Lincoln and the theater, and theater in Lincoln's days

[Eva Elisabeth]

Lincoln and the theater, and theater in Lincoln's days, is an interesting topic to me. Now I come up with two questions which, I admit, are probably very specific, but nevertheless someone maybe could help (Dave? Mr. Bogar?)?!

First - do any pictures of James Lamb exist or any of one of his stage designs or backdrop paintings?

My second question concerns Grover's stage design for "The Magic Flute", which Abraham Lincoln attended in March 1865, accompanied by Mary, Clara Harris, and Colonel James Grant Wilson.

The original 1816 stage design for W. A. Mozart's "The Magic Flute" by Prussian architect and painter Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841) is one of the most famous stage designs and a typical work representing the enthusiasm for the Orient (especially for Egypt) in the Romantic period. One example:
   
The best known one of the twelve backdrops is the one for the appearance of the "Queen of the Night", showing the Egyptian starry sky. (BTW, the original is on permanent display at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin, Germany).
   
"Queen of the Night" backdrop
I would assume it is the most quoted backdrop ever, even nowadays*. Thus I wonder if it is possible that the production at Grover's also referred to this original design? Or, in other words (and I would find this very cool), did Lincoln perhaps see the same star-spangled backdrop, on which the stars, a romantic symbol for nature's unrulable inscrutability, and (the right of) freedom of the human soul, form an eerie, threatening army, commanded by a dark Queen, to which even the moon has to bow to?

(*The most repeated stage design at all is sure tinker Tom Snout as the wall in the interlude of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Also I exclude modern commercial productions like most musicals from this estimation as for these usually each little detail is copyrighted.)

This is the account from Col. James Grant Wilson’s diary of March 15, 1865:

“In the evening, at Grover’s Theatre with the President, Mrs. Lincoln and Miss Harris, listening to the opera of ‘The Magic Flute’ and occupying a comfortable box. The President, alluding to the large feet of one of the leading female singers, which were also very flat, remarked, ‘The beetles wouldn’t have much of a chance there!’"

Wilson also recalled that Mr. Lincoln "sat in the rear of the box leaning his head against the partition paying no attention to the play and looking so worn and weary that it would not have been surprising had his soul and body separated that very night. When the curtain fell after the first act, turning to him, I said: 'Mr. President you are not apparently interested in the play.' 'Oh, no, Colonel,' he replied; 'I have not come for the play, but for the rest. I am hounded to death by office-seekers, who pursue me early and late, and it is simply to get two or three hours' relief that I am here.' After a slight pause he added: 'I wonder if we shall be tormented in heaven with them, as well as with bores and fools?' He then closed his eyes and I turned to the ladies...When asked by Mrs. Lincoln to go before the last act of the opera was concluded, he said: ‘Oh, no, I want to see it out. It’s best when you undertake a job, to finish it.’” (Allow me to remark on the last sentence - this is a very Prussian attitude!)

Finally, I would like to recommend Dave's article on Grover's theater:
http://boothiebarn.com/2014/01/19/grover...ssination/

That reminds me of another question - who was depicted in the other four pictures in JWB's diary?

[Gene C]

Wow! I want a dog house like that.

Fido

[RJNorton]

(01-22-2014 09:37 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Wilson also recalled that Mr. Lincoln "sat in the rear of the box leaning his head against the partition

Eva, I hope you don't mind, but when I read your post I have an additional question. I have read that Lincoln often also sat "back in the box" at Ford's. But we have the following story from Katherine Helm's book:

When the Lincolns saw John Wilkes Booth in "The Marble Heart" at Ford's Theatre on November 9, 1863, they were accompanied by several people. Among these people was Mary B. Clay, a daughter of Cassius Clay, U.S. minister to Russia. Mary Clay reminisced about the evening as follows: "In the theater President and Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Sallie Clay and I, Mr. Nicolay and Mr. Hay, occupied the same box which the year after saw Mr. Lincoln slain by Booth. I do not recall the play, but Wilkes Booth played the part of villain. The box was right on the stage, with a railing around it. Mr. Lincoln sat next to the rail, I next to Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Sallie Clay and the other gentlemen farther around. Twice Booth in uttering disagreeable threats in the play came very near and put his finger close to Mr. Lincoln's face; when he came a third time I was impressed by it, and said, 'Mr. Lincoln, he looks as if he meant that for you.' 'Well,' he said, 'he does look pretty sharp at me, doesn't he?' At the same theater, the next April, Wilkes Booth shot our dear President. Mr. Lincoln looked to me the personification of honesty, and when animated was much better looking than his pictures represent him." (Mary Clay, in her reminiscence, was off by a year when she said the president was shot "the next April.)

