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
Tullidge if he could write her a play of
Elizabeth, making the Queen a star character for her. She believed
from what Mr. Tullidge had done in "Eleanor de Vere" that he could
write a great play of Elizabeth. Tullidge felt that he had a great
subject; it was a favorite theme, however, and one on which he was
thoroughly posted, and encouraged by Mrs Hayne's faith in his ability,
he at once commenced the task. "The labor we delight in physics pain,"
and Elizabeth became a labor of love with Edward Tullidge, for he was
very enthusiastic in his love of Julia Dean, both as a woman and as an
artist; and so familiar with all the heroes of Elizabeth's court, that
his task, though Herculean, was a pleasant one, and before Julia Dean
was ready to leave Salt Lake, Tullidge had completed a great
historical play, "Elizabeth of England." It was with a view of
presenting it in New York that Mrs. Hayne (now Cooper) went there soon
after her departure. Before she had concluded any arrangement for its
production, however, Ristori, the great Italian actress, loomed up on
the dramatic horizon in Elizabeth. She had crowned all her former
achievements in a great triumph in this same Elizabeth of England.
Although the play was written by an Italian author (Giogimetta) and
was not as true to history as the Tullidge play, it filled the
particular historical niche so far as the stage is concerned. Ristori
had a great success with this play, both in Europe and this country.
It must have broken Julia Dean's heart professionally. She might have
been the first in the field, at least in this country, if she had not
dilly-dallied. She was having a delightful honeymoon and was too
indifferent in this important affair, and when the advent of the great
Italian in Elizabeth awoke her from her reverie, her opportunity had
gone and Tullidge's Elizabeth never saw the light. Very keen indeed
was the disappointment of the author. Julia Dean was his ideal for
Elizabeth, and when he found to his amazement that the Italians
(author and actress) had gained the field ahead of them, poor Tullidge
went crazy with grief, and for a time had to be confined in the city
prison, there being no asylum in Utah at that time. Mr. Lyne, who read
the play to a large audience in Salt Lake, pronounced it one of the
greatest historical plays he had ever read.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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