City
for Pioche for a six weeks' engagement. Our party con-
sisted of Mr. and Mrs. Bates, Baby Bates (Blanche), the
now famous actress, who was then about a year and a half
old ; Mrs. Bates' sister, Miss Wren, who acted as the chief
nurse, and Mr. John W. Dunne. It is a matter well
worthy of record that Mr. Dunne was married the night be-
fore he left for Pioche, to Miss Clara Decker, a niece of
Brigham Young, a very pretty and attractive girl, who had
been assistant costumer in the ladies' department of the
theatre for some time. It was of course, a great trial to
the young couple to have to part so soon, after one brief night
of married life, but the exigencies of the theatrical business
are at times merciless. As they had been engaged for some
time, it was decided when Mr. Dunne accepted the Pioche
engagement, that it would be best for them to get married
before he went away lest absence and distance might cause
one or both to change their minds. How wise a precaution
this proved the sequel will show. This proved to be a mem-
orable trip. Every member of the party will remember
that trip to their dying day except Blanche, and she was
too young to remember anything about it. The schedule

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 113

time from Salt Lake to Pioche was fifty-five hours. We
were five days and nights, or one hundred and twenty-five
hours making that journey. The Utah Southern was then
running only as far as York, about seventy-five miles south
of Salt Lake. This left two hundred and seventy-five miles
to be traveled by stage. Our stage was not a Concord, but
a rather dilapidated specimen of the "jerkie" or "mud
wagon." It had seating accommodations for nine persons,
and two could ride on the "boot" with the driver. There
were two male passengers in addition to our party of six —
six counting Baby Bates, who must be figured in as one, for
although quite small, she was very much in evidence
throughout that journey. One of the gentlemen rode most
of the time on the "boot" and occasionally one or another of
the men would take a spell on the driver's seat so that we
were never crowded uncomfortably ; yet, oh, how tired we
did get and especially the ladies, before that ride was ended.
It was the i8th of January, the weather very pleasant but
very cold nights, and our first night on the stage was de-
cidedly uncomfortable. We reached the terminus of the rail-
road, York, about noon, ate dinner in a shack of a restaurant
and started on our stage ride about two p. m. We were not
long in discovering that there was something the matter
with the horses. The driver, in answer to our queries, in-
formed us that they were all suffering from the epizootic;
it was getting awful bad, he explained, "don't believe we've
got a horse on the line that is free from it." We agreed with
him that it was awful bad. The poor beasts coughed and
sneezed continuously, throwing off effluvium, the odor of
which was disagreeable in the extreme. On our second day
out a regular January thaw set in and the snow melted so
rapidly that the roads got very bad ; a number of times the
men had to get out and walk, and on several occasions the
well named "mud wagon" got mired so deeply and the horses
were so weak, we had to get a fence pole from the neighbor-
ing fence and lift the wheels out of the holes, the horses
being unable to budge the old coach. The further south
we got the worse the roads got. We had to change the
horses about every twenty miles, but they were all alike,
weak and dispirited, and the stench about the stables at the
different stations was nauseating. On the fifth day out we^
arrived at the last station. Between it and the mining camp
there was a hard mountain to climb and the snow was fall-

114 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

ing thick and fast. It was then well on to sunset and to our
keen disappointment the station man and driver decided
it would be folly to try to get over the "divide" in that
storm, and that we would have to remain at the station until
morning. Here was an unlooked for and unpleasant pre-
dicament, but there was no help for it, and it was better than
getting stuck on the "divide" in a heavy snowstorm. The
hostler was a good natured fellow and tried in his homely
way to reconcile us to our fate. "I ain't got so very much
grub here and what there is ain't very dainty, I 'low, es-
pecially for the ladies, but such as it is you're welcome to,
and you can have a good fire, and if youse want to stretch
yourselves out after supper, I can rake up quite a few blank-
ets and laprobes, and ye can lie down when youse tired of
settin' 'round the fire." The odor of the stable from the
epizootic was almost sickening and the thoughts of eating
there was anything but cheering, but we were all hungry,
almost famished, having had nothing since breakfast. So
we made the best of it. The hostler hustled in great shape,
the presence of the ladies and the baby inspiring him to
extra exertions in our behalf. He soon had a big pot of
coffee and a pan full of bacon cooking, and he had to make
some bread too, in which Mrs. Bates and her sister lent him
their assistance. The quickest thing he suggested was slap-
jacks, and we all agreed to the quickest thing, and so before
long we were all partaking with what relish we could of the
hostler's coffee, slapjacks and bacon, and, notwithstanding
the disagreeable odor of the stable, we all contrived to satisfy
our hunger. After the hostler cook had cleaned away the
few tin plates and cups, he proceeded to strew the end of
the little "hostler's room" farthest from the stove with a
diversity of blankets and laprobes, all of which were per-
meated with the odor of the stable, and suggested in his
rough but kindly way "that we had better stretch ourselves
on the floor as it was a long time till morning" and he knew
"we must be pooty darn tired a ridin' so long in the coach."
Mrs. Bates and her sister would have preferred sitting up
if they only had comfortable chairs, but there was nothing
but a rough bench and a couple of rough stools in the place
and the majority of the men had been standing about or
sitting on the floor all through the supper function and
sleep gradually overpowered the party, and one by one they
"knit up the raveled sleeve of care" and were glad to bunk

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 115

down on the uninviting bed the kindly hostler had impro-
vised for the occasion. In less than an hour after our sump-
tuous repast, the entire party were in the arms of Morpheus.
The women and the baby Blanche were in the most seclud-
ed corner, then Frank Bates, John Dunne and myself
stretched out on the hospitable blankets. These took all the
space and the two strangers and the driver wrapped up in
their overcoats and betook themselves to the portion of the
floor unoccupied ; this was close around the stove. The floor
of that hostler's room was literally covered with the sleepy
travelers. It was a change of position and measurably rest-
ful, but our sleep was broken and anything but sweet, even
though it was the "innocent sleep." The constant coughing
of the poor, afflicted horses and the peculiar and disagreea-
ble odor of the epizootic, rendered sleep anything but de-
lightful, but "necessity knows no law," and in spite of all
the disadvantages we managed to snatch some repose from
the "chief nourisher in life's feast." Unenviable as was
our position in the hostler's room on this memorable night,
it would have been much worse had we undertaken to cross
the mountain. Snow was falling thick and fast, and the
wind blowing hard enough to be very disagreeable. After
we were all asleep, or apparently so, the hostler shoved a
stick of wood in the stove which was getting cold, and then
turned into the hayloft to get a little sleep himself, for he
had to be astir before daylight. Before daybreak the storm
had spent itself and the sun rose bright and cheerful, moun-
tain and vale deeply covered with snow. Our breakfast,
which the hostler prepared while the driver was feeding and
watering the horses, was exactly the same as we had for
supper: coffee, slapjacks and bacon, with the addition of
some tea which one of our fellow passengers prepared for
himself and the ladies. It was a sample package he had
and cost him, he solemnly declared, $5.00 a pound. This
gave an extra flavor to it no doubt, at all events the ladies
declared it was fine and we did not doubt its being more to
their taste than the coffee the good hostler provided. Break-
fast over, we once more clambered into the shaky old jerkie
with the admonition from the driver that we men would have
to walk when we came to the steep places. We thanked
the kindly hostler and invited him to come to the show when
we got to playing in Pioche. The snow was six or eight
inches deep and even on the gradual ascent, as we started up

116 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

the grade, it was all the horses could do to pull us, and the
snow soon began to melt and the road to get steeper. It
was evident we men would have to foot it, and most of the
way to the top, and so we got out one or two at a time till we
were all walking and occasionally we had to give a shove on
the coach to help the willing but weakly horses get to the
top. Once there we were all very glad to get in ; we were
not long in rattling along the down grade into Pioche, all
very glad to get there. Maguire, who had been impatiently
expecting us for two days, was overjoyed to see us, for he
was full of expectations as to the business we were going
to do. He had secured us the best hotel accommodations
the camp afforded, and they were duly appreciated after our
recent experience at the station.

After dinner we all took a walk with Maguire at his
invitation, to see the theatre where we were to play our six
weeks engagement. The building stood back from the prin-
cipal street which was built right in the ravine, the stage en-
trance facing the street, and the entrance for the audience
facing the street above. We had ventured various conjec-
tures in reference to this theatre that the always over san-
guine Maguire had secured a lease of. We had not expected
very much and yet we were disappointed. We all entered
at the stage door which opened directly from a flight of
steps onto the back of the stage, and as we beheld the won-
derful temple of Thespus, where we were to do honor to his
art, the exclamations that escaped us were not well calculat-
ed to enthuse John Maguire, but rather to make him feel a
little shaky about the venture he was making. Ye gods !
What a transition from the Salt Lake Theatre to this shack !
The theatre was about 35x75 feet, the stage occupying twen-
ty-five feet. The orchestra floor for reserved seats ran from
the stage towards the front about 15 feet. The rest of the
space was fitted with rough board seats a la circus, the nat-
ural declivity of the ground giving the seats the necessary
pitch for the audience to see the stage. The walls of the
building were of rough pine boards about ten feet in height
and the entire auditorium was roofed in with ducking or
light canvas. The stage part was roofed with shingles so
as to preserve the scenery from the rain. Of scenery there
was a very limited supply and that not very artistic, being
painted by an amateur. The stage projected beyond the
curtain some six feet and on each side of this apron or pro-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 117

jecting stage was a private box, finished off with cheap wall
paper similar to the interior scenes on the stage. These
boxes were well patronized. Every night they were filled
with the fair, frail denizens of the camp at the rate of $io
a box. The opening play had already been announced, but
owing to the lateness of our arrival, was necessarily post-
poned for a few nights. Maguire had gotten together some
people of more or less experience (mostly less) to fill up the
minor parts in the caste. He also took a hand himself and
rehearsals were started the same night we arrived.

The opening night came around and the Opera House
(that's what John called it) was packed to suffocation. The
boxes were filled to overflowing with the swellest looking
women in the town. The play was "Camille" and Mrs.
Bates had them all shedding tears. The girls in the boxes
were deeply affected. Most of them were "like Niobe, all
tears," but we received no intimation that this powerful ser-
mon of Dumas was instrumental in turning them from their
life of shame.

Pioche was a camp of about eight thousand people and
was "booming." We played four weeks to good paying
business. This fairly exhausted the Bates repertoire, and
business began to fall off appreciably. So a farewell bene-
fit was worked up for Mrs. Bates and she made her final
appearance at Pioche in a blaze of glory, chiefly emanating
from a diamond ring with which she was presented on the
memorable occasion as a token of regard to a distinguished
actress from a few of her Pioche admirers. The Bateses were
fortunate. They had been playing on a large percentage of
the gross receipts and had cleared up quite a nice little stake
in the four weeks they had played and they struck out at
once for San Francisco, and from there went to Australia
where, in '78, Frank Bates died, after which Mrs. Bates and
Blanche, now a girl of eight, returned to San Francisco in
1880. Maguire still kept myself and Dunne and the rest of
the company, thinking that with some new and lighter plays
we could still do a paying business. The results were not
very satisfactory. We played several weeks in a sort of
spasmodic way, and then organized a little traveling com-
pany in which a clever young girl, Maggie Knight, whom
Maguire had discovered, was a feature, and we played back
to the C. P. R. R. On one of these occasions in Pioche, a
very ludicrous thing happened which should not go unre-

118 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

corded. We were playing the burlesque of "Pocahontas."
Maguire was playing Captain John Smith, the writer Pow-
hatan, and Johnny Dunne, as we were short of ladies, was
playing Pocahontas. In the scene where Smith is brought
in a prisoner and is about to be executed, a catastrophe hap-
pened to John Maguire, so sudden and appalling, should he
live to be as old as Methusaleh, I doubt if he would ever
forget it. Where Smith says, after viewing the stone on
which he is to be decapitated,

"It's a hard pill, but a harder piller,

Life's a conundrum,'1 and Powhatan replies :

"Then lie down and give it up."

Just at this point a sudden scream emanated from one of the
boxes, which were well filled on this occasion with the demi
monde, then several screams of laughter, then the whole
audience began to roar with laughter. I knew something
had gone wrong for there was nothing in the text to extort
such screams and peals of laughter. I glanced over the
group on the stage, and to my amazement I saw Mac's
trunks had dropped down to his feet, and he, all unconscious
of the fact, was standing there in a pair of thin cotton tights.
His knee pants or trunks, were of very light material and the
drawstring with which they were fastened around his waist,
had given way and they dropped to the floor, and so excited
was he in his character he did not notice it. I said to him
in sotto voce, "Your pants are down." Then he cast his eyes
down, and the look of abject despair that came over his
face as he said in a subdued tone, "Oh, my God!" and
stopped and pulled the gauzy things up to their place and
walked off the stage to readjust them, we can never forget.
The girls at this resumed their screams of laughter and the
audience roared until they were tired. When the noise sub-
sided, Maguire, with his costume adjusted, came back to
finish the scene, but it was several minutes before we could
proceed, so much did the audience enjoy this simple acci-
dent. Maguire remained in Pioche some time after I left
there, and finally left the place worse off by far than when
he went there, and I did not see the genial John again till I
went to Portland in '78 to play in the New Market theatre of
which he was the manager. Just before the departure of
Mr. and Mrs. Bates, John Dunne and myself for Pioche, the
Cogswell-Carter company arrived in Salt Lake, having trav-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. l]9

elect by stage and team from California, playing the towns
en route.

This company consisted of J. W. Carter, Carrie Carter,
W. J. Cogswell (Carrie's brother), Ed. Harden, Lincoln
J. Carter (then a very small boy), and probably one or two
others, minor people who did not come into publicity here.
On arriving here the party waited upon President Brigham
Young to pay their respects, and to inform him that they had
been commanded by the spirit world, with which they had
been having communications (by the "Planchette" route),
to go to Salt Lake and join the Mormon church as that was
the true church and the only one that could save them. This
told in all apparent sincerity, with the request to be baptized,
was altogether a pleasing surprise to Brigham and his coun-
sellors, and the Cogswell-Carter company were warmly wel-
comed. They were baptized and confirmed into the church
without delay, and within a few days they were all engaged
at the Salt Lake Theatre. Their coming was very timely for
the theatre managers, for they had lost several of their lead-
ing people. "Jim" Hardie had gone for good, McKenzie,
who had been playing steadily since the opening of the tne-
atre in '62 and was wearied with study, had been released
and sent on a mission in the belief the change would, benefit
him ; John Lindsay was off on a "fool's errand" playing for
John Maguire in Pioche, and the Cogswell-Carter-Marden
accession filled the gap very nicely, and the season progressed
to its close without much friction.

