Hasty reading of annals makes some people gather the mistaken impression
that San Francisco's dramatic and musical history had its genesis when
miners threw gold nuggets at the feet of Lotta Crabtree. But it has been
pointed out by one musical critic that the Franciscan padres were
chanting Gregorian measures in the Mission Dolores when the battles of
Lexington and Concord were being fought, and that the Indians were
intoning hymns and staging miracle-plays for their sun-god in
California before the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock.
San Francisco not only discovered the gold in the soprano of Luisa
Tetrazzini at the old Tivoli Opera House, but it has figured in the
triumphs of many luminaries of the musical and dramatic stage--from
Adelina Patti and Tamagno to Mary Garden and Galli-Curci--from Edwin
Booth and Charles Kean to John Drew and Henry Miller. Celebrities braved
the discomforts of trips across the continent from the earliest days
because of the city's repute as a place where the people were not only
responsive but arrived at their own independent judgments.
Ysaye, Kreisler and Mischa Elman have esteemed the acclaim of audiences
here as much as Ole Bull and Wieniawski did in earlier days.
Since the conversion of the Tivoli into a motion picture theatre, and
pending the construction of the Memorial Opera House opposite the City
Hall, the city hears most of its opera in the Civic Auditorium.
Performances of the San Francisco Opera Company, with its local
orchestra and chorus supporting international stars, and of visiting
troupes from New York and Chicago in this auditorium provide two
spectacles one on the stage and the other in the assemblage itself. The
auditorium seats 10,000 persons. To be present when a prima donna awes
this audience into silence by her tones, and then to hear a triumphant
roar of approval rend the silence, is an unforgettable adventure of the
spirit.
The Symphony Orchestra of San Francisco is one of the ranking musical
bodies of the United States. No better symphonic music is played
anywhere. The concerts of this orchestra fill the Civic Auditorium to
overflowing. Close to fifty per cent of the audiences are people
attracted from surrounding cities.
The Chamber Music Society has toured the United States and added to the
musical prestige of the city.
The Concerts of the Bohemian Club, the Pacific Musical Society, the San
Francisco Musical Society and the Loring Club have definite places in
the musical life of the community.
Organ literature attracts many people to the recitals at the Civic
Auditorium. The pipe organ here was built for the Panama-Pacific
Exposition. It was subsequently rebuilt and presented to the city.
The theatres of San Francisco that were famous in an earlier era are now
names packed away in the lavender of remembrance. Today the city has new
theatres of imposing appearance and large seating capacity. The old
stage personalities, however, troop through the writings of contemporary
theatrical critics like deified shades.
The first managers of the old California theatre were Lawrence Barrett
and John McCullough. The foremost actors were drawn to the city,
including Charles Kean and Edwin Forrest. The Bush street theatre was
conducted for fifteen years by M. B. Leavitt. It is difficult to be
brief with the list of famous names. David Belasco, born in San
Francisco, was stage manager of the Baldwin before he made theatrical
history in New York. David Warfield made his first professional
appearance at the old Wigwam. William A. Brady began his theatrical
career in the city, and so did Al Hayman. Holbrook Blinn was a boy star
in amateur theatricals.
At the Alcazar, San Francisco's stock house, many familiar players made
their debuts, including Blanche Bates, Frank Bacon, Frances Starr, Bert
Lytell and Evelyn Vaughn.
The Orpheum theatre of San Francisco is the mother house of the
vaudeville circuit of that name, which supplies entertainment to cities
throughout the United States and has overseas affiliations. The Orpheum
developed from a music hall conducted by Gustav Walter and the first
building on the present site in O'Farrell street, off Powell, was
erected in 1887.