By Molly Thomas
Roles:
Esmerelda in Esmerelda (1857, 1858)
Virginius (1857)
Jack Sheppard (1857, 1858)
Our Sallie (1858)
The heroine in The Bride of an Evening (1858)
Hamlet (1858)
Caroline Morton, Diana, Eugenia and Ellen in The Four Sisters (1858)
Maria, Polly Diccon, Pani (a French Peasant boy), Effie Heatherblossom (with a dance), Corny Blake (with an Irish Jig) in The Fairy Star (1858)
A variety of dances (Richmond, 1858)
Naramattah in Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish (1858, 1865)
Camille in Camille (1859)
Lucretia Borgia in Lucretia Borgia or, The Poisoner (1859, 1863, 1864)
Martha Snifkins in The Hypochondriac (1862, 1864, 1865)
6 Different characters in The Manager’s Daughter (1862)
5 different characters in The Young Actress (1862)
Capitola Black in The Hidden Hand (1862, 1864)
Gretzel, an Artist’s Wife in The Faery of Home (1862)
Mrs. Montague Trictrac in A Trip to Richmond (1862)
Kitty Vinks in The Young Rebel (1862)
Peg Woffington in The Life of an Actress (1862)
Adrienne Durand in The White Terror (1862)
Jessie Brown in Jessie Brown, or, The Siege of Lucknow (1862)
Dashing Widow Ormsby Delmaine in The Serious Family (1863, 1864)
The Actress of Padua (1863)
Widow Delmaine in The Serious Family (1863)
The Young Rebel (1863)
Henri St. Alme, Hamet and Matilda De Marie in The French Spy (1864)
Margery in Our Country Cousin (1864, 1865)
Aurora Floyd in Aurora Floyd (1864)
Leah, the Jewess in The Jew’s Daughter (1864)
Mad. Ann Catherick and Laura Fairlie in The Woman in White (1864)
Margery in Our Cousin Joe (1864)
Cynthia the Zingara in The Gypsy (1865)
Pascal de la Garde and Bibio, a Gypsy Jugler, in Bibio (1865)
Baccarai in The Red League (1865)
Mrs. Young-Husband in Married Life (1865)
May have also performed in:
Hercules (1858)
Rough Diamond (1859)
The Mountain Maid (1862)
A Farce called The College Boy (1862)
The Thumping Legacy (1864)
_________________________
Miss Sallie St. Clair, born in England, 1831, was brought to New York by her parents as an infant. She became a child danseuse at age thirteen, first performing in 1844 at the Park Theatre in Philadelphia,[1] and then at the Chestnut Street Theatre.[2]
In March 1846 she danced in Baltimore alongside a production of Lady of Lyons featuring Mr. Charles Howard, and was considered a favourite.[3] On June 27, 1846, she debuted in a speaking role as Julia Dalton in One Hour or, The Carnival Ball at Philadelphia’s Museum Masonic Hall.[4]
In 1847 her dancing career took off. She performed with Ann Fairbrother Hill in George Skerrett’s touring troupe, playing alternately in Toronto and Hamilton.[5]
Following this, it’s possible that she performed with the Monplaisir Ballet Troupe as they toured the United States. T. Allston Brown reports that she became a principle in the company, but no records confirm this. It’s more likely that she was a corps de ballet member, and possibly part of the Monplaisir troupe’s 1848 and 1851-52 runs in New Orleans.[6]
In many ways, St. Clair’s career closely resembled that of French actress-dancer, Madame Celeste Keppler Elliott, who toured America in the late 1820s-early 1840s. Celeste first performed in ballets, but soon became a “melodramatic artist,” taking on lead female roles in popular melodramas (Mathilde in The French Spy, and Naramattah in James Fenimore Cooper’s The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish). For many danseuses, melodrama became a vehicle for stardom. The lead roles were essentially mute, and relied on pantomime (a combination of gestures, facial expressions, tableaux and music), which provided opportunities for dancers to showcase their skills.[7]
Sallie was very successful in this regard, and showcase she did. In 1855, one critic for the Tribune remarked, “Her voluptuous form is the fittest setting for her diamond soul. Inspiration quivers down her snow white arms, and trembles on her finger ends; passion wrestles in her shivering knees, and shudders through her fainting limbs. Her soul flickers in every accent and looms up in every pantomime.”[8]
The New York Herald described her as a “bright particular star,” possessing “naivetie” and “a fascinating mannerism which never fails to go down with the audience.” This was in reference to her performances of Virginius and Jack Sheppard at the Bowery Theatre in 1857.[9]