During the absence of Mr. Dunne and myself from Salt
Lake the following attractions appeared at the theatre. Jean
Clara Walters, W. J. Cogswell and the stock company from
February 8th to March loth, on which date a new play by
Edward L. Sloan (then editor of the Salt Lake Herald) was
produced. It was entitled "Stage and Steam." It was in-
tended to show the advance of civilization. It had a railroad
scene and a stage coach in it and a sensational saw mill
scene, where a man was placed on the log carriage to be
sliced into boards, but was rescued just in the nick of time.
Jos. Arthur's saw mill scene in "Blue Jeans" is exactly the
same thing, although it is scarcely probable that Mr. Arthur
ever saw Sloan's play. The play only had two performances.
March loth to I5th, Frank Hussey and Blanche Clifton
held the boards in "Hazard" and some other plays. Marion
Mordaunt was the next stellar attraction and gave "The

120 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Colleen Bawn" and ''Hearts are Trumps" the I7th to iQth.
On the 24th a star of the first magnitude appeared. It was
Augusta Dargon. She opened in "Camille" and played also
"Deborah (Leah)," "Lady Macbeth," "Meg Merrilles" and
"Lucretia Borgia." Miss Dargon was one of the greatest
actresses our country ever produced, but she was not finan-
cially successful. She is the only American actress who has
ever played Tennyson's "Queen Mary." Mrs. John Drew
made a costly production of this play at the Arch Street
Theatre, Philadelphia, with Augusta Dargon as the star
during the Centennial. But it was not a financial success.
The writer did not meet Miss Dargon till 1878, when she
came to the New Market theatre in Portland and played a
two weeks' engagement under the management of our old
friend John Maguire. Here I had the pleasure (and hard
work) of playing the opposite roles to her in her extensive
repertory, changing the bill nearly every night during her
engagement. Toward the close of it she put up Tennyson's
"Queen Mary" in which I had to play King Phillip of Spain
on two days' study, a very long, arduous part, that put me
on my mettle to master it ; also studied and played "Cardinal
Wolsey" for the first time during this engagement. Miss
Dargon, who was under the management of Henry Green-
wald, after her Portland engagement, made a tour of the
"sound" playing Tacoma, Seattle, Port Townsend and Vic-
toria, supported by the New Market Theatre company, and
returning, played a few more nights in Portland, then took
steamer for Australia. Under Mr. Greenwald's manage-
ment she had played successful engagements both in San
Francisco and Portland, and when she opened in Melbourne
she just captivated the city, playing extraordinary engage-
ments both there and in Sidney. The press of Australia
printed volumes in her praise. She made a great triumph,
and in the very flush of her victory, some wealthy Australian
captured her. She got married and retired from the stage,
and Greenwald was forced to return without her. She never
came back to us. Her return engagement here was played
before she went to Australia.

Mr. "Bill" Cogswell seemed to have dropped out of the
company before Miss Dargon's engagement and conse-
quently David McKenzie was her principal support. After
the Dargon engagement, which closed March 29th, Jean
Clara Walters, Florence Kent and the stock company played

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 121

through the April conference without a star attraction, and
filled up time to April 28th when for some reason the season
closed but was reopened on May 3rd with the stock company
who played up to the 6th. On the 8th of May, Augusta
Dargon began a return engagement which lasted till the
1 5th. She opened in the new play "Unmasked," and re-
peated "Deborah," "Camille," and "Lady Macbeth," and
closed in a new piece "The Rising of the Moon." It speaks
highly of Miss Dargon's popularity in Salt Lake that she
should play a return engagement in five weeks after her first
one.

Blind Tom, the musical prodigy, was the next attraction.
He played but one night, May I7th. On the iQth Annette
Ince began a return engagement of six nights and a matinee
and the record shows a change of play for each performance.
She gave "Elizabeth," "Mary Stuart," "Medea," "The
Hunchback," "The Stranger," "The Honeymoon," and the
"Lady of Lyons." This repertory in one week undoubtedly
kept the company right busy. Miss Ince was a sterling ac-
tress, and always gave satisfaction, but she did not possess
the faculty of making your blood thrill in your veins and
your hair rise occasionally that Miss Dargon had. It is just
a little singular how she came so close on Miss Dargon's
heels this time. It seems like poor management to play two
lady stars, so nearly alike in repertoire, so close together, but
these accidents would happen once in a while. Frank Hus-
sey and Blanche Clifton came back for two nights, May 26th
and 27th. Then the stock had to take up the burden again
and carry it from May 28th to June 2ist. By June 1st John
Dunne and the writer had returned from the Pioche trip and
were back in their old positions in the company. Dunne had
a surprise party in store for him on his return. Instead of
being received with open arms and loving embraces by his
bride of a night, she coldly repulsed him and refused ever to
live with him, and she kept her word. This was owing to
things she had heard about John and his freedom with other
females while he was at Pioche. This did not discourage
Dunne, however, from trying again. He has had several
wives since, the best known being Patti Rosa, a talented
actress whom he managed and married. Clara, on the other
hand, was not inconsolable, and her enchantment with the
stage and stage actors having been rather rudely dispelled,
she sought "surcease from sorrow" in the affections of a

122 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

well to do farmer, who has proven more constant, and with
whom she has raised a representative Mormon family.

Madam Anna Bishop put in a week of high class concert
from June the 25th to 3Oth. On July 2nd John W. Dunne
took a benefit, on which occasion we repeated one of our
Pioche performances with an important change of cast.
"Theresa, or the Cross of Gold" and "Pocahontas" was the
bill. Dunne did not find the atmosphere of Salt Lake so
congenial to him as it had been and did not remain for the
next season. I next met him in Cheyenne in '78. He was
married and apparently contented, working at his trade of
printer.

The business, after Dunne's benefit, seems to have been
spasmodic. The stock kept on playing, however, during the
month of July. That it did business at all was remarkable,
but there being no "resorts" and the theatre the coolest place
in town, in some measure accounts for its keeping open dur-
ing the torrid heat of the summer.

Weiniawska, the Polish violinist, gave a concert on the
1 2th. George Waldron and his wife drifted in and played
a few nights up to the I7th. Then W. O. Crosbie and his
wife, Arrah Crosbie, and James A. Vinson, drifted in from
the northwest and were given a few nights. "Jim" Vinson
was featured in the play of "Quits" and "Billie" Crosbie in
some favorite farce, supported by Arrah and the stock com-
pany. Both Vinson and Crosbie made a very favorable im-
pression which resulted in them being engaged by the man-
agement for the following season. It looked as if all the
other theatres in the West had closed and the actors had
come trouping to Salt Lake to get summer engagements.
Now comes Carrie Cogswell-Carter and the available stock
to the front. They opened on the 26th ancl played till the
3Oth, and the season closed.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 123

CHAPTER XVIII.

SEASON OF 73-74.

The season of 73 and '74 was somewhat later than
usual in opening. The reasons were, Clawson and Caine
had renewed their lease of the theatre, and having done so
well with it financially, they were not content to> "let well
enough alone," but felt that they should make certain imag-
inary improvements that different wise-acres had suggest-
ed, and embellishments commensurate with the liberal pat-
ronage they had received during their previous lease of the
house. Accordingly some radical changes were made which
cost a plenty of money and made the managers scratch their
heads many a time before they were all paid for. As an
example of how much costly mischief one interfering "know-
it-all" can accomplish, the managers were persuaded by their
prospective new stage manager, "Jim" Vinson, that the stage
of the theatre did not have sufficient pitch or slope from back
to front. It had a slight pitch ene-eighth of an inch to the
foot, or about eight inches in its entire depth, which was
just perceptible, but not sufficient to be particularly notice-
able or to render it uncomfortable to walk on or to dance
on. But the wisdom of the new stage manager was para-
mount, and that immense stage whose huge supports were
built into the solid stone walls, had to be cut loose from its
bearings and the front of it lowered until it had three-eighths
of an inch fall to the foot, a slope that made it uncomfortable
to walk on, indeed, entering in a hurry, one was quite in-
clined to slide on. It made it awkward too for stage set-
tings. Every piece of scenery that was set up and down the
stage or at any angle save that paralleling the front curtain,
was thrown out of the perpendicular that is so essential to
make the scenery look well. At the very time that this al-
leged improvement was being made, the pitching or sloping
stage (once thought to add perspective to the scenery) was
obsolete and all the new theatres in the country were being
built with level stages. It cost hundreds of dollars to make
this change and instead of being an improvement it was a

124 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

positive detriment, is still, and always will be. So much for
the advice of a stage manager. The proscenium doors that
had been used for coming in front of the curtain, were done
away with and the present boxes put in their stead, a very
sensible and profitable improvement. Something like $8,000
was expended in these and other improvements — a costly
experiment the sequel proved. The managers, Clawson and
Caine, had in contemplation a very profitable season and en-
gaged an unusually large and expensive company. The old
stock members had been now so many seasons constantly
before the public that it was thought their drawing powers
were waning, and it was considered necessary to get some
new blood into the stock. Accordingly, while nearly all the
old stock was retained, a number of new people were added
to the company, vastly increasing the salary list. First in
prominence was Kate Denin (Mrs. John Wilson) who was
featured as a stock star. Mr. W. J. Cogswell, who had been
playing leads during the latter part of the previous season,
was retained as leading man. "Jim" Vinson, who had put
into Salt Lake before the close of the last season, was re-
tained as stage manager and to play "old men." "Billie"
Crosbie was engaged for the principal comedy roles, thus
displacing the local favorites, Margetts, Graham, and Dun-
bar from the choice comedy parts. Arrah Crosbie, Billie's
wife, had to have a place and she made a good utility
woman ; or she could play Irish characters. From the mere
force of assimilation "Billie" was a good Irish comedian.
Mr. "Al" Thorne, who was added to the company in the
previous November, was retained especially for the "heav-
ies." "Buck" Zabriske was engaged as prompter at a good
fat salary, because the prompter was a very essential feature
in the makeup of a stock company and generally earned his
salary, for he often had a hard part to play behind the
scenes on a first night. Then there was dear old Frank
Rea, with his face and head of antique beauty ; always full
of Forrestonian reminiscences, and his wife of blessed mem-
ory, who had grown old in the service, along with her hus-
band. Then there was Carrie Cogswell-Carter, and Ed
Marden was there. J. W. Carter had parted company with
theatrical business and accepted an engagement to preach
the gospel for a while. He succeeded in making one convert
that we know of whom he brought to Utah later and made
Mrs. Carter No. 2. This was a bitter pill for Carrie Carter

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 125

and she revenged herself in time by becoming the fourth
wife of Bishop Herrick of Ogden. Apropos of this latter
event, about a year later, December, 1875, Miss Carrie Cogs-
well was playing Julia in the "Hunchback" to the writer's
"Master Walter" at Ogden. There was a Gentile paper there
at the time called the Ogden Freeman. It was published
by a man named Freeman, who came to Ogden with the ad-
vent of the Union Pacific railroad. Freeman had published
his paper at each successive terminus of the road until it
reached Ogden, and then he settled down there and ran the
"Ogden Freeman" as a rabid anti-Mormon paper. We had
journeyed northward and were in the town of Franklin.
Phil Margetts, "Jimmy" Thompson and myself were seated
in the hotel parlor when Carrie came in with a paper in her
hand, and in her lively, good-natured way, said "Boys, I
met Freeman of Ogden, in the Co-op, store just now, and he
gave me a copy of his paper. He says it has a long notice
of the 'Hunchback' in it. Let us see what he says." With
that she threw herself into a chair, turned over the paper
and found the notice. It was generally favorable but criti-
cised her Julia rather adversely, at which she said rather pet-
ulantly, "Well, I know I'm not an Adelaide Neilson, but I
guess it was good enough for Ogden." On further examina-
tion of the paper she came across a "personal" which read as
follows : "We understand that Miss Carrie Cogswell, now
playing here with the Salt Lake company, is the fourth po-
lygamous wife of Bishop Herrick, having herself had three
husbands : first, Thomas A. Lyne, the tragedian ; second, J.
A. Carter, and third, Bishop Herrick." She read this notice
to us and as she did so she grew very angry. She strode out
of the hotel like an enraged tigress. We all wondered what
she was going to do, but in about five minutes she strode
back in again with a handful of poor Freeman's whiskers in
her clenched fist and her parasol broken to smithereens over
the offender's face and head. In explanation she said, "I
don't care how much he criticises my acting but he mustn't
meddle in my family affairs." Freeman took revenge for
this upon the writer several years later in Montana, by giv-
ing him a red hot roast while playing in a neighboring town.
He evidently thought that I had prompted her to the casti-
gation act, which was not true, and totally unnecessary.

The season was ushered in very auspiciously with the
"School for Scandal," with Miss Denin as Lady Teazle and

126 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Mr. J. H. Vinson as Sir Peter ; Mr. Cogswell playing Charles
Surface and Mr. Crosbie, Benjamin Backbite, and the full
force of the stock company in the cast.

Stock played through conference dates as usual and up
to the nth when Laura Alberta and George W. Harrison
hoisted the stellar flag, which they floated for two weeks,
opening in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which ran for three nights,
and then gave place to other pieces in Laura's repertory.
Then followed Fanny Cathcart and George Darrell for a
week, presenting "Man and Wife," "Woman in Red,"
"Masks and Faces," "Black Eyed Susan," "Stranger,"
"Happy Pair," "Mysteries of Stage," and "Mexican Ti-
gress." Eight different plays in one week must have kept
the stock company out of mischief, one would naturally
think. The reverse proved true, however, in this case, for
the leading man, "Bill" Cogswell, from over-study (we had
no understudies in those days), was driven to drink; Bill
got on a jamboree and didn't care whether school kept or
not, and the managers were in a dilemma. Their next star
was May Howard, who opened on November 3rd for a
three weeks engagement of legitimate. It was essential to
have a good, reliable leading man to help May through sucn
a long engagement. Both McKenzie and Lindsay were
away and a new leading man was considered an all important
factor in this emergency. So a Chicago dramatic agent, Ar-
thur Cambridge, was wired to and he sent out the "brilliant
young American actor, J. Al. Sawtelle." Sawtelle opened
on Miss Howard's second night, playing "Armand Duval''
in "Camille." It was a part well suited to him and he made
a satisf acton7 impression. Miss Howard played "The New
Magdalen" (opening night), "Guy Mannering," "Romeo
and Juliet," and "East Lynne." Harry Eytinge rendered
support in most of her plays — he being the lady's husband
this was a very fitting and graceful thing to do. After three
weeks of Howard and Eytinge, Fanny Cathcart and George
Darrell came back as "Man and Wife," doing "Dark Deeds"
and filling in four nights with a "Woman in Red," and do-
ing funny things in "Masks and Faces."

On November 28th and 29th, an original historical
play by Edward W. Tullidge, entitled "Oliver Crom-
well," had its initial performance. Sawtelle was cast
for the title role. "Jim" Vinson, the venerable
stage manager, was greatly impressed with the

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 127

merits of Cromwell and cast and staged it to the
best of his ability, with the resources available, but it was far
from being an ideal cast. Sawtelle, tall and slender, looked
as little like Cromwell as he did Napoleon, and he was as far
from the character in temperament as he was in stature. The
play with so many historical characters, Cromwell, Charles
I., Ireton, Milton, Vane, Bradshaw, Harrison, et al., was very
exacting in its mental requirements, and was easily greater
than the company, yet notwithstanding this drawback and
the fact that nothing was done for the play in the way of
special scenery or costuming, it met with very fair success.
A strong local interest was exhibited and the house was
well filled to witness the first performance of a great play by
a local author. Mr. Vinson said it was the greatest play
that had been written since Bulwer's "Richelieu" and told
John McCullough on his next visit, that if he would take
Tullidge's "Oliver Cromwell" and play it there was a fortune
in it for him. McCullough would have made an ideal Crom-
well, and Vinson recognized the fact that he was the man
to make a success of it, but McCullough, like Davenport, who
read the play and made a contract with Tullidge to produce
it, had already passed the meridian of his fame and had not
ambition sufficient left to engage in a new and venture-
some undertaking ; so Cromwell dropped back into oblivion.
It was revived a dozen years later with the writer in the
title role. The play this time was costumed correctly and
the cast, although still weak in places, was somewhat better
than the original. It was played again in the Salt Lake the-
atre, at Ogden, Logan and Provo, and met with a hearty
endorsement by the press of those towns, but it needed more
money to tide it to a financial success than the promoters had
to invest, and so Oliver Cromwell has rested in honorable
repose, waiting for some enterprising manager to unveil him
on the stage as Lord Roseberry unveiled his statue facing
Westminster hall only a short time ago; a late but fitting
tribute to the genius of the uncrowned king.

