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Digitized by the Internet Arciiive
in 2010 with funding from
San Francisco Public Library
http://www.archive.org/details/sanfranciscothea193802sanf
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SAN FRMNCIK
PUBLIC LraRA
MONOGRAPHS; TOM MaGUIRE DR. DAVID G. (YaK'KjIE) ROBINSON M. B. LEAVITT
n-rTTTTrnrr%trrrrTtiTi>ri^^
VOLUIvIE TV/0
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Abstract from WPA Project 8386 O.P. 465-03-286
SAN PRAFCISCO, CALIFORNIA 1938
1 - \ /
JlTTTTTIlTm/ /
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.o.:ocHAn5S20JLiSSJ«Jis^RaB^AC0Oi^^
These volumes have been prepared:
VOl.Ulv'iE I ^
IKTRODUCTlOr. TO T:IE SERxES
San Francisco's Burliest Entertairers :
STEFHEF C. l.ASSETT
JOSEPH A. ROTO
VOLUME II. • Ficneer impresarios:
TOI.: Mi^GUlRE DOC RCBIFSOE M. E. LEAVITT
VOLUI.2; III-
Famous Early Families:
TEE STAFFS THE BAKERS THE CFJVFI.'Al^iS
VOLUKE IV. The Booth Family: JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH SR. jm'IUS BRUTUS BOOTH JR. EDWIF BOOTH
Other volumes in preparation ivill include, among other .subjects :
pioneer Prima Donnas: ilLIZA BISCACCIAKTI flj FA BISHOP GATHER IKE HAYES LUISiV TETFvAZZIFI SYBIL SAFD^RSOK i^WA FEVADA .;Ii\UDS FAY
ij-.ner Actors and Actresses: LOIA MOFTEZ LOTTA CRA3TRSE ADAH ISAACS I.iEKKEK SOPHIE EDWIL mS. JUDAH ADEIJiIDE KEILSON CAT'rlERIFE SINCLAIR
JAIffiS E. iViURDCCH JOm>l MCCULLOUGH FRANK MYO GOUGENHEIM SISTERS LAURA KESIJE IvIARY AHDSRSOF .' EDYflK FORREST . CFL&RLES VfflEATIElGH JAl-IES HEHRY VINSOK
JOSEPH JEFFERSOF EDlfiriF: ADAi:S
SAMUEL PIEP.CEY
J. H. Lie CAFE
A1>IUa QUINl^
SUE R0BI:mSC1vI
ALICE KM GS BURY
1/YEBB 0: WORRELL SISTERS
L'AUDE ADjUS
THE BATEa^FS
LIAXINE ELLIOTT
FAFCE O'FEILL
EMILIE MELVILLE
BLi\KC!!E BATES
DAVID ViTARFIELD
DE WOLF iIOIFER
F.OLBROOK PLIFN LAUFJ^ HOPE CRKVC DAVID BELASCO OLIVER MOROSCO ROLLO PETERS
Volumes on period history: OPEP.A Hi SAF FRA1>1CISC0
FOREIGN TliEATRES
THEATRE EUILDIFGS
THE LITTLE THEATRES
MIWSTRELSY
BUFLESQUE
PERIOD COSTUFiES
San Francisco Theatre Hesearch
Vol. 2
MONOGRAPHS
III: TOM MAGUIRE IV: DR. DAVID G. (YANKj:E) ROBINSON V: M. B, LSAVITT
Lawrence Estavan, Editor. San Francisco, June 1958 M-.inogrP-ohs III, IV and V from Theatre Research V:..P.A. Project 8586, P.P. 465-05-3-286
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOM IvIAGUIRE -- (1820?-1896)
PAGES
The Napoleon of xmprasarios ............
The First Napoleonic Decade (1850-1860)
The Man and the Times . . . . . o <
The Glass of Fashion, ...... ,
Tom's Genesis
First Western Appearance....
His Knack for Ballyhoo
Jenny Lind and the Jinx,...,
The Third Jenny Lind ,
More Trouble with Jenny. , , . , Tom Sells a City Hall.......
Imports Biscaccianti .
Bull Fights and Steamer Day.
A Steamer Day Calamity ,
The Monopolist . ..,..» ...... ,
Complaints About Tom, ..... o ,
o « « o
Monarch of All He Surveys
Minstrels and Minstrelsy......
Spectacles and Sensation Dramas. The Devil in San Francisco...
Scouting in the East,
Stage Attractions ............
The "iVholesale Importer.......
"Jack Puddinf^" Court aine .....
Court aine ' s Fortune ,.,.......
Other Notable Imports ........
O • • u • t
o • a « • fl
• 0 t> c
O ft « o
« U O O 0
0 0 « 0 «
• 9 ft •
• so o • •
g a a o
His Love for Grand Opera
• • * • •
a o e ft 0
• fi ft e 0
o • o 0 •
0 » ft O ft 4 0 0 0 0
Maguiro ' s Op'ry House
His First Imported Outfit.
Getting His Pill. .......«,
More Grief with the Bianchl,^
Disastrous Losses .......
Interlude in Paris......
Opera Continued
0*00
■ 0000
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1-69
1-12
1
1
2
3
4
5
5
7
8
9
9
10
11
12
,13-24
13
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
,24-33
25 26 27 29 30 51 32
TA'BLS QB^ COMTENTS (cont.)
PAGES
Battles With the Law .......,,.,. o » ... . .54-4S
Scandal Sheet s......... •••»..«« «»• • '-' -^
Critics Sued for Slander .,....,.......<... 35
Benefit for Thomas Maguire 36
"A Disorderly House" 37
''Maguire ' s Japs" ............ ..o ... 37
The Black Crook 38
Burlesque on Plagiarists ................•....'> 39
Mrs . Grundy in Court 39
Vestvall; the Magnificent..................... 40
Pirate Brought to Bay. , .............. .... .... . 41
The Decline of Tom Iiaguire... -.. 43-52
Maguire on Hamlet 43
Benefit and Testimonials ...................... 44
Letter of Appreciation 45
Another Preliminary Announcement 47
A Review of the Benefit ....................... 48
"A Real Genuine Original Pioneer" ............. 49
Tora; A Man of Experience 50
Departure for the East ,, ..................... • 5-'-
Footlight Flash. ...*.».. o-c
52
^o-'
Drurimiing Up Another Benefit,
eeoeo«0**oo9O9a9O9
His Vifaterloo , 53-5
^
The Passion Play 53
Reaping a Vi/hxrlwind , 54
Temptation and Penalty , . . . 55
Partners and Pretenders , 56
Desperate Stunts. 57
A Deal with Lucky Baldwin 57
The Handwriting on the Wall 59
The Shut-down of Baldwin' s 59
Exile in the East 60-69
New Expectations 60
Alms for Oblivion 61
On the Death of Tom Maguire 62
The Dead Kapoleon; A Final Accounting 63
Parting V/ords; Final Evaluation 67
Tom Maguire ' s Career 69
TABLE OF COMTSNTS (Cont.)
DR. DAVID G. (YANK53<]) ROBINSON
PAGES THE PIONEER OF DRAMA IN SAN FRANCISCO 72-108
Early Years 73
Advent into San Francisco. 73
The Dramatic Museum 74
Premiere Performance 75
Favorite Songs • 76
Repertoire and Cast 78
Benefit Performance. 80
Siege of Cholera 81
Dramatic Museum' s Busy Period 83
Novelty Presentations « 84
Company Criticized 85
Robinson as Politician 86
A New Theatre 88
New Building Erected 89
Theatrical Competition . 91
American Theatre Opens 91
Robinson-Stark Feud 93
Telegraph Hill Home 95
Robinson-Maguire Reconciliation, 96
Coming of Lola Montez 98
Original Lola Burlesque ,,.,., 99
Manages Sue Robinson 101
Lotta-Sue Rivalry 102
Nev/ and Original Burlesque 103
Career Abruptly Ended 104
Leaves Vivid Memories 105
Representative Parts 107
Theatres Associated v/ith Doctor Robinson 107
Bibliogranhy of Dr. Robinson's Works 107
Bibliography 108
TABLE OF CONTENTS ( Cont , )
MICHAEL M. LEAVITT — (1843 - 1935)
PAGES
Actor-Manager and Father of Vaudeville ...,,.. 109-142
Genesis of Vaudeville .*, « 110
Moppet Impresario and Actor, ..*.. 112
A St.irt in Earnest , 115
Branching out — on Tour ....« 116
A Series of Adventures ......... 119
En Route to the West 125
Variety, Burlesque and Vaudeville, . . 125
Established in San Francisco ,,..*...,.,, 127
Success "jTid Affluence .,,,.... 130
Retires from San Fr-ncisco after 20 years . ,o , , • 136
Some of his Business Associates .•.••».•*,, 140
Booking Managers who Worked for Leavitt, ...,,, 140
Performers and Companies Mcjiagod by Leavitt, . , , . 141-145
Theatres Mc^jiaged or Leased by Leavitt , , . 143
Press Agents who Worked for Leavitt .,,..,,.<, 144
ElMiofe:rav;hy, ,, 145
Newspapers and Periodicals, ,,.• o. 145
THOMAS MAGUIRE 1820 - 1896
PHOTO COURTESY I.I. H. de YOUNG MUSEUM
TOM MAaUIRE
The First Napoleonic Decade (1350-1860) The Man And The Times
Tom Maguire who rose from cab driver to garrbler, from gambler to saloon keeper, and from saloon keeper to be- come one of the country's great impresarios has often been called the Napoleon of San Francisco's theatrical world. But this is an easy analogy. True, like Napoleon he thirsted for power, plotted great campaigns, schemed ruthlessly and maneu- vered with success. Like Napoleon, after many victories, he failed and went into exile. For nearly three decades he dom- inated his chosen sphere; his career was bound up with per- haps the city's most turbulent and picturesque period. But he was an illiterate back-stage Napoleon, a self-made man with all the apparent pride and self-assertion of such a oneo He was shrewd, opportunistic, and full of grandiose illusionsr He had an instinct for the theatrical and an intuitive knowl-- edge of what v;ould draw a crowd. He furnished a pleasure- hungry city with the spectacles it y/antod.
THE GLASS OF FASHION Considered one of the handsomest men in San Francisco, Maguire at the height of his glory was a familiar sight about town. Every morning about 11 o'clock ho would
appear in Washington Street holding his levees on the curb- stone in front of his theetre. He w&s fashionably dressed, with an enormous diajnond in his scpi'f,a solitaire on his fin- ger, a heavy gold watch chain hanging from his waistcoat. Suave and well groomed, Maguire was a typical California gam- bler type.
GENESIS His 'r^eginningt; and earlier career have yielded lit- tle to the scrutiny of the bicgra-oher, and v.liat is knov.n of his pre-Napoleonlc days is due chiefly to Dame loomcr and Master Heer-say. There is one source, however, in the per- son of James C'Meara, an old California journrllst, whose reminiscences on Tom's ecrly life give r vivid Impression of rcclity and of one side of his character. On Jan. 25, 1S96, he sent The Bulletin the following memoranda on Tom's begin- nings. They illustrate the reckless nt ture of the mm L.t thr.t time, and the desperate courage that marked him then as well as in his later San Francisco career:
"I first met Maguire in New York in 1846, He was driver of a carriage hack, with a stand in Park Row, near the old Park Theatre, between it and the Love joy Hotel. Tom was dressed rough- ly in hackman style; wore an overcoat made from, a long, blue blanket, with the deep, dark-blue striped band, two inches wide, rimning around the bottom of the skirt. I got him to vote at a primary election of Democrats on Fulton Street, to nominate Alderman J.C. Stoneall of the Second \"ard.
"A few months later I viritnossed a rough-and- tumble fight between I.'iggulre and DlckDonnell — a flashy rowdy of the Tapis Franc, No. 10 Ann Street, in the lobby of the Park Theatre, the
winner to be 'the man' of Little Em the bright but not pr-etty Becky Sharp of her coterie, riaguire won. Afterwards he married her, I be- lieve, and she was the Mrs« Tom Maguire of his subsequent California Jenny Lind Theatre and Broderick periods,
"in the winter of 1846-47 Maguire was a partner of 3111 Drayton -- a handsome , dressy, smooth and accomplished Nev; York 'torn boy' — and they kept the bars of the second and third tiers of the Park Theatre. In 1847 Maguire and Captain Isaiah Rynders, Chieftain of Tammany, and lead- er of the noted Em.pire Club, were partners in a famous saloon at the head of City Hall Place,
"I next saviT Tom in San Francisco. He arrived, I think, early in 1850, and he and Ned Gallagher kept a large fi-ame saloon on the site of the Jenny Lind Theatre, which Maguire built. In the saloon, late one night, while Rube Withers, son of Withers, President of the New York Bank on Wall Street, was in the city prison awaiting trial for murder, I savif Tom Maguire stand off Bob Sdwards, a young Philadelphia desperado, who had killed several men, Edwards stood with his six-shooter pointed at Maguire, who shovi/ed no fear, until a policeman came in and arrested Edv;ards for killing a Mexican out at the Mission,
"In 1853 Maguire faced Vi Turner, a desperate sport, and bitterly cursed him. on the corner of Washington and Montgomery Streets. There was no back-down in Tom luaguire,
"By the way, at his request, I was at the funer- al of Tom's father, in 1850, who v;as burled at North Beach from a small frame building, then St, Francis Catholic Church, on the site of the present edifice,
"During the lifetime of David C, Broderick in San Francisco Tom Maguire ' s was his home and he was on miost confidential term.s with Tom and his v/ife -- the Little Em of Nev/ York times,"
FIRST WESTSR]^^ APPEARANCE Maguire cam.e to San Francisco with thousands of
fortune hunters during tne delirious gold rusJa days. Ke con- tinued his activities as saloon ana hotel keeper and gambler while he sponsored _ various types oi' theatrical ventures. Arriving in September 1849, he soon afterwards became propri- etor of the Parker Kouje. Tom fitted up his first theatre above the saloon of this establishment and called it the Jenny Lind. The nearness of the saloon was a source of email regret to Tom and his patrons. Most of the early theatres boasted of bars adjoining their lobbies. A -little later Maguire was to operate a gambling hall and saloon, pictur- esquely named The Snug^ for the convenience of his Opera House patrons.
HIS KNACK FOR caLLYHOQ
Maguire was a keen judge of character and was sel- dom mistaken in offering what the public would buy in the way of entertainment. He never spared expense in engaging the most competent directors, managers, and technicians. The most famous stars of the day appeared in his theatres. He built his houses to suit the needs of a grov/ing community; they were tne most lavishly appointed and magnificent in town. His task r;as not easy in these early times of violence and un- rest. Ke rose and fell on successive v;aves of prosperity and depression; he kept himself going with a gambler's wit and an unusual knack for showmanship.
In the follov;ing pages we shall trace his progress from his arrival in San Francisco and his subsequent arroga- tlon of theatrical power, through his Napoleonic days, his
era of aee-sawing fortunes, his decade of decline, and final- ly his end in want and destitution.
JENNY LIMP AND THE JINX
Magulre's first theatre of any pretensions v;as built above his gambling saloon, the Parker House, in l850r It was christened Jenny Lind in honor of the famous singer of the day who, contrary to popular opinion, never sang in San Francisco. Maguire engaged James Stark as director, and pro- ductions of classics such as Macbeth, Hainl e t , King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing. Richelieu, Fizarro , The Rivals, and many English comedies wei'e given with great success and profit.
The first Jenny Lind was destroyed early in May, 1851, in a disastrous fire wnich swept San Francisco. Maguire immediately rebuilt it. Nine days after its second opening, on June 22, it v/as burnt to the ground in another great fire, the sixth in a series. Maguire was having hard luck.
Sympathetic to nis los3es, the Herald on June 26; 1851, reports the calamity in the follov/ing terras:
"One of the hardest cases connected with the fire v;as the destruction of the Jenny Lind The- atre, just erected and elegantly fitted up by Mr. Thomas Maguire. He had been burnt out in every fire that has occurred in the city and now again before he has removed the scaffolding from his building it is laid low in ashes. The fire seems to have a special spite against him. It appeared to picx him out from otners, his being the only building in the block that was burnt. He is going to try it once more v/e un- derstand. He intends erecting a large brick theatre, one story high at first, the v/alls of
which, have already been raised some five or six feet. The Bella Union, Verandah, Custom House, El Dorado, and California Excnange have again escaped almost unacorched. . . "
THE THIRD JENI-JY LIND
Undaunted; Maguire built a third Jenny Lind Theatre, this time of stone, and his most magnificent building to date. The facade was of finely dressed yellow-tinted sandstone brought from Australia. A finished piece of workmanship, the prevailing color of the interior was a light pink "which was rendered brilliant and graceful by gilding tastefully ap~ plied. " The cnief feature of the back-drop was a rojT.antic ruin. Richly carved and decorated proscenium boxes added much to the splendor of the auditorium.
Seating two thousand and proudly claiming to be the
equal of any theatre in America, the new Jenny Lind opened on
October 4, 1851, with a fine cast presenting. All That
Glitters Is Not Gold> Maguire was established as a wort-hy
citi2,en. On the occasion of a benefit for the proprietor in
December of the same year, the Alta California commented:
"m. ivmGUIRE'S BENEFIT. The walls of the Jenny Lind must be made t*o reverberate the echoes of honest and timely applause to-night, in token of a heartfelt vifelcome to a worthy bene fie iare, the founder of this magnificent temple of the drama, Mr. Thomas Ii/Iaguire — On the very spot where now stands tne noblest and most imposing edifice in the state, v/here now flourishes a theatre which for interior beauty, grandeur and comfort shall compare with the best in America, Mr. Maguire nas four times witnessed nis enter- prise crumble in ashes, and his fortune 'dis- solve into thin air. ' Surely this community
owes Mr. Mafeulre a deep debt of sratitude for tlie display of energy which, after a long se- ries of endurance and disappointment, has at length established in our midst one of the most permanent sources of good, one of the best cor- rectives of society, and most efficient instru- ments of moral reform ever instituted in our city. '•
MORE TROUBLE
But trouble was in store in spite of these encour- aging sentiments. The fine prospects with Vifhich the third Jenny Lind opened were not realized during the following months. The overhead, the upkeep of the numerous small gold town theatres of v/hich Maguire had been acquiring control, the premature branching out into tnat monopoly of theatrical bus- iness which he vjas to establish successfully later on, proved Maguire ' s undoing. He nad too many irons in the fire.
Still putting up a fine front in February, Maguire succumbed to the current financial depression by the end of June, though before this he had played an occasional trump card at the Jenny Lind. One of these was the introduction locally of Wilmarth Waller, young American tragedian, v;ho played "heavy" roles for about a week. Caroline Chapman, es- tablishing herself as a local favorite, drev; fairly good houses in May. The mechanics were impatient, however, aod the builders besieged Maguire demanding payment for services ren- dered in erecting the magnificent Jenny Lind. Our manager tried to negotiate, but without success. Cash was demanded, and there was no cash.
8
TOM SELLS A CITY HALL In desperation Ma^uire hit upon a brilliant scLnmec He would sell the Jenny Lind to the city for use as a city hall. This would mean a substantial sum in his pocket and would re-establish his credit. He promptly entered into ne- gotiations with the city fathers. Swearing that it was sev- eral thousands below cost, Mag,uire asked for the Jenny Lind the sum of $200,000. Much discussion, debating and bitter feeling were aroused by the proposition. The whole city seemed agitated. For months the matter was an important top- ic of conversation. At an open meeting on the Plaza on June 2, vehement oratory tried to influence public opinion. A certain Dr. Gihon, one of the authors of The Annals, protest- ed with strong feeling, according to the Herald:
"I will acknowledge that it is a splendid building — a beautiful building — a beautiful theatre, but for God's sake let it "oe kept as a tneatre, (laughter) and let us not allow the Board of Aldermen to put their hands in the public treasury, for the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, and make us buy it against our will... It would seem as if they regard the public treasury as a goose, to be plucked by them at their leisure. "
Mr. David G. Broderick spoke in favor of the pur- chase, but was shouted down. Tne meeting then separated peacea"bly, to the surprise of many, as a collision was ex- pected. The matter was a very important topic in San Francisco for many months. After the actual purchase cer- tain citizens sought to obtain an injunction against the Board of Aldermen, and tnere was a great deal of complaint
abouo necessary remodeling. The deed was done, however, and the city fathers moved to their new address.
II/JORTS BISCACCIi^NTI
His credit good again, Maguire proceeded to build another theatre, a new "Temple of the Muses" — less gorgeous perhaps but more practical. San Francisco Hall was its name for the time being. Opened by Signora Elisa BisCc-.ccianti, it was "consecrated to Thespis" on December 25, 1852. Young Junius Booth was installed as manager* A week after the o- peningjMaguire' s foremost managerial rival. Doc Robinson, who had served a jovial term as iilderman, was engaged to play in the theatre. San Francisco's two Little Giants resumed pro- fessional relations.*
Fresh from recent triumphs in the States and in Europe, petite, lustrous-eyed, and in the prime of her beauty, Elisa Biscaccianti, the new offering of Tom Maguire, was the fij'st star of any eminence to come to San Francisco. She dared to venture in an unknown musical field which P. To Barnum feared to risk v;ith his Sv;edish Nightingale, Jenny Lind, and v/hich the Sv/an of Erin, Kate Hayes, dared not haa-- ard. As soon as she had demonstrated that big money was to be made in this distant frontier town by the best of art, San Francisco leaped into world fame as "the actor's El Dorado^''
BULL FIGHTS AND STEAMZR DAY Besides the theatre, citizens patronized other and
•^See monograph on Doc Robinson, in this volume. Note abou'c the previous feudo
10
sometimes more elementary forms of entertainment. There were still bull fig'its occasionally in 1859; freak shows and cir- cuses still drew the crowds. There were always horse races, balls, Kay festivals at Russ Garaens or some ether picnic spot. Panoramas of historic or geographic interest, concerts^ lectures, Sunday carap-meetings attracted a good part of the pleasure-seeking public. In 1857 walking marathons were al- so popular.
Distinct from the legitimate theatre which usually put on classics and pieces expressing lofty sentiment, there were many other less elevated types of entertainment. Beside the numerous amateur shows and the foreign-language produc- tions , there was the variety enter tainm.ent of a cabaret type which came to flower on the Earbary Coast. Of variety hallt' the best known is perhaps the famous Bella Union.
A STEALER DAY CALAMITY In spite of the aevelopment of the theatre and its popularity in the gold, rush towns, the v;estern population, on the v;hole v;as simple in its make-up. Steamer Day in San Francisco at tnis time was still a cause of the greatest ex-- citement. It was calamity for a show or a star to open on the day when a steamer was scheduled to reach port. When Tom Mafi.uire sometimes forgot this, his Opera House suffered. Neville's The Fantastic City tells of an instance:
"It was the opening night of Tom's season, a
brilliant much-heralded premiere of a Shake- spearean star in his finest role. The audience
11
w?.s a 'galaxy of fashion,' in the time-honored phrase of local diama critics, "but attention was divided. The established signal for arrival of a steamer at night v;as a shot from lookout on Telegraph Hill, and tne audience strained its ears not so much to catch the well-remem- bered lines as the signal from the watch tower. In the middle of the fifth act it came. With- out hesitation the audience rose in a body. Men gr'alfced their ha'uS and rushed forth, women fol- lowed, hurriedly donning their cloaks, while the actors stared in amazement and chagrin and the more experienced stage hands unceremonious- ly rang down the curtain on the emptying house."
But later, when steamboats became less extraordin- ary, it v;as the colored minstrels, tne Japanese tumblers, and the great Professor Eelew, tamer of wild horses, who proved to be the stronger attractions .
THE MONOPOLIST.
Fortune is fickle — there were booms and depres- sions — and Tom had his ups and downs. For a wnile it seemed as if the rip-snorting days of the theatre had passed. Times were dull in San Francisco. Again and again we read of the scarcity of money, the unpredicta oLe caprice of audiences, the lack of amusement attractions.
Maguire had adopted a regular routine. Stars ap- pearing in San Francisco were routed through the interior to play at small theatres in mining towns. There was a system of commuting from California to Australia. Nevertheless, the important events were the appearance of stars drawn by curi- osity, clever managers, or advantageous contracts, to visit a remote El Dorado wnich could be reached only through the
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COMPLAINTS ABC'JT TC:.!
It was at this period that a stranded actor In San
Francisco wrote to a colleague in Nev/ York:
"The corxditicns in which theatricals nova are is tr^^ly deplorable; there are t'wc theatres in San Francisco, one e5ich tn 3£.cramento, Stockton, Sonoma, CLnd llarysville — all of ^tilch. it is un- derstood are under one mcna^ement, Th ich exer- cises a kind of despotism over the profession, and compels rotors to come to their terms.. Liv- ing is 30 high, Tonless the pay is enormous, an actor cannot save a dollar, and the amount re- quired to come home so greet, thrt ho must ei- ther nlry for a mere living, or go to the mines and die..."
Tom Maguire was gradually approaching the peak of his power and influence in the Calif orrAa theatre. Not only did he control a successful theatre in San Francisco, buc he had leases or agreements with managers or owners of many small theatres in the interior.
Indeed, in February 1858, the Sacramento 5ee com- plained that Tom, h-aving leases of both the Sacramento and the Forrest Theatres, at that time controlled all the best stock players and most of the prominent theatres in the state and "may be said to have a com.plete monopoly of theatricals in California." At any rate, in the last years of the G-old Rush Decade it was Maguire who constantly fed the flame of
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Isthmus of Panama or around the Horn by dint of much discomfort and lost tine. The result of this system was that San Francisco periodically had cause to complain of ei- ther a "dearth" or a "plethora" of theatrical stars.
COMPLAINTS ABOUT TOM
It was at this period that a stranded actor in San
Francisco wrote to a colleague in New York:
"The conditions in v;hich theatricals nov/ are Is truly deplorable; there are two theatres in San Francisco, one each in Sacramento, Stockton, Sonoma, and Marysvllle -- all of #iich It is un- derstood are under one management, vh Ich exer- cises a kind of despotism over the profession, and compels actors to come to their torrriS.. Liv- ing is so high, unless the pay Is enormous, an actor cannot save a dollar, and the amount re- quired to come home so great, thrt ho must ei- ther plry for a mere living, or go to the mines and die. . ."
Tom Magulre was gradually approaching the peak of his power and influence in the California theatre. Not only did he control a successful theatre in San Francisco, but he had leases or agreements with managers or owners of many small theatres in the Interior.
Indeed, in February 1858, the Sacramento Bee com- plained that Tom, having leases of both the Sacramento and the Forrest Theatres, at that time controlled all the best stock players and most of the prominent theatres in the state and "may be said to have a complete monopoly of theatricals in California." At any rate, in the last years of the Gold Rush Decade it was Magulre who constantly fed the flam.e of
13
the theatre v>fith new material from tixe East. He himself took passage to the Atlantic states in May 1857, and later had an agent in the East as well as a scout in Australia working for himo
MONARCH OF ALL HE SURVEYS Dramatis Personae* Jawbone, A Yank.
It was during the turbulent sixties — while the Civil War was raging in the South and Lincoln, the man of the people, governed a divided nation, and the first transcontin- ental railroad was under construction, uniting east and west — that Tom Maguire came to full bloom as the Napoleon of Theatre Managers in California. His strongest rival, Doc Robinson, had journeyed East in search of a "nobler and high-- er career in the theatre" and reacned tne land of his fathers, dying of fever in Alabama. He was soon forgotten.
San Francisco was leaving its embryo existence. Its population of talent and education ceased tneir menial occu- pations, emerged from tneir filtny lodgings and doffed their coarse red shirts for Chesterf ieldian aonarel. All their wants now had to be of the same luxuriant kind. The circus- es no longer drew the crowds.
I.UNSTREL3
Maguire imdertook to suoply the changing tastes of a restless public by building in 1359 the Eureka Minstrel Hall, a variety theatre, Opei'a and minstrel shoivs were po-ou- lar at this time; dramatic pieces and actors and actresses
14
were on the decline. Maguire himself was strongly attracted to ruinstx-el shows and developed this kind of entertainment to new heights. The programs were often original, rich in hu- mor.
His Minstrel Hall opened vith the afterwards famous and unrivaled San Francisco Minstrels, headed by Birch, Bac]:us, and Bernard, and later strengthened by David Wambold, According to Clay Greene's Memoirs, Billy Birch and Ghai'loy Backus have never buen excelled as end men of the oldest and best class of minstrelsy. V/hile Bernc.rd was a great bari- tone, Wambold had as glorious a tenor voice as ever sang in a minstrel first part, Greene says, adding:
"Their success was so prodigious at Maguire 's that this notable quartet of entertainers de- cided to go into business on thexr own account, proceeded to Nov/ York and, under the name of Birch, Wambold, Bernard oc Baclrus (sub-titled the San Francisco Minstrels), played m th con- tinuous success for many years."
During the late summer and early fall of 1862 Maguire undoubtedly had things much his own way,-"- For m.uch of the time his was th3 only legitimate theatre open in the city. On August 9, Maguire advertised a new Boucicault play, Jeanie Deans, otherwise known as The Heart of Midlothian. On August 13 he added Jean Davenr)ort to his fine cast and turned to the clrsslcs, after wht-t the papers termed as "unparallel- ed success" of the Bouclcrult plays. On August 23, the Grand Italian and English Op:ra Company, still under the direction of S, Lyster, replaced the dramatic cast for three v;eeks.
The following paragraplic, to page 1^2, are taken from A'nnc.1:; of The San Francisco Stage, (Federal ThcL.tre,unpubi Mss.T
15
SPECTACLES
When spectacles arid sensation drar.:as became all the rage, Maguire naturally responded to the nev/ public in- terest. On March 30, 1863, he presented the elaborate spec- tacle, The Enchanted Beauty, After a run of ten days, the possibilities of this type of production so im-nressed Maguire that he continued to interlard his plays with ballets, adding Mile. Caroline Acosta and IvI. Hippolyte Wiethoff to his com- pany at the end of the month and i-ecruiting for them a corps de ballet of some fifty local v;omen. On May 5 Maguire ishowed, for the first time in California, Blonde tte, or The Haughty Prince and Pretty Peasant, another romantic spectacle.
