''The Seven Sisters'' was an 1860 musical burlesque

extravaganza An extravaganza is a literary or musical work (often musical theatre) usually containing elements of burlesque, pantomime, music hall and parody in a spectacular production and characterized by freedom of style and structure. It sometimes also ha ...

produced at

Laura Keene's Theatre Olympic Theatre was the name of five former 19th and early 20th-century theatres on Broadway in Manhattan and in Brooklyn, New York. First Olympic Theatre (1800–1821) Although perhaps best known as the Anthony Street Theatre, the first theatr ...

in New York which ran for 253 consecutive performances, making it a tremendous success for its time. The play debuted on November 26, 1860, and ran through August 10, 1861. Though considered "rubbish" by critics, Winter, William
Brief Chronicles, Part I
p. 180 (1889) it was an important precursor to 1866's ''

The Black Crook ''The Black Crook'' is a work of musical theatre first produced in New York City with great success in 1866. Many theatre writers have cautiously identified ''The Black Crook'' as the first popular piece that conforms to the modern notion of a mu ...

''.

Background

The piece was a gamble by Keene, in the hope that the elaborate and expensive scenery of the show, as well as the singing actresses and many dancers, would draw crowds. The ''

New York Clipper The ''New York Clipper'', also known as ''The Clipper'', was a weekly entertainment newspaper published in New York City from 1853 to 1924. It covered many topics, including circuses, dance, music, the outdoors, sports, and theatre. It had a ...

'' noted that the women wore "shocking low-necked dresses" and "tight-fitting clothes".Ashby, LeRoy
With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830
pp. 109-10 (2006) The loose storyline was from an adaptation by Thomas B. DeWalden of a German piece called ''The Seven Daughters of Satan''; probably ''Die Töchter Luzifers'' ("The Daughters of Lucifer") by Wilhelm Friedrich.Gale, Robert L. ''A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1850s in America'', p. 216 (1993) The plot concerned the "activities of mortal and immortal characters traveling about the lower regions of New York City."Curry, Jane Kathleen
Nineteenth-century American Women Theatre Managers
pp. 70-72 (1994) Music was contributed by Thomas Baker, who would also later write the music for ''The Black Crook''. The 1897 biography of Keene by John Creahan describes the United States in November 1860 as "busy in President-making, and politics had commanded the attention of almost everybody." Thus, the theatrical season had been a poor one. "As well played comedies and dramas has failed to attract, Miss Keene at once determined to give spectacular trash, the result being that on the 26th of November, the 'Seven Sisters' was produced in magnificent style, its final scene, by

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

in London], being the first of the grand transformation scenes which have since been made so popular by '

', 'The White Fawn,' and plays of a similar character." The

transformation scene The transformation scene is a theatrical convention of metamorphosis, in which a character, group of characters, stage properties or scenery undergo visible change. Transformation scenes were already standard in the European theatrical tradition wi ...

was titled "The Birth of the Butterfly in the Bower of Ferns." The features of the play were altered during its run, and roles and actors were changed from time to time. Creahan called the production first "decidedly Southern in character", but after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

began, some "speeches were considerably modified, but still the theatre was an attractive resort for the secession elements in New York."Creahan, John
The Life of Laura Keene
pp.23 (1887) In February 1861, a section called "The Dream of the Secessionist" was added (and/or "

Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...

's Magic Lantern"), with "virgin damsels" representing each state and showing their disagreements. The ''New York Clipper'' joked of the changes, "We shouldn't wonder if the ''Seven Sisters'' should be transformed into the tragedy of ''Macbeth'' before Miss Keene is done with it."Allen, Robert Clyde
Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture
pp. 105-06 (1991)

Critical response

Initially critics did not seem to mind the lack of substance to the production. For example, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' review said "there was no plot to it, or attempt at plot, and equally of course there was plenty of fun, brimfull and overflowing. ... The entire piece is one of those indescribable and admirable absurdities at which we laugh heartily when we see it, while we are almost ashamed of ourselves the next morning for having been amused with such folly."(November 27, 1860)
Amusements (review)
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' The ''

New York Evening Express ''The New York Evening Express'' (1836–1881) was a 19th-century American newspaper published in New York City. Publication history The ''Express'' began publication on June 20, 1836, as the ''New York Express'', a Whig publication under the ...

'' said the show was "well calculated to make a great success" despite that being "decidedly not on account of the talent displayed in its construction" or "on the score of its literary merit."(November 27, 1860)
Dramatic
''New York Evening Express'', p. 2, col. 6 Keene ultimately lost some of her artistic credibility after the play's long run, during which no more legitimate pieces were performed.(12 August 1861)
City Items
''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'', p. 3, col. 5 (article on closing of play, lamenting that "such a dismal affair would have a run of eight months") Nevertheless, she opened her next theatrical season with a play in the same vein called ''The Seven Sons''. It debuted on September 23, 1861, and ran for 96 performances through December 21, 1861. But Keene acknowledged its lack of artistic merit by billing it as "an incomprehensible mass of dramatic nonsense."Dudden, Faye E
Women in the American Theatre: Actresses and Audiences, 1790-1870
p. 144 (1994)

Legacy

Productions of ''The Seven Sisters'' were also mounted successfully outside of New York.Grossman, Barbara Wallace
A Spectacle of Suffering: Clara Morris on the American Stage
pp. 39-40 (2009) (production in Cleveland which included a young

Clara Morris Clara Morris (1846-9 – November 20, 1925) was an American actress. Early life Actress Clara Morris was born in Toronto, the eldest child of a bigamous marriage. Sources disagree on the year of her birth, writing it as any of the years from 18 ...

) ''The Seven Sisters'' essentially co-opted the

low comedy Low comedy, also known as lowbrow humor, in association to comedy, is a dramatic or literary form of popular entertainment without any primary purpose other than to create laughter through boasting, boisterous jokes, drunkenness, scolding, figh ...

elements of the

concert saloon The concert saloon was an American adaptation of the English music hall, and a precursor of variety and vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville wa ...

, and in that respect was a forerunner of later productions such as ''The Black Crook'' and the "leg shows" of

Victorian burlesque Victorian burlesque, sometimes known as travesty or extravaganza, is a genre of theatrical entertainment that was popular in Victorian era, Victorian England and in the New York theatre of the mid-19th century. It is a form of parody music, parod ...

.Buszek, Maria Elena
Pin-Up Grrrls: Feminism, Sexuality, Popular Culture
pp. 39-40 (2006)

Original Broadway cast

Mrs. J.H Allen Louise Allen (c. 1840–1911) was a popular American actress in the mid 19th century who was billed under her married name, Mrs. J. H. Allen.

as Mary Springleaf * Mr. Barton as Snail * H.F. Daly as Arthur Stumper *

Lotty Hough Charlotte Hough (c. 1833 – January 17, 1896), known as Lotty Hough, sometimes spelled Lottie Hough, was a 19th-century actress and comedian. She played roles for the companies of Laura Keene and Mrs. John Wood.(9 September 1861)Amusements ''Th ...

as Tartarina * Laura Keene as Diavoline * Dan Leeson as Pluto * Polly Marshall as Plutella * Mr. Wren as Catchem * T.B. Johnston as Astaroth (died May 27, 1861) * Milnes Levick as Detnonos * James Gilbert Burnett as Cuffee * Mr. C. Peters as ? Pluto * Eliza Couldock as Farcinella * Miss Francis as Spirit of Arthur's Sister * Mrs. H. Vining as Sulphurina Brown, T. Allston
A History of the New York Stage, Vol. 2
pp. 139-40 (1903)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seven Sisters, The 1860 plays Plays set in New York City