Following Oliver Cromwell, Shiel Barry, a clever
actor of Irish character, filled the week, December
ist to 6th. On the 8th and gth Oliver Crom-
well was repeated, this making four performances
in all, which spoke well for the popularity of Tul-
lidge's play. On December i6th, Kate Denin took a farewell
benefit and made her last appearance for this season. Mrs.

128 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Frank Rea took a benefit on the I9th and on the 22nd Jean
Clara Walters reappeared after an absence of about three
months in the "French Spy." Miss Walters had not ap-
peared this season until now, on Kate Benin's retirement.
They were both stock stars and two lady stock stars keep
not their course in the same orbit. Benin had been shining
refulgently since the opening of the season, and Walters, al-
though in the city, had not appeared, but now she burst
again into public view resplendent in green tights and span-
gles. On the 25th Eliza Newton, as the bright particular
star, appeared in the "Nymph of the Luleyburg," a beauti-
ful spectacular piece well suited for the holidays. Close
following the holiday production with its nymphs and fairies
our old friend "Jim" Herne opened a three weeks' engage-
ment on January 5th, 1874, in the now familiar Rip Van
Winkle, following it up with a variegated repertoire, in-
cluding "Bombey and Son," "Rosina Meadows," "Wept ot
the Wishton Wish," "People's Lawyer" or "Solon Shingle,"
etc. Herne, during his previous engagement, established
himself as a great favorite with Salt Lake audiences, and
now he added new laurels to his wealth of fame. Herne
was a great actor. He excelled in eccentric comedy all the
actors I have known. On January 26th, John McCullough
began a three weeks' engagement in "Jack Cade." Annie
Graham, herself an attractive legitimate star, was especially
engaged to play the opposite roles to McCullough. This
made a remarkably strong company and Mr. John McCul-
lough had every reason to be satisfied with his support and
proud of the engagement he played. In addition to "Jack
Cade," a long list of legitimate plays were presented, in-
cluding "The Gladiator," "Bamon and Pythias," "Virgin-
ius," "Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Romeo and Juliet," "Merchant
of Venice," and "Othello." He exhausted his legitimate
repertoire and drew on his comedy resources, playing "Br.
Savage" in "Playing with Fire" and "A party by the name
of Johnson" in "The Lancastershire Lass." This was a
notable engagement and was followed by another great celeb-
rity, Bion Boucicault, the author of so many successful
plays. Boucicault appeared as "Miles Na Copaleen" in his
own popular play, "The Colleen Bawn ;" also as "Shaun
the Post" in "Arrah Na Pogue," and on his third and last
night in "Kerry." His dates were February i6th, I7th and
1 8th. On the I9th Maggie Moore and Johnny William-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 129

son of California theatre fame, opened a nine nights' en-
gagement. We have no record of what pieces they played
except one. They had a new play to exploit. They had
feared to make the venture with it at the California theatre
in San Francisco where they had been favorites, so they
brought it to Salt Lake to "try it on the dog." This is a
phrase thoroughly understood among theatrical people al-
though it may savor of ambiguity to the uninitiated. It means
simply that when a manager is at all dubious about the merits
of a new production, he sends it into some comparatively
obscure town to try its qualifications for pleasing in the
metropolis. The origin of the phrase is obscure, but prob-
ably sprang from the similarity of trying a collar on a dog.
Inferentially the play is a collar and the obscure town the
dog. In this particular case "Struck Oil" was the collar
and Salt Lake the dog. The collar happened to fit ; the play
was a howling success (no suggestion of dog intended
here) and it ran three consecutive nights in the Salt Lake
Theatre, and then with the Salt Lake stamp of approval on
it the Williamsons, Johnny and Maggie, took it out into the
theatrical world and made a fortune with it. Joe Murphy
had the collar on us before with his "Help" and was suc-
cessful, and that encouraged the Williamsons and others
that have since come, until Salt Lake has won a reputation
among dramatic people for being an easy and gentle canine
on which to try the collar.

Now comes the prince of comedians, John T. Raymond,
back again and stays a short week, during which he sprung
on the actors and the confiding and admiring community the
following plays : "Our American Cousin," "Everybody's
Friend," "Toodles," "Serious Family," and "Only a Jew."
In "Our American Cousin," Raymond starred as Asa Trench-
ard, the "American Cousin," and not in Lord Dundreary,
the part Sothern won both fame and fortune in. In this in-
stance my old schoolmate and present colleague, John C.
Graham, was intrusted with the character of "Dundreary"
and did himself and the company credit by his humorous
and artistic rendering of it. Raymond was so thoroughly
American (a Yankee in fact) that Dundreary was not in his
way, while Asa Trenchard fitted like "ze paper on ze vail."
Raymond as Major Wellington De Boots was immense, but
it scarcely gave him the scope he was looking for so he was
playing a half dozen different plays, none of which were

9

130 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

making him any great fame or money. When "The Gilded
Age" was ushered in by Mark Twain, people who knew John
T. Raymond, on reading Col. Seller's peculiarities, were
quick to recognize in Raymond- the living counterpart of
Mark Twain's imaginary hero. It was not long before Ray-
mond was the only authorized stage edition of Col. Sellers
and his popularity increased rapidly until it seemed "there
was a million in it" for the genial comedian, but before he
had time to amass a million or two "Atropos came with her
shears and clipped his thread." "Alas, poor Yorick ! I
knew him, Horatio. A fellow of infinite jest, of most ex-
cellent fancy." Miss M. E. Gordon followed, playing from
the 9th to the I4th, opening in "Divorce." Miss Gordon
was closely allied to Raymond. Whether they divided even-
ly the profits of the two engagements we cannot tell, but
we know that in many other places they played in conjunc-
tion.

Katherine Rogers opened a two weeks' engagement on
March i6th, playing "Galatea," "Leah," "Hunchback," "Un-
equal Match," "Lady of Lyons," "As You Like It," "Masks
and Faces," and "Love's Sacrifice."

A series of "benefits" followed this engagement, begin-
ning with W. H. Crosbie, April 3rd. On the 6th, Belle
Douglass reappeared in the stock after a long absence. On
the 7th Carrie Cogswell had a "benefit," and J. H. Vinson
on the loth. On the I3th Mr. and Mrs. Rea "benefited"
with the play of "Rob Roy," and gave out satin programs as
souvenirs of the occasion. On the I4th Miss Annie Graham
commenced an engagement of eight nights in the "Lady of
Lyons," and played legitimate repertory. On the 24th Asen-
ith Adams (now Mrs. Kiskadden) had a benefit and played
"Elzina." This was some seventeen months after Maude
was born, A. J. Sawtelle had a benefit on April 2/th. On
the 29th H. F. and Amy Stone opened a two weeks' en-
gagement in "Under Two Flags," producing besides "Elfie,"
"Pearl of Savoy," "Fanchon," "French Spy." On May nth
T. A. Lyne had a benefit, giving scenes from "Hamlet" and
"Macbeth." On the I2th Victoria Woodhull lectured. On
the 1 3th William Hoskins and Fannie Colville opened four
nights' engagement in "The Heir at Law," "A Bird in the
Hand," and "The Critic." On the i8th inst, there was a re-
vival of Edward Tullidge's historical play, "Eleanor De
Vere," with Jean Clara Walters in the title role, the charac-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 131

ter originally played by Julia Deane Hayne, and on the 22nd
another play from the pen of Mr. Tullidge had its first pro-
duction. The play was entitled "David Ben Israel." As
the title indicates, the play is Jewish and commemorates the
return of the Jews to England in the reign of Charles II.
after a banishment of four centuries. John S. Lindsay
played the title role, and Miss Walters, Rachel the Jewess.
The play made a very pronounced hit and placed another
plume in Mr. Tullidge's cap as a dramatic author.

On the 25th, W. A. Mestayer opened a week's engage-
ment in "On the Slope," and with "The Octoroon" and "An
Odd Trick" gave much satisfaction. "Bill" Mestayer for
years was the heavy man at the old California theatre in its
palmy days. As Jacob McClosky in the "Octoroon" he was
simply great. On his last night he appeared as Don Caesar
for the benefit of the Ladies' Library Association. On June
ist, George Chaplin made his regular summer appearance
in the comedy of "School," from which he graduated in one
night and appeared on the following evening as Count Monte
Cristo. He played Monte again on the 4th. On the 5th
George took a layoff as the Lingards, Horace and Dickie,
got in on that date with "The Spitsefields Weaver," and
gave one performance. Chaplin resumed with the stock
company on the following night, June 6th, and played the
week out, giving his services on the last night for the benefit
of the Theatre corporation. The following week the stock
company gave a liberal proportion of their salaries to the
series of performances for the benefit of the corporation.
Seven performances were given for this benefit. James A.
Herne appeared in four of them, Chaplin in one, the com-
pany in all seven. Although Clawson and Caine were the
nominal lessees and managers, they had associated with
them before opening this season, several partners in the
venture and the concern was known as the Salt Lake Theatre
Corporation. Mr. Thomas Williams was the treasurer and
presided over the box office during this regime, and with
such peerless bonhomie as made "Tom" (everybody called
him "Tom") the acknowledged prince of ticket sellers. It
was evident from this benefit business that the corporation
had not had the profitable season's business they had expect-
ed when they opened with such flying colors in the previous
October. The truth was the corporation was very much in

132 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

the hole, and this series of benefit performances were de-
signed to lighten their financial burdens and did to some
extent, yet the close of the season found them heavily in
debt, and there were serious results threatening, but the
leniency of the creditors averted disaster. The summer was
now on but the stars kept on coming. Salt Lake was a reg-
ular resort for them. When they could do< no business else-
where, owing to heat, they made for the Salt Lake Theatre.
It was the coolest place in the city in those days and before
we had any summer resorts the people would go and see
these midsummer night performances. Our old Hibernian
friend, Joe Murphy, was the next in line, opening on the
1 5th inst. with more "Help," which he worked for all it
was worth three nights and filled out the remainder of the
week with a new Irish drama, "Maum Cree." This was Joe's
debut in Irish character work and he had come to Salt Lake
City again to "try it on the dog." He had good support and
"Maum Cree" received a favorable verdict from the Salt
Lake theatre goers and Joe Murphy was successfully
launched onto the dramatic sea as an Irish comedian. Fol-
lowing Mr. Murphy came the Coleman Sisters for a week.
They opened on the 22nd of June in Charles XII and played
besides this piece, "Day after the Fair," "The Deal Boat-
man," and "Pouter's Wedding." In common with many
others the Colemans flitted across our dramatic horizon and
never returned. On the 3Oth inst. John S. Lindsay had a
benefit on which occasion he appeared in the character of
Rolla in the play of "Pizarro." The farce of the "Lottery
Ticket" was played after "Pizarro" to make up a good full
evening's entertainment. "Billie" Crosbie was the star com-
edian in "The Lottery Ticket." The stock played only a few
nights after this, closing the season on the 4th of July.

On July 1 8th, Victoria Woodhull drew a large audience
to hear her lecture on "The Beecher Scandal." The Beecher
trial at that time was the sensation of the day. The lecture
drew a crowded house and Victoria took occasion to fire red
hot shot at Beecher and the clergy in general, getting in
some hard blows on the perfidy of the men in general and
the advantage they took of poor, confiding women.

It seemed impossible to keep the theatre closed for more
than a few weeks even in the hottest portion of the summer,
owing more to the anxiety of the "strolling players" to put

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 133

in a portion of their summer in Salt Lake than any feverish
desire on the part of the theatre patrons to see them. Com-
panies going to and from San Francisco were always glad to
get in a few nights at the Salt Lake Theatre as it broke the
long jump between the coast and Denver and was pretty
sure to be profitable. Accordingly the theatre was reopened
on August 3rd with the Yokes family for one week. The
Vokeses were great favorites here and did a very fair business
despite the hot weather prevailing.

134 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER XIX.

SEASON OF '74-'75-

To open this season the stock company were brought
into requisition again and played up to the 5th of September.
On the 7th and 8th Howarth's Hibernica, a panoramic show
with specialties rilled in the time. The Vokeses returned on
the 9th and filled out the remainder of the week, making ten
nights and two matinees they got in during the heated term
which was sufficient proof of their popularity. Close on
their heels came the Hoskins-Darrell combination, consist-
ing of William Hoskins, his wife, Fannie Colville, George
Darrell and his wife. They were supported by the stock
company and played from the I4th to the 23rd inclusive.
Hoskins was an English actor of great and varied exper-
ience, and in high comedy roles was greatly admired. He
was a man of sixty years of age and had been in Australia
for a good many years. His wife, Fannie Colville, was very
much his junior, in fact, it was a May and December alli-
ance and apparently bore the usual kind of fruit. Fanny
was not a great actress but was very pretty and attractive,
in fact, too much so to prove comfortable to her much senior
lord and master. The Darrells were clever and talented.
The combination proved fairly successful. They toured
about the country for a year or so and then returned to Aus-
tralia with more experience than money, wiser if not richer.
They wooed content in their former home.

The October conference approaching, the stock com-
pany were put in rehearsal for some suitable plays and the
"Royal Marrionettes" were put in as an additional attrac-
tion for the conference season and continued for nine nights
from October 5th to the I3th inclusive. The Marrionettes
proved to be highly amusing and interesting entertainment
and combined with the efforts of the stock company in
drama gave the conference visitors the worth of their money
and replenished the treasury to a considerable extent.

The next attraction also worked in conjunction with
the stock company. This was Laura Honey Stevenson (now

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 135

Mrs. Church), a lady of some celebrity as a reader. She was
assisted in her entertainments by a brilliant young baritone
singer, Mr. John McKenzie, whose singing proved to be
quite taking and this conjunction lasted for eight nights.

It was during this last engagement that there occurred
quite an exodus from the Salt Lake Stock company to John
Piper's theatre at Virginia City, Nevada. Mr. J. A. Saw-
telle and wife and daughter, a girl of twelve or fourteen
years, Miss Adams (Mrs. Kiskadden), her daughter Maude,
now two years old, accompanied by Mr. Kiskadden, Miss
Carrie Cogswell-Carter with her son Lincoln J., then
about ten years of age, and the writer went to Virginia City,
all with the exception of Mr. Kiskadden and the children
being under engagement to play with Piper for the ensuing
season. There is much of interest connected with this exo-
dus from Salt Lake. It materially weakened the stock
forces, taking away the leading man, Mr. Sawtelle, the lead-
ing heavy (the writer), and leading juvenile lady, Miss
Adams, and Miss Cogswell, the principal heavy woman ;
but. their places were filled in a little while and the stock
pushed along in the same old way.

The combination system, however, was now gaining
ground and the stock companies throughout the country be-
gan to suffer correspondingly, their engagements becoming
more and more intermittent as the traveling combination be-
came more numerous.

At the opening of the season of '74 and '75 there were
so many combinations booked that the managers of the Salt
Lake Theatre could not offer the stock company a season's
engagement, but only brief periodical engagements between
the dates of the various combinations. It was in conse-
quence of this that the above mentioned members of the com-
pany took a season's engagement with Mr. Piper of Vir-
ginia City. The Comstock was booming in those days and
the theatre ran every night, Sundays included. At the close
of the Piper season, Miss Adams went to San Francisco
taking Maudie with her. There they made their home ; Mr.
Kiskadden having preceded them there and obtained a good
situation as a bookkeeper with the firm of Park & Lacy. Mrs.
Kiskadden played occasional engagements at the San Fran-
cisco theatres and there in due time little Maude made her
first voluntary appearance on the stage, her first appearance
which occurred at the Salt Lake Theatre when she was yet

136 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

in long1 clothes, having been an involuntary one in which her
feelings or inclinations were not consulted.