On July 30 the American opened with a New ' Local
Sensation Drama, entitled The Devil in San Francisco, based
on the opera of Don Giovanni, The play was "one of the most
successful local b^irlesques ever introduced on the California
stage." In the cast, as advertised, Vi'ere;
Don Giovanni, A devil among the women
with songs Mrs. Julia Thoman
Chinawoman, Ah You, a feature of San Francisco and of the playr.... Nellie Brovi/n
Proserpine, afterwards a female Cheap John, with her famous song, "The Female Auctioneer"
Miss Jennie Mandeville
Spitfire, afterwards a San Francisco
newsboy with songs
Miss Alicia Mandeville
Mrs. Fifer, of the codfish aristocracy
Miss Howard
16
Sulphurina, Head Devil ,... Ilr. A.R. Phelps
Cheapy, prize baby, for exhibition at the State Agricultural Fair at Sacramento Mr. Ryer
Jawbone, A "Yank," comical 'Mr. Thoman
Toward the end of the month Ma^uire edded another "novelty," a Professor Bushnell, who performed electro-biolog- ical feats as an entr'acte specialty. But the spect&cle play was not to be Maguire's most impoi-tant contribution to the local the£tre in 1853. On May 16 he offered Lucille Western's version of a famous play. East Lynne . The critics were not enthusiastic about what the Bulletin reviewer called "the latest contribution to the sensational school of the drama," but the Bulletin writer admitted its effectiveness. In the Bulletin of Ei.y 17, 1863, we read:
"The novel is a very painful one, but in the drama it is still more so. The morrlity and taste of such pieces is doubtful, yet people will see them and sit then out."
SEK'SATIOi: DRAIIAS
Maguire continued to capitalize on this new vogue.
Says the Bulletin of June 2, 1833:
"Sensation drama bears away here. Following East Lynne and The Dead Heart, we are tonight to have The Mistake of Life. This piece has not yet been performed in this country. Mr. Mayo and Mr. Thorne have been happily contrasted in some recent pieces; the one representing the romantic, brave, virtuous, proud young man, o- verwhelmed by misfortuxie and the other pol- ished, unscrupxilous rascal, triumphant for a time, but in the end fated to bite the dust. The heroine, represented by Mrs. Edwin, is >of course the female counterpart of Mr. Mayo ' s role, Mr. Barry is the funny man, par excel- lence, of the r)iece--neither very virtuous nor wicked. "
17
Ey way of variation, during June 1863, Llaguire of- fered Mrs. Hayne and J. H. Taylor in a "Grand Combination" of old-timers, following with two patriotic war di-amas as .Tuly 4 turned to national affairs. On July 20 he once more reverted to conservative drama, presenting Annette Ince in classic and heroic spectacle roles with one exception: this was her per- formance of the dual role of Lady Isabel and Mme. Vine in East Lynne -- parts played earlier by Sophie Edwin and Mrss Hayne .
After a very discouraging autumn Maguire made a
magnificent recovery during late November. On the 16th,
Charles V/heatleigh opened at the Opera House in Bouclcault ' s
After Dark, a Tale of London Life, rights for which Maguire
had purchased in the East through the good offices of D, C.
Anderson, recently sojoiii'ning in London. Said the Figaro and
Dramatic Review on November 16, 1862:
"An audience such as has not gladdened the hearts of the Opera House management in many weeks assembled to do honor to this latest mel- odrama. The play ran tnrotxgh December 3, on which night the Alhambra onened a new burlesque. After Dark Brought to Light."
SCOUTING IN Tli:2 EAST Maguire, leaving his Academy and Opera House in other hands, departed on February 1869, to seek new talent and "novelties" in the East. His theatres offered varied bills, vacillating from Japanese gymnasts (the city was suf- fering from a Flying Trapeze craze) and Martin the Wizard, to
18
Shalcespeare. During the spring his Opera Hovse presented, in succession: L&dy Don, Jennie Parl'er, John IlcCullough, Alice Kingsbury, Sorihie Edwin, Pmj Stone. Plpys ranged from "sen- sation" pieces to ineffective local creations bitterly criti- cized by the ne^jvspapers.
STAGS ATTRACTIONS Tom's theatres during his managership were general- ly houses of real entertainment. His one-time call boy, Johnny Ryan, has listed a fev/ cf the attractions he had. seen. Said Johnny Ryan to Pauline Jecobson who interviev/ed. him for the Bulletin A.ug. 18, 1917:
"My job didn't last long it seems, but while it did, 1 apnreciated fully my chance to enjoy it; and such a chance now comes to few. In those days I saw:
Edwin Forrest
Charles Kean
Bouclcault Charles lITneatleigh Daniel Bandmann
Menken
Signer Enrico 3i£.nchi in Macbetl:
in Corlolanus; Vlrginius; first app. at Maguire's May 14, 1805 in Brutus.
as Cardinal Woolsey and
Louis XI
in Hamlet
in The Octoroon
in Karcisse (opened at
Maguire's Oct. 2, 1865 )
in Mazeppa
Edwin Booth Alice Kingrbury Alice Dunning Mrs. F. :a. Bates Charles R. Thorne J. B, Booth Sophie Edv/in Rlstori McKean Harry Perry Lawrence Barrett Lady Don
as I ago
as Fanchon
in Frcu Prou
a3 Cleopatra
as Marc Anthony
in Othello
in East Lynne
as Elizabeth
in The Robbers
in I.Ionte Cristo
in Rosedale
in Kdnilworth (1st. App,
Aug, 6 j 1866 at Maguire's;
closed on Sept,
,, 22)
19
Mrs, D. P. Bowers Lucille Western Frank Lawlor Joe Jefferson Jim Ilerne Jeffi-'eys Lev.-is Mrs, c'udah I.Irs, C. R. Saunders Den Setchell Frank Mayo
Harry Courtaine Januschek Mod je ska
P.3 r^ady Macbeth
In The French Spy
in Enoch i^rden
in Rip '^■an Winkle
in Marble Hearts
in Diplomacy
in Romeo and Juliet
in The Two Orphans
in Dombey and Son
in The Romance of a
Poor Man
in Irish Comedy
in her Germ.an portrayal;
in her matchless plays
"And every one of these, and many otiier actors of merit, were sii.poorted by a stock company of high-class actors who played their -oarts with intelligence, and played them well."
THE WHOLE SALE IMPORTER
During this period, no actor was too great nor his salary too high to keep him off the boards of Maguire's the- atre. He brought out here at grer.t cost by v;ay of the Isthmus pnd across the plrins the greatest actors, the greet show pieces, dramr.s, minstrels, r.nd operas. Nearly every play Shr.kespeare ever wrote v;as produced at his theatre. In all there are said to have been twenty interpretations of Hamlet.
Not only did he build up a matchless minstrel com- pany, but also a dra^natic stock company that v/on the recogni- tion of the world: John McCullough, tragedian; Mrs. Saunders; Mrs. Judah, a great "bit" actress; Charles Thorne, great so- ciety villain; Prank Mayo; Billy Barry, great low comedian;
so
Lucy Sweet; Mrs. Bowers; Sophie Edwin, wlio played East Lynne; J, B. Booth, Jr., and David Anderson, great in old r.ien's parts.
Frank Mayo had been employed in varioias minor ca- pacities at Maguire ' s Oveva House (peddling peanuts, captain of the supers, and the like) when he became sta^e struck. He succeeded finally in obtaining an ent^agement at the Metropolitan, around the corner, his first a^ipearance being that of Walter in Raising the V'.^ind. He returned to Maguire's where he was engaged foi' small parts. He rose to star in Davy Crockett, a romantic play of frontier life. Such was his siTccess in this play that he traveled the country with it for year?. It was revived in moving pictures with Dustin Farnum in the star role.
Lotta Crabtree was engaged by Maguire to play in his theatre at this time. At an earlier drte Magiiire had been shot at in the Square by Lotta 's father because of a supposedly disparaging remark that Maguire had made concern- ing ker abilities an an actress. Maguire nevei' let personal antagonisms interfere vi th a chance to please the public.
"JACK rUDDIITG" COURTAINE
It was here, as early as 1857, that Maguire import- ed Harry Courtaine and his wi fe, Enmia Grattan, from Londonr Courtaino had achieved fame as a light comedian, notably as Captain Maidonblush in The Little Treasure «•"• It was in this role that Jamns Nesbitt, critic of The Biilletin, nearly broke
-"-The following paragraphs to page ?A are bao,i on articl'^s on Maguire by Pauline Jacobson, The Bulletin, Aug. 18-?:5, 1917.
21
Courtaine's heart by stating that he was a "jack pudding in- stead of a comedian." Such admiration had Maguire for Nesbitt's ability that whenever Nesbitt praised an actoVfytsaxt'" ever Maguire 's own judgement might be in the matter, he straightway called for the actor and raised his salary,
Courteine was likewise notorious as a periodic drunkard, at which times, when he felt the spell upon hln, he v/ould lay aside his fine clotlies and array himself in the habiliments of the tramp, Kardly had he been a month in town when he was seized with one of his periodic thirsts. Maguire cut it short by locking him in jail, but the company thinking him badly treated, bailed him out. Forthwith, upon his release, Courtaine proceeded on his spree. The next morning Maguire called his company together,
"Well, boys," he said: "you've seen fit to bail Courtaine out and to undo my work. You have done him a great injury. If you had known the character I received with him from London you might not have been so hasty. I cut him short, as I was advised to do it as the only means of keeping him. at work. Your action has unset the v/hole business. Good morning," And Maguire turned on his heels in disgust,
COURTAIKE'3 FORTUInE
Courtaine remained in this city upwards of twenty
years. His life here was passed by turns on the stage, in
the gutter and the county jail, where he served his time out
as trusty. He had a cell which he had nre-emptod, and which
22
was called L^y liis name. He had tin elegant rigui*e, and his moveirents on the stage v.rere ^I'S-ce itself. he was an accom- plished linguist and mur.ician. He sustained v/ith credit, in his prime, the role of Firjai-o in The Barber of Seville and the Count in II Trovatore, when those operas were given at Magiiire's. Through drink he eventually landed In the dives and melodeons where he dragged his wife with him. Finally, she left him. His early life was a mystery. In view of his many accomplishments, ci'edence was placed, above all other views, on the tale that he was the son of a dissolute Irish peer, tlie Marquis of Waterford, He died in rags on a street of the London sluans.
OTHSR NOTABLE ir. PORTS
When the silver strike was made in Washoe, IJag-uire built a theatre in Virginia City v/l.ich was opened by Julia Dean, This was another very successful theatrical venture^
In 1£S3 I.Iaguire brought one of the most colorful figures in the theatre of that decade to San Francisco; this was Adah Isaacs Menken who pchieved a tremendous succe,^s in Maseppa both in San Francisco and Virginia City under his management •
It was Maguire who brought out Edwin Adams, Joe Jefferson; Charles Kean, the threat Engl5sli tragedian; Madame Celeste, the great French actress; and from Australia, the dashing Lady Don, who made her splendid success in Kenilworth. With her came Karry Edwards in his success as Mercutio in
23
Romeo and Juliet^ and who became the founder and first presi- dent of the Bohemian Club.
Importing Edivln Adams was considered a great risk, but he proved to be the greatly beloved actor of his time, A tragedian famous in his day for his interpretations of Hamlet, Enoch Arden and of Robert Landry in The Dead Heart, he became a victim of consumption. At a benefit tendered him which netted $3000, the curtain disclosed him seated in a chair, for he was too ill to stand. He recovered a little in the milder climate of San Rafael where he lived some seven months. Soon after on his return East, he died.
It was Maguire who brought out Edwin Forrest, with John McCullough, as his lesding man. Maguire expressed his desire to retain McCullough for his stock company,
"You can't pay me what I can get in New York," re- plied McCullough, not without a shade of contempt. "V/ho said anything about pay?" retorted Maguire. "How much do you want to stay?" "$150 a v/eek," answered McCullough, which in those days, was a fancy salary for stock. "All right," said Maguire.
McCullough remained as leading man. Later as man- ager of the California Theatre, he took the majority of Maguire 's company with him. Prank Mayo, Charles Thorne, Billy Barry, Lewis Aldrich and Sophie Edwin, however, remained loyal to Maguire to the end.
It was Maguire, who at great risk, brought out
24
Matilda Heron in Camille, a play considered at that time quite daring •for Matilda Heron, followed the French school of realistic interpretation, Maguire lost money on the venture as he did also on The Black Crook, a play likewise revived in the early days of the movies. The pulpits denounced The Black Crook, even more than Camille and Jack Lewin, a pioneer scene- shifter, has recorded that for the amazons in the grand march they had to gather in the women of the imderworld, for to appear in tights was ribald, to be perpetrated only by women in the lowest burlesques. The bills announced Sallie Hinckley for the strr part, and "an actual outlay of$12,0Ct)" for the "original grand, romantic, magical and spectacular" drama by C. M. Barras, entitled The Black Crook.
But Tom Maguire was never hanpy in any venture un- less it had some element of risk. /. born gambler, hovi^ever big his loss, he we.s always ready to take another big chance. It was this that made him first in most things thep.trical- - the first to bring out the great Booths, the first to bring out a Japanese trot\pe of ecrobrts, the first to import opera companies.
HIS LOVE FOR GRAND OPERA There were two titanic conflicts in the sixties; The Civil War -- and ivlaguirc's brttles with his opera compan- ies. His efforts to produce the most grrndiose form of music brought rbout many stormy sesp^ions both ineido and outside his oncra house, rnd eventually cf.us7d him great losses.
25
The new trend In San Francisco came around 1863 and seemed to strike Maguire vjith special force. He conceived a passion for opera -- Its spectacular qualities must have at- tracted him -- and grew determined to put It across. Maguire, In the words of Johnny Ryan who was call hoy at Maguire 's and later on, clerk In the supervisors' office at the city hall, "was of the stuff of which trusts are made," He usually had two theatres going on at one time In the city; his opera house and the Metropolitan,
Later he replaced the Metropolitan with his Academy Of Music which he built himself and designed principally as a temple of grand opera. At one tine Maguire had a theatre in every big city in the stf te.
In 1855, upon the fpilure of Jerry Bryant and Orrin Dorman in the bank panic of that year, Mcguire took over their San Frencisco Kail of Minstrelsy, his first act being to build up the company by getting Billy Birch and the pick of Christy's men from the East. In time this company became famed as the greatest mf-nstrel compeny in the country, talking even New York by storm in 1864.
In 1855 he changed the name of San Francisco Hall to Maguire 's Opera House and enlarged it by two stories. In order to keep his minstrels going at the same time, he added his two stories by building around the original structure. He fitted up the interior in such a manner that it was said to be the handsomest outside Nev; York,
25
MAGUIRE'S OP'Rl HOUSE
"Masulre's," according to Joimny Ryam, "looked exactly like the Coliimbia Theatre, only not all that g-r-and gilt. There v.as fine cushions, but not all that velvet like in the Columbia, but fine cushioned chairs. It was lighted with chandeliers, but no electric lights. Every- thing was lighted by gas in them days. But no one didn't have any more elegant curtain. It was like a ballet dance. Ch, they ain't got no curtain in town like it.
"Maguire's one besetting sin was the love of grand opera. In those days the taste of the people did not run to the high class of enter- tainment, but he could not see it and insisted on getting the very best. If there wps one constellation of stars that could shrink a bankroll, I believe an opera company took first rank. Event? proved that I.iaguire could make more money out of a season v/ith Alice Kingsbury in Fanchon, or Eilly Birch's Minstrels, than he could "'ith a do.'!;en Brambillas, Mancusis and Parepa-Rosas put together; but he v;ould have them and many a season left him broke, but not discouraged. He was not built that w:"'.y."
At great cost, Maguire brought opera companies from the East by v/ay of the isthmus. He .vas very lavislu He plunged with salaries of $100 a night for a star and paid him $250 a week to wear his ov/n costiomes, Maguire not wish- ing to go to the trouble of furnishing costumes as the con- tract stipulated.
HIS FIRST IMPORTED OUTFIT He imported the first complete Italian opera com- pany, the Bianchi Opera Company with the first grand orches- tra. Later he augmented the com.pany with Gregg, baritone; Miller, basso: Erambilla, soprano; and Mancusi. They sang all of the old-timers -- beginning v.'ith La Sonnambula in a
27
subscription season of eighteen performances, Slgnor Bianchi was found to be much the same as two years before, a sturdy and "rather fussy" figure, while Signora Bianchi was "as stout as ever -- perhaps a little stouter," vd th the sai^ie gushing style. Neither of the Bianchis was a particularly mov- ing performer, but they v;er3 always "acceptable." The news- papers remarked that their supporting company had its faults, selecting in particular r Mr, Gregg, who admittedly boasted a fine voice but had peculiar mannerisms cjid an annoying habit of singing unintelligibly in English when he did not knov/ the Italian words of his music.
According to some critics, Eugene Bianchi was a tenor alm.ost vithoiit a peer at this time. he introduced the Paris Conservatory of Music pitch in this clt^-,
"At operas, between the acts," related August Wetterman who was conductor in this city since 1852, "Bianchi would come dov/n to the music room with his timing fork, the Paris Conserva- tory of r.iusic pitch which had been founded upon the hixman voice. He hit the fork on his knee, then holding it to cur cars, saying 'this is the right pitch. Gentlemen, you are all v/rong. When I v/ant to sing B flat you force me to sing B natural. This is outrageous. You must change your pitch or you will kill me,' "And v;e stood the abuse, narrated Wetterman, "know- ing he was right."
GETTTKG HIS FILL
Maguire vv-as getting his fill of grand opera. After
conclusion of a season, opened on July 16, he announced
28
another season beginning late in August, In the augmented
company were included: the Bianchis, Lime. Eiscaccianti,
Messrs. Leach, Grossi, Ronccvieri, Chr.rles and Mme. Klebs,
Light js thrown on the character oT Magulre's audiences by
the follov/ing coi7im.ent in tlie Bulletin of August 26:
"It may be Interesting to those who do not at- tend 'the opera' to know that 'apples and peaches' are now regularly cried for sale among the fine ladies of the dress circle. Oranges and peanuts are as yet confined to the reserved seats in the parquette,"
The Bianchis apparently did not get along with Maguire for their schedule was cancelled and on June 27 the Italian Opera Company commenced its own season at the American with Lucrezia Borgia (they played at intervals until August); but Maguire on the same day entered a legal com- plaint against Signer Bianchi, charging th&t Bianchi was us- ing Maguire 's musical scores, valued at !p400, v/lthout permis- sion.
Ileanv/hile, at the end of May, Maguire introduced an imoorted English onera troupe from New Orleans. He offered such locally popular operas as La Sonnambula, The Barber of Sevil].e, The Bohemian Girl. After a successful month they gave place to Mr. Collins and Miss Fanny Morant (June 27), and Miss Avcnia Jonas (July 11-19), During the fall Maguire offered a succession of lesser importrtions including: Carrie, Sara and Alfred Kelson; Mr, and Mrs, George Sims, Mr. H. D, Thompson, Mr. Grosvencr, Carrie Howard, and, on December 26, the great Wizard of the Korth, Professor Anderson, Lrter
29
on came trapeze artists and then a Professor 0. A. 8elew who tamed vd Id. horses undei' the title of "The ureat American Kippozanezapprivoiser. "
MORE GRIEF WITH THE BIANCHIS
In May the Bianchis were appearing at the Metropol- itan. Ma^;^iTire, on May 2, announced a nev/ imported operatic troupe which included Si^norlna Olivia Sconcla and Signors Orlandino f^nd Sbriglia. Bianchl accepted the challenge of the new rivals, r.nd £ot a time competition v/as keen. On May 3 the Bianchis gave La Traviata; the next night the new troupe followed suit. Completing their first subscription season of twelve operas on May 11, the Bianchis anj:iounced a new season and furiously rehearsed a new opera, Faust, which they presented rather hurriedly on May 17, vd th the San Francisco Mannerchor assisting. On May 25 the Academ.y of Music company offered, for the first tine in California, Un Ballo en Mrschera. On the following night the Bianchis gave the same work.
It was early in June v/hen the Bianchis finally came
to grief and the operatic season to a "oremature close." The
explanation was found in a "card"published in the newspai^ers,
which read as follows:
"Having not received the .'I'alary due to me for eight days past, from the Impresario of the Metropolitan Theatre, I have declined to sing TO-NIGHT, FRIDAY
ELVIRA B;;/.n3ILLA"
A week later Warwick, now stage raanager at the
30
Academy of Music, announced that Mc^'^uire had engaged the principal stars of the Blanchl troupe and that the augmented company would continue to offer Italisn opera to a not overly clamorous public. The Bulletin expressed doubts as to the financial stability of the venture. Although Maguire an- no"unced an advance in prices (now 50jZ' to ^2), the critic re- ferred to -che balance sheets for the week ending June 6, which showed 8 loss of !^1,634: for the week. This pessimistic view seems to have been Justified, for at the end of August, when Maguire finally closed the season, his losses were estimated at "120,000.
Bianchi and his wife remained here as singing teachers, and sometimes got up operatic performances. She vras called "the mother of music" of this city. An only son survives, his home here, his wife a well-known singer.
DISASTROUS LOSSES
Maguire imported William Lyster of the L!n|;;lish Opera Troupe, who gave all operas in English, with Rosalie Durand as prima donna; Hawison Opera Company; the Caroline Richmgs Opera Company and Mme. Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa,
Parepa-Rosa v;as hailed with enthusiasm, but the re- ceipts of the season were not sufficient to balance the enor- mous expenditures. Indeed, it was later stated that, while the prima donna left California several months later with a clear profit of $20,000, Maguire suffered heavily by his ven- ture. Parepa-Rosa, it is said, wa3 so fat thpt she looked
31
like a bag tied in the middle and, "because of the fat, you could not see v^here it was tied. But when she opened her mouth it Y.-as ac if the gc.tes of heaven were ajar. You forgot all about her Xft, only notinfj the sweetness, : power and won- der of hor tone, which cpne like a mvsical brook, sv;elling on and on -ontil it was like some nighty river. It is recorded that when she contracted measles it was necessary to close the theatre for a week.
Most disastrous to Ma2;uire was the Adele Phillips opera season. A statement published In the Alta gives the loss of three opera nights as $1634, a weekly average expense of $4000 and the loss on the season as v30,00C. The Figaro and Dramatic Review quoted in October 1868 en estimate that Maguire had lost in all •^?120,000 by his various operatic spec- ulations.
IITTERLUDE IN PARIS
His interest In opera remained in spits of rever- ses, and many years later we find Maguire visiting in Europe and becoming enthusiastic aoout French and Italian opera. ?/e read in the Morning Call, dated August 18, 1878:
"Mr. Thomas Magtiire writes us from the Hotel des Strangers, Rue de Trouchet, Paris, some of his impressions of the gay metropolis of the world, and also of the work he is doing in the way of procuring talent for Baldwin's. The letter is dated July 15th. Ho left New York on the same steamer with Kellogg,, and her moth- er, Strakosch, Gran, and Deutsch, and he speaks of Paris cs If (seasoned veteran though he be) its sights and sounds bewildered him. He was
32
about to visit Mjlan and Rome, in. company vdth Signop Verdi, to see some professionals person- ally \n.th v.'hom Le had been ne,;;;otiating by let- ter, and expected to return to New York by the steamer of the 8th of August. He had been at the Royal Italian Opera Hoi'se every night in London, and heard the greatest prima 'donnas, tenors, bassos and baritones of which the world ccn boast] He disco'unts Patti sonev.'hat in a vocal cense; has heard several v;ith just as good voice, but none so pleasing as ectrenses. Mr. Maguire also •"witnessed the performance of Carmen -- the novf opera which has a spice of npughtiness in it -- with T'innie Hauch In the title role, assirted by two other prime donne, three tenors, three baritones pnd three bassos, and to t^se his o'-.t language, he thinks the opera ' jxTst the hit of the century. ' B-.it the surprise and admiration of the San Francisco mr.nager v;ere complete -./hen he sr.v/ Fa^ixt performer! at the Grand Opera house, Paris. He wrs opcn-mouthod with astonishment, and dumb fro:.i i.h33r delight. He has paid a ^ood C.^s.1 of money co Strakosch and other people to do this opera lov the San Francisco public; but he is free to confess that he had never seen it until the occasion of which he writes, and then he irks that he cannot gratify his ambition to show his stay-at-home fellow-citi2.ens what Gounod's work is really like. The aesi:"e was swelling v/* thin him, when, with his hat off, he stood on torj of the Arc de Triomphe, one night, and saw Paris spread out before him, a star-lighted panorama of beauty. The manager has had his hat off a good many times since he has been in Paris. But he does not think the artists in Paris compare to those in London. The Parisians are fonder of spec- tacle and show than the Londoners. Llr. Maguire is in New York at present, sna will probably reach hero in the middle of September."
MORE OPERA
But r.'aguire, nothing daunted, continued to put on
an opera till he lost his Acaderry of Music, and Baldwin, as
has been said, had to stake him to his new theatre when his
opera house was closed, on the v.'ldening of Kearny Street.
33
He sent his opera companies as far as Virginia City, It was the Caroline Richings Company that broke even only through the kindly intei'vention of the wind. A storm came up, which blew dova'i. the circus tent and sont all thep3ople to shelter and the single other amusement in town. — the opera. Prom Pauline Jacobson, The Bulletin, Aug. 18, 1917: "Opera, opera, opera, people yell all the time
only
for onera,
"but the
and the I]"6-tallan
hrven't the price fo
compi-sined a plorieer scene-shifter,
one who cornxOs is the four hundred
isho:.'--cn. Hoot people
even i-2 in the gallery.
few and The see oi'dered all just to After a
while the I'our huiidred core only for a nights till their curiosity is satlnfieJ, the Eye-talian fiphermen can't goj at all, four hundred just go to rubber and talk, to and be seen. The stage inpnagc the lights out one night in the house keeo 'em from rubber In' and talkin' , night or two they don't come no more,
"The greatest butters-in on grand opera are the Eye-talian fishermen. They know their music, but they ha'^'en't the price. Whenever we want- ed singers for the chorus and hadn't time to train tbem, we used to go down to the wharf and get the Eye-talian fishermen. You'd find every
one of 'em
knowing
Ernani and Traviata. limited n\amber. In at the I'm in the wasn't but looking.
their score and singing
You could only use a
but every evening they'd crowd sta;2-c door, 'I'm in the chorus I
chorus I they'd say,
We'd know they
we'd let them in when nobody v/as
"You would think Tom Maguire would get discour- a^^ed," went on the scene-shifter, "ViHiat does he do but come in one day and, with the company starving to death in this city, ordered us to pack the scenery for Sacramento, 'They v/ant op- era in Sacraiiiento, 'he says excitedly. 'They've been yelling their heads off for v/eeks for opera, '
"So, at great expense," woimd up the scene- shifter, "we shins scenery and the Bratnbilla Company to Sacramento. The first night we took
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ill exactly ,;r5S. The next, not that. Wo ran two ni.'^Jits and closed up. All i/ant opera but no one won't pay for It, All people will pay for Is arama aid vaudovlllo,"
It is claimed that but for his love of gr..jid opera,
r.'aguire v/ould have ended a rich man.
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BATTL5S v/ITIl TUB LAY/ The old yields place to the new, ani the later six- ties broufiht Irrjortnnt chrnges to 3nn Francisco. The post- Civil Vv'ar boom, the completion of the trLJiscontinental rail- road, and the general growth of the city brouglit a different atmosphere to it; its days of self-sufficiency and isolation from the East were ended. New Influences wore also affecting the v/holc dramatic scene. Tom IViaguire was aoout to enter his period of decline,
SCAKDAL SHE3TS
Violent scandal sheets were popular at this time. One of their characteristics v/as to attack by innuendo, under- stutem.ent, insinuation and open derogatory remarlc, the pro- ductions and producers of any theatre not advertising in them, Mr.guirc bec^jrae, for a time, the bi-.tt of constant rid- icule, the Chronicle -Review being ospccir.lly critical, ¥/hen Maguire advertised in the Critic Figaro a little later, that paper immediately began to pr;-.lse him. in all his ventures.
An almost invariable corollary of theati'ical pur- suits — from the days cf the strolling mummers in pre-Shakes- pearean times, who were legally classified as vagabonds, to
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In exactly .^r^S. Tbe next, not that. Vfe ran
two ni«;lits and closed, up. All \/ant opera but
no one won't pay for It, All people will pay for is ciraiiia aid vnudovllle."
It lis clalrr.tjd that but for his love of gr.:jid opera,
Ulaguire \rould have ended a rich ii;an.
BATTLES WITH THE LAW The old yields place to the new, an:!- the later six- ties brou;';:ht important cupnges to 3nn Fx^ancisco. The post- Civil War boora, the completion of the brcLnscontinental rail- road, and the general gx'owth of the city brough^t a different atmosphere to it; its days of self-sufficiency and Isolation from the East \'/ere ended. New influences wore also affecting the whole draiiititic scene, Tom Maguire was aoout to enter his period of decline,
S CAUDAL SHEHITS
Violent scandal sheets were popular at this time. One of their characteristics v/as to attack by innuendo , under- statement, insinuation and open derogatory remark, the pro- ductions and producers of any theatre not advertising in them. Maguire bec'^j-ae, for a time, the butt of constant rid- icule, the Chr oni G 1 e;^- Rejii^l o w being especially ci'itical, V/hen Maguire advertised in the Critic Figaro a little later, that paper immediately began to praise him. in all his ventures.
An almost invc.riable corollary of theatrical pur- suits -- from the days cf the strolling mummers in pre-Shakes- pearean times, virho were legally classified as vagabonds, to
tho bohomion thospians of tod.n'- who ofton rnako the headlinos -- is conl'llct v;lth tho law, Muguirc had. lots of court battles throughout his Napoleonic career. The ncv/spg) ^-rs of his time furnish us vifith Inturesting Gxamplos,
CRITICS SU?D FOR SLANDER
There was the occasion v/hon Maguiro protested at
court the libelous remarks of his critics. Following this,
the Daily Dramatic Chronicle, published by M, K. and Chai'les
de Young, informed theii readers on August 2, 1853:
"The proprietors of tho Drrimatlc Chronicle have been arrested in a criminal proceeding for slr.ndor. The people of the State of California arc nominally the aggrieved parties, as tho of- fense is charged against their peace and dig- nity; but wo understand the specific charge to be that we have wounded one Thomas Maguire in his good nrjnc , fame, and reputation; that we have injured him in tho estimation of the com- munity in which he has long resided; have tar- nished that bright name he has heretofore borne among his nuighbors rxid all good citizens, and other vifrongs and injuries, the said Thomas Maguirc then and ther^ did, all of which is con- trary to th^ statute in such case made and pro- vided, and is against the peace and dignity of the comrr.unity of California. Nov/, as to this Inst charge, it touches in a tender place. The Dramatic Chronicle is sensitive upon the points of dignity. IVe ender.vor to preserve our dig- nity under all circumstances, and if we have dono anything to lower our high standard, or let ourselves down in the estimation of tho good people of this state, we ask their pardon. As to the allegation of breaking the peace of tho state, v/e do sincerely hope that nothing seri- ous will coriiO of it; btit if, like Austria, she, should be forced into an unwilling war, may victory perch upon her banners, and may tho Rhine run within all her borders. As to that most estimable citizen and gentleman, Thomas Maguiro , Esq., we hope wc haven't hurt his feel- ings much, and wo do not believe that we have
36
serlo-'J.sly offended tho opinion vvhich ^ood citi- zens have heretofore ontertn.lned of him."
