THE 1896 REVIVAL OF SHERIDAN'S "THE RIVALS"

Imagine, if you will, that it's an evening in May 1896. You're in a 4th-row-center seat of an aging theater, perusing the souvenir program for the new production of The Rivals, as you eagerly anticipate the appearance of this stellar cast of ten.

You are aware, of course, that this play was the first written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 - 1816) when he was but 23 years old. A comedy in five acts (in just under 5 hours), The Rivals was first performed 121 years earlier — January 17, 1775 — at Covent Garden, London. For the first 100 years, revivals appeared numerous times in many countries — not as frequently as the ubiquitous Shakespeare, but definitely in good company with Goldsmith and Moliére. Sheridan was the earliest English playwright whose works were presented in America while they were still new to the London stage, and that have retained their popularity.

Over those first 121 years, The Rivals had been trimmed a bit by various producers. However, the production you are about to see has been professionally trimmed, tightened and lightened by none other than everyone's favorite comic actor, Joseph Jefferson, known never to shy away from rewriting dialogue or adding or cutting business in order to breathe new life into a well worn piece. Jefferson wore three hats equally well: actor, writer, and producer; operating under all three, he produced a comedy with fewer acts (down to 3), fewer characters (down to 10), in a shorter time-span (under 3 hours), with cutting-edge humor for the modern audience (after all, it's almost the 20th Century).

The Rivals is set in the 18th century in the town of Bath where fashionable people went to "take the waters." The plot centers around two young lovers, Lydia Languish and Captain Jack Absolute, who is courting her not as himself, but as a poor officer named Ensign Beverley. She falls in love with the poor Ensign, but when she discovers he's really a wealthy Captain, she falls out of love immediately! Meanwhile, Sir Anthony Absolute, Jack's father, gives him the news that he's arranged a marriage for him. Jack refuses to even consider an arranged marriage, telling his father that he loves another, but not telling him who. Jack soon discovers that the arranged mate is actually Lydia! O'woe is Jack, who worms his way back into his father's good graces, claiming he has seen the error of his ways, and accepts the arrangement. And so it goes, while other characters — Bob Acres, Sir Lucius O'Trigger, as well as Jack's friend, Falkland, — each also fancies himself as Lydia's suitor.

Lydia's guardian is Mrs. Malaprop, a moralistic widow who is one of the play's chief comic characters because of her continual misuse of words that sound like the words she intends, but mean something completely different. (Yes, this is where the term "malapropism" originated.) Mrs. M strings her pearls of wisdom throughout the play (forget about the fellow — illiterate him from your memory! . . . Few gentlemen nowadays know how to value the ineffectual qualities in a woman! . . . He is the very pineapple of politeness! . . . I thought she had persisted from corresponding with him; but, behold, this very day, I have interceded another letter from the fellow . . . ) until, in the final act, everyone winds up on the dueling ground where misunderstandings eventually get sorted out before any blood is shed.

I've read enough of Joseph Jefferson's autobiography to strongly suspect that the wonderful bios that appear opposite the photos in the souvenir program were written by him. I have included each one here, in its entirety, beneath the appropriate character's photo. Bios and photos are in the order they appear in the program. (Be sure to click on the bios to see them in larger text.)

I hope you've enjoyed this little bit of theatrical history. To have seen Mrs. Drew and Mr. Jefferson on the same stage would have been the epitome of my viewing pleasure. They had played Mrs. Malaprop and Bob Acres several times before and after this revival. In fact, it has been said that Mrs. Drew would travel any distance to play Mrs. M. — especially in Mr. Jefferson's productions. Well, who could blame her? I have a bit of a crush on him, too!

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

5 ACTRESSES ON THE WORLD STAGE • PART 5: AMERICA'S JULIA MARLOWE

The all-American actress Julia Marlowe (née Sarah Frances Frost/Brough) (1866 - 1950) was actually a British transplant. Her father, John Frost, a sportsman laboring under the mistaken impression that he had put out a neighbor's eye with a whip during a race, gathered his family from their home in Keswick, Cumberland, England in 1870, and fled to America where he changed their name to Brough. They settled in Kansas, then moved eastward to Portsmouth, Ohio, then on to Cincinnati.

In her early teens, Marlowe, whose nickname was "Fanny," began her career in the chorus of a juvenile opera company. She toured with the company for nearly a year, performing the role of Sir Joseph Porter in Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, under the direction of Col. Robert E. J. Miles, manager of the Cincinnati Opera House. (She would later play Galatea in W. S. Gilbert's Pygmalion and Galatea.)

