The San Francisco Stage: A History 9780231897211

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T H E S A N FRANCISCO STAGE

T H E

SAX FRANCISCO STAGE

& msfsm^i by EDMOND M. GAGEY

Based on Annals Compiled by the Research Department of the San Francisco Federal Theatre

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY P R E S S

NEW YORK

1950

Copyright 1950 Columbia University Press, New York Published in Great Britain, Canada, and India by Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press London, Toronto, and Bombay

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

PREFACE

E

in 1936 the Research Department of the San Francisco Federal Theatre started work on a history of the San Francisco stage from 1850 to 1924. Fifteen months later this project came to fruition in a typewritten manuscript of over six hundred pages entitled Annals of the San Francisco Stage. Part I, covering the years from 1850 to 1880 was written by Lois M. Foster; Part II, from 1880 to 1924, was the work of three authors: C. Everett Michael (1880-1899); Gordon Williams (1900-1914); and Nadia Shapiro (19151924). Relying largely upon newspapers, these writers and their associates performed a vast amount of research, much of it on material previously untouched. Valuable as the unpublished manuscript is in tracing the history of an interesting and little-known chapter in the American theatre, the work suffers from one vital and fundamental weakness, namely its attempt to do too much in too little space. This inadequacy was realized and expressed with regard to Part I by its author, Miss Foster: "In its first form, this initial volume of the Annals of the San Francisco Stage stretched to twice its present length, while earlier original notes might have yielded material for two more books of some size. The task of condensing this data has been accomplished only by arbitrary decision to confine the record to legitimate professional drama of first importance." Since dramatic activity in San Francisco increased tremendously from 1880 to 1924, the task of selection and condensation in Part II must have proved even more formidable. The result has often been a disjointed account, too detailed in places, too sketchy and ARLY

vi

PREFACE

incomplete in others. For a true annals one would have needed a work of the scope of Professor George C. D. Odell's monumental Annals of the New York Stage. In the present volume, I have tried to remedy the original defect by abandoning the annals plan in favor of a small number of summarizing essay chapters with, it is hoped, a greater sense of direction and emphasis. This new organization has entailed a complete rewriting of the book. While a roughly chronological order has been preserved and the chapters have been given limiting dates, I have not hesitated to break out of the straitjacket of chronology when it seemed advisable to look before and after. Of necessity I have omitted a great deal of the original work and have also added much material of my own, mainly about the lives of the many persons who played their diverting, vivid, and often flamboyant roles on the San Francisco stage. Far too often the 1937 manuscript merely gives names—"Mr. Mestayer," for example, or "W. A. Belasco"—without further identification. For a good part of my information I have been indebted to another and later WPA project, San Francisco Theatre Research Monographs, Mimeographed, San Francisco, 1938-1942. I have also made use of several books of more or less recent date which have thrown light on the subject, notably George R. MacMinn's The Theater of the Golden Era in California and Allen Lesser's Enchanting Rebel: the Secret of Adah Isaacs Menken. A manuscript of six hundred pages of composite research and authorship is bound to include some factual errors. I have made every effort to discover and correct these. As I have not had access to the original sources, however, others may have escaped me. I cannot vouch personally for the early newspaper quotations, some of which are partial and broken as they appear in the federal manuscript. In their respective prefaces the original writers have acknowledged their gratitude and indebtedness to the following persons and institutions: Mrs. Clay M. Greene, who per-

