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First American Theatre Contracts: Wall and Lindsay's Maryland Company of Comedians, and the Annapolis, Fell's Point, and Baltimore Theatres, 1781–1783

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2009

Lynn Haims
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Extract

Almost nothing survives of contractual arrangements between actors and managers in eighteenth-century America. The earliest known theatre contracts appear to be two documents, “Articles to be strictly observ'd, by the Managers and Performers belonging to the Maryland Company of Comedians” and “Rules to be Observ'd in the Baltimore Theatre, respecting Benefits.” They are undated but almost certainly from 1782, during the single year the company was managed by Thomas Wall and Adam Lindsay, whom the contracts name. The only other eighteenth-century documents of the kind, to my knowledge, are the well known “Articles of Agreement” between Hallam, Hodgkinson, and Dunlap of May 1796; “Regulations for the Old American Company at the Ensuing Benefits,” dated 24 March, 1797; and a briefly written contract of 1798 between Dunlap and the actress Mrs. Oldmixon.

Type
Research Article
Information
Theatre Survey , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , November 1976 , pp. 179 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © American Society for Theatre Research 1976

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References

1 The documents, found by Professor Kenneth Silverman of New York University, were originally to be published in his A Cultural History of the American Revolution. However, because of limited space and the disproportionate volume of material on this minor company, they were not reproduced there and are discussed only briefly. I wish to thank Professor Silverman for suggesting this article and for his many helpful comments.

2 Wall and Lindsay managed the company from 15 January 1782, when the Baltimore Theatre opened, until Dennis Ryan took over in February 1783. I have not been able to confirm 7 February as the date of transfer, although it is the date given by Seilhamer, George O. (History of the American Theatre [Philadelphia, 1889], p. 85)Google Scholar, who is not always reliable. It seems certain, however, that Ryan was manager by 11 February, as a reference to Ryan's Company appears in the Maryland Journal for that date. On a playbill of 18 February and in a newspaper advertisement of the 17th, Ryan announced: “D. RYAN's most respectful Compliments await the Ladies and Gentlemen of Baltimore: He begs leave to inform them that the Bridge is repaired, so as to make it passable for Foot Passengers and Carriages; and that he intends to have proper Lights for the Bridge and to the Theatre. He humbly hopes for their generous Patronage and Support, to merit which will be the Height of his Ambition.” By 19 April, Ryan had renamed the troupe “The American Company of Comedians.” See playbill for that date. All at the New-York Historical Society, The Play-Bills of the Baltimore Theatre.…

3 The first two documents appear in Hodgkinson, John, A Narrative of his Connection with the Old American Company (New York, 1797)Google Scholar, reprinted in Dunlap, William, History of the American Theatre, 2nd ed. (New York, 1963)Google Scholar; see also Dunlap, pp. 316–17. For the contract with Mrs. Oldmixon, see Barck, Dorothy C., ed., Diary of William Dunlap, I (New York, 1930), p. 243Google Scholar. For the nineteenth century, see “Articles of Agreement” signed by the actors of the Chestnut Street Theatre, 1815, at Historical Society of Pennsylvania. These seem to have been adapted, largely word for word, to form the “Articles of Agreement” of the Boston Theatre, 1854. Both reprinted in Schaal, David G., “Rehearsal-Direction Practices and Actor-Director Relationships in the American Theatre from the Hallams to Actors' Equity,” Diss., University of Illinois, 1956, AppendixGoogle Scholar.

4 During the seven years, military actors took over in the colonies, performing at the Theatre Royal (John Street Theatre) in New York, Faneuil Hall in Boston, and the Southwark in Philadelphia. On the American side, at least one performance of Cato was given at Valley Forge. See Account Books of Theatre Royal at NYHS, MSS Division; Rankin, Hugh F., The Theatre in Colonial America (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1965), p. 201Google Scholar; Pollock, Thomas Clark, The Philadelphia Theatre in the Eighteenth Century (New York, 1968), pp. 34–39Google Scholar; Malone, Diane B., “A Survey of Early Military Theatre in America,” Theatre Survey (May 1975), 62–63Google Scholar.

