Category Archives: George T. Ulmer

On the run from Seven Pistols

Bronson Howard (aka the Dean of the American Drama) was born in Detroit, MI. As a young man he made the decision to forgo an education at Yale for the excitement of newspaper journalism in New York City.  Howard always felt that there was a great void in American theatre . He wanted to write  dramas about everyday American life at a time when British dramas were all the rage. Howard had his first success with Saratoga:Pistols For Seven, produced in 1870 by Augustin Daly. It was wildly popular and ran for over 100 nights at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York, a rare achievement for an American playwright. The success of Saratoga influenced other native playwrights and started to change the face of late 19th century American theatre.

On March 23,1877 Nannary’s company (including Lizzie May and George) produced Howard’s play Saratoga at the Academy of Music in Halifax. It was a comedic society drama in five acts.

Saratoga was a fun, light romantic comedy. The lead character named Bob Sackett is engaged to the beautiful young Effie Remington, but he has also, through much bumbling and misunderstanding, promised himself to the widow Olivia Alston , the newly wed Lucy Carter AND the flirtatious Virginia Vanderpool . Attempting to escape from the mess he has gotten himself into, Bob runs off to Saratoga, where he is confronted by all four angered women. Lucy’s wildly jealous husband, Frederick and the senior Vanderpools also join the fray and add to the confusion.

The madcap feel of the play reminds me of films from the 1940’s such as The Philadelphia Story or His Girl Friday. I can completely see Cary Grant in the role of Bob Sackett, Rita Hayworth as the flirtatious Virginia and maybe Shirley Temple (in her twenties) as the young newlywed. Anyone else have any suggestions?

While I have not been able to dig up  a playbill for this performance, I would surmise that our Lizzie May played the flirtatious Virginia Vanderpool. Sweet, comedic and flirty appears to have been Lizzie May’s trademark. I can picture her now in a somewhat daring dress swaying back and forth across the stage flirting with our lead and keeping audience members in on the joke. She was gaining confidence with each role and each performance. Soon it would be her name that brought in the crowds!

On stage thrills lead to on stage spills…

Lizzie and George were now more than half-way through a successful theatre season in Halifax. On March 22,1877 the company performed the thrilling Military drama Rosedale. 

Rosedale was first produced at Wallack’s Theatre in New York on September 30th,1863. Rosedale was typical of the sensation plays of the  day. Melodrama and more melodrama were then topped off with a “thrill” sequence to make the audience jump out of their seats. The audience got more than it bargained for this evening. The big thrill sequence in Rosedale was called the gypsy drill  in which a large number of soldiers were to suddenly appear on a bridge at the back of the stage and aim their guns at the marauding gypsies who are about to attack. To add  a sense of realism to the scene, a company of the 66th Halifax Battalion of Infantry volunteered to play the role of the soldiers for this performance.

Perhaps they got carried away? One of the Infantry volunteers by the name of John R. Roome, jumped too far and missed the bridge entirely instead falling 20 feet to the floor beneath the stage. Ouch! Dr. Trenaman, the local doctor was called to the theatre to attend to the injured Infantryman. Mr. Roome suffered cuts, bruises and what the Acadian Recorder called “injuries of a more serious nature”. Broken bone? Cracked rib? According to the newspaper, Mr. Nannary sent $50 to the family of the injured man and regards from the Company for  a quick recovery.

Never a dull moment!

May the best man win…best looking that is!

george t

                                                                                      HW HARKIN

                      George Ulmer    vs.     W.S. Harkins

Today’s soap operas have nothing on 19th century melodrama.  On March 14,1877 Lizzie May’s troupe performed a play titled Ben McCulloch or Sartin as Death.  It’s a strange title and after a week of research I have found no information about the play except a review from the Acadian Recorder newspaper from March 14,1907.

Ben McCulloch (1811-1862) was an actual person who lived a very colorful life. He was a  Texas Ranger, a Sheriff, a good friend to           Davy Crockett, a Prospector during the 1849 Gold Rush and finally a Confederate General killed during a Civil War battle in 1862. The play which I believe is based on his life certainly had enough drama to draw from!