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PREFACE

mitted the use of her husband's scrapbooks on the San Francisco theatre; Henry W. Bullock, Gertrude Willett, and Louise Donnelly, research assistants for Part I; Gustavus Saucedo, research assistant for Part II; DeForest A. Rodecape, for friendly advice and criticism; Dwight Newton, director of the San Francisco Examiner Reference Library; the Bancroft Library, University of California; the University of California Library, Berkeley; the California State Library, Sacramento; the Sutro Branch Library, San Francisco; the San Francisco Public Library; the Mechanics' Mercantile Library, San Francisco; the California Historical Society; and the Society of California Pioneers. To the above may I add my own thanks to the libraries of Harvard and Columbia Universities, to the Boston Public Library, to the Haverhill Public Library, and especially to the Theatre Section of the New York Public Library—all of which have been exceedingly generous with their time and facilities. Also, I am grateful to E. P. Dutton for permission to quote a passage from Clowning through Life (copyright, 1928) by Eddie Foy and A. F. Harlow, and to Houghton Mifflin for the similar privilege of quoting a passage from The Fantastic City (copyright, 1932) by Amelia Ransome Neville. E. M. G. Bradford, Massachusetts March 1,1949

CONTENTS

ONE

The Beginnings to 1852

TWO

Local Thespians and Visiting Stars, 1853—1856

3

35

THREE

Variety and Sensation, 1857-1864

67

FOUR

Changing Scene, 1864-1872

98

FIVE

Maguire and Belasco, 1873-1882

128

six

Rise of the Syndicate, 1882-1899

165

SEVEN

Netv Century

206

Selected Bibliography

229

Index

235

ILLUSTRATIONS

FRANK S. CHANFRAU AS "SAM" Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

Theatre

Department

JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH AND HIS SON EDWIN, 1 8 5 0 Museum of the City of New York, Archives,

Theatre

Department

CHARLES WHEATLEIGH IN "AS YOU LIKE I T " Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

Theatre

PROGRAM OF T H E BELLA UNION THEATRE, Courtesy of the M. H. de Young From San Francisco

Department

1880

Museum

Theatre Research

Monographs, New York Public

BUCKLEY'S SERENADERS, PLAYBILL,

Library

1853

Museum of the City of New York, Archives,

Theatre

Department

Theatre

Department

Theatre

Department

ADAH ISAACS MENKEN AS "MAZEPPA" Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

FRANK MAYO AND DAUGHTER ELEANOR Museum of the City of New York, Archives, LOTTA CRABTREE Lotta Crabtree Estate,

Boston

xii

ILLUSTRATIONS

J E A N LANDER DAVENPORT AS " J U L I E T " Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

Theatre

Department

J A M E S STARK George C. D. Odell, Annals of the New York Stage, V, 258 M R S . J O H N WOOD AS " D O N L E A N D E R " George C. D. Odell, Annals of the New York Stage, VI, 534 J U L I A DEAN HAYNE George C. Ü. Odell, Annals of the New York Stage, VI, 206 MATILDA H E R O N AS " C A M I L L E " George C. D. Odell, Annals of the New York Stage, VI, 534 EDWIN BOOTH IN " J U L I U S C A E S A R , " P L A Y B I L L , Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

Theatre

1876 Department

LOLA MONTEZ George C. D. Odell, Annals of the New York Stage, VI, 118 EMELIE Museum

MELVILLE of the City of New York, Archives,

Theatre

Department

Theatre

Department

Theatre

Department

Theatre

Department

J O H N MC C U L L O U C H AS " V I R G I N I U S " Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

E D W I N ADAMS Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

LAWRENCE BARRETT Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

ILLUSTRATIONS

XLLL

CALIFORNIA THEATRE, 1 8 6 9 San Francisco Theatre Research

65 Monographs, New York Public

Library

CALIFORNIA THEATRE DROP CURTAIN San Francisco

Theatre Research

65

Monographs, New York Public

Library

MAGUIRE'S OPERA HOUSE, 1 8 6 9 San Francisco Theatre Research

128

Monographs, New York Public

Library

NED H ARRI CAN AND TONY HART, 1 8 7 1 Museum

oj the City of New York, Archives,

128 Theatre

Department

MAUDE ADAMS ( R I G H T ) AND FLORA WALSH, C. 1 8 8 0 Museum

oj the City of New York, Archives, Theatre

Department

JAMES O'NEILL IN "MONTE CRISTO" Museum HELENA Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