5 Quoted in Pollock, p. 32. On 19 January 1782, only four days after the Baltimore Theatre opened, John Henry of Douglass' American Company appeared—whether in Baltimore or Annapolis is unclear—and gave the Lecture on Heads in Spanish. Why he chose to present it entirely in Spanish remains a mystery. Curiously, a playbill of The Maryland Company from 9 April 1782 notes: “This play [Wonder! A Woman keeps a Secret] was performed in Spanish Dresses all entirely new,” in Tilyard's handwriting. Both playbills at MdHS, Randall Collection. In July 1782 Henry petitioned the Executive Council of Pennsylvania to reopen the South-wark, followed in 1783 by a petition from Dennis Ryan, and in 1784 by one from Lewis Hallam, Jr. None was successful. Wall and Lindsay's theatre also marked the beginning of a period of growth and competition between theatre managers. See McNamara, Brooks, The American Playhouse in the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge, Mass., 1969), p. 74CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 The collection is in two parts. About 60 playbills, from 1781–82, are at MdHS, Graphics Division, Randall Collection, in a folder marked in Tilyard's hand, “Various Sorts of old Play-Bills … for the Years 1781, and 1782, Wall and Lindsay, Managers.” The second part, “The Play-Bills of Baltimore Theatre for the Years 1782, and 1783 …,” is at NYHS, and comprises about 30 playbills. The NYHS collection was acquired before 1889, since Seilhamer refers to it. The Maryland holdings were once part of the Library of Charles N. Mann and sold at auction in 1907 for $127.

7 Wall was recruited from the London stage by David Douglass and arrived in Charleston in October 1765. Although he was known as an actor-lecturer, his advertisements for guitar and mandolin lessons “marked the route of the American Company through the colonies.” See Rankin, pp. 104–6; Willis, Eola, The Charleston Stage in the Eighteenth Century (Columbia, S.C., 1924), p. 85Google Scholar; Molnar, John W., arranger, Songs from the Williamsburg Theatre (Williamsburg, 1927), pp. xvii, 153, 176Google Scholar.

8 Playbill, 5 July 1781, MdHS. The Lecture on Heads, originated by the English writer George Alexander Stevens in 1792, became a staple of the early American theatre. It was based largely on heads and headdresses, and included impersonation, humor, history, and moralizing. See Odell, George C. D., Annals of the New York Stage, I (New York, 1927), p. 176Google Scholar; and Hewitt, Barnard, Theatre U.S.A., 1665 to 1957 (New York, 1959), p. 33Google Scholar.

9 Playbill, 5 July 1781, MdHS.

10 Playbill, 28 September 1781, MdHS.

11 Playbills, 18 and 20 September 1781, MdHS.

12 MdHS, Randall Collection; the performances also appear in Wheeler, Joseph Towne, A History of the Maryland Press, 1777–1790 (Baltimore, 1938), pp. 104–107Google Scholar, and in Evans, , Early American ImprintsGoogle Scholar.

13 Playbills for 21 June, 5 July, 28 September, 1781; MdHS.

14 Quoted in unpublished paper, “The Theatre in Maryland” by Mary T. Kroen, 1945, n.p., MdHS, catalogued as MPN 2237.K93. I have not been able to locate the Maryland Journal for that date.

15 McNamara, p. 74.

16 Quoted with permission of Massachusetts Historical Society. “Petition of Sundries in Baltimore Town against erecting a Theatre in that Place,” C. E. French Collection, MHS. Undated, but surely late 1781, when Wall and Lindsay were constructing the New Theatre.

17 Playbill, 15 January 1782, MdHS.

18 “An Occasional Prologue. Spoken by Mr. Wall, on the Opening of the Baltimore Theatre, January 15, 1782,” Maryland Journal clipping, n.d., MdHS.

19 Playbills, 22 March and 4 June 1782, MdHS. According to the receipts that survive, the smallest audience the company played to was 173.

20 “An Occasional Prologue to the Tragedy of Venice Preserv'd. Written and Spoken by Mr. Heard.” Maryland Journal clipping, n.d., but performance was 19 March 1782. MdHS.

