Chautauqua and the Utah Performing Arts

Chautauqua and the Utah Performing Arts

BY JANICE P. DAWSON

SINCE PIONEER DAYS UTAH'S CITIZENS have furthered the cause of the performing arts. From Brigham Young's notable Salt Lake Theatre to today's diverse offerings, the performing arts have been squarely at the forefront of Utah's cultural scene. Beginning in 1911 the Chautauqua movement played a significant role in this development

The performing arts came naturally to Utah as a tradition of the musical and theatrical experience that accompanied the pioneers across the plains. As communities became established and Utah's settlers were able to pursue their artistic interests, brass bands, choirs, and local theater groups blossomed in the desert The Social Hall and the Salt Lake Theatre were physical manifestations of this cultural legacy which eventually produced such luminaries as Lucy Gates, Maud May Babcock, and others.

Chautauqua becaime an important part of Utah's artistic heritage and furthered its growth by furnishing opportunities for Utah performers and bringing professional talent to local audiences. Three phases of the movement are apparent, beginning with Ogden's permanent Chautauqua held each summer from 1911 through 1914 and continuing, with varying degrees of success, with the circuit Chautauquas through the mid-twenties. Since the decline of the circuits, various pseudo-Chautauqua programs have continued to influence Utah's cultural scene.

The Chautauqua movement began in 1874 as a week-long Methodist Bible-study retreat at Chautauqua Lake, New York. It soon expanded to include a wide variety of educational and cultural offerings. By the turn of the century 300 imitators of the original assembly offered similar programs each summer, principally in the Midwest The self-improvement idea furthered by Chautauqua was attractive, especially to many rural settlers who had no cultural contacts. By 1907 several entrepreneurs, capitalizing on the success of the permanent Chautauquas and the genuine needs of the rural population, successfully combined the ingredients of entertainment and respectable culture with the circuit concept and produced the traveling tent Chautauqua The circuits brought their seven-day programs to thousands of rural communities where many individuals first experienced theater, classical music, and new ideas. The circuits soon spread the uplifting "spirit of Chautauqua" throughout the United States and Canada.

Utah was not included in the earliest circuit routes, but nevertheless Chautauqua's high ideals were extolled in the Beehive State. Two Episcopalian ministers urged Logan's citizens to embrace the movement in 1907; and in 1909 the Salt Lake Herald regarded "the Chautauqua lecture platform with considerable respect" and defended William Jennings Bryan and Robert LaFollette, drawing cards on the circuits, against criticism from several New York City newspapers. The Herald noted that, despite the critics, "the welkin [heavens] will ring just the same and many a truth will be pounded home during the present season."

In 1911 a number of Ogden's leaders organized Utah's "first" Chautauqua Rather than contract with a circuit group, they established an independent "permanent" Chautauqua, as locally organized assemblies were then known. The ten-day extravaganza, an amalgam of local and national, amateur and professional talent, was held daily during July 21-30 at Ogden's Glenwood Park,

Educating its readers to the coming event, the Ogden Morning Examiner explained, "a Chautauqua is a non-sectarian, non-partisan assembly for the dissemination of practical knowledge and wholesome amusement" Those who might yet be leery because it was an educational event were reminded that many days "of lectures and speeches would prove irksome to a great majority, so a liberal amount of amusement and entertainment has been added." In addition, "there will be entertainment which no other Chautauqua in the country, regardless of its prominence, can secure."

Under the direction of its enterprising manager, Frederick Vining Fisher, the Chatuauqua agenda was described as "probably one of the most varied and capable collections of talent ever brought together at one time in the intermountain country." In arranging this marathon of events, Fisher endeavored to uphold the standard of excellence set by New York's "mother" Chautauqua. Concurrent lectures and round table discussions, along with the children's Junior Chautauqua, filled the morning hours. During the afternoons and evenings a number of prominent speakers were scheduled, including "statesmen, theologians, and scientists, all men who stand in the foreground of their respective professions." Musical interludes and pageants added variety. Devotional services, representing all local Christian denominations, were arranged for Sundays. Examiner editor and Ogden mayor William Glasmann said that the program offered "a greater feast of reason and flow of soul than could be obtained in a year of travel were one to go out in random search of the edifying."