DAVID BELASCO Museum WILLIAM Museum

129 Theatre

Department

MODJESKA of the City of New York, Archives,

129 Theatre

Department

AT TWENTY

of the City of New York, Archives,

144 Theatre

Department

H. CRANE IN "MAGNOLIA" of the City of New York, Archives,

144 Theatre

Department

BILLY EMERSON Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

129

144 Theatre

Department

XÌV

ILLUSTRATIONS

SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, ALBUM Museum TYPICAL

of the City of New York,

14 5

Archives,

Theatre

Department

FAN PROGRAM

San Francisco

Theatre

145

Research

Monographs, New York Public

Library

J I M CORBETT Museum

192

of the City of New York, Archives,

Theatre

Department

WILLIAM A. BRADY, 1 9 0 6 Museum

of the City of New York, Archives,

ALCAZAR

Collection,

192 New York

Public

Library

Museum

ANGLIN

Museum GLADYS Museum

WHILE

Department 193

BARNSTORMING

of the City of New York,

HOPE

Theatre

AT FOURTEEN

of the City of New York, Archives,

BACON,

Museum

193

of the City of New York, Archives,

MARGARET

LAURA

Department

O'NEILL

Museum

FRANK

Theatre

THEATRE

Picture NANCE

192

Archives,

Theatre

Department

CALIFORNIA Theatre

Department

CREWS

of the City of New York, Archives,

208 Theatre

Department

GEORGE of the City of New York, Archives,

193

208 Theatre

Department

ILLUSTRATIONS

XV

HOLBROOK BLINN IN " T H E DUCHESS OF DANTZIC" Museum of the City of New York, Archives, Theatre

Department 209

DAN TOTHEROH Museum of the City of New York, Archives, Theatre

Department 209

CRANE WILBUR Museum of the City of New York, Archives, Theatre

208

Department

THE SAN FRANCISCO STAGE

THE SAN FRANCISCO

STAGE E d m o n d M . Gagey

CHAPTER

ONE

The

BEGINNINGS to 1852 l NE of the certainly unpredictable sequels of the surrender of California to John Charles Fremont in 1847 and its formal acquisition by the United States a year later was the sudden rise and efflorescence of a lively, colorful, and multifarious theatre. As early as 1849, the mushroom town of San Francisco, formerly called Yerba Buena but renamed by its first American alcalde, became the center of dramatic activity. Interestingly enough, this new California drama was almost completely independent from Spanish tradition; it was imported from the East, and San Francisco became a theatrical suburb of New York, London, and sometimes Paris. Under both Spanish and Mexican rule upper California had never shown much interest in fostering a local theatre, especially in the remote settlements started around San Francisco Bay in 1776. The dons and ranchers enjoyed a gay and

O

4

THE

BEGINNINGS

leisurely social life, but it generally took the form of fiestas, grand balls, fandangos, and meriendas or picnics. They went to occasional bullfights, horse races, and cockfights, or else indulged in the more cloistered sport of monte in the local casa de bebida. A few wandering professional players might at long intervals visit the northern settlements, but the only regular dramatic activity was provided by the Missions, where the priests directed their Indian and Spanish flocks in Christmas productions of a traditional religious play, La Pastorela. The first performances under American rule were secular and—as it happens—of military origin. During the long ocean voyage from New York to San Francisco via the Horn, Colonel J. D. Stevenson's Seventh Regiment of New York Volunteers —dispatched to California—had amused themselves by giving an assortment of amateur shows. This genial pastime they continued after their arrival in San Francisco. In March, 1847, for example, members of the regiment appeared in a series of minstrel concerts at Leidesdorff's old City Hotel. More ambitious programs were attempted when some of the troops were moved and stationed in other towns, especially at Sonoma, where Company C established an "amateur Thespian Club" that gave regular performances in 1847 and 1848. An English melodrama by Benjamin Webster, The Golden Farmer, was the mainstay of their repertoire. To allow San Franciscans an opportunity to enjoy the entertainments a small boat was operated for one month between San Francisco and Sonoma.1 Soldiers also took part in minstrel shows and other dramatics at Santa Barbara and Monterey. From such modest beginnings only a clairvoyant could have foreseen the great outburst of professional dramatic activity that came a few years later. The real impetus for this new professional theatre was 1 William A. Curtis, "The First Theatre in California," Out West, June, 1908, p. 481.