21 Maryland Journal, 28 May 1782, MdHSGoogle Scholar. Gustavus Vasa was a Swedish king who saved his country from barbarians.

22 Ibid., n.d., but as the season ended 9 July 1782, the epilogue likely appeared the following day. MdHS.

23 Ibid., 28 March 1783, NYHS.

24 Unfortunately, receipts were not recorded for benefit performances, except one. The currency equivalents were as follows: a pound (£)= 20 shillings (s); a shilling = 12 pence (d). A dollar = 3 pounds, since Tilyard entered the receipts of one and two boxes—which cost One Dollar each—as £3 and £6. I have based my figures on Wheeler and on the actual playbills, which match. However, I have added receipts for three performances not available to Wheeler. They appear on a MS account sheet for the Baltimore Theatre, “A List of the Plays with their Gross Proceeds,” kept by Tilyard (Randall Coll., MdHS). Although for several reasons, Tilyard's figures do not exactly match Wheeler's, I have added the proceeds recorded by each separately and divided by 37, the number of performances. Both lists average £77 per night during the first season of 1782, although Tilyard incorrectly recorded £94 as £64 (cf. playbill for 4 April 1782, MdHS). Seilhamer apparently only worked with the NYHS holdings. His list of proceeds for only the second season at Baltimore and Annapolis is not indicative of the company's drawing power, as he claims. The 37 non-benefit performances of the first season change the picture considerably. Moreover, Seilhamer's list of performances for the first season is very incomplete, since he omits 21 non-benefit and two benefit performances. Cf. Wheeler, pp. 113–124 and Evans, Early American Imprints.

25 The war was never far away. Scattered throughout the playbills are references to military activity. Two playbills (18 and 20 September 1781) mention a Band of Music supplied by the “Regiment of the Count de Chaleur who with the French Army were on their March to Virginia to attack Lord Cornwallis.…” Another MS note mentions the presence at a play of “His Excellency Governor Lee” (playbill, 15 February 1782), while a fourth explains the evening's play was “by Desire of several officers of the American Army” (21 January 1783). The popularity of Zara and Mahomet, “translated from the French of the celebrated Voltaire,” perhaps owed less to their intrinsic merits than to the patronage of French and American troops. (Playbills, 1 and 15 October; 26 December; 16, 19, 30 April, 1782.) Gustavus Vasa was “Inscrib'd to his Excellency General Washington” and, to express friendship toward France, a performance scheduled for 21 June 1782 was postponed “On Account of the Celebration of the Birth-Day of the Dauphin of France.”

26 Gross proceeds were as follows: £64 10s 0d; £76 16s 0d; £107 14s 4d; £45 17s 3d; £43 6s 3d; £57 11s 3d; £80 10s 10d; £73 5s 0d; £102 5s 0d; £112 3s 2d. Receipts for box seats were recorded separately, as follows: £ 15 17s 6d; £ 15 7s 6d; £ 15 7s 6d; £ 12 15s 0d; £ 11 5s 0d; £ 13 10s 0d; £ 6 15s 0d; £ 15 7s 6d; £ 11 5s 0d; £ 15 7s 6d. Since a box cost One Dollar, and receipts for a “Single Box” were entered as £3, I infer there were at least five boxes and that the number in use per night was as follows: 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 4, 2, 5, 3, 5.

27 Playbill, 4 June 1782; broadside, n.d., but between 28 and 31 May 1782; playbill, 11 February 1782; all at MdHS.

28 Broadsides, 16 December 1782, NYHS, and 8 March 1782, MdHS; broadside announcement, 5 December 1782, NYHS; playbill, 17 September 1782, NYHS; announcement, Maryland Journal, 5 November 1782, NYHS; broadside, 18 June 1782, MdHS.