Her excellent training and early successes were largely due to her manager, Ada Dow, Col. Miles's sister-in-law, whom Fanny always called "Aunt Ada." Still in Cincinnati, and billed as Fanny Brough, she performed her first Shakespearean roles — Balthazar in Romeo and Juliet and Maria in Twelfth Night. Ada Dow took Fanny, still in her teens, to New York where for several years she was given voice and elocution lessons, and a new name: Julia Marlowe.

To be an unknown 20-year-old actress in New York was a challenge in and of itself; but add to that mix her determination to play only Shakespearean roles, and therein loomed an enormous obstacle to her success. But, as luck would have it, Col. Miles, former manager of the Cincinnati Opera House, was now manager of New York's Bijou Opera House. He gave his sister-in-law's young protégée an opportunity to play on tour for two weeks in New England, and this provided Marlowe with the repertoire she needed. Her mother came to her aid, and hired the Bijou for a matinée of Ingomar* on October 20, 1887. For her portrayal of Parthenia, Marlowe received excellent notices, which set her on the path to Broadway.

*Ingomar was a popular play adapted by Maria Lovell from a 5-act German play, Der Sohn Der Wildniss (English translation: Ingomar the Barbarian), by Frederick Halm. Marlowe would reprise her role in a 1904 revival of Ingomar, produced by Charles Frohman, and boasting a cast of notable actors, including Frank Reicher, Thomas Lindsay, Paul Weigel, Ralph Lewis and Tyrone Power, Sr.

After good reviews of her roles in several off-Broadway productions, Marlowe made her Broadway debut in 1895 at Palmer's Theatre, as young Henry, Prince of Wales, in Shakespeare's King Henry IV, Part I. With her in the cast were William F. Owen and her newlywed husband, Robert Taber. (The husband & wife team next appeared in an 1896 revival of Sheridan's The Rivals, which will be the subject of my next post.)

Off to a good start, Marlowe next appeared with Taber on Broadway as Mary in For Bonnie Prince Charlie, an original drama which played Wallack's Theatre in March and April of 1897. She followed that with the title role in a short-lived original, Collinette. In October 1899, Barbara Frietchie, an original play in 4 acts — written by Clyde Fitch, produced by Charles Frohman, with Marlowe in the title role — opened at the Criterion Theatre where it ran for 83 performances. It was Marlowe's first bona fide hit on Broadway. Her marriage to Robert Taber ended the following year. They had no children, and remained friends until Taber's untimely death in 1904 at the age of 39.

In 1901, Marlowe had starred as Mary Tudor in a production of When Knighthood was in Flower, a play in 4 acts by Paul Kester, based on Charles Major's novel. Then in 1904, Charles Frohman produced the play, also starring Marlowe, which was a huge success — one that put her on the road to financial independence.

A string of hits followed, including a 1904 revival of Pygmalion and Galatea by W. S. Gilbert. In Gilbert's Pygmalion story, the sculptor is married to Cynisca, who is often away, and doesn't want her husband to be bored, so she encourages his interest in his statue, Galatea. But when the statue comes to life, chaos reigns! A delicious comedy — just what we'd expect from Sir William!

In 1904, a theatrical milestone was achieved when Marlowe partnered with actor E. H. Sothern, and they breathed new life into the works of Shakespeare in America, starting with the title roles in Romeo and Juliet, followed in quick succession by Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, and the leads in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Then adding The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, and The Merchant of Venice, the Sothern and Marlowe Repertory Company played both on Broadway and on tour all over the U.S.

In 1906, they added Percy McKaye's Jeanne D'Arc, Suderman's John the Baptist, and Gerhart Hauptmann's The Sunken Bell. In 1907, there followed another theatrical milestone: Long before Joe Papp brought Shakespeare to the Park, Sothern & Marlowe brought him, at affordable prices, to the New York Academy of Music, affording lower-income audiences the opportunity to experience superb performances of great Shakespearean plays. In 1908, they dissolved their company, each going out on their own, but near the end of 1909, they reunited in Antony and Cleopatra. In 1910, they toured Macbeth to both critical and popular acclaim, and brought it to New York where it was a hit.

