Dear All:
I have a theatrical broadside from 1797 announcing a production of "The
Child of Nature" (by Mrs. Inchbald) and I'm trying to figure out whether
it's American or English.
Here are my clues so far..
The broadside mentions that a Mrs. Graupner will sing the popular hunting
song, "Tally Ho!", between the play and a subsequent "Humorous Musical
Entertainment." Mrs. Graupner also plays the part of Priscilla Tomboy in
the latter piece. I found a reference to a Mrs. Catherine Comerford
Hillier, nee Graupner, who was the daughter of a London attorney who became
an opera singer, first in Charleston, SC, and after 1794 in Boston. She
made her first solo appearance at the Boston Theatre in 1796. Her husband,
Johann Christian Gottlieb Graupner, was the organizer of the Boston
Phil-harmoic Society and co-organizer of the Handel and Haydn Society.
Although Graupner seems like an uncommon enough name, it strikes me as
unlikely that a woman of such seemingly high birth and culture would be
singing hunting songs and playing a tomboy.
Another clue is the theatre where this extravaganza was
held--Washington-Hall. I have a hard time believing that a British theatre
at this point in time would be named Washington, but stranger things have
happened.
So my last clue is the price of tickets, which are given as "Boxes 4s 6d,
Pit 3s." That, if I'm not mistaken, is shillings and pence. I could
believe, although it seems unlikely, that Americans were still using
British currency designations as late as 1797, except that in Weldon
Durham's book, "American Theatre Companies 1749-1887," he gives the prices
for a contemporary performance in Boston (1795) as one dollar, 75 cents,
and 50 cents.
Would anyone have any idea of English currency were still being used in
Boston at this time, alongside American currency?
Many thanks,
Greg Powers
Powers Rare Books