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| "The Divine Sarah", W.D. Downey, London, date vague yet effective |
With no sign of diminishing powers (if the enthusiastic acclaim of her critics is to be considered) Mme. Sarah Bernhardt continues to progress, with astonishing success upon her farewell American tour, which is given under the direction of S.S. and Lee Shubert and W.F. Connor, of New York. She will reach this city on Wednesday morning and her appearance will unquestionably constitute the principal dramatic event of the season. Her engagement will be played at the Russell Theatre and will include two of her greatest plays, "Adrienne Lecouvreur" and "Camilla."Surely the length of this article, arguably a cheat-sheet, is testament to the fact that at the time, most Ottawans didn't know squat about Bernhardt, or about French theatre for that matter. But they were willing to learn, even if it meant mangling the names of French plays at social affairs.
At an age when most theatrical celebrities are thinking of retiring, this wonderful woman still sways her audience as in the days of her youth. Her history is a romance. She was born in Paris in 1847 [The currently accepted date is 22 or 23 October 1844. She was born out of wedlock, the daughter of a young businessman from a wealthy French family and a Dutch-Jewish courtesan.] . Her father, after having her baptized, placed her in a convent; but she had already secretly determined to be an actress. In her course of study at the conservatory she so distinguished herself that she received a prize which entitled her to a debut at the Theatre Francais. She selected the part of Iphigenie, in which she appeared on the 11th August, 1862, and at least one newspaper drew special attention to her performance, describing her as "pretty and elegant" and particularly praising her perfect enunciation. She afterward played other parts at the Theatre Francais, but soon thereafter transferred herself from that house to the Gymnase.
The director of the Gymnase did not take too seriously a view of this new actress. Nor did her acting make any great impression at the Gymnase. At this theatre she lost no time in exhibiting that independance to which she owes something of her celebrity. The day after the first representation of a piece by [Eugène] Labiche, "Un mari qui lance sa femme," in which she had undertaken an important part, she stealthily quitted Paris.
After a tour of Spain, Sarah returned to Paris and appeared at the Odeon, where she created a number of characters in such plays as "Les Arrets," "Le drame de la rue de la Paix," "Le Batard," but chiefly distinguished herself in "Ruy Blas" and in a translation of "King Lear." At the end of 1872, she appeared at the Comedie Francaise, and with such distinction that she was retained first as pensionnaire, and afterwards as Societaire.
In 1880 Emile Augier's comedy "L'Aventuriere" was revived at the Comedie Francaise, and the author confided the part of Clorinda to Sarah Bernhardt. After the first representation, however, she was so enraged by an uncomplimentary newspaper criticism that she sent in her resignation to M. Emile Perrin, director of the theatre, quitted Paris and went to England where she gave a series of representations, causing a veritable sensation in London Society. Meanwhile M. Perrin instituted against her in the name of the Comedie Francaise, a law suit for breach of contract with damages laid at 300,000 francs.
It was at that juncture that Sarah accepted the offers of a manager for a tour in America. From America she returned to Paris, where she revised[?] all her old successes, and where, in 1888, at the Odeon, she produced [a] one act comedy from her own pen, entitled "L'Aveu."
The Journal writer refers to Bernhardt's age and to her "farewell tour" — she would have recently turned 61. Of the 1905-1906 tour, Wikipedia states...
...Bernhardt made her first American Farewell Tour in 1905–1906, the first of four farewell tours she made to the US, Canada, and Latin America, with her new managers, the Shubert brothers. She attracted controversy and press attention when, during her 1905 visit to Montreal, the Roman Catholic bishop encouraged his followers to throw eggs at Bernhardt, because she portrayed prostitutes as sympathetic characters...To said bishop, I can only paraphrase Jesus Christ (John 8:7 NAS 1977) in reply — He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw an egg at her. That's religion for you — Angels, meet Pinhead.
Of the Russell Theatre, the Canadian Encyclopedia notes that...
Located at the corner of Queen and Elgin streets in Ottawa, the Russell Theatre opened on 15 October 1897. Used for operas, recitals, orchestra concerts, plays and other shows, the theatre was frequented by the capital's elite. It was destroyed by fire on 8 April 1901 and rebuilt to the original plans by the architect J.M. Wood of Detroit. Under the management of Ambrose J. Small, the New Russell Opera House opened on 5 October 1901. The Federal District Commission (now the National Capital Commission) expropriated the land to make room for Confederation Square, and the Russell Theatre closed its doors 14 April 1928...(Full article here.)
The Russell Theatre sat immediately to the northwest of the present National Arts Centre. You may recognise the lawn sloping toward Canal Street, in this (south) side view of the theatre, dated 1928. Imagine the dramatic potential of that "stage door", with the adoring fans and the blowing of kisses and the bouquets and the tra-la-la.
The Sappers' Bridge and Chateau Laurier are just visible in the lower right, behind a leafless elm. Indeed, the far wall of the building would have lined up with what the original site of John Hooper's beloved 1981 "Balancing" sculpture.
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| via johnhooperstudios.com |
Miss Bernhardt was scheduled to appear at the Russell on the evenings of December 6th and 7th, a Wednesday and a Thursday. Contemporary coverage suggests that this 1905 visit was her first to Ottawa. She would return to our city in 1916 and 1917, always to the Russell. Bernhardt died in Paris, with her son at her side, in the spring of 1923, aged 78.
