The Great Impersonator: Vivian Takes Seattle by Storm
In August 1872, the 'Grammatical Comic Impersonator' Chas. Vivian captivated the Pacific Northwest with his vocal mimicry and costume changes, performing alongside a dancer from the Paris Opera.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
At the Pavilion on Thursday, August 15th, an entirely new and original entertainment was presented by that Grammatical Comic Impersonator, Vocalist, Mimic and Facial Artiste, CHAS. VIVIAN.
He was assisted by Mlle. GAMGUIN (Marie), the beautiful and fascinating Dancer, late of the Grand Opera of Paris; Grand Opera of New York and California Theatre, San Francisco; and D. W. NESFIELD, the unrivalled Baritone Vocalist and Pianist, whose singing in German, French, Italian and English languages has been the theme of universal admiration from Press and public.
The program featured vocal selections from the greatest European and American composers by David Nesfield, followed by 'the versatile VIVIAN in his vividly vacuous varieties of volatile and vigorous Vocalism.' The evening concluded with Vivian's 'Olio of Songs, Sketches, Anecdotes and Impersonations with extraordinary changes of Voice, Face and Costume which have gained him in Europe and the United States the just reputation of being the greatest living Vocal Comedian and the most truthful Imitator of all phases of Nineteenth Century Life and Character,' concluding with his world-renowned sketch of 'BILLY RING' or '100,000 Miles Away.'
This advertisement highlights Seattle's early cultural appetite for vaudeville-style variety shows, where a single performer could command attention through vocal mimicry and physical comedy. It serves as a reminder that entertainment in the 1870s was often a traveling spectacle, bringing high-art references (like the Paris Opera) to frontier towns long before permanent theaters were established.
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