American Theatre

American Theatre

1831 - In America theatre is doing very well. An English light comedian named James H. Caldwell* (1793-1863) who came over in 1816, now dominates the theatre in the Mississippi valley. He controls theatres up and down the river and inland, like Nashville. He brings "stars" west to tour his theatres.

Another American theatrical invention starts up this year, the river boat theatre. A fellow called William Chapman* (1764-1839), another English actor come west, outfits a flatboat to give performances at landings from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. It will take another five years to work up to getting a steamboat to tow them back up stream. As the population swells in the United States, the demand for entertainment does too. There are now more than twenty resident theatrical troupes and who knows how many traveling groups. New York has four theatres now and they keep adding more. Each one has audience seating for between two and three thousand. Philadelphia has three theatres and Boston at least two, sometimes three.

More and more actors are touring as "stars," to perform with local companies. This lowers the quality of the productions since the "stars" often arrive too late for much rehearsal and insist on doing plays that suit them best. These "stars" demand ridiculous salaries and the local company doesn't make very much money for themselves.

The period of "Jacksonian democracy" is beginning and audiences are looking for native entertainment fit for the common man. We find lots of animal acts, child stars and speciality The period of "Jacksonian democracy" is beginning and audiences are looking for native entertainment fit for the common man. We find lots of animal acts, child stars and speciality

a sympathetic character, the romantic "noble savage." The Yankee is a comic, or "specialty," part. He is a major figure in American plays at this time. The Yankee is the American common man, apparently simple and naive, but, underneath, full of democratic principles and not about to put up with pretense or hypocrisy. A third character type, also a specialty role, is the Afro-American. Popularized by Thomas D. Rice* (1808-60) with his "Jim Crow*" song and dance around 1828, there are a growing number of imitators.

These white performers in black-face shouldn't be confused with Afro-American performers, An Afro-American troupe was put together by James Brown* back in 1821 and had a couple successful years until white rowdies gave them too much trouble. Brown* wrote the first known American play by an Afro-American author, King Shotaway* (about an insurrection on St. Vincent Island.) This company gave a start to a celebrated actor, Ira Aldridge* (1804- 67), who, because of his race, found a more sympathetic reception in London. He appears there as Othello*. Later (1863), he will become a naturalized British citizen. He will go on to great European fame.

Currently, the biggest, native-born, American star is Edwin Forrest* (1806-72) who acted a lot around the frontier. He had made his New York debut in 1826 and two years later was regarded as the leading American actor. He is a big guy with a really strong voice and his style of acting is called "heroic," or physical. This comes to be regarded as the "American" acting style in contrast to the more restrained (and convincing) English style.

1831 A Russian poet and author, A. S. Pushkin* (1799-1837), comes out with a verse drama, Boris Godunov* which Moussorgsky* (1839-91) turns into an opera (produced in 1874). Some of his other works will be made into operas by Tchaikovsky* (1840-93).