To 1852

5

provided by a historical event of far greater dramatic consequence than anything to be seen behind the footlights—the Gold Rush of Forty-Nine, precipitated by James Marshall's discovery of gold at Sutter's mill in January, 1848. For the Forty-Niners who traveled by water, San Francisco was the natural focus, and from Telegraph Hill ship after ship could be seen entering the Golden Gate, their arrival duly signaled to the town. While estimates vary considerably, no one can deny that the population of San Francisco grew with astonishing speed. In 1846 the pueblo of Yerba Buena had no more than two hundred inhabitants. The number steadily increased under American control until the first news of Marshall's discovery, when practically every San Franciscan joined the rush. But the town was not long deserted. By July, 1849, the population had jumped to 5,000; in September it was 20,000. This was necessarily, of course, a transient population; in 1849 some 75,000 migrants are said to have passed through. Three years later, in 1852, the more or less permanent residents numbered about 50,000. This fantastic growth brought soaring prices and wretched living conditions, but with the help of fires—providential at least in this respect—the city's physical appearance gradually improved. The original muddy roads, virtually impassable in the rainy season, had first been planked, then paved with cobblestones. In a few years street lamps, sewers, a rudimentary water system, and other civic improvements began to bring a measure of comfort. San Francisco's earlv history was vitally affected by a series of disastrous fires, some of them perhaps of incendiary origin. The first started on December 24, 1849, in Dennison's Exchange, a flimsy structure with a ceiling of painted cotton cloth, as described by the compilers of the Annals of San FranciscoOver a million dollars went up in flames. 2 The writers of this invaluable early history, Frank Soule, John H. Gihon, and James Nisbet, were present at most of the events of which they wrote.

6

THE

BEGINNINGS

Next day, on December 25, the first volunteer fire company was organized. Three conflagrations are recorded for 1850 —on May 4, June 14, and September 17. The next year was marked by the celebration of an "anniversary fire" on May 4, apparently set by gangs. Most disastrous of the lot, it resulted in a total loss of between ten and twelve million dollars. The last of the six great fires took place a few weeks later on June 22. With typical high spirits San Francisco adopted the phoenix as its symbol and rose from its ashes as soon as bushels of gold dust could be exchanged for labor and materials. A modicum of optimism could be derived from the fact that each successive fire encouraged the construction of more permanent and fireproof buildings. For the historian of the stage the fires somewhat complicate the picture because of the bewildering succession of theatres, often of the same name. There were, for example, three successive Jenny Lind Theatres. Another connection with the stage appears in the many benefit performances contributed by stars and managers to the volunteer firemen's organizations, which were extremely influential in the community even though their picturesque methods of fire fighting were likely to do more damage than the fire itself. As one might expect, social conditions in these early years were far from ideal. The first gold-seekers were, in the main, serious-minded and honest. They were soon followed by a host of adventurers, gamblers, sharpers, politicians, and prostitutes. Ladies of pleasure paraded on fashionable Montgomery Street distinguished in outward appearance from their respectable sisters mainly by the use of powder and rouge. Prostitution of the most sordid type flourished in the dives of the Barbary Coast; here were devised and evolved establishments devoted to the art of big business and rapid turnover—the crib and the cowyard. Gambling saloons abounded, most famous of which was the El Dorado on Monmouth Square, the old Plaza of Mexican days. It was