On July 21 various state and local dignitaries, headed by Gov. William Spry and Mayor Glasmann, gathered to open the Ogden Chautauqua Spry observed that "the holding of a Chautauqua assembly in Utah at this time marked the beginning of a new era in the educational and other fields of useful citizenship," and he praised it as "a good omen for the state."

One of the musical highlights of the extensive program was the participation of both the Ogden and the Salt Lake Tabernacle choirs. The Ogden group, under the direction of Joseph Ballantyne and designated as the official Chautauqua choir, presented the grand opening concert as well as music for both Sunday gatherings. Due to the summer recess the choir's ranks were thin, but the program was described as "one of rare merit" The Sunday praise service consisted of soloists, duets, and quartets presenting numbers such as "Calvary," "Oh It Is Wonderful," and "Beautiful Isle." Congregational singing was also included. A unique number was the recitation of the Lord's Prayer in sign language by a student of the State School for Deaf and Blind.

Salt Lake's Zion Choir, led by Evan Stephens, sang in the open-air amphitheater on Women's Day. The 200- member chorus presented a strong program featuring many operatic excerpts. Two of Stephens's original creations, "Vales of Deseret" and "A Song of Freedom," were also heard. The grand evening concert concluded with the "Hallelujah Chorus."

The stirring airs of great brass bands were indispensable, and the Chautauqua scheduled two. The "famous" Morgan brass band, directed by S. H. Frey, gave "splendid" recitals on Farmers' Day. E. W. Nichols then led Ogden's official Chautauqua band in regular open-air concerts as well as the Sunday evening vespers concert which included "The Holy City," the overture from Martha, and concluded with the "Star Spangled Banner." The highlight of their contribution was a patriotic National Day concert, "The Story of America in Music."

Musical interludes were furnished by other local groups as well. An ensemble in great demand in Salt Lake City, the Romania Hyde Ladies Orchestra, provided over six separate concerts. With soloist Gad M. Dimmitt, their repertoire consisted of both classical and modern numbers. A prominent Provo pianist, Mrs. F. O. Kelly, also offered several "splendid" piano recitals.

Professional imports augmented these regional musicians. The Imperial Quartet, well-known on the Chautauqua circuits, furnished music for weekday and Sunday concerts where they were well received. The Don Phillippini Italian Band performed for the enjoyment of overflow crowds. The highly regarded, forty-five-member group of "master musicians" carried a national "reputation second to none." Their spirited two-hour presentations consisted mostly of classical overtures and operatic excerpts but Phillippini added severed of his own compositions, including a new march entitled "Utah."

Dramatic readings were a popular cultural entertainment, and Ruth P. Iglehart of Salt Lake City offered three different programs. Her selections included Josephine Preston Peabodys prize-winning poetic drama, "The Piper," after the "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," and "Paolo and Francesca" by English author Stephen Phillips, which was based on an unhappy affair in 1289 that ended in the death of the illicit lovers. In her final appearance, Iglehart presented "another of her delightful elocutionary readings entitled 'Southern Song and Story," in which she quoted "from the great negro poet, Paul Dunbar, one of the sweetest singers the great south has known, and from Harris Page and [Harry Stillwell] Edwards," contemporary authors well known for their writings on the South.

No less than three pageants were featured at Ogden's first Chautauqua The children's pageant was the culmination of the Junior Chautauqua work With the girls dressed in white with floral head wreaths and the boys in their Sunday best, over 200 children marched into the grove to present a variety of drills, games, and folk dances to a delighted audience.

Several days later it was reported that "never in the history of Ogden has there been such a sight" as the Pageant of All Nations, featured on Old Home Day. Local societies representing the Scotch, Welsh, Irish, Scandinavian, German, and Japanese people of Utah displayed their individual cultures through handicrafts, costumes, folk dances, music, and grand marches. The Thistle and Caledonian societies, nearly 600 strong, with their corps of uniformed pipers and drummers, provided a stirring experience. This event drew participants from as far away as Denver.