SOURCE: p. 243 of Mary, Wife of Lincoln by her niece Katherine Helm (New York, Harper and Brothers, 1928).

My question is - could this story be apocryphal? It would seem to me that if the railing is 11-12 feet higher than the stage, and especially if Lincoln tended not to sit too close to the railing, then there is no way Booth could put his finger close to Lincoln's face.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Good question, Roger. As you said, the 11-12 feet distance is a fact, and I wouldn't call that close, too. Nevertheless, Booth might have pointed at Lincoln, and by hindsight in Ms. Clay's memory it seemed closer than in reality. However, it's a nice story, and sure (IMO) Mary B. Clay truly believed or felt that it happened exactly that way. The part that I would cast most doubts on is the dialogue, especially Lincoln's comment.

[L Verge]

I have no idea whether this can be authenticated, but there are two boxes below the higher boxes (7 & 8) that we are familiar with. Those lower boxes are definitely right on the stage, and Booth could have grabbed Lincoln easily from his spot on the stage. It seems strange that the presidential party would be seated in that lower box for The Marble Heart, but it is possible.

[RJNorton]

(01-22-2014 09:37 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  First - do any pictures of James Lamb exist

That reminds me of another question - who was depicted in the other four pictures in JWB's diary?

Eva, please go here for a photo of James Lamb.

I believe (besides Lucy Hale) the other women whose pictures were found in Booth's diary were actresses Alice Grey, Helen Western, Effie Germon, and Fanny Brown.

[JMadonna]

I believe Lincoln asked Booth to meet with him after 'The Marble Heart' but Booth refused. Can anyone confirm?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thank you so much Roger! I've tried but couldn't find a picture of Lamb!

[Dave Taylor]

Quote:That reminds me of another question - who was depicted in the other four pictures in JWB's diary?

Eva,

All the photographs in Booth's possession were of ladies in his life. They were of Lucy Hale and then four actress friends: Alice Grey, Effie Germon, Fannie Brown, and Helen Westen. You can see their pictures here: http://boothiebarn.com/picture-galleries...-on-booth/

[RJNorton]

(01-22-2014 05:29 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  I believe Lincoln asked Booth to meet with him after 'The Marble Heart' but Booth refused. Can anyone confirm?

Jerry, I have seen this in a few books, but I am not sure I've ever seen an actual citation. For example, in Lincoln's Sanctuary, author Matthew Pinsker writes, "The president reportedly enjoyed the play so much that he sent a note backstage offering an interview with the leading performer, who ducked the request because he was a Rebel sympathizer, and perhaps a Confederate agent." But there is no footnote for this sentence. The only Pinskter footnote for that particular evening goes to John Hay's diary. I checked Hay's diary for November 9, 1863, and it says, "Spent the evening at the theater with President, Mrs. L., Mrs. Hunter, Cameron, and Nicolay. J Wilkes Booth was doing The Marble Heart. Rather tame than otherwise." Nothing at all is said about Lincoln sending a note to Booth. So I don't know where Pinsker found this, but I'd love to see an original source.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(01-22-2014 11:10 PM)Dave Taylor Wrote:  

Quote:That reminds me of another question - who was depicted in the other four pictures in JWB's diary?

Eva,

All the photographs in Booth's possession were of ladies in his life. They were of Lucy Hale and then four actress friends: Alice Grey, Effie Germon, Fannie Brown, and Helen Westen. You can see their pictures here: http://boothiebarn.com/picture-galleries...-on-booth/

Thanks a lot, Dave! (So I assume you don't know of any existing picture of the stage?!)

