Edwin Booth goes west: 1852-1856.

Theatre History Studies

January 1, 2005 | Watermeier, Daniel J.

In July of 1852, in the company of his father Junius Brutus Booth, eighteen-year-old

Edwin Booth arrived in San Francisco. The story of Edwin's years in California,

interrupted by a voyage to Australia, has been sketched by all of Booth's earlier

biographers, but not as fully, nor in as much detail, particularly about his performances

and their critical reception, as the account that follows. (1) It is an interesting, important

episode in the life of a great American actor and merits revisiting. In many respects,

these were Booth's formative years, his "college" where he had the opportunity and the

freedom to play numerous, diverse roles under various performance conditions. It was

the kind of performance experience that he was not likely to get in an eastern stock

company in the early 1850s. In California, Booth also experienced various professional

and personal ups and downs. One should not discount their value in the emotional

growth and development of an aspiring actor. When Booth went to California he was a

callow, fledgling actor; when he left, he was a much more mature, even worldly-wise,

rising young star. Booth's story also paints a concrete, vivid picture of theatrical life in

Gold Rush California.

From the discovery of gold in 1848 to 1852, the population of San Francisco swelled

from a few hundred inhabitants to probably about 30,000 residents, predominately

young men from the United States, South America, Europe, Australia, and China, all

eager to strike it rich one way or another. Tens of thousands of transients passed

through the city on their way to the mining camps in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Many came to make a fortune mining gold; others to prosper by providing services,

including all sorts of theatrical entertainment, to the gold seekers. Theatres were initially

makeshift affairs, but soon became more substantial establishments with corps of actors

and bills of fare modeled after eastern stock companies. By the early 1850s San

Francisco had become the center of a dynamic theatrical circuit that included

Sacramento, Stockton, and various mining towns, such as Marysville, Downieville, and

Grass Valley. Actors were drawn to California by the promise of earnings that might be

two to three times what could be earned in Boston, New York, or Charleston, although

expenses in California were significantly higher than in the Eastern states. If one was a

second-tier touring star or a workaday stock actor, however, the relative lack of

competition and the pay scale were particularly attractive.

The elder Booth had been enticed to California by his oldest child Junius, Jr. The year

before Junius Jr., or June, as he was called, had traveled to San Francisco and quickly

established himself as a leading actor and stage manager at the pioneering theatrical

manager Tom McGuire's new Jenny Lind Theatre. (It was McGuire's third and most

substantial theatre of this name, the other two having been destroyed in fires.) (2)

McGuire was a leading, but not the only, theatrical manager in the city. His chief rival

was D.G. "Doc" Robinson, a druggist turned comic actor and manager, who had opened

his own new theatre--called the American--just two months after the opening of the

Jenny Lind. Like rival managers at other times and places, McGuire and Robinson

competed by frequently changing bills and promoting novelty acts and "stars" imported

from the east coast. (3) Throughout the winter of 1851-52, McGuire and Robinson

battled for audiences and it was in the midst of this battle, that June traveled back to

Maryland to offer his father a starring engagement at the Jenny Lind. According to Asia

Booth Clarke, the elder Booth was not particularly enthusiastic about going, but

eventually agreed "more for the novelty of the trip than a desire to perform there." (4)

For both the elder and the younger Booth, it would prove to be a fateful decision.

The Booth party--Booth the elder, Edwin, Junius, Jr., and his actress-wife Harriet Mace,

and another actor named George Spear--chose the shorter, at least in time, but still

arduous route to California over the Isthmus of Panama. On 21 June departing from

New York, they steamed to Chagres, a port city on the Caribbean side of Panama. Then

they made their way across the Isthmus by canoe up the jungly Chagres River to a

settlement called Gorgona. From there by horse or mule-back, they trekked to Panama

City on the Pacific, whence a steamer transported them to San Francisco. During the

overland passage through the jungle, anxious about bandits and the trustworthiness of

the native guides, the men kept their pistols at ready. Edwin later told his sister Asia

about his own sleepless nights, fearfully watching the natives honing their machetes.

But the trip went smoothly, without incident. (5)

When the Booth party finally arrived in San Francisco, the theatrical scene was in

disarray. Eager to drive his rival Robinson out of business, McGuire had been heedless

of the bottom line, profligately spending more than he was taking in at the box office and

still owing thousands of dollars for the construction of the Jenny Lind. Besieged by

creditors in desperation he offered his theatre as a city hall to San Francisco's board of

aldermen, who bought it for $200,000. However, before the interior of the theatre was

gutted and converted into city hall, Junius Brutus Booth, the most distinguished

tragedian yet to appear in San Francisco, opened a two-week engagement on 30 July

1852 with a performance as Sir Edward Mortimer in The Iron Chest. He followed this

with his usual repertoire, including performances as Sir Giles Overreach, Hamlet,

Othello, Shylock, Richard III, Pescara, Lear, Iago, and Macbeth. Edwin appeared as he

had in the previous several years when he toured with his father in a number of

supporting roles, among which were Laertes, Cassio, Gratiano, and Richmond. (See

Figure 1) The critics lauded the elder Booth's performances. Edwin--and for that matter

Junius Jr. and other members of the company--went for the most part unnoticed,

although the Daily Alta (31 July) commented following the opening performance: "Mr. E.

Booth is a very judicious actor and we shall take occasions to notice him more at length

here after. He was applauded throughout." But the Alta did not "take occasion" to notice

Edwin during the remainder of his performances with his father. (6)

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Following this engagement, Junius, Jr. arranged for his father to appear at the American

Theatre in Sacramento for a fortnight. There, Edwin took a benefit on 2 September as

Jaffier in support of his father's Pierre in Venice Preserved As Asia relates (The Elder

and the Younger Booth, 131), when Edwin appeared before his father in Jaffier's black

costume, the elder Booth remarked, "You look like Hamlet; why did you not act Hamlet

for your benefit?" Edwin replied, "If I ever have another, I will." The opportunity would

come perhaps sooner than Edwin anticipated. The Booths then returned by steamer to

San Francisco, where the elder Booth played for four more nights at the Adelphi

Theatre, but extent playbills in the Hampden-Booth Theatre Collection at The Players

do not list Edwin as a member of any of the casts. On 10 October Junius Brutus left San

Francisco for the long journey back to Baltimore. Reportedly he urged his eighteen-

year-old son to pursue his fledgling career in California and left him in the care of his

brother June and David Anderson.' Anderson was twenty years older than Booth. In the

1830s and 1840s he was a member of the Bowery and Park Theatre companies and

noted for his portrayals of old man roles such as Sir Peter Teazle or Polonius. He had

come to California as early as 1851 and established himself as a reliable stock actor in

his line. A widower, his first wife having died in 1840, and apparently childless, he

seems to have taken a kindly, protective interest in teenaged Edwin. Booth and

Anderson would remain close friends for the next thirty years. Indeed, after he was an

established star, Booth regularly employed Anderson for his various companies.

There is no record of Edwin's activities immediately following the departure of his father.

Sometime that fall, however, Daniel Wilmarth Waller and his wife Emma, both second-

tier touring stars in the east, arrived in California and hired Edwin for a company they

were forming to tour the mining towns. The Waller company included a number of

experienced, talented actors drawn from San Francisco's theatres, among whom were

William Barry, George Spear, D. V. Gates, David Anderson, and Sam Dennis. The tour

began in Nevada City and, according to Asia, it was there that Edwin played Iago for the

first time. The company then trekked on to Grass Valley where Edwin reprised Iago in

the Alta Theatre located on the second floor of a gambling saloon. From there, they

went to Rough and Ready, then to Downieville, higher up in the mountains. Winter

comes early in the Sierra Nevada. By the time the troupe reached Downieville, it had

been snowing for several days and blizzard conditions seemed imminent. The company

started back to Nevada City; but by the time they arrived in Grass Valley, they found

themselves snowed in. It was probably at Grass Valley that Edwin received news that

his father had been stricken probably with some virulent bacterial infection and had died

on a fiver boat returning to Maryland. As Asia tells the story, George Spear brought

Edwin a letter. "What news is there," asked Edwin. "Not good news for you, my boy,"

said Spear. Edwin exclaimed, "Spear, is my father dead?" He was then told the "sad

story." His friends "endeavored to calm his sorrow," but Edwin was "stunned by the blow

and they could not understand how deep his grief was, or how he blamed himself for

having allowed his father to undertake the homeward journey alone." Edwin, anxious

perhaps to return to San Francisco for more information about his father's death, joined

a small band of friends who intended to walk the fifty miles to Marysville. Two days of

walking through heavy snow brought them to the village. Edwin borrowed ten dollars

from an acquaintance for passage to Sacramento and thence by boat down fiver to San

Francisco. Letters awaiting him provided details of his father's death and burial. His

mother advised him and Junius "to remain in California if they considered it best for their

theatrical future." (8)

On 2 February 1853, Edwin was back on stage as Fred Jerome in The American

Fireman at the San Francisco Theatre, still under the management of his brother and

with an excellent stock company headed up by William "Uncle Billy" and Caroline

Chapman, members of the famous family that had brought theatre to the towns along

the Ohio River Valley in the 1830s and 1840s. (See Figure 2) He would remain here

through the spring, acting in standard comedies, popular farces, extravaganzas and

burlesques--characters like Charles II in Charles II; or, The Merry Monarch, Dick

Duberly in The Heir-at-Law, young Marlowe in She Stoops to Conquer, Dombey in an

adaptation of Dickens's Dombey and Sons, Colonel Mannering in Guy Mannering,

Dazzle in London Assurance, Joseph Surface in School for Scandal, Captain Absolute

in The Rivals, Furibond in a burlesque called The Yellow Dwarf, and Lord Sparkles in a

farce called Love in Livery. (9) Indeed, the San Francisco Theatre focused on such light

entertainment, leaving romantic melodramas and tragedy to the rival Adelphi Theatre

managed by the husband-wife team of Lewis and Alexina Baker and to the American

Theatre where the minor, Canadian-born tragedian James E. Stark was often featured.