29 Maryland Journal, 17 February 1782, NYHS.

30 Playbill, 31 March 1783, NYHS.

31 Playbill, 11 February 1782, MdHS.

32 Clipping, dated 9 March 1782, from Maryland Journal, n.d., NYHS.

33 See playbills for 18 October; 19 and 22 November; 3, 17, 27, 31 December 1782; and 3 January 1783. For Dr. Sheed, see playbill, 7 January 1783. All at NYHS. Mention of Mr. Ridd appears in MS note on playbill for 17 April 1782, MdHS.

34 There were several announcements to this effect in the Maryland Journal. See Alonzo May Collection, MSS Division, MdHS.

35 Maryland Journal, 28 March 1783, NYHS.

36 After Ryan took over, Wall remained with the company as an actor. Ryan took the company to New York for a short run, returned to Baltimore for the 1783–84 season, then played at Charleston in 1785. He died in Baltimore in 1786. See Willis, p. 86.

37 In London, rehearsals began at ten o'clock and lasted from one to two hours. See Hogan, Charles Beecher, The London Stage, 1776–1800, I (Carbondale, Ill., 1968), cxlviiGoogle Scholar.

38 Mates, Julian, The American Musical Stage Before 1800 (New Brunswick, N.J., 1962), p. 133Google Scholar. For the duties of his English counterpart see Stone, George Winchester Jr., The London Stage, 1747–1776, I (Carbondale, Ill., 1962), clxxviiiGoogle Scholar; also Hogan, I, clxii-clxiv.

39 Mates, p. 107.

40 Playbill, 17 May 1782, containing MS note: “Gross proceeds £102: 0: 0.” MdHS.

41 Stone, I, civ. Maria Macklin, for instance, cleared the equivalent of eight months' salary at her benefit on 5 April 1770. Hogan reports profits from Thomas King's benefit during the 1797–98 season at Drury Lane amounted to 29 weeks' salary. I, cxxxvi.

42 Stone, I, ciin.

43 For an example of the priority system and the quarrels it fostered, see Boaden, James, ed., The Private Correspondence of David Garrick, II (London, 1831–1832), p. 140Google Scholar.

44 Ibid.

45 The seven, not listed in Rankin, Willis, or Pollock before 1781 are: Gustavus Vasa, The Devil upon Two Sticks, The Contract (by Dr. Franklin), The Ghost, Romance of an Hour. Chrononhotonthologos, and The Witches; Or Birth, Vagaries, and Death of Harlequin (not to be confused with The Witches; or Harlequin Restored).

46 They likely remained chaotic for some time. Dunlap records one benefit, which brought out his own play, The Miser's Wedding: it “was played without study or rehearsal. … The piece was murdered—it deserved death—and never heard of more.” See History, I, p. 198Google Scholar. In England, the rehearsal period for a new play was generally two weeks. See Hogan, I, cxlv, cxlviii-ix.

47 See “Regulations, … at the ensuing Benefits,” in Dunlap, , History, I, pp. 316–317Google Scholar.

48 Mates, p. 138; Lynch, James L., Box, Pit. and Gallery: Stage and Society in Johnson's London (Berkeley, 1953), p. 213Google Scholar; Odell, I, p. 351. By the end of the century, however, the situation in London was likely changing. Hogan, I, cxxxv, claims new plays, particularly musical pieces and farces were popular, noting that 13 of 21 new afterpieces in the 1797–98 season at Covent Garden were introduced at benefit performances.

49 See Wheeler, pp. 127–30; 136–37. There is no copy extant of the playbill for Mr. Atherton's benefit, and Wheeler records it as a regular performance. However, an announcement in the Maryland Journal for 10 December 1782 clearly identifies it as a benefit performance. Clipping, NYHS. A departure from the performer's individual benefit night occurred when proceeds from performances on June 6, 7, and 8, totalling £108, were “divided among several Actors in Baltimore.” MS note on MdHS playbill for 7 June 1782.

50 In London, arrangements for benefits were somewhat more complicated. Stone, I, ci–cviii, discusses three kinds of benefits—one for actors and house servants, one for authors, and one for charities—with four kinds of financial arrangements. For benefit arrangements after 1776, see Hogan, I, clxxxv–ix.

51 Hogan, I, clxxxvi.

52 Contracts and MS notes on playbills appear with permission of Maryland Historical Society.