Monthly Archives: December 2012

Clouds

lizziemayname2

The University of New Brunswick has a wonderful collection of memorabilia of the bygone theatre. Through their website I discovered  a mention of  William Nannary’s troupe including Lizzie May and George, performing in Halifax back in 1877.  The piece that they performed on January 16,1877 was called The Clouds. At the time it was all the fashion for theatre troupes to perform ancient Greek plays.

The Clouds is an ancient Greek play by Aristophanes. According to theatrehistory.com , The Clouds was chiefly a general exhibition of the corrupt state of education at Athens, and of its causes; it was a loudly uttered protest on the part of Aristophanes against the useless and pernicious speculations of the sophists. The Clouds, themselves, who form the chorus, no doubt dressed fantastically enough, are an allegory on these metaphysical thoughts, which do not rest on the ground of experience, but hover about without definite form and substance, in the region of possibilities.

As there were no female roles in the play except for the clouds, I would hazard a guess that Lizzie May dressed in gauzy splendor was hung by a basket from the rafters and slowly lowered to the stage. Her stage direction would have been to look ethereal and light. With the over-emoting of the day I would certainly have loved to have seen that!

According to reviews the company put on an excellent performance and they opened to a packed house. The name G.T. Ulmer is merely mentioned as part of the troupe of players. Lizzie May however is singled out as a pretty ingenue and one of the best soubrettes in the troupe. Young, pretty actresses usually filled the role of soubrette who had a light soprano voice and a young coquettish attitude. A soubrette was flirty, and fun and connected well with audiences. I wonder how well George, a known ham, felt about his 22 year old wife getting more recognition than himself?

$2.85

Sometimes while searching for any insight into the life of  Lizzie May, I find some miniscule information that while completely random and meaningless, is actually fun to find.

Back in 1876, our Lizzie May Ulmer maintained an account with the Portland Savings Bank of Maine. According to the Annual report of the Bank Examiner of the State of Maine volume 42, Lizzie May Ulmer had a balance of $2.85. The last date of withdrawal on the account was June 12,1876. Unfortunately the amount withdrawn is not mentioned in the ledger nor could I find any other information into her accounts.

The Portland Savings Bank was established in 1852. When the bank opened, its hours were 11-1 on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Albion K. Parris, Portland’s mayor, was the first President. The purpose of the bank was to support community and public projects.

How large was Lizzie May’s withdrawal ? Could she have been purchasing clothing, sundries for life on the road? Perhaps she purchased a train ticket or used the funds for a hotel or dinner. How long she maintained a balance at the bank is not clear but I imagine that she was withdrawing her savings in order to go on the road with William Nannary’s theatre troupe.

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Back to January 1877

academyofmusicphotoA few posts back I wrote about the horrific fire that destroyed not only the lovely  Academy of Music in St.John, New Brunswick, Canada but also 200 acres of that city. Along with many businesses, 1,612  homes were also burned to the ground.

The St. John fire occurred in  June 1877, but back in January of the same year, William Nannary’s acting company with Lizzie May Ulmer as a young ingenue were blissfully unaware of the horrors that six months would bring.

According to the Acadian Recorder dated January 9,1913, in January of 1877, Nannary’ acting company played for a nine week engagement. Productions listed were: The Clouds, New Men and Old Acres, Don Caesar De Bazan, My Mother-in-Law, Home, Caste, Ingomar, Under  the Gaslight, School, The King’s Rival, Inshavogue, Flying Scud, Camilla’s Husband, Pique, Shadow Brook, Streets of New York, Lady of Lyons, The Shaughbran, Rosedale, Saratoga, Colleen Bawn and many farces.

How many roles Lizzie May played within all of these performances is unknown but even if she had mere background roles in many of them, it is mind boggling  to think of the sheer volume of lines and marks she had to learn. As a stock actor she would be expected to learn over 100 parts, rehearse 2-3 plays per day, and within a season possibly have  40-100 different roles.  She would have been responsible for her own makeup and costumes and who knows what other tasks.

The life of a “celebrated” actor was no less rigorous. One famous actress of the day Charlotte Cushman, had over 200 roles in her repertoire making her a sought after commodity. To boost or even ensure a great box-office, many stock companies would bring in a well known star for a few performances. This “star” would bring in big crowds to the local stock theatre companies.

Even though the life of the traveling stock actor was by no means glamorous by today’s standards, compensation for this grueling life was actually fairly good by late 19th century standards. According to an essay on 19th century American theatre from the University of Washington:

Beginning actors’ salaries ranged from $3 to $6 per week; utility players’ salaries from $7 to $15 per week; “walking” ladies and gentlemen, $15 to $30; and lead actors were paid anywhere from $35 to $100 per week. Traveling stars could command $150 to $500 per 7- to 10-day engagement, plus one or more benefits. Except for the lowest ranks of actors, these salaries were good for this period, especially for women, even though they were paid less than men in comparable roles.