According to The Acadian Recorder dated March 14, 1907, 30 years ago the play at The Academy was Ben McCulloch or Sartin as Death. The main character was played by Oliver Dowd Byron making his first appearance in Halifax.

The reviewer writes ” Ben McCulloch is practically one of Buffalo Bill‘s blood and thunder stories dramatized, and from the beginning to end there is no cessation of interest. the lynching mob, the burning swelling, the daring rescue, the villainous plot, the robbery, the state prison, the mad Ben, the churchyard in the storm with it’s premature graves, the attempted murder, the exciting recontre, the touching meeting after long years of wasting sorrow, were the composites of the play. “

George who fancied himself to be a looker must have been annoyed by the rest of the review regarding a young actor named W.S. Harkins.

“W.S. Harkins is alleged to be the best looking member of the Nannary Company. it has been said that several impressionable young women in the city have fallen in love with him, and that the Academy of Music audiences have been augmented in consequence“.

Sorry George, that’s got to hurt the ego! Lizzie May does not receive a specific mention but as this is a root ’em toot ’em masculine play her role was most likely a small one as damsel in distress or saloon girl.

You decide. Check out the photos of George and W.S. . Who do you think would make the girls swoon?

Caste

Caste

On January 25th,1877 , the Academy of Music presented the play “Caste” written by Thomas William Robertson. Caste is Robertson’s best known work. The primary theme within his works played off the differences between class levels within society. His writing was fluid and known to have a more natural feel than that of his contemporaries. Robertson felt that British drama needed plays to reflect the times without introducing artificial plots and forced passions.

Caste written in 1867 dealt with a poor dancer named Esther who falls madly in love with George D’Alroy the son of a Marquis. Of course many misunderstandings and heartaches ensue.  At one point Esther is devastated by the false reports of D’Alroy’s death in India. Esther although born of the lower classes somehow has the temperament and bearing of the upper class. She is eventually accepted as D’Alroy’s husband by society. Esther’s sister Polly is written as a high-spirited, crass type which ensures lot’s of comedic situations.

Lizzie May played the perfect supporting role as the vulgar Polly Eccles. Reviews were strong. She was said to have taken the honors for her role. Praised for her diversity and her operatic singing she received several rounds of applause.

Lizzie May’s husband George also received accolades for his role as Sam Gerridge. He was said to portray Sam with  good humor and had a great rapport with the audience.

Our little soubrette and the drummer boy were well on their way!

Under The Gaslight

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Thanks again to The University of New Brunswick I continue to enjoy peeking into the past to follow Lizzie May’s first big season as an actress.  As a soubrette in William Nannary’s troupe, Lizzie May was part of the extremely popular production of  Aristophanes’ The Clouds . 

The dramatic season at the Academy of Music lasted 11 weeks. The popular Clouds was followed by New Men and Old Acres, My Mother-In-Law and many others.

Audiences were soon entranced by the company’s production of Under The Gaslight. Under the Gaslight written in 1867, is such a fantastic example of the melodramatic plays of the day.  The story reads like a soap opera… Laura Cortlandt  is jilted by her lover, Capt. Ray Trafford  when he discovers she is merely an adopted daughter (the scandal!) and actually of mere humble parentage. Laura in shame runs away from home but is dragged into court, where the villainous Byke  claims that she is actually his child and so is given custody of her. He attempts to take poor Laura to New Jersey but is stopped by a one‐armed ex‐soldier named Snorkey (you can’t make this stuff up!), and the dashing Captain Trafford. In the ensuing tussle, Byke throws Laura into the river, but she somehow swims to safety and returns to the family who adopted her. It gets even better. The furious Byke then decides to rob the Cortlandt home. Snorkey overhears his plans, but then the evil Byke catches him and ties him to the railroad tracks (!) knowing that an express train will soon pass by and crush him! Laura out for a walk just happens to see Snorkey tied there and releases him moments before the train comes. She then returns home to live happily after ever with the handsome Captain Trafford.

Apparently the famous railroad scene that thrilled audiences was said to have been borrowed by an English play written a few years before called The Engineer. Later, the hero or heroine tied to the train tracks became a staple of early cinema.

