The Life of David Belasco; Vol. 1
VOLUME ONE
NEW YORK MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY 1918
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY JEFFERSON WINTER
_All Rights Reserved_
TO
THE MEMORY OF REINA MARTIN BELASCO
This Memoir of Her Son
DAVID BELASCO
Actor, Dramatist, and Manager, Whom She Dearly Loved And by Whom She Was Idolized, Is Reverently Dedicated By the Stranger Who Has Written It, Hoping Thereby to Honor and Commemorate Genius, Courage, Industry, Enterprise, and Energy, Exemplified in a Useful and Beneficent Life, In the Service of The Theatre
* * * * *
_If Heaven to souls that dwell in bliss can show_ _The fate of those they love and leave behind,_ _She, in that Heaven, may be glad to know_ _Her son was honored with his human kind._
“_Each petty hand_ _Can steer a ship becalm’d, but he that will_ _Govern and carry her to her ends must know_ _His tides, his currents, how to shift his sails,_ _What she will bear in foul, what in fair, weathers,_ _What her springs are, her leaks and how to stop ’em,_ _What strands, what shelves, what rocks, do threaten her,_ _The forces and the nature of all winds,_ _Gusts, storms, and tempests, when her keel ploughs hell_ _And deck knocks heaven_, THEN _to manage her_ _Becomes the name and office of a Pilot!_” --BEN JONSON, IN “CATILINE.”
CONTENTS
THE LIFE OF DAVID BELASCO--VOLUME ONE
THE LIFE OF DAVID BELASCO PAGE
ANCESTRY AND BIRTH 1
BOYHOOD IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 2
EARLY PROCLIVITY FOR THE THEATRE 6
MEMORIES OF JULIA DEAN 7
REMOVAL TO SAN FRANCISCO 10
GLIMPSES OF BOYHOOD 12
SCHOOL DAYS IN SAN FRANCISCO 14
HARD TIMES IN EARLY DAYS 15
THE SENTIMENTAL STOWAWAY 17
A BOHEMIAN INTERLUDE 19
BELASCO’S EARLIEST ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE THEATRE IN SAN FRANCISCO 22
AN EARLY FRIEND,--W. H. SEDLEY-SMITH 28
ADOPTION OF THE STAGE 34
BELASCO’S THEATRICAL NOVITIATE 35
A THEATRICAL VAGABOND 39
EMULATION OF WALTER MONTGOMERY 42
A ROMANTIC COURTSHIP.--MARRIAGE 44
THEATRICAL LIFE IN VIRGINIA CITY 50
DION BOUCICAULT AND KATHARINE RODGERS 52
CONFLICTIVE TESTIMONY 53
VARIEGATED EXPERIENCES 61
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS.--1875 73
BALDWIN’S ACADEMY AND BARRY SULLIVAN 86
WITH BOOTH AT THE CALIFORNIA 93
BELASCO AND “THE EGYPTIAN MYSTERY” 97
A REMINISCENCE OF HELENA MODJESKA 100
STROLLING _ad interim_.--BELASCO AS “THE FIRST OLD WOMAN” 103
A SUBSTANTIAL TRIBUTE 104
“OLIVIA” AND “PROOF POSITIVE” 106
BELASCO’S VERSION OF “NOT GUILTY” 108
WITHDRAWAL FROM THE BALDWIN.--“THE LONE PINE” AND DENMAN THOMPSON 110
“WITHIN AN INCH OF HIS LIFE” 113
SALMI MORSE’S “PASSION PLAY” 114
NOT THE OBERAMMERGAU DRAMA 116
CONSTITUENTS OF MORSE’S PLAY 118
AS TO PROPRIETY 120
“THE PASSION PLAY” IN NEW YORK 121
BELASCO’S SERVICES TO MORSE’S ENTERPRISE 123
“THE MILLIONAIRE’S DAUGHTER” 125
DETRACTION OF BELASCO.--EARLY CALIFORNIA INFLUENCES 129
BELASCO’S REPERTORY AS AN ACTOR 140
BELASCO’S “THE STORY OF MY LIFE” 148
THE EVIL OF INCOMPETENT CRITICISM 155
THE NATURE OF BELASCO’S TALENTS AND SERVICES 159
CONCERNING MATTERS OF FACT 163
THE FACTS ABOUT JEFFERSON’S _Rip_ 172
A LEADING LADY IN A PET 176
ROSE COGHLAN AND “THE MOONLIGHT MARRIAGE” 179
“L’ASSOMMOIR” AND A DOUBLE-BARRELLED BENEFIT 183
A HOT WATER REHEARSAL 187