In 1858 she left New York to star at the Howard Athenaeum in Boston, and was well received there, but soon returned to her loyal New York audiences to play Mathilde in The French Spy at The Bowery. This greatly relieved one Herald critic, who felt that she had only been “fascinating the outside barbarians in Boston and other small towns” while she was away.[10] However, it’s arguable that the New York audiences were no better. During one performance of an equestrian drama called Rookwood, some male audience members seated in the pit became overly excited, and “so far forgot themselves” that they climbed out of their section and into the orchestra seats in search of a better view. They were removed from the theatre.[11] Other performances at The Bowery that year were in Esmerelda and Our Sallie (a farce),[12] also, in Hamlet and Jack Sheppard,[13] and as the heroine in The Bride of an Evening.[14]
In March 1858 she performed in Richmond, Virginia. Her repertoire included the comedietta The Four Sisters, (she played all four: Caroline, Diana, Eugenia and Ellen Morton), and a protean dance interlude called The Fairy Star, in which she danced an Irish jig. She also played five different characters: Maria, Polly Diccon, Effie Heatherblossom, Corny Blake and Pani (a French peasant boy).[15] In 1859 she starring at McFarland’s Varieties in Clarksville,[16] and played the title roles in Camille and Lucretia Borgia at Nashville’s Commercial Hall.[17]
In 1860, St. Clair married Charles M. Barras, American playwright and comedian. It seems the marriage was advantageous for Sallie. His plays, which she frequently starred in, gave her more speaking roles, and gained her credit as a reputable and serious actress. Together they toured Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other states in the early 1860s. They became a popular husband and wife “of the boards,” performing together in Barras’s own commedietta, The Hypochondriac. As a pair, they were considered sensational.[18] The North American and United States Gazette declared, “Miss St. Clair is essentially a very talented actress, and is nightly gaining in popularity; while the acting of Mr. Barras…is the perfection of art…”[19]
Sallie played the lead in three dramas of his, The Fairy of the Home, White Terror, and The Woman in White. In The Hypochondriac, she appeared as Martha Snifkins, with Barras playing the lead, Vertigo Morbid. Other performances they did together were in the comedy, The Serious Family. Barras as Aminidab Sleek, and Sallie as the dashing Widow Delmaine,[20] and as Mr. Samuel Coddle and Mrs. Young-Husband in a comedy called Married Life.[21]
Other notable performances were in The Manager’s Daughter, playing six characters,[22] The Young Actress, playing five,[23] Satan in Paris, (six characters).[24] Major roles of hers were as Jessie Brown in Dion Boucicault’s “contemporaneous melodrama” The Siege of Lucknow,[25] Capitola Black in The Hidden Hand,[26] Kitty Vinks in The Young Rebel,[27] Mrs. Montague Trictrac in A Trip to Richmond,[28] Peg Woffington in The Life of an Actress,[29] the Actress in Actress of Padua,[30] Madeline in The Belle of Faubourg,[31] and Leah The Jewess in The Jew’s Daughter.[32]
Only one issue occurred in Sallie’s career, in 1861. After a poorly attended run of The Hidden Hand at the St. Louis Theatre, the season abruptly ended and, allegedly, the theatre’s manager, Mr. Cowell, did not pay any of the actors, of which Sallie was one.[33]
In September 1863 she apparently suffered from a very severe cold while performing Lucretia Borgia at Cleveland’s Academy of Music, but persevered through the performance.[34]
From 1864-1866, Sallie continued performing her most popular pieces Lucretia Borgia, The French Spy, The Hypochondriac, The Hidden Hand, The Serious Family, The Actress), and had numerous benefits. She also incorporated other, more exotic acts into her repertoire, such as a demonstration of broad sword combat and a “wild Arab dance.”[35] Everywhere she went, she was hailed as “the event of the season.”[36] She boasted versatility. For instance, in the romantic drama Gypsy, as the wild and beautiful Cynthia the Zingara, she performed several songs, dances and grand tableaux, and “never appeared to better advantage,”[37] while in Bibio, or, The Mystery of the Forquerolles, she played the double-role of Pascal de la Garde and Bibio, a Gypsy juggler.[38]
