The Career of Lola Montez in the American Theatre

Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1994 The aC reer of Lola Montez in the American Theatre. Sara Elizabeth Gotcher Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Gotcher, Sara Elizabeth, "The aC reer of Lola Montez in the American Theatre." (1994). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5727. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5727 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9502113 The career of Lola Montez in the American theatre Gotcher, Sara Elizabeth, Ph.D. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col., 1994 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 THE CAREER OF LOLA MONTEZ IN THE AMERICAN THEATRE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Theatre by Sara Elizabeth Gotcher B. A., Austin Peay State University . F. A., University of Florida, Gainesville May 1994 ACKNOWLE DGEMENTS I have many mentors, friends and contacts that made this document a reality. Primarily, my husband, James Micheal Gotcher, supported and assisted my efforts and made the project achievable when the birth of our first child required my interest and attention elsewhere. Jessie Elizabeth Gotcher also sustained my dedication to the project. I am indebted to Dr. Joe Filippo and Dr. Gresdna Doty who have proven significant mentors and friends. The early encouragement of Dr. Billy J. Harbin also provided me with inspiration for the task. The reference librarians and historians who helped me complete the document are too numerous to be named. However, I must acknowledge the early aid of Mary Katherine Politz, at Louisiana State University, and the enduring assistance of Carol Kimmel and Anne Berwind at Austin Peay State University, as well as the ever cheerful assistance of the meticulous newspaper librarians at the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. I will be indebted to the administration of Austin Peay State University and its Speech, Communication, and Theatre Department forever. Their trust in my ability to perform this task reinforced my courage. Finally, thank you, Della Cannaday Hemmrich for the love, support, and inspiration that you have provided. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................. ii LIST OF PLATES................................................iv ABSTRACT....................................................... V CHAPTER 1 Introduction ...................................... 1 2 The Creation of Lola Montez: Fact or Myth? . 6 3 Life after Bavaria and Considerations for an American T o u r .............................76 4 Facing a New World, New York December 1851 to January 1852 ................ 102 5 Beyond New York January to Early March 1852 .................. 138 6 'Enchantress of the . New World' Conquering New England on Her Spring Tour . 160 7 The Danseuse Turns Actress, a Re-visit to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Areas Mid-May to November 1852 ...................... 185 8 The 'Cynosure of All [Southern] Eyes' December 1852 to February 1853 ................ 217 9 The Golden West and Beyond May 1853 to January 1861 ...................... 253 10 The Phenomenon of the Age 'Bold Thought and Free Action' .................. 303 LIST OF WORKS C I T E D .......................................318 VITA 331 List of Plates Franz Liszt ........................... 31 Alexandre Dumas, pere ................ 35 Ludwig I of Bavaria .................. 50 Montez in Spanish dance costume . 51 Montez dance cartoon ................ 56 Montez and Ludwig I cartoon ......... 57 Lithograph of Montez.................. 91 Montez as Mariguita .................. 92 "Lola Has Come! ..." ............. 119 Montez playbill for Broadway Theatre 126 "Lola in Boston" cartoon ........... 164 Montez playbill for Howard Athenaeum 165 Montez playbill for Broadway Theatre 187 iv ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to examine the career of Lola Montez [Marie Dolores Eliza Gilbert] (c. 1818-1861) in the American theatre between 1851 and 1857 in order to provide her with an appropriate position in American theatre history. The primary sources of information for the study were contemporary newspapers from the various cities she toured in the United States as well as newspapers from London and Paris. Prior to her American tour, Lola Montez established a European reputation as an eccentric femme fatale and performer. Due to her European publicity, Montez arrived in America with audiences clamoring to see her perform. Her beauty, notoriety, exotic biography, and performances established phenomenal popularity from coast-to-coast. Despite such popularity, theatrical histories contain cursory, scattered and conflicting reports of her career. Consequently, her place in American theatre history has not been established. The findings of the study reveal that throughout her remarkable tour of the United States, Lola Montez established an unqualified popular success. Although curiosity attracted crowds initially, Montez habitually sustained popular engagements in major theatres that typically lasted from one week to one month. Her exotic appeal managed to satisfy the appetite for novelty among v the politicians in Washington, the B'hoys in New York, the literary elite in Boston, the gold-miners in California, and the French and Spanish aristocrats as well as the rough and ready of New Orleans. Packing houses wherever she performed as a dancer and/or actress, she filled major theatres with audiences from all walks of life, eager to see the lover of artists and kings, and the cause of a democratic revolution in Bavaria. The Montez phenomenon, the mania that attended her performances, the critical success and the logic behind such have been overlooked. In the long view of American theatre history, Lola Montez, the Countess of Landsfeldt is an original: her American career stands alone. vi Chapter 1. Introduction Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert (c. 1818-1861) achieved international fame as well as notoriety under the stage name of Lola Montez. 1 A dancer and actress, she also has been called "one of the world's great celebrities . the favorite of monarchs, of Patrician and Plebeian." 2 She established a European reputation as an eccentric femme fatale and performer through a liaison with Franz Liszt, horse-whipping an officer who attempted to quiet her mount, packing pistols against the agents of a Polish Prince whose romantic inquiries had been rebuffed, inspiring King Ludwig I to seek democratic reform for the people of Bavaria, and dancing at theatres in the major capitals of Europe. When Montez came to the United States in 1851, audiences clamored to see her perform. Although she was not a great artist, Montez provided unique theatrical allure through her beauty, notoriety, exotic and political biography, as well as her performing abilities, and established phenomenal popularity from coast-to-coast. Despite such popularity, theatrical histories contain cursory, scattered and conflicting reports of her career. This study examines the career of Lola Montez in the American theatre between 1851 and 1857 in order to provide her appropriate position in American theatre history. In tracing and analyzing Montez's American career, her memoirs provide interesting personal information about her 2 early life, but little concerning her American tour, and often prove untrustworthy. 3 Several full-length biographies concentrate on her eccentric personality and the eventful story of her life,

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