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!