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FORM 3427— 8M — i-SO
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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
BE Ml 1 $
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X
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
0*09*00'-
« a ft 0 0 o
ooooft«««a«a
9 o o ft o
u ft o e o 0
a 0 ft e ft o
a u « o ft o
(t 0 0 0 0 o
0 ft
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
12
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
34
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
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
67
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)
<^l
1
^^■k, .'v; J^flH
n
1
y«<^^^i
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^^p ^^^^^^1
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if
BOOTH
ROBINSON
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 .
91
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"
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
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
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
14'i
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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