Tag Archives: William Nannary

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?

Under The Gaslight

undergaslight

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?

$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.

38-54

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.

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.

Terror On Tour

The Academy of Music in St.John, New Brunswick, Canada was by all accounts a stunning late 19th century theater. Unlike our homogenous, spartan movie theaters of today, theaters of the 19th century were a thing of beauty.

The Academy of Music is the featured building in the photo to the left. While only three stories high, the ornate Italian style facade and the impressive 65 foot high entrance tricked the eye into thinking the building was much larger than its actual dimensions of  190 x 21 . The massive front doors were elaborately carved of solid dark walnut and weighed over 1600 pounds! The ornate interior featured broad low stairs leading to an impressive balcony while above was an even higher gallery for the VIP’s reached by a separate entrance with their own ticket office. The Academy was furnished with 600 opera chairs made of iron and the softest upholstered leather. The total seating capacity of the Academy of Music was 1200 and as patrons looked up at the ceiling they would see that all around the  interior of the theatre ran an elaborately designed cornice. The interior walls were all tinted a soft pink to complement the stage lights. The large stage was 48 by 52 feet,  equipped with four traps and the exquisite scenery was painted by the famed composer and musical director, Gaspard Maeder. When the building was finally completed it had cost the theater company $60,000 to build. Sadly it would only stand for 7 years before disaster struck.

The acting company built a fine reputation for their Shakespearean productions and for attracting some of the biggest names of the day to walk their stage. It was the jewel in St. John’s crown but unfortunately it was not to last. On Tuesday evening June 19th, the favorite actress Louise Pomeroy, an actress with William Nannary’s troupe, played the role of Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to a packed house.

The next evening, June 20,1877, the company was scheduled to perform Shakespeare‘s As You Like It with Louise Pomeroy to perform the lead role of Rosalind. Sadly, that day the most destructive fire to ever to hit Canada raged through the streets of St. John. In less than nine hours, two-fifths or 200 acres of the city were laid to ashes. One thousand six hundred and twelve homes were burned to the ground. The company under the leadership of William Nannary and George Waldron the stage manager all managed to escape with their lives but little else. Among the list of company names…LIZZIE MAY ULMER and GEORGE T.ULMER. This young couple escaped with their lives but all they owned…trunks, clothing, costumes etc… were all lost to the fire.

Donald Collins is a St.John freelance writer who wrote a great piece on the fire and the aftermath. Below is a small except:

The main business centre in what had been one of the most prosperous cities in North America was wiped out. More than 1,600 homes were destroyed, leaving 13,000 people homeless. 
   Eighteen people lost their lives – 12 from burns, four were struck by falling debris and two drowned while trying to save their property in boats. 
   The fire obliterated most public buildings and businesses, including the post office, city hall, customs house, five banks, 14 hotels and 14 churches, as well as theatres and schools. 
   The 1,500 commercial and industrial buildings that were razed included 10 retail grocers, 116 liquor dealers, 93 commission merchants, 80 law offices, 55 boarding houses, 55 shoemakers, 36 tailors, 32 flour dealers, 29 insurance agents, 29 clothing stores and 22 dry goods establishments. 
   Damage was estimated at $27 million in 1877 dollars, of which only $6.5 million was recovered from insurance. 

In 1877 Lizzie May and George were acting with William Nannary’s company. Was this also the time that Lizzie purchased the trunk that started it all? It would make sense that after losing everything, she would have purchased a new traveling trunk. Perhaps the trunk that started this blog is the trunk that she purchased from Likly, McDonald and Rockett  makers of some of the finest trunks of the day?

Next Up: Carry on?