Childhood and Nineteenth-Century American Theatre: The Work of the Marsh Troupe of Juvenile Actors

241 Pages·2015·14.53 MB·English

by  Shauna Vey

VEY
CHILDHOOD
AND
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
AMERICAN THEATRE
†
The Work of the Marsh Troupe of Juvenile Actors
† S H A U N A V E Y ¢
A Series from
Southern
Illinois
University
Press
scott
magelssen
Series Editor

CHILDHOOD
AND
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
AMERICAN THEATRE
The Work of the Marsh Troupe
of Juvenile Actors
† S H A U N A V E Y ¢
Southern Illinois University Press
Carbondale
Copyright © 2015 by the Board of Trustees,
Southern Illinois University
Portions of chapter 2 appeared as “An American Antebellum Child-
Actor Contract: Alfred Stewart and the Shift from Craft Apprentice
to Wage Laborer,” in Entertaining Children: The Participation of
Youth in the Entertainment Industry, edited by Gillian Arrighi and
Victor Emeljanow. Published by Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
18 17 16 15 4 3 2 1
Cover illustration: Little Mary Guerineau Marsh as Eva, Cincinnati,
1853–54. TCS 44, Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library,
Harvard University.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vey, Shauna A.
Childhood and nineteenth-century American theatre : the work of the
Marsh Troupe of juvenile actors / Shauna Vey.
pages cm — (Theater in the Americas)
Summary: “This study of the daily work lives of five members of the
Marsh Troupe, a nineteenth-century professional acting company
composed primarily of children, sheds light on the construction
of idealized childhood inside and outside the American theatre”—
Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8093-3438-4 (paperback)
ISBN 0-8093-3438-0 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-8093-3439-1 (e-book)
1. Marsh Troupe of Juvenile Comedians (Theater group : Philadelphia,
Pa.) 2. Child actors—United States—History—19th century.
3. Theater—United States—History—19th century. I. Title.
PN2297.M285.V49 2015
792.09748'11—dc23 2015004645
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
To the memory of Joan Joyce Vey,
who loved childhood

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1. Beginnings and Success 14
2. First Losses, and a Battle Won 38
3. A Perfect Angel—Forever 62
4. Chasing Audiences and Aging Out 84
5. Tomboys Rule 99
6. Fathers and Sons 124
Afterword 142
Appendix: Actors Reported to Have Performed with
the Marsh Troupe 153
Notes 157
Bibliography 195
Index 209

ILLUSTRATIONS
“The Marsh Children,” circa 1857 27
Howard Athenaeum playbill, February 10, 1857 29
Georgie Marsh in eight characters 34
Howard Athenaeum playbill, 1857 45
Louis Aldrich, circa 1870 57
Little Mary Guerineau Marsh as Eva, 1853–54 67
Mary Marsh 69
Mary Marsh’s tombstone 81
Engraved wreath on Mary Marsh’s tombstone 82
Louise Arnot in ancient period costume 105
Louise Arnot in a queen’s costume 111
Fifty-nine-year-old Louise Arnot, 1903 122
George Marsh as “Young Toodles” 130
Georgie Marsh, 1857 134
Georgie F. Guerineau’s gravestone 139
ix