On Snpt, 15, 1866, wo learn tho outcono of the case.
"Tho learned Judge Rlx when he cajrie to the con- clusion that our libel case v;as altogether too deep a matter for him to say anything about, and accordingly sent .it before the Grcoid Jury, fixed our bail at .^2,500.00. The prosecuting attorney, thinking that the learned Judge may perhaps be slightly pi'cjudiccd, has reduced it from ^|52,500.00 to '^5.00. Has, in fact, knocked off the odd thousr.nds,"
Tho feeling between the parties v;as still not alto- gether friendly. A hidden foud seems to have been cari-ied on, Tho Chroniclo of September 15, 1S6G, reports:
BE1;£FIT TO THO^MS IVlAaUIKB
"Lady Lou has offered to perform for tho benefit of Thomas Maguire on one evening previous to the termination of her present engagement , Mr, Maguire has accepted her ladyship's favor in a polite note numbering twelve printed lines. The members of the Opei-a House Company also tendered their services free of charge on the occasion of this benefit. These forty ladles and gentlemen i^ecelved a note numbering five printed lines. It was as follovi/s:
Opera House Sept. 10, 18 66.
Ladles and Gentlemen:
Your favor is received. I accept your proffered services, and with much respect I remain
Yours truly,
Thomas Maguire .
"He might have said 'Thank you,' we think. Sure- ly forty true-born American citizens, members of the dramatic profession, are equal to one member
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from "^a, 500. 00 to ^^S.OC off the odd thousands."*
aether friendlv, A hidden £c
36
pinion vvhich ^ood citi- Drtalnod of him,"
5arn the outcome of the case.
len he came to the con- case vi/as cl together too to say anything about, t before the Grcnd Jury, DO. 00. The prosecuting the learned Judge may
perhaps be slightly pcjudiced, has reduced it
Has, in fact, knocked
The feeling between t|c parties v/as still not alto-
d seems to have been cari-icd 15, 1S6G, reports:
on. The Chronic 1 3 of Scptcmbc
BENEFIT TO
"Lady Lou has offered of Thomas Maguire on o termination of her Maguirc has accepted polite note numbering members of the Opora I their services free of this benefit. These received a note number was as follows:
HCIIAS IvLAGUIKS
:i<
perform lor the benefit evening previous to the 'osent engagement, Mr. r ladyship's favor in a elvc printed lines. The se Comp^ay also tendered harge j^l^fi. occasion.of rty fi
Ladies and Gentlei.ien?
Your favor is received services, and with
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serlo^'Asly offended the opinion virhlch ^ood citi- zens have heretofore ontertr,.lnod of him."
On Sept. 15, 1866, we learn the outcono of the case.
"The luarncd Judge Rix when he Cc-^jne to the con- clusion that our libel case vi/as altogether too deep a matter for him to say rjiything about, and accordingly sent jt before the G-rcoid Jury, fixed our bail at .;p9,500,00. The prosecuting attorney, thinking that the learned Judge may oerhaps be slightly pi'cjudiced, has reduced it from ^i;2,500.00 to 05. 00. Has, in fact, knocked off the odd thousands,"
The feeling between the parti-js v/as still not alto- gether friendly, A hidden foud seems to have been cari'ied on. The Chronicle of September 15, 1S6G, reports:
-\-'^' >V ■>*-
^ tv r; ,*,
BENEFIT TO THG'.MS IvIACtUIRE
"Lady Lou has offered to of Thomas Magulre on one termination of her pro Maguirc has accepted hor polite note numbering tv;e members of the Opera Hous their services free of ch this benefit. These for received a note numbering v/as as follovi^s:
perform for the benefit evening previous to the sent engagement, Mr,
ladyship's favor in a IVG printed lines. The 0 Company also tendered arge on the occasion of ty ladies and gentlemen
five printed lines. It
Opera House Sept. 10, 18 66.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Your favor is received, I accept your proffered services, and with much respect I remain
Yours truly,
Thomas Maguire .
"He might have said 'Thank you,' we think. Sure- ly forty true-born American citizens, members of the dramatic profession, are equal to one member
H i^ ":
■•-•. ftl' Si \ i ■:, \l n f^^
. . *• S ^f ^ 1
,•» ''i^
37
cf the draiTiatic profess ion who married £-n En^-- lish baronet who baoame aii actor. 'Jo arc afraid the manager of the opera house is becoming arlc- tocratic in iiis notions and haa an idea that thoso to whoTn he 'oays monty for servioos ren- dered cu^ht not to be tror.ted v;lth too much res- pect. Ilov/evcr, Thonas Magulrc is such an en- terprising manager, and catei'S so vfell for the public amusement, that v/e hope he will have a capital benefit; the more money ho maizes, the cnoi-e the public will be benefited."
And on Oct. 6, 1066, we read:
"A DxCorP^RLY riOuSB"
"On the reopening of iviagviire ' ? Academy of Music with e band of jrinstrels last ''Wednesday night a most disgraceful occne occurred. The manage- ment of Llaguix'e ' s Academy of Music had engaged an Ethiopian performer nan ed Billy Sheppard, who a few months ago killed a Mr. Ballou at Virginia City, and was acquitted of murder. On the appoaronoo of Billy Sheppard on the stage, a tremendous uproar ensued; hi^ was greeted with hooting and cries of riurder, and on the stage, a large brick-bat was tlirown at him. Policemen are alvyfay s la attendanco at Magulre ' s Academy of Music and after a time they succeeded in keeping the auo.ience tolerably quiet,"
"MAGuTKZ'3 JAP3"
Even the follov/lng year the Chronicle is critical of Magr.ire's ventures. It seema that I.Iaguire brought several groups of Jrpanese acrobats to this ccunti'y v;ith great suc- cess. They all played in San PiTncI sco and Maguiro sent tviro of the comuani^s o:i the road.
The following iter;; appear. :d in the Daily Dramatic
Chronicle for June 22, 1857:
"Accounts from New York say that the Japs still Continue to draw big houses at the Academy of Music, So long as they do that I/Iagu3 re will
38
not take them to Paris or anywhere else. The left v'lng of the Japs is vibrating thru the principal tovms under tlie manageraent of Mr, Marshall, %hen the Japs are played out, we shall not be surprised to hear that 1,'aguire has leased one of the Broadway theatres. Should he do so, Magulre vill find out that mariaging a theati'e in San P'rancisco end one in New York are entirely different affairs. There will be no opportunity for monopolizing all the the- atres and all the talent in tliat vast section of the country, so he will have to content him- self with ir.anaging one theatre at a time. We viill no doubt be much surprised and gratified to find out hov; rruoh easier it is to male e money and keep it by running only one theatre at a tii.ie. The manap:erial policy of makiiig money in one house and losing it in another is, in our opinion a very unwise and injudicious one, and is sure to prove serious in the end,"
TE3 3LACK CROOK
An entertaining court battle took place between Maguire and Julien Martmetti, manager of the Metropolitan Theatre, in April 1867, in connection with the simultaneous production of tvvro plays, one The Black Rook and the other The Black Crook,-::- The tviro plays v.'ere practically alike and it was apparent that one had been plagiarized from the other,
Martinetti claimed that his play The Black Rook was the original and that he had had it in rehearsal for some time before Kaguire's production of The Black Crook, He said that he had given the script to an actor wnose duty it v.'as to make parts for the coiapany and that the actor had sold a copy
-:;-The follov\ring paragraphs, to page 43, are paraphrased from Annals of the San Francisco Stage (Federal Theatre, unpub, HSSTl
39
of the script to Macuiro for $100.00. On this basis he sought nn injunction against Maguire,
Magulre held that his play was the original and that ho bought it directly from the playwright In Nov; York. Retaliating, ho asked for an injunction against IV.artinetti, While the court v/as trying to come to decision both bills play 3d to crowded houses. Each vras advertised "the one and only original."
BURLESQUE OK PLAGIARISTS The Olympic Theatre took advantage of this contro- versy by presenting a burlesque called The Blac"; Hook with a Crook. Their ad in the Daily Dramatic Chronicle read as follows :
"Tonight for the first time in California will be presented the unstolen copy of ''The Black Hook with a Crook." And the public may rest assured that there vi^ill be no injunction as this wonderful scenic spectacle has been ar- ranged expressly for this theatre by Mercury, the Gcd of Thieves."
MRS. GRUNDY IN COURT
Neither Maguire nor Martlnetti succeeded in foiling
each other thru the courts. Injunctions were denied to both.
The Judge found Maguire 's play to be the original but denied
both pleas on the grounds that neither play was fit to bo
performed in public. His d>Jcision reads in part:
"This court does not pretend to be the conser- vator of the public morals; that is a matter for the local legislature. But in giving con- struction to the constitution and the lav/s,when
40
legitimately called upon to do so, it Is the duty of all courts to uphold public virtue and discourage e\orythlng that tends to impair it. It cannot be denied that this spectacle of 'The Black Crook' merely panders to the pernicious curiosity of very questionable exhibitions of the female person. The lawfulness of such an exiiibition depends upon the lav/a of the place v/here it is e:-chlbited; but when the author or proprietor of the spectacle asks for the powers of this court to protect him in the exclusive right to make such an exiiibition under the copy- right laws of Congress, the matter assumes a very different aspect, I am strongly Impressed with the conviction that an injunction should
not be allowed in this case, on
the grounds tiiat
the spectacle is not suited for public represen- tation, neither in the meaning of that word as used in the Act of Congress, no i* on the further ground that it is not vi'lthin the scope of the power of Congress to encourage the production of such exhibitions, as neither promote the prog- ress of science, or the useful arts,"
This is a piece of dramatic criticism and recom- mends censorship, but hardly an ai swer to Maguire ' s request for an injunction. Of these three shows The Slack Rook v/as the most successful, having had the longest run. Its suc- cess was largely due to the chorus of "80 beautiful giris."
VESTVALI TE3 I,:AGI:TFIC5NT
The first hint of conflict betv/een Maguire and his
new lady star, the magnificent Vestvali, was reported in the
Bulletin on Oct, 27, 1866, The article said in part:
"MAKAGSIilAL TR0ir3L::S -- Thomas Maguire was ar- rested yesterday upon the complaint of 'Vestvali, the Magnificent,' on the charge of making threats against her person, from v^^ich she alleges that she stands in fear of said Maguire. ., Her complaint alleges that he threatened that he would oreak every bone in deponent's body before deponent shall leave the
41
city, and in iraking said thi-eab used the follov^- ing langua;3:e, to wit: 'You daraned fiend under the mask of a woraan, (repoated three tames, with violence and gesticulations) take care; you have come to the right man, I'll prove that you have bones in your flesh, and "before you leave the country I'll break every l^one in your body'... The complaint iss±2;ned in a mas- culino style of handwriting, 'Felicite de Vestvalij' v/ith a business-like quirl under- neath. . ."
Vestvali's suit against Iviaguire v/as for $30,000. The lady claimed that according to her contract she was to receive half the receipts of the liouso above '.^250^ one hun- dred nights 'engagement plus twelve ajrid a half clear benefits. According to the Bulletin of October 31, 18S6:
"Vestvali says she has fulfilled her part of the contract in every particular. She alleges that Waguire and his stage manager, Gr^.ves, have put many obstacles in the way of her suc- cess. She also alleges that Maguire has acted contrary to all theatrical precedent in enrag- ing Sandman, George C, Boniface and Miss Emily Thorne during the time of the plaintiff's en- gagement, all of VvThich IS against the Ai/isnos of plaintiff. She alleges that she recovered from her illness on the 1st of October, since v/hich time she has been ready and willing to play, but was prevented by Haguire . . .She alleges that she might have remained in Nev; York at $250 per night, in gold coin, but came here on the rep- resentation of Maguire's agent and v/lfe, who assured her that Matilda Heron .made $50,000.00 tc|;60,000 during her visit here, and that she should be supported by Charles Vifheatlclgh as a stock actor at $100 per we^k, a:id othei' alleged false representations."
It is difficult to deter-riinc the merits of this case which, it seems, was dismissed on Mr.gulre ' s promise not to carry out his threat!
PIx^ATE BROUGHT TO BAY
Arrested for olrating plays, Maguire experienced a
42
slightly harsher contact vifith the law accordlnr; to the Daily
Exai.ilrxer of Dec. 19, 1880:
"The arrest of Thomas I.^agudre Ui New York for pirating plays, and otherwise gaining money hy others' brains, Is looked upon with interest by the drarhatic, musical, and dramatic .ciutlior'S ' fraternity. 3artley Campbell is determined to see that the law is enforced, and is willing to sjjend $10,000 foi' Me.guire's conviction.
"Authors both in London and Amorica will con- tribute towai'ds tlie fund for the prosecution. Maguire has for years defied the law that gives authors a share of the pi of It derived from their virorks. The latest pla^/s from London have been performed here, and it is a well known fact that some one has stolen all these works for iviagulre. Any attempt to enforce the law has hitherto been unavailing. There are now a number of unsatisfied judgments out against Maguire, who has carried on the onslness of play-pilfering for the past I'ive years, V/hen- ever he was sued he siiaply stated that his nephew Charles Goodwin, was the m.anager and he only the agent. If Goodwin was sued some one else was the manager, and so on ad lib. It is said that A, 11, Palmer, Jnmes S, Mackaye and several other well-knovm managers will give most damaging evidence against him. 'French Flats' v;as obtained by Magii.ire from Palmer by false pretenses and the royalty never paid for. The agent of Palmer never had the MS. returned to him. At any rate, Maguire is under $7,000 ball, which m»ay teach dishonestly inclined man- agers that there is a law in the land which can be invoked upon even a 'veteran' manager's head."
These examples of conflict vi;ith the law v;oula seem to indicate that our back-stage Na^'-Gleon had ample opportu- nity during his checkered career* to front aid affront the courts of Calilornia. He seems to have done so with impun- itY,
43
THE DECLINE OF TOi.! MGUIRI
Ma;;';ulre on Hanilet
One of the inoi'S Interesting anecdotes about liaguire
tells of an intervievi? which took place in the early seventies.
It seems that a reporter from the Alta California called on
our aging Napoleon at the Baldwin Theatre and announced that
he would like to sell him a play,
''VJell, my boy,'' said Ma^uirs/'I'm "bothered to pieces with new plays." "But let me tell you the plot," persisted the Joururllst, Maguire hated like the deuce to hear the infernal tire- some plot, but as the repoi'ter had considerable influence with the press, determined to be civ- il to him, and told him to sail ahead. "V/ell,±n the first act there is a man who goes crazy.'' "Ah," said Magiiire, ''a dal'tman is a dead weight to a play; the insanity should be vyrholly con- fined to the author. How did he gat crrjiky?" "He thoixght someone had killed his fathar, and ac- cused his uncle of it." "Oh, I see. Then the detuctivo gets to woi'k on the cluo. Of course you have a detective?" "Oh, :ie doos the detec- tive business himself.'' "That's bad. Hovi' in bla;^es could a crazy man v^ork up a clue? You must change that, and lug in a detective of the Hawhshaw pattern, \iO:iat next?" ''V/ell,hi3 uncle marries his mother," "Now, horc, Cap., \/c can' t stand that business at Baldwin's, Every timav/e try an immoral snap, we eaten ii; frora all sides. You must cu.t out the part of the uncle. It's good, sensational, but won't do." Then the crasy man takes the femily to a theatre, and gets the actors to ring in a scene that will remind the uncle of the mixrdor." ''All bosh, my boy. If a man should come to the theatre and ask such an absurd favor, he would bo kicked out of the side door by the scone-shift jr. There's nothing in it. Besides, how did ho knov/ his dad was salted if ho didn't see it?" "Oh, I fix that, his father's ghost tells him," ?Iorc I'/Iaguire broke into a fit of laughter. "That' 6 dead rot, these blasted ghosts are too old-fashioned for the stage. That \7on't work. Cut the ghost, my boy? cut the ghost." "Then ho falls in love with a
.'A
youii.^, girl v!io ^-;o3s and drowns hox'^solf, being
crazy, too.'' "Two crcnky pooplc in ono pioco
vfOii't work. Yuu nrust. shelve the girl." "Then
tlioy bury tho girl,arxi. at the funoral tho crazy
nan has a row v/itb the ;2;irl's orothor and licks
o-
thc officiating clorg^nnan.'' ''Hold on. Don't put such rot as this in. It will be hissed off the stago, A row at a funeral don't take anyho;/," '"'Thon the brother and the crazy fellow have a duel; he kills his i.ian; the old lady tsik^s poi- son, t;ien he kills ]ais uncle and..,." "Say, young irion, pause; I've heard quite onough. This is the most infernal ai d confound jd rot I over hoard of. They wouldn't play ib in a melodeon. ^'v'hat the devil do you call all tnis blasted trash?" "Har.ilet," said the reporter, without a change of countenance csid then ho vanished through the door,
Tho language employed by i,!a^_,uire to express his
feelings is not recorded,
BEI.'3"^IT5 ArD TgcTi:,:o::iAL3.
Vjhilo the precarious natui^e of theatrical enter- prise rriay necessitate periodic appeal, s to public support on the part of vetorans in the getrae v/ho have fallen on evil days, it may also be possible that a profusion of benefits and testliiionials given to an individual -- Torc I.Iaguire in this case -- would Indicate a gradual weakening of his legit- imate drawing power, a loss of general interest, a hardening of the arteries, and an approach of Inevitable decline. San Franciscans have aL ways been ,_,enerous to aging theatrical personages. The following excerpts from the journals of the day give one a vivid feeling of this. First we find in the files of Figaro of 1368;
"July 22. A GRA!:iJ BEMo^lFIT FOh IvAPOLEO:-. All must confess that California is peculiarly ija^py
45
in the possession of such a theatrical mana- ger as 'Thomas Lic.julre, who has so richly ecrned the title of ''The Kapoleon of the Pacific Sta^^e.' Spasnodic attempts are ever and again made to inaugurate theatrical enterprises in opposition to him, but they are rarely success- ful. The public have learned that their sole dependence on seeing the groat star's of the present age must rest in hi»n, and never once has their confidence in his ta^t and energy been betrayed. Mr. Maguire is about entering upon the greatest enterprise which he has yet undertaken -- the giving of a season of Italian Opera on a scale which has seldom, if ever, been attempted anywhere in the United States outside of Now York City. Under these circum- stances, it is eminently fitting that the pub- lic should strengthen his hands and provide him with the sinews of war. Therefore it is con- templated before the commencement of the Italian Opera Season to give Ilr, Maguire such a complimentary benefit as wc s never before given to a theatrical manager. An entertainment vdll be given at Maguire 's Opera House and a.t the r'ieti''opclitan Theatre on the sMie night. All the chief drai.iatlc rnd .masical talent ol' the State will, on that evening volunteer tiieir serv- ices and the occasion v/ill oj worthy of one who has been so indefatigable In his efforts to build up the di-ama in California as has Manager Maguire . >'
LETTER OF APPRECIATION
San Francisco, July 22, 1868.
T. Maguire, Esq.,
Dear Sir:
Yife take pleasure In hearing that your fi^lends propose giving you a complimentary Benefit, and beg you, as a slight token of our appreciation of your successful efforts for the past 19 years as a Theatrical Manager In California, to accept our gratuitous services on that occasionr and hope the compliment offered will bo follovi/od by such a substantial realization as your energy and enterprise in Theatrical Manage- ment rlch.ly deserve. We subscribe ourselves.
Yours truly.
46
(Signed)
John McCullcugh Sophie Edwin Mi'E, Judah John Wilson V/m. A, r.Ie stayer John King Chas. Thornton Henry Coad Helen Tra.:y Kate Lane Lynch lladge H, Lynch Wn. SiiroTiS Frank C. Deaves Martin M. Joyce A. Kidd G. W. Colby Geo. T . Evans Mrs. Hall
Ad air. 3
Yonker
''Yes ton
Julia Gould Hall
Pranks M. L. FranKs Edward Thayer Snima Howson Smily Dashwood Annie Jackson Brookhouse Bowler P. Perranti Luis a De Ponti G, Reina Raphael De Solla
Mrs. Mrs. Mrs, Mrs, Fred
Gus Bilflnger Henry Edwards Willie Edouin Glelia Hov/son Joseph Le. Schmidt H, Schreiner
|
K. |
PoDoonbers |
|
ji , |
Schlctte |
|
Fr |
, Stoehr |
|
Fr |
. Boeiine |
|
A, |
Muller |
|
C. |
Fischer |
|
P. |
Kchler |
|
A. |
Hellwig |
|
H, |
Macklin |
|
H. |
Staokhouse |
|
John Keal |
|
|
J. |
lienly, Jr, |
|
Th.- |
Drnas Gossman |
|
J. |
Snyder |
|
Ev; |
a Tracj'' |
|
EV! |
a. \iVest |
|
v;. |
Burbery |
|
Get |
D. Bell |
|
Janes Clark |
|
|
Lu( |
3ille Western |
|
Lizzie Dashwood |
|
|
G. |
Mancusi |
|
G, |
Pizzioli |
|
G. |
Sforzani |
|
D. |
Devivo |
|
w. |
Fuller |
|
M, |
Hhite |
i.iessrs;
Swift Nordblum
■R.
Bourqum
Brown
Loomis
W. Stevenson
Carri:ani
SchviraDel
'Tnite
Stevens
McCabe
Bark
Hevman Kref caman Hennecart Harry Jackson Sheridan Corbyn
"July 24. TEE I:AGUIRE TESTirv'OFIAL, The pro- graxn.me of the entertainment to be given at Maguire ' s Opera House and the Metropolitan The- atre on Monday evening next, when Thomas Maguire v;ill be the recipient of a testimonial tendered him by the dramatic and musical profes- sion in California, has not yet been announced.
47
There is no doubt but that it will be an Im- mense one, San Prencisco was never more rich in dramatic and musical t£-J.ent than at the present time and every one will be glad to join m a testimonial to one Y/ao has really built up the drama en this coast. By the bye, with so many musical artistes in the city, could not the public be treated to just one act of Itp.lian opera as a foretaste of the pleasure in store for them diiring the comin^i, season? We are sure that this would prove gratifying to the public, and the preparations for the Opera Sea- son arc already so far advanced that veiy little rehearsal would be required c''
"July 25, 0TS3LL0 ON BENEFIT PROGl^AI-'i. As the chief lights of the dramatic and musical professions have voliuitcercd on the occasion of the compliraontary testimonial to Thomas Maguire, who is emphatically the theatrical manager of the Pacific Coast, on Monday evening, so Virill all who are at all interested in the progress of music and the drama on this coast be anxious to take part in it. How excellent a prOt^ramrae has been prepared for this occasion may be known when we mention that at the Opera House Othello will bo given, with Mr. John KcCullough Tn the title rolo, and Mr, Bari'ett as ' lago ' after which the charming Dashv/ood Sisters will appear in The Love of a Prince; and that at the Metropolitan Miss Lucille V/estern ivill appear in The Loan of a Lover, after which an inter- lude v/ill be given in which the best talent of the Pacific Coast virill appea'.r, and the perform- ance will conclvido with tho last act of Luisa Miller by the artistes engaged for the coming Italian Opera Season,"
AEQTIISR pnELIr;IKARY AFNOUKCLiSMT
"July 27,1868. TH3 MAGUIRE TESTIkOKIAL:The pub- lic of San Francisco is noted for the liberal- ity with which it treats any star performer vi'ho has givon it pleasure. Nay, even if his per- formances have not been very well liked, they will give him a testimonial if ho has donu the stage some service. Tonight the public have an opportunity of testifying their appreciation of the efforts of the manager vi?ho has at various times introduced nearly all the stars of the day to the San Francisco public. If the public
failed to appreciate what hs lias done for theii' amuseir.ent during a period of nineteeii years, it v/ould indeed be un.'^ratefi-.l. There is no fear of this. Both Ma^uire's Opera House cjid the Metropolitan Theatre v;ill he crowded to their utmoGt tonight, 'whon Tnomas Mar;uire, the the- atrical ra^nager of the Pacific Coast, receives a testimonial tendered to him by the rausical and diariatlc profession. The pro3ranir.:e for the evening is an excellent one. At the Opera House Qt/iello will be played, v;ith Mr. Jolin McCullou^li in the title role, and i:r. Barrett as 'la^^o.' Those who have never seen Jolan McCullou^h's 'Othello' have missed one of the very best impersonations of that character ever given on any sta.^e. After the tra^-ed-^", the charming Sisters Dashwood will appear in The Love of a Prince. At the Metropolitan, the entertainment will commence with A Loan of a Lover, with !1iss Lucille V/estern as 'Gertrude;' after which a grand :.iusical olio will be given by sorae of the finest musical artistes in the city, and the whole will conclude with the last act of Verdi's grand opera of Liiisa lu.ller. The prices have not been raised above the usual rates, and a ticket for the evening admits to both houses."
A RJlVIi^iW OF THE BENEriT
"July 28, 1663. LAaO'IhE'3 OP.^RA HO US^'. Tills house was crov/ded last ni^ht, when Thomas Maguire, the Napoleon of managers, was the recipient of a testimonial tendered him by the musical and theatrical professions or the Pacific Coast, Othello was played, with Mr. Jolxn McCullough as the I,;oor. Mr, kcCullough excel.s in the im- personatj-on of this character. In the first act he does not polish up his elocution to such a dazzling brightness as to entirely hide the rough soldier, as many actors do, and in not doing so fails to maho a popular point. In the impassioned scones, lir, McCullough is really great I he raves as 'Othello' should rave, and altogether, givos a thoroughly consistent re- presentation of the bravo soldier, but uncul- tured man, maddened by the acts of a polished gentleman. Mr, Barrett's 'lago' was a oori-ect but painfully studied pi'3ce of acting. It is not necessary that a continued by-play of lift- ing of the eyebrov/s , shrugging of the shoulders.
49
and little spasmodic start r. should be kept up, but Mr. Barrett as 'la^o' and llr, Jackson as 'Roderijo,' in the scene in the Senate charr.ber, evidently thought th.at their dumb show vrauld add much to the effect of 'Othello's' speech. Miss Helen Tracy acted the part of 'Desdeiaona' very m'ell and r'rs. Sophie Edwin, of course, brought dovm the house as 'Eiailia.' Misses Emily and Lizzie Dashwood gained great applause in the burlosque entitled A Love of a Prince, v/hich was £,iven as an afterpiece,
"Tonight the popular comedy of Rosedale v/ill bo played for -oositively the last tiiiie. John McCullough V;fill take a benefit on Friday niglit.''
"REAL GSKJII^L: ORIGINAL FIQKEER" The San Francisco Nevifs Letter of July 9, 1370 com- mented as follows;
"The benefit to Manager Maguire v>/as a veritable ovation to a gentleman Vvho has in the past twenty years done his uniiiitigatod best to amuse the public, not -sorely of 3an Francisco, but all of California and Kovada, Since '49 he has directly bu\lt eigjrit theatres on this coast among them tlic Opera House, the nov/ demolished Academy of Music of this city, the Forrest Theatre in Sacramento, e-nd a theatre in Virginia City, The existing Maguircan temple, and that in Sacramento were bu-;.lt in '55, the former on the site occupied by the old San Francisco Kali, Mr.guirc is the genuine orig- inal Pioneer Manager of the coast; his first theatrical venture of Importance was the erec- tion in 1850 of the Jenny Lind Thoo.tre, which flourished for some time on the s-ioot now occu- pied by the City Hall."
lows
The Morning Call commented for several days, as fol-
"June 23, 1373, Lir, Maguire is in Europe in search of novelties, and we may e::pect to hear from him ere long."
"July 7, 1873, Msjiager Maguire is stil.l loi- tering in the Louvre, or doing the Trocadero
50
In Paris, We nay expect sorae special novel- ties fron his English and trench list, Henry Irving, perhaps, or Patti -- alii"
Under an article entitled "Operatic Renlniscences"
the dramatic critic of the Call writes on April 13, 1879;
"Since the period of the gold discovery, the A- morican people l^a^'o hecoino accustomed or addicted to 'seeing Europe,' and they embrace the oppor- tunity of vv'itnessing the ^'J^andest operas and listening to the most famous singers. And the San Franciscans are equally cultured to the re- finements of these most equlsite accomplishments and entertainments,''
"No manager understands this better than Mr. Thomas Ma-,uire. Nearly all the operatic com- panies we have had on this coast from the time of Barili-Thorne until the present have heen the result of his enterprise, ard with the ex- ception of the Lyster Opera Troiipe (an iHnglish company that arrived her 1859-GO,) the money he has lost on these ventures would put all our savings banks in sound condition today. As we think of the names of Hayes, Bishop, Brambilla, Ghionl, Sconcia, Fabbri, Stella BonhGur, Escott, Biscacclanti, Caroline r?lcl'i;- ings, the Bianchis, Milleri, Morelli, Gregg, Lamberti, Ilancusi, Kellogg, Gary De Murska, Zelda Seqxiin^ Squires, Carleton, Maas , Brignoli, and a score, or more other faiaous artists, we can estimate the share San P'rancisco has had of lyric novelty, and hovj largely we are indebted to Maguiro for procuring it,"
TOM; A I-AIT OF EX?.:JaEECE
"October 26, 1879. The Anniversary Benefit of Manager Thomas Maguire is fixed for Sunday next, Nov. 2nd, It is as usual , tendered him by the en- tire dramatic profession of San Francisco, and the bill provided for the occasion v;ill em- brace every grade of entertainraent , We sup- pose it will be useless for us to descant on the claim Mr. liagulre has to public recogni- tion, as the oldest, most fortunate, and at times, unfortunate, manager of the Pacific Coast, Maguire has passed thro\.igh ej.periences
51
that wculd make a volume more salable than Mark Twain's 'Innocents Abroad'; he has endured ordeals thfit would send weaker natures to the drugstore or to Melg^s' \iVharf, We don't know but that he is at odds vi/ith Fortune now; but this does not dishearten him, nor prevent his stretching out after fresh enterprises in the future and giving the San Francisco public a further taste of that quality which for thirty years has furnished nearly all the stars, lyric and dramatic, to the delight of the public, and in nine cases out of ten, to the impoveris]iiiient of the impresario. If there be a dearth of ex- ceptional talent now, it is the fault of profes- sional training, and not of managerial enter- prise. Maguire v;lll tell you, pulling his mus- tache, 'Shov/ me the actor who's got the talent, and I'll have him in San Francisco if money '11 do It.' We hope this manager of thirty years standing will have a good benefit. If there be any deserving in long service, he is a prominent claimant,"
DEPARTURE FOR THE EAST
"Oct. 31, 1380. Ivlr. Thomas Maguire left us on Friday morning for the East, to be '.i.n' at the 'Passion Play,' If prospects are bright for him it is possible he m.ay remain in New York permanently, keeping up his connection v^fith Baldwin's Theatre, In the meantime Mr, C,H. Goodwin, young in years, but thoroughly up in the theatrical business ,wlll manage the theatre here, and so Mr. Magaii e may be able to maidpu- late attractions for nis ovra profit and for the benefit of San Francisco."
