Backstage Brawl Ends Performance for Traveling Troupe
A musical performance in Olympia turned into an unintended comedy when a stage-manager's reprimand led to a physical confrontation.
The Washingtonians, a company of minstrels, gave performances on Saturday and Monday evenings. On Monday, a comedy was enacted behind the curtain. A portion of the orchestra went missing, and when he reappeared, the manager reprimanded him. 'Miss Miranda,' who performed the star character, intervened and struck the manager, causing him to see stars. The manager then ejected both the actress and the musician from the green room. Miranda went into hysterics, screaming 'Help!' and 'Murder!' before falling into a swoon. The company left on Tuesday morning on the H. L. Tibbits.
“Miranda... planted an 'arm-strong' lick between the manager's eyes, which made him see an indefinite number of 'stars' of the first magnitude.”
Travelers and performers were the lifeblood of entertainment in small-town territorial Washington. This incident, while minor, highlights the rough-and-tumble environment of itinerant theater and the vivid, gossip-filled reporting of the era's local press.
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