To 1852

7

in this emporium that a bartender, Professor Jerry Thomas, achieved fame by inventing the Tom and Jerry and the Blue Blazer. Professional gamblers, characteristically garbed in black with wide black hats and diamond-studded white shirts, became almost as familiar a sight as the red-shirted miners from Pike. Quarrels and killings were commonplace, and under the protection of crooked judges, lawyers, and politicians, rowdyism flourished. A gang of American ruffians called the Hounds or Regulators was after a time dispersed, but it was succeeded and surpassed by criminals who had migrated from New South Wales and now became known as Sydney Ducks. They continued their depredations unchecked until Sam Brannan, fiery editor of the California Star, organized a group of citizens to drive them out. Brannan, who was thus instrumental in dispersing the Hounds, had a hand in the formation of the first Committee of Vigilance in 1851 and the more important second one of 1856. Taking the law into their own hands, in defiance of the corrupt and inefficient authorities, the Vigilantes granted criminals a rough but fair trial, then promptly hanged or deported them. This form of justice may have been illegal or extralegal, but at least it worked. That there was also in the boisterous community a Puritan, churchgoing element is evidenced by the diary, among others, of Sarah Royce, mother of the Harvard philosopher, but its influence was obscured by the behavior of the great majority, who had thrown off all restraints and inhibitions. The population was ruggedly individualistic and overwhelmingly masculine. The men were away from home, lonesome, unaccompanied usually by wives and children. Living conditions were deplorably bad; money was cheap. In their quest for amusement and relaxation the migrants turned to the saloons, to the gambling tables, and—to the stage. As George R. MacMinn has well pointed out in The Theater of the Golden Era in California, the argonauts demanded their

8

THE

BEGINNINGS

theatres almost as soon as their saloons and newspapers. From this demand arose a lively and fascinating stage, which before long drew to California the best dramatic talent that the East had to offer.

2 In the history of drama the kind of stage in use ordinarily determines the type of play presented. Between 1849 and 1852 the growing city of San Francisco enjoyed a variety of stages, from the crude platforms of the gambling saloons to well equipped, luxurious theatres like the third Jenny Lind or the American. Little splendor was attached to what was (if we except a circus amphitheatre) San Francisco's first theatre, Washington Hall, located next to the old Alta California office on the second floor of a building which later became the city's "most elegant brothel." Here, on January 16, 1850, was acted the first real play presented in San Francisco. There were soon other small houses—bijoux, as they were often called—the Phoenix, the Phoenix Exchange, the Athenaeum, the first Adelphi, all of 1850. Most of them were burned down in one or another of the big fires. The Adelphi was succeeded in July, 1851, by the second Adelphi, which postponed the customary fiery consummation until 1858, housing in the meantime a succession of English, French, Italian, and Chinese performances. Foreign plays had earlier been given in two small theatres of 1850—the National, occupied by French players, and an Italian Theatre, opened by Signor Rossi, magician. Fanny Monte, Rossi's wife and danseuse, performed here only briefly, for the house was destroyed by fire five days later. More important were the theatres built by two colorful entrepreneurs, Dr. D. G. Robinson and Thomas Maguire, who emerged as epic figures in this era of flames and unrest. Little is known of "Doc" or "Yankee" Robinson before his arrival in California except that he was born in Maine and

To 1852

9

had some connection with the theatre in the East. In San Francisco he opened a drugstore on Portsmouth Square and in 1850 began to give Yankee impersonations on the side. On July 4 of that year, in association with James Evrard— manager, actor, occasional female impersonator, later sergeant of the San Francisco police—he opened his Dramatic Museum on California Street. This small intime theatre, seating only 280 spectators, made a tremendous success, not only for the gaiety and topical satire of its programs but also for its spirit of informality, the audience freely indulging in repartee with Robinson or joining in musical choruses during the performance. The good doctor, besides his important activities as actor, manager, and writer or adapter of plays, won much local renown by composing and reciting topical songs or ballads, notably "The Old Umbrella" and "The Used-Up Man," for which his spectators clamored at every performance. Robinson and Evrard's first offering was Seeing the Elephant, a comic piece which had been played in New York and once before in San Francisco when Sophie Edwin, a pioneer actress of the California stage, performed it at the Phoenix. The play's title alluded to the mulcting of innocents by carnival sharpers who have the power to make people see even a non-existent elephant. The skit therefore ridiculed the gullibility of miners who joined the Gold Rush simply because they had heard fantastic tales about the acquisition of wealth. Robinson extensively revised the play, changing the setting to San Francisco and adding many topical references, and in the performance he made a great personal hit in the Yankee role of Seth Slopes. Besides such comic pieces, including The Used-Up Man, a musical skit based on his own song, Robinson produced two sentimental melodramas—The Victim and The Reformed Drunkard. He was especially admired for his performance as Charles Freeheart in the latter. Though "Doc's" better-known burlesques came after