"Fov, 7, 1830. As long as Maguire, the most enterorising and improvident manager in the State, spent his afternoons pulling his mustache and smoothing his hair back, on the steps of the Baldwin, it seemed impossible to help r^ calling some little incident of the old days. Fancy the petite figure of Alice Kingsbury, begging the Napoleon of the stage m.odestly for an engagement. 'Viliat can yoa do?' looking dov;n upon the little face with its bright, dancing eyes. "I can play 'Fanchon.''' teaguire had heard that 'Fanchon' was Maggie I.Iitchell's piece, and I'laggie Mitciiell was also a little
52
viToman, 'Vifell, you're jujt abovit the same size, eln't you? All ri^^ht, lou can have one ni^ht at it, and if it goes, we'll see, ° if it don't, well /ou'll rnake some money anyhow,' And the little i^'anchon, playing to a cold audi- ence through the earlier portion of the play, struck their hearts in the shadow dance, and made $18,000."
FOOTLIGhT PLASH
S. Fo Chronicle, May 4, 1884. "The^e is noth- ing the averag3 theatrical mana;3er understands so little about as the quality of success in a stage performance,"
"it is open to serious question if Tom Maguire, for instance, ever sat a piece clear through, or if he ever watched his riost expensive star or stock company for more than ton minutes. For some months at one time a youn^ man v;/as engaged m the Baldvi/in in very small parts, Magiiire did not,, it was supposed, know he v/as in the place. After he had played nearly a season Maguire happened to look in when the young gentleman had a little speech to make. The man- ager walked out in front. 'V/ho in thunder is that follow? He makes the smoke rise from my back, '
"liVhen Bandmann was coming, some i'ive years ago or so, Kaguire recalled to all the critics the fact that he had made $15p00 ten years before
that, 'He is, by , the boss -- the greatest
of theiii all. Don't tell me. Ke is an actor to the Queen's taste.'
"Bandmonn made a bad failure | played to empty houses, came out and stormed the box off ice, and Maguire, ter.ring his mustache to pieces almost in his rage, blurted out; 'He's the - - - ac- tor I ever sr.w. ^'Thio in blazes ever said he could act?'
"But Maguire is not the only manager who never sav/ a play, nor is he the worst of them."
DRUMi'-IKJ UP ANOTH^^R Bo^raFIT
San Fra]-iCisco Chronicle, May 18, 1884, "Thomas
Magulre has beGn out of theatrical manAGomoht for soma tiime. Ke has not been very successful and. his I'riencis have tendered their assistance to arran^je a "oenefit for him. Few men have so many old. fi'lends as luaguire. V''ith all his er- ratic n:anageMient , no did a great deal to educate San Francisco to that point at which it now stands and v;hich has vronf^rit a great critical reovitation in the r]astern States. Kis pluck coTmaandeu. ad'Hxratlon whan his misfortunes drove him down. He has spent fortunes in running theatres and fought his v/ay through all sorts of difficulties and all his life he has retained, the irlenaship of those who knev\f him well. In seehing relief fro'u-a pressing pecuniary diffi- culties, he can ''Vith more jai^tice than most beneficiaries claxn the asslstsnco of hi? the- atrical frjends, and he will concequently be able to present a bill on next Saturday and Sunday nights at the Baldv;in Theatre which will draw the whole to-jn, Y/e have never had any more enterprising i.ianager, and wheii he gave up, the stock comoany v.^ert v.'ith him. Tom Maguire has bee.n losing very greatly lately and he has abstained from daobling m his favorite hobby with a constancy that denotes sufficient reform- ation to justify a bumper benefit. The Saturday night bill v;ill be Riiea and the company in their strongest play. On Sunday the Galley Slave and an olio with ever/Dody in it."
HIS wat>;;eloo; the fassiof play
' ■ ■ ' " ^ ' —.-■—.- > i-Ki_ ii« ,■ I. ...... _i ■■ II •■-—■■I i
Perhaios tne riost fainoun draiiiatlc controversy in the hjstoi'y of the AL.erican theatre took place in the spi'jng of 1879, Lawsuits, as vi^c have seen, furnishad almost a steady diet for Tom Maguire during most of his career, Cftan ridic- ulous, on this occasion the affpir ascended to the sublime.
For several months, Salmi ■•icrsa, a playwright, had been trying to obtain a production of his biblical drama. The Passion, a representation of the martyrdom of Christ, It was a spectacle of the Obera.uncrgau type, don^ in a devout spirit ,
54
At length, the v/ealthy o^fmer of t he Baldwin Hotel and The;5.tre, "Luclcy" Baldwin, was induced to offer his finan- cial backing and Maguire was persuaded to produce the piece. The cast, at the opening in the Grand Opera House on March 3, included members of the Baldwin Theatre Stock Company, 80 singers, and a full chorus, Jerome Hart recalls the cast as follows: Christus, James O'Neillj Pontius Pilate, Lewis Morrison; Simon, A, D. Bradley; Herod, S. W. Piercy; Judas Iscariot, King Hadley; Mother of Christ, Mary Wilkes; Herodias, Kate Benin: Salome, Olive West. William Seymour was the stage director, David Belasco the prompter.
REAPII^G A y/HIRLWIIlD
It is strange to find that this production should have caused a great upheaval in local Saji Francisco circles and throughout the country, especially since, according to con- temporary reports, the play was accepted in a reverent spirit by members of the cast as v/ell as the audience. It is relat- ed that many spectators, overcome by the beauty and religious fervor of the performance, knelt and prayed throughout whole scenes; and that members of the cast were uplifted to the point of foreswearing vrarldly habits and thinking in terms of the life hereafter.
But the City Fathers and the more conservative citi- zens felt that The Passion ;vas a subtle approach to 'blasphemy. Said the Call of March 16:
55
''The Pagsiorx Flay slowly v;on its way to popu- larity against much opposition, until the Su- pervisoi'ial ordinance finally squelched Morse and his darj.n^, innovation on stage literature."
Indeed, the play was offered only for a week bafore it was reluctantly v/ithdravm in the face of advancing favor ,
It IE also rspoi'ted that the play caused a great fU- ror ainon^; the Jev/s and Irish Catholics of the city. According to David Belascc's account, a co~.mnittee of citizens called on Maguire and "worked upon his credulous nature'* until he be- lieved that he was iiiarked by the devil for sacrifice an3 v>rculd meet with instant death if he did not v/ithdrav; his play. So in a fever of fear he closed the theatre.
teiiptatioi: ai-id pi^nalty
His ever-keen business sonse, ho^/er^er, got the bet- ter of hin:, and on April 15, haguire and horse boldly revived the Passion Play for Easter V7eek, evidently determined to put a newly made ordinance to test, Says the Call of April 16:
"At the close of the perioi-riance cf the Passion Play at the Grand Opera }Iouse last n:ght, Of- ficer Bradford arrested Janies O'Feill^ the ac- tor, upon a charge of misdemeanor coiiritted in violating the ordinance \7hich prohibits the personation of any scriptural chai'acter upon the stage of any theatre. This is understood to be a test case.,, The accused gave bail in the sum of |100,'*
A few daj-s later Je.mes O'Neill, father of Eugene
O'Keill, the Nobel prir.e-winriing dramatist, and other actors
in the cast, v/ero trou.ght into court and fined. The Passion
Play was withdrav/n on April 22 in def 3ronc5 to public opinion.
56
'Av t Morse was to take his now fa^aous drama to Nev\f York, but his struggle there was equally difficult and he finally coi-mnitted suicide hefore the play was given another production.
On Kay 5, Maguire rr.ovod his onera company to the Grand Opera House. Here on May 14, v/as presented, for the first time in the city, the novi? classic opera Car men. The season closed on May 23, Neither poetry nor advertising had availed; the series of thirty-four porfonnances had netted a loss of $20,000.
The failure with the Passion Flay seems to mark a tiirning point in Tom's careor. It chan^^ed his gamhler ' s luck and affected public sentim3nt toward him. It was the begin- ning of the end,
PART HERS AND PREITENDERS
Tom's luck had changed. He was locing his grip -- and the whole tov/n felt sorry for him, for Ma[,uire was a gal- lant loser. Financial calamities vi/ere upsetting the whole country. The year 1873 had seen a National depression; 1875 a local panic; and 1877, a final catastrophe. With the third tidal wave of disaster, bad times set in permanently, It seei-n- ed, and the good old days of theatre profits became a thezae of iond recollection.
Before his he.^tj'- Biitish Blondes departed, ilaguire was offered a benefit, after which the Alt a California senti- mentally remarks:
57
"The f^reat crowd In attendance last night tes- tified to the sjTiipathy felt by the public for Manager Ma^uire who has held on so bravely to his business v/hen times w.ire hard and it seemed as if dajrlight would never come again."
Ma^^uire ' s ventures into legitimate draria at this
time were loss successful than those of his rivals, JVicCullough
and Emerson. Critics and audiences were unresponsive.
desp:zrate stuitts
To curry favor with the evil times , managers des- perately triod all kinds of "novelty" stunts for attracting the public, Lar£;e illustrated display advertisements in newspapers were introduced -- some throe or four columns wide and full length; finally, full-page displays and ballyhoo to match. Competition was fierce, but audiences, the object of the competition, proved hard to move. There were too many too obvious attempts to extract hard earned dol.lars, and Californians who hr.d been qa ite impressed by the elusive qual- ity of their silver, were most unv;illing to part with it.
A DEAL V-^TH LUCKY' BALDV/IN Fortunately, Ilaguire, in tho midst of calamities, succeeded in interesting ''Lucky" Baldwin, the famous San Francisco millionaire, in entering upon a theatrical enter- prise. Together, they built the Baldwin Hotel and the Academy of Music in 1376. Baldwin and Maguire were never very friendly -- lions are solitary creatures -- and it was young David Belasco v;ho became Tom's secretary and acted as
58
go-between in tlielr business dealings.
Vi/inter, in Iiis Life of Belasco, remarks with amuse- ment the partnership in the enterprise of 3aldv;in, an ex- hostler, and Magiilre, formar cab-driver. He states that they were not on the best of toms and that Belasco served as in- termediary in the negotiations, \/hich v/ere complicated by the fact that Maguire owned the land selected as a site and was listed on the bills as "proprietor" of the new house,
V/e quote f rora the Annals of the 3 an Francisco Stage
(MSSo unputa.) conpiled by the Federal Theatre Pro ject, 1937 :
"Baldwin's Academy of Music was a part of a huge architectural rjiit vitLich eventually housed the ornate Baldwin Hotel as well as the theatre. This house v/as located on 'larket Street near Powell, then at some distance from any other theatre, and was to influence the southwesterly trend in the entertainment district.
"The Baldwin building was six stories high and was surmounted by a largo domed tower and a number of s.naller ones from which flags flut-- t:jred on state occasions. The theatre was a marvel of elegant filigree and red plush, boasting elaborate and expensive fresco paint- ing, a drop curtain of satj.n -- which v;as said to have cost $6,000 --, velvet draperies, and gilt scroll-work. Crystal chandeliers were said to have cost ^l>l,600 apiece,
"At the opening of this theatre on March 6, Thomas Maguire, still proprietor of the smaller Opera House and of the Nov/ Theatre, was instal- led as manager. The first attraction was Barry Sullivan in Richard III, James A, Eerne v/as stage manager, Belasco his assistant and promp- ter, and In the cast are listed: James P. Cathcart, Miss A, A, Adams, Lv^wis F, Ja:nes, and LIr. D, 'Belasco' who played Ratcliff, Sullivan's success astonished m^Jiy, The Chronicle an- nounced that his Richard 'is beyond a doubt the best that has been seen upon the California stage. '
THE handv;ritii:g on TKj; v/all
But tho trGnd was still do-vvnv/r.rd and Toih I-iagulre could decipher the handwriting on the well in lv377. After spasmodic offerings at his threo thoatros during tho first months of the yo.".r, hu announced retrondri^nonts. On April 1st he reported that his Oper:- nou.se had been leased to Billy Ziraerson on a two-year lease, and was to be knovm as Srnerson's Opera House. Here Emerson opened on April 25, offering his minstrels. On April lot it v;as snnouiiced that the Alhambra vifas also to be re-titled. Tbe Bush Street Theatre opened on April 7 under the management of Titus and Locke. The first offering was burlesque by the Salisbury Troubadours.
THLi: SHUT-DQIVH OF 3ALDV.TN'S
Baldv/in's Acade-ny had closed ingloriously by April, and young Belasco, former right-hand man of Magulre, had in February been enlisted by a new variety Iwouse known as Egyptian Hall to write, direct, and act in specialty plays in conjunction with "illusions.'' Maguiro was deserted by for- tune and the public •
On and off, howevoi-, haguire continued to produce plays at the Baldwin until 1882, During this period the re- lations betvfeen Maguire and Baldwin became more and more strained, Baldv;in v;as forced to cover heavy losses at the theatre and Kagulre was continually gamxbling in coi effort to keep the enterprise going, Baldwin finally withdraw his support and Maguire ' s management was at aji end, Erom that
:*)(-
60 time until his doath in 189G, his actxvltlos in the theatre world, hecsitie j.ncroasinoly negligible «
EXIL:^ IK Ti:?; JlAoT
Perhaps in order to chtir.g'e his luck, Magulro moved iilast in the errly eighties. Reports of his proc^^'ess there s>jem conflicting. For a while it appeared that he was about to conquer a new world, and v;e Imlf expected our a^3 ng Ilepoleon to enthrone himse].f securely in his latest kmgdora, the Broadway of ^''ew York,
^'le read in the Morning Call of San Francisco on
July 20, 1884;
"Ex-Kanager Magulre has been absent 3n New York more than a fortnight. Some say that he in- tends to surprise our public ivith an unexpected attractiouj some, that he will devote himself to a new line of business in the East."
And, digressing a little, v;e hear about hj.s neph- ew's marriage the same year -- The Morning Call of November 16, 1884, reports;
"Mr, James Thomas Maguire v\^as married in Nev/ York, Nov, 3rd, to Miss Fannie Mulilner. Both the happy parties hail frorrx San Frai Cisco, The gentleman is a nephew of the veteran maiiager, Thomas Maguire,and for many years was his ablest assistant in carrying on business. Pie is very well known in this city and is much respected for his honesty ana integrity of character, coupled vjith fine business qualities. Later he was the chief adjutant of Llessrs, Barton and Hill in the management of the California, and, recently, has filled responsible positxons in the box-offices of the leading theatres of New York,"
Ng'J EXP ,'^ STATIONS
Maguire, like an old prospector who always expects
61
to make a strike in the imxt aill, had gruat hopes of opening
a nov/ theatre in 1386. V.'e rOcd in the !:ornint?:_ Cal_l on April
4, 1886;
"The prospoct of another ncvr thestrj loons up vaguely in the dir.: future* It is to he built by Mr, Thoinas Mar^uire of San Francisco, who says that it is to be the prettirst theatre in the United States, not excepting the Bcldwin Theatre or the Denvur Opora Ho^ise. It is to bo located somewhere on the upper p:"-rt of Broadv/ay, and will run as a combination house. 'Ir. Thomas Maguii^e Jr., is to be its .nana^ar. The Maguire family have alr^r.ay omit eleven theatres. They have left San Franc :^sco aj.-.d have come to Hew York to stay, "Jork is to be comrrencud on the new theatre next fall,"
Concernin:]; this, an anonj-mous correspondent wrote
to the Call on May 16, 1886;
"l was very much surprised to fxnd so rmxij pro- fessionals from 'Frisco. Yesterday, 1 met the veteran Tom Ivlaguii'e,and fo-imd him notwithstand- ing his age and the varied experiences of the past, as llvel;"- as a cricket, and brimful of hope for tho futu-re, Jiaguire says he has a proposition under consideration which he thinks v/ill reap him a good harvest ne::t season. He wishes to bo kindly considered bv old Crllfurnia friends."
And putting up a front to m.atch his illusory pros- pects, Tom iiaguire, now m his seventies, changed his address and improved his attire. According to the C£_ll of Juii^:. 27, 1886;
"Mr, Tom Maguire has just me vol -nto a magnifi- cently furnished house on Thirty-third Street, Kcw York. The California ox-nojaagor Is said to bo the bost dressed man in that city,"
ALr.S FOR 03LIVI0N But nothing much came of this. His theatre did not
52
matorlalizo, and gradually in tho course of ins last docado, tho old man sanlc into obscurity, cuid from obscurity by dogroos into vi^ant,
We kiiov/ little of his final ^oriod, thou:;':li doubt- losc there were places and people in New York to whom Tom Ma^uire and liis accounts of his golden da^^s in El Dorado v^ere familiar, if not a bit tiresome. He drifted about for sev- eral years, an Impoverished and half -forgotten veteran of the theatre, and like so many others of the cleui, died In destl- tutlon, ,
cr TK^ D^iiTii OF 'lo:: ':aouIRE
The Ar.^cnaut announced b.is passinr^ on Jan, 27, 1SS6
in the following terms;
■'The dispatches brought tne sad news, a fevi days a^o, that Tom r1a£;uire had died in destitu- tion in Now York, cared for xn hxs last days by the Actor's Fund, The present generation of play-£oers in San Francisco do not remember him -- indeed, ho left this city about seven- teen years ago -- but he was long a mighty fac- tor in tiieatrical affairs here.
'"'He camo to San x^rsLncleco from New York in 1849, aa d is reputed to have made a fortune of one million dollsrs in the th'^ati'ical business, though tho last dollar of it was gone bi^forc he died, r^e built the Jenny Lind Theatre -- the m.iddlo of the three buildings on Kearny Street, between V/ashlngton and Icrchant, which were suosoquently sold by him to tho municipal- ity and bccatnc the old City Hall — in 1852, and two years later he eruct-jd haguire's Oporc-. House, on Vi;ashirigton Street, in virhich many of tho world's greatest actors 3j\cx actro-sses ap- peared under his mani'.gemcnt ,
"Maguiro's misfcrtunos bog>:ai with the building
63
of the Academy of Music on Pins Street in 1862. He failed to msQce the enterprise pay and never again attained to rauch prosperity, thou^^h he leased the Eureka Theatre on i.Iontgomery Street, betvireen Pine and California, and, finally be- fore his departure for the East in 1878, raan- aged Baluvrm's Academy of luvisic, now the Baldwin Theatre, In New York he could do lit- tle better than here, and his last years were passed in poverty,''
A few days before this, on January'" 21, the
Bulletin gave an account of his death, George E. 3arnes
summarizes nis career in tho article and rels-.tes a few un-
known episodos of his life:
THE DEAD KAPOLEON; A EIITAL ACCOTr'TIN'J
"Tom Maguire Dies in .'/ant. A against the inevitable ended, took unto themselves the win.is cf
long fight Riches that tho morning.
"The news of tho d^jath of ox-Lianagor Thomas ilaguire was wired yesterday from Nev; York, to- gether virith tho melaaicholy fact that he was ut-
destitute in the closirig hours of his
Thomas Maguiro caiiie to San Francisco in
York, Kis early life and occupa-
in ru'''stor J' but the lat-
terly
life ,
1849 from
tion there are involved
ter was of the humblest
'ov/
kind -- that of MS r-iond at all the
driving hack. Aftor trying his r-iond at all the chanc- es that turned up after his arrival on tho Pacific Cop.st, he eventually drifted into the theatrical business and became very rich, es- pecially from the profits of the old Opera House, on iVashington Str..s.tj but principidly, when tho -uimstrels vi/cre there, if the truth
must be told, from the returns gambling rooms attached to it. knovm fact that his partner m yet living in this cit^', pr.id huii lion of dollars in loss than a
of tho Diana
It is a v/ell-
this concern,
over a mil-
yoar as his
share in the gains from bh:. gambling tables of
the Diana,
Maguire
being
Some who aro in doubt worth |600,000 when
s to Mr.
:ie left '//ashington Street to build the Academy of Tusic,. on the north side of Pine Street, bolow I.lont-- , may easily see from this fact how such
gomer-„
64
a financial condition v/as possi'^jle. The costcf the Acaderay was $40,000, Hullnp; Majors was his architect, h\xt he was much opposed to the project, as vas Llaguire ' s first wife,
"Said Fajors to him one day; 'j*1a£;ulre,have you thou^^ht closely on the step you are taking in building this theatre?' 'Vfliy do you ask that question? Have you not all the men, monej^ and material you need? '.'/hat I require of you is good work and in as short a space of tix.ie as possible,' 'Ah, well,* that's all right, I asked you the question because the time will come, in my opinion, and shortly, too, after you have finished the building when you v/ill be sorrj'- you laid one stone uoon another,'
"Maguxre must have felt in his secret soal that Majors' words were prcphetlc. There was a glare in those nondescidpt eyes of his — no one could tell their color -- as he looked at the plain-spoken architect, ana with an extra tug at his mustache he v/alkod up the street. It was a pretcy theatre, but as Majors predicted, it soon passed out of his hands, and was con- verted to business usos. It is novif owned by Mrs, Theodore Payre, The TBorgu?:; restaurait now occupies a portion of 'it,
"Maguire monopolized all the theatres in the city at one time; but his hold was broken v;hen Ralston fuid his coterlo buxlt tiio old Galifo rnia for Messrs, Barrett and !!cCullough, Then he ceased, to be called the dramatic I-'apolecn of the Pacific Coast, and after various attempts to catch on again, finally left 3an Erancisco for New York, This \/as about twelve or fourteen years ago. His life in Nev; York, up to the time of his death, was one long and. despairing fight against the inevitable, with the odds terribly against thu poor fellow, A few incidents in the lil'e of the departed msnagor may serve, better than any other moans, to show the character of the deceased,
"He was by no moans a literati. He did not rccd Shakespeare -- very few managers do. '-frien Fbrr»..st v/as playi.ng at the Washington Street Op^ra House, Maguirc hailed r. friend passing the theatre's portals one day; 'S^^-y* coming to s^e tl^e old man tonight?' «I don't know, Yifliat's the play?'
65
'Corrylanus, It's first rate. One of his own,'
♦Do you mean to say Forrest wrote It?' 'Of
coui'se he did. He can do anything that man kin,'
■'But althoxigh Maguire was not blessed with much boolc-learning he had a natural faculty that stood him fairly in place of it. He vi;-as a good j'ud(^e of individuals. He was a great observer, and \\e looked quite through the deeds of men; but sometiiaes, it must be confessed, he did not look far enough and v;as egregious ly taken in, Ee admitted himself in this plight Gnco, It v/as the time of the openxng of New r,'iont£:orr3ry Street tiiroa,3h to Howard by the Harpondlng party, Iiiaguire vifas a theatrical ma^ia^er v/ho always transacted affairs on the sidewalk, "You night as 'j/oll have tried to get him inside a church as to enter an office for business purposes in a regular way,
"In the early part of his mariagorial career, after he had got through with the 'Jenny Lind,' aftervi'ards the old city hall, novi razed to the ground, and up to the t-i-me of the death of Broderick in 1859, Haguiro took an active part in pclitics. He w^3 an earnest partisan of thj 'Mudsill' Senator, as the Chivs used to call Brodorick, and his partisanship took the form of financial aid occasionally. The Napoleon had plenty ol ready cash in those days, and politicians, most of them were then, and are now, genorall^'' impecunious. Broderick re- sided v;ith the Maguiro family in their living apartm.ents over the old opt.ra house on Washing- ton Street, The politics of the time were rough, and thoy suited the 'boys' of the period better than they did the Conimittee of 1856, vriio I'eformed theni in a measure.
"Maguiro v/as a generous ruan in his own v/ay. There ca^ie to him oni; day, when he v/as airing his jxr.ir and pulling his novistache on the side- v/alk, north side of ^Vashirxgton Street, a poorly but cleanly dressed womaix, and asked him for the use of his theatre on Sunday night to de-* livo:;.^ a lecture on Spiritualism. At that time theat:rical perforirances on the first day of the week v:ere contrr.ry to lavi.
66
"How much will the rent be?" asked the appli- cant, Maguire looked her all over — sized her up, as the saying is — and asked oy v/ay of reply: 'C-ot any money?' 'No; but I ex- pect to m^:e the rent and c trifle over, if you v.'ill be kind enough to let sie have the house,' 'Oh, you can have the house fast enuv£,h. The rent Is ?50, ' The lecture was advertised and delivered, and next duy the lecturer ca^ic aroiind with the iaoney. 'How much did you take m? ' asked Ma^uirea ^Sixty dollars, 'the woiinn repliod tenaeriiij^ the rent. 'Is that all? V/ell, I don't need the rent just nov/. You trke that ^;j50, add some attraction to the lecture, music or soniething, and probably you r.ay do better next Sunday, '
''The second lecture drew considerably over $100, and when it v^as tendered to Magiaire, he said in brusque but kindly way, 'Now my good woman, I advise you to take that iioney and ~uy yourself sone good clothes. You may be able to give me the rent by and by, but I do not need it at present,' More than once the sub- ject of this kindly act has related it in print out of gratitude toward the man who be- friended her v;hen she was in vmnt , and v/hen he might have been under fire for some cause or other.
''l-ag^aire was a very haiidsor.ie man in his early California dfy.s, with a figuj?e well developed and as straight as a pike-handlo. Ho dread- ed the idea of death; by a single remark on his appearance you could send him to tea and toast and bed. Those who know this fact used it occasionally for a practical joko on him. He married tv;ice — first in New York, and the second time here. His first wife was his brains, and guided him in all the practical affairs of life* his second was a graceful brunette of most shapely fig-are and perfect shoulders. It was said of hor that she was the only woman in San Francisco of her day who could wear a shawl properly.
"Mr. Ilaguire's age is given in the dispatches as about 70 — he must have been nearer 80. It was a subject of which he was as tender as a woman, and never cared to have his age refer- red to... Ho had many faults, it is true, due
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57
PARTING •-70RDS; FII'IAL EVALUATION There's little to ad. V.'e have reviewed our back- stage Napoleon's career, Wenave learned of his early gam- bling saloon ventures, his difficulties with the Jenny Llnd, his high-handed monopolizing ^ California's theatres, and of his passion for grand opera.
Passing the high cl inacterlc of his Napoleonic de-
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cade, be becomes embroiled and is sued in turn by given many testimonials and with ruin. After a rather \ Lucky Baldwin and the v.nfo Play, he starts his downwarc clipsed by younger men, such into a kind of exile in t'. his former triumph -- he bo his final decade of docline, A gambler-born and jldly pursued Dame or gave him an Ea
ith law, we have found, and sues nsytnpathetic critioa. He is benefits and many times flirts satisfactory partnership with unate incident of the Passion path towai'd oblivion, being e- .E 3elasco and Hammer stein. Going East -- far from the scones of ns in New York, we have seen.
-iving by the gambler's code, Tom jrtun^ all his life, whether she ic gate. In other circumstances, Side v;ard politician, a Chicago d sdlhulator, ox* a Hollywood movie- found himself anidst the clamor-
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mostly to the disadvantages under which he la- bored. Had Maguire been an educated man, he vv'ould have been a better one. He had some virtues. Let us weigh his virtues against his faults and judge him not too harshly,"
PARTING VJORDS; FINAL EVALUATION There's little to add, V/e have reviewed our back- stage Napoleon's career. We have learned of his early gam- bling saloon ventures, his difficulties with the Jenny Llnd, •his high-handed -.nonopolizing of California's theatres, and of his passion for grand oper-a.
Passing the high climacteric of his Napoleonic de- cade, he becom.es embroiled with law, we have found, and sues ajid is sued in turn by unsympathetic critics. He is given man^ testimonials and benefits and niany times flirts with ruin. After a rather unsatisfactory partnership v/ith Lucky Baldwin and the unforttuiate incident of the Passion Play, he starts his downv^rard path towai-d oblivion, being e- clipsed by younger men, such as Bolasco and Hamm.erstein, Going into a kind of exile in the East — far from the scones of his former triuinph -- he begins In New York, we have seen, his final decade of decline,
A gam.bler-born and living by the gambler's code , Tom Maguire boldly pursued Dame Portun^j all his life, whether she simpered at him or gave him the gate. In other circumstances, Tom might have become an East Side v;ard politician, a Chicago racketeer, a Florida land speculator, or a Hollywood movie- producer. As it happened, he found himself anidst the clamoi^-
68
Ing, ploasurs-hungry population of a nev/ El Dorado, and seiz- ing his chances, he furnished It with spectacles, sensation plays, blood-and-thunder "mGllerdramriiGrs, " minstrel shows, grand operas and ballets, making and losing several fortiones in doing so. Withovit a peer in the V'iest, Tom Maguire earned his titles the Napoleon of Impresarios,
69
TOM FAuUIRS'S PKOGR-'ISS
1845 Hack Driver in Nsv; York
1846 3ar-tsnder in Park Theatre, K, Y.