Marlowe and Sothern continued touring their Shakespearean repertoire, and where they could, they fitted in special performances for school children. And finally, in 1911, Marlowe and Sothern married. They continued touring until 1924 when Marlowe retired due to ill health. Sothern continued performing until 1928, then became a lecturer until he died of pneumonia in 1933 in New York, after which Marlowe became something of a recluse. She died in 1950 in New York City. She was 84, and had no children.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

5 ACTRESSES ON THE WORLD STAGE • PART 4: FRANCE'S GABRIELLE REJANE (1856 - 1920)

Gabrielle Rejane, the French comedienne of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, did not leave a lasting image on generations of American theater goers as did her contemporary, Sarah Bernhardt. If that oft' queried "man (or woman) on the street" were asked to name two historically famous French actresses, most could give you Madame Sarah, no problem, while the smart-alecs might smile and suggest Brigitte Bardot, but few, if any, could name Madame Rejane.

The daughter of an actor, she was born in Paris and educated at the Paris Conservatoire, where she was a student of famed actor Regnier. She became well known in the U.S. when she toured in Sardou's Madame Sans-Géne in 1893-94. Thereafter, Americans saw her here almost as frequently as they saw Bernhardt, sometimes in the same roles but, whereas Bernhardt would tailor emotion for artistic effect, Rejane never stepped across that line. It could be said that Bernhardt, known for assimilating characters into her own personality, played the truth of the performer. Rejane, on the other hand, accepted a character fully — good, evil, slutty, prudent, ugly, beautiful, smart or stupid — and could move, speak, and think only as that character, thereby playing the truth of the character.

Sometime in the first half of the 1890s, the brilliant young artist Aubrey Beardsley sketched Mme. Rejane, and developed drawings for his illustrations for Alexandre Dumas's La Dame aux Camelias. Beardsley's superb artistry runs the gamut from gorgeous to grotesque. You can see more of it by visiting the THE SAVOY, a wonderful online gallery devoted to the works of this important fin-de-siecle illustrator.

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In 1905, after a dozen years of marriage to the director of the Vaudeville Theatre, Madame Rejane and her husband divorced. The following year, she opened the Theatre Rejane in Paris. Four short years later — June 19, 1910, to be exact — a small article in the New York Times announced that Madame Rejane "is about to give up her managerial career and will surrender the Theatre Rejane, always a favorite resort of Americans, into other hands. She will join the forces of the Theatre de la Porte Saint-Martin, where she will take the principal part in an important new piece to be produced next Autumn." The article went on to suggest that her reputation for being an over-amiable manager may have led to her decision, pointing out that "amiability and economy are not always compatible."

Two days after Mme. Rejane's death, the June 16, 1920 edition of the New York Times carried this touching obituary with no by-line. It's long, but worth reading:

"Though Rejane lacked the personal distinction and the elevated style which carried Bernhardt and Duse to the pinnacles of poetic drama and of popular applause, she was no less original and valiant as an artist; in one respect she excelled them both. She was the supreme comedienne of her time. Of the crimson passions and golden voice of Bernhardt she had no touch; nor yet of the lovely, twilight spirituality of Duse, which blended in such strange harmony with her unaffected and infinitely modulated naturalism. But as an interpreter of everyday character of the subtleties, the emotions and the absurdities of the modern woman, Rejane had no equal. As Bernhardt modernized the tradition of Racine, (Rejane) modernized the tradition of Moliere.

"It is for this reason mainly that Rejane was the least known of the three to the outside world. Tragedy is a strong wine that holds its heady quality throughout the seven seas, but comedy is a vintage which, though rare and exquisite in its native valley, turns flat in transportation. Rejane was French, Parisian, to the subtlest nerve. Of a hundred masterly strokes of characterization, one may perhaps be caught in dull, descriptive words. That was the case in Henri Becque's satiric masterpiece, 'La Parisienne.' The play opens with a scene of conjugal jealousy. Clotilde is concealing from Lafont a letter — from another. He commands, he rages, and she rides the storm of his dull, masculine passions like a petrel. He becomes tearful, sentimental, moral. 'In remaining faithful to me,' he says, 'you are worthy, honorable; the day you deceive me —' She interrupts the homily with a start. 'Hush!' she says, going quickly to the door. 'My husband is coming.' It is the first the audience has known that Lafont and Clotilde are not man and wife. That stroke of satire upon Parisian infidelity is of course the work of sardonic Henri Becque. But it was Rejane who embodied it; and the manner in which she contracted the airy insolence of Clotilde's demeanor toward her lover with the equally insolent realism toward her husband spoke new volumes of feminine lore to the Parisian playgoer.