But Edwin aimed his ambitions beyond light comedy, farce, and burlesque. According to

Asia, the scene painter John Fairchild, who had been brought to California from the

Boston Theatre, was due a benefit performance. He exacted from Edwin a promise to

act Richard III. Junius tried to dissuade his young brother, urging instead that he play

"more romantic parts, suited to his age and appearance, rather than undertake so

arduous a role" (The Elder and the Younger Booth, 136-137). Edwin, however,

persisted and on 21 April played the title role for the first time in California--and only the

second time professionally. The Daily Alta (22 April) was judicious, noting only that

Booth "gave promise of an ability which in coming years will place his name foremost

among the actors of his day."

During the performance, however, as Asia later wrote, "a tall, dark man stood behind

the scenes watching him intently" (The Elder and the Younger Booth, 136137). The "tall,

dark man" was Ferdinand C. Ewer, a recent graduate from Harvard, who had followed

the Gold Rush to California in September 1849. For the next decade Ewer earned a

living mainly as a journalist. In 1854, he would found the Pioneer; or, California Monthly

Magazine; but in 1853, he was working as drama critic for The Daily Placer Times and

Transcript. In this capacity, he had been closely following Edwin's career since his

appearances with his father a year earlier. He had little to say about Edwin's

performances in July and August 1852 except to note his "chaste and natural elegance

of action and expression" as Laertes. (Indeed, following the tendency of the time,

Edwin's performances were noted in the local papers, but only rarely "reviewed.") On 26

March, however, preliminary to Edwin's reappearance as Lord Rivers in The Day After

the Wedding, Ewer wrote:

Of this young gentleman's talent & promise we cannot say too much.

Now and then a flash will appear which is a sure indication of what

is to come when years shall bring experience around him. The line of

characters, which he is taking now, is of great assistance to him in

developing ease upon the stage. We predict for Mr. Booth ... a rank

among our actors equal to that of Mr. Forrest at present. His school

is different, but to our mind quite as good as that of Mr.

Forrest. (10)

Decades after Ewer had become a prominent clergyman, he recalled in a letter to Booth

the excitement surrounding his appearance as Richard III, his "first real trial." "It was a

tremendously bold thing to attempt," wrote Ewer, "when the real Richard III had just left

California, and the echoes of your father's voice were still sounding among the

machinery of the Jenny Lind stage, I feared you couldn't do it." He remembered that the

house was cold at first and applauded only patronizingly. Throughout the opening

soliloquy, the performance of the elder Booth remained fixed even in Ewer's mind and

the son seemed in contrast to be far off this mark. Ewer observed that Booth did not do

"himself justice" in the first three acts. It was an uneven performance with some

moments "rendered with a high degree of force and brilliancy" or "with exquisite

naturalness and effect" while at other times "he lapsed into tameness." Ewer praised the

"admirably read" opening soliloquy and the scene with Lady Anne with Booth "passing

from the taunting tones in which her wrongs are recounted to wheedling flattery with a

flexibility that was surprising." On balance, however, Booth seemed "too light for the

part," although Ewer conceded, "the audience was on the whole well pleased." But in

the fourth and fifth acts Booth "warmed up" and achieved "a triumph, most flattering to

himself and gratifying to his friends." When the curtain rang down "the calls were loud

and long for the young actor to appear in front."

Despite his triumph, Edwin was returned to farce roles for several performances.

However, Asia writes (The Eider and the Younger Booth, 137) that the success of

Edwin as Richard III induced the managers of the San Francisco Theatre--i.e., June

Booth, his fellow actors William Chapman and W.B. Hamilton, and the designer John

Fairchild--to propose that he play Hamlet. On Monday, 25 April for his own benefit,

Booth appeared for the first time in the role for which he would become most

celebrated. In the past several years, he had played Laertes on at least two occasions

in support of his father's Hamlet and undoubtedly had been an acute observer of the

elder Booth's interpretation since he began traveling with him in 1840. Considering his

age and relative lack of experience, however, it was an audacious choice both for Edwin

and the theatre's managers. Asia suggests that the elder Booth's offhanded remark that

Edwin play Hamlet for his benefit had become since his father's death a sacred promise

for him. At the first opportunity, he determined to fulfill this promise to his father. Now

the opportunity had arisen. But still, he had only a few days to prepare and rehearse

one of the longest and most challenging roles in the Shakespearean canon--the

touchstone for would-be classical tragedians.

In an unusually lengthy review, Ewer enthused about the performance, contrasting

Edwin's interpretation in part with that of James E. Stark who, fortuitously for the

management of the San Francisco Theatre, had recently departed California to tour

Australia. Ewer conceded that Edwin's Hamlet did not have the finish of his father's and

that there were moments in Stark's rendition that were superior to the same moments in

Edwin's performance. Ewer went on to point out some of the faults in Edwin's Hamlet.

His youth, for example, was a barrier to imparting the "proper weight and dignity" to the

character. Edwin was at times slightly awkward in his movements and he was not

"entirely letter perfect." For Ewer, however, these were only "slight errors ... before the

greatness of that general conception of the character of Hamlet to which in one leap he

has vaulted." Ewer then began to sketch some of the qualities of Booth's admirable

conception. Flexibility, he thought, was Booth's "chief point of beauty":

For with Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, on first meeting, he was

familiar & easy; with the King and Queen he was dignified and

filled with sadness; all his grief found vent at "O that this

too solid flesh would melt"; with Horatio he was a warm and

high-minded friend; with Ophelia, in the feigned madness, he

was nearly impassioned enough, while at the same time, the

"sweet sadness" of love was evident notwithstanding the veil

thrown over it. We would suggest one point in reference to

the closet scene with his mother. While the object of Hamlet

is to rend her heart by the exhibit [sic] of her deeds, he

should not fail to allow a certain respect and filial love to appear

through the whole. In the last part of the scene Mr. Booth succeeded

in this, but in the first part, where in truth it is most difficult

to display it, he failed. But we have already devoted too much

space and must hasten through [to mention the supporting actors].

Such lengthy, detailed reviews were unusual for the time. In this respect, Ewer was a

pioneer in the area of American drama criticism. In contrast, the review appearing in the

Alta of 26 April was typically cursory. It noted that Booth's performance was "highly

creditable." Damning with faint praise, it continued: "We can predict a high degree of

success for the promising young artist when he shall overcome a few disagreeable

faults in intonation and delivery, and reached a profounder conception of the part."

Caroline Chapman's Ophelia was praised as "excellent, as everything in which this most

talented woman undertakes" and Uncle Billy Chapman's First Gravedigger was

"inimitable." On 27 April, a correspondent to the Alta signing himself "Play-Goer,"

criticized Ewer's review as "senseless adulation and absurd enthusiasm, an insult to the

senses of its readers." Moreover, "Play-Goer" reminded Ewer that he had once praised

James Stark, whereas now he depreciates "his 'cold' performance as Hamlet." On 29

April Ewer responded suggesting that "Play-Goer" was really a spokesperson for a rival

theatre (the Adelphi probably) jealous of Booth's success at the San Francisco Theatre.

He cited the applause of "the independent pit and boxes." He, furthermore, maintained

his admiration for Stark's tragic impersonations, but noted that as Hamlet, Stark "did not

seem to improve at all, as he did in his other characters," "never seemed to be able to

shake off a stiffness unsuited to the part" and made the character "utterly unyielding,

and not the easy, undulating, flexible thing, evidently intended.., by Shakespeare. "He

even recommended that Stark consider dropping the role from his repertory. Ewer then

described his conception of Hamlet:

Melancholy without gloom, contemplative yet without misanthropy,

philosophical yet enjoying playfulness in social converse, a man

by himself yet with ardent feelings of friendship, a thorough

knower of human nature, Hamlet stands the type of all that is

firm, dignified, gentlemanly and to be respected in a man.

Stark failed to capture this idea, but "Edwin Booth ... with the exception of sundry faults,

many of which we mentioned, ... realized our conception of Hamlet given above and

hence ... in our opinion its general effect was superior to ... Stark's Hamlet." Ewer's

comments were prescient, for they reflected what Edwin's mature Hamlet was to

become.

However, Junius was not about to let Edwin become a tragedian. According to William

Winter (Life and Art, 15), Junius warned him "against the possible danger of his

mistaking the exuberant force of youth for complete mastery of the art of acting." He

"had a wonderful success for a young man" but he still had "much to learn." June

returned Edwin to roles in comedy, farce, and burlesque, although Edwin was allowed

to repeat Richard III on 2 May.

That spring the actress Catherine Sinclair, recently divorced from Edwin Forrest after a

bitterly contested, widely publicized trial, arrived in California where on 9 May she was

featured as a star in Love's Sacrifice at the San Francisco Theatre. Edwin would soon

play Claude Melnotte to her Pauline in The Lady of Zyons, Dazzle to her Melody Gay in

Zondon Assurance, Charles Surface to her Lady Teazle, Petruchio to her Katharine.

Winter also reports (Life and Art, 14) that Booth appeared in blackface as Dandy Cox in

a minstrel version of the farce Box and Cox and impersonated one of San Francisco's

leaders, Captain John V. Plume, in a topical burlesque. Plume, according to Winter, was

so satisfied with the imitation that as a sign of approval he lent Booth his own hat, coat,

and gaiters to authenticate his costume. On 25 May Sinclair finished her run at the San

Francisco Theatre and the leading lady parts returned to Caroline Chapman. But the

San Francisco Theatre's excellent stock company was eclipsed by the arrival of the

notorious Lola Montez.

