Enter to win a copy of
Entertaining Women:
Actresses, Dancers, and Singers in the Old West
The theater at Camp Seco, a gold camp in California, could hardly compare to the Greenwich Theater in New York, or the Jenny Lind in San Francisco, or theaters in New Orleans, Philadelphia, or other cities she’d played in, but Caroline Chapman had rarely seen a more enthusiastic audience. Twitching her skirts into place, she waited for her cue. Tonight, they would conclude the program with a spoof of notorious entertainer Lola Montez, an act that always brought down the house.
Caroline and her brother, “Uncle Billy” Chapman, had left San Francisco in an uproar after starring in a hilarious play by Dr. Robinson. Newspaper editors had sharp words for Who’s Got the Countess? and Caroline’s part in it. How, they asked, could the “modest” Miss Caroline Chapman descend to such tasteless, even cruel burlesque of the lovely Lola?
That was easy, Caroline thought. She was a professional actress, and as she waited for her cue, she could balance that accomplishment against a lack of beauty that had also been politely noted in the press. Critics admired Lola’s stunning face and form, but few of them considered her a serious actress. Lola’s stage career in Europe had included a stint as the mistress of the King of Bavaria, who had made her Countess of Landsfelt. Caroline, on the other hand, had started learning stage work as a child on her father’s riverboat and had garnered praise from her first performance.
Beauty was not Caroline’s stock in trade. Caroline was too plain to compete with the legendary Lola’s charms. The most complimentary report on her appearance had come from theater historian Joseph Ireland, who described her as slender and plain-featured but with excellent teeth in a large, mobile mouth. Her face was radiant with expression communicated by a pair of gleaming, dark eyes that could convey more meaning, either of mirth or sadness, said Ireland, than any contemporary female on the New York stage.
Unlike the scandalous Lola, Caroline had never indulged in affairs with royalty or famous authors and had never smoked a cigar, kept a pet bear, or threatened to take a riding whip to a cynical newspaper editor. Caroline Chapman had what Lola lacked: talent. Nowhere did she find it more fun to exhibit than in Dr. Robinson’s send-up of the glamorous Countess of Landsfelt, whose stage reputation depended more on her display of shapely legs than on a demonstration of acting ability.
Lola became famous for her Spider Dance–a frantic effort to shake blackened cork “spiders” from her skirts that required lifting and shaking of dress and petticoats–which shocked the polite world but attracted droves of admirers to the theater. Lola’s well-attended appearances in San Francisco in 1853 inspired local theatrical entrepreneur Dr. G. C. Robinson to pen the hilarious farce Who’s Got the Countess? in which Caroline performed. “Some weeks ago, the Countess came to fill us with delight and drew admiring throngs to see her spider dance each night. . . .” As Dr. Robinson’s familiar song rang out over the heads of miners crowded into the makeshift theater, Caroline swirled haughtily onstage. She might not be beautiful, but she could act rings around the likes of Lola Montez.
To learn more about Caroline Chapman and other female entertainers of the Old West read Entertaining Women: Actresses, Dancers, and Singers in the Old West.