In 1866, Sallie all but disappeared from the stage, and was pronounced by the Evansville Journal to be “hopelessly ill.”[39] With what, however, is unknown. On April 10, 1867, she became gravely ill. Barras, who was overseeing a production of his newest and most successful play, The Black Crook, only just made it back to their home in time to see her die.[40]
________________
Notes:
[1] Brown, T. Allston, “ST. CLAIR, SALLIE,” History of the American Stage,” History of the American Stage, (New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1870), 323, Web., September 23, 2015, Victorian Popular Culture, Adam Matthew, May 4, 2015.
[2] “Theatricals, &c,” New York Herald, October 29, 1844, issue 299, Web., September 23, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <:http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3003549992&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[3] “THE MUSEUM,” American Republican and Baltimore Daily Clipper, March 13, 1846, Web., September 23, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83009567/1846-03-13/ed-1/seq-2/>
[4] Brown, History, 323.
[5] Warner, Mary Jane “Anne Fairbrother Hill:’A Chaste and Elegant Dancer’,” Theatre Research in Canada/Recherches théâtrales au Canada 12, no. 2 (1991), Web., September 23, 2015, <https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/TRIC/article/view/7264/8323.>
[6] De Metz, Kaye, “Dancing Families in New Orleans’ Nineteenth-Century English-Language Theatres,” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Autumn, 1992): 381-397, 387.
[7] Preston, Katherine K, “American musical theatre before the twentieth century,” 3-29, in The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, edited by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 9.
[8] “THE POETRY OF MOTION,” Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, October 3, 1855, Web., September 23, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86092535/1855-10-03/ed-1/seq-3/>
[9] “The Theatres Last Night, BOWERY THEATRE,” New York Herald, November 3, 1857, Web., September 23, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3003620218&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 c:set var=”TI” value=”The Theatres Last Night”/> <p>Effect of the Panic on Public Amusements—Statistics of All the Theatres <b><i>The New York Herald</i></b>. Nov 3, 1857</p>
[10] “Musical and Dramatic Matters,” New York Herald, January 18, 1858, Web., September 23, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3003635195&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[11] “BOWERY THEATRE—EQUESTRIAN AND DRAMATIC ATTRACTIONS,” New York Herald, January 19, 1858, Web., September 23, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3003635237&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[12] “Theatrical, Musical, &c., BOWERY,” New York Herald, February 16, 1858, Web., September 23, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3003632530&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[13] “Theatrical and Musical,” New York Herald, May 6, 1858, image 1, col. 1, entry 2, Web., September 9, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3003640953&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[14] “Dramatic and Musical Matters,” New York Herald, April 26, 1858, image 1, col. 1, middle, Web., September 9, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3003626730&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 c:set var=”TI” value=”Dramatic and Musical Matters”/> <p> <b><i>The New York Herald</i></b>. Apr 26, 1858</p>
[15] “THEATRE,” and “AMUSEMENTS, THEATRE,” The Daily Dispatch, March 10, 1858, Web., September 23, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024738/1858-03-10/ed-1/seq-2/>
[16] “THE THEATRE,” Clarksville Chronicle, January 28, 1859, Web., September 10, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88061076/1859-01-28/ed-1/seq-3/>
[17] Nashville Union and American, February 4, 1859, Web., September 10, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038518/1859-02-04/ed-1/seq-2/>
“AMUSEMENTS, MCFARLAND’S VARIETIES, NEW COMMERCIAL HALL,” Nashville Patriot, February 16, 1859, Web., September 10, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033711/1859-02-16/ed-1/seq-2/>
[18] Amusements,” North American and United States Gazette, December 6, 1860, Web., September 10, 2015, website, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3010644727&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[19] Ibid.