Montez had been creating a sensation for two years in east coast theatres with her

"Spider Dance." Drawing on Fanny Ellsler's dance La Tarantula, Lola created her own

tarantella, the dance of a woman attacked by poisonous tarantulas. Sometimes she

attached property tarantulas made of cork, whalebone, and rubber to her costume. In

the course of the dance, she would try to pluck or whirl them off. At other times, the

spiders were left to the imaginations of the spectators. But the movements, which

seemed to either offend or titillate spectators, involved Lola desperately trying to find a

single spider crawling about her body. Eventually Lola metamorphosed into a spider

herself, dancing with a frenzied, darkly sinister and erotic expressiveness that men

especially found fascinating.

Montez opened the American Theatre on 26 May rather tamely as Lady Teazle in

Sheridan's The School for Scandal, On the following night, she appeared first in a

drama called Yelva; or The Orphan Girl of Russia in which she played, according to one

reviewer, "an artless and affectionate drunk girl." After this teaser, Lola presented her

Spider Dance, which resulted in "uproarious and vehement" applause and a "storm of

bouquets." Over the next few weeks, Lola appeared in various dramatic vehicles

created expressively for her, such as Maritana; or, The Maid of Saragossa, Charlotte

Cordage; or, Jacobins and Girondists, and a quasi-autobiographical, self-dramatizing

piece titled Lola Montez in Bavaria in which she played herself as danseuse, politician,

countess, revolutionary, and fugitive. These dramatic performances were invariably

capped off with the Spider Dance. To experience Lola, patrons paid as much as $5.00 a

seat in the dress circle and $15.00 for a private box. (11)

For the satirist, the Lola phenomenon was irresistible. Indeed, wherever Lola appeared

there was a rash of Lola burlesques before, during, and after her engagements. On 14

June, for example, the San Francisco Theatre presented Booth in Hamlet followed by a

burlesque titled Lola Montez featuring Caroline Chapman as Katherine Klopper--i.e.,

Lola. On 20 June, shortly after Lola's engagement closed on 15 June, and she moved

on to Sacramento and then semi-retirement in Grass Valley, Doc Robinson entered the

Lola burlesque industry. His Who's Got the Countess? or, The Rival Houses featured

Caroline Chapman as Mlle. Mula, Countess of Bohemia, and William "Uncle Billy"

Chapman as Louis Buggins--i.e., Lewis Baker, manager of the American Theatre--a

"Manager with a Spy Deer Dance." Caroline's burlesque of Lola was reportedly greeted

with "vociferous" applause, but it was Uncle Billy's antics as a "male danseuse" shaking

off the spiders that brought the house down. The Golden Era (26 June) commended

Doc for the "first successful original piece in California" but thought that Uncle Billy's

Spider Dance "laid it on a leetle too thick" (Quoted in Annals, 67).

Although some complained that Doc's burlesque was vulgar and coarse, it continued to

be a popular attraction. It followed a benefit performance of Richard III on 24 June with

Junius in the title role and Edwin playing both Tressel and Richmond. On 27 June, it

shared a bill with Edwin and Caroline in Romeo and Juliet, Edwin playing Romeo for

"the first time." The Alta (27 June) commented: "That he is a young actor of great

promise there is no doubt and that he may yet reach the highest round in his profession

there is little question. But the road he has entered upon is a hard and rugged one. It

requires ceaseless and lifelong effort to attain the highest rank and it is no honest or

candid pen that tells him he has already reached it. Yet the part was rendered last

evening most effectually and was the best we have ever seen from him." Nevertheless,

Edwin, for the most part, continued to play farce roles for the remainder of the season--

Frank Heartall in The Soldier's Daughter, or Sir Alfred Highflyer in A Roland for an

Oliver, or Givemsum in Buy It Dear, 'Tis Made of Cashmere.

Lola Montez was only one of a number of old and new stars to step into San Francisco's

theatrical limelight in 1853-1854. At about the time, for example, that Lola was setting

up a household in Grass Valley, where coincidentally she would coach the famous child

star, Lotta Crabtree, James E. Murdoch, after the elder Booth the most distinguished

American tragedian to yet appear in California, opened at the American Theatre in

August as Hamlet. The Alta called it "the most correct and in all the details of delineation

the most perfect piece of acting that we have yet seen on the California Stage" (Annals,

69). Following the usual touring practice, Murdoch followed his engagement at the

American with bookings in Sacramento, Stockton, and Marysville, after which he

returned to San Francisco in September. But all of the theatres this fall were drawing

meager audiences, perhaps because of high ticket prices--prices had increased to

$3.00 for orchestra, $2.00 for dress circle and $1.00 for balconies--and a lack of novelty

(Annals, 69-71).

In December, however, audiences returned, attracted by a new theatre, the

Metropolitan, which was being leased and managed by Catherine Sinclair. The

Metropolitan was praised for its three tiers of boxes, its wide, roomy lobby, and its

sumptuous furnishings and decoration. In February it also became the first theatre in

San Francisco to be lit by gas. With business bad at the San Francisco Theatre, Junius

had accepted an offer from Sinclair to be the stage manager at the new Metropolitan

and Edwin went with him. The opening offering on 24 December was The School for

Seandal with Murdoch as Charles Surface and Sinclair as Lady Teazle. Edwin

appeared as Mr. Jones Robinson Brownsmith in the popular afterpiece Little Toddykins

(Annals, 72). On the second night of the Metropolitan's first season, Edwin appeared as

Richard III. The Alta's critic (26 December) was stinting in his comments noting a

physical resemblance to his father "as he appeared fifteen years ago," and opining that

if Edwin labored "with diligence to bring out and to improve the talent which he really

possesses, he will be able to perform this arduous part almost, if not fully as well, as did

his father." Thereafter for the next three weeks Edwin played in support of Murdoch and

Sinclair, mainly the juvenile leads, but also in light comedy roles in various afterpieces.

Among the roles he played were Laertes, Iago, De Mauprat, Stukely (The Gamester),

Pizarro, and Charles II, but as usual he was not reviewed.

It should be noted that this was not the first time that Edwin had played in support of

Murdoch. He had played Gaspar in support of Murdoch's Claude Melnotte and probably

other roles as well in March 1851 at the Holliday Street Theatre in Baltimore. Murdoch's

style was more like that of Macready than that of the elder Booth, less volatile, more

classical, "gentlemanly," and elocutionary. Unlike the elder Booth, who was most

esteemed for his villains and a few broadly comic characters, Murdoch was noted for his

portrayal of heroic, introspective characters such as Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and

Charles de Moor in The Robbers, as well as light comic characters such as Charles

Surface, and Rover in Wild Oats. Murdoch was fairly tall and stocky and was

encouraged in the early part of his career by Edwin Forrest, but he did not follow

Forrest's muscular approach to roles. Although Edwin never mentioned being influenced

by Murdoch--or, indeed, any other actor--something of Murdoch's approach, albeit

unconsciously, may have rubbed off on him in these his formative years. Certainly,

Booth's mature style and even some of the roles or types of roles for which he would

become famous veered more in the direction of Murdoch than his father.

Almost simultaneous with the opening of the Metropolitan, Lewis Baker at the American

Theatre presented on 26 December a new young star, Matilda Heron, to San Francisco

playgoers. She appeared in a number of romantic roles, including Mrs. Haller in The

Stranger, Bianca in Fazio, the Countess in Love, but it was her Juliet that struck

reviewers as especially forceful. Critics praised her expressive, but restrained

naturalness, especially when taking the sleeping potion and in her death scene. When,

in February the Bakers retired from managing the American to return east, Heron

moved to the Metropolitan where she remained for a number of weeks with Edwin

partnering her in such plays as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, The Wife, The Hunchback

and Fazio. While critical and audience attention continued to be focused on the young

actress, Edwin was occasionally noticed, although not always positively.

The Alta's reviewer (14 February), for example, praised his Romeo as "decidedly a very

superior piece of acting," and his Fazio (19 February) as a "fine performance"; but

several days later (17 February), he complained about his performance as the Count De

Saxe (Adrienne, the Actress) "that an actor ought not to undertake to perform a part

unless he be willing to exert himself to do it well." This was, however, an entirely new

role for Edwin and he undoubtedly only had a day to prepare it. Still, stock actors were

expected to prepare roles at short notice. On 19 February, Heron took a night off and

Edwin played Macduff to the Macbeth of George Ryer, a second-class, aspiring star.

The Alta (20 February) commented that Edwin "fully proved his superior powers."

In April another star appeared in San Francisco who would have a more direct impact

on the progress of Edwin's career. Laura Keene, unlike Matilda Heron, had already

made a name for herself in the east playing romantic heroine and comedienne roles

with Lester Wallack in such plays as The Lady of Lyons, Boucicault's Pauline, and as

Rosalind in As You Like It. She also had served a short, but generally disappointing stint

as manager of the Charles Street Theatre in Baltimore. Keene was undoubtedly drawn

to San Francisco for the same reasons that had drawn other actors. Her much heralded

opening was at the Metropolitan on 6 April in The Love Chase with Edwin supporting

her as Master Wildrake. Her California debut, however, was, as the Alta (9 April)

reviewer noted, "by no means ... a failure ... [but] she has not made a hit." Edwin was

not mentioned. Ewer in his The Pioneer wrote that she did not perform "as well as she is

capable of performing," suggesting that in New York she benefitted from the support of

the strong acting ensemble at Wallack's: "She being the lady of the troupe gained a

reputation which she is unable to sustain when acting alone." He noted also that her

"pieces came onto the stage without sufficient preparation. Some of the important actors

around her were not perfect in their parts. We regret to say that this remark applies with

too much truth to Mr. Edwin Booth." (12) Keene's Pauline (The Lady of Lyons) on 7 April

was also found lacking by the Alta (8 April), while Edwin's Claude Melnotte was judged

only "passable." After only three nights, Keene quit the Metropolitan, according to the

Alta to recover from some "indisposition." According to Asia (The Elder and the Younger

Booth, 138), Keene attributed her failure to Edwin's bad acting. She reports that there

sprung up between the two "a mutual dislike which culminated in something like hatred;

but the duties of theatrical life exacted that they should appear upon the stage together."

