Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Readjusting to Britain
- 2 Crim. Con.
- 3 On the Road Again
- 4 Stockholm
- 5 The Second Continental Tour
- 6 Pest and Buda
- 7 A Short Break
- 8 The Third Continental Tour
- 9 Home Again
- 10 The Fourth Continental Tour
- 11 The Fifth Continental Tour
- 12 The Sixth Continental Tour
- 13 Taking a Break
- 14 The Seventh Continental Tour
- 15 Another Break
- 16 The Eighth Continental Tour
- 17 The Ninth Continental Tour
- 18 Final Acts
- 19 Postmortem
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Readjusting to Britain
- 2 Crim. Con.
- 3 On the Road Again
- 4 Stockholm
- 5 The Second Continental Tour
- 6 Pest and Buda
- 7 A Short Break
- 8 The Third Continental Tour
- 9 Home Again
- 10 The Fourth Continental Tour
- 11 The Fifth Continental Tour
- 12 The Sixth Continental Tour
- 13 Taking a Break
- 14 The Seventh Continental Tour
- 15 Another Break
- 16 The Eighth Continental Tour
- 17 The Ninth Continental Tour
- 18 Final Acts
- 19 Postmortem
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
Summary
We can only speculate on what would have happened had Aldridge performed in New York and other cities in the United States only a few years after the Emancipation Proclamation and the conclusion of the Civil War. Shortly after the announcement of his impending arrival from Europe, the American press began to comment on some of the problems that he and his manager might face. The New Orleans Commercial Bulletin reported in July that “the manager who is to bring to this country on a starring tour Mr. Ira Aldridge, the coloured tragedian, finds a difficulty in getting a ‘leading lady’ to support him.” This was contradicted early in August in a more detailed account published in the New York Clipper:
IRA ALDRIDGE, the well known black tragedian, who has gained great notoriety [sic] all over Europe for his masterly tragic performances, has been secured by Charles M. Webb, father of the Webb Sisters, and T. Francis Gibbons of this city, for one hundred representations in this country. He is expected to sail from England about the middle of this month, and will make his debut in this city at the Academy of Music, about the first of September, as Othello. From the first mention being made of the actor's intended visit to this country, considerable doubt has existed as to the possibility of finding a leading lady or a first-class company that would support him, but we have seen letters from one of the best actresses in the country, who has expressed a wish to support him, and we are also informed that another popular leading lady can be secured, as well as any quantity of leading people for support.
The New York Times, without offering an opinion on the matter, said only, “We are curious to note his reception. His picture before us represents a full-blooded negro, with crinkly wool, flat nose, thick lips, and skin of the blackest hue, while the decorations on his breast prove him to be [the recipient of many distinguished awards]… . Thus balanced, he will appear before an American audience, and we doubt not the question of the day will be, ‘Have you seen Ira ALDRIDGE?’”
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- Ira AldridgeThe Last Years, 1855-1867, pp. 269 - 276Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2015