Thus far into the bowels of the land
Have we marched on without impediment.
--Shakespeare.
When the Mormons came from Nauvoo to Salt Lake they brought with them
to this wilderness in the Rocky Mountains, the love of the drama, and
as a consequence it was not long, only a few years from 1847 to 1850,
before they began to long for something in the way of a theatre.
The pleasant recollections of the drama as interpreted at Nauvoo by
Mr. Lyne and his supporting cast, were still fresh in their memories,
and almost before many of them had comfortable houses to live in they
began to yearn for some dramatic amusement. As a result of this strong
inclination for the play and a still more universal desire for
dancing, it was but a short time before their wishes materialized.
As early as the fall of 1850 they had formed a club called the Musical
and Dramatic Association. The name was a comprehensive one,
intentionally so, for the organization included the celebrated "Nauvoo
Brass Band," a number of whose members also figured in the dramatic
company. Indeed it was from this musical organization that the
dramatic company really sprang.
The members of this original dramatic company were John Kay, Hyrum B.
Clawson, Philip Margetts, Horace K. Whitney, Robert Campbell, R. T.
Burton, George B. Grant, Edmond Ellsworth, Henry Margetts, Edward
Martin, William Cutler, William Clayton, Miss Drum, Miss Margaret
Judd, and Miss Mary Badlam. Miss Badlam, in addition to playing parts,
was very popular as a dancer and gave her dancing specialties between
the acts, making something like our up-to-date continuous performance.
The first public dramatic performances were given in the "Bowery" (a
very reminiscent name for a New York theatre goer of that day). "The
Bowery" in this case was a summer place of worship which stood on the
Temple Block near where the big Tabernacle now stands. In this place
of worship as early as the year 1850, with the aid of a little
home-made scenery and a little crude furniture, were the first plays
presented to a Salt Lake audience.
The first bill consisted of the old serio-comic drama, "Robert
Macaire, or the Two Murderers," dancing by Miss Badlam, and the farce
of the "Dead Shot."
Judging by their titles, these plays were rather a gruesome selection
to play in a church. As it is a matter of historic interest the cast
so far as procurable is appended of "Robert Macaire:"
Robert Macaire ................................. John Kay
Jacque Stropp ............................. H. B. Clawson
Pierre .................................. Philip Margetts
Waiter .................................. Robert Campbell
Clementina ................................ Margaret Judd
Celeste ....................................... Miss Orum
Several other plays were given during this first dramatic season and
were creditably performed, affording pleasure both to the audiences
and actors; the only remuneration the actors received, by the way, for
it must be remarked that these first dramatic efforts were entirely
voluntary on the part of the company.
The orchestra which played in connection with this first dramatic
company deserves to be made a matter of record quite as much as the
company itself, for it was also drawn from the ranks of the historic
"Nauvoo Brass Band."
William Pitt, the captain of the band, was the leader of the
orchestra. He could "play the fiddle like an angel," handling the bow
with his left hand at that. The associate players of Captain Pitt were
William Clayton, James Smithers, Jacob Hutchinson, David Smith, and
George Warde. The Musical and Dramatic Association played in the
Bowery occasionally from 1850 to 1852.
The first amusement hall built in Salt Lake, which was used chiefly
for dancing, was erected at the Warm Springs in the year 1850. It was
a good sized adobe building and served as a social hall until 1852,
when the Social Hall proper was completed. It was built at this out of
the way place so as to combine the use of the Warm Springs for bathing
with the social meetings held there. But it proved to be too difficult
to get to, when the nights were dark and the roads were bad, so
Brigham Young had the Social Hall built which was quite central and
the Warm Springs music hall was converted into a roadside tavern and
was run by Jesse C. Little for a time.
The first string band to furnish music for dances played at this hall
and was composed of Hopkins C. (familiarly known as "Hop") Fender,
Jesse Earl and Jake Hutchinson. These gentlemen deserve to be
remembered in the musical history of Salt Lake City as the first to
furnish the inspiring strains to which the worthy pioneers danced.
