Lizzie Evans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lizzie Evans was an entertainer in vaudeville and musical theatre in New York City and Chicago, Illinois from the 1880s into the 20th Century. A newspaper article described her as a bright little person of the Lotta Crabtree physique and school, but with less naturalness and more nasal twang.[1]

[edit] Vaudeville and Theater Actress

In August 1881 she gave an impersonation of Clip at the reopening of the Standard Theatre,[2] 6th Avenue between 32nd Street and 33rd Street, Manhattan (New York).[3] Evans was part of a show at Tony Pastor's Theatre,[1] East 14th Street (Manhattan) between Irving Place and Third Avenue (Manhattan).

In January 1890 Evans appeared at the Haymarket Theatre,[4] 722-24 West Madison Street (Chicago), [5] Chicago.[4] She had a role in The Buckeye at the Windsor Theatre,[6] 1225 North Clark Street,[7] Chicago, in April 1890.[6] The following November she was again at the Haymarket, beginning a new rendition of Fogg's Ferry.[8] In May 1891 she was featured in the same play at Havlin's Theatre,[9] 1838 South Wabash Avenue,[10] Chicago.[9]

Evans replaced Annie Lewis in the role of Cinders in A Nutmeg Match in March 1893. It was staged at the 14th Street (Manhattan) Theatre,[11] 344 East 14th Street.[12] She was leading her own theatrical troupe when A Romance of Coon Hollow was presented before an audience at the Grand Opera House,[13] 23rd Street (8th Avenue), Manhattan (New York),[14] in April 1896.[13] Set in the mountains of Tennessee, two quartets and twelve African American plantation singers embellished the performance.[15]

Proctor's Pleasure Palace, East 58th Street between Lexington Avenue (Manhattan) and Third Avenue (Manhattan),[16] hosted a production of The Man Up Stairs by Augustus Thomas in January 1897. Evans was in the cast with Lucille Lee, William Ranous, and Maggie Fielding.[17] In July 1897 she was in a show with Phyllis Rankin and George Thatcher at Keith's New Union Square (Manhattan) Theatre,[18] 50 East 14th Street (Manhattan).[19] Evans returned to the Pleasure Palace in A Strange Catastrophe with Harry Mills in August.[20]

She performed in a comedy entitled A Gay Deceiver at the Harlem Opera House,[21] 211 West 125th Street,[22] in February 1898.[21] In December 1899 Mills joined Evans in the comedietta, Two Girls and One Man, at Proctor's Theatre.[23]

She performed a sketch with Mills at the Union Square Theatre in July 1902.[24] In June 1903 Evans was part of a bill at Hurtig & Seamon's[25] (Apollo Theater), West 125th Street, Harlem.[26] The travelling troupe was directed by Florenz Ziegfeld and William A. Brady.[27]

She played a comic servant who bore the worst part of the comic relief in a production of Two Little Sailor Boys at the Academy of Music (Manhattan), in May 1904. Described as English melodrama, Evans depicted Lucy Wilson in the play.[28]

In September 1906 she appeared at the Metropolis Theatre, 142nd Street and 3rd Avenue[29] and Alexander Avenue,[30] in a presentation of When Knighthood Was In Flower. The show had enjoyed success in a previous staging at the Criterion Theatre,[29] 1514 Broadway (Manhattan).[31]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Tony Pastor's Theatre, New York Times, May 20, 1884, pg. 4.
  2. ^ Amusements, New York Times, August 22, 1881, pg. 5.
  3. ^ EJ Phillips' Manhattan, Standard Theatre. Retrieved on 12-24-07.
  4. ^ a b The Chicago Playhouse, New York Times, January 28,1890, pg. 9.
  5. ^ Cinema Treasures, Haymarket Theatre. Retrieved on 12-24-07.
  6. ^ a b The Chicago Playhouses, New York Times, April 14, 1890, p.4.
  7. ^ Cinema Treasures, Windsor Theatre. Retrieved on 12-24-07.
  8. ^ Chicago Playhouses, New York Times, November 30, 1890, pg. 13.
  9. ^ a b The Chicago Playhouses, New York Times, May 17, 1891, pg. 13.
  10. ^ Cinema Treasures, Wabash Theatre. Retrieved on 12-24-07.
  11. ^ Theatrical Gossip, New York Times, March 3, 1893, pg. 8.
  12. ^ TheaterMania 14th Street Theater. Retrieved on 12-24-07.
  13. ^ a b Notes of the Stage, New York Times, April 19, 1896, pg. 10.
  14. ^ IBDB Grand Opera House. Retrieved on 12-24-07.
  15. ^ Notes of the Stage, New York Times, April 21, 1896, pg. 5.
  16. ^ Proctor's Pleasure Palace, New York Times, Wednesday, September 1, 1895, pg. 11.
  17. ^ Notes Of The Week, New York Times, January 10, 1897, pg. 11.
  18. ^ Display Ad--No Title, New York Times, July 18, 1897, pg. 8.
  19. ^ Cinema Treasures, Union Square Theatre. Retrieved 12-24-07.
  20. ^ Theatres, New York Times, August 22, 1897, pg. 8.
  21. ^ a b This Week's New Bills, February 20, 1898, pg. 5.
  22. ^ Cinema Treasures, Harlem Opera House. Retrieved on 12-24-07.
  23. ^ Notes Of The Week, New York Times, December 3, 1899, pg. 18.
  24. ^ Vaudeville and Concerts, New York Times, July 27, 1902, pg. 10.
  25. ^ Display Ad 9--No Title, New York Times, June 2, 1903, pg. 10.
  26. ^ NewYorkvisit.com Apollo Theatre. Retrieved on 12-24-07.
  27. ^ Harlem Opera House, New York Times, February 22, 1898, pg. 6.
  28. ^ Two Little Sailor Boys, New York Times, May 4, 1904, pg. 5.
  29. ^ a b Display Ad 12--No Title, New York Times, September 16, 1906, pg. SM9.
  30. ^ The Real Estate Field, New York Times, Friday, October 3, 1913, pg. 17.
  31. ^ Cinema Treasures, Criterion Theatre. Retrieved on 12-24-07.

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