The writer's stay in Virginia City was brief. Receiving
an offer from James A. Herne, who was managing stage
at the Bush Street, San Francisco for Tom Maguire, and
being anxious to visit the Golden Gate city, I got Mr. Piper
to honorably release me by showing him how he could get
along without me and save my salary. So, after playing a
week at Sacramento during the State fair, I left the Piper
'company and went to San Francisco by steamboat which
was running opposition to the railroad, giving very low rates
— only fifty cents from Sacramento to San Francisco. Mr.
Kiskadden, who had been with his wife and baby Maude
since leaving Salt Lake, decided to take advantage of this
low excursion rate on the steamer and go to San Francisco
also in the search of a situation. "Jim," as he was familiarly
called, was always ready for a little sport in the way of a
game of cards or billiards, so as soon as the boat got under
way, he got into a game of cards with some kindred spirits
and although a crack player and usually a winner, on this
occasion he lost every cent he had — moreover he likewise
lost his hat, a nice new summer one he had recently pur-
chased. The wind was blowing strong upstream and a sud-
den puff took his hat into the river, leaving "Jim" bare-
headed and dead broke ; not a very desirable plight to be in
going a stranger into a strange city. Moreover, to add to
his discomfort, he was wearing a summer suit and as we
approached San Francisco the weather was cold and foggy,
and "Jim's" clothes were decidedly unseasonable when we
reached our destination. Fortunately he had his trunk along
and as soon as he got located he effected a change of costume,
but he was in a dilemma for money to live on till he could
find a job and he appealed to me to lend him a certain sum,
which I was unable to do, having barely enough to see me
through till I would have a week's salary due, but I let him
have enough for immediate necessities, and he was not long
in finding friends and a good situation.

My engagement at the Bush Street did not last very
long. The house was doing a struggling business when I
went there. Emerson's minstrels just across the street were
doing a phenomenal business, turning people away every
night, while "Jim" Herne at the head of a good company,

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 137

was playing- to very meager houses. "Zoe the Cuban
Sylph" was the reigning star when I opened there and my
opening part was an Indian — Conanchet, chief of the Nara-
gansetts, in the "Wept of the Wishton Wish."

The Bush Street theatre season ended rather inglorious-
ly soon after the New Year holiday. I had on the very morn-
ing preceding our closing night, received a telegram from
Mr. Piper of Virginia City, offering me the leading business
for the remainder of the season, but declined it, believing
the Bush would struggle along. That night we had a new
piece on, "The Circus Queen," and it proved such a failure
that Tom Maguire decided to close, which he did without
any previous notice, so the entire company were out of a
job. Next morning I lost no time wiring to Piper to know
if the engagement was still open to me and in a few hours
I had received the agreeable answer "yes" and took the train
the same day for Virginia City. I had been there about
three weeks when I met T. B. H. Stenhouse, who was there
writing up the Comstock mines for the New York Herald.
He said to me, "They need you in Salt Lake badly; why
don't you wire them? Katherine Rogers opens there Mon-
day night for a two weeks' engagement and they have no
competent leading man to support her." "Well," I said,
"they know where I am. If they want me why don't they
wire me?" "Will you go," said he, "if I wire for you and
get you the engagement?" "Yes," I replied, "I shall be glad
to go, for I am tired of this." So he went right off and
wired, and the next day I left for home, but did not arrive
in time to open with Miss Rogers in the opening bill, but
got in on the second night and played throughout the rest
of the engagement.

I had been absent from October I4th, 1874, to January
26th, 1875, a little over three months, during which time
the following attractions appeared at the Salt Lake Theatre:
The Wheeler Comedy troupe, October 29th to 3 1st. On
November 2nd, Risley's Panorama "Mirror of England"
opened for a week. On the I3th and I4th the Infantry com-
bination. On the 1 6th Frank Mayo and Rosa Rand opened
a week's engagement presenting "Davy Crockett" and
"Streets of New York." On the 25th Agnes Booth and
Joseph Wheelock opened in 'Much Ado About Nothing,"
and filled out a week with "King John" and the comedy

138 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

"Engaged." On December 2nd R. H. Cox, familiarly known
as "Daddy Cox," among professionals on the coast, opened
a four nights' engagement with "The Detective," which went
for two nights. The other two nights he gave "The Bells
That Rang Nellie a Bride." Daddy Cox had recently left
Piper's theatre in Virginia City, where he had been stage
manager for a time.

On the 9th, Harry Rickards, an English comic singer
of great spread and self importance, opened for a week's
engagement in conjunction with the stock company. Rick-
ards was recently from Australia and put in a week at the
Bush Street during the writer's engagement there. His
singing and style did not catch on with the San Francis-
cans. He was too "awfully English, yer know." He did
not prove any great attraction in Salt Lake. On the 2ist a
grand concert was given for the benefit of the Catholic
church. On the 22nd, W. J. Florence opened for a week,
supported by the stock company. His opening play was
"Dombey and Son." He gave besides "No Thoroughfare"
and the "Colleen Bawn." Each piece ran two nights, carry-
ing the season through the Christmas holidays and the house
closed with his last performance on the 26th until New
Year's day. January ist, 1875, tne theatre reopened with
the stock company, who, without the assistance of any stel-
lar attraction, played two weeks when the house closed
again until the 25th inst.

Of the people who had comprised the stock company
the previous season, the following members had drifted
away : J. Al. Sawtelle, leading man ; Mrs. Sawtelle, gen-
eral utility; John S. Lindsay, leading heavy; Asenith Ad-
ams (Mrs. Kiskadden), leading juveniles; W. S. Crosbie,
comedian; Arrah Crosbie, characters; J. H. Vinson, first
old man and stage manager ; Buck Zabriske, prompter. The
uncertain and spasmodic nature of the engagements this
season, which had caused this strong contingent of the com-
pany to seek other engagements, also prevented the accession
of new people to the ranks of the stock company, so that it
was in a rather dilapidated and weakened condition, especial-
ly for the support of legitimate repertoire, such as Kather-
ine Rogers presented for the patrons of the drama.

On January 25th she opened in "Romeo and Juliet." Mr.
"Mike" Foster was the Romeo for the occasion. The "lead-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 139

ing men'' were all out of the way and this was sudden pro-
motion for Foster — one of those opportunities that come
but rarely to the ambitious young actor, and nearly always
bring new honors and distinction. "Mike" struggled man-
fully with his task, but he did not make an ideal Romeo. On
the following evening the writer made his reappearance
with the company, after an absence of three months. He
played Master Walter in the "Hunchback" on the occasion
and was warmly welcomed by the audience. Miss Rogers
played in addition to "Romeo and Juliet" and the "Hunch-
back," "As You Like It," "Love's Sacrifice," "Pygmalion and
Galatea," "Lady of Lyons," "Leah," in which the writer
played the following characters respectively: Jacques,
Matthew Elmore, Pygmalion, Claude Melnotte, Lorenz.
Such a repertory, where each play ran for but two perform-
ances, put the company on high tension. Those who had
new parts, and particularly if they had never played in the
pieces, found it very exacting work. Fortunately for the
writer, he had played most of the parts before, yet it was a
busy time for him during that engagement.

Following closely on Miss Rogers with her legitimate
plays, came the English comedian known professionally as
Willie Gill and his wife, Rose Bain. These co-stars had
recently been associated with the writer at Piper's theatre
at Virginia City, where they played for a month or so in
stock and it was a little of a surprise to me to find they had
suddenly materialized into1 stars and were billed for a week
at the Salt Lake Theatre. With sublime assurance, es-
pecially for a play writer, which Willie even then professed
to be (as well as a comedian), he put up Mark Twain's "A
Gilded Age." The piece had been but recently dramatized
and had made a marked success with John T. Raymond as
Col. Sellers. Raymond had played several engagements
with us at the Salt Lake Theatre and was a great favorite,
and was looking forward to another visit in the near future
with his greatest success, Col. Sellers. Some one apprised
him by telegram that Gill was billed to play the piece here
and he promptly wired a well known law firm to enjoin Gill
from playing it. The managers, Clawson and Caine, were
also warned not to play it, so an emergency bill was pre-
pared in the event that they should be estopped. The law
firm had taken the necessary proceedings and just before

140 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

"ringing up" time, as no change of performance had been
announced, they appeared on the scene with the necessary
officer and papers and the performance of "A Gilded Age"
was formally and effectually enjoined. "All That Glitters Is
Not Gold" was substituted. This was a lesson to the Eng-
lish comedian late from Australia which he possibly never
forgot, especially as a few years later he retired from the
stage and settled down in New York as a professional writer
for the stage. He was a clever adapter and dramatizer, as
his version of "A Gilded Age" bore witness, and he no doubt
found plenty of materials to use in his craft, whose authors
were not so well known as Mark Twain nor so particular
in regard to their copyrights. Willie learned the truth of the
axiom that "All that glitters is not gold," even "A Gilded
Age'' on that memorable night, for it materially injured the
business during the remainder of his engagement.

"Built on Sand" was the next evening's offering — and it
was probably too suggestive of Willie's hopes in respect to
"A Gilded Age" to be a good drawing card, so it only went
the one night. The company had their work cut out here also ;
the next play was a new one with them ; he called it Madge
of Elvanlee ; it was a dramatization of Charles Gibbons "For
the King," a very powerful story of the Restoration period,
and gave Rose Bain, his wife, the chance of her life to
make a hit as a leading actress ; but she failed to score any
marked success, giving only a passable rendition of the char-
acter. Fortunately again for this individual, he had during
his absence played in this play at the Bush Street Theatre.
Jim Herne used it as the vehicle for the debut of a talented
San Francisco' lady, who created a little ripple of excite-
ment by her advent on the stage. I afterwards played the
leading character in it at Virginia in conjunction with Miss
Bain and Mr. Gill, so that it was comparatively easy for
me in regard to study. This play was forced two nights,
meantime the company had another new play sprung on
them for Friday night. Miss Rose Bain was evidently bent
on being the bright particular star of this engagement. Wil-
lie had failed in his Col. Sellers scheme, and Rose saw her
opportunity and pushed it to the utmost. "The Sphinx," a
mythological play, taxing the powers of no less an actress
than Annette Ince (one of the greatest of her time) was the
next offering to the public, and an exacting task for the com-
pany. Here again I was lucky, as I had only about six weeks

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 141

before played a week in the piece with Miss Ince at the Bush
Street theatre, and although I had now a different part, I
was sufficiently familiar with the play to make my task easy,
as compared with the rest of the company.

''The Sphinx" did not prove popular, owing largely to
Miss Bain's inadequacy. So "Madge of Elvanlee" was re-
stored for Saturday night, and so ended a very unprofitable
week, both for "stars" and management. Willie Gill after-
wards acquired fame as the writer of several successful com-
edy sketches. Rose Bain we have never heard of since.
From the I3th to the 22nd of February, the theatre was
dark, which gave the overworked stock company a rest they
no doubt enjoyed, but cut off their salaries, which they did
not relish.

On the 22nd, Washington's Birthday, the theatre was
used as a ball room — the Firemen gave a "Grand Ball" and
for the occasion the theatre was transformed, as it had been
a number of times before, to accommodate an enormous
crowd of dancers. The entire parquet was covered with
floor made in sections, making the stage and the auditorium
into one vast dancing hall. Hundreds who did not partici-
pate in the dance paid admission fees to sit in the circles
and watch the dancers go through the bewitching and be-
wildering figures to the strains of a fine orchestra secured
for the occasion. By the following evening, the floor was
removed, the chairs back in place, and the theatre had re-
sumed its normal appearance. On this date, the 23rd, The
Alleghanians, a company of Swiss Bell Ringers and Vocal-
ists, opened and played throughout the remainder of the
week, five nights and a matinee. The company had now
had a three weeks' rest and were anxious to be doing some-
thing again, so a series of "benefits" were put on. Com-
mencing on March 6th, Clara Jean Walters took a benefit,
playing Edward Tullidge's "Ben Israel," a very powerful
play commemorative of the return of the Jews to England.
On the 8th Mr. Lindsay "benefited," played "Jack Cade,"
and on the loth E. B. Mar den, who had been in the stock
for several years, took a benefit, playing Featherly in "Every-
body's Friend." The theatre was again closed until the 22nd
inst., when The Lingards came in and, supported by the
stock, stiffened up business to some extent; continued until
the 3 1 st. The April Conference being close at hand, it was
decided to play the stock through the Conference in some

142 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

of the old favorites, and they continued right along after the
Lingards left. That is the marvelous part of it that they
could do any business after dropping out a strong stellar
attraction, but on they played through the Conference and
on up to the ist of May, when the season closed and with
the season the management under the ''Salt Lake Theatre
Corporation" closed.

Their second season had not proved sufficiently profit-
able, although they had severely curtailed expenses by cut-
ting down the company, to clear them of indebtedness, and
the corporation quit badly in the hole.

The close of the Clawson and Caine management and
the end of the Salt Lake Theatre Corporation was virtually
the retirement of the stock company, which had been playing
from the opening of the theatre in '62 up to the present date,
May ist, 1875, a period of 13 years. Of course a great many
changes had taken place during those years in the personnel
of the company, but a few of the original members re-
mained, and the organization or ensemble of the company
had been kept intact. Now, however, the gradually en-
croaching combination system made it impracticable for the
managers to offer a season's engagement to those who were
willing and anxious to engage. The necessity for a stock
company became rapidly less from this time on, until in the
year 1878 it had become defunct altogether.

Two entertainments were given after the closing of the
stock company, before the corporation relinquished the
house — on May 4th, Petroleum V. Nasby lectured, and on
the 8th Mr. Mark Wilton rented the theatre and put up
"The Ticket of Leave Man" for a benefit. To show the
status of the company at this particular time, the program
for the benefit performance is here appended :

SALT LAKE THEATRE.

Salt Lake Theatre Corporation Proprietors

Clawson and Caine Managers

SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 8TH, 1875.

Mr. Mark Wilton has engaged the Theatre for this
night and will produce the great drama of

"THE TICKET OF LEAVE MAN."
Supported by the following

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 143

CAST OF CHARACTERS :

Bob Briefly, a Lancashire lad. . . .Mr. John S. Lindsay

James Dalton (the Tiger) Mr. M. Forester

Hawkshaw (a detective) Mr. Mark Wilton

Melter Moss (a crook Mr. J. C. Graham

Mr. Gibson (a bill broker) Mr. Harry Taylor

Sam Willoughby Miss Dellie Clawson

Maltby Mr. Logan Paul

Burton Mr. H. Horsley

May Edwards Mrs. Clara Jean Walters

Mrs. Willoughby Miss Belle Douglas

This was the last performance given under the cor-
poration managers and for some time the theatre remained
without a manager ; if any one wanted it, they had to rent it
from President Brigham Young through one of his clerks.
My record shows that the writer, on July 24th following,
rented the house at the modest sum of one hundred dollars
for the bare house. We gave Bulwer's five-act comedy of
"Money" besides the farce "A Fish Out of Water" and a
musical interlude, by Laura Honey Stevenson and John W.
McKenzie, a popular young baritone from San Francisco.
The total expense of this performance was $357.00, so it was
a risk for an individual to take, but we pulled through clear
and had a little left for our trouble.

