Shakespeare & the Elks Popular Performers of 19th Century Popular Culture

Writing of the performances before the Civil played in Lon- War, Walt Whitman recalled “any good night at don the old Bowery, pack’d from ceiling to pit with to unfavor- its audience mainly of alert, well dress’d, full- able reviews. The early Elks came from blooded young and middle-aged men, the best Talented but virtually every niche of average of American-born mechanics—the emo- egocentric stage entertainment in the tional nature of the whole mass arous’d by the as , mid-nineteenth century: power and magnetism of as mighty mimes as one of his best charac- comic singers, musicians, ever trod the stage—the whole crowded audito- ters, Forrest accused actors, acrobats, ethnic rium, and what seeth’d in it, and fl ush’d from its Macready of stirring up performers, and manag- faces and eyes, to me as much a part of the show hostility and hissed ers and promoters such as Founding Elk & as any—bursting forth in one of those long- at his rival’s perfor- Tony Pastor, an Elk ac- Forrest as Bowery Favorite kept-up tempests of hand-clapping peculiar to mance of MacBeth in knowledged as “the father GW Thompson the Bowery—no dainty kid-glove business, but an Edinburgh production. The dispute spilled of Vaudeville.” Surprisingly electric force and muscle of perhaps 2000 full- into the press and came to a head in 1849, (at least to us today) many sinew’d men ...” (WW 595) when Macready and Forrest were slated to ap- of these popular entertainers, not just the actors, pear in rival productions of MacBeth in New would have had some contact with Shakespear- York. On his fi rst ean subject matter. Shakespeare was an integral night at the Astor part of 19th century popular culture, and was Place Opera House, performed in ways and settings that would per- Macready found plex, or even alarm, today’s audiences. himself confronted by Forrest’s work- To begin with, it is diffi cult to overestimate how ing class supporters, well-known Shakespeare’s characters and plays who drowned out his were. The frequency with which his works lines with cries such were parodied is a good indication of this, since as “down with the parody depends on familiarity with the origi- codfi sh aristocracy.” nal. Tony Pastor and his troupe, which included In the third act he many Elks, presented performances like “Rich- The Bowery Theater Macready as MacBeth was driven from the ard III, the Crookedest Man in New York.” And stage by a barrage of Elk G.W. Griffi n penned farces such as “ Theaters were good venues for Whitman to en- eggs, potatoes, and, the Dainty.” In this play the ghost of Hamlet’s counter able-bodied workmen because all class- fi nally, chairs. Macready planned to leave the father tells his son that he was murdered, but not es of male society were in attendance. Boxes country, but a committee of by poison in his ear: were reserved for wealthy patrons, workmen and dismayed citizens, including writers Washington the “middling” classes occupied the main fl oor, Irving and Herman Melville, persuaded him to One afternoon, as was my use, while the third fl oor galleries were set aside for try a repeat performance, this one protected by I went to a gin mill to take a snooze— newsboys, free African Americans, and prosti- armed policemen. Troublesome members of the When your uncle into my mouth did pou tutes and their patrons. (DG 46-76) audience were ejected, but a crowd of as many A gallon of brandy smash, or more. (SW 121) as 10,000 gathered outside the building. When Especially before the Civil War, audience behav- the crowd attempted to storm the building, the To these audiences, Shakespeare was not the ior was more likely to be dictated by the pit and police fi red warning shots, then over the heads of remote representative of elite culture that the gallery than the boxes, and this made for a the crowd, which then dispersed. Unfortunately, many people think of today. As anyone who boisterous time, more like attending a football onlookers and passersby were struck, and at least has attended an OSF performance knows, game today than politely listening in silence. 22 people were killed, and over 150 injured. Shakespeare’s plays are funny and entertaining, Audiences were also prone to interact with (LL H/L 63-66, DG 67-75) complete with opportunities for slapstick, jokes, whatever was happening on stage. In one per- and sexual word play. Sadly, today many view formance of Richard III at the Bowery in 1832, Shakespeare as a fi gure demanding mandatory when Richard and Richmond began to fi ght, the reverence, a sort of theatrical museum piece, audience “made a ring around the combatants isolated and inviolate, but dead nonetheless. to see fair play, and kept them at it for nearly a quarter of an hour...” (LL UP 151). In New In the early to mid-19th century, audiences Orleans, as grieved that Desdemona had attending shows at venues such as the Bowery lost his handkerchief (which functioned some- Theater saw Shakespeare not as remote from day thing like an engagement ring), a boatman ex- to day culture, but as part of it. A Shakespeare claimed “Why don’t you blow your nose with The performance would include not only the play your fi ngers and let the play go on?” (DG 60) but also a farcical afterpiece and a variety of The riot was a watershed. As the century pro- specialities between acts, including comic gressed, middle class audiences moved to more In Sacramento, when actor Hugh McDermott de- upscale theaters and began to enforce a quiet, re- songs, acrobats, humorous sketches, and shows viated too far from the sense of Richard III by by trained dogs and monkeys. In short, the spectful attention to performances. Shakespeare stabbing Henry after he had fallen, the stage was began his American journey from popular to elite very kinds of performances that many early pelted with “cabbages, carrots, pumpkins, pota- Elks performed. As one cultural historian puts culture, from entertainment to edifi cation. As toes, a wreath of vegetables, a sack of fl our and they pursued their careers on stage, the early Elks it, “Shakespeare was performed not merely one of soot, [and] a dead goose ...” This revital- alongside popular entertainment as an elite had to negotiate these changes. Shakespeare and ized the dead Henry, who fl ed the stage along popular theater, and the Elks performing them, supplement to it; Shakespeare was popular with Richard. (LL UP 150 -51) entertainment.” (LL UP 146) headed for separate audiences and venues. —Warren Hedges, BPOE #944, 2004 19th century Shakespeare was sometimes a As the 19th century moved into the 20th, this source of violent cultural and national antago- References rough, democratic Shakespeare was gradually nisms, and nowhere was this more apparent than DG: David Grimstead, Melodrama Unveiled. replaced by a more revered, if less well-known the rivalry between the American LL H/L: Lawrence Levine, Highbrow / Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America. fi gure. A key part of this change was a change and British actor William Macready. Edwin For- in the make-up of audiences and the behaviors LL UP: Lawrence Levine, The Unpredicable Past. rest’s vigorous, over-the-top style of acting was SW: Stanley Wells. 19th Century Shakespeare expected of them. As the Elks evolved, their well-suited to his boisterous audiences, , but Burlesques. vol 5. WW: “The Old Bowery.” performers and venues refl ected these changes. these traits did not serve him as well when he Walt Whitman, Prose Works of 1892. v2.