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Xerox lîiniversüy Microfilms 300 North Zeob Read Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 HALL, Roger Allan, 1946- NATE SALSBURY AM) HIS TROUBADOURS: POPULAR AMERICAN FARCE AND MUSICAL COMEDY, 1875-1887. The Oliio State University, Ph.D., 1974 Theater Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 4aio6 © 1974 ROGER ALLAN HALL ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. NATE SALSBURY AND HIS TROUBADOURS; POPULAR AMERICAN FARCE AND MUSICAL COMEDY, 1875-188? DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Roger Allan Hall, A.B., M.A, The Ohio State University 1974 Reading Committee; Approved By; Donald R, Clancy John C. Morrow Alan Woods Adviser Department of Theatre ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Several people helped, me Immensely with this study. In particular I wish to thank for their help: Mr, Nate Salsbury, grandson of the focus of my study; Mr, Peter Dzwonkoski and the courteous and helpful staff of the Beinecke Bare Book and Manuscript Collection of Yale University; Ms, Dorothy Swerdlove of the indispensable New York Public Library Theatre Collection at Lincoln Center; Dr. Alan Woods, who helped me work through the Theatre Research Institute of The Ohio State University; and my adviser Mr, Donald Glancy, I also wish to acknowledge the help and encourage­ ment of the Western History Department of The Denver Pub­ lic Library; Don Russell, author of The Lives and Legends of Buffalo Bill; Martha Mahard of the Theatre Collection at Harvard University; Ms, Isabella Sayers, biographer of Annie Oakley; Miss Jean Dyce of The Mitchell Library, Sydney Australia; Louis A, Hachow of The Walter Hampden Memorial Library at The Players; The British Newspaper Library; and Dr, John C, Morrow, TO NATE SALSBURY Oh Nate most marvellous of men Who "buffet Fortune's gales Before whose stern and piercing eye The savage Cossack quails Who in the hollow of your hand Hold such a mighty power That soldiers shrink, wild Indians slink And "chesty" cowboys cower Oh man of action who at call Dashed from the mighty West And in the heat of conflict did Your very, very best. Oh Nate who used to grace the stage As now few actors can From singing light cornediam To demon "heavy man"— Who gave to Booth and Forrest both Support superb and true— From "Shaun the Post" to Shakespeare's "Ghost" Was easy work for you Guest of our hearts how many parts Had you made wholly yours Until you branched out for yourself— And loi the "Troubadours," *Twas joy encore and cash galore— "The show that couldn't fall"— Then mightier schemed, until you camped On Bison William's trail Each needed each— and loi arose The wonder of the age Wild Western marvels headed by The Centeur of the stage Good comrades both— we greet you here And be it understood Not only have you prospered,but You've done a world of good And now, dear Nate, one last remark We'll all agree »tis true— There never was a Lamb on earth More popular than youI — Edward E, Kidder New York, 17 April 1902^ ^Thls address, from Nate Salsbury*s private scrap­ book at Yale, was apparently delivered by Salsbury's friend Kidder at a banquet at the Lamb's Club in Salsbury's honor just over eight months before his death, ill VITA 23 July 1946 , , . , , Born - Cincinnati, Ohio 1968 , ............... A.B., Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 1968-1970 , .......... English teacher and director. The Cincinnati Country Day School 1970-1973... .......... Fellow, National Defense Education Act (Title IV), The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1 9 7 2 . M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 197 3-1 974 ......... Graduate Administrative Associate, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS "Romantic and Neo-Classic Destruction: Scene Designs of Ruins from 1700 to I850." Theatre Studies. #19, pp. 7-I5 , 1973 "Beyond Realism; A Second Level of Response in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Paper for Southeastern Theatre Conference Convention, 2 March 1974. "Desert Men." A One-Act Play. Dramatics, pp. 5-9. November 197 3. "His Son," A One-Adt Play, Review for Religious, pp. 1075- 109 2 , September 1973. FIELDS OP STUDY Dramatic Literature, Theatre History, Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Playwrltlng. TABLE OP CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................... .... ü VITA .......................................... iv INTRODUCTION ................................. 1 Chapter I. NATHAN SALSBURY 1846-1875: ACTOR, PLAYWRIGHT, MANAGER .................. 1? II. THE TROUBADOURS: FOUNDATION AND SUR­ VIVAL, 1875-1878 46 III. THE TROUBADOURS* SUCCESS AND THE BROOK; 1878-1881 78 IV. THE TROUBADOURS AND THE PLOTTED PLAY, 1881-1883 119 V. CROSSOVER YEARS AND DEMISE OF THE TROUBADOURS: 1883-1887 l4l CONCLUSIONS..................................... 155 APPENDIX A ..................... l6l B .............................................. 165 C . '.......................................... 170 D .............................................. 172 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................. 174 INTRODUCTION The period from the Civil War to World War I was one of enormous change for the United States, Rail­ roads crisscrossed the country, linking virtually every population center of consequence and creating new ones In Its trail. Railroad mileage in the thirty years from I850 to i860, for example, expanded tenfold, from 8589 miles In I850 and 30,593 miles In i860 to 8 7,891 miles in 1880,^ The population after the war soared also, and it was swelled "by large numbers of generally unschooled Immi­ grants. The census recorded just over 38.5 million peo­ ple In 1870 and over 62,6 million In 1890,^ Moreover, a part of the populace turned from the serious pursuits of war and the abolition of slavery toward an appreciation of fun and entertainment for Its own sake. ^Preliminary Report on the Eighth Census, I860 (Wash­ ington; Government Printing Office, 1862), Table 38, pp. 234 -3 5 . Also, Compendium of the Tenth Census (June 1. I88O). (Washington: Government Printing Office, I8 8 3), Table LXIII, p. 1257. The Impact of railroads on travelling companies ms de­ tailed by Jack Poggl In Theatre in America: The impact of Economic Forces. 1870-1967 (Ithaca. N. Y . : Cornell Uni-" versity Press / 1968), He concluded: "The proliferation of travelling companies was the result, partly, of a rapid Increase In railroad facilities" (pp. 6-7). ^The Eleventh Census of the United States, Vol. I. pt. 1 ( Washington; Government Printing Office. 1894), p. xl. 1 2 The sport known as "The National Pastime," for example, flourished: the first all-professional baseball team was founded in 1869. and The National League was formed in 1875. In that same year, the Kentucky Derby horse race was run for the first time. After the war, interest in recreation, entertainment, and spectator and participant sports mushroomed, and those items were of particular im­ portance, socially and financially, to metropolitan areas such as New York.3 As Glenn Hughes has noted, the late nineteenth century was "a great era for entertainment,"^ which featured everything from legitimate plays to circuses to unusual peculiarities such as the "go-as-you-please," The public wanted to be entertained, for it was a period, according to one theatrical reviewer, when "everything has to be 'flash.' The growth in population, especially in immigrant population, opened opportunities for certain kinds of theatre fare. Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart capitalized on one such opportunity by cranking out farces with music based on ethnic types and topical humor with a New York ^Poster Rhea Dulles, America Learns to Play: A History of Popular Recreation, 1607-1940 (New York; Peter Smith, 1952)7 pp." 1ÜÈ-201, 2il-229. ^Glenn Hughes, A History of the American Theatre. 1770-1950 (New York: Samuel French, Ï95i), p. 228. ^Galveston News. 13 October 1875, in a personal scrap­ book of Nate Salsbury at the Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center (MV/EZ n. c. 8752) ; hereafter cited as NYPL scrapbook 8752.