10

THE

BEGINNINGS

1852 he was known already as a fine comedian, a witty satirical writer, and an energetic manager. His popularity was so great that his followers elected him to the august office of alderman, although—or perhaps because—he had sharply ridiculed San Francisco politicians. The other theatrical promoter, Tom Maguire, had even more obscure beginnings. If an early newspaper account of his life is true, he started his career in New York as a cab driver, with a stand on Park Row. He later rose, figuratively and literally, to the post of bartender in the second and third galleries of the nearby Park Theatre, and before long, in partnership with a Tammany chieftain, he kept his own bar near City Hall. In 1849 he moved to San Francisco and soon was operating the Parker House, a well-known hotel and gambling saloon. When he decided to add theatremanaging to his other accomplishments, he built a "temple of art" above the Parker House and named it romantically the Jenny Lind, though the famous singer never came to California or had any association with this theatre. The new house was opened on October 30, 1850, initiating Maguire's long career as impresario. Though completely uneducated, the ex-hackman and barkeep proved to be a shrewd and enterprising manager, establishing for a time a theatrical empire of considerable extent and importance in the state. For over thirty years the history of the San Francisco stage was to be largely the history of Tom Maguire. It was inevitable that energetic and capable men like Robinson and Maguire should become theatrical rivals. Both the Dramatic Museum and the Jenny Lind were destroyed in the fire of May 4, 1851. Maguire's second Jenny Lind, hastily constructed, also burned down—only nine days after its opening on June 13. Undaunted, Tom immediately started the building of a more permanent structure on Portsmouth Square, the third Jenny Lind, the most magnificent theatre yet seen in San Francisco and reputedly one of the finest in

To 1852

11

America. Its façade was constructed of finely dressed yellowtinted sandstone, brought from Australia. The Alta California describes the handsome interior, "a finished piece of workmanship": The prevailing color was a light pink, which was rendered brilliant and graceful by gilding tastefully applied. The chief feature of the act drop was a picturesque ruin. Richly decorated proscenium boxes added much to the splendid appearance of the whole auditorium. This paragon of a house, which started its career on October 4, 1851, had a seating capacity of two thousand, and as the Annals tells us, "The opening night presented a brilliant display of beauty and fashion, and every part of the immense building was crowded to excess." The play, All That Glitters Is Not Gold, was perhaps not equal to the brilliance of the playhouse, but it was well performed and well received. Dr. Robinson, in the meantime, after the destruction of the Dramatic Museum, had leased the new Adelphi in partnership with a Mr. Wiesenthall, and was running it in competition with the Jenny Lind. Realizing the disparity in the splendor of the two theatres, however, he had acquired land on Sansome Street near the Bay and there erected a handsome rival theatre, the American, which he opened on October 20 with Anna Cora Mowatt's Armand; or, The Peer and the Peasant. During construction of the American, malicious rumors had gone the rounds regarding the insecurity of its foundations. Though these stories were indignantly denied, the walls did, as a matter of fact, sink two inches under the weight of the audience during the opening performance, but otherwise the building proved steady enough. This "bijou of a theatre," seating over two thousand people, was described in the Alta California of October 16: The oval shaped dome represents a revolving sun with rays shooting out in all directions which are finally lost in an encircling wealth of brilliant clouds. The draperies of each box are sustained