Daly’s play is famous for introducing the cliched “thrill” device…offering one sublime, extremely realistic wow moment such as a fire rescue, a volcano erupting, a shipwreck etc… These so-called “sensation plays” were used by many theatre companies to draw in the crowds.

Whether Lizzie May played the lead is not clear but I think she would have made a wonderful Laura.

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?

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.

The Challenge

Finding all the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle to create the picture of a woman who lived so long ago can be a challenging and yes, frustrating venture.

Lizzie May Ulmer lived over 150 years ago. Based on reviews of her work, she was a very good actress however she was never to make such a mark on the stage as to be recognizable to today’s theatre buff. Perhaps that is why I write about her. Lizzie May lived a life that we can only imagine. She lived through the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution and the advance of the railroad. She lived through a change in this country the likes of which we will most likely never see again. Strong-willed, she chose an  unusual path for a woman of the time. By choosing a career on the stage she took control of her life in the only way that a woman of the late 1800’s could. Actresses traveled, handled their accounts and lived with more freedoms than most women of the Age. That alone speaks volumes about the type of woman that Lizzie May was.

When we last left Lizzie May and her husband  George they had survived one of the worst fires in Canadian history , literally escaping with the clothes on their backs. They headed back to Boston to recover and decide on their future.

Please join me as I continue on my quest to remember a woman who lived a life well lived.

Talented and Promising Artist

” Lizzie May Ulmer certainly is one of the most talented and promising artists on the American Stage”

– Boston Express

The New York Dramatic Mirror founded in 1879 was the Bible of the late nineteenth century theater world.

Charismatic editor Harrison Grey Fiske balanced the important professional information relied on by theater professionals with juicy gossipy items for theater buffs as well. Fiske  used the paper to crusade for actors rights and was instrumental in establishing the Actors’ Fund .

Wikipedia describes The Actor’s Fund as a nonprofit umbrella charitable organization that assists American entertainment and performing arts professionals through a broad spectrum of programs, including comprehensive social services, health services, supportive and affordable housing, employment and training services, and skilled nursing and assisted living care.

The Mirror (later its competitor Variety) was a place where actors could post their addresses, current situations, etc.. It was also a  place for them to find their reviews and reviews of  their contemporary’s latest performances. For the 1879-1880 season Lizzie May’s name appears regularly in The Mirror with many good reviews of her play “My Partner” in which she plays the leading female role of Clip:

Lizzie May Ulmer has been playing the leading female part in My Partner on the road to the satisfaction of the press, public and management.


Lizzie May’s growing fame



Late 1876 through 1877 were tumultuous years for young Lizzie May. She had the pressures of a young wife and mother as well as the stresses of  traveling Atlantic Canada and New England with one of William Nannary’s theater companies .

Nannary dominated Atlantic Canadian theatre from 1873 to 1880. He promoted, helped sustain and, where it was lacking, attempted to provide a substantial theatrical presence, at one time paying salaries approaching $4,700 per week while employing over 100 people in various enterprises. 

While not an over night success, Lizzie’s fame was growing. She was  enough of a stand out to have had her portrait painted by the celebrated African-American painter Nelson A. Primus (1842-1916). This painting as seen above is currently on display at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford,CT.  The label on the back of the painting listed George T. Ulmer as the addressee. Did husband George commission the painting of his beloved Lizzie and if so how on earth could he afford such a luxury? Or had Lizzie somehow captured the attention of Primus himself? Perhaps Primus or a benefactor had spotted Lizzie in a performance? It is fun to speculate.

The Hartford Courant dated January 16,1877 reports;  

“Primus had completed a fine portrait of a little actress in Boston (Lizzie May Ulmer) and that it had received the highest praise from the critics of that city.” The painting of Lizzie May became one of Primus’ best known works.

Then by  1879 William Nannary’s successful run at the box office was slumping, tastes were changing. In July of 1880 he called it quits and emigrated with his family to America settling in San Francisco.

After an exhausting touring season and the terror of being caught up in the Great Fire of St. John, Lizzie and George needed a break. They left Canada returned to their beloved Boston.