On July 24 the Pioneer Day celebration commenced at 9 am. and continued until nearly midnight Following B. H. Roberts's "stirring and patriotic address on 'The Romantic Events in Utah's History,'" the grand pageant was performed. Both afternoon and evening audiences viewed twelve historical and mythological scenes beginning with "the prehistoric contest of Neptune and Ceres for the valleys of Utah" on through the eras of the Indians, trappers, and Mormon pioneers. Next came scenes depicting irrigation, religion, the flag, the birth of the state, and the builders of Utah today, ending with Utah's tomorrow, when the hundreds of participants reassembled and "the retinue of Neptune and Ceres sang: 'The sea, the sea, the great salt sea. No more the Master, but thy servant be.'" The chorus and audience completed the event by praising Utah in song with "Utah, fair Utah, Thy star has dawned at last" and then, to the tune of "America," "My Utah, 'tis of thee. Mountain land of the free. Of thee I sing" as the pageant participants slowly withdrew. After this event the Examiner noted "the Chautauqua movement and its meaning are beginning to be understood and appreciated" in Utah.

This grand production was difficult to surpass, but an independent Chautauqua continued in Ogden through 1914. Under different management after Fisher took over the Pocatello Chautauqua in 1912, the ensuing programs were more moderate in scope. The use of outside, professional talent increased each year, but Utah performers were still present In 1912 the Romania Hyde Ladies Orchestra and the Ogden Tabernacle Choir were again featured, but it was their final appearance. Two new musical organizations were heard from in 1913, an Ogden band and a twenty-five-member symphony orchestra under the direction of L. P. Christensen. By 1914 the Chautauqua music was entirely imported.

The Pioneer Day pageant provided the only local dramatization in 1912. On a much smaller scale than the twelve-scene presentation of a year earlier, it depicted various aspects of daily pioneer life. In 1913 the pageant took to the streets and then disappeared from the Chautauqua scene. That year, under the direction of David O. McKay, it became a parade in which various floats featured the themes of growth and development, from the first trapper to the present After 1913, July 24 was not included in the Chautauqua schedule.

The stage was not left bare, however. The 1913-14 seasons introduced the work of Utah thespian Maud May Babcock to Chautauqua audiences. In 1913 her student dramatic club presented A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the following year Babcock herself performed. In addition to excerpts from Macbeth, she offered Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, which dealt with the question of a woman's social position, and Charles Rann Kennedy's The Servant in the House, which related how peace came to a troubled household. Babcock enhanced the enjoyment of her performances by preceding them with informative lectures. This was undoubtedly the dramatic highlight of the Ogden Chautauquas.

Beginning in 1915 the circuit Chautauquas, sans local talent, gradually spread across Utah. Because of a lack of community financial support Ogden abandoned its independent assembly that year and contracted with the Ellison/White circuit White the local committee remained responsible for ticket sales, the contract relieved them of the formidable task of negotiating and organizing a program which by this time was made up almost entirely of imported talent.

The circuits provided complete, prepackaged, seven-day programs with a varied but predictable bill of fare. Interspersed among the uplifting lectures were numerous musical offerings featuring bands, small orchestras, instrumental and vocal quartets, glee clubs, and soloists. Bell ringers and Swiss yodelers were showcased as was music from Africa and Hawaii. Classical overtures and operatic excerpts appeared on most programs. At times audiences were treated to condensed operatic productions such as Robin Hood, ll Trovatore, or The Mikado. The comic opera Chimes of Normandie was a circuit favorite. Sometimes an excerpt, such as the second act o{ Norma, provided the highlight of the evening. World War I music such as "Over There" and "The Stars and Stripes Forever" stirred patriotic fervor. The melodious strains of musical favorites were often the highlight of the Chautauquas. Many people who had never before seen an opera or heard a symphony orchestra first experienced music in the grand manner in a Chautauqua tent

Although theater came to Utah with the first settlers, it was still taboo in much of rural America Mindful of this attitude, the circuits selected their dramas carefully. With highly moral productions they broke the trail and "carried 'The Little Theater Movement' across the country, and... forwarded the Civic Theater idea" It Pays to Advertise, featured by Elhson/White in 1920, was billed as "clean and wholesome through and through and packed full of fun." In 1923 The Shepherd of the Hills, set in the Ozarks and the "most beloved of all American dramas," was described as "a sermon in action—a splendid moral lesson." Daddy Long Legs, Jean Webster's story of a young orphan girl, was another play of this genre. Dramatic readings included scenes from Shakespeare and other classics. The Fortune Hunter, Green Stockings, and The Witching Hour, a play by Augustus Thomas, entertained Utah audiences in 1920.

