



Produced by the Mormon Texts Project,
http://bencrowder.net/books/mtp. Volunteers: Eric Heaps
with a little help from Benjamin Bytheway and Ben Crowder.








_The_ Mormons _and the_ Theatre

OR

_The History of Theatricals in Utah_

With Reminiscences and Comments
Humorous and Critical


_By_ JOHN S. LINDSAY


SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
1905




CHAPTER I.


In rather sharp contrast to other Christian denominations, the Mormons
believe in and are fond of dancing and the theatre. So much is this
the case that Friday evening of each week during the amusement season
is set apart by them in all the settlements throughout Mormondom for
their dance night. Their dances are generally under the supervision of
the presiding bishop and are invariably opened with prayer or
invocation, and closed or dismissed in the same manner, with a brief
return of thanks to the Almighty for the good time they have enjoyed.

The theatre is so popular among the Mormon people, that in almost
every town and settlement throughout their domains there is an amateur
dramatic company.

It is scarcely to be wondered at that Salt Lake has the enviable
distinction of being the best show town of its population in the
United States, and when we say that, we may as well say in the whole
world. It is a well established fact that Salt Lake spends more money
per capita in the theatre than any city in our country.

Such a social condition among a strictly religious people is not
little peculiar, and is due, largely, to the fact that Brigham Young
was himself fond of the dance and also of the theatre. He could "shake
a leg" with the best of them, and loved to lead the fair matrons and
maidens of his flock forth into its giddy, bewildering mazes. Certain
round dances, the waltz and polka, were always barred at dances
Brigham Young attended, and only the old-fashioned quadrilles and
cotillions and an occasional reel like Sir Roger de Coverly or the
Money Musk were tolerated by the great Mormon leader.

That Brigham Young was fond of the theatre also, and gave great
encouragement to it, his building of the Salt Lake Theatre was a
striking proof. He recognized the natural desire for innocent
amusement, and the old axiom "All work and no play makes Jack a dull
boy," had its full weight of meaning to him. Keep the people in a
pleasurable mood, then they will not be apt to brood and ponder over
the weightier concerns of life.

There may have been a stroke of this policy in Brigham Young's
amusement scheme; but whether so or not he must be credited with both
wisdom and liberality, for the policy certainly lightened the cares
and made glad the hearts of the people.

Although Salt Lake City has been the chief nursery of these twin
sources of amusement for the Mormon people, to find the cradle in
which they were first nursed into life, we will have to go back to a
time and place anterior to the settlement of Salt Lake. Back in the
days of Nauvoo, before Brigham Young was chief of the Mormon church,
under the rule of its original prophet, Joseph Smith, the Mormon
people were encouraged in the practice of dancing and going to witness
plays. Indeed, the Mormons have always been a fun-loving people; it is
recorded of their founder and prophet that he was so fond of fun that
he would often indulge in a foot race, or pulling sticks, or even a
wrestling match. He often amazed and sometimes shocked the
sensibilities of the more staid and pious members of his flock by his
antics.

Before the Mormons ever dreamed of emigrating to Utah (or Mexico, as
it was then), they had what they called a "Fun Hall," or theatre and
dance hall combined, where they mingled occasionally in the merry
dance or sat to witness a play. Then, as later in Salt Lake, their
prophet led them through the mazy evolutions of the terpsichorean
numbers and was the most conspicuous figure at all their social
gatherings.

While building temples and propagating their new revelation to the
world, the Mormons have always found time to sing and dance and play
and have a pleasant social time, excepting, of course, in their days
of sore trial. Indeed, they are an anomaly among religious sects in
this respect, and that is what has made Salt Lake City proverbially a
"great show town."

Mormonism during the Nauvoo days had numerous missionaries in the
field and many converts were added to the new faith. Among others that
were attracted to the modern Mecca to look into the claims of the new
evangel, was Thomas A. Lyne, known more familiarly among his
theatrical associates as "Tom" Lyne.

Lyne, at this time, 1842, was an actor of wide and fair repute, in the
very flush of manhood, about thirty-five years of age. He had played
leading support to Edwin Forrest, the elder Booth, Charlotte Cushman,
Ellen Tree (before she became Mrs. Charles Kean), besides having
starred in all the popular classic roles. Lyne was the second actor in
the United States to essay the character of Bulwer's Richelieu--Edwin
Forrest being the first.

The story of "Tom" Lyne's conversion to the Mormon faith created quite
a sensation in theatrical circles of the time, and illustrates the
great proselyting power the elders of the new religion possessed.

Lyne, when he encountered Mormonism, was a skeptic, having outgrown
belief in all of the creeds. It was in 1841 that George J. Adams, a
brother-in-law of Lyne's, turned up suddenly in Philadelphia (Lyne's
home) where he met the popular actor and told him the story of his
conversion to the Mormon faith. Adams had been to Nauvoo, met the
prophet and become one of his most enthusiastic disciples. Adams had
been an actor, also, of more than mediocre ability, and as a preacher
proved to be one of the most brilliant and successful expounders of
the new religion. Elder Adams had been sent as a missionary to
Philadelphia in the hope that his able exposition of the new evangel
would convert that staid city of brotherly love to the new and
everlasting covenant.

In pursuance of the New Testament injunction, the Mormon missionaries
are sent out into their fields of labor without purse or scrip, so
Elder Adams, on arriving at his field of labor, lost no time in
hunting up his brother-in-law, "Tom" Lyne, to whom he related with
dramatic fervor and religious enthusiasm the story of his wonderful
conversion, his subsequent visit to Nauvoo, his meeting with the young
"Mohammed of the West," for whom he had conceived the greatest
admiration, as well as a powerful testimony of the divinity of his
mission.