---

(01-23-2014 09:14 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 05:29 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  I believe Lincoln asked Booth to meet with him after 'The Marble Heart' but Booth refused. Can anyone confirm?

Jerry, I have seen this in a few books, but I am not sure I've ever seen an actual citation. For example, in Lincoln's Sanctuary, author Matthew Pinsker writes, "The president reportedly enjoyed the play so much that he sent a note backstage offering an interview with the leading performer, who ducked the request because he was a Rebel sympathizer, and perhaps a Confederate agent." But there is no footnote for this sentence. The only Pinskter footnote for that particular evening goes to John Hay's diary. I checked Hay's diary for November 9, 1863, and it says, "Spent the evening at the theater with President, Mrs. L., Mrs. Hunter, Cameron, and Nicolay. J Wilkes Booth was doing The Marble Heart. Rather tame than otherwise." Nothing at all is said about Lincoln sending a note to Booth. So I don't know what Pinsker's source is.

I've read about that, too, but don't recall where. On the internet I found a reference to Michael W. Kauffman's "American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies", p. 125 which is definitely not where I read it as I don't have that book. But I think several forum members do have a copy, and I, too, would be interested in learning the original source. Thus it would be very kind if someone could check Mr. Kauffman's book on that!

Another book I found is this one:
http://books.google.de/books?id=k_Co6TgB...QQ6AEwAzgK
The source refered to is: Joseph George, Jr.,: "The night John Wilkes Booth played before Abraham Lincoln" Lincoln Herold 59 no 2 (summer 1957) - still not a contemporary source!

Also I read on a website that Tad, after another performance, gave JWB a rose. Does anyone know more? Is there's any reliable source for that?

[Dave Taylor]

I've spent a good deal of time this morning looking for something I recall reading regarding when Lincoln saw Booth play in The Marble Heart. Like Roger, I remember reading some discussion between researchers that questioned the whole incident of Booth being "sharp" to Lincoln. Though I have not come up with what I originally read, using Eva's clue I consulted American Brutus and here's what Kauffman has to say about it, "Later accounts would mention angry glares and insulting comments, but there was none of that. Booth just slogged through the performance, and made it, in the words of Lincoln's secretary, "more tame than otherwise"....Fanciful accounts were written long after the assassination, but without benefit of contemporary evidence."

---

Eva,

You can see part of the stage setting for Our American Cousin in this photograph:

http://www.fold3.com/image/269870320/

[RJNorton]

Hi Anita. Yes, that is the incident. I asked whether others on the forum thought the incident (or at least parts of it) might be apocryphal. It appears Mike Kauffman agrees, based on what Eva and Dave found.

I also am unclear as to who was in the presidential party. Mary Clay is the source for the close-up finger pointing, "pretty sharp," etc. She says Sallie Clay was also with the presidential party. But, in his diary, John Hay says, "Spent the evening at the theater with President, Mrs. L., Mrs. Hunter, Cameron, and Nicolay. J Wilkes Booth was doing The Marble Heart." No mention of Mary Clay or Sallie Clay being with the group in the box.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(01-23-2014 10:40 AM)Dave Taylor Wrote:  I've spent a good deal of time this morning looking for something I recall reading regarding when Lincoln saw Booth play in The Marble Heart. Like Roger, I remember reading some discussion between researchers that questioned the whole incident of Booth being "sharp" to Lincoln. Though I have not come up with what I originally read, using Eva's clue I consulted American Brutus and here's what Kauffman has to say about it, "Later accounts would mention angry glares and insulting comments, but there was none of that. Booth just slogged through the performance, and made it, in the words of Lincoln's secretary, "more tame than otherwise"....Fanciful accounts were written long after the assassination, but without benefit of contemporary evidence."

---

Eva,

You can see part of the stage setting for Our American Cousin in this photograph:

http://www.fold3.com/image/269870320/

Dave, thanks for both, the link to the picture and the statement from the book! (Anita, please see post #3 for Mary Clay's entire account!)

[L Verge]

Is there any information on the Lincolns attending theater events in Illinois before his presidency?