12

THE

BEGINNINGS

from an eagle's beak above. The front of the first tier of boxes, instead of being panelled, presents a thickly set row of small white pillars whose capitals and bases are decorated with gilt bands. The front of the second tier is white with moldings at the top and bottom. It has a good ventilation system designed by G. T. Daly, which is unusual. A visiting Frenchman, Albert Benard de Russailh, preferred it to the Jenny Lind, bestowing special praise on the thick carpets, the paintings and gilt-work, the red velvet curtains of the boxes, and the red plush seats. The presence of two such fine theatres in San Francisco added to the city's prestige and dignity in matters theatrical. In the intense competition that ensued, Maguire slowly but surely gained the ascendency over his rival, drawing both actors and audiences away from the American and administering the coup de grace by cutting prices of admission at the Jenny Lind. In February, 1852, Dr. Robinson was forced to admit defeat. Retiring from management of the theatre, he humorously introduced his small son Charles during the last performance to sing an impudent song, "Nary a Red, Nary a Red," referring to their present impecuniosity. But Maguire, too, was feeling the pinch of his financial commitments. In the spring of 1852 he was besieged by builders and mechanics demanding payment for their work in constructing the Jenny Lind. Making good use of his political connections, Maguire arranged for the sale of his theatre to the city for conversion into a city hall. The reputed price was $200,000. Loud were the outcries about fraud and extravagance, but the deal was nevertheless consummated. After the sale the Jenny Lind had the distinction of achieving one more dramatic triumph when the aging Junius Brutus Booth, Sr., appeared on its boards, of which more later. The American and the Adelphi continued meanwhile to operate. They were supplemented in 1852 by several other

To 1852

13

theatres. The Varieties, a "neat" little theatre on Commercial Street, started its career at the modest admission rates of fifty cents and one dollar. The Lyric Casino, later the Verandah, "the most elegantly decorated saloon in San Francisco," gave a series of concerts, and another newcomer, Armory Hall, started in September. Then again, there was Elleard's Hall at 276 Montgomery Street. None of these was as important as a new theatre, less lavish than the Jenny Lind but more practical, built by Maguire now that his financial credit was reestablished. San Francisco Hall, as he named it, was opened to concerts on November 22 and "consecrated to Thespis" on December 25. Dr. Robinson, Maguire's former rival, who had enjoyed an interlude away from the stage as alderman, was engaged to perform in the new theatre. One of his facetious songs on this happy occasion ran to forty-six verses. Most of the regular theatres were operated in conjunction with a saloon, suitably located for the relief of patrons before, after, or during the performance. The first Jenny Lind, as we have seen, was built on the second floor of the Parker House. Many of the more elegant saloons provided from the start theatrical entertainment for their customers, usually musical or terpsichorean, on stages that were little more than simple platforms. The famous Bella Union, a gambling saloon, gave minstrel performances long before it became a variety theatre. The saloon stages did not always rely upon strictly dramatic performances and might be turned over to the presentation of cockfights, freak shows, or "Grand Rat-Killing Matches" in which local sportsmen could enter their dogs. According to one advertisement, "Gentlemen wishing to try their dogs, will find plenty of rats at all times during the day." Even at the American or third Jenny Lind, staging during the early period was not of a sort to commend itself to a Gordon Craig or even a David Belasco. Each playhouse

14

THE

BEGINNINGS

owned several stock sets, including inevitably a palace scene, a street scene, a landscape, a "fancy interior," and a "plain interior." Because of frequent change of bill, these were pressed into service without much regard to their suitability. Properties were standard and often dusty or dog-eared from long service: wax fruit or imitation flowers, papier maché food, cotton-batting pies and cakes, plain and fancy furniture, a throne or dais. Until gas came in, lighting effects were dependent upon candles or whale-oil lamps. Footlights, shielded by rows of metal scallops across the forestage, were a constant menace to long gowns and hoopskirts. Sound effects were limited largely to the usual thunder and rain machines. The same trend toward standardization affected the players. Stock companies, continually shifting in personnel, called for type actors. The main classifications were leading man, first and second heavy man, juvenile, first and second comedian, character actor, first and second old man, and "walking gentleman," a capacity in which many actors started their career. This was the common designation for a role which was minor and mechanical in its requirements, yet which was essential to the development of the plot. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are good examples. For women there were corresponding positions: leading woman, heavy woman, ingenue, comedienne, character woman, old woman, "walking lady," and so on. These types, unfortunately, did not always suit the requirements of the play. In the words of Clay M. Greene, local actor, journalist, and playwright, "The leading man played the best male part, whether old or young; the heavy man played all villains without reference to age or physical requirements, and if the comedian happened to be fifty years old and the principal comedy role was a boy, he played the boy under the mistaken notion that he could make up to look sixteen." Actors ordinarily possessed their own wardrobes, which they considered adaptable to all parts.

