Happyland - 1905 Sylvia

 DeWolf Hopper was the star of Happyland, but another rising star was Marguerite Clark. The diminutive Clark made her Broadway debut in 1900, at the age of 17. In 1903 she starred with DeWolf Hopper in Mr. Pickwick, and in 1904 she was a replacement in the role of Contrary Mary in Babes in Toyland. She rejoined Hopper in 1905 for Happyland, playing his daughter Sylvia. The six-foot six-inch Hopper and the four-foot ten-inch Clark made an amusing visual pair on the stage.

In 1914 Clark began to star in silent films, including the influential 1916 version of Snow White, a role she had previously played on Broadway in 1912. Her popularity rivaled Mary Pickford on the screen. She retired in 1921, and the majority of her films are considered lost today.

Caroline Siedle designed costumes for Clark in several shows; The Belle of Bohemia in 1900, The New Yorkers in 1901, The Wild Rose in 1902. In Happyland, Clark played the Princess Sylvia, an unbelievably innocent young woman. Siedle's design is a simple Grecian-styled white gown, with sparkling decorative trim. The drawing uses silver glitter to simulate the shine of the trim. 

In the course of the show Clark changes to a boy's outfit, as seen in the poster above. Her character is ingenuous enough to be uncertain whether she is male or female, adding to the general confusion of the story. Of course everyone is happily paired off by the end of the show, even the king; married to a wife who should be able to make him unhappy, his greatest wish!

Happyland - 1905

Happyland was a 1905 vehicle created for DeWolf Hopper, which successfully played on Broadway before touring well into 1909. Hopper was a perennial favorite of audiences, and a large figure on the stage (literally). He’s probably best known today for his recitations of Casey at the Bat; he also married numerous times, providing his name to 5th wife Hedda Hopper.

The show dealt with the problems of the King of Elysia, played by Hopper, who is the one discontented person in a perfect land. He attempts to sow discord among his subjects by insisting they all marry, but finds that even that drastic idea doesn't help! Along with this, he has the dilemma of having promised his son in marriage to the daughter of a neighboring king, when of age, and the time has arrived to fulfill that promise; but he has no son, only a daughter…who he does try to pass off as a son. As it turns out, the neighboring king has no daughter so that problem eventually works itself out.

A working copy of the original script is shown above, from the collection of the New York Public Library. The script includes two laid-in sheets detailing costuming needs, including the change of 8 Elysian Maidens to 6 Palm Girls, and the list of chorus ladies chosen. 

 Here we have Siedle’s costume design for "Maidens of Elysia - Act I - Chorus Ladies". This notation on the bottom of the board has been crossed out with red pencil and changed to "6 Palm Girls".  On the back of the board is a list of chorus ladies playing the roles. 

Siedle has chosen a Grecian theme to style the costumes for the show, an appropriate choice as the Elysian Fields were a concept of Greek mythology, a paradise in the afterlife where the most righteous dwell. Loose flowing gowns with ribbon ties and pastel colors were featured, with the overall design of set and costumes modeled after the look of Lawrence Alma-Tadema's painting Sappho and Alcaeus.

Bird Center - 1904

Bird Center began in 1903 as a series of panel cartoons by John T. McCutcheon, outlining the doings of the inhabitants of a small midwestern town in Illinois. The satiric simplicity of the town, compared to the bustle of contemporary city living, proved popular; perhaps similar in some ways to the tales of Lake Wobegon, told by Garrison Keillor.

The original comics were single panels, accompanied by a few paragraphs of text explaining the activities pictured.   

The series became so popular that in 1904 the comics were turned into a stage show, staged by Julian Mitchell and written by Glen MacDonough, the same team responsible for recent musical extravaganza hits like The Wizard of Oz and Babes in Toyland. Unfortunately Bird Center (which was a play) failed to find an audience, closing after 13 performances. According to the December 3rd, 1904 Rock Island Argus:

 “Bird Center”, which opened the season in Peoria and this city early in the fall, has fallen with the daisies. It hardly endured until the frost. It was very funny in some places, but when it struck New York it received a chilly reception that was felt clear back in the box office, and the treasurer shriveled up and died.”

