The following is the programme, in detail, of the first performance given in Belasco’s Theatre on what was, in many ways, the happiest and proudest night of all his life: BELASCO THEATRE BROADWAY AND FORTY-SECOND STREET Under the Sole Management of David Belasco Evenings at 8 precisely Matinees Saturdays at 2 D A V I D B E L A S C O PRESENTS M r s . L e s l i e C a r t e r IN HIS NEW PLAY “DU BARRY” “Not the great historical events, but the personal incidents that call up single, sharp pictures of some human being in its pang or struggle, reach us more nearly.”—Oliver Wendell Holmes. CAST King Louis the Fifteenth of France | | C. A. Stevenson. | Comte Jean du Barry, eventually brother-in-law of La du Barry | | Campbell Gollan. | Comte Guillaume du Barry, his brother | | Beresford Webb. | Duc de Brissac, Capt. of King’s Guard | | Henry Weaver, Sr. | CossÉ-Brissac, his son (of the King’s Guard), known as “CossÉ” | | Hamilton Revelle. | The Papal Nuncio | | H. R. Roberts. | | Duc de Richelieu, Marshal of France | UnderKingLouis | Geo. Barnum. | Maupeou, Lord Chancellor | the | C. P. Flockton. | Terray, Minister of Finance | Fifteenth | H. G. Carlton. | | Duc D’Aiguillon | | Leonard Cooper. | Denys, porter at the milliner shop | | Claude Gillingwater. | Lebel, confidential valet to His Majesty | | Herbert Millward. | M. Labille, proprietor of the milliner shop | | Gilmore Scott. | Vaubernier, father of Jeannette | | Charles Campbell. | Scarlo, one of “La du Barry’s” Nubian servants | | J. D. Jones. | Zamore, a plaything of “La du Barry’s” | | Master Sams. | Flute Player | | A. Joly. | | Valroy | Of the | Douglas J. Wood. | D’Allaire | King’s | Louis Myll. | De Courcel | Guard | Harold Howard. | | La Garde | Two Tavern | W. T. Bune. | Fontenelle | Roysterers | Thomas Boone. | | Benard, one of the “Hundred Swiss” | | Warren Deven. | Citizen Grieve, of the Committee of Public Safety | | Gaston Mervale. | Marac, one of the Sans-Culottes | | James Sargeant. | Denisot, Judge of the Revolutionary Court | | H. G. Carlton. | Tavernier, clerk of the court | | John Ingram. | Gomard | | Charles Hayne. | Hortense, Manageress for Labille the milliner | | Eleanor Carey. | | Lolotte | | Nina Lyn. | Manon | Girls | Florence St. Leonard. | Julie | at the | Corah Adams. | Leonie | Milliner’s | Blanche Sherwood. | Nichette | Shop | Ann Archer. | Juliette | | May Lyn. | | Marquise du Quesnoy, known as “La Gourdan,” keeper of a gambling house | | Blanche Rice. | Sophie Arnauld, queen of the opera | | Miss Robertson. | The Gypsy Hag, a fortune-teller | | C. P. Flockton. | | Mlle. Le Grand | Dancersfrom the | Ruth Dennis. | Mlle. Guimard | Grand Opera | Eleanor Stuart. | | Mme. La Dauphine—Marie Antoinette at sixteen | | Helen Hale. | | Marquise de Crenay | | Helen Robertson. | Duchesse D’Aiguillon | Ladies | Miss Lyn. | Princesse Alixe | of | Miss Leonard. | Duchesse de Choisy | King Louis | Louise Morewin. | Marquise de Langers | Court | May Montford. | Comtesse de Marsen | | Grace Van Benthuysen. | | Sophie, a maid | | Irma Perry. | Rosalie, of the ConciÈrgerie | | Helen Robertson. | Cerisette | | Julie Lindsey. | AND | JEANNETTE VAUBERNIER, afterwards La du Barry | | MRS. LESLIE CARTER. | Guests of the FÊte, Dancers from the Opera, King’s Guardsmen, Monks, Clowns, Pages, Milliners, Sentries, Lackeys, Footmen, King’s Secret Police, Sans-Culottes, a Mock King, a Mock Herald, a Drunken Patriot, a Cocoa Vender, Federals, National Guards, Tricoteuses.
SYNOPSIS OF SCENES. Act | I.— | The Milliner’s Shop in the Rue St. HonorÉ, Paris. JEANNETTE TRIMS HATS. | Act | II.— | (One month later.) Jeannette’s Apartments, adjoining the Gambling Rooms of the Marquise de Quesnoy (“La Gourdan”). “THE GAME CALLED DESTINY.” | Act | III.— | (A year later.) Du Barry holds a Petit-Lever in the Palace of Versailles—at noon. “THE DOLL OF THE WORLD.” | Act | IV.— | Scene 1. In the Royal Gardens. Before the dawn of the following morning. “FOLLY, QUEEN OF FRANCE.” Scene 2. Within the Tent. “THE HEART OF THE WOMAN.” | Act | V.— | (A lapse of years.) During the Revolution. Scene 1. The Retreat in the Woods of Louveciennes. “FATE CREEPS IN AT THE DOOR.” Scene 2. (Five days later.) In Paris again. “A REED SHAKEN IN THE WIND.” Scene 3. In Front of the Milliner’s Shop on the same day. | | “Once more we pass this way again, Once more! ’T is where at first we met.” | Time: Period of King Louis the Fifteenth and after the reign of his Successor. Place: Paris, Versailles, and Louveciennes. Mr. Belasco wishes to state that, as the traditional parting of Madame du Barry and the King of France is impossible for dramatic use, he has departed entirely from historical accuracy in this instance. He also begs to acknowledge his indebtedness to M. ArsÈne Houssaye for his sequence of scenes. (“Nouvelle À la main, sur la Comtesse du Barry.”) Between Acts I, II, and III there will be intervals of 12 minutes; between Acts IV and V an interval of 15 minutes. The entire production under the personal supervision of Mr. Belasco. Stage Manager H. S. Millward. Scenery by Mr. Ernest Gros. Incidental Music by Mr. William Furst. Stage decorations and accessories after designs by Mr. Wilfred Buckland. General Manager for Mr. Belasco Mr. B. F. Roeder.
As an epigraph for the first performance given in his theatre, and also for a souvenir book then distributed,—a richly printed volume called “The Story of Du Barry,” written by James L. Ford and issued in a limited edition,—Belasco used, under the caption “Before the Curtain,” the appended fourteen lines from Francis Bret Harte’s versified address written for the dedication of the California Theatre, San Francisco, January 18, 1869, on which occasion (when Belasco was among the spectators) it was read by Lawrence Barrett: “Brief words, when actions wait, are well; The prompter’s hand is on his bell; The coming heroes, lovers, kings, Are idly lounging at the wings; Behind the curtain’s mystic fold The glowing future lies unrolled. . . . . . “One moment more: if here we raise The oft-sung hymn of local praise, Before the curtain facts must sway; Here waits the moral of your play. Glassed in the poet’s thought, you view What money can, yet can not do; The faith that soars, the deeds that shine, Above the gold that builds the shrine.”
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