The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-11-09
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
MRS. BOWERS CAREER.

SIR TOBY GIVES SOME HISTORY REGARDING
THIS FAvoRITE ACTRESS.
To the Editor of the SuR Francisco CdU-SIR:
In its obituary notice OF Mrs. ID. 2. Bowers the
Examiner states: "While Lawrence Barrett
and John Mccullough were managers of the
California Theater she played her first engage
ment in this City"
This is not the first time that the Examiner
has muddled history when referring to theat-
rical events. Only quite lately that paper as
serted that no finer performance of "Masks
and Faces" was ever seen in this City than
that given at the Columbia Theater, when the
one player who successfully pictured the day s
OF laces, wigs, patches, high red-heeled shoes,
silver buckles, short swords and long fans was
the thoroughly trained Rose Coghlan, and now
this dubious authority fixes Mrs. Bowers first
appearance in California three years after she
completely captured our older theater-goers.
She first appeared here at the Metropolitan
Theater, under the management OF Edwards
Bates and ViEson, in 1868.
During the same year she appeared
regnantly triumphant at Maguire's Opera
shakespeare's Antony and Cieopatra, with
McCollom as Antony, Edwards as Enobarbus
and Emile Melville as Gharmion Following
that she acted again at the Metropolitan. dur
ing which season '.School for Scandal was
brought out, with the phenomenal array of
herself, Mrs: Annie Jackson, Mrs: Judah, Mrs.
EuWdTu davenport, EQWlH ADAMS,
Charles Wheatleigh, Harry Edwards, C. W.
Couldock, ]. c. McCollom, Harry jackson. J. H.
Vinson, etc, IN the cast Her first engagement
at the old California Theater began September
4. 1871, during which she was seen by de-
lighted and crowded audiences in Lady Aud
1ey's Secret" elizabeth" "Sehool for Scan
dali MARY Stuart" "Love's Sacrifice"
"Romeo and Juliet" "Ingomar," "Court and
Stage" "Macbeth,'' "King john" "East
Lynne" "Much ADO" "Lucrezia Borgia."
Amy Robsart," "Jane Shore" Camille"
HTaHV Of GCTha Cor 81 ala,,c
Wife, and "Guy Mannering" playing until
October Ia. She made return visit April Ia
1873, when, besides being seen in nearly ali
the above plays, she presented cloves Mask"
and ''Marie Antoinette."
To adequately describe the versatility and
power of this remarkable woman would require
something OF the same kind of perspicuity and
genius that marked her acting, and while
abandoning the attempt the assurance is
gwen that IN her prime, twenty years ago, her
art was distinctive, inspired, symmetrical
massive and yet electrical in its flowing free
dom: The range of her repertoire would be
the despair of our modern one-p part perform
ers. Her art had the imposing effect of q grand
piece OF architecture. That noble art of hers
idealistic in form and frightened with illum-
1Eg intelligence, might be likened in its beau
tliul simplicity and dignfed strength to that
noble specimen OF early English church arehi-
lecture to be seen in the noble pile of Trinity
church on Bush street as compared with the
nightmare vision of gaudily hued gimcrack
MIdwlnter Fair palaces in the midst of our
beautiful park
For the instruction of young San Francisco
let them understand what their old fogey
IA hers saw In the way of acting by scanning
this cast given to the "School for Scandal"