Caroline Siedle was once again enlisted to provide costume designs for this show, and it appears her choices hewed closely to the descriptions from the actual comics. This design was for 8 bridesmaids. Fortunately it is labeled “8 Bridesmaids for Bird Centre”, otherwise I’d probably never have figured out its use! In the comic, there is a wedding celebration with a description of the single bridesmaid:

“The bridesmaid carried pink roses and wore a dress of pink mulls trimmed with cheny lace and ribbons.”

Mulls is a lightweight fabric, like a fine muslin. I haven't found a specific description for cheny lace, but it must be one of the many varieties of lace-making that exist!

 

The drawing has a number of notes and small sketches on the back, detailing aspects of the design.  Siedle's handwriting can sometimes be quite difficult to decipher, especially as the notes are in pencil and somewhat rubbed with time! 

 

A Mystery

Sometimes a drawing that seems as though it should be identifiable can prove to be a mystery. This is another lovely example of Caroline Siedle's work in black & white. There are several bits of information to follow, but I've been unable to trace them to any resolution.

Quite often Siedle would write the character name at the foot of the board, and we do have a name, "Ann Olfield", written at the bottom of the design. But it appears to be in different pencil than the rest of the notation, and possibly was written over top of an erased earlier note; it's difficult to say if this is a character or an actress being identified. Along with this is the notation "drawing room of Mrs. Brett Act IV scene II"; the IV part also seems to be a change from the original notation. There's no further information on the front or back of the board.

The fact that this appears to be for a four act production would indicate that it was a play rather than a musical; musicals tended to run for two or three acts at that time. But I've had no luck tracking down a play with a scene taking place in Mrs. Brett's drawing room. Searching for Ann Olfield only results in bringing up the 18th century actress Ann Oldfield, who was a well known and highly paid personality of her time. Perhaps this was for a play incorporating her as a character? 

The costume shows what appears to be a well to do lady, with a stylish gown and hat in rather an 18th century style. The wide black choker at her neck and black gloves compliment the trim of her sleeves and skirt. 

Siedle did design costumes for various 18th century period pieces; there were several musicals including The Two Roses (a 1904 production based on She Stoops to Conquer, which does have a character named Mrs. Oldfield), Lady Teazle (from 1904, adapted from The Rivals) and Dolly Varden (1902, taken from Dicken's Barnaby Rudge) to name a few. This drawing looks like a character rather than a chorus piece to me, especially if it was intended for use in a play. The search will continue! 

Stage Designer

One of the lesser known aspects of Caroline Siedle's work are the occasional prop and set pieces that she seems to have designed. Her husband, Edward Siedle, was renowned for the wonderful effects he created as prop master for the Metropolitan Opera. Among these was the dragon Fafner, in Wagner's Siegfried. An article in the New York Daily Tribune from July 17, 1897, discusses how the basic effect was created, along with the drawings on the right. But Caroline seems to have done some work in that line herself.

In the collection of The New York Public Library there is a drawing of a couple riding in a leafy chariot, steered by a cherub and drawn by a dragonfly. It's a delicate piece of work, for an unknown production with no additional information attached to it.

The Museum of the City of New York has a drawing for a wagon in the form of a Siamese Junk, including a large elephant. I've no idea what either of these pieces were for, but they do show her skill in designing this sort of work. 

I also have an example of a possible set piece. This is a drawing titled "Candy girl for center of table". It shows a peppermint stick gazebo, with a shepherdess holding a long candy cane and two sheep at her feet. Her skirt appears to be ribbon candy, and the whole design is colored in delicate pink and white. Two doves hold garlands above her head, while a third perches with outstretched wings at the top of the gazebo. 

It's a lovely, fanciful design, beautifully drawn, and I have no idea what it was for. I'm not even sure if it was meant to be life size, with a chorus girl taking the part of shepherdess, or a prop to be set on a table. The back of the board has the name "Ripley", while the front has the enigmatic note "with 6 in square top. 9" & bottom - 6 ft 9", and "5 ft 6". All very mysterious. If the intent was for the overall piece to be 6' 9", it would need quite a large table to support it!