1847 Saloon keeper at City Hall Place, K. Y,
1849 Cones to San Pra:icisco during gold rush and opens gaiTibling saloon, Psrker Plouse
1850 Builds on top of saloon his first theatre, the Jenny Lind -- soon destroyed by fire
1851 Second Jenny Lind razed by fire; he rebuilds it promptly
1852 Sells hxs third Jenny Lind for $200,000 to City Fathers for use as City Hall
1855 Assumes control of theatres in many small gold rush towns
1858 Becomes I^apoleon of impresarios in California and theatrical monopolist
1860-70 Engages and imports such stars as Joh_n McCullough, Charles Thome, Prank 'layo, the Booths, Mr s , Judah, Mrs. Saunders, Billy Barry, Harry Courtame, Edwin Adans, Joe Jefferson, Ch^.rles Kean, I'.'jne. Celeste, Harry Edv;ards, Edwin Forrest, Charles VftiGatljigh, Januschok, Modjcska, etc,
1863 Conceives a pasaion for grsnd opera, builds
Academy of Music as its temple, and imports opera companies, Bianchi, Harrison, Bramibilla, Caroline Ritchin,;-:s , and the English Opora Troupe, losing a fortune on thJsc vjntures
1866 Arrested for Breach of Contract and for making bodil^i^ threats against Mrie , Vostvali the Magnificent ,
1866 Suis his critics, the proprietors of the Dr -yti tlc_ Chi^o n i c 1 e^ , for slander
1867 Charged with stv;aliag and plagiarizing popular play The Black Crook
1863-70 Givjn a series of complimentary benefits and testimonxals •
70
1873-75 National depression affects local theatre v/orld; Magaire on the verge of ruin
1076 Enters in partnership with "Lucky" Baldwin, fam- ous 3an Pi'ancisGO millionaire aiid builds new theatre and Academy
1877 Baldwin's Academy which ho riianases, proves un- profitable
1878 Tours Europe in search of talent for Baldwin's
1879 L'eets his Waterloo in Passion Play which arouses furious religious conti'oversy and turns public sentiment against him
1880 Goes to New York planning to enter n<^vr lino of business
1884 In groat fxrancial dlf f icultios; San x-'rancisco gives him benefit performance
1886 Negotiates to buj.ld now thuatre in Now York, un- successfully
1886-96 A decade of decline and gradual dcstitiition in the East
1896 Dies in Now York, cared for in his last days by the Actor's Fund
71
TOM MAGUIRE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Goad, Oral Sumner, The Pap;oant of America. (Nev/ Haven, Yale University Press, vol, 14, p, 181),
Poster, Lois M. Annals of the San Francisco Stage, (Msg, unpub. Federal Theatre, San Francisco 1937) .
Hart, Jerome, In Our Second Century* (San Francisco, Pioneer Press, 1931) .
Neville, Amelia, The Fantastic City, (Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1933.
Rourke, Constance, Troupers of the Gold Coast, (New York, Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1928, pp. 31-33),
Winter, William, Life of David Bolasco. (New York,Mof f att , Yard & Company, 1918) ,
Young, John Phillip, San Francisco, A History (San Francisco, S, J, Clark Publishing Company, 191'2) ,
NEWSPAPERS AND P:SRIODICALS
Alta California (San Francisco), August 24, 1864,
I!^® -A££.9ilS}ii. (San Francisco ), January 27, 18 96.
Daily Dramatic Chronicle (San Francisco), Juno 22, Aug, 2,
Sept, 15, Oct. 6, 1866,
Figaro (San Francisco), July 22, 24, 27,
28, 1868,
The Nevjs Letter -(San Francisco), July 9, 1870,
The Evening Bulletin (San Francisco), June 2, 1863;
Oct. 27, 1866; Jan, 21,1896; Aug. 18, 25, 1917.
The San Francisco Chronicle May 4, 18, 1884,
The San Francisco Herald June 26, 1851,
The Morning Call (San Francisco), June 23,1878;
Apr, 13, 1879; Oct. 31, 1880; Nov, 7, 13, 1881; April 4, May 16, 1886,
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DR. DAVID G. (YANKEE) ROBINSON
PAGES THE PIONEER OF DRAMA IN SAN FRANCISCO 72-108
Early Years 73
Advent into San Francisco 73
The Dramatic Museuin 74
Premiere Performance 75
Favorite Songs o , . . o 76
Repertoire and Cast 78
Benefit Performance , 80
Siege of Cholera 81
Dramatic Museum' s Busy Period 83
Novelty Presentations 84
Company Criticized 85
Robinson as Politician 86
A New Theatre 88
New Building Erected 89
Theatrical Competition 91
American Theatre Opens 91
Robinson-Stark Feud • 93
Telegraph Hill Home 95
Robinson-Maguire Reconciliation. . . 96
Coming of Lola Montez » 98
Original Lola Burlesque 99
Manages Sue Robinson 101
Lptta-Sue Rivalry . « 102
New and Original Burlesque 103
Career Abruptly Ended 104
Leaves Vivid Memories » 105
Representative Parts > 107
Theatres Associated with Doctor Robinson 107
Bibliography of Dr. Robinson's Works 107
Bibliography 108
DAVID G. (YANKEE) ROBINSON (/?o£'?4^. 1856)
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Dr. Robinson is shown here v/ith Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. PHOTO FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL- BULLET IN,
7J
DR. DAVID G. (YANKE5) R03INS0N The Pioneer of Drama In San Francisco
The Gold Rush of 1349 brought to San Francisco a veritable horde of fortune-seekers, the majority of whom had ambitious dreams of acquiring wealth by the actual digging of the yellow nuggets from the earth. There v;ere other fortune- seekers who had no thought of prospecting for gold In its natural state. They preferred (as a suror means of attaining wealth) to enter some sort of enterprise catering to those who did the actual mining. Prominent in this group of entrepreneurs ware those who catered to the luxury and the leisure time desires of the new community; namely the entertf.iners.
But in spite of this influx of entertainers, and no doubt self-termed in the majority of cases, the stage in San Francisco was barren. The two theatres pi^sent in San Francisco at this time were mere tent structures with benches on the bare ground for spectators v/ho had to be satisfied with acrobatir;s on spring boards or horseback.
Into San Francisco then, a town where the theatre had an audience but no drama, came an angular little figure titled "Dr." v/ho had his own ideas of what the town desired in the way of drama. He was not the only figure in the enter- tainment world to bear this title, nor even the first, yet it
73
was undoubtedly he who gave this title the aura and color it
still retains as a nostalgic reminder of the days when the
theatre v;as young.
EARLY YEARS
It is not strange that so little is known of Dr. Robinson prior to his advent into San Frrncisco on January 1, 1849, A New Englander, he was a road-show trouper, a play- wright and manager and vv'as reputed to have once, in his early days, ViTorked with the great Barnum, the circus manager who had brought Jenny Lind to this country. Dr. Robinson was born in East Monmouth, Maine, between the years 1805 and 1809. His father, Jesse Robinson, had come to California about the year 1800 where he m.et and married a widov/ by the name of Clark. After their marriage they v/ent back East to Monmouth v/here David v\ras born. Dr. Robinson attended Yale University and was graduated as a physician betwren 1830 and 1835. There was no background of theatricals, stage or actors in the family which might have given the pioneer ehowman the initial incentive to enter the theatrical profession in San Francisco. He had come to San Francisco in 1S47 as a doctor and established a drug- store in Portsmouth Plaza, It was while operating this drug- store in partnership with his brothers-in-law, Orrin and Evan Dorman, that a friend approached him on the subject of the- atricals. A paternal ancestor. Dr. John Robinson, was credited with having sent the Mayflower to America. His grandfather Robinson had served in Braddock's ill-fated army and was also present at the Battle of Bunker Hill fighting on the American side.
ADVENT INTO SAN FRAWCISCO Quietly enough, Dr. Robinson entered San Francisco
but immediately upon his arrival he m.ade alterations in a small
74
hall which he found in a little side street, putting up a low stage and contriving his own back drops and curtains. The in- genuity of an old trouper came to the fore v;hen he found paints scarce in the pioneer tovm. His search for substitutes and pigment failing, he used mustard and curry instead of chrome yellow to color his back drop. Thereafter this single thick and sickly hue formed the background for all theatrical ven- tures on this stage. Here he gave Yankee Impersonations in competition with Steve Massott until the great fire of May 1850 which all but razed the whole city of San Francisco. In part- nership with the popular comedian, James Evrard, former man- ager of the English portions of the National Theatre Shows (and sometimes female impersonator)vmo later became a sergeant in the local police force, Dr. Robinson opened the Robinson and Evrard Dramatic Museum on California Street just below Kearny.
THE DRAMATIC MUSEUM This playhouse was most attractive to the audience, and seating 280, it was filled nightly. A local nev/spaper boasted that people were turned away from the door an hour before the curtain vvas scheduled to rise.V/hcther as a deliber- ate bid for advertising; or not, the Evening Picayune of August 7, 1850 carried a short story of the Dram.atic Museum;
"We visited, last evening, the Museum of Messrs. Robinson and Evrard, and take pleasure in ex- pressing the satisfaction we derived. The per- formance was diversified, consisting of farces, songs, dances, etc., and were highly creditable and entertaining. .. .The people of this city are not generally av/are that such a place of amusement is in existence, or the house would be crowded at every performance. We coiTimend it to the favorable consideration of all who de- sire to spend a pleasant evening,"
75 Two days later, the Picayune carried the following ads
AMUSEMENTS
Robinson & Evrards DRj-\l>/IATIC MUSEUM, open every evening, (Sundays exceoted)
Pleasing Entertainments Nightly
Doors open at 7^-, curtain rises at 8 o'clock.
Admission:
Private Boxes f 3
Upper seats S2
Lower seats ^1
This Vi/as the first theatrical or amusement ad to appear in any Sa.n Francisco paper. A month later, an identi- cal ad began appearing in the Daily Alta California.
The Museum's featured players were Mrs.Burrill, who subsequently acquired great local fame and popularity, and Mme. Duprez. While casting for his first production Robinson found actors scarce, but this proved no handicap to the re- sourceful trouper. He became the first dramatic coach in California, engaging a group of willing amateurs, training and coaching them, and making the most of their local connec- tions in songs or parts. They proved to be an immediate and sensational success.
PREMIERE PERFORMANCE His first play, "Seeing the Elephant"* vms a loose
^'"In the popular phrase of that time, "to see the elephant "v;as to go to California expecting streets paved with gold and good luck as a matter of course and to bo overwhelmingly dis- appointed and deceived by fortune. All' the hard luck — rough travel, cold, hunger, bears and bandits, finding slim pick- ings—these were "seeing the elephant." The phrase was to be found everyv/here — elephants appeared on letter paper, on miners' cabins, and illuminated that credo of morals known as "The Miner's Ten Commandments."
76
SivPtch, or rr.ther a skoletnl plot r.bout which an enterprising iar.nr.gcv could adi.pt a produotinn almost limitless in its entertainment scope. This, Dr. Robinson did. The play had first been ^Iven in Nov/ York to ridicule the gold rush and had boon given once before in San Francisco but without any attempt to adapt it to the California scone, which, after all, was the locale of the story. Dr. Robinson laid the plot in San Francisco, gave it many local implications, and with the added box-offico appeal of a local cant, burlesqued nightly, to a full house, the role of the distraught and disappointed Yankee, Soth Slopes, who was tho protagonist of the skit.
From tlie oio^'ning night en the Fourth of Ju,ly, 1850 which climaxed a day of celebration including the annual erec- tion of a nc\^ fl-g pole in Portsmouth Plaza, the Dramatic Museum v/as crcv/dud. Miners of the region and local towns- people fairly fought their way tr see themselves caricatured i'.nd to see and hear Dr. Robinson. He was not handsome, but his angular figure, hawk-like eyes and infectious smile lent themselves well to burlesquing well-known figures without malice but with rich humor. His knack ft)r depicting character, a rich dialect, a well-nigh inexhaustible spirit, and an im- pression of acting for his own amusement made his impersona- tion of the shrewd Yankee as a farmer or rainer outstanding.
FAVORITS SQNG-S Kis song and pantomime act, "The Old Umbrella," was so popular and well-known that if he dared appear on the
77
stage to sing it without the actual old ragged umbrella, the audience clamored till Dr. Robinson returned with it and an apologetic smile, another sign of his expert showmanship. His "Used-up Miner, " sung in a wailing drawl, so captured the public's fanny that it became a favorite throughout the mining districts. Miners and adventui-ers of all shades of success and degrees of fortune throughout the land sang after him:
Oh, I ha'n't got no home, nor nothing else, I
s'pose, Misfortune seems to follow me v/herever I goes, I come to California with a heart both stout
and bold And I've been up to the dlggin's there to get
some lumps of gold.
Oh, I'm a used-up man, a perfect used-up man, And if ever I get homo again, I'll stay there if I can.
I lives down in Maine, where I heard about the diggin's.
So I slipped aboard a darned old barque command- ed by Joe Higgins.
I sold my little farm, and from wife 'Jid children parted,
And off to California sailed and left 'em broken- hearted.
And here's a used-up man, a perfect used-up man, And if over I get home again, I'll stay there if I can.
As pcrformanoos progressed nightly, Robinson relied more and more on the locc.l scone and began introducing well known California figures in rhyme. Ho now told his Yankee stories under the nrme of Hczekiah Pickcrall. While he was undoubtedly the first dramatic coach in Crlif ornia, he was al- so possibly the first satirist in San Francisco, portraying
78
every political fi£;ure. His "Random Rhymes" satirizing the municipal officers gained him such great popularity that he was made alderman in 1850 and v;as later named as the most popular candidate for mayor.
RSP£RTQIRE AND CAST
The Dramatic Museum's repertoire consisted largely
of plays which were written by the doctor himself. The August
loth Picayune makes a very favorable mention of one of his
plays:
"Robinson and Evrard had a crowded house last night, which was well merited on their part. Their entertainment was highly interesting. To- night a new piece will be performed for the first time, written by Dr. Robinson, entitled 'The Victim,' Something good may be expected."
Three days later, a critical review of this piece
appeared in the same journal along with r bid for respectable
patronage :
"'The Victim' will be repeated this evening at Robinson and Evrard' s. It is a highly credit- able production of Dr. Robinson, and is well performed at the Dramatic Museum, The moral of the piece is not the least of its many merits.. ...This place of amusement is well v;orthy of patronage of the respectable portion of our city. Everything connected with it is conduct- ed with the most perfect propriety, and neat private boxes have recently been fitted up and tastefully furnished for the accommodation of lady visitors, a number of whom grace them with their presence. "
The dynamic doctor was losing no time in producing on the stage everything he had ever written or acted in. Be- fore coming to San Francisco, he had made a tour of the East
79
with his Reformed Drunk;..rd, which lat^r he changed to Ten
NlRtits In a Bc'irroora, under whicn title it still remains as a
classic of that poriod of the theatre. The Picayune, August
19, writes:
"The increasing popularity of this beautiful little theatre, is decisive evidence both of the ability of the performers and of tho taste of the community for rational entertainments in preference to the attractions of vulgar dissi- pations. The performance on Saturday evening drew a full houce, and vjc.s excellently well sustained in each role.
"The illustrations of the Drunkard' c fall and wretchedness, we hcive never seen surpassed. In any p].acc. "
Much of the credit for the popularity of tho the- atre, it seems, must go to the supporting cast at the Museum, Discounting his over-enthusiasm for Senorita Llcrente, the critic of the Picayune must have expressed the general feel- ing of pleasure at finally having a theatre in San Francisco that offered more than bare-back riders, acrobats and trained horses. In the August 22nd issue, he writes:
"The performances at this popular place of amusement last night, were as attractive as usual. The pieces were 'Matrimony' and that popu- lar old play entitled 'Perfection' in v;hich Mile. Duprez demonstrated the perfection to which they have arrived in the manufacture of cork legs in 'Ould Ireland.' Mr. Cook appeared in a new Irish dance, and 'kicked up his heels' to the tune of Rory O'More, and v/as encored — as he deserved to be.
"Ihe charming little Augustlna Llorentc — a dark- eyed maid of Castille— dark but oonely — never looked more beautiful, and never danced with more grace than last night. But when at the conclusion, she fell into the arms, of Senor
00
Aroyc, -.ve cculd not help wishing, that sho wero 0 dov; drop, and ' vvo a buttor-cup. '
"Last but not least, is Mrs. Burrill, v/ho is tho favorite of the establishment, rnd a most deservedly popular actress. She is always per- fect in n^r part, and gracefal in her acting. Her song — 'The Maid of Monterey' was enthusias- tically encored, and is, v^e learn, to be repeat- ed this evening by particular request."
BENEFIT PERF0RI1A.NCES A week later, on the ki9th of August, the partner- managers set apart a night in tne following weeit for a bene- fit for the relief fund for ovi^rland emigrants. Said the Picayune;
"Vfe feel confident that such liberality on the part of these gentlemen who have recently lost theii-" all, by fire, will be duly appreciated and not 30cn forgotten by this community."
On the same date, the Picayune carried a stQry of a
benefit for Dr. Robinson to be held that night:
"There are very few in this community who know the difficulties with which Dr. Robinson has had to contend in getting his little Thocitre in successful operation. The day after the late fire, in v/hich he, with many others, lost their all, found him standing in Sacramento Street clad in a pair of duck trousers and red flannel shirt and v'ith only 25 cents in his pocket, and o-i/Ving #20 for board, which he had' no means of paying. Like a true son of Maine, and possess- ing tho true 'Yankee Spirit' and enterprise, he did not despair. With his ov/n hands ho shoveled out the sand for tho foundation of the pres- ent Dramatic Museum, and ho also handled every piece of timber in the fra.me of tho building.
"He and his partner, Mr. Evrard, sti'uggled on, with the assistance of a few kind friends, and completed the edifice, with only a debt over them of about #4,500. Up to yesterday, $4,000
81
of this amount had been paid, and they had the money on hand to pay the balance.
"Neither of the j^artners have drawn a dollar raore from the concern than was absolutely nec- essary to pay their personal expenses, and this evening has been kindly set apart by his part- ner, for Dr. Robinson's benefit, to enable him to get a little funds to send to his fami]y in the States. The wi-iter of this has known Dr. Robinson for a long time, and has no hesitation In saying that there is not a more deserving man in California, or anywhere else...."
The Picayune of September 2 stated that the Dramat- ic Museum was filled to overflowing or: the doctor's benefit night and that more than a hundred persons were turned av/ay. On September 4, this periodical declared that the doctor had "Paid over the sum of nearly $200 into the relief fund. "
SEIGE OF CHOLERA
These were, decidedly, busy days for the energetic doctor. On the 7th of September, he reciprocated his part- ner's kindness and gave Evrard a benefit in return for the one tendered him. On the 9th, he delivered a temperance ad- dress to a crowded house (and adds the Picayune) "with much force and eloquence."
Throughout September, the Dramatic Museum continued to draw full houses, and the doctor was able to acquire the services of traveling actors and to enlarge his repertoire. However, early in October, he bccane seriously ill with chol- era and v;as forced to remain inactive from the theatre for more than two weeks. But under the management of James Evrard, the "Little Dram;.tic" continued on its prosperous way.
82
By the loth of October, he had recovered sufficient- ly to be up and around and paid a visit to the office of the Picayune, His friends there v/rote:
''We were pleased to receive a visit yesterday from our friend, Dr. Robinson, who has been for some days past dangerously ill. He is improv- ing rapidly, and his many friends may expect to greet him again shortly upon the stage. The Doctor is getting up a new piece which he pro- poses soon to present, in a style far superior to anything in the theatrical line that has yet been given in San Francisco."
It was not until the 23rd of Octobei^, however, that he recov- ered his health enough so as to be able to return to his post as chief manager. The Picayune of November 9 mentions a benefit which was tendered the Doctor on his recovery:
"We are happy to learn that our ' tcilented and noble hearted friend, Dr. Robinson, has recov- ered from a late and severe attack of cholera, and that he will now resume the active part he has heretofore sustained in the performances at the Dramatic Museum. He has mot with many re- verses in the prosecution of his dusign, (the establishment of a respectable rnd creditable place of amusement) under which a less able and energetic man than he has shown himself to be, would have sunk. In view of these frets, wo are gratified to be able to announce that the Doctor takes a benefit this evening at v;hich time his numicrous friends will have an oppor- tunity of manifesting their appreciation of him.""'
HowevDr, while the house was well filled for the benefit performance, Dr. Robinson suffered ii relapse and v<ias too ill to appear.
During his early convalescence, the Doctor and his co-partner Evrr.rd, decided to remodel the theatre since its success seemed v;c]l assured. The Daily Alt;. California of
S3
November 4 wrote:
"Evrard and Robinson's neat little place of amusement is doing a very good business. Very important alterations have been made in the au- dience part of the house, as well as the stage, v/hich have relieved it from the cramped appear- ance it exhibited upon its first ooening". It is now pretty and comfortable."
DRAl^TIC MUSEUM' 5 BUSY PERIOD
In the past tv/o months, the Dramatic Museum had taken on several nev; members and included several nev/ plays in its repertoire. Mile. Duprez made her first appearance on August 20, appearing in Matrimony and Perfection. Mrs, M-'nsfield made her debut on September 25 in Day After the Wedding supported by a Mr. Warren, a frvorito amateur. In
late September, they produced Charles II and The Used Up
Man featuring Dr. Robinson's famous song of the same name. Hunting a Turtle and The Loan of a Lover \;ere produced, the former for the first time in California, on September 30, On the 16th of October, three pieces were presented. The Widow, Turning the Tables and The Hole in the Wall, v/ith Mr. Warren drav;ing a large crov;d.
They again presented the San Francisco theatre audi- ence v/ith something ncvi on November 4 in Naval Engagements (produced for the first time in California) and repeated Odd Follov;, the former eliciting great praise from the critics. On the night of Dr. Robinson's benefit, the theatre produced The Follies of a Night followed by an ambitious farce. Throughout the month of November, the phenomenal success of
84
the Dramatic Mv.se-'om continuad.
KO\f:iLTY PR':S^!IT/,TIONS
Besides r\:nnln£ thiTugh their popular plays, they presented iniio\atiorx3 in the way of aiUnijements such as the Scenic Repr 3sentation3 cf the Antediluvian 'A'orld, a series or designs by the Ergiish artist, John Martin, K. L, This ex- hibition \'vas "accompanied with appropriate music," according to the Picayiine of Novei-iiber 16, "and by descriptive lectiires from Dr. Robinson. The opinions of the public press in favor of these exhibitions are of the nlghest character, and the moral effect is likely to be of the happiest nature,"
Another of the novelty presentations was their mov- ing Panorama of Venice. This was a painting 18 feet in height and 2,S56 long, costing OlOjCOO. This gigantic scroll was probably the f irst"iuoving pictLire" presented in California.
It seems, however, that in spite of these innovations the Dramatic r.Iusour.; was not only not making a fortune but the proprietors were struggling to barely break oven. The Evening Picayune, January 2, 1351, reported a plan that Robinson and Lvrard had in ord^r to rollove themselvos of some of their most pressing debts and to m^akc certain altera- tions in their theatre:
"The proprietors of the Dramatic Muse-am are compelled, by urgency cf circumstan oer , to appeal to their nun.erous friends in San Pruncisco, to aid them in carrying out an object which they have in view, cf much Importance to themselves and the public, viz: that of liquidating all
85
their lulnor debts at onco by disposing of a number of season tic^rets {icv 5 riontiis) at the unprecedented low price of ^35. 00. S/- the aid of their friends they hope to accomplish this and thereby be enabled to male e their establish- ment still more attractive.
"Their previous efforts to meet the approbation of the public--tho reverses they have met with, and the pr^jscnt popularity of their ostablish- mcnt--lead them to believe that it wil]- bo only necessary to apocal to their friends and the public, to have their wishes acjor.iplished, and thereby enable them to cater hereafter with more case to themselves and ploacuro to their friends .
"P.S, Tv/o persons can subscribe to.r^cthor for a ticket, vrtiich v/ill entitle each to 3 months entrance. "
GOL.FAi'r/ CRITICIZ3D V-Tiethor thf s plan succcedod in its objective or not is linknov/n (no amount of research has disclosed any further information about its rer^ults) but, certainly, the Dramatic Museum continued on its hectic way. plays wore presented with but little rehearsal; at most with tv:o or three days propcration, una there was much "ad libbln^" on the stage. The Evening Picayvme, January 4, 1S51, criticized the Dramatic Museum company for this, stating that plays should not be re- peated ^ontil the actors had made themselves better acquainted with their parts:
"indcod, we advise all belonging to the Museum to 'stick close to the text." It is seldom that a periorm.er can, by oxtCiriporanoous remarks, im- prove the studied worl: of a successful author, but ho may materially detract from the inDrits of tno piece aid seriously injure his own pros- pects by relying less upon the book than his
86
own rep.dy wit. The most successful artists are found apparently satisfied with representing characters as the author Intended,"
Later in January, Janies Evrard took a benefit, Mrs.
Evrard, v\rho had just arrived from New York where she had long
been knowa as a pleasing actress, made her first appearance.
Dr. Robinson, too, was tendered a benefit on the 20th of the
month by his company and partner,
ROBINSON AS POLITICIAN
In the political field, the doctor v\?as as busy as on the stage. Fortunately for him, in his position as alderman, he was fully able to protect the Dramatic Museiim from within the legal machine. Early in March, v/hen a group of California Street merchants presented a petition to the city council "praying that the board of aldermen would pass an ordinance prohibiting the extension of the Dramatic Museum which en- croaches upon that street," the aldermen cheerfully referred it to the Street Commission, which as cheerfully no doubt, al- lowed it to die quietly within that body.
But Dr, Robinson viras too good a shovmian to let slip opportunities like this. The audience at his theatre a few nights following would bo treated to an uproarious song, full of jibes at his unfortunate political and business rivals. The popularity of Dr, Robinson was phenomenal.
During the mayorality campaign in April, the Inde- pendent People's Party nominated Dr. Robinson for mayor. Too fun-lo^/ing to take it seriously, he made a carnival of it; and
87
plthough he lost the election, again, the aiidience at the Dramptlc Museum was the winner,
Dr, Robinson had al so finished a new son.2,, "Hits at San Francisco" in which he made poetic digs at street con- tractors, fellow aldermen pnd other politicpl enemies. He was busy in his position as alderman and derived much publicity in his joint role as politician '^nd thespian. An amusing letter of his appeared in the Evening Picayune of February 13 in which he apologized for calling certain com:nissioners "thieves and robbers'' and he was sorry thot they were, "I felt justified in using the term. Respectfully yours, D, G, Robinson. ''
Another innovation that he introduced to the the- atre was possibly tho precursor of the modern 'bank night,'' On February 14,1851, at the conclusion of the evening's perform- ances, an oil painting, "An Italian Landscape," was given a- way to the winner of a drav/ing of ticket stubs.
Back again to politics! on February 18, ho present- ed a petition to the city council th- t the sidewalk in front of the Dramatic Museum be extended to twelve feet in width. On the 25th, he introduced r.n ordinance, which wf.s passed unanimously, establishing a chain-gang for petty criminals.
On a Sunday afternoon in August, two criminals, Whittaker and McKenzic, were hanged by a Vigilance Committee in the rooms of the committGc on Battery nor.r California Street, after having been taken from the jail. The Evening
80
Picayune of August 25, said:
"They v/ere swung from the threshholdl Thoy diod easily. .. .when llfo was thought to be extinct Mr, S, Br^.nn-^n wr.s called forwrrd and addressed the multitude in a most becoming manner jas also did Dr. Robinson and Stephen Payran...."
A NE',V THEATRE
Dr. Robinson, at this time, was the co-manager of the New Adclphi Theatre, for, in May of 1851, San Francisco was again swept by firo, ?.nd the Dramatic Musoiom had been completely destroyed, Not the least druntod, Robinson im- mediately leased the New Adelphl Theatre on Dupont Avenue near Clay Street, This was the first French theatre in San Francisco, and Robinson, with 'A'iesenth.9 11 as co-manager, un- dertook the productions in English. His partner of the Dramatic Museum, James Evrard, had gone over to the new Jenny Llnd to manage it for Tom Msguire, The Adelphl was a smaller theatre than the Jenny Llnd but psrfectly equipped.
For two months following the fire. It was the only theatre in San Fr-ancisco, The sprightly doctor secured the services of Mr, and Mrs, James Stark who had been driven out of Sacrjunento by a fire there in which they had lost not only all their belongings but also the chance to recoup their savings since all the theatres in Sacrarrento had also burne-d down. So Robinson signed up the Stacks and offered the pa- trons of the Adelphl a repertoire of Am^srlcan stock plays. On August 22, the Sta:^ks were tendered a benefit at the Adelphl Says the Courier of this performance:
89
"At the conclusion Mr, Stark was called out and made an admirable speech to the audience. When it became his duty to speak of the managers of the Adelphi, he became choked for want of utter- ance. Ne could appreciate his feelings, and no doubt Dr. Robinson and his associgte, Mr, Wiesenthal, felt as the audience did,"
During September, the Starks played two weeks and
were follov/ed by Harriet Carpenter and James Seymoiir in
Limerick Boy, In October, however. Dr. Robinson resigned as
manager of the Now Adelphi, Bigger plans were afoot, for in
the meantime, Tom Maguire had opened his Jenny Lind III, In
sheer size and ornateness, it far eclipsed the Adelphi and
the best that Robinson had boon able to do in competition was
to anticipate All that Glitters is not Gold," the Jenny
Lind's initial opus, at the Adelphi,
K3VV BUILDING ERECT3D But Dr. Robinson had not really been caught flat- footed, A new theatre building, under his direction, was rapidly nearlng completion. On the 16th of September, the Evening Picayune reported:
"Having observed in the morning papers a, notice of the laying of the cornerstone of ti new the- atre yesterday morning, we started down Sans ome Street at about 11 o'clock today to take a look at thfe ground, VVhat was our surprise to find that one story of the building was already built, the sleepers laid, and the flooring of the pit and stage going down as fast as hammers could fall, and nails be driven,
"We never remember, in all our experiences of California building, to have seen anything which could begin to compr^re with th^s. The idea of a brick building of one hundred pnd twenty feet
90
in lengt'i aid fifty-five in braadth, rising at a rate of a story a day, rerainds us of the palace of Aladdin, a little nor-s etron~ly than anything we have over ho aid of.
"I-f the Dr. gstf on at the eam-3 rate much longer we will expect to see a couple cf thousand per- sons listening to one of hj s songs in the new "building on the evsning of the day after tomor- row."
However, the new theatre was a siibstantial biiilding
and could not be so rapidly constructed. Four days after the
above article appeared, the Pica:/une said:
"The edifice row going up for Messrs .Robinson and Wiesjnthall is going rliead very rapidly un- der the manageraent of A. P. Petit, architect, and J. 21, Atkinson, mason. Indeed, we have scarcely aver sean so great speed combined with finish and substantiality displayed in thu erec- tion of a building. The secret is the superin- tendence of able man and the emplo^Tuent of good mechyrilcs .
