This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 64-6999 BURBICK, WiUiam George, 1918- COLUMBUS, OHIO, THEATER FROM THE BEGIN­ NING OF THE CIVIL WAR TO 1875. The Ohio State University, Ph. D ., 1963 Speech- Theater University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan COIAJMBUS, OHIO, THEATER FROM THE BEGDmiNa OF TRE CIVIL WAR TO l8?5 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State Ihiiversity By William George Burbick, A.B., M.A. The Ohio State Ihiiversity 1963 Approved by Adviser Department of Speech CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION........................................................................ 1 The Nature and Purpose o f th e Study Resources and Problems of Research Chapter I. COLUMBUS AND THE CIVIL W A R .......... ............ 9 !Hie City, Its Resources and Growth The City's Role in the Civil War I I . THEATER CUSTOMS, PRACTICES, AND PROBLEMS..................... 25 I I I . THE NON-LEGITIMATE THEATfR IN COLUMBUS........................ h9 IV. JOHN ELLSLER AND THE EARLY WAR YEARS . ..................... 59 V. THE LATER WAR YEARS ........................................ 91 VI. THE POST WAR PERIOD.................................................................. lii7 V II. THE YEARS OF STRUGGLE...................... ...................................... 197 Vin. THE RESIDENT COMPANY OF H. J . SARGENT.......................... 26l n. IKE DEATH OF A RESIDENT STOCK COMPANY................. 313 %. THE EVALUATION AND SUMURY................................... 3$0 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................... 366 AUTOBIOŒIAPHY.............................................................................................. 370 i i HTRODUCTION The Purpose of th e Study The dissertation is primarily a chronological study of the le­ gitimate theater as found in the city of Columbus, Ohio, fr<n the fall o f 1861 to the spring of l86$. The study was designed to deal specif­ ically with prevailing practices, actors and managers, theatrical bil­ lings, and all that went to make up the dramatic activity of the time. The principal objective was to obtain as accurate a picture as possible of American provincial theater in this era, particularly as reflected in the comaentaries and criticism s of the contemporary press and others who saw it or who took part in it. It sometimes appears that discussions of any period of American theater tend to measure development largely in terms of what was accom­ plished in Vow York and Philadelphia along with one or two other met­ ropolitan centers along the Atlantic seaboard, and with an occasional mention of San Francisco and New Orleans. Conclusions regarding the tastes, trends, and mode of operation of American theater are deduct­ ed from the pattern set by these cities with little or no regard for the smaller municipalities across the country whose dramatic activ­ ities might come closer to representing the true nature of theater in America. It was therefore assumed that a chronological study of theat­ rical fare found in a ^rpically mid-western city of moderate sise might be profitable. 2 In order to oTnluate aooorately the out-of-Kev York theater aa being algnificant in American theater devel<^pment it was considered esaential to note in detail not only idiat was being attempted and accom­ plished there, bat also to note oonte^iorary reaction thereto. This premise made necessary the fall consideration of carrent attitade, the essence of which was to be found in abundance in the daily newspapers of that time. Thus did this study not only seek to recount the theat­ rical events and trends in a city removed from the influence of acknow­ ledged theatrical centers, but also to examine and appraise the contem­ porary reactions which helped to shape those trends. For the specific period represented in this study, it should be noted 'Uiat daring the theatrical season of I 86 O-6I there occurred in this country two major events, both of which had the potential of leav­ ing a mark upon the theater. D» i860 Dion Boucicault, actor, theater manager, and playw rl^t then working in New York City, initiated a p ra c tic e idileh came to be known as "The Combination %rstem. " This practice was conceived, in part, in order to combat the pirating of play scripts in the absence of adequate oopyrlgd*t laws and to encourage a greater emphasis upon the play itself as against the actor. A major re­ sult of the Coad>ination System was the decline and virtual disappearance of the resident stock company. The second event whidi threatened to change American theater was the Civil War, a national turmoil which lasted nearly five years and which, aside from tiae usual war-time hardships, left in its wake econom­ ic and social changes which had a definite effect upon the theater of the late nineteenth century and thereafter. The Civil War was theat­ rically significant because it