One of America’s First Great Actresses

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Entertaining Women: Actresses, Dancers, and Singers in the Old West

It was a cold evening in the early spring of 1859 when the well-known actress Charlotte Cushman debuted in Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the Metropolitan Theatre in San Francisco.  The city’s most wealthy and influential people arrived by carriage.  Throngs of curious bystanders eager to see the aristocrat hovered around the walkway leading into the building.  The fine, brick edifice rivaled the most notable on the East Coast.

Inside, the grand hall was fitted with the most ornate fixtures and could seat comfortably upwards to a thousand people.  From the private boxes to the gallery, every part of the immense building was crowded to excess.  Charlotte Cushman was recognized by theatre goers as the “greatest living tragic actress,” and everyone who was anyone wanted to see her perform.   Several women had won fame with their impersonations of male characters in various dramas, but critics and fans alike regarded Charlotte as the best of them all.

In 1845, a theatrical reviewer in London had written about one of Charlotte’s performances in glowing terms.  “Miss Cushman’s Hamlet must henceforth be ranked among her best performances.  Every scene was warm and animated, and at once conveyed the impression of the character.  There was no forced or elaborate attempt at feeling or expression.  You were addressed by the whole mind; passion spoke in every feature, and the illusion was forcible and perfect.”

The audience that flocked to see the exceptionally talented Charlotte in California was not only treated to a “forcible and perfect” interpretation of Hamlet, but that evening they were also treated to a display of the actress’ temper.

Charlotte and her supporting cast played to an enraptured house for the first half of the production.  Actors maneuvered themselves in and out of the elaborate set consisting of a castle and turrets standing on the right side of the stage and imposing cliffs rising out of the fog on the left side of the stage.  The simulated sounds of wind wailing through the crevices of stone and of the sea crashing against the rocky shore added to the drama.  During a particular scene between Hamlet and Ophelia, Hamlet’s intended wife, a man in the audience sneezed loudly and with a long drawn out cach-oo!

Charlotte stopped and stared at the man.  Then, quietly leading the actress playing Ophelia off the stage, she approached the footlights and said in a loud tone, “Will someone put that person out”?  Everybody sat still.  “If some gentleman doesn’t, I will,” Charlotte announced rolling up her sleeves.  The individual got up and sneaked out the theatre.  Only after the audience had turned its full attention back to Charlotte did she proceed with the play.

To learn more about Charlotte and other performers like her read

Entertaining Women: Actresses, Dancers, and Singers in the Old West