In the fall of 1852, the Musical and Dramatic Association was
reorganized and renamed the "Deseret Dramatic Association." In this
year the historic Social Hall was erected, and with a view to opening
it with becoming brilliancy the original company was greatly added to,
for the drama had become a popular amusement with the Saints, and many
of the chiefs of the church, including President Young, held honorary
membership in the "D. D. A."
The Social Hall, which is still standing and in well preserved
condition, is one of the old landmarks that are fast disappearing. It
is a comparatively small structure about 40x80 feet. It was considered
in its time a fine amusement hall but has long since become dwarfed by
the greater buildings which have gone up around it. It has a stage
twenty feet deep, two dressing rooms under the stage, an ample
basement under the hall for banqueting purposes. This auditorium is
about 40x60 feet with a level floor for dancing for the amusement of
the play and dancing were fairly and considerately alternated by the
managers of the D. D. A.
In the early winter of 1852 this hall was opened with a dance to which
the elect were invited, and it was a great crush. The first social
gathering in the new hall formed a sort of punctuation mark in the
social caste among the Saints.
Of course, the hall being small, the invitations had to be limited and
many there were who felt slighted because they were not among the
invited. Envy on the one hand and a supercilious superiority on the
other gave birth to a feeling of caste which was altogether in bad
taste among professing Saints.
The great event of this season in the amusement line was the dramatic
opening. Local artists had been employed for some time and had stocked
the stage with excellent scenery. Bulwer's classic play "The Lady of
Lyons" was selected for the opening bill. The company had been so
strengthened that the members could cast any of the great plays. To
the original company had been added besides a long list of honorary
members, the following named active male members: James Ferguson,
Bernard Snow, David Candland (stage manager), John T. Caine, David
McKenzie, Joseph Simons and Henry Maiben; to the female contingent had
been added Mrs. Cyrus Wheelock, Mrs. Henry Tuckett, Mrs. Joseph Bull,
Mrs. John Hyde, Mrs. Sarah Cook. It will be observed that they were
all married women. This is a very noticeable feature, as it is so
unusual in a dramatic company nowadays, either amateur or
professional. The explanation of it, however, is simple enough. At
that time there were few if any unmarried women in Utah that had
arrived at the marriageable age. The only three women whose names
appear in the original company were unmarried, Miss Judd, Miss Orum
and Miss Badlam, which seems exceptional and they now seem to have all
disappeared, or they are overshadowed by the married women, or perhaps
they appear in the reorganized company under a new name with Mrs.
attached.
The Social Hall theatrical opening was an event in the history of
Utah. It may be truly said that it marked an epoch in the development
of civilization in the Rocky Mountain region and the growth of the
drama in the far West. Even San Francisco had not up to this time made
any such ambitious attempt in the dramatic line.
I have not been able to procure a program of this opening performance
but the cast of the principal characters was as follows:
Claud Melnotte ........................... James Ferguson
Monsieur Beauseant ....................... David Candland
Monsieur Glavis ........................... John T. Caine
Col. Damas ........................ John D. T. McAllister
Mons. Deschapples ..................... Horace K. Whitney
Landlord ................................ Philip Margetts
Pauline Deschapples ....................... Mrs. Wheelock
Madame Deschapples ................... Mrs. M. G. Clawson
Widow Melnotte .......................... Mrs. Sarah Cook
The play was a pronounced success and the players covered themselves
with glory. A number of plays were now put on in rapid succession, for
the D. D. A. had caught the true dramatic fire, and the people were
hungry for the play. In the great plays, a number of which were
essayed, the characters were strongly filled.
Bernard Snow, who had played with the elder Booth in California, which
gave him a brief professional experience, was easily in the lead of
all the Mormon actors. He played an Othello that would have done
credit to Shakespeare anywhere, while Ferguson as Iago was scarcely
less convincing. In "Damon and Pythias" also these players shone with
more than ordinary brilliancy. Snow's Damon was pronounced a work of
art, while Ferguson looked and acted Pythias to the admiration of all
who witnessed it. Mrs. Wheelock as Calanthe and Mrs. Tuckett as
Hermion made up a quartet of players that would have graced any stage
in the country.