"The building is 120 feet deep with a 55 foot front Vifliich will soon be increased iii the amount of 40 feet. The cornerstone was laid on Monday last and already* the vv'all is up all around to a height of 18 foet and the floor of the pit, the first uier of boxes, and the stage are laid. The foundation is laid on heavy woolen timbers, and coromences 3 feet in thickness; it gradually tap- ers to 20 inches which v/ill be the thickness of the main walls of the building,
"3tout iron anchors are to be set in the walls, which will render them. a:;iply safe. The theatre will be 35 feet high and will be completed with- in 25 days,"
Dr. Robinson and Wiesenthall, the partners of the '
New Adelphi, were co-proprietors of the new American Theatre,
and James Stark was installed as manager and lessee of the
house .
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THEATRICAL COIgLTITIOF
The managerial coinpetition between the genial doc-
or and Maguire for the theatrical supremacy of San Francisco
as now well undcsr way. Vftiile the American was londer con-
truction, riiiiiors, reported emanating from Ivlaguire ' s friends,
ere current that the new theatre building was unsafe. It
as one of the first to be constriicted on beach-water proper-
y of the newly filled/- in bay, on Sansome betv^een Sacramento
nd California Streets. The Courier of October 1, says:
"This is a grand country fa.' rumors, A ridic- ulous report was currently circulated about town yesterday that the building now in course of constr\ictlon on Sansorie Gtree-t by Messrs. Robinson and \/iosenthall , was being constructed in a careless and Insecure manner ... .Vve ... .are perfectly satisfied that there exists not the slightest cause for apprehension regarding the safety- of the structure .. .The v/alls are so in- terlocked Old braced with iron that even should the building settle several feet, there will be no cause to apprehend injury to the walls. The proscenium walls are very heavy and constructed of brick and consequently contribute a large amoixnt of support to the main walls.... In Jus- tice to Messrs. Robinson and Wiesenthall,who have spared no exertion and have expended their v/hole combined capital in the erection of this building, it is to be hoped that an idle report got up by some mischief -loving person will not have the least effect upon the patrons of their theatre . "
AMERICAN THEATxlE OPENS
In spite of these ill-founded rumors, the opening
ight of the Aiiiarican Theatre was a great success. The walls
id sink two Inches but no damage other than this was noted.
le Initial play was Armand ; or. The Peer and the Peasant, by
92
Anne. Cora Mov/att , Jones Stai?k took the title role of Armsind,,
supported by the Chapman family. Mrs. Stark gave the opening
address v/hich had been v.'i'itten in verse by Dr. Robinson. The
Courier said:
"This bijou of a theatre viras opened last ev- ning to the perfect delight of a brilliant and enthusiastic assemblage of the drama,... The front circle glittered with a galaxy of fashion and beauty."
In the theatre seating only 2,000, two thousand six hundred and thirty-five tickets v/e:L'e sold in additj.on to standing room. The price of two dollars tops and fifty cents for galleries was also an innovation for that period, previ- ous prices being from |)5 to $5 tops and f>l for galleries. Ac- cordingly, the Jenny Lind later Viras forced to cut prices.
There were many m the aadience who realized that sorne of the new ventures were overly ambitious, that parts were over-acted and productions were put togeth-er with m.ore enthusiasm than art, but the genial spirit of Dr. Robinson called forth all the sense of humor and wai'mth in the audi- ence and the theatre prospered accordingly.
Shouts of "Tell us a stcry, tell us a story" would always call the sprightly little doctor before the curtain between acts where he interspersed his impersonations with local songs. In spite of stiff competition fron Kaguire of the Jenny Lind III, the American's 2,000 seats were always in demand. Stars of the theatrical world were used as pawns in the managerial rivalry; the Doctor having in his cast the
93
Starks, the Chapman fsj-nlly, -•]mily Ccad and the Lee family to vie v;lth the Booths that Ivia^uire had under his wing. But Dr. Robinson event^'jall^ caine to grief through his young son, Charles ....
R03INS0M - STAHK F^UD
The Starks were appearing in £. melodrama (the type of play which, with their Shakespearean interpretations, had made them famous) called The Stranger. Little Charles had a walk-on bit v/ith one .3hcrt speech opposite T'rs. Stark. On the night of October 31, so the story goes, austere Krs, Robinson had brought Charles down from their homo on Telegraph Kill in time for his appearance on the stage. He was tired and sleepy and v/nen his cue was given, he appeared on the stage, dressed in a red suit, only to curse iMrs. Stark in a language no doubt patterned after that of his father, Dr, Robinson. There is no proof that it v;as learned for this purpose although the Starks accused the Robinsons of this and never believed cthirwlsa. Prom then on, Th-.. Robinson-Stark feud was on.
When Robinson planned Othello as the next major
production of the American Theatre v'ith Stark and Thorne as
the principal characters, dlsngreemont ai'ose as to who should
play I ago and who the .title role. The Alta California of
November 28 sc.ys:
"Owing to some professional misunderst inding between Messrs. Stark and Thorne, the play of
94
'Othollo,' v;hich v/as put upon the bills, was not playou, Instead of virhich, the comedy 'Honey Moon' was p&rfonned. ' ''
In th3 int-irim. Stark must have been approached by the Jenny Liud mraipgendnt for, on Nover.iber 27, a bonei''it was performed th-^re Tor Stark with himself as King Lear. Stark was no longer "c.aoked v/ith lack of uttermce" in gratitude to Dr. Robinson,
On December 15, the Arasrlcm Theatre produced Maaeppa with C, d. Thome in the starrin-? role. In the after- piece of the double-f-j...ture show. Dr. ^loMnson made a hit as Charles Freeheart in The Reformed Drankard but it was, in general, a losing fight for theatrical supremacy against Tom Magulre,
By Christmas of that year, Robinson had assiasned full control of the Americf..n Theatre, Wiesenthall vi/as no longer connected v;ith the enterprise, V7ith the reduction cf the Jenny Lind prices (an in^iovation set by Dr. Robinson which boomoranged) on i^ebruary 9, Robinson vms finally forced to admit defeat. Ton days later, ho ^ave a I'iaal p^rform- aiice featuring himself, at the conclusion of which, his son Charles, indirectly the cause of his decline, dressed in the memorable red suit, sang "Nary a Red, Nary a Red." Following the performance, Robinson entertain^^d friends and fellov; workers of the Ar.ierican Theatre at a champagne dinner at his Telegraph Hill home.
95
TSLE3RAPH HILL HOME
He remained on the outskirts of the theatrical pro- fession even while talcing no active part in the entertainment world. His hon.e at 9 Calhoun Place was always popular vifith the members oi' his profession.
Even as late as 1917, the fame of his home still
lived, for the Bulletin of January 27 carried a story by
Pauline Jacobson illustrated with a photograph of the house.
A caption over the photo read "Historic house whore the
Booths spent pleastint hours." The stor^ continued:
"The heme of Dr. 'Yanlcee' Robinson still stands at No. 9 Calhoun Street, on Telet2,raph Hill. In the fifties it was a rendezvous for msr.y of the talented mon, among them the great tragedian, Edwin Booth, v/ho found inspiration in the vir- ile life of the California pioneers.
"Dr. Robinson's house still stands as the i-ise of the ground put it beyond the flame e of 190S. It still bears the pioneer numbering, crudely painted, in white 'No. 9' on the facade of the gateway. It Is a two story gabled frame house with a garden and trees--& palatial hone for that period when liomber was high and labor even more so. The house fronts the sea, in command of a most magnificent sweep of the bay, to three points of the compass.
"And Charles Robinson, the artist, son of Dr. Robinson, tells me that the house of 'June' Booth was of much the sane order. They each bought a f if ty-vara-;J- lot and each built a home of much the same style and dimensions. The Booth home has been but recently toi-n down to make v/sy for an Imposing modern structure in the rear of the lot. The front of both lots has been undermined, and Sansome Street at this point has entirely disappeared, ov^lng to the cruTiibling away of the hill."
»-Vara- Spanish yard; equivalent to 33.5 inches,
96
Besides the Booths, his other neighbors incliided Mrs. Crabtree and h^r smr.ll Jqughter Lotta, Sophie ICdwin, end Mrs. Stark, j'irs. Judah, the GrtJid Old '.Vor.ian of the California sta^e, was always a welcome .-^u-est at hxs hom-d. Lola Ilontez clso stayed v/ith Dr. Robinson on her arrival in San Fi^anGiaco.
R03IKS0N - LAGUIKS aSCONCILIATION Vliliilc tho- gonial doctor's pr^sti^ci was declining, J/^aguire's fortxines had been niore f avorajlo . 'lith young Junius Booth as manager, and featuring the Chapinans, tho San r'ran- cisco Thc^atre v/as now the premier t'/eati^'e in the city after which it was named, Ka.'pAxre -.vas too good a shovvinan to allovif any personal differences in the pant to keep sucn an attrac- tion as Doc Robinson off his stage. The Golden -3ra, J.-muary 2, 1853, I'eported anri predicted;
"The company here (the San Francisco Theatre) has recently had an acquisition In the person of the far-famed Dr. Robinson. He will sing a new aid pop\:lar song
"This must render the San Francisco Hall uiider the maiiagement of Chapman aid Booth one of the most popular places of amusements in the city."
And so it proved.
Magulre was a clever manager — and at heai'-t a gentleman, K-iowing that Robinson would turn dov.Ti an offer of a mere job, he, Maguire, had given Robinson a chance to save face. The approach was this: Signer Tremendous of the com- pany had left unexpectedly for New York, leaving an open spot in the cast which had to be filled; would Dr. Robinson as an
97
old trouper, knowing that "the show luiist go on," fill in that
spot to help Ivla^^ulre and the cast? Di-. j.'^oh.inson would -- and
did.
He opened on the first V/ednesday in January and,
leported the Golden L^ra, presented
"...a 'bran new' song of some lenth, but being sonievifhat out of voice, he could r,et through with only a portion of lt--forty-six verses. The Doctor, however, luade a hit on thj-s,as he has on all occasions.
''V/e understand that tlie Doctor would not have accepted the engar.erriexit had It not been for the void created by the depo.rturo of Signer Tremen- dous....The Doctor certainly'" deserves groat credit for thus timely jujnpinj:; lr±o the breach i'
On January 16, he jp peered in the comedy of All^ Is
Hot Gold That Glitters much to the surprise of the Golden
Era critic who reported with sor^e amazeinont that
"...The Doctoi', for once in his life, cast aside the role of comicality and gave us a new proof of his versatility as Jasper Plu.n."
But the exuberant Doctor was not happy appearing in plays and reading lines that soraeone elae had written. He in- sisted on appearing only between the curtains oi' as an after- piece with his own songs, cad I'aguire acquiesced. The Golden Era, February 6, 1855, mentioned one of the benefit perform- ances for Dr. Robinson at which he presented a new song:
"On I'.londay night the inimitable Dr. took vdiat he hiomorously called one of his farewell bene- fits on which occasion he apr)eared in a nev/ song v/hich was received with much laughter at the er.pense of our 'city fathers'."
The San Francisco Hall becajae one of the most
98
Igorous theatres of the nation. Orf-iring & continually .langlng pro3x>ain ox" Shake spsaro to burle tiq- e , concerts to ac- Dbatics, to v.hich Dr. Robinson added as an afterpiece his 3W pererjTiial favorites, the ''Old Urabrella," "Random Rh;;,.Tne s , " .id other original songs, the San Francisco 'lall ni^.ht after ight hung out S. R. 0, (standing, room only) signs....
C0MII;G of LOLA MOKTl^Z
Then Lola liontez car. e to San Francisco, pi'eceded by glamourous and intriguing story of her past she became an ttractlon by herself wh.1ch eclipsed the box-office appeal of 10 joint stars 3f the San Frai cisco Hall, In a spirit of rofessional rivalry, the cast of the San Francisco Hall re- 3nted the adulation heaped tipon this exotic dancer and mime ppearing at the AnierlcarL Theatre,
From the cast at the San Francisco Theatre, Dr. Dblnson and Caroline Chapman attended a performance of aritana in which Lola took three partst These two re- orseless satirists went out to supper after the play and Dllaborated on a burlesqae which v/as qi ickly whipped into lape and produced the next night at their theatre. Caroline tiapman went Lola four better by taking seven parts in the proarious skit, The Actress of All Vtork.
Lola then presented a,i autobiographical play desl- ng with her adventures in Airope . Dr. Robinson and Caroline bapman comitered with Lola Iviontez in Bay aria, a broad bur- esque and a lively extravaganza.
99
Wow Lola's piece de resl stmi'''e was her famous Spi- der Dniice in yvhich she i..ipfcrsonated in dance foriu, a woi.ian shalclng spiders offaor dross, finally, Dr. Robinson finish- ed tho script for a three-act burlesque called Wio ' s Get Th_e Cov.ntGss in which ever^ innuendo -tinted r''Ji.ior of Lola's past was exaggerated into high roliaf, and in which tht subtle and veil3d indelicacies of her spider da-ice were turned into the bold sexy gyratxons of a sti-umpet under the su3^sstive title of "Spy-dear."
ORIGINAL r.IONTEZ BURLt^SyJE
Caroline Chapman accepted the part with zest, A thin, awkward showboat product but a darin;;' and accomplished comedienne, she made up in vivacity and personality all that she lacked in grace and beauty. Whether her eagerness to burlesque the beauty and grace of Lola was a desii-e to belit- tle or whether she appreciated the comedy value of the part i s prohlemat i c al ,
However, the play was a great success, the Golden
Era of June 26 congratulating Dr. Robinson
"upon producing tho first successful original piece in California..."
but feeling that the Spider or ='Spy-dear" Dance was laid on "a loetle too thick."
The Herald, championing Lola, was much more indig- nant. It described the piece as
"...an exceedingly coarse and vulgar attack up- on one who, vrtiatevar her faults aid foibles may
100
have been, has proved herself a noble-hearted and generous woman... a vulgar representation of her manners and behavior, a ridiculous carica- ture of her person and a coarse exaggeration of her peculiarities."
A more critical review is that which appeared in
the Daily Alta California;
"A new local burlesque and extravaganza has been played at the San Francisco Theptre during the past week, vi/ritten by Dr. Kcbinscn. Crowds of persons have been to see it, and it has been the gossip of the theatre-going public since S; was put on the stage. It is a hit at the engagement ?Jid appsc.ranct. -Lncng us of ^ cele- brated personage, and contains a fev; clever al- lusions. The clevar merit consists in the ad- mirable personation of I.Ir, and Miss Chapman of a prominent theatrical gentleman and the nota- ble in question. The plot of the piece — if it may be called a plot--i3 very ndserably arrang- ed and the dialogue lacking in v/it, point, ap- propriateness pnd even common sense, and is, to drown all, bunglingly arranged in bad rhyme. There are on$ or two very happy lines, hovifever, and ludicrous surprises, v/hich together with • the dance by Mr. Chapman ... arid Miss Caroline's imitations before mentioned, redeem, the; piece and have even made it popular. The theatre has been crowded every night, and the burlesque re- ceived shouts of laughter."
A few days later, the same critic, still unfavora- bly disposed to the burlesque but immensely entertained by Dr. Robinson, comraentsd on the popularity of the theatre:
"There was a crowd last night at the 3an Fran- cisco Theatre. A new song by Dr. Robinson brought down the house repeatedly, being as full of local hits as it -.vas destitute of pootry. It \vas the most entertaining part of the evening's performances, however, and we propose to take a little credit to ourselves, for it would seem our criticisms of tii^; bv,,r- lesque 'V.ho's Got the Countess?' drew it out. The song was v/ell put, though we must adhere to our opinion that the play is without reason and would be better without rhyme."
101
Lola could not. understand this seaminirly derogatory attack on lisr. She had cta7:-.d with the Robinsons on her ar- rival In San Francisco and Mra. Robinson, disapproving as she- v\?as of t}*e theatre, had taken kindly to Lola and had even helped he^v sew the rubber spiders on Lola's donclns costume. Lola asked Dr. Robinson for an explanation of this satire on her and was on svi^ered by a theatrical paraphrasing^ of an old bromide: "linitatlon is the sincerest form of flattery,"
Nevertheless, the piece proved a splendid drawing card for several weeks aa d '/as subsequently presented as an afterpioce on changing bills. Eventually, the farce included the whole cast of the Amerlcpji Theatre, not forgetting the prompter -- a daring dig at Lola's i-eputed inability to learn her lines. While there is -lo evidence to bear out the con- tention of Dr. Robinson and Caroline Ch-.pman that they were instrumental in driving Lola off the boards, Lola did annoiince her withdrawal from the stage. A few weeks later, she married a San Franciscan,
MANAGES sua ROBIKSOH The story of Dr. Robinson's success In San Francisco began filtering its way bs ok East, and like a lodestone, it drew the eyes and ambitions of the large Robinson family to- wards the new country. A^nong those who finally ca:ne out to San Francisco was Sue Robinson, a child at that time of about' four or five.
102
Thuu^n thej bore the sam3 surnarae Dr. iiobinson and Sue were nob related, according to the aoctor's granddaughter, Lillian, Hov/ever, Sue, on her arrival in San B'rancisco
lived with Dr, i^obinson in the New England house he nad built among the dramatic colony then flourishing on Telegraph Hill, The doctor quickly discerned in this young girl a certain aptitude for the st^ge. After coaching her and putting her through a short period of training, he decided to capitalise on the popularity of child stars in the outer regions,
Comcidentally , shortly after the departure of Lola I/Iontes to Australia with her husband, the American Theatre was forced to close for a time. The cast of the San Francisco decided to taV.;e advantage of this period of inactivity in the competitive theatrical whirl of the city and to make tours through the mining regions. The Chapmans left first. Later, Dr, Robinson and his young protege, Sue Robinson, also de- parted for the r:iines.
After a wholly satisfactory and remunerative tour of Grass Valley, Nevada Citj and other mining to'vns, the Robinsons returned to San Francisco,
NEW AND ORIGINAL BURLESQUE In late August, Dr , Robinson, perhaps encouraged by the success of his Monte z burlesque and financially replen- ished by his tour, presented at the San Francisco Theatre his new and original burlesque, California -~ Past, Present and Future. Intended originally as an historical panorama, it deeply impressed the critics of that time. The Golden Era, August 28 wrote :
103
"Dr. Robinson, who has shown himself to be an author as well as an actor^ has succeeded, in producing upon the boards of the San Pranclsco Theatre, a play which, if we are not mistaken, will have a more successful run than anything ever brought out in Calif ornia© The title, 'Cal- if ornia--Past, Present and Future' is the most apxjropriate that could have been selected while the plot and language cprry with them much that is pleasing to those v;ho have witnessed the vicissitudes of life in California*"
He had intended this to be an historical panorama in the grand style, and the play gained fame and special lustre later when Cawtain Sutter was added to the cast to imperson- ate himself. The Golden Era continued:
"The piece improves on each presentation, and if properly cared for by those engaged in its performance, we predict for the San Francisco Theatre, a succession of the most crov/ded audi- ences ever congregated in a San Francisco theatre , ''
But the early training under the great Barnum, plua the demands of the public, quickly erased the serious aspects of the play. The pageant became more and more humorous and Dr. Robinson was busy continually padding it with topical al- lusions and extraneous skits. He added a burlesque on the subject of woman's rights,' he wrote in a part about a boy who had accidentally gone up in a balloon and had it floated over
the bay.
Finally, Dr. Robinson v;as replaced at the San Francisco Theatre by a minstrel troupe. But he would never give up his original plan for his dramatic pageant; he clung tenaciously to his desire to produce it seriously. It became the one great wish of his life, but he Imew that it could never be revived in San Francisco -- it had to be taken elsewhere.
105
Even as late as 191G, he was still a vivid figure
in the memories of early San Franciscans. Pauline Jacobson,
in her article titled "Classics Echo in Toasts of the
Argonauts," the San Francisco Bulletin, April 15, 1916, in
which she wrote ahout early days on Montgomery Street, said:
"Here in these chairs sat groat lav/yers and orators, iiho , \/hon they had an address to make, cariie here to talk it over and try it out v;ith a few friends. For the saloon was a great forura and theatre as \/ell. Here the poet recited his verse, the actor tried his lines, the orator his speech. Nor did men in those days, when they had a speech to make, go to the encyclope- dia, as men do today. Everybody knev>: the clas- sics; his Homer, his Virgil and his Shakespeare.
"And here sat Dr. Robinson--Yankee Robinson called--the father of Charles Dorman Robinson, dean of the artists, and the only one today who was present when California was admitted into the Union. Dr. Robinson founded the first the- atre. He v;as a poet as well. His 'Random Khyrae s , ' satirizing the municipal officers, and which were given on his own stage, gained him such great popularity that he was made alderman and vi;as named as the most popular candidate for Mayor . "
Dr. Robinson left behind him a stage that was so virile that subsequent weak casts, theatrical squabblings and poor management could not kill it. The tradition of the lusty theatre and the title of "Dr." still remain as nostal- gic memorEtbilia of the colorful, exciting, virile and pas- sionate theatre and actors of Forty-Nine.
106
DAVID G. (YANKEE) ROBINSON ADDENDA
Miss Lillian M, Robinson, granddaughter of the pioneer shov/man, virho lives in San Rafael, graciously granted this project a personal interview. As a result much in- formation hitherto unavailable in spite of indefatigable re- search was disclosed; much that was confused about Dr. Robin- son's early years has been straightened out| and much that had been accepted as true has been found wanting.
Charles Dorman Robinson, only child of Dr. Robin- son and father of Lillian, v;?as an eminent personality in his own right, being one of California's famed painters. Before his death he gathered together much material about his father, made copious notes, all with the intention of writing when he found the leisure an accurate account of his and his father's lives. He died before this plan reached more than the material-gathering stage. However, Miss Robinson had several books dealing with early California in which her father had made voluminous marginal notes, pointing out the inaccuracies of the respective authors. From Miss Robinson this project secured the facts concsrning the doctor's early life and presents them here for the first time in print,
Dr= Robinson's wife and young son, Charles Dorman, then only two or three years old, came to San Francisco from Monmouth^ Maine, after the doctor had his pharmacy so well started that there would be no danger that the family would find
106£
Itself economically stranded in this new and wild country. Mrso Robinson became an actress, said her granddaughter, and a very good one although she always detested the stage (page 101) . It was not long before she told her husband that she "was through virith the stage" but she did nothing to hinder him from his many theatrical activities. "In fact," Lillian Robinson reports, "she was such an Immaculate housekeeper and cooked so excellently that her home was continually filled with actors and actresses, many of whom remained for long periods of time," (pages 94, 95, 96)
Although a fund of research material available to the project shows that Dr. Robinson managed the child acSi- "tress, Sue Robinson, nothing ever indicated that she was re- lated to the doctor (pages 101, 102), Lillian Robinson states emphatically that neither Sue nor Fayette Lodawick "Yankee" Robinson-;;- were relatives. "In fact," she said, "this is the first I've ever heard of them,"
Dr. Robinson's death In Mobile, Alabama, in 1856
Fayette Lodawick Robinson, also called "Yankee" as was Dr. Robinson, had other points of similarity which often con- fused chroniclers of early theatrical history. Fayette was a showman of much the same type as David, playing Yankee parts, exhibiting Scriptural paintings which he transported from town to town in a one-horse wagon, and erecting a tent at Rock Island, Illinois, which he called the "Robinson Athenaeiim" where he played The Drunkard and other similar pieces. T, Allston Brown in his History of the American Stage (Dick and Fitzgerald, New York, 1870) states that Fayette was "a direct lineal descendant of Dr. Robinson, the eminent divine, vifho came to this country in the May- flower." (see page 73 in monograph) But Fayette Lodawick Robinson was born near Avon Mineral Springs, Livingston County, New York, May 2, 1818=
106b
was tragic (page 105). An epidemic of yellow fever viras svireeping the seaports of the Southern states. Passengers and crew on the ship, on v/hich Dr. Robinson v/as carrying his high hopes to the cast, v;ere afflicted. Dr. Robinson was not exempt from the great plague. Vifhcn he died in Mobile, deaths wore so nxxmcrous that bodies were immediately buried and de- stroyed in quickllm_e graves and no records were kept of the burial place. Only the briefest indentlf ication records were kept.
For months Mrs. Robinson and Charles v/aited in San Francisco for word from the far-distant husband and father. The son became bitter towards his father and alv^ays resented the manner in which his father had left the family in San Francisco while he went east to try his luck. Finally word trickled back to the Pacific Coast of Dr. Robinson's death. Charles and his mother sold their Telegraph Hill home at 9 Calhoun Place (page 95) and in about 1860 or 1862 settled in Vermont.
Subsequently, said Lillian Robinson, it was found that Dr. Robinson had taken his manuscripts of plays, among them The Reformed Dr^onkard, with him. These were stolen from his belongings on his death and The Reformed Drunkard appear- ed later in Atlantic cities as a re-vamped play called Ten Nights in a Bar-Room (see pages 78, 79 in monograph).
For the play California--Past, Present and Future which was the piece do resistance that he was taking east, he
106c
had a backdrop showing a bridge across San Francisco Bay (pages 103, 104). His may have been the original idea for the present San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
According to Miss Robinson, her father, Charles Dorman Robinson, felt quite bitter toward Dr. Robinson for his seeming desertion of his family, but, on the other hand, v;as far more wrathful with writers of books of that period in San PranclscOo His caustic marginalia in which ho defends his father from what he thought to be ridicule shows that he was not so much incensed at his father as at the fact that his father's acts which seemingly lacked dignity should be historically made public.
In one of his annotations, it is stated that Dr. Robinson built the Adelphi Theatre .(page 88). No evidence has been uncovered other than to show that Dr. Robinson and Wiesenthall leased this French Theatre to give the English productions there.
"It is all false," says Charles in referring to the story of the early days of the Dramatic Museum and Dr. Robin- son's popularity (pages 75, 76, 77). In this opinion, he runs counter to Constance Rourke ' s Troupers of the Gold Coast, Catherine Coffin Phillips' Portsmouth Plaza, The Cradle of San Francisco, and to contemporary newspaper accounts.
"False," notes Ghsrles tersely about the champagne dinner for the American Theatre company and crew (page 94) at his Telegraph Hill home after the doctor was forced to give
106d
up the theatre. But what else would the genial, friendly Dr. Robinson have done -- gone off by himself to mope? He re- mained strictly in character in this act of good fellowship. The Doc was what a public figure of great popular- ity and with hosts of friends in those days had to be: genial, warm-hearted, never standing on dignity, quick-witted and ready in repartee, and with the daring and initiative of a pioneer. It was Dr. Robinson and men like him that built the theatre in San Francisco. This city owes much to him and will always revere him for what he was, not for posthu- mous dignity which makes a man a mere bronze statue sitting forgotten in some nook of the city.
107
DR. DAVID g. (YANKEE) ROBINSOIJ Representative parts taken by Dr. Robinson
Date
Role
|
1850 |
Seth Slopes |
|
Hezekiah Picker all |
|
|
Charles |
|
|
1851 |
Charles Freeheart |
|
Captain Copp |
|
|
1853 |
Jasper Plum |
Play Seeing the Elephant Yankee stories and songs The Jew and the Doctor The Reformed Drunkard Charles II or Merry Monarch All is Not Gold That Glitters
THEATRES ASSOCIATED WITH DR. ROBINSON
Name Small audience hall
Name unknown. Dramatic Museum
New Adelphl Ajnerican
BIBLIOGRAPHY OP DR. ROBINSON'S WORKS
Date 1849
1850
1851
1852
Name
The Old Umbrella Used Up Miner The Victim Reformed Drunkard Ten Nights in a Used Up Man Burlesque of Hamlet Nary a Red, Nary a Red Random Rhymes Who's Got the Coxintess?
Position Builder, manager
Builder, co-manager i.vith
James Evrard Builder, co-manager virith
Wiesenthall Builder, manager
Classification
(later renamed Bar Room.)
California -- Past,
and Future Used Up Alderman
Present
Song and pantomime
Ballad
Melodrama
Melodrama
Musical Comedy
Burlesque
Song
Song
Burlesque
Burlesque Song
act
PLAYS ADAPTED TO THE SAN FRANCISCO SCENE BY DR. ROBINSON
Name
Actress of All Work
Did You Ever Send Your Wife
to Caberwell? (San Jose) Wanted- -1000 Young Milliners Seeing the Elephant Woman's Rights, or Sleep
100
Author William Oxberry Joseph Coyne
Joseph Coyne
of
years
Buy It, Dear I
Yellow Dwarf
Ins and Outs or Devil at
Corsican (Coarse-haired)
It's Made of Cashmere
the Election Brothers
lo:
DR. DAVID G, (YANKEE) ROBINSON EIBLlCaR/'iPtiy
Foster, Lois :1. Annals of t".ie San Francisco 3ta^£,e
(Mss. unpub.," Federal Theatre, San Fi'ancisco, 1S37)
Leavitt, I.:. 3. Fifty Years in Theatric^al iViana^jeirient
(Broadway Publishin'^ Co.',"New York", N.Y.,'l912)
Leman, V/alter M. Memories of an 010. Actor
(A. i^oman Co., San Fran c'isoo , l6B6)
Lloyd, Benjamin Estelle. Lights and Shades in San Francisco (A. L. Bancroft and Co., San Fraiicisco, 137 6)
Rourke, Constance. Troupers of the c^old Coast
(Karcourt, Brace and' Co . , I,ew"^fork, H.Y. 1928)
Phillips, Catherine Coffin, Portsmouth Plaza
(Joiui P^enry Nash, San Francisco, 1932)
Ng'7 3PAPBRS AND PERIODICALS
The Bulletin; April 15, 1916; 4an. 27, Feb. 5, 1917.
Daily Evening Bulletins Juno 17, 1856.
Daily Alta California; June 15; Sept. 2; Nov. 4, 1850.
Golden Era; Jan. 2, 3, 9; June 26; Aug. 29, 1853; June 17, 1856 ,
Evening Picayune: Aug. v, 9, 13, 16, 19, 20, 22, 29; Sept.