The New Yorkers -1901

Here is a Siedle gown designed for a set of ten chorus ladies. This particular outfit appears to be a variation of the pink dresses, black gloves and black hats worn by the famous Florodora girls, the beauty chorus of six women known as the Florodora sextette, as seen below. Florodora was a hugely successful and influential production that opened on Broadway in 1900; I’ve heard that Caroline Siedle designed the costumes, but I’ve been unable to verify the claim.

The drawing of this pale pink gown, trimmed with elaborate appliqués in black & white, has been cut to an oval shape for framing at some point in the past. Sadly this removed the Siedle signature and any useful information that might have been written in the corners of the board; fortunately the back does still feature a list of the names of the ten chorus ladies who wore the dress, which makes it possible to place this in The New Yorkers, a 1901 show produced by George Lederer at the Herald Square Theatre.

 The production featured Dan Daly, appearing in his first starring role, as a struggling New Yorker living in Paris, France. He tries to pass himself off as a Baron in order to marry a wealthy heiress, but the real Baron turns up, leading to assorted comic situations. The music was written by Ludwig Englander, a prolific and successful composer for the stage - in the course of seven years he wrote the scores for 15 comic operas!

The Girl From Up There - 1901

Caroline Siedle's designs for The Girl From Up There, a 1901 production starring Edna May, received a thorough description in this uncredited article from the personal scrapbook of the actress. I have not come across any drawings of designs from this show, but the souvenir album was well illustrated with images, including a number of sketches of the Siedle costumes drawn by Archie Gunn, another artist and costume designer.

Elaborate stage gowns are not a novelty; elegance and beauty are shown in every modern production, but such creations as clothe the slender figure of Edna May in "The Girl From Up There" are unusual. 

One of her frocks is Princess shape, and three shades of pink combine in it. First, a slip of cerise satin, over which are deep frills of accordian pleated chiffon; next, the princess slip of rose pink crepe de chine, which is entirely covered with gold spangles. These glittering bits of gold are not sewed on in the ordinary way, but hang from tiny threads of gold, shaping and reflecting the light at every movement. Across the bust, over the shoulders, down the side and around the bottom of this pointed slip is a continuous row of pink velvet roses, with occasional green leaves.

Over this poem in pink and gold is worn a voluminous cloak of silver completely covered with silver spangles. These spangles depend from little strings of silver bugle beads, so they glisten and shake continually. Long sleeves and a train has this cloak, and with it is worn an odd headdress with pendant strings of silver beads. The weight of this cloak is seventy-five pounds, and it requires all the strength of which Miss May is capable to hold it up the brief time she wears it.

To go back to the first act, another idyllic gown is that in which "the girl from up there" makes her first appearance. It is gold in effect, but has a pinkish tone which is soft and indescribable. The material is crepe de chine again, and it is heavily embroidered with gold arabesques and studded with topaz stones. Princess in style, with long sleeves, slightly low neck, a beautiful girdle of gold and rhinestones and a crowning beauty in the gold wreath for headdress, this costume is one of the loveliest ever seen on the New York stage. 

White panne velvet and chiffon seem an unusual combination, but another frock has a skirt composed of alternate panels of these materials, with a band of pearl trimming where they are joined. The bodice has a transparent yoke and high collar of white chiffon in the finest tucks. Sleeves of the same material come to the elbow. Across the bust and over the shoulders is a wide band of the pearl trimming. This bodice opens in the back and the front panel of the skirt extends beyond the waist line, fastening half way up the front of the bodice.

 

Another white frock which Miss May alternates with this is of mousselline de soie, spangled with tiny silver spangles. The narrow flounces on the skirt are bordered with tiny gold braid. The full bodice is of the mouselline, over which is worn a spangled bolero, edged with the gold braid and silver embroidery. This frock has a high lace collar. A big black hat and black gloves go with both these white gowns.

Charming is the little gray silk Quaker costume, also worn in the second act, and the boy's rig of dark green velvet is jaunty and dainty as a boy's clothes could possibly be. Knickerbockers and coat are of velvet, the latter trimmed with gold braid and buttons. Underneath the coat is a silk jersey, in white and turquoise stripes. A scarf of red crepe de chine is knotted about the waist, and a bit of the same brilliant color is shown in the big gray hat. High boots, of gray complete this fascinating rig.