About this time Mr. W. T. Harris or "Jimmy" Harris,
as he was familiarly called, was installed as "business man-
ager" of the theatre; he had succeeded in winning one of
Brigham Young's daughters, Miss Louise Young, affection-
ately called by her friends "Punk." The Annie Ward epi-
sode was forgotten or condoned, and Jimmy had ingratiated
himself so strongly in the President's good graces as to re-
ceive the hand of his favorite daughter, and in order that
he might provide liberally for her, he was given the business
management of the theatre. He assumed no financial re-
sponsibilities in accepting the position, but simply acted
as the agent for Brigham Young, to whom he submitted
matters of importance. He held down his job for two years
or more, until some time after the death of Brigham Young,
when the Salt Lake Theatre, which had been -appropriated
by the late President, (although built with Church means)
in the settlement of Brigham's estate reverted to the Church.
This brought a change of management and Mr. Harris was
superseded by H. B. Clawson, one of the former managers.

144 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER XX.

SEASON OF '75J76.

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

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

On August 1 2th, Jennie Lee, who had been a favorite
soubrette in the California theatre, San Francisco, and her
husband, J. T. Burnett, opened a week's engagement in the
play of May Blossom, supported by the stock. Immediately
following, opening on the 2oth of August, came Augustin
Daly's company on their way to San Francisco. They played
three nights, presenting "Saratoga," "The Big Diamond" and
"Divorce."

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

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

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

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 145

They reopened with "Cherry and Fair Star," a spectac-
ular play which had an unusual run ; with this and other
pieces they managed to keep going until January 2Oth, 1876;
from this date to April ist, there were occasional attractions
but none of great importance.

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

SALT LAKE THEATRE.
W. T. Harris Business Manager

GRAND COMPLIMENTARY FAREWELL BENEFIT

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

JOHN S. LINDSAY.

On which occasion Mr. Lindsay will essay the great char-
acter of Jack Cade.

WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH i, 1876,

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

"JACK CADE, THE CAPTAIN OF THE COMMONS."

The entire Corps Dramatique have generously volun-
teered.

CAST OF CHARACTERS !

Nobles.

Lord Say Mr. Mark Wilton

Lord Clifford Mr. Emmett Mousley

Duke of Buckingham Mr. Gus M. Clark

t>uke of Suffolk Mr. B. W. Wright

Courtnay Mr. J. C. Graham

10

146 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Commons.

...................... Mr. John S. Lindsay

Friar Lacy ......................... Mr. John T. Hardie

Wat Worthy ........................ Mr. Phil Margetts

Will Mowbray .................. ...... Mr. J. E. Evans

Jack Straw ............................ Mr. E. Mousley

Bondmen to Lord Say —

Dick Pembroke .......... ............ Mr. H. Bowring

Roger Sutton ...................... Mr. Wm. Wright

Cade's Son (5 years old) . ............ Miss Edie Lindsay

Marinanne (Cade's wife) .......... .Miss Lina Mousley

Widow Cade (Cade's mother) ........ Miss Sarah Napper

Kate Worthy, betrothed to Mowbray. . . .Miss Lizzie Davis

Lords, Officers, Peasants, Bondsmen, Etc.

To be followed by a musical interlude.
Song— "Give a Poor Fellow a Lift". .Mr. Phil Margetts, Jr.
For the last time, the great Specialty of the Mulligan

Guards ......... By W. T. Harris and H. E. Bowring

The performance will conclude with the side-splitting
farce,

"A BASHFUL BACHELOR."

Hector Timid ........................ Mr. J. C. Graham

Captain Cannon ...................... Mr. Mark Wilton

Dr. Wiseman .................... , . Mr. H. E. Bowring

Thornton ............................. Mr. J. E. Evans

Louisa ............................ Miss Lina Mousley

Chatter ............................ Miss Sarah Napper

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

The "cast" in the above program shows that the stock
company had become decidedly weak, a number of amateurs
were worked in, and the three comedians, Margetts, Bow-
ring and Graham, are playing parts altogether out of their
line. The lady assigned the "leading lady's" part (Miss
Mousley) was a clever amateur and this was about her first
appearance at this theatre. The "leading ladies" "seem to
have been all in retirement." Mr. Wilton, "a serio-comic,"
playing the leading heavy," Lord Say, and Mr. Graham

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 147

playing" the "second heavy/' Courtney, shows there was a
great sparsity of "heavy men," and Margetts and Bowring
both playing serious "character parts," plainly indicates the
low ebb the company had reached. It was now a difficult,
nay an impossible, task to adequately "cast" one of the great
classical plays.

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

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

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

Edwin Adams was destined to a career as brief .as it was
brilliant. After leaving us he went to San Francisco ana
played a successful engagement, then went to Australia.
When he returned from Australia to San Francisco he was
a dying man. A benefit was given him there, and he was

148 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

wheeled onto the stage in an invalid's chair to acknowledge
his gratitude to the San Franciscans for their kindness to
him. This was the last seen of poor Edwin Adams by the
public. Only a few days later and that dramatic genius
that was shedding luster on the American stage was extinct.
He had contracted quick consumption in the antipodes, and
by the time he got back to San Francisco his friends realized
he had not long to live and did what they could to show
their love for him and ease his passing to the great be-
yond.

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

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 149

CHAPTER XXI.

SEASON OF '76-^77.

With the approach of the October Conference, which
is always a harvest for the theatre, Mr. Harris got togetnei
as strong a company as possible and revived some of the old
favorite plays, opening the season of '76 and '77 a night
or two before and continuing through the Conference dates
to satisfactory business. There was no "star" to share with,
and the theatre reaped a handsome profit.

The next engagement of importance was that of Mr.
George Rignold, an English actor, who was starring in
"Henry V." Rignold had come from England and un-
der the management of Jarrett and Palmer, "Henry V." was
given a fine production in their New York theatre. For
some reason or other, after a short but successful run of the
play, a disagreement arose between those popular managers
and Mr. Rignold. They decided to supersede Mr. Rignold
with Lawrence Barrett. They notified him accordingly and
at the expiration of the time for which he had been engaged
Mr. Barrett stepped into Rignold's place and the run of the
play was extended for several weeks. It was the intention
to take the play to San Francisco after the run in New York.
This change of stars threw Rignold out of the San Fran-
cisco engagement, much to his chagrin and disappointment.
Not to be out-generaled the English actor quietly hastened
to San Francisco. The California Theatre having been
secured for the Jarret and Palmer company, with as
much dispatch and secrecy as possible Rignold got a com-
pany together. Soon as it was known that Rignold was in
San Francisco and was preparing to give the play of "Henry
V" at the Grand Opera House, the news was duly wired to
Jarrett and Palmer ; not only were they surprised, but greatly
chagrined, on learning that the English actor had gotten
the start of them and was in a fair way to eclipse their West-
ern engagement. Mr. Barrett and the managers, after a
rather excited consultation, decided to close the run of
"Henry V" with the end of the current week, and have
everything in readiness to leave New York for San Fran-

150 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

cisco on the following Sunday. The manager of the Cali-
fornia was telegraphed to announce the play for the follow-
ing Thursday night. This gave scarcely a week for adver-
tising, and it seemed incredible that the company could
reach San Francisco by the time, but Jarrett and Palmer had
at great expense made arrangements with the railroad com-
pany for a special train, that was to rush them through from
New York to San Francisco in four days. Barring acci-
dents, they would arrive in San Francisco on Thursday
morning, in time to get their scenery in place and play that
night.

It was taking desperate chances, but it was at the same
time a great advertising scheme, for never before had such a
flying trip been made across the continent, and every paper
in the country had an account of it. "From Ocean to Ocean
eighty-three hours..' Rignold had arranged to open the fol-
lowing Monday, but learning to his amazement of the great
coup that Jarrett and Palmer were performing to get in
ahead of him, he got a move on too and decided to keep the
lead, and open up at least one night ahead of them, which
was as soon as he could possibly get ready. The fast train
was the sensation of the hour, everybody was talking of it
and awaiting its arrival with keen expectancy. This na-
tional advertisement gave the Jarrett and Palmer company
a great advantage over Rignold ; besides, they had much the
better production, and the best company, as Rignold had to
gather what support he could and very hurriedly in San
Francisco. This was very sharp managerial practice ; what
especial reason Lawrence Barrett and the Jarrett and Palmer
management had for this extraordinary coup to down the
English actor we never learned. The rivalry of the two
Henrys served to throw theatrical circles in the Golden Gate
City into a feverish excitement, and the result was that both
houses did a good business, as every theatre-goer felt in duty
bound to see both actors, and then compare their respective
merits. Until Rignold played "Henry V" in New York no
American actor had ever attempted the character; Barrett
who had in conjunction with John McCullough managed the
California theatre during the first three years of its career,
saw an opportunity to do some business there and win some
fresh laurels in a new part. This in a measure explains the
haste with which the thing was done. The rival Henrys,
however, did not succeed in giving the play a permanent
abiding p'lace in popular favor. We think no other Ameri-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 151

can actor has ever had the temerity to try it, until the bold
and undaunted Richard Mansfield gave a superb production
of it a quarter of a century later — 1902.*

After the Rignold date here, when 'The Lady of
Lyons," "Black-Eyed Susan," and "Henry V" were given
with such support as was available, the stock played fitfully,
interrupted by occasional novelties, such as panoramas and
concert companies, minstrels and the like, along the holi-
day season and into the spring. On February 3rd, John S.
Lindsay was the recipient of another "benefit," on which
occasion he exhibited his strong predilection for Shakespear-
ian roles by appearing as Hamlet, a character in which he
had already won some local distinction. As on a previous
benefit occasion, there were several first appearances, and
the cast as a whole was not very satisfactory, but our
friends were inclined to overlook many shortcomings on
those benefit occasions. As if "Hamlet" was not enough for
a benefit performance, we had to tack on the farce of "The
Trials of Tompkins,"~in which Mr. Graham was wont to
shine.

On the 23rd and 24th of February, Mr. E. A. Sothern,
the world renowned Dundreary, filled his first engagement at
the Salt Lake Theatre. He exacted a certainty of one thou-
sand dollars in gold coin for the two nights. Mr. Harris
very naturally had some hesitancy about closing an engage-
ment with him on such exorbitant terms, so he made a can-
vass of his patrons, and after a careful consideration, "closed
the deal" with Mr. Sothern. The prices were advanced from
the usual scale of twenty-five cents to one dollar, to fifty
cents to two-fifty. The house was well filled on both nights
and the management, not having a very expensive company
or any production to pay for out of its share, came out all
right. There was much dissatisfaction, however, that such
exorbitant prices should be charged for what at best was
but an ordinary "show," especially the last night when David
Garrick was presented, and by ten o'clock the play was over,
and the general expression of the patrons of the theatre was
"Sold!" Indeed so outspoken was the dissatisfaction with
David Garrick, and so severe were the strictures of the press

*The above account of the "Henry V" excursion is written
entirely from the writer's recollection of the affair, having no avail-
able data. It may contain some slight inaccuracies, but the main
facts were about as here related.

152 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

the following morning, that Mr. Sothern could not have got-
ten fifty cents a ticket for a third performance. As a natural
consequence, it was a long time before he came to Salt Lake
again.

On March loth, Miss Annie Adams (Mrs. Kiskadden)
who had recently returned on a visit to Salt Lake after an
absence of three years in San Francisco, assisted by the
stock company, gave a production of "The Two Orphans,"
Miss Adams appearing as Louise and Miss Colebrook as
Henriette, the writer in the character of Pierre. This was
the first presentation of this play at this theatre and it proved
a great drawing card.

The next star attraction was one of more than ordinary
interest. The anniversary of Shakespeare's birth (and
death) on April 23rd, Adelaide Neilson, the world acknowl-
edged Juliet, was announced to appear in that character.
Miss Neilson was well-known to our theatregoers by reputa-
tion as the greatest Juliet of the age, and the demand for
seats was extraordinary. The prices were advanced, but not
to exorbitant figures, the prices ranging from 2$c to $1.50.
Every seat in the house was filled, and numbers were glad to
stand on both evenings rather than miss seeing the beautiful
and popular actress. There was no dissatisfaction with this
engagement ; everybody was pleased and delighted, and Ade-
laide Neilson's praises were on everybody's lips. She could
have remained a week and played to full houses, but engage-
ments ahead precluded a longer stay ; she only gave two per-
formances, "As You Like It" being the second bill. There
was only one opinion as to her Juliet, that it was the perfect
embodiment of the character, her rich beauty of face and
form, her exquisite grace, her melodious voice, and the mar-
velous power of expression in her soft tender eyes, equipped
her completely for the part. As Rosalind she was equally as
charming if not as brilliant as in Juliet. The playing of
Romeo to her Juliet, the writer cherishes as one of the
pleasantest memories of his long professional career. A
year later the beautiful Neilson was dead. Alas! for the
mutability of all that is mundane :

"She should have died hereafter ;
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
Creeps in this- petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time.

THE MORMONS- AND THE THEATRE. 153

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle !

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more.

It is a tale told by an idiot ;

Full of sound and fury; signifying nothing."

— Macbeth.

"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth ere gave
Await alike the inevitable hour ;

The paths of glory lead but to- the grave."

—Gray's Elegy.

The next stellar attraction was Ben de Bar. Ben was
the manager of one of the St. Louis theatres when the writer
was a boy, and my first introduction to the stage was at De
Bar's theatre. A young fellow who was our neighbor in St.
Ijouis induced me to go with him and go on as a super.
The play was "Sixtus V., Pope of Rome." Mr. and Mrs.
Farren were the stars. I made my first acquaintance with
the stage in that play, as one of the mob, little dreaming that
I would one day be cast to play Sixtus V., which I was some
years afterwards in the Salt Lake Theatre.

Ben De Bar was a popular comedian as well as manager
at the time of which I am telling, but for some half dozen
years now he has been starring in the character of Sir John
Falstaff. He was very stout, and well suited to the character
and confined himself to it exclusively, varying the monotony,
however, by playing both the plays in which Sir John is so
prominent, "Henry IV" and "The Merry Wives of Wind-
sor."

Ben had been to San Francisco and had just played an
engagement there, before coming to Salt Lake. He opened
here on May I7th in "The Merry Wives." He complained
of not feeling well and it was quite preceptible that some-
thing was the matter; he was uncertain and forgetful. On
the second night in "Henry IV," his lapses of memory were
still more perceptible. In short, it was palpable to all the
company, if not the audience, that Mr. De Bar was suffering
from some derangement of memory to such an extent as to
in places mar the scenes, and very much embarrass those
who had dialogue with him. The writer was playing Hot-
spur on the occasion, and had but little to do with the boast-

154 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

ful Sir John, but noticing his lapses of memory in several
places and his consequent and apparent distress, kindly in-
quired as to his trouble, when he feelingly told me he had
suffered in San Francisco the same way, and he felt no
confidence in himself whatever. He said his memory was
deserting him and he feared his professional career was at
an end. After the play was over he called me into his
dressing room, and said : "Mr. Lindsay, I have made my last
appearance on the stage. I am done, sir. I feel that I have
subjected the entire company tonight to a great deal of em-
barrassment, and my lapses of memory must have been quite
apparent to the audience. No, sir, I can no longer rely on
my memory, and I shall never attempt to play again. I feel
my career is ended." His words were pathetic, and as it
proved, prophetic; he never did appear on the stage again.
In less than a year dear old Ben de Bar died of softening of
the brain. Ben de Bar was about sixty years of age when
he died. "What old acquaintance ! Could not all this flesh
keep in a little life ? Poor Jack, farewell ! I could have bet-
ter spared a better man." Prince Hal in "Henry IV," Part
First.

