Play-going with Ellie tonight at the Winter Garden; Guy Mannering. A dramatic distortion of the novel. Miss Charlotte Cushman was the Meg Merrilies, supported by the worst sticks I ever saw on any stage. She is called very great in this role, and the discriminating Dr. Carroll thinks it equal to any of Rachel's. She certainly makes up as the grisliest of hags. Her performance is intense and carefully studied. A few points in which Scott’s words were preserved were effective and beautiful. Her attitudes are remarkably grotesque and striking. But it was almost all overdone and untrue. She was a Hecate, or Waldfrau, perhaps, but not Walter Scott’s Meg, nor any other possible woman. . . .
Lincoln’s election seems to be conceded. Fusionism has lost all heart. What will happen when this result is announced? There is much stir and swagger and note of preparation among the fire-eaters. Can they overcome the conservative feeling and the common sense that doubtless exist at the South, even in South Carolina itself, and carry on an overt act of secession and treason? There is ground for anxiety. Republicans laugh at the vaporings of our Southern friends. I devoutly hope the result will justify their unconcern. It is easy to show that secession would be an act of madness and folly, but we know there are fools and madmen south of the Potomac, and they may do sore and irremediable mischief to us, their wise brethren at the North. . . .
SOURCE: Allan Nevins and Milton Halset Thomas, Editors, Diary of George Templeton Strong, Vol. 3, pp. 51-2
1 comment:
“Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer,” the second of Sir Walter Scott's celebrated Waverley novels, was published anonymously in 1815. The story follows Harry Bertram, the young heir to the estate of Ellangowan, who is kidnapped in childhood and presumed dead. Raised under the name Vanbeest Brown and ignorant of his true identity, he eventually returns to Scotland, where a series of adventures involving smugglers, mysteries, and gypsies gradually uncovers his noble birth. At the heart of the tale stands the enigmatic Meg Merrilies, whose prophecies and unwavering devotion guide the long-lost heir toward the recovery of his inheritance and the restoration of justice. Scott later recalled, in an introduction written in 1829, that he had originally intended the work to be a tale of the supernatural but abandoned the idea shortly after beginning the manuscript. The novel proved an immediate success, its first edition selling out on the very day of publication.
The popularity of Scott's romance soon inspired a dramatic adaptation. “Guy Mannering; or, The Gipsy's Prophecy,” a musical drama by Daniel Terry founded upon the novel, opened at New York's original Winter Garden Theatre on October 9, 1860. Situated at the southeast corner of Broadway and Prince Street, in what is now the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, the Winter Garden ranked among the foremost dramatic establishments of the metropolis.
The production was distinguished by the appearance of the renowned actress Charlotte Cushman in the role of Meg Merrilies, the wild and mysterious gypsy of Scott's romance. On October 19, diarist George Templeton Strong attended the performance and afterward recorded his impressions in his journal. Though aware of the high esteem in which Miss Cushman's portrayal was held—"She is called very great in this role, and the discriminating Dr. Carroll thinks it equal to any of Rachel's"—Strong was far from wholly persuaded by her performance. He complained that she was "supported by the worst sticks I ever saw on any stage," though he conceded that "she certainly makes up as the grisliest of hags."
Strong further acknowledged that her acting was "intense and carefully studied," and that those passages in which Sir Walter Scott's own words had been preserved were "effective and beautiful." Yet, in the final estimation, he judged the portrayal to be excessive and lacking in truthfulness, concluding: "She was a Hecate, or Waldfrau, perhaps, but not Walter Scott's Meg, nor any other possible woman . . . ."
Cushman's interpretation of Meg Merrilies was among the most celebrated performances of her career. During the 1860s she frequently resided at the home of Secretary of State William H. Seward, with whom she enjoyed a close friendship. In July 1861, Seward introduced the actress to President Abraham Lincoln. During their meeting, Lincoln remarked that Macbeth was his favorite of Shakespeare's plays and expressed the hope that he might someday see her portray Lady Macbeth. That wish was fulfilled two years later. In 1863, Cushman gave several performances for the benefit of the United States Sanitary Commission, and in October of that year Lincoln, accompanied by members of his family, attended her performance of Macbeth at Grover's Theatre in Washington.
Post a Comment