2, I, ^1 , 9, 13, 25, 30; 0:t. 11, 16, 25; Nov. 4, 6,
7, 9, 11, 15, 16, 17, 20, 2d; Dec. 4, b, 10, 11,51, 1850; Jan. 2, 4, 9, 10, 20; Feo. 4, 12, 13, 14, 18, 25; Mar. 4; Aoril 11, 12, 16, 19, 22; Aug. 2, d, 9, 15, 19, 25, 29, 30; Sept. 16, 20, 1851.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MICHAEL M. LEAVITT — (1843 - 1935)
PAGES
Actor-Manager and Father of Vaudeville «..*•.. 109-142
Genesis of Vaudeville • .....«...• 110
Moppet Impresario and Actor 112
A Start m Earnest . 113
Branching out — on Tour ..•*.*... 116
A Series of Adventures ......... 119
En Route to the ^Yest 123
Variety, Burlesque end Vaudeville. ......... 125
Established in San Francisco 127
Success pjid Affluence 130
Retires from San Frr.ncisco after 20 year? . .o . . • 136
Some of his Business Associates ...« 140
Booking Managers who Worked for Leavitt « 140
Performers and Companies Mcjaagod by Leavitt, .... 141-143
Theatres Managed or Leased by Letivitt ........ 143
Press Agents who V/orked for Leavxtt 144
EiMiot-raj^lxy. • . . 145
Newspapers anu Periodicals, , 145
MICHAEL B. LEAVITT 1843 - 1935
PHOTO FROM "FIFTY YEARS OF THEATRICAL MANAGEIVIENT"
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110
repertoire before the dramatic s ason came to a close.
But then carae the days when the public tired of the old stand-bys. Shakespeare waj good drama but it palled on the surfeited public; stock coi lanys were composed of good actors but even good actors, thi audience discovered, invari- ably had the same faces and le same voices regardless of roles essayed. Burlesques, va: .ety shows, minstrels, circus- es, magicians, song and dance te is, acrobats, dancers and dia- lect comedians -- all used prev )usly as light after-pieces-- now became the headliners and r
GENESIS OF
jeived ton billing.
\UDEVILLE
Theatre managers, th n, found it necessary to de- vote their full time purely to asiness, managerial and book- ing agent duties. Vaudeville, as we know it today; circuits, in their present form, and sync cates, in all their ramifica-
tion, were all unknown. Thus Each theatre manager had to \ found that, in order to be at patrons a varied and interestii to go into the field and sigi vicinity, pay their fare to his publicity; and if their a
arose an immediate problem.
his ovm talent scout. He e to continually offer his
program, he necessarily had up performing troupes in his heatre, arrange playing dates ,s were not long enough to make
iplete bill, an addltio: a troupe was required, entall-
^pllcity of work and jbvious ansv/er -
confusion. the present form of vaudeville
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ntral bookingfcff ice -- was slow in coming.
'w\ ii( 'm
109
MICHAEL B» LEAVITT Actor-Manager and Father of Vaudeville
The Golden Age of the theatre in San Francisco was the period in which the resident rnana^,er was in his hey-day. And in those days the manager rolled tip his sleeves and took care of every detail of all productions at his theatre, for, during that period, the manager was everything — book- ing agent, press agent, stage manager, theatre manager, direct- or and, usually in addition, the star of the company.
In the theatres devoted to the production of legit- imate drama, this worked little hardship. Actors, depending on their position in the sock and buskin hierarchy,-;;- were fa- miliar with the roles in their respective category in the thirty or more standard plays included in every legitimate theatre repertoire. The theatre's stock company was complete from star down to the second comedian and spear-bearer. The termination of a play's run was not the end of the season — the season was long and the company ran through its full
-;;-See monograph on John McCullough
110
repertolro before the dramatic season came to a close.
But then came the days when the public tired of the old stand-bys. Shakespeare was good drama but it palled on the surfeited public; stock companys were composed of good actors but even good actors, the audience discovered, invari- ably had the same faces and the same voices regardless of roles essayed. Burlesques, variety shows, minstrels, circus- es, magicians, song and dance teams, acrobats, dancers and dia- lect comedians -- all used previously as light af ter-pieces-- now became the headliners and received ton billing.
GENESIS OF VAUDEVILLE
Theatre managers, then, found it necessary to de- vote their full time purely to business, managerial and book- ing agent duties. Vaudeville, as we know it today; circuits, in their present form, and syndicates, in all their ramifica- tion, were all unknown. Thus, arose an immediate problem. Each theatre manager had to be his own talent scout. He found that, in order to be able to continually offer his patrons a varied and interesting program, he necessarily had to go into the field and sign up performing troupes in his vicinity, pay their fare to his theatre, arrange playing dates and publicity; and if their act^ were not long enough to make up a complete bill, an additional troupe was required, entail- ing a multiplicity of work and confusion.
The obvious answer -- the present form of vaudeville circuit with a central booking office -- was slow in coming.
Ill
That it did come, however, was due largely to the business acumen of one man -nYxo died a millionaire as a result of his perspicacity,
Mr. M.B.Leavitt, the founder of t he theatrical cir- cuit and the first agent to have a Nev/ York home office for booking Pacific Coast tours, was born in Posen, West Prussia on June 25, 1843 and was brought to this country when a little over a year old by his parents. They made their first home in Boston, Massachusetts, later moving to Bangor, Maine, and again to Hartford, Connecticut, To this continual traveling in his early days, he attributes the "spirit of adventure which has impelled me to visit all parts of the v/orld."-;;-
"This first manifested itself (he continues) v/hen I v/as about five years of age, and strayed away from home to run to a fire like older per- sons in the neighborhood, A g\iardian of the peace picked me up and led me to a house on SudbLiry Street, Boston, v^fhere there v/as a tem- porary lodging for lost youngsters. The place was full at the time, and I had to sleep with one of the attendants, while the tovm crier (Sam. Edwards by name), ringing a large bell, walked through the streets, shouting 'Child lostj ' and giving descriptions of those picked up. In a day or two my father came, and car- ried me home on his shoulders and earnestly placed me across his knee. I remember this latter part of the proceedings more vividly than all the rest."
When Leavltt was seven years old he matriculated at the Tyler Street School, Boston, where he was a prize pupil, being fond of books and able to assimilate the lessons read- ily. As one of the talented pupils, he was chosen to recite
-:;-M.B.Leavitt, Fifty Years of Theatrical Management, p.l
112
for the edification of Louis HosGutli v/hen the "Magyar Patriot" visited the school one day. The piece selected for reading was Bingen on the Rhine, and at its conclusion the honor guest patted Leavitt on the head and complimented him.
MOPPET IMPRESARIO AMD ACTOR
In 1852, when Leavitt was nine years old, the family moved to Bangor, Here he continued his schooling; and it was here where he began to develop tendencies toward the stage. He organized a minstrel and drama corps among his friends and many performances viere given -- most of them creditable. He fitted up a miniature theatre in the barn v/ith curtains, footlights, and some scenery -- all of vhich he loaned, at one time or another, to visiting touring troupes.
The reputation he built up in this self-initiated stage gave him the entree to the various troupes which came to tovm. He became familiar v/ith the managers and constitut- ed himself a coramittee of one to carry the champagne baskets in which the wardrobe was transported. When the Wm.B. English company played Bangor, (and it was the custom in those days to pick a local friend of the theatre manager to fill in minor child roles rather than carry a youngster along with them onthe road), Leavitt was picked as the logical one to fill this role in the cast. He made his stage debut as the child in The Stranger and as the young Duke of York in Richard III.
When Andrew Macallister, "The Great Macallister, " brought his magical entertainments to Bangor, Leavitt acted as
113
his assistant, rehearsing such feats as being shot out of a cannon and being run through with swords while inside a bas- ket. His father being engaged in mercantile pursuits which occasionally necessitated his going to New York, took Leavitt on one of these trips. Here he saw the first appearance in America of the great French actress, Mme, Rachel, at the Met- ropolitan Theatre, At this time he was twelve years old. What delighted Leavitt most on his stay in the great metropolis was his visit to Barnum's Museum at the corner of Broadway and Ann Streets. Barnum was presenting an excel- lent stock company, giving two performances a day in "The Lecture Room" of the museum. This visit to New York crys- tallized Leavitt 's desire to make the stage his career.
A START IN EARNEST
At the age of thirteen, after making up his mind to pursue a theatrical career, he began considering what branch of the profession he would follow. He had already developed a fair singing voice, and had learned to play t he piano, banjo, bones and tambourine, could dance a jig spiritedly if not ex- cellently, and harbored the idea that he could compose songs. He had a mania for oratory and thought at first that he would be a tragedian but after prolonged consideration settled on minstrelsy as having the best opportunities — a wise choice.
About this time, his parents moved again -- this time to Hartford, Connecticut, and in spite of school work, he found time to acquaint himself with the theatres and the
114
managers of his new home town. He organized his first min- strel company here and played in that city and in the outly- ing villages. Of his myriad duties as the organizer and manager of this band of performers, he says:-"-
"On the road I had been in the habit of going ahead of the company to the different towns, as agent, and returning at night to appear as prin- cipal end man and comedian, taking an active part in more than half of the performance. I contributed solos with the bones and tambourine, a burlesque stump speech, a big-shoe song and dance, the comedy character in the sketch A Ghost in a Pavmshop, and a part in the 'walk- around, ' which was the finale, participated in by the entire company."
He thought so highly of this company that he was anxious to play in Boston itself, and did so in 1859, at Bumstead Hall on Tremont Street, where he played for two nights.
By 1860, although only seventeen years old,Leavitt had a wide working knowledge of management, and gathered an excellent troupe of variety and minstrel performers. With this company, he toured the New England states and the British provinces of north-eastern Canada, Chartering a sailing ves- sel in Boston, the troupe sailed for Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, The skipper had promised to make the trip in less than tweriy- four hours but outside of the harbor, when just within sight of the village, the ship was becalmed and the company had to live for two days on salt pork and hardtack.
:-ibid, p. 73
115
With the first night's receipts from a full house at Ryerson's Hall in Yarmouth, Leavltt bought a used Concord coach and a team of horses, thus settling his transportation problem. The company consisted of tvelve members, all ver- satile — five for the orchestra, a small brass band for pa- rades, a quartette and the necessary comedians, dancers and specialty performers -- all doubling, at least, if not trip- ling their duties.
There were no advertising or publicity costs. When entering a town, the band would strike up a lively tune -- the music being so unusual that the entire populace would flock about — and that alone vi^as enough to advertise the show for that night. Leavitt, as manager, paid all expenses, includ- ing the hotel bills which averaged daily from sixty to seven- ty-five cents per capita.
Prom Yarmouth, the company played the seaport towns en route to Halifax. From Shelburne, they took open boats to Cape Sable Isle but the reception accorded them was well v/orth the inconvenience. The islanders crowded the hall, each carrying a lighted lantern through the dense fog, presenting a novel sight. The troupe toured the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. At Sydney, Cape Breton, where the inhabitants were mostly Scotch, Leavitt was greatly amused by overhearing a conversa- tion in which one townsman said to another, referring to the show: "Angus, be ye goin' to th' desturrbance, th» nlcht?"
116
BRANCHING OUT --ON TOUR
In 1861 Leavltt organized, the Leavltt's Sensation Combination Tx-oupe which he sent to Cape Cod, Martha's Vine- yard, Nantijck3t, and the manufacturing towns in the vicinity of Boston while hi? minstrels toured the larger cities and repeated the province tour, Leavitt helieved that he was the first manager to own and operate more thrn one company at the same time.
About this tine Leavitt was drafted for military service in the Union forces but complied virith the rules for providing a substitute (for a consideration) through Thomas J. Gargan, recruiting officer who, after the war, became a well- knov/n Boston politician and lawyer. Also, the second tour of the provinces being very remunerative, Leavitt had funds enough to make his initial venture in New York, Evidently it proved a failure, for the next v/eek Leavitt was in Wilming- ton, Delaware, as manager and principal performer for John Weaver, the Yankee comedian, who v;as about to open Odd Fellows Hall there as a variety theatre. His vneekly salary was fif- teen dollars but since he could live in luxury at the Indian Queen Hotel for three dollars a week, the ratio of income and expense was not disproportionate. And then, too, during the Civil War, Wilmington was a convalescing station for disabled Union officers. Cash was plentiful and audiences often showed their appreciation of good nerformances by shov/ering money upon the stage.
117 Annapolis, Maryland, was another city of the same type. Mart Lannan, proprietor of the National Hotel there, built a theatre and offered Leavltt the same job which he had been holding in Wilmington. Leavitt was here for several months, then left for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to direct the Theatre Comique, just opening there. The city was full of soldiers but business was sporadic, depending on the nature of war news. The Southern army was approaching uncomfortably near. One morning, the roar of cannons from the fields of Gettysburg, forty miles av;ay, so alarmed the people of Harris- burg that great numbers of them fled. Box office receipts had so depreciated that the theatre was closed.
Leavitt returned to Vifilmington and then rejoined the company at the Odd Fellows Hall for the rest of the sea- son, during which time the troupe frequently played a night or two at the Old Coates Street Theatre in Philadelphia, At the termination of this engagement Leavitt returned to New York and joined Bishop and Florence's Minstrels for a short time. While the company was on a tour of the Atlantic states the two Harding Brothers, red-hot Southerners, got into a vi- olent argument with some staunch Unionists in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. A mob quickly formed, thinking that the whole company were Secessionists, and although the entertainment passed off quietly enough, an attack was made upon the per- formers in their dressing rooms after the show, and many of them, to escape assault, jumped out of the windows.
The Harding Brothers were immediately discharged.
118
but distorted and highly colored versions of the V'/ilkesbarre incident preceded the company and ruined their business for the rest of the tour. Following the premature finish ofttie Bishop and Florence Minstrels, Leavitt returned to New York and was engaged as manager and principal performer of the Olympic Minstrels, backed by wealthy men in Paterson, New Jersey, The company was good, but the receipts were not fab- ulous enough for the "angels" and they soon retired but the troupe continued for a time on a cooperative basis.
Having no show of his own on the road in the summer of 1863, Leavitt joined Richard Sand's Circus as a clown and blacked up for the side show in the minstrel scene after the regular performance. For several years he followed this occupation during the summer months although the work was hard and the salary small. The circuses at that time tra\^- ed by wagon and in order to save the livestock as much as possible from the heat of the day, the start was made very early in the morning. This cut down the sleeping time to two or three hours a day. Moreover, all hands were compelled to turn out and v/alk v/henever a steep hill v/as encountered en their journey.
In 1864 he returned to Boston and assisted in the organization of Roberts and Wilson's Minstrels with such great names as Billy Emerson, Eph Horn, George Warren, James A. Barney, and Eugene Gorman answering the roll call of the cast . Leavitt was paired with Emerson as the end men. The company,
119
though a great sensation, proved too expensive to be profit- able. Salaries became Irregular and pay days farther and farther apart till finally, in Lewiston, Maine, the big brass band instruments, which had been a feature of the show and be- longed to the proprietors, were seized by the performers to satisfy their claims,
A SERIES OF ADVENTURES
Although only twenty-one, Leavitt was already more
than a minstrel, a circus clown and a manager. Song writing
was another of his achievements and he says:
"...led to my composing 'Little Footsteps,'
'The Cot Where the Old Folks Died,' 'Darling
Rosabel, ' 'We Miss Thee from Our Cottage Home, '
'Yes, I Will Write Thee From Home' (answer to
'Write Me a Letter from Home ') , 'The Little
Grave Under the Willow,' 'Susie Brown,' 'At a
Saturday Matinee,' 'The Mariner's Joy, ''Our
Little Humble Home,' 'Put My Little Shoes Away,'
and other sentimental ballads, as well as comic
ditties, published by Oliver Ditson, Boston,
which were sung all over the country and were
eagerly sought by leading minstrel artists.
"I was also at this period turning out some pretty fair 'Poems, ' which were readily accepted by the early magazines of Boston, In 1870, while in San Francisco, I disposed of upwards of twenty-five original lyrics to the leading music publishers, Sherman & Clay. In the early days of the civil conflict, I sang with my min- strel show, for the first time before the public, these war ballads, which became very popular: 'Dear Mother, I Have Come Home to Die,' 'Just Before the Battle, Mother, ' also the songs , 'The Wearing of the Green,' 'Pat Malloy, ' and the negro melodies, 'Young Eph's Lament,' 'Saucy Sam,' and 'The Union Cockade'."
The oil boom in Pennsylvania drew Leavitt next to
that section of the country where he managed and played in
120
hastily contrived "theatres" at Tltusvllle, Plthole and Pe- troleum Centre. , After a hectic time in the oil country, he returned to Boston and his minstrel career, re-engaging many of his former associates and some new ones. He took this company for a tour of the New England states.
The following season, in 1855, the Canadian prov- inces were covered by the company via Maine, After playing various cities. Including three nights at Bangor, Maine, the company went to Oldtown, a thriving lumber shipping center. On the morning of the performance there, Leavitt had been to Bangor to order some printing, and when the train pulled into Vesey (about midway betv;een the two points), he was astonish- ed to find his entire company congregated on the station plat- form. They had walked from Oldtown to head him off, and de- clared that during the rehearsal a number of Indians, under the influence of alcoholic liquor, entered the hall and began to break up the musical instruiments. Charles Laughton, the bass viol player (who later became Lieutenant Governor of Nevada), fought off the Indians with the aid of other members of the company until the police arrived.
The Oldtown scrimmage was so serious that the police had distributed revolvers to t he members of the cast. Under these circumstances, the minstrels had tramped all the way to Vesey to warn Leavitt. He persuaded them to return to Old- town and against the advice of the police and residents of the town they opened that night. The citizens, fearing an-
121
other outbreak, remained away; consequenbly no entertainment was given«
From Oldtown, then, the company went to St, Andrews, New Brunswick, where, hearing that lobster fishing was very fine, the entire company went fishing and made a great catch. They requisitioned the hotel kitchen, had the lobsters boiled, and consumed them with quantities of milk. It v/as an ex- tremely hot day, and the milk was nice and cool. That night, however, while in the dressing rooms blacking up for the eve- ning, the entire company was afflicted with ptomaine poison- ing. The local doctor, rushed hurriedly to the scene, came with a stomach puinp and afforded relief to the agonized troiipe. The curtain went up an hour and a half late but the audience, v;hich had learned the cause of the delay, waited good naturedly. It was fully a week before the amateur fish- ermen were recovered.
A few days later at Fredericton, New Brunswick, Leavitt remained in the hotel to pay the bill after their performance in that town while the rest of the company waited for him on board the steamer en route to St, John where they were scheduled to appear the next night. Suddenly the hotel proprietor informed Leavitt that the last whistle had just sounded. Leavitt made for the wharf and foimd the boat at least five feet out. He made a running leap, diving through the wide open window of the cook's galley, much to the amaze- ment of that functionary.
122
But this eventful trip was not yet over. After the provinces had been covered, the company headed down again to Maine, A steamer landed Leavltt at Eastport where they were to put on a tv/o night entertainment and he found the papers headlined with the story of the assassination of President Lincoln, No sooner had the gangplank been lowered than an ominous cry was raised by t he assembled townspeople. The Eastport citizens had noticed the resemblance of Leavltt to John Wilkes Booth and, the whereabouts of Booth being unknown as yet, had entertained serious doubts as to Leavltt 's identi- ty. The situation looked alarming as the crowd followed the company to the hotel but Leavltt went out on a verandah and made an explanation which seemingly was accepted, for no fur- ther disttirbance occurred.
Early in the winter of 1867, Leavltt reorganized his minstrel company and leased vi/illiams Hall, Boston, refitting it as a regular theatre. The opening was a great success. Leavltt, beside being the proprietor-manager, was also end man, playing the bones and cracking jokes. They had fine houses with good profits until the great snow of '67 which piled up to the windows of Williams Hall, twenty-five feet from the ground, and closed all the houses of entertainment
in Boston,
The Boston reputation of the show made it ideal for the road, so the following spring and summer the company toured the larger cape towns as far as Provincetown, dropping
123
in on the way at Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. On this trip, one morning, while driving along the road skirting the ocean from Harwich to Provincetown^ Leavitt saw his first whale, strandod on the beach,
EN ROUTE TO TH3 WEST
In 1868, after the close of a successful trip Leavitt made a visit to Nevi? York where he v/as induced by his friend R. M, Hooley, of Hooley's Minstrels, Brooklyn, New York, to join his company as substitute end man. During his second week, however, he accepted a position as manager and star of the Omaha Theatre Comique, nearing completion and shortly to be opened by Colonel Hanford, Omaha was a thriving railroad terminus and the theatre was packed nightly.
Leaving Omaha^jhe took his vaudeville company (among the earliest to cross the continent) westward, playing in such towns as Fremont, Julesburg, Cheyenne, Denver (by stage from Cheyenne to Denver) Laramie, Ogden,Salt Lake City, Elko, Reno, Virginia City, and all the other smaller towns on the rail- road line between Omaha and San Francisco. They played in Corinne, Nevada, now a ghost city, in the days v/hen it was a live, bustling town; and at Winnemucca, they played to an In- dian audience, that town being the headquarters of the old
Winnemucca tribe.
When this touring troupe of entertainers reached
Sacramento, in 1869, Sheridan Corbyn, an agent of Thomas
Maguire, the amusement magnate of the Pacific Coast, made a
124
special trip from San Francisco to urge Leavitt to join Maguire's big minstrel company. Leavitt was hesitant about succeeding Joseph Murphy, who v;as a prime San Francisco favorite, but Corbyn was so insistent that Leavitt finally consented and ended his own tour. The members of his troupe Iminediately began engagements in the numerous variety halls of San Francisco.
Leavitt 's salary was $175 a week — and he earned it. He played the bones as end man, sang a number of origi- nal songs, recited a burlesque stump speech, performed an old man's specialty number, and appeared with Ben Cotton, the tambourine end man, in a negro act called The Rival Hotel Run- ners. Some of the employees in the Washington Market, San Francisco, had formerly worked in Faneuil Hall Market in Bos- ton and, hearing that Leavitt was with the Maguire's Min- strels, turned out en masse to give their fellow townsman a rousing reception.
The minstrels played at the Washington Street Thea- tre but when The Black Crook was produced a t this house, for the first time in California, the minstrels were forced to move to Mozart Hall. Maguire, during this period, was hard up for cash and salaries were not paid regularly. Therefore, when they received an offer to do two New Year's Day shows in Sacramento (1870), they gladly consented, returning again to Mozart Hall. Since the management again failed to pay him on time, Leavitt accepted an offer to be stage manager and head- liner for a new variety theatre that was to be opened in
125
Virginia City, Nevada, He remained in Virginia City until the end of the season, then returning East,
VARIETY, BURLESQUE AND VAUDEVILLE For almost a decade, throughout the seventies, Leavitt was building a reputation as one of the shrewdest managers in the business. He made yearly trips to Europe to engage the best Continental sensations; he toured America, signing up theatres all over the country to shov/ his compa- nies; he had dozens of troupes traveling over as many differ- ent routes, controlled from his New York office. In spite of these myriads of managerial duties, Leavitt was never on the short end of any business deal, whether in contracts with performers or with theatre managers. On the contrary, he considered all deals a moral defeat in which the profits were proportionately or fairly distributed.
Not only in the matter of legal papers and contracts was Leavitt so shrewd. He knev/ his public and knew it well; and public meant but one thing to him -- box-office receipts. When he, as a young man, decided against the legitimate stage, he turned to the lighter type of entertainment lock, stock and barrel*. And during his ascendancy to his peak as a man- ager, the legitimate drama was on the decline. By this for- tunate coincidence, Leavitt found his path beset with but few trifling obstacles -- and these served only to produce a sal- utary effect on his box-office.
In 1879, Leavitt brought a combination of Rentz's
126
Female Minstrels and Mabel Santley's English Burlesque
Troupe — a glorified leg-show — to the Standard Theatre,
San Francisco, on February 17. The San Francisco Call of
February 18, 1879 described them as:
"Hearty-looking girls, of the English type sug- gesting roast-beef and Yorkshire pudding with a 'drop of porter'; but their mental development appears to be in inverse ratio to their physi- cal."
The performances of this forerunner of the "beef- trust" or what is known now as "girlesque" was, presumably, and naturally so, in direct ratio to their mental and physi- cal development. Subtlety was thrown to the winds and their pieces were broad, bav;dy and direct — so much so that, ac- cording to the Call of March 15, M. B. Leavitt, manager and proprietor of the troupe, and ten girls of his company found themselves under arrest on the 14th of the month.
The trial was a newspaperman's holiday -- the city frowned publicly but avidly read the news account and followed the trial with suppressed snickers. Officer Miller, the ar- resting policeman, not only described but attempted to demon- strate the Can-Can, which he emphatically stated was "the most indecent he had ever witnessed." The City Physician, a widely-traveled man, stated that in all his experiences in Paris and Strasbourg, he had seen nothing as lewd as the Mabel Santley Can-Can. Prominent local citizens were witnesses, both for and against the defendants, and the jury received tickets to the show as Exhibit A. The special performance
127
for the jury must have been memorable -- the verdict the next day was "Guilty. "
During this period, Leavitt had from four to six vaudeville combinations each season on the road, apart from his many enterprises in other fields of amusement. They were known as Leavitt 's Congress of European Celebrities, Leavitt ' s Gigantic Vaudeville Stars, M. B. Leavitt 's All Star Specialty Company (the first time that the phrase 'All Star' had been used),M. B. Leavitt and Tony Pastor's United Combination (all principals engaged abroad) and others under various titles. The term "Vaudeville" in connection with a variety performance was used for the first time by Leavitt, he firmly believes, and although an incorrect use of the word, it has now sup- planted the phrase "variety shows."
ESTABLISHED IN SAN FRANCISCO The theatre in San Francisco was facing one of its darkest days with the decline of the California Theatre and the death of the legitimate drama. Leavitt had heard that several theatlr-es were vacant in this formerly drama-conscious city and sent his agent to look over the field and select the best one to lease. His agent reported back that the condi- tion of the San Francisco stage was deplorable and that it would be foolhardy to rent any theatre in the city. Leavitt v/as persistent, however, and came out to San Francisco him- self for the specific purpose of checking on conditions.
In 1882 he took over the Bush Street Theatre, 325
120
Bush Street, formerly the Alhambra, and remained here for more than twenty years as lessee of the house, his name ap- pearing for the first time in the city directory of 1889 as proprietor of the theatre.
Chroniclers of the period paid little or no atten- tion to Leavitt's enterprises, evincing interest only in his business deals. The Argonaut of July 1, October 22, November 18 and December 2, 1882 carried brief mention of the progress of the business transaction. The Bush Street Theatre opened on the 23rd of December and the Argonaut of that day wrote:
"...the man behind the scenes, who once in- visibly pulled the strings is coming to the fore.... The managerial lithograph now faces you from the posting-walls, the centre of an elaborate medallion, with his combinationgro\p- ed artistically about him, and his capitals in the bills, give him an individuality which he never possessed before.... The new man does not sing. ., songs, but he puts his capitals in the possessive and Leavitt's All-Star Specialty Troupe becomes a group of people without any particular individuality, singing under his direction. There is a familiar name here and there among them, notably Miss Flora Moore, whose clarion voice and songs a la Rooney are not forsotten. , ''
to^
o .
The review of the opening night, published in the
Argonaut of December 30, was as cool and unimpressed:
"...at the Bush Street Theatre, the Leavitt Specialty Company have brought little new with them, and of the new the St. Felix Sisters are the only striking feature.... Miss Flora Moore returns with her budget unchanged, but her mam- moth note slightly lessened in volume. The others go to form the usual combinations of Irish, Dutch, and Negro specialists, with Ma- demoiselle Alphonslne, a globe revolver, and a
129
rather clever ventriloquist thrown in,"
The performances seem not to have lived up to the grandiose promise of its advertising. The ad, which ran in the Morning Call, December 23, 1882 read as follows:
BUSH STREET THEATRE M, B. Leavitt, Lessee and Manager Al Hayman, Associate Manager
THE EVENT OF THE SEASON!
This (Saturday) Evening, December 23
Every evening (including Sunday) at 8. Wednesday and Saturday matinee at 2. Mr. M.B, Leavitt re- spectfully announces having secured an extended lease of this elegant theatre, and will, after thoroughly renovating the same, inaugurate his season vi/ith
LEAVITT 'S ALL STAR SPECIALTY COi
Specially reorganized, being the
GREATEST VAUDEVILLE ORGANIZATION
IN
AffiRICA!
Kelly and Ryan, Lester and Allen, Flora Moore, 3-- St. Felix Sisters --3, Sinclair and Barnes, Fields and Hanson,Mlle. Alphonsine, Annie Boyd, Harry Morris, Chalet, and the Four Diamonds — Wilson, Sawtelle, Brevarde and Gilmore.
SPECIAL MATINEES Christmas and New Year's Day at 2
Prices of Admission Reserved Seats, Orchestra and Dress Circle fl.50
Orchestra and Dress Circle ..... |1.00
Family Circle „ ...... ^^0.50
Matinees..... 75^ 50?^ and 25^
Items which interested the newspapers in connection with Leavitt were those such as the following which appeared
129
rather clever ventriloquist thrown in."
The performances seem not to have lived up to the grandiose promise of its advertising. The ad, which ran in the Morning Call, December 23, 1882 read as follows:
BUSH STREET THEATRE M, B, Leavitt, Lessee and Manager Al Hayman, Associate Manager
THE EVENT OF THE SEASON!
This (Saturday) Evening, December 23
Every evening (including Sunday) at 8. Wednesday and Saturday matinee at 2, Mr. M.B, Leavitt re- spectfully announces having secured an extended lease of this elegant theatre, and will, after thoroughly renovating the same, inaugurate his season virlth
LEAVITT 'S ALL STAR SPECIALTY COi
Specially reorganized, being the
GREATEST VAUDEVILLE ORGANIZATION
IN
AI/EERICAI
Kelly and Ryan, Lester and Allen, Flora Moore, 3 — St. Felix Sisters — 3, Sinclair and Barnes, Fields and Hanson, Mile. Alphonslne, Annie Boyd, Harry Morris, Chalet, and the Four Diamonds — Wilson, Sawtelle, Brevarde and Gllmore.
SPECIAL MATINEES Christmas and New Year's Day at 2
Prices of Admission Reserved Seats, Orchestra and Dress Circle $1.50
Orchestra and Dress Circle "jIl 00
Family Circle o..................... ...... jpO.oO
Matinees • • .75(z^, 50;^ and 2b<p
Items which interested the newspapers in connection with Leavitt were those such as the following which appeared
130
in the Morning Call, December 31, 1882;
"M, B. Leavitt is said to have lent ;|12,000 to the Metropolitan Job Office as some return for the 'points' Henry, of the Herald, gave him by which Mike is said to have cleared |50,000 In Manhattan stock,"
The San Francisco newspapers continued to be unex-
cited about Leavitt 's productions. They were dull, no doubt,
after the furore caused by the arrest of his Mabel Santley
troupe of dancers. And Leavitt no longer appeared on the
stage. He was busy with his several road shows, directing
their itinerary, drawing up contracts, and often acting as
advance agent when breaking into a virgin territory.