[20] “THE ATHENEUM,” Daily Ohio Statesman, January 30, 1863, Web., September 11, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028645/1863-01-30/ed-1/seq-2/>
[21] “ACADEMY OF MUSIC,” Cleveland Daily Leader, October 21, 1865, Web., September 13, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042437/1865-10-21/ed-1/seq-4/>
[22] “THEATER,” Cleveland Morning Leader, September 22, 1862, col. 1, 2/3 down, Web., September 11, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83035143/1862-09-22/ed-1/seq-3/>
[23] Ibid., col. 4, top.
[24] “Academy of Music,” Daily Cleveland Herald, April 21, 1862, Web., September 10, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3017428122&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[25] “Academy of Music,” Daily Cleveland Herald, May 2, 1862, Web., September 11, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3005139525&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[26] “AMUSEMENTS,” Cleveland Morning Leader, September 24, 1862, Web., September 11, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83035143/1862-09-24/ed-1/seq-2/>
[27] “Academy of Music—Benefit of Miss Sallie St. Clair,” Daily Cleveland Herald, September 26, 1862, Web., September 11, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3005149266&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[28] “AMUSEMENTS,” Cleveland Morning Leader, October 1, 1862, Web., Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83035143/1862-10-01/ed-1/seq-2/>
[29] “Academy of Music, “Cleveland Morning Leader, October 2, 1862, Web., date of access, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3005144605&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[30] “Academy of Music,” Daily Cleveland Herald, September 24, 1863, Web., September 11, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83035143/1862-09-24/ed-1/seq-2/>
[31] “Amusements,” North American and United States Gazette, December 6, 1860, Web., date of access, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3010644727&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[32] “ELLSLER’S ATHENEUM—MISS ST. CLAIR’S BENEFIT—A SPLENDID BILL,” Daily Ohio Statesman, February 5, 1864, web., September 13, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028645/1864-02-05/ed-1/seq-3/>
[33] “Musical and Dramatic Items,” Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, March 20, 1861, Web., September 10, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3017000054&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[34] “Academy of Music,” Daily Cleveland Herald, September 24, 1863, Web., September 13, 2015, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, <http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/ncnp/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=NCNP&userGroupName=yorku_main&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=GT3012934802&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>
[35] “ELLSLER’S ATHENEUM,” Daily Ohio Statesman, February 2, 1864, Web., September 13, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028645/1864-02-02/ed-1/seq-3/>
[36] “ELLSLER’S ATHENEUM—THE WOMAN IN WHITE,” Daily Ohio Statesman, February 7, 1864, Web., September 13, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028645/1864-02-07/ed-1/seq-3/>
[37] “THE OPERA HOUSE—BENEFIT OF MSIS ST. CLAIR,” Daily Ohio Statesman, March 10, 1865, Web., September 13, 2015, website, URL.
[38] “AMUSEMENTS, THE GREAT EVENT!” Daily Ohio Statesman, March 14, 1865, Web., September 13, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028645/1865-03-14/ed-1/seq-2/>
[39] The Evansville Journal, September 22, 1866, Web., September 12, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014296/1866-09-22/ed-1/seq-6/>
[40] “DEATH OF SALLIE ST. CLAIR,” Daily Ohio Statesman, April 11, 1867, Web., September 12, 2015, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028645/1867-04-11/ed-1/seq-3/>