To 1852

15

Supers were supplied with garments belonging to the company or the manager or the star. Hired for small sums, often fifty cents per night, the extras were given only superficial instructions in their parts; the results during a performance were sometimes unexpected. One practice of the time—the benefit—deserves a word of explanation. The proceeds of a performance above the bare expenses of the management, might be offered to any person designated for this honor, usually an actor who was ill, destitute, about to leave town, or simply popular. Occasionally non-theatre people were given a benefit—distressed overland immigrants, for example, or volunteer fire fighters. This complimentary donation to a person or cause was handled with considerable pomp and ceremony, including at times the printing of programs on satin, fringed or tasseled. The M. H. de Young Museum in San Francisco has two such programs: one the size of a long single sheet, printed on fringed purple satin; the other on white satin mounted on black velvet. In later years the whole system tended to become commercialized. A visiting star's contract often called for a benefit to close his engagement. Sometimes he was allowed to buy out the house in advance for a minimum sum in the expectation of making a handsome profit on the night of performance. In any event, San Franciscans, ever generous and sentimental, were rarely backward in paying tribute to a star or supporting a worthy cause. In the extraordinary ferment of dramatic activity of the 1850s, what of the play itself? No one would claim for this period any excellence in drama, nor did California develop any native plays of value. The cry was for entertainment, and the standard was quantitative rather than qualitative. Audiences delighted in multiple programs with half a dozen attractions from tragedy to farce jumbled together in one evening; in these mixed programs sometimes isolated acts of different plays were given. Since the age was committed to

16

THE

BEGINNINGS

repertory with nightly change of bills, what might have been gained in variety of fare was often lost in crudeness of performance. Yet the tastes of the Forty-Niners are interesting. They liked Shakespeare, particularly the tragedies—Othello, King Lear, Richard III, Macbeth, Hamlet. Of Elizabethan plays A New Way to Pay Old Debts was also popular. There was a great preponderance of serious drama, whether tragedy, tragicomedy, or romantic melodrama. Favorite plays during the first few years of the San Francisco stage include Benjamin Webster's The Golden Farmer, E. G. BulwerLytton's Richelieu and The Lady of Lyons, R. B. Sheridan's adaptations of Pizarro and The Stranger, Rev. Henry Milman's Fazio, Douglas Jerrold's Rent Day, John Banim's Damon and Pythias, Coleman the Younger's The Iron Chest, and Sheridan Knowles' Virginius and The Hunchback. The last was a favorite of female stars and commonly used to open an engagement. Comedies like She Stoops to Conquer and The Rivals still held the boards, and of course there was the inevitable farcical afterpiece, of which John Maddison Morton's Box and Cox is a good example. While the great majority of playwrights were English, a few American plays were regularly performed—among them Putnam, the Iron Son of '76 by Nathaniel Bannister, Charles the Second by John Howard Payne and Washington Irving, Armand; or, The Peer and the Peasant by Anna Cora Mowatt. San Francisco audiences, too, are worthy of brief comment. Naive, generous, open-hearted as they might be, they were also highly individual, priding themselves on forming their own critical judgments regardless of an actor's previous reputation. Fame and advance publicity were therefore no guarantee of success in the phoenix city. Then again, the spectators might be rough in manners and morals, but they were also contemporaries of Victoria, and once inside a regular theatre they expected chasteness in language and situation. In a desire to maintain stage propriety none were

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