Booth's subsequent relationship with Keene, however, does not support Asia's claim of

mutual dislike.

The ambience of San Francisco with its concert saloons, gambling dens, and bordellos,

may have been more attractive for a young man of twenty, for the first time on his own

with some money in his pocket and something of a local reputation in his profession,

than theatrical study and preparation. Unlike many of the established actors such as

Junius, Jr., Robinson, and the Chapmans who had families and lived in comfortable

houses on Telegraph Hill, Edwin and David C. Anderson shared quarters in a more

bohemian section on the fringe of the city, somewhat near the present site of Seventh

and Mission Streets. They sardonically referred to their small, two-room house on a plot

of land about seventy-five by two hundred feet as the "Ranch" and listed themselves in

the city directory as "comedians and rancheros" (The Elder and the Younger Booth,

138).

After Keene's departure, Sinclair turned to operatic presentation, and Edwin was pretty

much "at liberty," although on 23 April (Shakespeare's birthday) he did appear, as

Richard III, but the performance was not reviewed. Again on 25 April, between operatic

performances, he appeared as Macbeth, "for the first time" according to the Alta, for the

benefit of a Mrs. Woodward. There followed a series of benefits for various performers.

Edwin, for example, played Petruchio to Sinclair's Katharine, then Fazio and Macbeth to

Heron's Bianca and Lady Macbeth. On 6 June for his own benefit, he acted Hamlet

supported by Heron as Ophelia. None of these performances was reviewed.

Towards the end of June, Booth was playing in support of the Bateman sisters--Kate

and Ellen--child stars who first began performing in New York in 1849 when they were

six and five respectively, and subsequently made much heralded appearances in other

major cities, including London in 1851. Although best known for their Shakespeare

presentations, at the Metropolitan they were starring in a piece called Mother's Trust," or

California in 1819. Ellen played Zeke Stubbins, "a wide-awake Yankee boy, with a

song" while Ellen played Ben "the devoted son." Edwin played a character called

Gilmore. The Alta described the play, written by Mrs. Bateman, as lacking "entirely in

dramatic unity," "meager" in plot, and with dialogue that was "strained and unnatural."

Later in their run, Edwin endured Ellen and Kate as Richard and Richmond in the fifth

act of Richard III. When the Batemans departed, he played Luis, a conquistador, in

support of James Murdoch's De Soto in an historical epic, whose dramatic quality was

only slightly higher than A Mother's Trust, titled De Soto," or, The Hero of the

Mississippi Both plays, however, were popular with San Franciscans. For Edwin they

were a long step down from Hamlet. Small wonder that he may have been open to a

new adventure.

In 1851, gold was discovered in Australia and, as in California, gold seekers were soon

making the long voyage "down under." In the early 1850s, after playing in San

Francisco, Sacramento, and the mining towns, actors regularly made the voyage to

Australia to bring theatre to the burgeoning populations of Sydney and Melbourne and

in so doing find gold of a different kind. In March 1853, for example, the Starks sailed to

Australia. They returned in June 1854, reportedly richer by one hundred thousand

dollars. (13) According to Asia (The Elder and the Younger Booth, 139), Dave Anderson

urged Edwin to consider a professional tour to Australia and then negotiated with Laura

Keene to join them. After her brief engagement at the Metropolitan, Keene had toured to

Sacramento and Stockton when she apparently had recouped her health and

reputation. In late June she was back in San Francisco as the sole manager and lessee

of the newly remodeled and redecorated Union Theatre. With a company mainly of Gold

Coast veterans, including Caroline Chapman, the Hamiltons, George Spear, John

McCabe and others, Keene presented a series of popular comedies, farces, and

extravaganzas. When a production of a burlesque called The Prize; or, $1,000 in a Horn

failed, Keene abandoned management. Her interest in an Australian tour, however, may

have been more personal then professional. Under circumstances that remain clouded,

Keene separated from her husband Henry Wellington Taylor sometime in 1851. He may

have committed a crime and been shipped to Australia or he may simply have

abandoned his wife and two daughters.

In any case, Keene reportedly had received information from Stark that Taylor was in

Australia. Anxious to secure a legal separation, which Taylor apparently contested,

Keene was willing to risk the voyage to Australia.

Edwin, Anderson, and Keene departed for Australia on 30 July 1854, arriving in Sydney

some seventy-two days later on 11 October. Prior to their opening on 25 October at the

Victoria Theatre in The Lady of Lyons, their engagement was puffed by the Illustrated

Sydney News and the People's Advocate. In addition to enthusiastic commendations of

their respective acting talents, the former journal printed portrait sketches of Laura and

Edwin in The Lady of Lyons, of Laura as Marie de Meranine in Phillip of France, and of

Edwin as Richard III. (14) Still they were comparatively unknown, and were following a

succession of English and American visiting stars. Simultaneous with their engagement,

the rival Lyceum Theatre, for example, was occupied by an American company which

included the Thorne family and the Wallers. The Lady of Lyons was the opening play at

both theatres on 25 October. In a novelty breeches turn, an actress named Kate Denin

played Claude Melnotte to Emily Thome's Pauline at the Lyceum. On the whole,

however, Edwin and Laura fared well against such competition. The Empire (30

October), for example, wrote that Keene's acting "while suggestive and forcible, [was]

still natural and graceful." Booth's Claude Melnotte was praised as a clever performance

and "in the farewell of Melnotte to Pauline and his mother, on his proceeding to join the

armies of the Republic, Mr. Booth was particularly effective, delineating faithfully the

fiery zeal and independence of the proud and patriotic Frenchman."

Through 4 November Booth and Keene appeared in a repertoire of such standards as

The Merchant of Fenice, The Stranger, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III

and Pauline. (15) The newspapers, for the most part, only noted the various

performances, including Booth's Hamlet, Richard III, and Shylock. But The Illustrated

Sydney News (4 November) called Booth's Benedick "a most finished performance--

courtly, cavalier, love-proof, jaunty, humorous, he trod the stage defiant of all tender

influences." The Empire (30 October) noted that in The Stranger Booth's "portrayal of

the misanthrope's pride, agony, and tenacity of honor" stamped him "an actor of the

highest order." (Keene "indisposed," according to the review, did not as usual play Mrs.

Haller; Mrs. Guerin, a member of the Victoria stock company took her place.) The

Empire review thought that as Hamlet Booth "fully sustained his reputation as a good

tragedian, the various speeches and restorations being rendered by him in a most

effective manner--particularly the magnificent soliloquy ... commencing 'To be, or not to

be.'" Booth took his benefit on 4 November playing both Connor the Rash in "a splendid

historical drama" titled The Knight of Arva; or, An Irishman's Fortune and Count Horace

de Beauval in Pauline.

On 8 November, Booth, Keene, and Anderson took passage to Melbourne. The

Melbourne Argus of 14 November welcomed them, but noted that it was not an

auspicious time to arrive, since there was already other performers lately arrived from

England. Indeed, since the only legitimate theatre in Melbourne, the Queen's, was

presently occupied by the Irish soprano Catherine Hayes, there was really no place for

them to perform. But finally on 20 November they were able to open at the Queen's with

Much Ado About Nothing. The Argus (21 November) commented that Booth's Benedick

"some few national peculiarities of intonation apart, was very successful." Keene's

Beatrice was also rendered "in a most pleasing and attractive manner." Much Ado was

followed by performances of The Lady of Zyons, (21 November) Richard III, (22

November) a repeat of Much Ado, (23 November) and on their last night (24 November)

Plot and Passion and Grist to the Mill. The Argus further noted that their performances

were generally well received, and houses were described as "filled," but apparently box

office receipts were poor. Melbourne in 1854, like San Francisco in 1849, was an

undeveloped, colonial outpost with a boomtown population of about 30,000. The

Queen's Theatre, almost a decade old, seated only 800. Interest was mainly in gold

mining. The Argus, for example, reported a stream of migration towards the Omeo

diggings. For entertainment, a troupe of English equilibrists at Ashley's Amphitheatre

was more attractive than Shakespeare. Indeed, Keene and Booth were among the very

first actors to perform Shakespeare in Melbourne. On 2 December Keene, Booth, and

Anderson embarked for San Francisco on the City of Norfolk. (16)

Ships plying the Pacific between the Antipodes and California often stopped in Hawaii

en route. The City of Norfolk put in at Honolulu on 17 February for several days

reportedly for repairs. According to Asia, Edwin, Anderson and several other performers

traveling with them decided to pool their resources and rent the Royal Hawaiian

Theatre. Here they would mount several productions aiming to return to San Francisco

with some money in hand after their economically disappointing Australian adventure.

No mention is made of Keene as a member of this group. There is some evidence to

indicate that she may have quarreled with members of the company over some

business during the rehearsal of their opening production, Charles II; or, The Merry

Monarch, and as a result decided to return on the City of Norfolk when it departed for

San Francisco. The remaining company may have only numbered a half-dozen

members, but by doubling roles they reportedly presented in addition to Charles II,

performances of The Lady of Lyons, Richelieu, The Iron Chest, Hamlet and Richard III.

Booth later reminisced that there was "only [one] lady in our company"--probably Mrs.

Hamilton--so she was assigned to the roles of both the Duchess of York and Elizabeth.