Little imagination is needed to realize that circuit quality was inferior to that of urban theaters, both physically and dramatically. Scenery was minimal; platforms were? cramped and lacked backstage facilities. Operatic accompaniment was limited to a handful of musicians or even a single pianist, and sometimes the chorus was nonexistent And, of course, the cast was usually composed of those yet aspiring to greatness. Summertime temperatures and temporary seating, along with sticky flies and buzzing mosquitoes, were part of the cost of culture. But the entertainment was nonetheless appreciated as when, in 1915, a condensed version of// Trovatore received six curtain calls from the Ogden audience. When the Chautauqua years were recalled by those who experienced them, it was most often with awe and wonder.

Although the coming of the circuits precluded participation by local artists, there were still occasions where they were utilized. If a regularly booked number failed to arrive on time, homegrown talent filled the gap with impromptu offerings. Also, several towns began free Sunday evening concerts as part of the Chautauqua schedule but usually presented by local performers. Logan and Ephraim, in 1916 and 1919 respectively, featured their own tabernacle choir, and in Ogden a sixty-two-piece band and a ladies band performed on Sunday evening programs in 1923 and 1924. The very aura of Chautauquawas a drawing card that provided an enthusiastic audience for Utah performers.

The phenomenal growth of the Chautauqua circuits opened professional doors for a number of Utah performers. Byron Kay Foulger and Franklin Rasmussen played the summer circuits. Joseph Williams and Horace Beck also trod the Chautauqua boards. Soon after joining the Ellison/White circuit, Williams and Beck were assigned to open up Australia and New Zealand to Chautauqua with plays of their own choosing.

After World War I, Ogden native Moroni Olsen became a well known circuit actor performing in Canada and the United States, including Utah, in such plays as Carson of the North Woods, Turn to the Right, The Taming of the Shrew, and Their Honor the Mayor. He also offered dramatic readings such as "The Terrible Meek." Olsen later organized a popular repertory company, the Moroni Olsen Players, which toured California and the Northwest for many years. He eventually worked in Hollywood, appearing in over 100 films, including Brigham Young, Madame Curie, My Favorite Spy, Mildred Pierce, and many others.

Midway's Lethe Coleman was another Utahn to carve out a Chautauqua career. Beginning in 1917 as a platform manager, she emerged as an eloquent speaker, writing her own talks which covered subjects from home-front girls during World War I to the home as the foundation of the nation. After a world tour, accompanied by Maud May Babcock, she gave her most popular discourse, "A Young Woman Looks at Her World." She is now best known for her performances in several LDS church-sponsored films such as The Mailbox and The Windows of Heaven.

Historian Joseph E. Gould noted that Chautauqua was "one of several waves of mass enthusiasm for self-improvement, social betterment, and reform that have periodically swept over our nation." The organization "filled avast need for adult education opportunities" and led the way toward other new concepts such as university extension courses, summer sessions, civic music and opera associations, and

many other improvements. In this spirit Brigham Young University adapted some of the Chautauqua concepts when it officially created the Bureau of Lectures and Entertainments in 1921. Paralleling the Chautauqua circuits, it filled a need in the surrounding communities for informative and high-class programs. This official organization only confirmed a system long in effect, however.

In the days of the Brigham Young Academy, the early Polysophical Society had offered lectures to the students. In 1903, when the school became a university, a regular course was established, professional speakers hired, and tickets offered to the public to defray expenses. Music was added later on. As early as 1919 programs referred to as BYU Chautauquas, embracing lectures, drama, and/or music, traveled to towns throughout southern Utah and into Nevada. Summer sessions at BYU were also a Chautauqua spinoff. The six-week program in 1930, billed as "a free public Chautauqua," consisted mostly of lectures preceded by a short concert furnished by the music department Leadership Week, first held on the BYU campus in 1922, "was patterned after the Farmers Roundup and the old Chautauqua Circuits." Its purpose was "to train leaders in priesthood quorums and the auxiliaries." Here the original purpose of the 1874 Methodist Chautauqua, that of a Sunday school teacher training course, came full circle. Leadership Week was later reorganized to include a broader participation and, now known as Education Week, is held in numerous locations around the country as well as in Utah.