Salt Lake seemed to be an attractive summer resort for
a certain class of attractions, and quite a number found their
way here during the very hottest of the weather. On July
24th Robert Heller, a very clever magician and an excellent
pianist, assisted by Miss Helen (his sister), entertained the
patrons of the theatre for a week with his very clever tricks
and fine piano playing. His second sight business, in which
he was ably assisted by Miss Helen, was wonderfully clever,
and mystified the beholders very much indeed. He was the
first to introduct a second-sight business here, and was as
much of a wonder as Anna Eva Fay has since been.

On August 6th, Rose Eytinge, then in the zenith of her
fame, opened a three nights' engagement in the play of "Rose
Michel" and followed it with "Miss Multon" and "Macbeth."
The writer had some hard work during this brief engage-
ment, the two first plays being entirely new to him, in both
of which he had very long and arduous parts, and on the
third night he had to do Macbeth. Rose Eytinge at this
time was one of the best actresses and most beautiful wo-
men we had on the stage. Good gracious ! that is twenty-
eight years ago, and she is still acting ! but she has to play
the old woman now. When I played with her two years

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 155

later in Portland, Oregon, she was married to an English
actor named Cyril Searle, who insisted on playing Mac-
beth, but made me study Antony in "Antony and Cleopatra"
on very short notice as the San Francisco papers had criti-
cised his Antony so severely he declared he would never play
it again.

On August I4th, the Richings-Bernard Opera Company
played one night. Played again on the i6th. On the follow-
ing night, the I5th, Tony Pastor with a fine vaudeville com-
pany, gave a great show — the first company of that kind to
cross the continent and play in the Salt Lake Theatre. He
had a packed house, for his show was a great novelty.

It was a little surprising that with the love of the
drama so universal in Utah so few contributions to dramatic
literature were offered by local authors for representation
on the stage. Those thought worthy of presentation by
the managers we have already recorded. Mr. E. L. Sloan's
"Osceola" (an Indian play), in which Julia Dean and
George Waldron played the leading characters, and his
"Stage and Steam,'' a later production, contrasting the old
stage coach with the locomotive methods and results. By
far the most important local contributions to the stage were
the plays of Edward W. Tullidge: "Eleanor de Vere,"
played by Julia Dean and stock company, "Ben Israel" and
"Oliver Cromwell," played by the local company. Now comes
John S. Lindsay with "Under One Flag," a drama of the
Civil War. This play was presented for the first time on
September I3th and made so favorable an impression as to
hold the boards for three nights. It was repeated on Octo-
ber 5th, during the conference season, and has been played
by the author and his company in nearly all the towns and
cities of the Northwest. These performances of "Under One
Flag" virtually closed the season of '76 and '77, which had
run intermittently all through the summer.

156 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER XXII.

SEASON OF '77-'78.

On October 5th, the fall Conference was provided for.
The house opened for the season of '77 and '78 on this date
with a reproduction of "Under One Flag." The stock
played through the Conference date, reviving some of the
old favorite plays, and continued playing until November
i2th. On November I4th The Kellogg-Cary Concert Com-
pany opened a three nights' engagement and sang to
big houses. Miss Louise Kellogg was one of the greatest
singers of her day, and Miss Cary was equally popular, their
concerts being very well patronized and highly appreciated
by the music lovers of Salt Lake.

On November 23rd, Mrs. D. P. Bowers and Mr. "Jim"
McCollom (who was Mrs. Bowers' second husband) opened
a week's engagement in Giogametti's play of "Elizabeth,"
which was played for three nights, and the week was filled
out with "Lady Audley's Secret," "Married Life" and
"Camille."

Mrs. Bowers was beyond question one of the greatest
actresses our country had ever produced. She was the first
American actress to play the character of Elizabeth. After
Ristori, the great Italian actress, had played this great char-
acter in a few of the principal cities of our country only, Mrs.
Bowers took it up and starred the country with it, making a
great success.

Mr. James McCollom was a very efficient support to her
in the characters of Essex in "Elizabeth," Armand in "Ca-
mille" and Robert Audley in "Lady Audley's Secret." Mrs.
Bowers achieved her celebrity as Mrs. Bowers and never
changed her name to McCollom on the stage. Mrs. Bowers
was supported by the stock company in this engagement.

On December 8th, J. K. Emmett opened a three nights'
engagement in "Fritz," supported by the stock. On Decem-
ber 20-21-22, The Lilliputian Opera Company. Christmas
Day the stock resumed operations and played through the
holidays and up to the I3th of the month ; they were tempo-
rarily retired again to make room for lima de Murska and
her concert company, who gave scenes from "II Trovatore,"

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 157

"Martha," "Crispina," and other operas, remaining three
nights, 1 5th to I7th, inclusive. De Mnrski was not only a
great singer but a great actress as well, and her singing and
acting were received with unusual enthusiasm.

January i8th and iQth, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Frayne
were the attraction in the play of "Si Slocum." Frayne "was
the fellow who won renown" by shooting an apple from his
wife's head (a la William Tell), only Frayne split the ap-
ple with a rifle bullet instead of an arrow. After perform-
ing this and other dexterous feats with rifle and revolver
many hundreds of times without accident, he did it once too
often ; he finally missed his aim and shot his wife dead. How
confiding women are ! Poor Mrs. Frayne ! Thank heaven
that did not happen here! Whether Frank ever found an-
other woman so confident of his skill as to hold that apple
on her head, we know not — and hope not. He had a bull
dog that played a star part in the show ; he may have trained
the dog to hold the apple after his wife's awful fate. Sad
to relate, the stock company supported Mr. and Mrs. Frayne
and the bull-dog.

On the 22nd and 23rd, Mile. Rentz's female minstrels
gave Salt Lake another exhibition of musical extravaganza,
the chief attraction being the free and lavish display of
beautiful female shapes. A whole phalanx of voluptuous,
rotund forms encased in a dazzling and bewildering variety
of colors — moving in splendid harmony — keeping time, time,
time, in a sort of runic rhyme. Why no wonder the bald-
heads crowded into the front rows and outrivaled all other
spectators in applauding the bold and beautiful Amazons.

On February 22nd the community having recovered
somewhat from the excitement of Amazonian marches, Rentz
minstrel choruses, and the bewildering effect of SO' much
female beauty, the present writer having accepted an offer to
go to Denver to play a star engagement at the Denver thea-
tre, summoned sufficient courage to take a "farewell benefit."
The plays given on this occasion were "Evadne" and the
farce of "Nan, the Good-for-Nothing." Soon after the
"benefit" the writer departed for Denver, accompanied by
Mr. Harry Emery, who had played with him in the recent
benefit bill and on some previous occasions ; his work
being so satisfactory as to secure him an engagement in the
Denver company that was to support me. Denver at this
time had but one theatre ; it was not nearly so large or so
good a theatre as the Salt Lake Theatre ; in fact, Denver

158 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

was not then (1878) as large a city as Salt Lake. Nick For-
rester was the manager, and his wife was the "leading lady"
of the company, and insisted on playing all the leading lady
parts whether suited to them or not. This caused Nick and
the company a whole lot of trouble as she was already fair,
fat and forty, and not suited to many of the parts.

My opening bill was "Hamlet," and she was my Ophelia,
much to my dissatisfaction, as there was a juvenile lady in
the company, Miss Baker, who should have been cast for the
part ; but with a woman's persistent inconsistency, in spite of
my demurre'r, she would be Ophelia, and Miss Baker had to
do the Queen, which she was quite as unsuited to as Mrs.
Forrester was for Ophelia. This was the "leading lady's"
reward :

"Not all the artifices of the stage would suffice to make
Mrs. Forrester look young enough for Ophelia, or Miss
Baker old enough for the Queen." — Rocky Mountain News.

After "Hamlet," "Richelieu" was given (my first ap-
pearance in the character), then "Jack Cade," Bulwer's com-
edy of "Money" and my own play, "Under One Flag." Al-
ter filling in three more weeks with the Forresters on their
circuit, Mr. Joe Wallace, the comedian of Mr. Forrester's
company, made a contract with me to play me through the
state of Colorado, supported by the Forrester Stock Com-
pany. The season was over in Denver, so we went en tour.
Before the tour ended we went to Leadville with teams from
Canon City, and gave the first dramatic performance ever
given in Leadville. This was in the summer of '78; the
boom did not strike Leadville till '79. We were there too
early to do much in the theatrical way — the population was
not there. Emery and I got back to Salt Lake about the
first of August. The next attraction at the Salt Lake Thea-
tre after "Evadne" was the Union Square Theatre Company
with Charley Thorne at the head of it. On February I2th,
this company opened in the Russian play, "The Danichefrs,"
following it with "The Two Orphans" and "Pink Dominoes."
It was the foremost company of the time, and of course gave
great satisfaction. On February 22nd, Washington's Birth-
day was celebrated by a big masquerade ball in the theatre,
given by the L. H. B. Society. This was a big affair, this
masquerade. Hundreds of maskers were on the floor and
the grand march, led by our late lamented friend Ned Wallin,
and the writer, was a very fine pageant — and it was alto-
gether a very successful revel.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 159

Next came Fanny Louise Buckingham and her finely
trained horse, James Mellville. They starred in conjunction
for three nights in the play of "Mazeppa," supported by the
stock company. This was the last performance the writer took
part in before leaving for his Denver engagement. There
was much more satisfaction in supporting Fanny and her
horse than there was in supporting Frayne and his bulldog.
Fanny was a beautiful creature, so also was her horse James ;
and although Fanny couldn't act Mazeppa very well, James
did his part splendidly, and Fanny could stick on him in good
shape, and James carried her through all right. 'The follow-
ing week we were in Denver together, she playing, I rehears-
ing, so we saw a good deal of each other, and when she
parted from us at Denver, she had established a reputation
among us for a "jolly good fellow." She loved her horse
James Mellville, and she loved a jolly crowd.

Next came J. Al. Sawtelle, who had been touring around
in Utah and Montana, and put his name up for a perform-
ance at the Salt Lake Theatre. As he had only played there
one season and had not been there since '74, he was almost
a stranger. He played "Rosedale" on March 2nd. On
March 5th, Denman Thompson opened a three nights' en-
gagement in "Joshua Whitcomb." The nth and I2th, Sig-
nor Eduardo Majeroni, a very clever Italian actor, played
'The Old Corporal" and "Jealousy."

On the I4th, Ada Richmond opened for a week, sup-
ported by the stock, which also supported the three preced-
ing attractions. On April 4th, 5th and 6th, Haverly's min-
strels filled the time, giving the Conference visitors a taste
of genuine minstrelsy.

The last nights of Conference, 7th and 8th, were filled
by the stock, who kept it going until Oliver Doud Byron
came in on the I5th and i6th to crave their help "Across
the Continent." On the iQth Frank C. Bangs, one of the
big four in the "Julius Caesar" production at Booth's theatre,
gave a reading entertainment. Why he didn't give a play
I don't know, the same old reliable stock was here and had
just supported Oliver Doud Byron. The only reason I can
assign is that he hadn't time to stay.

April 25th and 26th Ada Gray appeared in "Whose
Wife?" and "Miss Multon.'"

May 2nd Prof. La Mar, leader of the Fort Douglas
Band, gave a band concert. La Mar was a very clever
musician and had a fine band ; he deserved to be well pa-

160 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

tronized for he was very accommodating, and volunteered
the services of his band on numerous "benefit occasions."

On the 7th and 8th Dick Roberts in "Humpty Dumpty ;"
1 3th and I4th, Sol Smith Russell and Rice's Evangeline
combination.

On the 27th and 28th Harrigan and Hart in "Doyle
Brothers," "Old Lavender" and "Sullivan's Christmas."

June 1 4th and I5th, Salisbury's Troubadores.

July 1 5th, Joseph Jefferson in "Rip Van Winkle."

September loth, Henry Ward Beecher in lecture,
"Wastes and Burdens." This was after the notorious
Beecher-Tilton scandal and Henry had been studying social
economy. The Mormons didn't like Henry very much, but
he had a big house.

September I2th and I3th, entertainments were given for
the benefit of the yellow fever sufferers in Memphis and
vicinity. These entertainments did not "pan out" very well,
and the theatre managers decided to get all the dramatic tal-
ent they could get to volunteer and give a popular play, in
hopes to materially increase the charity fund. The "School
for Scandal" was selected and given with a pretty strong
cast, embracing Miss Colebrook as Lady Teazle, David Mc-
Kenzie as Sir Peter, John T. Caine as Charles Surface, John
S. Lindsay as Joseph Surface. Phil Margetts and John C.
Graham were in the cast, and a number of others, I. cannot
remember. The play was given on September i6th, and
netted a very tidy sum for the sufferers. " •

On the 1 8th, iQth and 2Oth, Calender's Georgia min-
strels held the boards, and business was light. The writer
and Harry Emery had but recently returned from their Colo-
rado tour, and both were anxious to be doing something, so
I got a cast together and put on "Richelieu," which I had
recently played in Denver, and received flattering notices for,
from the press of that city. I had given away my first ap-
pearance for the "benefit" to the yellow fever sufferers, so
there was no other attraction than to see me in a new part
and that did not prove sufficient to save me from disaster.
I had a losing game of it, the receipts being some $75 less
than the expenses of the performance. This was the only
time I ever failed to make something when I had rented
the theatre and taken chances, which was quite often. This
performance, given on the 25th of September, virtually closed
the season of "77 and '78.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 161

CHAPTER XXIII.

SEASONS OF '78-'79 AND '8o-'82.

The season of '78 and '79 was opened on October 4th by
Haverly's minstrels, who filled the night of the 5th also, when
the stock company stepped to the front once more, and filled
out the remainder of the Conference dates with the "Lan-
cashire Lass" and the "Hidden Hand." On the 23rd Susie
Spencer was a beneficiary, playing "The Little Rebel."
Susie's life was not without a spice of romance, and ,its
chapter of sorrow. Susie Spencer was a very pretty little
girl and talented ; the managers found her very useful in
parts where her petite stature was suited to the character,
and such occasions were not inefrequent. Miss Spencer
was progressing nicely in her art and had already become a
favorite with the patrons of the drama, when she met her
fate in the person of Mr. Ed Marden. Marden was one of
the Cogswell party who came from California by way of
Southern Utah, and waiting on Brigham Young, informed
him they had received a revelation (via the Planchette route)
instructing them to come to Salt Lake and join the Mormon
Church, as it was the only true and authorized church. The
party were duly baptized and confirmed into the Church, and
at once installed as members of the stock company. Marden
became on very short acquaintance infatuated with the pretty
Susie and laid siege to her young and guileless heart with
that adroitness and dexterity which come from much ex-
perience, with the result that Susie soon became Mrs. Mar-
den. Marden was a member of the stock here all during the
"Jimmy" Harris regime. He and "Jimmy" were fast friends,
they both came to Utah Gentiles, joined the Church and
married Mormon girls. Soon after the close of the Harris
management in '77, Marden drifted off and left his Susie
a heart-broken little woman. He was through with Utah,
and through with the Mormon Church, and through with
his little Mormon wife, and cast them all aside as he would
a worn-out suit. He never came back, and Susie, after a year
or two of repining, found consolation in the affections of a
better man. She became the wife of Mr. Rice, a well-to-do
11

162 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

banker of the mining town of Frisco, Utah, where she lived
happily in her new alliance until a few years ago, when she
passed away from earth, still young in years.

The next stellar attraction was Mrs. Scott Siddons, a
niece of the great Sarah Siddons, who appeared on Novem-
ber 22nd in a dramatic recital ; with what success the writer
cannot tell, as he was away again at this time. This lady
had just closed a week's engagement at Portland, Oregon,
when I arrived there. I met her at the hotel before her de-
parture, and she impressed me as being an extraordinary
woman and a brilliant actress.