SUCCESS AND AFFLUENCE His trip through Mexico, for instance, was success- ful in more ways than one. The Argonaut, November 26, 1887 in their first mention of him in their pages for that year, reported:
"M. B, Leavitt, the lessee of the Bush Street Theatre, has had a lucky windfall. Some months ago he inaugurated a theatrical circuit in the South, which included the City of Mexico, and, during a visit there last year, made the acquaintance of an eccentric old bachelor, Don Pedro Quintes. They became fast friends, and the Don dying a few days ago, left Leavitt a fortune of two hundred thousand dollars."
Other newspaper comments were hardly favorable in
tone. The same periodical of October 16, 1886 wrote:
"The Bush Street Theatre is to be closed next week for necessary repairs. The dressing- room accommodations are to be enlarged. The sewerage is also to be attended to — a very
131
Important improvement,"
And agsiin on June 18, 1887:
"The Bush Street Theatre actually rejoices in a neviT piece of scenery."
In contradiction of Leavitt's own estimate of his
importance in the theatrical history of Calif ornia, as stated
in his book, Fifty Years in Theatrical Manap;ement;
"...and v/hen the history of the Golden State is finally written, I am content in the belief that my share of its theatrical life must ever remain one of its most important chapters; and in saying this, I do not believe that I am too far jeopardizing modesty,"
The Morning Call, May 6, 1888 in an article headed "The Val- ue of Word in Season," said:
"Mr. M. B, Leavitt once got heartening advice from his manager, Charlie' Hall, that was worth a great deal of money to him in his connection with the Bush Street (Theatre). It was after the failure of the Wyndham Comedy Company, some five years ago, and vrtien M« B. felt very blue and oppressed with doubt as to the future of the Bush. He wanted to give up the ship and strike his flag. If v/e do not mistake Hayman was allied with him at that time in the manage- ment — he v>rent below at once,
"But Hall advised Leavitt to hold on and take a reef in his lower lip, that sagged much in- deed, 'Do you think it's worth while going on?' he asked Hall. 'Certainly- we haven't secured the right kind of a show for the house this season, but look out well for the next.'
"The value of Hall's words is in this: that since they were uttered the Bush Street (Thea- tre) has made for Leavitt ^^180, 000 by 'strik- ing the right kind of show. ' He offered ■■llbOjOOO for the property a few years ago but the owner concluded he would rather keep him as a tenant . . . . "
In 1888, the California Theatre was razed by the
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crwners. 2efar© tills crectESfred^boTre^ep, LesTitt deeidsd ft®
capltslize an zhe nastslglc fane af t&e aM Sictise snd leased
it far its last fcmr w^eka. His fa.-^(m?lte Hemtz-^smtlej I'lxn-
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rTTirrstrels, acT^iisns, leg-sEicnr artists, tie Tfriale c-aaipsny,
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On the first cf -Jiily tfee ssme psper, Iee an srnticie
titled ''TiLe Les-itimate ts. 'lEiff Legltiiiiate, "^ said:
I3ie last uiantEt ©ff all t&st ends tte "strange, eTentfttl liistarjr* of tfeoe Califamis. Hfceatre begins trcicrr:- ItEL Uu H. Eea^itt's cele-
'crste'i ?.en~z- 1 i_:.:l5j 3r-~elty and BrirleszTie Compang^."
ilt tie close of tie iolidaj se.asan rrf 155?-I5c"5r LeaTlcz ' a irmsineas at tEig 5uSj:i Street lieatre nad sa increas- ed that hs cZasmd tEte tlieatre for three wssks- for alteraticEna. I~ reopened an J"antiar2r 2g, I'?'!??' TrLti tie Lydia ZTiarnpS'Tn Sngllai BurLesqiie ComgarEj', Trie 5 an Jr^n-is:: Trir-TJilzl?, (' wiici ijras friendlier ta Lea'ritt th;^^. an^ af t lie ©thsr laeal papers — no- dcniEit das ta tie tieatrical smS. insfnes? ccsu- nectians af iSU S« de Toang,, crwnsr and pnfellstier]) of January 27", reported:
"Tie new &z^l Street 'Tfaeatre apensi its doors ta tie puilic for tie first tf.jie last nl^t, gnrf tie pnilic were tiere In snci m^iaiers tiat long iefare tie- crxrtaln went xip tnej w^re tamed awaj" in crowds. Mr. IleaTitt ft'.g.ff TrrgFdffi a success of iis tfeeatre...."'
T^e article continnEgd wlti nrcigJrr. praise foar tie ar—
lL cianges in tie tieatre int it was f-rced tz adiiit
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132
owners. Before this occurred, however, Leavitt decided to capitalize on the nostalgic fame of the old house and leased it for its last four weeks. His favorite Rentz-Santley Min- strels were to occupy the stage during the month of July -- minstrels, comedians, leg-show artists, the whole company,
"...high-kickers and all (reported the Morn- ing Call, June 24) — a last kick, which the old house might have been spared."
On the first of July the same paper, in an article
titled "The Leg-itimate vs. The Legitimate," said:
The last month of all that ends the 'strange, eventful history' of the California Theatre begins tomorrow with M, B, Leavitt 's cele- brated Rentz-Santley Novelty and Burlesque Company, "
At the close of the holiday season of 1888-1889, Leavitt 's business at the Bush Street Theatre had so increas- ed that he closed the theatre for three weeks for alteraticns. It reopened on January 26, 1889 with the Lydla Thompson English Burlesque Company, The San Francisco Chronicle, (which was friendlier to Leavitt than any of t he other local papers -- no doubt due to the theatrical and business con- nections of M, H. de Young, owner and publisher) of January 27, reported:
"The new Bush Street Theatre opened its doors to the public for the first time last night, and the public were there in such numbers that long before the curtain went up they were turned away in crowds, Mr. Leavitt has made a success of his theatre.,,."
The article continued with much praise for the ar- chitectural changes in the theatre but it was forced to admit
133
that the play was a failure. The English company was well- trained but the performances did not please the Americans. It was not their kind of burlesque.
The Morning Call also devoted columns of space to the |20,000 alterations in the building in the issues of January 6, 13, 20, 25 and 27, 1889 but had little to say of the performances. On February 25, however, the paper gave much space to another adventure that Leavitt had v/ith the police:
"M. B. Leavitt, lessee of the Bush Street The- atre, was arrested yesterday by Officer Harry Hook on a charge of obstructing the aisles of the theatre. Last Saturday evening there was not seating room for the audience, and as on similar occasions camp stools were placed in the aisles, contrary to the fire ordinance. Mr. Leavitt was reminded at the time that it was not legal, but he paid no attention to the police officer's notice. A warrant was there- fore sworn out for his arrest,"
This was good publicity for his theatre as he could not have bought better advertising of the fact that he had packed houses.
For a few years the Bush Street Theatre's business boomed, Leavitt booking varied entertainments here from comic opera to animal acts. Late in the 1890 's, the populari- ty of the house waned and it was closed. One house more or less did not make an appreciable dent in Leavitt 's pocketbodc, for he was now the central booking agent for dozens of houses and hundreds of performers throughout the country. But in August of 1898 he decided to reopen the long-closed Bush
134
Street Theatre under a new name — the Comedy Theatre.
For his first production he offered more than mere theatrical amusement, Mrs, Romualdo Pacheco, wife of the ex- Governor of California, had written several plays which had en- joyed great success in New York, Leavitt induced her to puton the premiere of her latest play, The Leading Man, at the openirg of the new theatre. This fortunate combination received much publicity and public interest.
The San Francisco Chronicle of August 26 gave Mrs.
Pacheco a long story, mentioning that
"Ex-Governor Pacheco, who has been spending a few weeks at Lake Tahoe, .. accompanied his wife to San Francisco. "
And on the following day, the Chronicle reported:
"Mrs. Romualdo Pacheco, a lady who has achieved a marked degree of success in plays composed by her, arrived in town Thursday and has taken a- partments a t the Occidental, Mrs. Pacheco needs no introduction to the people of Califor- nia, for her home has been here for many years, and she is well known for her strong intellec- tuality and gracious manner. She has come here to supervise the production of her latest play. The Leading Man, which will serve to open the... Comedy on Friday, September 2."
The advertisement v/hich ran in the Chronicle on
August 28, read:
NEW COI^ffiDY THEATRE (Formerly the Popular Bush)
Direction, M. B, Leavitt Alf Ellinghouse,
Resident Mgr.
THE SOCIETY EVENT
Grand Opening, ,, Sept, 2
135
#10,000 — Involving an Expenditure of — $10,000
POPULAR* PRICES
Entire Orchestra l^d
Dress Circle o , ..o ....,...,,. . ..sOj/
Box Seats. . .o ....,,...,,.,,,.,...„.,„. „ |l.00
Balcony. •••o.«<><.»..o.o.<.....o 50^ and 35^
Gallery. . .,....,, o ., o..,. ,o. o. ,,o, . 25;/ and 15^
Reviews of the opening night of the Comedy Theatre which appeared in both the Call and the Chronicle echoed each other in calling the house "bright," "attractive" and "hand- some." On the merit of the play, both were rather non-com- mittal. The Call, September 3, 1898:
"Nev/ Comedj' Theatre Opens A Crowded Hoiise Greets 'The Leading Man'
The Remodeled Theatre Is Very Pretty
"The new Comedy Theatre, bright and handsome as a new Easter bonnet, opened its doors to the public last night under conditions that made glad the hearts of Managers Leavitt and Elling~ house and thoroughly pleased a fashionable and critical audience. The alterations and im- provements are so complete that the old time patrons of the former Bush Street Theatre could hardly realize it. Everything is up-to-date, uniformed ushers, cozy retiring rooms for ladies and gentlem.en and all things in the way of com- forts that could be expected,,.."
The San Francisco Chronicle, August 28:
"The Bush Street Theatre, transformed into a bright and attractive house of amusement, re- furnished and decorated tastefully, .. as the new Comedy Theatre. . .quite a fashionable event....''
and again on September 3:
"The old Bush Street Theatre became the new
136
Comedy last night, and it looked as bright and gay as if it v;ere the days v/hen it v/as one of the most popular houses..,,"
and finally on September 11:
"...special attention should be dra^vn to the new curtain of the new Comedy Theatre. It is one of the most artistic things in the city, a scene from As You Like It. admirably painted by the well-lmown artist, Charles D.Robinson. ,,t"-)t
For several more years Leavitt remained the lessee of this house in San Francisco, making frequent trips to this city to remain in constant personal touch with the perform- ances in the Comedy Theatre.
KETIRES FROM SAN FRANCISCO AFTER 20 YEARS With the Great Fire of 1906, v;hich temporarily dis- rupted all theatrical business in San Francisco, Leavitt gave up all business connections in this city and fled to a com- parative security in New York, never returning to California again. He retired from all active participation in theatres in 1908 to devote his time to the writing of his memoirs. Fifty Years in Theatrical Management, which appeared in 1912. In 1919, Leavitt moved to Miami Beach, Florida to establish his home where the climate would be more salubriois, for he v;as then seventy-six years old and the years of in- tense work without vacations had drained his vitality. This was a wise choice — or perhaps the veteran showman had too
-«-Son of Dr, D, G, "Yankee" Robinson, theatrical pioneer in San Francisco,
137
tenacious a hold on life to let mere years take their toll — for he celebrated, his ninety-second birthday on J\me 25, 1935, in spite of a bad fall that he had suffered a few days previ- ously.
But injuries received in this accident were more severe than first suspected. Iranied lately after his simole birthday celebration -- spent very quietly -- he became ex- ceedingly weak and fell into a coma. Two days later, June 27, 1955 he died. He was a charter meinber of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, having been one of the original thirteen who founded the organization and, as the oldest Elk in years of membership, was an honorary life member. He was survived by his widow, Lida Elisabeth Tjeavitt.
And so the man who said "I will not admit that any one else has had more to do with the amusement business in the land of gold than myself. No other had more extensive operations than I,..."-"- found himself with a good-sized for- tune but no acclaim or recognition from chroniclers of the
time.
Leavitt, hovv'ever, was more than an astute business man limited to the confines of his o\vn enterprises. He saw clearly the evils of the contemporary Klaw and Erlanger mo- nopoly on the stage and fought bittex'-ly against it. In his memoirs, he writes:
-ii-Fifty Yfin-ps of Theatrical Management p. 241
138
"It may be true, as some sapient writers on stage topics conteinpuously asr.ert, that the pub- lic cares to hear nothing about the busmes- side of the theatre — that all it really wants to know is '.vhat the show is, who anpears in it, and have these bald facts illumined with large quantities of tittle-tattle about the personal- ities and private affairs of actors and actress- es. The general dumbness of the press on the conduct of so important a commercial industry as that of the theatre goes to bear out the assertion, and would confirm it if it were not generally understood that thertrical managers who were extensive advertisers for the past fev; years preferred to have t he courtesy of silence extended to their methods.
"There is no doubt, though, that it is a matter of importance to the public how that business is conducted. In the modern scheme of things no art is so much influenced by its commercial side as that of the stage. But dramatic art has become complex in its representation; au- thor and artist are dependent on shrewd manage- ment. The barn and the tent no longer give opportunity to the budding genius, Dreonatic art is dependent upon the business of the the- atre and the way it is conducted."
Believing thoroughly in this, it was natural for him to do everything in his power to crush the powerful syn- dicate and the censorship by the press, its ally. That he had a personal ax to grind as the competitor of the syndicate became negligible in the light of this broader icsue. "The manager and his ways are as legitimate subjects of criticism and discussion as the art and its interpreters," he wrote.
Thus, for twenty years, California and San Francisco
^ticularly, had in charge of its lighter entertainments the
m^ conceived the present form of vaudeville, the vaude-
'-, booking agency, and t he four-in-one performer -
.nt-theatre contracts. Most noteworthy — or at
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138
"It may be true, as some sapient writers on stage topics contemppusly asr^ert, that the pub- lic cares to hear Jd thing about the busine-ss side of the theatre ^ that all it really wants to laiow is what the pow is, who appears in it, and have these bald acts illijunined with large quantities of tittlejtattle about the personal- ities and private affairs of actors and actress- es. The general d\ai>)ness of the press on the conduct of so impoijant a commercial industry as that of the thefire goes to bear out the assertion, and would confirm it if it were not generally understock that thertrical managers who were extensive Avert Isers for the past few years preferred to : ?.ve t he courtesy of silence extended to their m:hods,
"There is no doubt, bhough, that it is a matter of importance to tp public how that business is conducted. In rie modern scheme of things no &rt is so much .iJfluenced by its commercial side as that of tha stage. But dramatic art has become ccmpleJin its representation; au- thor and artist arcjdependent on shrewd manage- ment. The barn »d the tent no longer give
opportunity to the
budding genius. Dramatic
art is dependent "oon the business of the the- atre and the way i is conducted."
Believing thoro' vhly in this, it was natural for him to do everything in hij power to crush the powerful syn- dicate and the censorshipijy the press, its ally. That he had a personal ax to grinc as the competitor of the syndicats became negligible in the 3 ght of this broader issue. "The manager and his ways are ks legitimate subjects of criticism and discussion as the art md its interpreters," he wrote.
Thus, for tv/enty rears, California and San Francisco p art! evil jar ly, had in charp of its lighter entertainments the ^man w]3^^^Bfie^iv.^UJae prejent form of vaudeville, the vaude-
(ncy, and t he f our- in- one performer - lets. Most notev/orthy -- or at
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138
"It may be true, as some sapient writers on stage topics contempuously asFJert, that the piib- lic cares to hear nothing about the busmC'S^: side of the theatre — that all it really wants to know is ivhat the show is, v^rho anpears in it, and have these bald facts ill-umined with large quantities of tittle-tattle about the personal- ities and private affairs of actors and actress- es. The general dumbness of the press on the conduct of so important a commercial industry as that of the theatre goes to bear out the assertion, and would confirm it if it were not generally understood that thertrical managers who were extensive advertisers for the past fev; years preferred to have t he courtesy of silence extended to their methods.
"There is no doubt, though, that it is a matter of importance to the piiblic how that business is conducted. In the modern scheme of things no E<rt is so miich influenced by its commercial side as tiiat of the stage. But dramatic art has become complex in its representation; au- thor and artist are dependent on shrewd manage- ment. The barn and the tent no longer give opportunity to the budding genius. Dramatic art is dependent upon the business of the the- atre and the way it is conducted."
Believing thoroughly in this, it v/as natural for him to do everything in his power to crush the powerful syn- dicate and the censorship by the press, its ally. That he had a personal ax to grind as the competitor of the syndicate became negligible in the light of this broader issue, "The manager and his "-ays are as legitimate subjects of critid-sm and discussion as the art and its interpreters," he wrote.
Thus, for tv;enty years, California and San Francisco particularly, had in charge of its lighter entertainments the man who conceived the present form of vaudeville, the vaude- ville circuit, booking agency, and t he f our- in- one performer - manager-agent-theatre contracts. Most notev/orthy — or at
\
least the one longest reT^e-mbered — of hda contribTitiona to
the American sta.^e is the present fom of the c-:Lrle3~-^e=. The leg-shows have oecone ^n Anerican institution, fell OTrlng an almost classical rigidity of form, and it ^as Leavitt irho introduced it to San ?ranci3cc.
The notorious Barbarj Coast of San Pranciscc -- running wide open, with i~3 our ly, 'oawdy night life, frm the discovery of gold -o uhe enaconent of prohibition -- csres much to the female minstrels, the sexy dances ar^ the abbre- viated costumes imported by Leavitt which, gave Pacific Street IlS world fame. 5cth sides of the symbolical railroai traces, from up-town to down-town San Francisco, in the twenty years from 1382 to 1906 that Leavitt remained here, owed much to him in the way of frrthy enoertainment, San Jranciscc trday rwes him inuch for the atmosphere and the color thaT it has as an amusement center of America.
139
least the one longest remembered — of his contributions to the American sta^e is the present form of the burlesques. The lec-shows have become an American institution, following an almost classical rigidity of form, and it was Leavitt who introduced it to San Francisco,
The notorious Barbary Coast of San Francisco -- running wide open, with its burly, bawdy night life, from the discovery of gold to the enactment of prohibition -- owes much to the female minstrels, the sexy dances and the abbre- viated costumes imported by Leavitt which gave Pacific Street its world fame. Both sides of the symbolical railroad tracks, from up-town to down-town San Francisco, in the twenty years from 1882 to 1906 that Leavitt remained here, owed much to him in the way of frothy entertainment, San Francisco today ov/es him much for the atmosphere and the color that it has as an amusement center of America.
140
M. B. LEA V ITT
SOME OF HIS BUSINESS ASSOCIATES
Leavltt had the fortimate faculty of picking the right men to aid him In his business enterprises. Several of them rose to important positions in their profession. In the year 1912 when Leavitt had retired from active participation in the theatrical business, his former associates had become leading lights in the field of the theatre. Some of the most prominent ones and their position In 1912 were:
Al Hayman, president of the "Theatrical Syndicate"
Martin Beck, head of the "Great Orpheum Circuit"
George W, Lederer, musical comedy producer
Frederick P. Proctor, vaudeville magnate^ former partner of
B. P, Keith David Warfield, noted actor. George Ho Broadhurst, noted dramatist
Edgar Smith, author of travesties and musical comedies Sidney Rosenfeld, another leading dramatist Gustav Luders, prolific musical composer Marcus R.Mayer, manager of American and European stars William Morris, independent vaudeville magnate Jacob J. Gottlob, chief of Pacific Coast managers Henry So Sanderson, partner of F. F, Proctor Charles Po Hall, in control of important outlying California
theatres Kit Clarke, made a fortune in jewelry trade, retired John E. Warner, assistant secretary, Nat ' 1 Ass'n of producing
Mgrso Hollis E. Cooley, general manager for Felix Isman George Dance, English theatrical magnate, author and producer James J. Armstrong, past exalted ruler, N. Y, Lodge, No. 1,
B.P.O.E, Jay Rial, executive head of Ringling Bros, press department John P. Hill, secretary of the "White Rats" Association Walter J» Kingsley, general press representative
BOOKING MANAGERS WHO WORKED FOR LEAVITT
Dudley McAdow, associate of Stair and Havlin
Ed. V. Giroux, gen'l manager of John Cort's enterprises
James H, Curtin, representative for Empire Burlesque Circuit
J, J. Rosenthal, representative for A1,H. Woods' enterprises
James H, Decker, booking manager for the Shuberts
Harry A, Lee, booking manager for Klaw and Erlanger
141
PERFORI^'ERS AND COMPANIES UNDER LEAVITT'S MANAGEE'IENT
Minnie Maddern (Fiske)
Wyndham Comedy Co.
Rell Burgess Sc Co.
Emerson's Minstrels
Charley Reed
Billy Sweatman
Sol Smith Russell & Co.
Lily Post
Katherine Krleg
John L. Sullivan Big Vaudeville
and Athletic Combination Janet Waldorf £; Co. Bobby Gaylor
European Specialty & Novelty Co, Spanish Opera Co. Romualdo Pacheco's Ideal Comedy
Co. Rellly & Woods Sadie Martinet Moore & Burgess Minstrels Violet Cameron Leavitt's English Folly &
Burlesque Co:
W. W, Walton
Frank Wright
Cyrus & Maude
M. Kloss & Mile. Kloss
Emily Lyndale
Mile. Price
Mile, Cora Anita Phillips
Ruby Stuart
Chester Sisters
Connie Leslie
Ella Dean
Beatrice Vaughn Leavitt's All Star Specialty
Company:
Flora Moore
St. Felix Sisters
Mile. Alphonsine Mile, Aimee Ben Cotton's Co. Daly's Company:
Ada Rehan
Edith Klngdon
M, B. Curtis
John Drew
Otis Skinner
James Lev/is
William. Gilbert
W. T, Carleton Light Opera
Co, Rosina Vokes London Comedy
Co. Washington Irving Bishop Daniel H. Harklns Frank Mo rd aunt Theodore Hamilton Ro'.vland Bucks tone Amelia Bingham Alice Harrison Viola Clifton William Lester Paul Allen Bobby Nev/comb The Great Ellwood Lew Spencer Harry Armstrong The Triple Alliance:
Imro Fox
Leroy
Powell Emma Car us Nate Salsbury Ifee. d'Escozas Cuenca
Professor Carpenter Harry Kellar "The Clemenceau Case" Co:
Sybil Johnson Rose Coghlan Verona Jarbeau William Elton Louis Mas sen W. J. Montgomery B, T. Ringgold W. Lc Brans combe Minna Phillips Sarah Haddern Ed. Lay Lee h Zancig
Sylvian A. Lee
Mr. & Mrs, Julius Zancig Louise Willis Hepner i.lme. Pilar Morln Leonora White De Villiers Theodore Jackson Joe Murphy Maggie Mitchell
142
PERFORMERS AND COMPANIES UNDER LEAVITT'S MANAGEI-CENT ( Cont . )
Mrs, William J. Florence
Margaret Mather
John T. Raymond
Wilson Barrett
Henri de Vrles
Lydia Thompson English
Burlesque Co. Rentz-Santley Minstrel Co:
Mabel Santley
Hattie Forrest
Rosa Lee
Kate Raynham
Ada Werner
Delia Zittella
Flora Plimsoli
Nellie McDermott
Kate McDermott
Lulu Mortimer Nightingale Serenaders Leavitt's Gigantean Minstrel Co. Johnny Allen Mclntyre & Heath Kelly & Ryan Lester & Allen Leavitt's Sensation Combination
Troupe Louise Montague W„ P. (Buffalo Bill) Cody George Frothingham Levantine Brothers:
F. F. Proctor John T, Kelly:
Kelly & Ryan
Kelly & Mason Charles Laughton E. M. Hall Kate Pennoyer Madame Garetta Hyers Sisters' Musical
Organization Lew Benedict Nellie Sylvester Jennie Melville
Melville & Stetson Leavitt's Congress of European
Celebrities Leavitt's Gigantic Vaudeville
Stars M. B. Leavitt & Tony Pastor
United Combination
Samuel J, Ryan Col. Ira A, Paine Harrigan & Hart
Tony Hart
Edward Harrigan Liza Weber Phyllis Glover Louise Balfe Cyril Maude Bartholomew's Equine
Paradox Pauline Markham Prank Lawler Sallie Swift Willie Edouin American
Musical Comedy Co. Marie de Lecour Mile. Sara (Wiry Sal) Winetta Montague Sara Nelson Georgie Leigh Marie Pascoe Florle Plinsoll McKee Rankin's Co. Madame Dolaro Vienna Ladies' Orchestra Hyers Sisters, Mada & Louise Dan Emmet t Dave Reed Archie Hughes Sam Sanford Frank Moran Cool Burgess Marie Williams Lizzie Mulholland Fanny Wentv/orth Adelaide Praeger Minnie Marshall Daisy Ramsden Camille D' Elmar Alma Stuart Stanley Laura Trevor Matt Rob son James A, Meade J, W. Bradbury Louis Kellaher Frank Hinde Lewis Fink Signor Novissimo Frank Musgrave
143
PERFORMERS AND COMPANIES UNDER LEAVITT'S MANAGEMENT ( Cont , )
Monte Crlsto Burlesque Co.
Annie DuinscomTDe
Clara Mabel
Lillie Furneau
Prof. Alexander Herrmann
Alice Atherton
Richard Golden
Dora Vifiley
Atkinson's Jollities
Signer Operti
Louise Davis
Julia St. Clair
Sadie Martinot
"City Directory" Co; Willie Collier Charley Reed
James T, Powers
"Electric Doll" Co: Frank Daniels Jennie Yeamans Nellie 3ouverie
THEATRES MANAGED OR LEASED BY LEAVITT
Odd Fellows Hall National Theatre Theatre Comique Orphe-utn Theatre Bush St. Theatre Theatre Comique Academy of Music Tabor Grand Robinson Hall Terrace Garden Halsted St. Opera House Burlington Hall Globe Theatre Metropolitan Theatre Williams Hall Windsor Theatre Grand Opera House Baldwin Theatre Standard Theatre Royal Avenue Theatre Hooley's Theatre Olympic Theatre Tony Pastor's Theatre Boston Theatre St, James Hall Court Theatre Third Avenue Theatre Broadway Theatre Comedy Theatre Marquam Grand Opera
Wilmington, Del,
Annapolis, Md,
Harrisburg, Pa,
San Francisco
San Francisco
Omaha, Neb.
Denver, Colo.
Denver
New York
New York
Chicago
Chicago
New Orleans
New York
Boston
Chicago
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
London
Chicago
New York
New York
Boston
Buffalo, N. Y.
Liverpool
New York
Denver
New York
Portland, Ore.
Manager Manager Director Booking Agent Lessee, Manager Stage Manager Booking Agent Booking Agent Lessee Lessee Lessee Lessee Lessee Lessee
Manager, Lessee Manager, Lessee Booking Agent Booking Agent Manager, Lessee Lessee
Booking Agent Lessee Lessee
Booking Agent Booking Agent Booking Agent Lessee
Booking Agent Booking Agent Lessee
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PRESS AGENTS WHO WORKED FOR LEAVITT
Ed. A. Abrams Jas. J. Armstrong Charles Benton Matt L, Berry William Black
C. Armory Bruce Thomas X. Burns ide W. J. Chapelle Charles Chase
Max Clayton W. S. Cleveland Chas. H, Day J. H. Decker Claude de Haven William Eversole Wolf Falk William Foote Ed. V. Giro-ujc E. M. Gotthold George Gouge Charles B. Grists Harry 3. Hapgood Chas. Harkenson Eo P. Hilton
D. B. Hodges John Ho o ley Dan B. Hopkins J„ M. Hyde Chas. H. Keeshln BrTxno Kenincott George H. Knapp J. H. Lane
Abe Leavitt Harry A, Leo Matt Lei and Ho B. Lonsdale
E. B. Ludlow
H. E. Manchester Joseph Chenot
Will lain Mandebaclc Joel Marks Frank W. Martineau Dudley McAdow Charles McGeachy Andy McKay Charles Melville George M.illbank Arthur Miller J. W. Morrissey Josh E. Ogden H. E. Parmelee Augustus Pennoyer David Peyser Harry Phillips Jay Rial Chas. W. Roberts N. D. Roberts Emil Rosenbaiim J. J. Rosenthal Harry Vif. Seai.ion Harry Se^nnour W. H. Sherman Charles Slociom Harry C. Smart Abo Spitz
George V/. Stanhope Edv/. S. Stanley Ernest Stanley Henry M. Stanley W. H. Strickland Geo. S, Sidney Mark Thall Sc-j-ii Thall Edward Thurnaer E. B. Vosberg Marshall P. Wild Arthur Williams Charles A. Wing Ben Wyckoff
[. B. LEAVITT
BIBLIOGRAPHY
145
Hart, Jerome A, In Our Second Century (The Pioneer Press, San Francisco, 1931) pp. 410, 423
Leavitt, IL Bo Fifty Years In Theatrical Management (Broad- way Publishing Co., New' York, 1912)
Madison, James San Francisco Century of Commerce Celebration (1835-1935) article by Madison, James on Early San Francisco Theatres, p. 29, (A Historical prograra.me in the clippings file of the Music Department of the San Francisco Public Library)
Arp;onaut
Morning Call
The Chronicle
Daily Critic
Examiner
Nev/ York Times
27, Sept. 3, Nov. 20, 2Y, layij.
(San Francisco), Dec. 16, 1888; January 27, Mar. 3, 10, 1889; Jan. 29, Feb. 5, 6, 12, 1890; Aug. 4, 21, 26, 27, 28, Sept. 3,11, 1898.
(San Francisco), Feb. 13, March 28, May 20, 1868.
(San Francisco), March 12, 1899. (New York), June 28, 1935.
PROJECT EDITORIAL STAFF
Research Director .,,. .Jack W. Wilson MONOGRAPPi ^/RITERS
George Ducasse Alan Harrison Cornel Lengyol Eddie Sliiraano
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Mathew Gately Gretchen Clark
Dorotliy Phillips Lenore Lef.ere
Lauretta Bauss Florence Braaley
Vifyland Stanley
ART and PHOTO REP RO DUCT 101" Lala Eve Rlvol M. H, Mc Carty
PRODUCTION
Vi/'llllam E, Noe Elleanore Staschen Clara Mohr
Although the entire research and sten-
'o
ographic staff on the project assisted in the preparation of these r.ionographs at various sta^^es in production, par- ticular credit should "be given to Mr. Cornel Lengyel for his work on the Magulre nionogrt.ph, and to Kr. Eddie Shimano for his v.'ork on the Robinson and Leavitt racnogr<:.ph3.
Lawrence Estavan Project Supervisor.
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