Lady Anne was played by an actor named Joe Roe, whom Booth described as "a

stumpy fellow with bandy legs, cross-eyed ... with all his front teeth gone ... and a strong

German accent." The two English armies were made up of native Hawaiians. The play

was shortened "a good deal," but all-in-all, Booth remembered the "audiences were

good natured ... and seemed well pleased." King Kamehamehah IV who attended told

Booth that he had seen his father as Richard in New York and "spoke kindly of our

Richard." John F. Thurm, who assisted Booth in printing and posting bills advertising the

performances, many years later remembered that Richard III was performed for Edwin's

farewell benefit and then reprised at the request of Honolulu's "leading citizens and

whaling captains who were enthusiastic over the young tragedian's acting." On the first

night of Richard III, according to Thrum, in an incident evoking some of his father's

performances, "in the combat scene ... Booth was so carried away by the excitement of

the moment, that the actor representing [Richmond] narrowly escaped an ugly sword

wound." Booth, Anderson, and company sailed from Honolulu on 28 March. (17)

By 2 May 1855, Booth was back on stage in San Francisco appearing once again at the

Metropolitan Theatre as Benedick to Catherine Sinclair's Beatrice. He was "most

cordially greeted" especially by "the large number of ladies" in the audience, according

to the Alta (3 May). When Much Ado was reprised the next night, the Alta (4 May) called

Booth's Benedick "an excellent piece of acting." On 4 May, Booth played Richard III, a

role, which like his father before him, he was increasingly making his own. The Alta (5

May) commented, "in most respects his performance was excellent. It struck us,

however, that he did not quite conceive the character. He appeared too young and

sprightly, with not enough of the deep, subtle cunning that we ... associate with ...

Richard. Yet he read the part finely, giving the intense passages with great force. He

has greatly improved during the last year, and is fast ascending the ladder of fame to

the round where once stood his distinguished father." In The Pioneer Magazine (June

1855), Ewer chided him for devoting "too little time to study." For another year, Booth

would continue to play a wide variety of roles in both San Francisco and Sacramento.

The Metropolitan closed for two weeks, reopening on 14 May for the presentation of

Rousset Ballet Company for a fortnight. Then on 28 May, Jean Margaret Davenport, a

popular star of the emotional school, who had been playing in San Francisco since

March, began a series of highly touted farewell engagements at the Metropolitan. Edwin

supported her in her usual repertoire, which included such romantic vehicles as The

Hunchback, Valeria, Love, The Wife and her most celebrated vehicle Camille. Critical

attention was for the most part exclusively on Davenport, but the Alta (30 May) did note

that Edwin's Armand in Camille "was worthy of him, for he well sustained this very

difficult character." On 6 June, the Alta wrote of his Julian St. Pierre (The Wife), "we

have rarely witnessed an impersonation by this promising young actor with greater

satisfaction."

Following Davenport's departure, Booth appeared on 9 June for Sinclair's benefit as

Joseph Surface. He does not seem to have acted again until 10 July when he played

Frank Heartall in The Soldier's Daughter for the benefit of Mrs. Woodward. Indeed,

Sinclair was having significant financial difficulty, mainly because of her efforts to

establish a regular program of grand opera presentations in San Francisco. Early in

1854, she had presented Anna Thillon, an English singer of international reputation, in a

fairly successful series of light operas in English. Then in the early and latter part of the

1854-55 season, she attempted to mount a series of grand operas, combining the

talents of Anna Rivere Bishop, another English soprano, and a small Italian troupe led

by soprano Clothilda Barili-Thorn. Sinclair's sister Margaret Sinclair Voorhees also was

a member of this company. Opera performances were alternated with ballets,

pantomimes, comic skits, and regular legitimate plays. While some of the opera

productions--particularly premiers--played to good houses, most performances did not

draw. At the end of the season, Sinclair reported that her efforts to establish a regular

opera series had resulted in a loss of almost $15,000 forcing her to resign from the

management of the Metropolitan. (18)

Shortly after Laura Keene returned from Australia in the spring 1855, she had secured

the lease of the American Theatre. Here she presented through the spring and summer

a range of plays, including scenically splendid productions of A Midsummer Night's

Dream and The Tempest. On 30 July Edwin appeared at the American in the

extravaganza Tom and Jerry as "Corithian Tom" for the benefit of two members of

Keene's company (Annals, 89). Keene had decided to quit California and obtain

management of a theatre in New York. According to Asia (The Elder and the Younger

Booth, 147), she offered Edwin a position as leading man in her company, but he

decided "he should hold his place as a 'star'. "

He then traveled to Sacramento where Sinclair had leased the Sacramento Theatre for

a "short season" as a playbill noted)9 Throughout August and most of September,

Booth appeared in a range of roles, including single performances as Richard III,

Macbeth, Hamlet, Malvolio, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Antipholous

of Syracuse in The Twin Dromios, an adaptation of The Comedy of Errors. (20) But

most often, he played light comic roles such as Jack Spriggs in Look Before You Leap,"

or, Wooings and Weddings, Master Wildrake in The Love Chase, Antony Latour, "a

Creole," in a romantic drama titled Love's Fetters, and Mr. Oakley in Coleman's The

Jealous Wife. Often he played in support of the Gougenheim sisters, Adelaide and

Josephine (Joey) who were very popular stars on the California stage. He also

occasionally appeared in afterpiece farces, most often as Captain Murphey Maguire in

A Serious Family.

On 22 September, the engagement at the Sacramento Theatre ended and Edwin

returned to San Francisco and the Metropolitan Theatre, now being managed by Keene.

When Keene left San Francisco to return east on 5 October, Booth moved to the

American Theatre, playing once again in support of the Gougenheim sisters in their

comic vehicles--including The Love Chase, The Honeymoon, The Court and Stage, and

Love's Fetters. Meanwhile at the Union Theatre, James Stark and McKean Buchanan, a

minor tragedian in the "heroic," Forrest style, were appearing in such plays as Othello,

Macbeth, Hamlet, A New Way to Pay Old Debts, and The Iron Chest. At the

Metropolitan, Junius was playing Iachimo in a rare production of Cymbeline. Perhaps

Edwin was irked by having to play such lightweight parts, while actors with less talent

starred in the more substantial roles that were his birthright. The critic of the Alta alluded

on 10 October to a certain cavalierness in his performances, chiding him to study his

parts more thoroughly: "Something is necessary besides genius, and Mr. Booth must

know that no man ever attained the highest rank in the profession, without careful and

patient study. We say this in kindness towards Mr. Booth, for we believe that he

possesses qualifications to make him second to no actor in the country." Finally towards

the end of the month, Edwin got his opportunity to play Sir Edward Mortimer, Hamlet,

and Richard III (the fifth act only.) But the Alta reviewed none of his performances.

That October, a new theatre named after Edwin Forrest opened in Sacramento. The

managers, Charles A. King and George Ryer, advertised their company as the "Great

Star Company of California." Most of the leading actors of San Francisco's American

Theatre were recruited for this new company, including Edwin, Caroline Chapman and

George Spear. Edwin opened the new theatre on 6 November as Benedick to Caroline

Chapman's Beatrice. He followed this with performances of Charles Surface and Young

Marlowe, but then he may have been summarily dismissed from the company for being

drunk on stage. (21) Catherine Sinclair, however, had once again assumed

management of the Sacramento Theatre and hired Edwin to be her leading man. As he

had in the past, he played Benedick to her Beatrice, Petruchio to her Kate, Claude

Melnotte to her Pauline, but he also played Richard III and the Stranger.

The most notable event of this engagement, however, was the American premier of the

romantic melodrama The Marble Heart written by English actor-playwright Charles

Selby. The Marble Heart; or, the Sculptors Dream." A Romance of Real Life had its

premier at the Royal Adelphi Theatre in May 1854. The theme of the play is introduced

in the first act which is set in the studio of the ancient Greek sculptor Phidias who,

Pygmalion-like, has become so enamored with three women figures he has carved that

he refuses to sell them to Gorgias who commissioned them. The philosopher Diogenes,

a friend of Phidias, is asked to settle the question of ownership. He decides that Phidias

and Gorgias should plead their cause to the statues who will then somehow show their

preference. Phidias admits that he is poor but that he loves the statues; Gorgias, on the

other hand, offers them extravagant wealth and fame. The statues--posed according to

a note in the script like Canova's "Three Graces"--come to life turning their heads and

smiling at Gorgias. Phidias is devastated by their ingratitude. Diogenes emotes:

Oh, marble hearts, marble hearts! False ones of the past, false

ones of the future; woe to the man who loves you, thy gold bought

smiles have ever been and ever will be ministers of ruin, misery,

and death!

The remaining four acts move forward in time to contemporary 1850s France. Raphael

Duchatlet, a young sculptor, is smitten with Mademoiselle Marco, a notorious femme

fatale. Despite warnings from his best friend and his worried, aged mother, Raphael,

neglects his work and the care of his mother and squanders his money and time on

Mlle. Marco. Marco is in love with Raphael, but having clawed her way out of poverty,

by her own admission her heart has become marble to everything but gold. Her love for

Raphael is in conflict with her need to secure a wealthy marriage, and she eventually

spurns the sculptor. Heartbroken, Raphael returns to work, but the news of his mother's

sudden death is a severe blow to his already weakened heart and he expires in the

arms of his best friend. Marco rushes in to seek Raphael's forgiveness and love, but she

is too late. The curtain tings down on a view of the statues of Act I along with a reprise

of Diogenes's lines. The Marble Heart is a typical romantic melodrama of its time, but

the characters of Raphael and Marco are well developed and offer opportunities to

project a range of conflicting emotions. The major supporting characters are also well

drawn. With its mixture of suspense, sentiment, sensationalism, and scenic spectacle

and music and song to reinforce the drama, The

Marble Heart had all the requisites for popularity. Furthermore, the theme may well have

resonated with a Sacramento audience comprised mostly of young men, far from home,

and vulnerable to having their hearts broken by heartless coquettes with gold bought

smiles.