Chautauqua rode the waves of popularity in Utah, as well as across the United States and Canada, until the late twenties. Out of the numerous different circuits, at least five traversed Utah. The Ellison/ White circuit was by far the most popular traveling group in the Beehive State, but the Redpath, Cadmean, Mutual, and Radcliffe circuits also presented programs. Nationally, the peak year was 1924 when "an estimated 30,000,000 Americans sat in the brown tents pitched near some 12,000 Main Streets and enjoyed the lectures, music, drama, and other cultural items" associated with Chautauqua By 1926 the popularity of such programs was declining rapidly, and in 1932 "the last circuit Chautauqua ground to a weary halt"

What happened to "the most American thing in America"? One participant summed it up succinctly. After a "glamorous and footloose life," the traveling Chautauqua "died in 1932 under the hit-and-run wheels of a Model-A- Ford on its way to the movies on a new paved road. Radio swept it into the ditch, and the Wall Street crash and the subsequent depression gave it the coup de grace.'' But many audiences had diagnosed the patient as sick before the accident In Chautauqua's declining years, most complaints about the programs were directed toward the stale, canned mediocrity then being delivered in the circuit tents.

But the "spirit of Chautauqua" had permeated American culture to the point that it could not be completely abandoned when the circuits vanished. A number of new programs sprang up bearing the name of Chautauqua Some were mainly commercial endeavors, while others attempted in their own way to emulate the original cultural and educational aura of Chautauqua

After hosting the Elhson/White program for some time Richfield gave up the circuit, but the local Kinema Theatre kept the idea alive for several years. The first Annual Motion Picture Chautauqua was held there in 1921 and promised a week of pleasure accompanied by a full concert orchestra The following year, band concerts, vocal and instrumental music, and three separate musical programs from local LDS wards were included. Free refreshments for the "old folks" and an ice cream party for the children topped off the event

By 1925 Cedar City had also quit the circuits because many felt they were " not filling the place in our cultural life that was originally intended, that of being an inspirational and educational instead of an entertaining performance." Paying out "good money" for "mediocre entertainment" was unacceptable, especially when it "could be surpassed by local talent" The Music Arts Society was formed to provide opportunity for local performers, augmented by professional musicians.

In 1927 community boosters in southern Utah picked up the banner and organized a tri-city Chautauqua for St George, Cedar City, andParowan. Beaver joined the group in 1928. The local people felt that their efforts would "be better than any given by the traveling Chautauqua organizations." Through a system of sales premiums and a grand prize drawing, the intercommunity Chautauqua improved local businesses and kept the money at home. " How ever, the main object..., that of creating intercommunity interests..., was accomplished as well as giving theatre goers in each place four nights of excellent entertainment" For over six years these towns viewed assorted vaudeville numbers and a variety of musical comedies, mysteries, and dramas such as White Collars, Purple Towers, Under Cover, Jane, Stray Cats, and Your Uncle Dudley. It is difficult to judge the performance quality against the earlier circuit offerings, but the Beaver Press claimed the local Chautauqua plays got better every year and were well supported by the public.

In addition to the intercommunity effort, Beaver enjoyed another local Chautauqua for several years. Drama, vaudeville, dance, and music were presented by the Beaver LDS Mutual Improvement Associations. Along with local talent, the MIA also took advantage of outstanding performers from the surrounding area Prominent among these in 1927 was T. Earl Pardoe, head of the Drama Department at BYU, who offered "dramatic readings, patriotic and dialect'" Sponsored by the four wards of the Beaver Stake, which included Minersville and Milford, the 1936 MIA Chautauqua echoed the original purpose of the early New York years by stressing learning. Its purpose was to "encourage the reading of the Improvement Era,"" the official church magazine, and to promote the "assembly programs that have been outlined by the General officers, covering . . . music, drama, drawing and hobbies, as well as literature and other . . . subjects."

In addition to these specific examples, a number of other local programs throughout Utah were patterned after Chautauqua. Some were sponsored by local Lions Clubs or Chambers of Commerce and others by schools or church groups.

This pattern of the rise and decline of Chautauqua in Utah coincides with that experienced in other areas of the United States. Historian Theodore Morrison identified three representative phases: "first an independent assembly, then with its decline importing packaged circuit programs, and finally attempting 'local talent' Chautauquas as a last effort to maintain a fading tradition." Each of these stages is seen in Utah, from Ogden's 1911 independent program, to the spread of the circuits from 1915 to 1927, and, finally, the BYU, tricity, MIA, and other local efforts. Within this context, but principally at the beginning and the end, the Utah performing arts flourished.

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