"Virginius" was also played here with Snow in the title role, a
favorite with him. When Lyne came ten years later and played these
same characters in the Salt Lake Theatre, many of the old frequenters
of the Social Hall ranked Bernard Snow as Lyne's equal and they had to
be brought to play together in the Salt Lake Theatre to gratify the
many admirers of both.
"Pizarro" was the play chosen for this event and it served to pack the
theatre. Lyne appeared as Pizarro for the occasion although Rolla was
his favorite part. This gave Snow the advantage as Rolla is the star
part. It proved a great hit both financially and artistically.
The Social Hall orchestra was a feature at all the dramatic
performances, and came in for its due share of praise and admiration.
It was under the direction of Domenico Ballo, who had formerly been a
band master at West Point. He was a fine composer and arranger, and
one of the best clarinet players ever heard. Professor Ballo was a
graduate of the Conservatory of Music at Milan. He served several
years as band master at West Point. He drifted into Utah at an early
day and cast his lot with the Mormons. He organized a fine brass band
here and built a fine dance hall which was known as "Ballo's Music
Hall."
Salt Lake City has from a very early period in its history enjoyed an
enviable reputation in a musical way. Its first musical organization
as already mentioned was the Nauvoo Brass Band, organized originally
in Nauvoo in connection with the Mormon militia known as the "Nauvoo
Legion," of which Joseph Smith held the distinguished office of
Lieutenant General. The exodus from Nauvoo and the formation soon
afterwards of the "Mormon Battalion" demoralized to a great degree
both the legion and the band. Both organizations, however, were
reconstructed soon after the settlement of Utah, and each played a
conspicuous part in its early history.
At the laying of the corner stone of the Salt Lake Temple as early as
1853, the Nauvoo Brass Band and Ballo's Brass Band were consolidated
for this occasion and increased to sixty-five players under the
leadership of Professor Ballo, who gave the people of Salt Lake a
musical treat that would have been a credit to any metropolitan city.
Ballo was a thorough and accomplished musician and his masterly work
at such an early period had much to do with developing Salt Lake's
musical talent.
From 1852 to 1857 the Social Hall continued to be the principal place
of amusement for the people of Salt Lake City, as well as those who
came in from various parts of the Territory. Those living at a
distance and visiting the city either on business or pleasure (which
were generally combined) deemed themselves extremely fortunate if
there chanced to be a play "on the boards" during their brief sojourn
in the city.
The fame of the Social Hall and its talented company of players,
dramatic and musical, had spread abroad in the land and many of the
smaller towns began to emulate Salt Lake City and organized dramatic
clubs.
In the year 1857 amusements as well as business of all kinds received
a sudden and severe shock from which it took a year or more to
recover. In this year a rupture occurred between the Mormon chiefs and
the United States Judges, which resulted in President Buchanan sending
Albert Sidney Johnson to Utah with an army to crush the incipient
rebellion. The heroes of the Social Hall stage now were cast to play
more serious parts. The stage was now to be the tented field, their
music, the roll of the drum and the ear-piercing fife.
"Jim" Ferguson, one of the leading actors, was Adjutant General of the
"Nauvoo Legion," as the Territorial militia was called, and all the
other stage heroes were enrolled under its banners. The "Legion" was
sent out into the mountains to check the advance of the invading army.
Not only did all amusement and business generally come to a sudden
stop, but so serious was the situation that a general exodus of the
people to the south was ordered by the church authorities and Salt
Lake City was abandoned.
Meeting houses, theatre, stores and nearly all the dwellings in the
city were vacated, and the intention was to burn the city rather than
this "hell born" army should occupy and pollute it.
No occasion for carrying into effect this insane resolution
transpired, for which the people have ever since been thankful. Soon
after its adoption a better understanding was reached between the
refractory Saints and Uncle Sam's government, and the people gradually
came back to their homes in the city, glad indeed that the sacrificial
torch had not been applied to them.
"The invading army" had passed peacefully through the city and made
its encampment forty miles away. Things began to resume their normal
condition, but the winter of 1857-8 was a blank in the Mormon
amusement field.