With Edwin as Phidias and Raphael, Sinclair as Mlle. Marco, and Henry Sedley, a

young actor from Boston newly arrived in California, as Diogenes and Volage,

Raphael's adviser and friend, The Marble Heart opened on 10 December. The

Sacramento Daily Union (11 December) reviewer observed that the play was "one of

merit, beautifully written, abounding in variety of incident, and like all French dramatic

productions, appealing strongly to the passions." Sinclair's representation of Mlle. Marco

was commended for its "good taste, correct conception ... and general effectiveness in

reading and acting." Henry Sedley also was singled out for exhibiting "a versatility of

talent which in his previous personations we have been unable to accredit [sic] him

with." The reviewer, however, thought Booth "deficient in the text, and moreover he

acted the part of the sculptor too tamely, although in the scene of the parting with Marco

[in Act 4] he was exceedingly effective. Without derogating to ourselves assumptive

criticism ... [if Booth] was to study his text more, and act less, the effect of his

personation of Raphael would redound to his own credit, and to the greater satisfaction

of his auditors." The Sacramento Daily Union continued to print daily notices about

performances of The Marble Heart noting that it was nightly drawing full houses. By 13

December, the reviewer commented that all the actors, including Booth presumably,

appeared to be "perfectly versed in their parts and act naturally, which, after all, is the

true source of dramatic inspiration." On 17 December the Sacramento Daily Union

reported that the run was extended and that, furthermore, the performances were now

complemented by new scenery, novel machinery, another tableau, and a so-called

"classical apotheosis of wonderful effect and beauty"--probably a version of the "Three

Graces" tableau called for in the script. Undoubtedly the new scenic effects were in

response to the competition offered at the rival Forrest Theatre by the popular

Gougenheim sisters. (Surely Sinclair must have been somewhat annoyed also by the

fact that the competing theatre was named after her former husband.) Eventually, The

Marble Heart would be presented for fourteen consecutive performances--from 10

through 25 December--an unprecedented run in California for the time. It was reprised

on 28 and 29 December and 4, 7, and 11 January.

A production of The Corsican Brothers was prepared for New Year's Eve with Edwin

doubling as the twins Fabien and Louis dei Franchi. The Democratic State Journal of 3

January observed, however, that Booth "struggled through [the performance] dragging

everything down to the depths of disgust. Speaking mildly, he was intoxicated." Edwin

was then publicly taken to task: "He who is cast to sustain a prominent position in an

honorable and polished profession and has so little regard for himself, or regard for an

audience as to voluntarily become incapacitated by drink, is undeserving the

countenance of any community. The audience was indeed small, but a few more such

nights will cause it to be even smaller." But the next evening, Booth acted in The Lady

of Lyons and Katherine and Petruchio, according to the State Journal (2 January) "with

great perfection." However, the State Journal (7 January) noted that Booth's

performance of Richard III on 5 January went fairly well for the first two acts, "but when

Gloster became King he took too much toddy, and the consequence was he fell

ignobly." The critic of the Sacramento Daily Union (7 January) was kinder noting only

that "we looked in vain for that portraiture of passion and character so intellectually and

happily embodied on some of his previous representations of the deformed monarch."

When this engagement closed on 11 January, Booth and Sinclair toured The Marble

Heart to Marysville and Stockton and then to the Metropolitan Theatre in San Francisco.

The critic of the Alta (16 January) observed that it was "a very remarkable production

and one of the most interesting plays ever produced here." Sinclair, he thought, "never

played better and pictures the heartless Parisian coquette to the life." Several days later

(19 January) he commented that Booth's Raphael was "a very fine performance" and

then on 21 January after the last night of The Marble Heart, he summarized that "in the

personation of the Sculptor" Booth showed "much of the genius of his great father."

Later in his career Booth occasionally revived The Marble Heart and no doubt he could

have made his mark as a grand romantic actor, but his ambitions drove him in another

direction.

On 18 February, Booth and Sinclair were back in Sacramento--ironically for Sinclair--at

the Forrest Theatre for what was advertised as the forty-third performance of The

Marble Heart in California. It played through 20 February, but as the State Journal (20

February) noted it was not drawing "as formerly." (22) Intending a tour to Australia,

Catherine Sinclair commenced a two-week "farewell engagement in Sacramento."

Booth supported her as usual in her most popular vehicles, such as The Lady of Lyons,

Madelaine; or, the Foundling of Paris and Katharine and Petruchio. The State Journal

(21 February) commented that Claude Melnotte was "perhaps Booth's greatest

character; at any rate we think he plays it better than any other we have seen him

assume, and better indeed than any actor on the California boards."

After Sinclair departed, Booth remained at the Forrest now leased by Benjamin A.

Baker, an experienced stage manager and the author of d Glance at New York (1848)

that introduced Frank Chanfrau as the popular character, Mose the Bowery B'hoy.

Booth played in support of a popular Sacramento actress, Estelle Potter, mainly in a

range of comedic and romantic roles such as Armand in Anna Cora Mowatt's Armand;

or, the Peer and the Peasant, Gennaro, a young soldier of fortune, in Lucretia Borgia;

or, The Poisoner, Sir Thomas Clifford in Knowles's The Hunchback, Dazzle in London

Assurance, and two roles in a popular, moralistic potboiler of the era titled The Six

Degrees of Crime: Wine, Women, Gambling, Theft, Murder, and Scaffold (The playbill

for this latter production solemnly announced, "Be warned ye youths, for Justice must

be satisfied.") The State Journal (13 March) praised his Armand as "an excellent

impersonation; vigorous and manly," noting that he was "an actor of very superior merit

... destined to make a figure in the world." But the State Journal (30 March) found Six

Degrees of Crime "too dull and bloody even for the theatrical habitues of Sacramento"

and it was withdrawn after a single performance. Booth also appeared in a number of

farcical afterpieces both during Mrs. Potter's engagement and towards the middle of

April when the chief attraction at the Forrest was Mr. Lenton the "antipodean" who

created an illusion of being able to walk on the ceiling for a length of twenty-eight feet.

Booth even played the Ghost in a production of Hamlet featuring one C. C. Clapp, a

retired local dancing master. The State Journal (15 and 16 April) reported that Clapp's

performance was "greeted by laughter from the audience" but he nonetheless reprised it

the next night when he was bombarded with radishes, turnips, onion and cabbages. But

"antipodeans" and dancing master Hamlets were not unusual fare in Gold Coast

theatres. In late March, spectators at the Forrest Theatre, who had suffered through

Alexandre Dumas pere's melodrama La Tour de Nesle; or, The Chamber of Death,

were rewarded with the fifth act of Richard III in which Richard and Richmond dueled to

the death mounted on jackasses!

On 19 April, a "grand testimonial" benefit was arranged for Booth by members of the

state legislature and the citizens of Sacramento. Booth appeared as Sir Edward

Mortimer, as Hamlet in Act II only, and as Mr. Jones Robinson Brownsmith in Little

Toddykins. It proved so popular a program that at the request of certain legislators and

citizens, Booth reprised it on 22 April. The State Journal (21 April) reported that Booth's

Hamlet "will compare favorably with Murdoch and Stark, and we have heard

connoisseurs declare that since Macready, they have seen no Hamlet equal to Booth's.

We are not prepared to go that far, but certainly his representation of this great and

difficult character was such that himself [sic] and friends may well feel proud of it. With

close study, such as Mr. Booth is now devoting to his profession, he will soon rank

among the first representatives of dramatic character."

On 26 April Booth transferred to the Sacramento Theatre, where still under the

management of Ben Baker, he was given star billing as "the young American

tragedian." With the exception of an occasional appearance as Mr. Jones Robinson

Brownsmith, Booth, perhaps encouraged by the press and audiences, and his own

ambition and confidence, began to appear solely in the roles that were standard fare for

mid-nineteenth century tragedians. For a week at the Sacramento Theatre, he played

Othello, Payne's Brutus, Sir Giles Overreach, and Richard III. The State Journal was

cautious, noting only that his Othello was "well sustained" (29 April) and that while his

Brutus (2 May) was "full of fire, and in effect [Booth] looked and spoke the character

admirably, ... with a few exceptions [it] was not ably sustained." His Hamlet on 29 April,

however, prompted the State Journal (30 April) to write that with this performance Booth

"added a head and shoulders to his professional height. We doubt much whether there

is living any better representative of this greater and master character." Following his

performance of Sir Giles Overreach on Saturday 3 May, Booth seems to have traveled

down to San Francisco to appear for a fortnight at the Union Theatre then under the

management of Junius. He opened on 5 May as Hamlet and then offered performances

of what was becoming his standard repertoire of tragic heroes and villains. (23)

The San Francisco theatrical scene in May 1856 was very much affected by a series of

violent events that culminated in the formation of a so-called Vigilante Committee--a

group of citizens determined to restore order to the city. Taking the law into their own

hands, the committee lynched two jailed men who had been arrested for shooting two

prominent San Francisco citizens; then they rounded-up and summarily deported many

of the city's worse criminals. The city, divided between pro- and anti-Vigilante elements,

was tense and even dangerous. It was not an ambience to attract San Franciscans to

the theatre and attendance slumped. Edwin left San Francisco and returned to the

Forrest Theatre in Sacramento where beginning on 15 May he appeared as Pescara,

Sir Giles, Romeo, Sir Edward Mortimer, and "for the first time" Cardinal Richelieu on 24

May. Perhaps with the worst of the Vigilante crisis over, Edwin then returned to San

Francisco, performing for a series of benefits at the Union and the Metropolitan

Theatres. At the latter theatre on 27 May, he performed Richelieu for the first time in

San Francisco. The Alta (28 May) commented that he "read the text ... in a very superior

manner," but that it was "impossible ... to accept the illusion that he was a very old

man." Still his "fine elocution" was some compensation for his inappropriate age and

"ten years hence, with proper care and study [he] may be the greatest Richelieu living."

Then to close the season, he was back once again at the Forrest Theatre on 5 June for

three performances as Pescara, Richelieu, and Julian St. Pierre in The Wife; or, A Tale

of Mantua for the benefit of Baker.