December 25th, Nat Goodwin and Eliza Weatherby
opened a four nights' engagement in "Hobbies ;" they gave
on the following evenings "Under the Rose" and "Cruets."
This was Goodwin's first engagement in Salt Lake.

On January loth and nth, 1879, Alice Gates' Comic
Opera Company played to exceptionally large houses.

Barney Macauley in "The Messenger from Jarvis Sta-
tion" was the next stellar attraction.

There was a dearth of star attractions along about this
time and the stock company had plenty of time to fill in, but it
had become so depleted as to be unable to keep up the inter-
est for more than two or three nights at a time.

On May 2nd, "Buffalo Bill," Col. Wm. F. Cody, gave
an exhibition, assisted by the stock company. - He called it
"A Knight of the Plains." On May 8th, Annie Adams (Mrs.
Kiskadden) and her daughter Maude, who were in Salt
Lake on a visit, created some interest in her reappearance
here, and that of Maude who on this occasion played her
first speaking part in Salt Lake. Miss Adams assisted by
the stock (what remained of it) and some amateurs, gave
on the 8fh, "A Woman of the People." This was the old
French play of "Madeline, the Belle of the Faubourg,"
which Julia Dean had played some years before. Like many
another good play since, it was made to do double duty by ap-
pearing under a new title. For the second night's bill, the
comedy of "Stepmother" and the farce of "Little Susie"
were given. In the farce Little Maude played the name
part, "Little Susie." Maude was then six years and six
months old, and had already played several parts in San
Francisco, the most notable one, Little Adrienne in "A Cele-
brated Case," which she played in the Baldwin production
of the play, and afterwards in Portland with John Maguire's
production of it, for which she and her mother were espe-

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 163

cially engaged. Afterwards with the Maguire company
en tour through Oregon and Washington, when "Little
Maude" was featured in "The Case" and also in "Ten Nights
in a Bar Room," her mother and the writer playing the lead-
ing roles in these plays. This second bill was repeated on
the loth inst, the probability being that Maude had caught
the public favor at that early day.

The next attraction of note was Lawrence Barrett, who
opened on July 8th (midsummer nights — no dream) for four
nights, opening play "Richelieu" followed by "Hamlet," "A
New Play" and "Julius Caesar." How the fastidious and ex-
acting Barrett managed to cast these great plays here has
never been explained to me. He must have carried his prin-
cipal support with him.

In the fall of this year Miss Annie Adams revived
"The Two Orphans" with a complete cast of amateurs, ex-
cepting herself and Jimmy Harris. The cast included Mr.
Laron Cummings as the Chevalier, Heber M. Wells as the
Doctor, Orson Whitney as Jacques, John D. Spencer as
Pierre, John T. White as Picard, W. T. "Harris played Fro-
chard, which fact certainly denoted a great paucity of female
talent here about that time. Annie Adams played Louise and
Delia Clawson, Heriette, which is as much of the cast as we
can gather from Miss Adams' own account of this perform-
ance. So successful was the performance as a whole and so
meritorious the acting of the numerous debutants on
this occasion that Mr. Bud Whitney who was man-
aging the business end of the affair, proposed the
organization of a "Home Club," which should
comprise all of the amateurs who had taken part in "The
Two Orphans." The proposition was readily adopted by
those concerned, and out of this sprang "The Home Dra-
matic Club." The time was most opportune, for there was a
dearth of dramatic attractions at the time ; the old stock
had dwindled until there were but a few of its members left
in Salt Lake, and some new blood and talent was needed to
give renewed interest to home productions. "The Home Dra-
matic Club," with great prudence and foresight, secured the
ensuing April Conference dates on which to make their ini-
tial bow to the Utah public. It was a good long time to wait
but they were sure of big results in a financial way, and it
gave them plenty of time in which to perfect themselves in
their opening play, which was "The Romance of a Poor
Young Man." It was a good selection, well suited to the

164 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

young people, and scored a success ; only the older people in
the community could remember George Pauncefort opening
in the same play in 1864, and scoring a great triumph. The
club had large and friendly audiences and their introductory
play was pronounced a genuine success, both artistically and
financially. It could not be otherwise than a good paying
propostion, as Conference nights are always a harvest time
for the theatre. So well encouraged were they that the club
continued in the business of playing occasionally, whenever
they could secure favorable dates, such as Conferences and
other holiday times, for a number of years. "The Home
Dramatic Club" averaged about three or four plays a year
during their career of about ten years. The club being more
of a society affair than a professional theatre company, they
picked their times and opportune ones, and playing so seldom
they never were subjected to the tasks in study and rehear-
sals and dramatic work which characterized the busy years
of the old stock company. It was a talented company, how-
ever, and no doubt could have made good under different
and more exacting conditions.

In March, 1881, the writer was back in Salt Lake after
a two years' absence, principally in Portland and San Fran-
cisco. On my return there was nothing doing in the theatri-
cal line. The "club" had been organized nearly a year, yet
had given only a very few plays. There was a dearth of
theatricals, and the writer with the acquiescence and as-
sistance of Mr. Clawson, who was again manager of the
theatre, got up occasional performances with such assistance
as he could procure. The first of these was "A Celebrated
Case," in which he had the assistance of Manager Clawson's
daughters, Miss Edith Clawson and Mrs. Ardelle Cummings.
Other performances were given in connection with David
McKenzie, Philip Margetts and John C. Graham, with such
support as we could muster from the depleted ranks of the
old stock, and what new aspirants were in the field for dra-
matic honors. The "gallery gods" honored the three gentle-
men and myself with the somewhat flattering appellation of
the big four, the same title the New Yorkers bestowed on
Booth, Barrett, Davenport and Bangs when these four stars
formed the great constellation in the play of "Julius Caesar."
These performances, however, like those of "The Home
Dramatic," were few and far between, and to a person de-
pending on acting for a livelihood, did not prove very remun-
erative.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 165

About this time another project which interested the
writer hove into view. Dr. D. Banks McKenzie, a temper-
ance lecturer and reformer, had succeeded after a consider-
able effort in organizing a temperance club in Salt Lake
City (a prodigious task to accomplish at that time). He
had succeeded in raising a fund of some thirty thousand dol-
lars in contributions towards the erection of a first-class lec-
ture hall, with library, and various other nice accommoda-
tions for the society. The Walkers Brothers had contributed
a building site where the Atlas block now stands, 50x100
feet. This was put in at $13,000, making nearly one-half
of the $30,000 contributed. On being informed by one of the
Walker Brothers of what was projected, the writer with
some self-interest suggested that inasmuch as they were
going to put up a building of such size and cost, that they
might just as well make it a little larger, and make a theatre
of it ; that a theatre would answer all the purposes of the
proposed hall, and often rent when the hall would not. The
idea grew with them, and the Walker Grand Opera House
was the result. It occupied a year in building. It was opened
on June 5th, 1882, with a vocal and instrumental concert,
with Prof. George Careless as conductor. As a matter of
historical interest and to show the musical status of Salt
Lake at that time, a copy of the opening program is here
appended.

OPENING OF THE
WALKER GRAND OPERA HOUSE.

Monday Evening, June 5th, 1882.

Lessee D. Banks McKenzie

Manager John S. Lindsay

PROGRAM.

1. Overture — " William Tell" Rossini

2. Quartette— "The Night Before the Battle" White

Misses Olsen and Richards, Messrs. Whitney
and Spencer.

3. Flute Solo — "Concert Polka" Rudolph

Mr. George Hedger.

4. Aria — II Profeta Meyerbeer

Mrs. J. Leviburg.

5. Selection Favorite Donozetti

Orchestra.

166 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

INTERMISSION.

6. Overture — Pique Dame Suppe

7. Aria — E. Puritane Belline

Mr. Robert Gorlinske.

8. Piano Solo — Trovatore Gottschalk

Mrs. Helen Wells.

9. Song— "My Own Dearest Child" Abt

Mrs. George Careless.

10. Selection

Croxall's Silver Band.

Conductor Prof. George Careless

Thursday, June 8th — For Three Nights. Louis Aid-
rich Company in his very successful play, "MY PART-
NER." Superb Star Company.

In the spring of '82, when the Walker was approaching
completion, Dr. McKenzie hied him to New York to secure
attractions for the new theatre, for the erstwhile temperance
lecturer had developed into the sole lessee and manager of a
$100,000 theatre. He had already chosen me to attend to the
local management, for which I was to have 5 per cent of the
gross proceeds of everything we played there, with the privi-
lege of getting up local performances in the interims. I had
worked eleven months, superintending the construction of
the building and was quite in favor. "Doc" was very suc-
cessful in securing attractions, his somewhat extravagant and
florid descriptions of the Walker Grand, as they chose to
christen it, and its superiority to the old theatre, caught the
agents and managers, and he secured so many of the at-
tractions going to the coast the ensuing season that he vir-
tually had the Salt Lake Theatre out of business.

The first dramatic performance given in the \Valker
was the Louis Aldrich Company in "My Partner." The
house was well filled but not crowded ; there was a very
strong prejudice against the Walker among the Mormon
part of the community, and a malicious report to the effect
that the galleries were not safe was put in circulation with a
view to injure the new theatre. Such mischievous whisper-
ings, however, only had a temporary effect.

One of the earliest attractions at "The Walker" was
Haverly's minstrels, and the house was crowded to its ut-
most capacity ; as the galleries did not give way on that occa-
sion, the reports which had been so< industriously circulated
were -seen to be "a weak invention of the enemv."

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 167

The new house continued to get the attractions to such
an extent, that the Salt Lake Theatre was virtually out of
the swim. This was accomplished by Dr. McKenzie putting
The Walker under the direction of Jack Haverly. Haverly
at the time was one of the foremost managers of the coun-
try. He controlled more companies and theatres than any
one in the field of amusement ; so he booked everything
in his control at The Walker, and the house during his
regime was called Haverly's Walker Grand Opera House.
"What's in a name ?" In theatrical business much ; it is
everything. So serious indeed was the situation for the Salt
Lake theatre that Mr. David McKenzie, who was at this
time the acting manager of the house, found it necessary to
go to San Francisco and have a business interview with Mr.
Fred Bert, who was Haverly's San Francisco manager.

The result of his visit was an agreement on the part of
Haverly to play his attractions alternately between the two
theatres, thus giving the Salt Lake theatre one-half of their
Salt Lake bookings. In the agreement it was stipulated that
the Salt Lake Theatre must also float the Haverly flag, and
while this contract lasted the old house was called "Haverly's
Salt Lake Theatre." Here was an interesting situation ; both
theatres flying the Haverly flag. Haverly's name at the
head of every bill and program. It was not at all pleasing
to the Mormon people to have their theatre, in which they
took so much pride, pass under the direction and manage-
ment of a Gentile manager. Many of them didn't know but
what Haverly had bought it. The Walker Brothers did not
relish the idea either of their house being called Haverly's ;
but such were the exigencies of the theatrical business.
To the Walker it was a great advantage, as without Hav-
erly's prestige the new house would have had a hard time in
getting first-class attractions.

These circumstances go to show what an immense in-
fluence Jack Haverly wielded in the theatrical business of this
country at that time. He was almost as potent then as Klaw
& Erlanger of the syndicate are today. These conditions
did not last very long, as the managers and agents came to
learn that the Salt Lake Theatre was the only one that the
Mormon people would patronize, and they being so largely
in a majority of the theatre-goers, the older theatre gradu-
ally won back the great bulk of the traveling combinations,
and the Haverly agreement having expired, his flag was
hauled down, much to the relief of a great many, to whom

168 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

it had always seemed a reproach to have Brigham Young's
Theatre called Haverly's. Jack Haverly had too many irons
in the fire ; his numerous theatrical enterprises were managed
by a corps of lieutenants, too numerous for Mr. Haverly to
keep in line. Some of them proved shrewder, more adroit,
and less principled than their general. He trusted them too
implicitly, and this was his undoing. Some of them managed
his enterprises into their own hands, while he was giving his
personal attention very largely to his mining interests.
These, too, turned out disastrously, and Haverly's star,
which had been so prominent and bright in the theatrical
firmament, began to wane and in a very few years was to-
tally eclipsed. After all his great enterprises, he became a
bankrupt in 1898, and he died poor in 1901 in a Salt Lake
Hospital. He was reduced in health and circumstances to
such a degree as to be unable during the last year of his
life to manage even a minstrel company, and others paid
him for the use of his name.

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 169

CHAPTER XXIV.

Retrospectively considered, the building of the Walker
Opera House was premature. There was one good theatre
here, and not half enough of business for that one ; but it
served to enliven things for a little while, and did its share
toward liberalizing and metropolitanizing Salt Lake City.
The Walker had a brief and rather checkered career ; it was
destroyed by fire on July 4th, 1891, after a performance of
"Held by the Enemy." The audience were all home and
the company had left the theatre ; the stage hands were low-
ering a drop, when a gust of wind blew open the front
door and sent the drop sailing against a gas jet ; in a moment
it was all ablaze. The stage hands lost their heads and made
for the exit, when a little presence of mind would have
saved the building. The house, especially the stage, was
well provided with water plugs and hose, and it seems in-
credible that any effort was made to extinguish the fire.

Mr. Will Burgess was manager at the time it burned
down. It is a remarkable fact that two other fine theatres
burned under this same gentleman's management within a
few years afterward. The Farnham Street Theatre of
Omaha, where a number of lives were lost, and The Audi-
torium of Kansas City. Notwithstanding these very serious
drawbacks, Mr. Burgess is one of the wealthy managers of
the West today.

After the burning of "The Walker," Mal-
loy's Livery Stable, directly opposite the Walker, was con-
verted into a theatre, when it was decided to build an office
block on the ruins of the Walker. For some time it was
known as "Wonderland," and was a two storied show ; the
upper story being a sort of curiosity shop — or Wonderland
with specialties and the lower story having a small stage was
devoted to vaudeville, and short plays. Afterwards the two
stories were thrown into one room, and converted into a
theatre with capacity for about six hundred people. It was
called the Lyceum. Here a stock company was run for about
a year with varying fortune. Some actors who have since
won high places in their professions were members of this

170 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

stock, notably Charles Richman, Ed Hayes, Victory Bate-
man.