THE PLAY OF “CHUMS” 188
FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO CHICAGO 191
“HEARTS OF OAK” 193
FIRST VENTURE IN NEW YORK 196
JAMES ALFRED HERNE 197
ANALYSIS OF “HEARTS OF OAK” 201
FAILURE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 205
SAN FRANCISCO AGAIN 208
BELASCO’S RECOLLECTIONS OF ADELAIDE NEILSON 209
THE BLACK PEARL 211
MISS NEILSON’S GOOD INFLUENCE 213
“PAUL ARNIFF” 214
WANING FORTUNES AT THE BALDWIN 216
AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE,--JOHN T. MALONE 218
“TRUE TO THE CORE” 220
A STERLING ACTOR AND AN INTERESTING ESTIMATE:--WILLIAM E. SHERIDAN 221
LAURA DON.--AN UNFULFILLED AMBITION 225
“LA BELLE RUSSE” 230
“THE STRANGLERS OF PARIS” 237
NEW YORK AGAIN.--“LA BELLE RUSSE” AT WALLACK’S 241
AN OPINION BY BRONSON HOWARD.--WALLACK IN THE THIRTIETH STREET HOUSE 244
BELASCO AND HIS “THE CURSE OF CAIN” 248
THE PASSING OF MAGUIRE 252
BELASCO AND GUSTAVE FROHMAN.--THEY REVIVE “THE OCTOROON” 254
“AMERICAN BORN” 257
FIRST MEETING WITH CHARLES FROHMAN 259
EASTWARD, HO! 260
A RETROSPECT 263
A SECOND VENTURE IN CHICAGO.--THE LAST OF “AMERICAN BORN” 269
THE MADISON SQUARE THEATRE 271
BELASCO AT THE MADISON SQUARE 275
“MAY BLOSSOM” 280
FIRST VISIT TO ENGLAND.--“CALLED BACK” 290
CHANGES AT THE MADISON SQUARE 292
A LABORIOUS INTERLUDE.--LYCEUM THEATRE 294
“VALERIE” AT WALLACK’S 298
MORE ERRORS CORRECTED 306
AN EXTRAORDINARY COMPANY AND A SUMMER SEASON IN SAN FRANCISCO 307
AFFAIRS OF THE LYCEUM 311
“THE HIGHEST BIDDER” 314
“PAWN TICKET 210” 317
“BARON RUDOLPH” AND GEORGE S. KNIGHT 321
“THE WIFE” 326
“A COMMON-SENSE HUSBAND” 327
REVISION OF “SHE” 337
“LORD CHUMLEY” AND E. H. SOTHERN 340
“THE KAFFIR DIAMOND” 345
LOUIS ALDRICH 347
THE SCHOOL OF ACTING 348
THE TRUE SCHOOL IS THE STAGE 351
A REVIVAL OF “ELECTRA” 353
MANY NEW TASKS 355
“THE CHARITY BALL” 357
MRS. LESLIE CARTER 361
EPISODE OF “THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER” 365
RETIREMENT FROM THE LYCEUM THEATRE 367
A LONG, LONG ROAD 370
CONFEDERATION WITH CHARLES FROHMAN 373
PROCTOR’S TWENTY-THIRD STREET THEATRE 374
THE PLAY OF “MEN AND WOMEN” 377
HATCHING “THE UGLY DUCKLING” 383
“THE UGLY DUCKLING.”--MRS. CARTER’S DEBUT 385
MORE FAILURE, AND A LAWSUIT 388
A POVERTY-STRICKEN STRUGGLE 392
“MISS HELYETT” AND MRS. CARTER 396
ORIGIN OF THE EMPIRE THEATRE 400
“THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME” 403
EXCELLENCE OF THAT INDIAN DRAMA 406
THE VALUE OF SUGGESTION IN ART 417
A SUGGESTIVE REMINISCENCE OF FRONTIER DAYS 420
BELASCO AND CHARLES FROHMAN 421
A CHARLES FROHMAN LETTER 422
A BAFFLED ENTERPRISE IN CHICAGO 424
“THE YOUNGER SON” 428
FIGHTING FOR A CHANCE 431
STORY AND PRODUCTION OF “THE HEART OF MARYLAND.”--ITS GREAT SUCCESS 438
“THE FIRST BORN.”--A SUCCESS AND A FAILURE 447
BELASCO’S SECOND ENGLISH VENTURE.--“THE HEART OF MARYLAND” IN LONDON 451
“ZAZA,” AND THE ETHICAL QUESTION 456
PRODUCTION, AND CONTENTS, OF “ZAZA” 461
MRS. CARTER’S IMPERSONATION OF ZAZA 464
DEATH OF BELASCO’S MOTHER.--“CAN THE DEAD COME BACK?”--A STRANGE EXPERIENCE 466
BLANCHE BATES AND “NAUGHTY ANTHONY” 469
“MADAME BUTTERFLY” 476
“ZAZA” ABROAD 484
VIEWS OF THE FRENCH DRAMATISTS 485
“WITH SPEED FOR ENGLAND.”--ANOTHER SUCCESS IN LONDON 486
PUCCINI AND BELASCO 488
“MADAME BUTTERFLY” AS AN OPERA.--A PROPOSAL BY LADY VALERIE MEUX 489
INDEX 497
ILLUSTRATIONS.