Probably at this juncture, Edwin embarked on a tour of the mining towns with a small

company managed by one Ben Moulton. He probably knew Moulton through Harriet

Carpenter, Mrs. Moulton, a prominent actress with whom he had acted at the Forrest

Theatre. Sierra County can be notoriously dry in the summer months and many of the

mountain towns experienced devastating fires in the summer of 1856. The State Journal

(13 June), for example, reported that the water level of the Sacramento River was so

low that drinking water was scarce. Numerous fires were reported in the region

throughout July and August. Shortly after the arrival of the Moulton company in Nevada

City, a fire started in Frisbie's Theatre. The conflagration not only destroyed the theatre,

but all of the company's costumes and properties. Although touring the mining towns

was usually a profitable enterprise, this tour seemed an exception. When the company

moved on to Downieville, Moulton reportedly abandoned the company. The driver of the

Moulton company's wagon then seized Edwin's own horse as security for the money

owed him by the manager. With the company and tour in disarray, Booth made his way

back to Sacramento, arriving there "penniless." (24)

On 6 August the State Journal reported that the Sacramento Joint Stock Dramatic

Association was engaged at the Forrest Theatre where they were "striving to recover

from the losses sustained ... in the recent fires ... in the mountain towns." Harriet

Moulton, Sophie Edwin, and John S. Potter, who were probably members of the ill-fated

Moulton tour, were listed as principals in this new company, but not Edwin. However,

according to the State Journal (7 August), he did play Romeo to the Juliet of Harriet

Moulton for her benefit on 8 August. On 16 August the State Journal noted that another

new rival company would soon open at the Forrest Theatre. Touted as the "best

company in the state," its members included Junius and Harriet Mace, Dave Anderson,

William Barry, the Woodwards, and Edwin who would appear "in a round of his favorite

characters, being positively his last engagement prior to his departure for the Atlantic

States." Edwin opened on 19 August as Hamlet and followed with Brutus, Richard III,

Macbeth, and Richelieu. The State Journal (20 August) commented that "a fashionable

audience" greeted Edwin's Hamlet and that his conception and delineation of the

character was "excellent." The theatre continued to be crowded through the week and

the State Journal commended Edwin's "rising genius." His performance as Richelieu on

23 August was billed as a "grand, complimentary farewell testimonial."

A Sacramento architect, M. P. Butler, may have arranged this benefit. According to Asia

(The Elder and the Younger Booth, 143-144), Butler had urged Edwin to quit California

and return east. He told Edwin that an obscure actor named Boothroyd Fairclough "was

attempting to take the position that should be his; that now while his father's memory

was clear to the American heart, he alone should assume the vacant place." Fairclough

was touring as a would-be star in 1855-56 in a repertoire of the same roles long

identified with the elder Booth. Although Fairclough's career as a star seems to have

fizzled out rather quickly after this season, perhaps Edwin did believe that he was a

potential threat. The State Journal (25 August) reported that the audience for Booth's

benefit was the "most fashionable ... ever ... gathered in Sacramento" and included "a

large number of ladies" undoubtedly attracted by Edwin's matinee idol handsomeness.

Indeed after his curtain call, the "Ladies of Sacramento" presented him with "a valuable

diamond ring." (25)

Edwin seems to have taken a week off after this gala performance, but on 1 September

he was feted with a second complimentary benefit arranged, according to the State

Journal (1 September), by the "citizens of Sacramento" to "give him a 'bumper' previous

to his departure for the Atlantic States and Europe." (Europe would be several years

into the future, however.) For this benefit, Edwin played Iago to the Othello of Charles

Pope, a leading California actor. The Sacramento Daily Union (2 September) thought

Booth "never appeared to better advantage." The next day, he was accompanied to the

San Francisco boat by "a number of citizens." As the boat departed, the band from the

Forrest Theatre "struck up a parting tune" and the crowd gave "three hearty cheers." It

was a rousing, encouraging send-off.

Booth then traveled to San Francisco where a number of the city's prominent citizens

arranged two complimentary benefit performances for him. On 3 September, he

performed Lear with Junius supporting him as Edgar, as Edwin had once supported

their father. The Wide West (7 September) called his performance "a complete

success," although "his youthful appearance ... operated against him and prevented the

illusion from being perfectly kept up; but in many portions of the play his acting

surpassed any of his efforts in other characters." (26) The Daily Alta (8 September) was

even more laudatory calling Lear "a triumph of art":

The readings of Mr. Booth are very beautiful and his style of

acting pleasing and impressive and with care and study we are

satisfied he will yet become as great an actor as his father. In

the "curse scene" and the "mad scene" he was particularly great, and

throughout the whole performance exhibited more enlarged powers as

an actor than we have ever given him credit for. (27)

On 4 September Edwin appeared as Richard III, the next day, he and Ben Baker

departed for the eastern states on the steamer Golden Age.

Looking back on Booth's California years, one is struck by several points. Even at a very

early age his suitability for and adeptness at playing some of the roles for which he

became famous--Hamlet, Richard III, Iago, for example--were recognized by a number

of California critics and theatregoers. Booth also seems early on to have set his sights

on playing the mostly Shakespearean tragic heroes and villains that were the repertoire

of the classical tragedian of his time. He aspired to inherit and perhaps pay homage to

the mantle of his father. However, excepting his final few months, over the course of his

years in California, he appeared in such classical roles infrequently. More often than

not, undoubtedly because they were the opportunities presented to him, he played light

comedy or farce roles and "lover" characters in the popular melodramatic, romantic

dramas of the day. With a few notable exceptions, Petruchio and Benedick, for

example, Booth would generally eschew such roles in the future, especially romantic

lovers, but he was clearly facile at playing them. In his mature years, even though his

repertoire of roles increasingly narrowed, he had a range and versatility and a certain

lightness of touch or approach beyond that of other classical tragedians of the era. He

may have chafed at playing farce and even roles such as Claude Melnotte or Charles

Surface, but this experience provided the foundation for his mature, inimitable style and

his professional superiority. His brother June was right in steering him towards comedy

and away from tragedy. From working with Caroline Chapman, Laura Keene, Matilda

Heron, Catherine Sinclair, Jean Davenport, and James E. Murdoch--all talented

performers--perhaps he learned various "tricks of the trade," some acting techniques,

and the value of such on-stage partnerships. In later years, to elevate his own

performances and the art of the theatre, Booth eagerly shared the stage with actors

reputedly as skillful and talented as he was, although few, if any, ever were. In

California, Booth also became a professional and he shared in the vicissitudes and

fortunes and the artistic highs and lows of the profession. He never forgot these

lessons; when it became possible for him to do so, he worked diligently to elevate the

profession both on-and off stage. It is regrettable that there is not more evidence of

Booth's personal, private life in California--no string of letters, no journal or diary, no

accounts, for example, of romantic liaisons, or exotic South Seas adventures. But his

life must have been rich with a panoply of human experiences and various relationships;

on the long voyage to Australia and back, he had time to reflect, to take stock and plan,

to chart a course for his career. At the very least, California gave Booth a certain

breadth and depth of life experience, perhaps beyond that of a typical twenty-year-old

actor, that he must then have sublimated into the roles he played. The decades ahead

would build on these life experiences in rewarding and unsettling, tragic ways. Some of

his demons, such as John Barleycorn, would continue to pursue him off and on for

another half-dozen years. Still, on balance, in ways that he probably did not fully realize,

California was "golden" for him. He would return to San Francisco in the mid-1870s and

then again in the late 1880s and early 1890s, and he would always look back

nostalgically, ruefully on his youth in the Golden West, his "salad days" as he called

them quoting Antony and Cleopatra (I.v. 73) when he was "green in judgment."

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

Notes

(1.) See Stanley Kimmel, The Mad Booths of Maryland, Second Revised Edition, (New

York: Dover Publications, 1969), 84-131; Richard Lockridge, Darling of Misfortune:

Edwin Booth, 1833-1803. (New York: The Century Co., 1932) 49-53; Eleanor Ruggles,

Prince of Players, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1953), 53-77; and William

Winter, Life and Art of Edwin Booth (New York: Macmillan and Co., 1893), 7-19.

(2.) For Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.'s career in California see Susan Carol Holmes's thesis

"Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.: A Pioneer Actor-Manager of the California Stage" (San Jose

State College, 1971). See Misha Berson, The San Francisco Stage: From Gold Rush to

Golden Spike, 1849-1869. (San Francisco: Performing Arts Library and Museum, 1989)

for a brief, but excellent overview.

(3.) Lois M. Foster recounts the rivalry between McGuire and Robinson--"the battle of

the managers," she calls it--in Part 1 of Annals of the San Francisco Stage, 18501880, a

Federal Theatre Research project published in San Francisco in 1937. Hereafter cited

as Annals.

(4.) Booth Memorials: Passages, Incidents, and Anecdotes in the Life of Junius Brutus

Booth by His Daughter (New York: Carleton, 1866), 48. See also Stephen M. Archer,

Junius Brutus Booth: Theatrical Prometheus (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois

University Press, 1992), 15.

(5.) One of the most vivid accounts of this journey is Bayard Taylor's Eldorado; or,

Adventures in the Path of Empire (1850). Edwin's reaction is described in unpublished

material attached to a University of Illinois Library copy of Asia Booth Clarke's The Elder

and the Younger Booth (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin and Co., 1881).

(6.) For the elder Booth's California engagements, see Archer, 215-18, 278.

(7.) According to J [ames] J. McCloskey (1825-1913) "The Drama in California" New

York Dramatic Mirror (25 December 1894). McCloskey's early career was spent as an

actor and manager at the Park Theatre in Brooklyn. He went to California at least as

early as 1851 where he played small supporting roles in various stock and touring

companies. Later he returned to New York becoming a successful playwright, member

of the American Dramatists Guild, and for many years also Clerk of the City Court of

New York. In addition to the article cited above, McClosky wrote several articles or

reminisced to reporters about his years in California and his memories of Booth in the

New York Advertiser, 3 June 1894; the New York Dramatic Mirror, 15 August 1896, 25

December 1904, 22 December 1906; the New York Sun, 4 March 1906; and The

Greenbook Album June, 1911. No doubt he and Booth were acquainted, but he was not

among Booth's group of friends and correspondents. When McCloskey wrote or was

quoted in these articles, he was past 70 and his memory of events fifty years old was

perhaps not altogether accurate. He tends to repeat many of the same anecdotes,

although from one telling to the next details are sometimes at odds. In one article, for

example, he is quoted as having traveled to Australia with Booth; but in another he

writes that he went there with another company. His dates for certain events are also

sometimes incorrect. McCloskey's anecdotes, furthermore, are not verified by other

sources. Still Kimmel, Lockridge, and Ruggles drew largely on McCloskey's

reminiscences for their sections on Booth's experiences in California.