"Two plays, neither of a very high quality, provided vehicles for a world tour. 'Mme. Sans-Géne' showed her comedy talent at its raciest and most unmistakable. 'Zaza' similarly developed her emotional power. Moreover, both were familiar to the public in translation. There were many who found her less compelling in the parts than local actresses. It is true that her stage lacked glamour and her art the more obvious appeal. But her characterizations were masterpieces of native color and detailed finesse, as they were of emotional vigor and abundant comic spirit. Molier would doubtless have appreciated Bernhardt and found in Duse a strangely kindred spirit. He would have adored Rejane."

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

AMERICA'S MUSICAL PATRIOTS

American patriotic music has been with us since before the revolution, much of it then written as lyrics to known British melodies. For example, The Liberty Song, written in 1768 by patriot John Dickinson (1732 - 1808), member of the Continental Congress 1774-76 & '79, and signatory to the U. S. Constitution, was set to the music of William Boyce, a well known British composer.

You can listen to this spirited march, and read Dickinson's lyrics, on this wonderful Folk Music history website.

Edward Taylor Paull (1858 - 1924) was a prolific writer of patriotic marches. His first hit was The Chariot Race or Ben Hur March, published in 1894. He started his own publishing company to accommodate the music that was pouring out of him. One of his most popular works was the America Forever March. In 1924, his final composition was Spirit Of The U.S.A., copyrighted only six weeks before he died.

Throughout history, much of our patriotic music was written to stiffen our spines and see us through the horrors of wars without losing hope for our country. As we moved toward the 20th Century, we were blessed with the works of a superb musician and prolific composer, John Phillip Sousa (1854 - 1932), whose output was more than 130 compositions, most of them marches so timeless they are still favored by today's orchestras and marching bands. I bet I'm not the only one who gets goose bumps when they play Stars and Stripes Forever, Liberty Bell March or, as a former Marine, my particular favorite: Semper Fidelis.

There came along an entertainer so special that his music inspired us through two world wars. George Michael Cohan (1878 - 1942) was way more than the sought-after triple threat (actor/singer/dancer), He was also a playwright, a composer, and a lyricist, credited with creating the first musicals that used songs and dances to further the plot, not interrupt it. George had so much energy left over that he also became a producer. He and his partner, Sam Harris, were for 20 years Broadway's busiest producing team.

George had his first big hit on Broadway in 1904 with his show, Little Johnny Jones, which introduced his songs "The Yankee Doodle Boy" and "Give My Regards to Broadway." He published more than 1500 original songs over his long career — none of them more affecting than "You're A Grand Old Flag," and none more needed than "Over There" as America entered WW1.

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented George with the Congressional Gold Medal (not to be confused with the military Medal of Honor) for his contributions to WW1 morale, in particular his songs "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Over There." The latter, as I recall, was also sung a lot during WW2.

When Georgie was ten, and still criss-crossing the country with The Four Cohans, a little baby was born in Russia who was destined to become one of the most prolific American songwriters. Irving Berlin (1888 - 1989) wrote more than 1,000 songs in his 101-year life — so much good music, that it has spilled over into succeeding generations — youngsters thinking it's new, while we oldsters just smile, belt out the lyrics, and watch their little jaws drop. (Don't you just love when that happens?)

Irving Berlin wrote "God Bless America" in 1918, although it may not have been published then, as it doesn't seem to occur in any production until he wrote and produced This Is The Army during WW2. But it was the song's powerful rendition by singing star Kate Smith that turned "God Bless America" into our country's second national anthem. She sang it every week on her radio show, and record sales of her rendition were enormous. In 1941, she also recorded a touching British wartime song, "The White Cliffs of Dover," which became a big hit in the U.S.

Irving Berlin was deeply patriotic. Throughout WW2 he wrote patriotic songs such as "Any Bonds Today?" and donated all proceeds to the war effort. He donated the proceeds from the film This Is The Army to the U. S. Army, and entertained the troops far and wide with a road company of that show, in which he was a cast member. At war's end, he was recognized for his important contribution to troop morale, and was awarded the Medal of Merit by President Harry S. Truman.

One of these days I'll revisit some of these patriots, for they have provided us with some wonderful theater over the years. But right now, on the occasion of America's 234th birthday, I wish to thank them for the gifts of their music. Their love for this nation is our good fortune.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/