brought with it the first instance of 3 an established American theater subjected to the rigors of a major mil­ itary conflict. The nature and causes of the war are sufficiently famil­ iar to render unnecessary their discussion here, and the details there­ of abound in numerous works devoted to that purpose. The only direct association between the theater and the actual causes of the war was the alleged influence upon Northern thinking wrought by such plays as Uncle Tom's Cabin. The nature of the Combination System already mentioned may de­ serve some clarification: The first copyright law, passed August 6, 1856 , partially through the efforts of Boucicault, proved inadequate in providing protection against the theft of plays. A prime weakness of the law was its failure to require registry of the entire script. Only the title was registered. Consequently, the law offered little protection since anyone could seize upon a script, change the title , and the play was his. This situation discouraged playwri^ts from publishing manuscripts because to do so would expose the manuscripts to unscrupulous producers and probable theft. Boucicault was adamant in his efforts to secure ri^ ts to his own work and, in i860, instead of sending a star around to play with res­ ident companies as was the common practice, he sent out an entire com­ pany—a duplicate of the one playing in New York—with the play itself billed as the attraction. Qy this means the play would remain within one company and there would be less chance of other producers appropri­ ating the script for their own. Beginning with his play. The Colleen Bawn, Boucicault engaged a company and offered the play as a package deal to managers in other cities. Naturally a few problems arose, but k th# flaaneial •ueMss of this plui lod other wuiagere to adopt it and % e d e e lia e o f th e re s id e n t stook ocmpaqy began* ^ Vitii these two developments in adndU»a major ohange in theat­ rical practice and a socio-political sphearal in the form of a civil war—it was the Intention of this studj to follow oloselj Idie theatrical activities of an American city that mif^t logically have felt the in­ fluence of both these events and which, at the same time, would be rep­ resentative of theatrical growth outside of Hew York City fr<m I 86 I un­ til such time as that influence might be coqc>lete. The selection of a city meeting the requirements of this study seemed to point to Columbus, Ohio, as a likely subject. As the capital of a state that was second to none in its contribution to ^ e Union Cause, Colnnbus became geographically and materially the focal point of Ohio's war effort. Its sise and its location some $00 miles from Hew York City and near the western frontier of that day made Colunbus attractive to players and stock companies out of Hew York. Columbus was not 80 small as to be ignored by the traveli%% players, nor was it large enough to be theatrically self-sufficient—that is able to be in constant support of a resident company. These particular qualities rend­ ered Columbus typically representative of those municipalities main­ taining a program of dramatic entertainment at the outbreak of the war. Consequently, the theatrical activities of this city were selected for detailed study, season by season, for the purpose of ascertaining the true nature of American theater in the period following the Civil War lArtfaur Hobson Quinn, A History of the American Drama from t he Beginning ^ the Civil War (Hew Ÿorkt Harper k Bros., 29^}) p . 3H7. $ and to determine vbat influence, if any, the war and the Combination System had upon its development. It is the gradual transition from resident stock to conqjlete reliance upon the Combination System that fontied an important aspect of this study, a transition that took nearly fifteen years to complete itself. The conversion of Columbus' popular legitimate theater, the Atheneum, to a straight variety house in the f a l l of 1875 seemed a suitable terminal point for this study. It marked the end of one of Columbus' most successful resident companies which fe ll not only before the Combination System but also before the rising popularity of vaudeville. The growing importance of the play itself as well as the various by-products of a changing theatrical order encour­ aged by the social and economic developments of a rapidly growing America are here likewise subject to consideration. The Source M ate rial The reliability of available infoimation in research of this kind is always open to question, particularly when sources go back ap­ proximately one hundred years. The accuracy of records was not then a matter of importance and, in many cases, no records were kept. What is known of events and th e people who p a rtic ip a te d in them comes to us in the later reminiscences and memoirs of persons involved therein or who knew something about them—all subject to the vagaries of mind and pen.