The Mormons and the Theatre; or, The History of Theatricals in UtahLindsay, John S. (John Shanks)
Religion
The Mormons and the Theatre; or, The History of Theatricals in Utah
Lindsay, John S. (John Shanks)
Latter Day Saints; Theater -- Utah -- History
meet Miss Dargon till 1878, when she came to the New Market theatre in
Portland and played a two weeks' engagement under the management of
our old friend John Maguire. Here I had the pleasure (and hard work)
of playing the opposite roles to her in her extensive repertory,
changing the bill nearly every night during her engagement. Toward the
close of it she put up Tennyson's "Queen Mary" in which I had to play
King Phillip of Spain on two days' study, a very long, arduous part,
that put me on my mettle to master it; also studied and played
"Cardinal Wolsey" for the first time during this engagement. Miss
Dargon, who was under the management of Henry Greenwald, after her
Portland engagement, made a tour of the "sound" playing Tacoma,
Seattle, Port Townsend and Victoria, supported by the New Market
Theatre company, and returning, played a few more nights in Portland,
then took steamer for Australia. Under Mr. Greenwald's management she
had played successful engagements both in San Francisco and Portland,
and when she opened in Melbourne she just captivated the city, playing
extraordinary engagements both there and in Sidney. The press of
Australia printed volumes in her praise. She made a great triumph, and
in the very flush of her victory, some wealthy Australian captured
her. She got married and retired from the stage, and Greenwald was
forced to return without her. She never came back to us. Her return
engagement here was played before she went to Australia.
Mr. "Bill" Cogswell seemed to have dropped out of the company before
Miss Dargon's engagement and consequently David McKenzie was her
principal support. After the Dargon engagement, which closed March
29th, Jean Clara Walters, Florence Kent and the stock company played
through the April conference without a star attraction, and filled up
time to April 28th when for some reason the season closed but was
reopened on May 3rd with the stock company who played up to the 6th.
On the 8th of May, Augusta Dargon began a return engagement which
lasted till the 15th. She opened in the new play "Unmasked," and
repeated "Deborah," "Camille," and "Lady Macbeth," and closed in a new
piece "The Rising of the Moon." It speaks highly of Miss Dargon's
popularity in Salt Lake that she should play a return engagement in
five weeks after her first one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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