The Lyceum soon went into a decline ; it struggled along
for a few years against adverse fortune and finally yielded
up the ghost. It was transformed into a handsome saloon
and wholesale liquor house, from which a greater revenue
is derived than it yielded as a theatre. Before the Lyceum
went out of commission as a theatre another theatrical ven-
ture was launched. This was the Grand. This theatre was
built (or partly so) by Mr. Frank Maltese and Mr. "Brig"
Pyper. The story of how they projected, planned and built
this theatre is told as follows : "Brig" and "Frank" made a
winning in a "policy drawing." They held between them a
one-fourth interest in a fifty-dollar policy ticket. In a sporty
manner they bantered each other as to what they should
do with their big winning of $12.50. One was in favor of
reinvesting it in the next policy drawing, the other for trying
their luck at the "faro-bank." Finally, in a lurid flash of
imagination one (which one we don't remember, but we be-
lieve it was Frank), exclaimed : "Let's build an Opera House
with it." The idea was so absurd, they had a good laugh
over it ; but the thought took hold of them, and one of
them suggested, "Let's figure up and see how much more it
will take." So on the back of tne policy ticket they figured
up roughly what it would take in addition to their winnings
to build "The Grand." The result was no doubt staggering ;
but undismayed they went about to see how they could ac-
complish such a herculean task. They owned some property,
or their folks did, and this they decided to put in jeopardy
in order to carry out their designs. They secured the build-
ing site, and got the walls up and the roof on — and then
they were stuck. They had reached the end of their finan-
cial tether, and were forced to stop until they could make
some new deal by which to complete the building. Mr. Alec
Rogers was the party who now came to the front and put up
some $16,000 to complete the building. We don't know just
how much interest the boys Maltese and Pyper had remain-
ing in it when the theatre was completed, but we opine it was
little if any. The Grand opened with the house in the pos-
session of Alex. Rogers and sons, and John Rogers was in-
stalled as the manager. He secured a very good company
for the opening, announcing a season of stock performances.
The house was opened on Christmas Eve, December 24th,
1894. The personnel of the company was as follows: Jane

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 171

Kennark, Blanche Bates, Madge Carr Cook, Jean Coy, How-
ard Kyle, Tim Frawley, Charles King, Harry Corson Clarke,
H. D. Blackmore, Fred Fjaders, Mr. Mannery. The open-
ing play was "Moths." It was a good performance, and the
company made a very favorable impression. The axiom that
"A new broom sweeps well" had a number of exemplifica-
tions in this theatre. It was so with this first company, not-
withstanding it was a talented and capable one. After it
had been seen in a few plays, and the novelty of the new
house, miscalled "The Grand," was over, business began to
drop off and it was more than the manager could do to keep
ahead with the expensive company he had. |

Why this theatre was called "The Grand" we were
never able to divine, as it was at the opening positively se-
vere in its plainness. There is a great tendency in our coun-
try to buncombe, aside from the genuine patriotism that
exists in it ; this tendency leads many of our fellow citizens
into silly extravagances, especially is this noticeable in the
naming of theatres, hotels and restaurants ; more particularly
is this the case in the small towns. A man opens a little
restaurant scarcely big enough to accommodate a dozen per-
sons, and everything in it of the plainest and commonest
kind, and he dubs it the "Palace" restaurant. "Opera House"
is a much abused appellation. Nearly every insignificant,
dingy, dismal, inconvenient, and homely theatre and hall
throughout the land is dubbed Opera House. It is a dreadful
misnomer — inconsistent and absurd in three-fourths of the
houses to which it is applied. "The Theatre" is dignified
enough and much more consistent and suitable. "The Grand"
during the ten years of its existence has had a checkered
career. We doubt if any of its half dozen different managers
have made it pay. The first company, as already stated, was
found to be too expensive, the business would not sustain the
heavy salary list, not only was the salary list large, but Mr.
Frawley made a demand for a percentage of the receipts in
addition. This sprung a disagreement, and the company
was after about four or five weeks superseded by another
less expensive. The Rogers management was able, liberal
and intent on giving the public satisfaction. After a fair
trial of the business, lasting three years, they disposed of the
house on a lease to Mr. Garvey of pageantry fame, who spent
a few hundred he had made on the "Pioneer Carnival" on
the house in the way of improvements, and then called it
"The New Grand." Ad captandiun vulgas.

172 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

Garvey's reign was brief and unprofitable. Then Mr.
Martin Mulvey took a swing at it, and made things lively for
two seasons, but the supposition is that he did not make
money with it or he would not have given up the lease. The
last management, Messrs. Jones and Hammer, have seem-
ingly had the most prosperous time with the house ; they have
profited by the experience of their predecessors, and yet it ap-
pears they have not realized their expectations, and so have
re-leased the house to Denver parties.

Having brought the history of the Salt Lake Theatre
through the first twenty years of its existence up^to the time
when the stock company was altogether disbanded, owing to
the fact that the combination system had come so fully into
vogue as to displace the stock system all over the country, I
shall not attempt to give 'its history after this time, as my
connection with it had altogether ceased. I shall only add
that for the past twenty-three years it has kept the even tenor
of its way, under able managers (notably Mr. Charles R.
Burton and later George Pyper), playing the leading attrac-
tions of the country to a splendid patronage, keeping up the
reputation of Salt Lake as "the best show town of its popu-
lation in the world."

More than twenty years ago several attempts were made
to establish a vaudeville theatre in this city ; two houses were
built at different times for the purpose, but they were short-
lived, dying out for lack of patronage. Within the last three
years, however, the city's population having greatly in-
creased, no less than four have been started here, two of
which survive and seem to be doing well.

During the early years of the drama in Utah, several of
the towns besides Salt Lake had very talented companies.
Provo, Springville, Ogden, Brigham City, and St. George
each had fairly good theatres and many very capable play-
ers. It is somewhat remarkable, however, that out of the
hundreds of persons who have "gone on the stage" in Utah,
so few have drifted into the profession and left their homes
to follow it ; the percentage is very small. Miss Sarah Alex-
ander was the first to drift off, and although she has not
made much stir on the stage herself, she has chaperoned
her niece Miss Lisle Leigh to fine success. Mr. James M.
Hardie was the next to break away ; then Miss Anne Adams,
Mr. Logan Paul and the writer complete the list so far as
the Salt Lake Stock Company is concerned. Later Miss Ada
Dwyer and Mr. DeWitt Jennings. This is accounted for by

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

173

the fact that, much as the Mormons love the theatre, they
love their homes and their religion better. The theatre is a
pleasant pastime with them, but the staying at home and
building up of their kingdom is a religious duty, and unless
they are ''called on a mission," they prefer to stay with home
and Church.

174 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

CHAPTER XXV.

CONCLUSION.

A few reflections on the theatre and its work in conclud-
ing this little history may not be out of place.

The cultivation and progress of the drama in connection
with its kindred arts, poesy and painting, marks the progress
of civilization, culture and refinement at any given period in
any country. Without the aid of the theatre and the actors'
art, the great majority of mankind would remain in ignor-
ance as to the works of the most gifted writers ; without
those great reflectors of human thought, how many thousands
there have been and are who never would have heard or
read the plays of Shakespeare and other writers of genius,
but who, by the assistance of the actor's delineations, have
become familiar with the most sublime and beautiful
thoughts and sentiments that adorn our language. I make
mention particularly of Shakespeare's plays, as they are be-
yond all question the greatest and grandest compositions ever
written. Among the thousands of plays that have been writ-
ten during and since the great dramatic renaissance of
Elizabeth's reign, they still stand out incomparable as models
par excellence of dramatic composition, challenging competi-
tion, and as yet unrivaled after a lapse of more than three
centuries.

That the stage is a great factor in our modern civiliza-
tion, for the education of the people, no reading, reflecting
person would attempt to deny. It is true that some perni-
cious things occasionally creep in that would be better sup-
pressed, but they are rare and exceptional. The great bulk
of dramatic entertainment is uplifting in its tendencies. The
infinite variety of plays presented, showing human life in
all conditions, and under every variety of circumstances, can
not be otherwise than educational in effect upon those who
witness them. However crude or devoid of literary merit a
play may be, there seldom is one, however bald in plot or un-
interesting in sentiment, but what "points a moral and adorns
a tale."

In Shakespeare's day the theatre was even more or an
educational institution than it is today. Books were scarce
in that age, and the newspapers were an undiscovered med-
ium of information, so that plays (especially historical plays)

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 175

possessed a wonderful interest for the masses, who had
little chance for schooling or the acquirement of knowledge
from books.

The old chronicles and legends were freely used by the
dramatists of the Elizabethan era, and the incidents of his-
tory were made so familiar to the habitues of the theatre that
the common people acquired a good knowledge of history by
witnessing the representation of those plays. To illustrate
how much this was the case, Ben Jonson tells the story of a
fellow who, having been taken to task on some question of
history and the accuracy of his position being assailed and
the authenticity of his assertions being called in question, re-
plied by way of defense : "No, I confess I had it not from
the histories but from the play books, and consider them the
more authentic."

Many dramas have been written (and more especially
by the poets) without perhaps having in view their exploita-
tion on the stage, but like their other poetry, to be read, suit-
able only for the library, more poetical than dramatic.

Such are the plays of Byron, Shelley, Keats, Moore, and
others. A still greater number have been written solely for
acting purposes ; and the majority of these may not lay claim
to any permanent abiding place in literature. Others still
are admirably adapted to both the library and the stage.
Such are the plays of Sheridan, Knowles, Bulwer, Schiller,
Kotzebue, and later of Heinrick Ibsen. Of such a character
also are the plays of our gifted Salt Lake dramatist, the late
Edward W. Tullidge. The present-day theatre-goers have
little time to indulge 'in the reading of plays. The over-
whelming mass of reading matter thrown from the press,
keeps the general reader busy to keep abreast of the current
literature of our times. So that plays form no part of the
world's reading matter ; here and there is one, some stage-
struck soul who loves to get hold of and read a play, but the
vast majority are content to let the actors read the plays
for them, preferring to witness the acting of them. It is a
fact and a very gratifying one that Shakespeare's plays are
about the only ones that are read nowadays, and these are by
no means so universally read as they should be. The masses
have not time for reading Shakespeare, or other dramatists,
so it is a fortunate thing for them that the theatres are so
popular and accessible ; here, they can hear the thoughts and
sentiments, and see in literal action the characters of both
ancient and modern times, and gather from the mimic scene

176 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

suggestions of the tremendous throes and struggles through
which the human race has passed.

During the forty-three years that the Salt Lake Theatre
has been in existence, an almost infinite variety of plays
have been presented and thousands of actors (as infinite in
variety as the plays) have "strutted and fretted their brief
hour upon its stage" and now are heard no more. It is a
solemn reflection that in all probability more than three-
fourths of all who have trod the stage of this theatre, both
local and transient actors, in less than half a century of ex-
istence are "heard no more." The voices that have thrilled
us, the animated and beautified forms that have called forth
our admiration and praise, are stilled forever by the chilling
touch of death ; genius, mediocrity, incompetency, all alike
go down, and the greatest names in a few brief years are for-
gotten; so transitory is the actor's fame. Yet it is not more
so perhaps than that of other professions, and certainly not
quite so much of a "will o' the wisp" as "seeking the bubble
reputation in the cannon's mouth."

Out of the multitudinous dramatic pictures that have
been presented on the stage of this theatre during its forty-
three years of existence, it is interesting to know which
stand out in bold relief. We need not hesitate to reply, the
plays of Shakespeare, and those that are nearest akin to them,
such as Bulwer's "Richelieu," Knowles' "Virginius," Ba-
nim's "Damon and Pythias." The Irish plays of Dion Bou-
cicault, "Colleen Bawn," "Arrah Na Pogue," "Shaugraun,"
"Kerry," and even his "London Assurance," made very
strong impressions, were very popular, and made money both
for actors and managers. So with many other plays we
might cite ; but compared with Shakespeare's plays they have
proven to be short-lived and their fame but transitory. They
have never found a permanent abiding place in the world of
literature.

There is a strange, a marvelous thing in connection with
the plays of Shakespeare. In his day the theatre was not
popular, as it is in our times. The religionists held it in re-
probation ; actors were looked upon by the good church peo-
ple as little better than vagabonds, and the occupation of
play writing was scarcely reputable. The Globe Theatre, the
best there was in London at that time, was little better than a
barn. The art of scene painting was unknown. Candles
were the best artificial light they had, all the accessories of
the stage were of the most primitive description. The art

THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE. 177

of costuming plays was crude in the extreme, and woefully
inadequate and incorrect. In short, the facilities for staging
plays were poor, extremely poor, as compared with those of
our own time. The greatest drawback of all however was
this. They had no women on the stage ; all those beautiful
female characters of Shakespeare's were impersonated by
men. Woman had not yet asserted her independence and
equality with man in this domain of art ; and yet under these
most adverse conditions, the greatest plays the world has ever
seen were written. Three centuries have winged their flight
into the past, and in all that time no other dramatist has
arisen that can rival Shakespeare. The popularity of the
theatre and the actor's art have steadily grown since his
time until in our own day we have the most costly and elab-
orate theatres. In every city, and almost every town of the
civilized world, there is some sort of a theatre ; many of them
are truly temples of the Thespian art ; invention has racked
its brains to supply original and costly adjuncts to the drama
in the way of scenery and mechanical devices ; realism has
run mad in its efforts to produce novel illusions and startling
stage effects. Woman has long since demonstrated her
equality with man in the arena of dramatic art, and for more
than two centuries she has adorned the stage with her beauty,
grace and talents. There is an eager and expectant world
of theatregoers waiting for some new genius to come forth
and give to the stage another halo, to shed a radiance over
its flickering lights, and fill the world with wonder and de-
light ; but alas ! no other Shakespeare has arisen ; with the
models he gave before them, in three centuries no dramatist
has arisen that could write a "Hamlet," a "Macbeth," or a
"Lear ;" nothing in all that time to equal "Romeo and Juliet,"
"As You Like It," or "The Merchant of Venice."

There have been hundreds of playwrights since Shakes-
peare's time, thousands of plays have been written, the
greater portion of them worthless to the stage, but a great
number of excellent playwrights have flourished since then,
and their plays have had a greater or less degree of success.
We will just instance a few of the most successful ones.
Otway wrote "Venice Preserved ;" Massinger, "A New Way
to Pay Old Debts;" Addison his "Cato," Goethe his
"Faust;" Schiller "The Robbers;" Kotzebue, "The Stran-
ger;" Bellinghousen, "Ingomar;" Sheridan, "The School of
Scandal," "Pizarro" and "The Rivals;" Knowles, "The
Hunchback," "Virginius" and "William Tell ;" John How-

178 THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE.

ard Payne, "Brutus ;" Bulwer, "The Lady of Lyons," "Riche-
lieu" and "Money ;" Dr. Bird, "The Gladiator ;" Judge Con-
rad, "Jack Cade;" George F. Boker, "Francisca de Rimini."
I might instance many others, but these will suffice tor my
purpose. Now these are all noble productions, and have
won fame and money for both authors and actors ; but it is
questionable if any of them will live indefinitely. Already
many of the plays I have named are waning in the dramatic
firmament ; some of them have already set. Why is it, let us
ask. What is there in Shakespeare's plays that lifts them
so far above the average of merit and sets them on a plane
so distinctively their own? Other authors have certainly
equaled Shakespeare in erudition, have even excelled him in
the description of the sublime and terrible, surpassed him
in glowing pictures of supernatural imagery. Why, then,
does the world attach so much importance to the work of
Shakespeare ? Why are they so highly prized ? It is because
Shakespeare was the grand High Priest of Nature ! He got
closer to the human heart than any and all other authors. To
him nature was an open book, and he was so thoroughly in
love with it, that he left no page unturned or unobserved ;
from the primer page or the humblest creations of nature's
lavish hand up through the countless and variegated speci-
mens of her handiwork to the crowning production of her
creative power, man — this son of genius penetrated all her
secrets, delved all her deptbs, scaled her loftiest heights. The
heart of man, that secret repository of so many contending
passions ; that cradle where the affections are rocked into
life ; that fountain whence so many varying emotions
spring, that sea o'er which are swept the multitudinous pas-
sions of life, was also to him an open page; the last and
greatest chapter in nature's wonderful volume. Ht under-
stood life in all its phases.

No plays afford greater opportunity for scenic splendor
than Shakespeare's, yet none are less dependent on the ad-
juncts of scenery and outward realism. Shakespeare put
his realism into his characters and no inadequate surround-
ings can rob them of their wondrous charms ; they possess
such range of mental vision, such tremendous power of
thought, such depth and placidity, such glowing imagination ;
his characters are living, breathing, speaking types of the age
in which they lived, and he their creator stands out wholly
beyond question or ispute, the most transcendent genius
our earth has ever produced.