(8.) The most reliable account of Booth's tour through the mining camps in the fall and

early winter of 1852-53 is undoubtedly Asia's record in The Elder and the Younger

Booth, 133-36. William Winter's Life and Art of Edwin Booth seems to draw mainly on

Asia's account. McCloskey also adds details about this tour. See also Constance

Rourke, Troupers of the Gold Coast; or the Rise of Lotta Crabtree, (New York: Harcourt,

Brace and Company, Inc. 1928), 47-48.

(9.) In an article in the New York Tribune, Illustrated Supplement, 24 August 1902, 12,

William Winter listed most of Booth's appearances at the San Francisco Theatre

drawing on a letter to Edwin from Ferdinand Ewer. See note #10 below. I also relied on

listings in the Daily Alta. The Alta reviewed none of Edwin's performances in comedy,

however. He was after all only a supporting player. When actors were noticed at all, it

was usually only leading actors and even then notices were terse.

(10.) Ewer's reviews are taken from Charles H. Shattuck, "Edwin Booth's First Critic"

Theatre Survey 8 (May 1966) 1-14. His personal comments are from an 1877 letter to

Booth preserved at the Folger Library, T.b.5.

(11.) Lola's San Francisco engagement is described in detail in George R. McMinn's

The Theatre of the Golden Era in California, (Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd.,

1941), 309-365. She appeared one last time in San Francisco in August 1856, but at

thirty-eight her allure and her energy were fading. That fall she left for the east coast

never to return to California. She gave lectures and published a popular guide called

The Arts of Beauty; or, Secrets of a Lady's Toilet, with Hints to Gentlemen on the Art of

Fascinating, but she died in comparative obscurity in 1861 in Brooklyn where she was

buried under her given name of Eliza Gilbert. See Bruce Seymour, Lola Montez: A Life

(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996.)

(12.) Quoted in Ben Graf Henneke, Laura Keene: Actress, Innovator, Impresario,

(Tulsa: Council Oak Books, 1990), 31. I have drawn on Henneke for Keene's activities

in California and Australia.

(13.) The amount of their profit was probably exaggerated. Kimmel (109) without

identifying a source says it was $60,000.

(14.) This account, except when otherwise noted, draws on Eric Irvin "Laura Keene and

Edwin Booth in Australia." Theatre Notebook 23 (Spring 1969) 95-100. I also had

access to reviews from Sydney and Melbourne newspapers. See also Henneke, 34.

(15.) The engagement was as follows: 23 and 26 October, The Lady of Lyons; 24

October, The Merchant of Venice; 25 October, The Stranger; 27 October, Hamlet; 28

October and 1 November Much Ado About Nothing; 30-31 October, Philip of France; 2

and 4 November, Pauline; 3 November, Richard III; 4 November, The Knight of Arva; or,

An Irishman's Fortune. Various afterpieces followed the main piece, but neither Keene

nor Booth appeared in these; rather Dave Anderson was featured.

(16.) Kimmel (116), citing a story in the New York Dramatic Mirror 15 January 1887

titled "The Romance of Laura Keene," notes that between the closing in Melbourne and

embarkation two weeks later, Keene "jumped about the country playing engagements

under her own name, which she lavishly reported to the San Francisco press at a later

date. After discovering that the father of her two daughters was in prison for life, [she]

rejoined the company ... and sailed with them." I find no evidence, however, supporting

additional performances. The passenger list of the City of Norfolk does list all three. For

this latter information my thanks to C. A. McCallum, Chief Librarian of the Public Library

of Victoria, and Elaine Morrell of Summer, Washington. Kimmel writes (115) that in a

letter to his mother, Booth reported that in Melbourne he had his photograph taken and

got drunk on his twenty-first birthday--November 13th. It does seem unlikely, however,

that Booth would tell his mother that he got drunk. Booth also reported that he "barely

escaped having his skull cracked by a large coconut that fell from a tree under which he

was resting." Booth was born with a caul that he believed, in accordance with certain

folk superstitions of the time, destined him for a charmed life. That the coconut missed

him, he credited to his caul. According to Kimmel, Booth enclosed a copy of the

photograph with his letter. Kimmel, however, does not cite a source for this letter and I

have not found such a letter or photograph in the usual collections of Boothiana.

(17.) Winter (Life and Art, 12, 16) writes that the group stopped in the Samoan Islands

and Tahiti, where performances were given, but the only evidence of performance is in

Hawaii. Information about Booth's experiences in Honolulu is scant and its reliability is

sometimes questionable. Asia (The Elder and the Younger Booth, 141) recounts the

performance of Richard III. Booth's own reminiscences were reported in a story first

printed in the Philadelphia Evening Telegram 14 October 1889 and then repeated in

Daniel Frohman's Memories of a Manager (1911), 18-22. An article in the Alto (27 June

1881) mentions performances of Charles II, Hamlet, and Lady of Lyons and alludes to

Keene's quarrel. John F. Thrum's reminiscence appears in the Hawaiian Almanac and

Annual (1906), 94-95. Thrum also belies the story reported in Lockridge (57-58) that

Booth hired some natives to post bills, but that they ate the poi which was used as a

paste for the purpose, so that Booth was forced to post the bills himself. Lockridge (58)

also alludes to a playbill of 10 March 1855 advertising Booth as Sir Edward Mortimer

and as Master Dobbs in the afterpiece farce The Omnibus. Where Lockridge saw this

bill is unknown. I have not found it among the major collections of Boothiana.

(18.) For more on opera in San Francisco, see George Martin, Verdi at the Golden

Gate: Opera in San Francisco in the Gold Rush Years, (Berkeley: University of

California Press, 1993); Edmond M. Gagey, The San Francisco Stage: A History,

(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1970), 61-63, summarizes Sinclair's 1854-55

Metropolitan season.

(19.) Preserved in the Hampden-Booth Theatre Collection at The Players is a fairly

complete run of playbills documenting Booth's performances at the Sacramento Theatre

and the Forrest Theatre. I also relied on listings in the Sacramento Democratic State

Journal and the Sacramento Daffy Union.

(20.) The playbill for A Midsummer Night's Dream describes this as a "great master

production with new scenery, machinery, dresses, music, properties, etc." The playbill

also briefly describes the many different scenic attractions--e.g., "Moonlight Wood Near

Athens," "Last scene: Fairy Land and Fairy Bower," etc. The descriptions suggest that

this production may very well have been the same one presented by Laura Keene in

San Francisco in the spring. The production was presented for five performances at the

Sacramento Theatre, 20-25 August. Keene mounted a similar production in New York in

1858.

(21.) See Kimmel (119-120). He does not cite a specific source except to suggest that

his information is drawn from reviews in the Sacramento Democratic State Journal,

although I found no references to Booth's drunkenness during these performances in

this source. The actor Frederick Warde in his memoir Fifty Years of Make Believe

(1920), 263-265, reports that on one occasion Booth in a drunken stupor collapsed on

the bank of the Sacramento River. He remained there half-submerged, in some danger

of drowning, until a fellow-actor, one Joseph Murphy, by chance discovered him.

Murphy dragged him up the bank and carried him to a nearby saloon where he was

revived and then taken to a hotel to recover. Booth would continue to have drinking

problems through the remainder of 1855.

(22.) Annals (96) reports the production of The Marble Heart in San Francisco. Kimmel

(122) reports the tour of Marysville and "a few mountain towns." He does not reference

a source for this information, but notes in the Kimmel Collection at the University of

Tampa indicate that he relied on a number of books about California gold camps such

as Fremont Rider's Rider's California: A Guide Book for Travellers (New York:

Macmillan, 1925.) The Democratic State Journal, (9 January) also noted the move to

Marysville for "three, maybe six nights" with the intention of going on to Stockton and

then San Francisco. A playbill in the Hampden-Booth Theatre Collection at The Players

advertises the performance at the Forrest Theatre on 18 February.

(23.) Holmes (70) citing the Evening Bulletin, 5 May 1856

(24.) Asia in The Eider and the Younger Booth (143-144) first reported this tour through

the mining towns. Winter added some details in Life and Art (17-18), including

identifying Ben Moulton and the fires, which dogged each engagement by the company.

Indeed, according to Winter, so regularly did the fires occur that Booth became known

as "The Fiery Star," a parodic title since the many child stars that toured the mining

towns were known collectively as Fairy Stars. This anecdote was repeated by Frank

Mayo (as quoted by one Rufus R. Wilson in an article in the New York Advertiser 3 June

1894), by the author of the San Francisco Theatre Research Monograph, The Booths

(109-111), by Lockridge (60-61), and by Ruggles (75-76). Kimmel (125-129, 344) adds

further details to the story that he says he gleaned from newspaper reports and

"California historical records." He does, however, discredit Winter's story about the Fiery

Star noting that the "historical records do not substantiate [his] assertion that 'each town

took fire as soon as Moulton's cavalcade had left it.'" He does not identify these records,

however, nor could they be found in his research notes.

(25.) Asia in The Elder and the Younger Booth (144) incorrectly reports that it was a

gold stickpin. The author of The Booths, 113-114, then reiterated the story.

(26.) As quoted in The Booths, 115.

(27.) As quoted in The Booths, 115.

Daniel J. Watermeier is Associate Dean for the Arts and Humanities and Professor of

Theatre at the University of Toledo. He has authored a number of books and articles on

Edwin Booth. With Felicia Londre he is co-author of The History of Theatre in North

America (1999). A Fellow of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, he is

currently engaged in writing a book-length biography of Edwin Booth scheduled for

completion in 2006.

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