The Lottery of Life is an 1867 play by John Brougham, one of his more popular works.
Original run
The play debuted at the Howard Athenaeum in Boston in September 1867,(21 October 1867). John Brougham's New Play, Sacramento Daily Union and had a four week run at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia in November–December 1867.(19 December 1867). Advertisement, Evening Telegraph (Philadelphia) It also played in Washington, D.C. at the National Theatre in January 1868,(14 January 1868). The National Theatre, National Republican played for two weeks in San Francisco, and played in Richmond, Virginia in February 1868, among other places.(3 February 1868). Amusements, Daily Dispatch(9 March 1968). Amusements, New York Herald
By early March 1868, the play's success on the road dictated it would get a run in New York.(19 March 1868). Musical and Dramatic Gossip, Charleston Daily News The play had its New York debut at Wallack's Theatre on June 8, 1868, to open their "summer season," and ran for nine weeks.Life, Stories, and Poems of John Brougham, p. 103 (1881)
Brougham played the role of Irish immigrant to New York, Terence O'Halloran, who leaves a life of crime to become an amateur detective.Daly, Nicholas. The Demographic Imagination and the Nineteenth-Century City, p. 72 (2015) His nemesis is the anti-Semitic depiction of counterfeiter Mordie Solomons (played by Charles Fisher).Ben-Joseph, Eli. Aesthetic Persuasion: Henry James, the Jews, and Race, p. 9-10 (1996) "Coal Oil Tommy" was a popular song from the play.
Original Broadway cast
Terry by John Brougham Bob Mawley by Edward Lamb Sir William Downe by T.J. Hind Oil Tommy by Benjamin T. RinggoldThompson, Leslie (21 February 2018). Millie Ringgold and "Coal Oil Johnny", Sid Richardson Museum Dodges by W.J. Leonard Dummy Dennis by J. Quiqley Duffy by E. Cashin Hawkeye by E. Menturn Sam by G. White Mordie Solomons by Charles Fisher Robert Mordaunt by C.H. Rockwell Frank by James McGee Polly by Effie Germon Miss Tartar by Fanny Morant Judy by George Holland Emily by Miss M. Barrett Marx by Mis F. Carman Biddy by Miss C. Carman Lucy by Miss E. Monell Jenny by Miss J. Day.Brown, T. Allston. A History of the New York Stage, Vol. 2, p. 267 (1903)
Origin and reception
In 1877, Brougham wrote that The Lottery of Life had been the "most profitable" of his plays. He noted that it was "originally written as a burlesque upon the sensation of the time," where he "exaggerated the sensational parts of it, and it was something which I expected would be horrifying," yet "I found it was taken in perfect earnest." Thus, he altered the play somewhat into "a not altogether impossible, though somewhat improbable piece." He opined that the play "is not good enough to win the success it has achieved, and not bad enough to receive the animadversions of the hypercritical."Matthews, Brander & Laurence Hutton (eds.) Actors and Actresses of Great Britain and the United States:/books?id=FusLAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA288#v=onepage&q&f=false, pp. 288-89 (1886)
Upon receiving criticism in Philadelphia, Brougham announced from the stage before a performance that he had written the play not to please critics, but the public who was demanding plays of this type, and that his aim was to make money.
The New York Herald received the play positively in New York, though with no illusions: "According to the legitimate drama of the day this is a first rate plot, especially as it abounds in the latest sensations from beginning to end." It also complimented the New York scenery of the play, and quoted a departing patron as stating "this thing ought to succeed and will succeed, for it is really the legitimate drama of 1868, with all the modern improvements--pretty waiter girls, negro minstrels and all."(9 June 1868). Wallack's Theatre, New York Herald
By August 1868, the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph reported that "Brougham has already made $1700 out of the piece of trash called "The Lottery of Life." "(14 August 1868). Col. 2, Philadelphia Evening Telegraph Nevertheless, Brougham also converted the play into his first novel, which commenced a run in Fireside Companion that same month, and netted him an additional $2,000.(19 August 1868). Advertisement, New York Herald(10 September 1868). Miscellaneous, New York Herald (rightmost column, "John Brougham receives $2,000 for his 'Novel' version of the 'Lottery of Life.")
The play saw performances around the United States into the 1890s.(4 March 1888). The Drama, Los Angeles Daily Herald ("Charles A. Mestayer has secured the rights to John Brougham's Lottery of Life, and will play it in the chief theaters.")(12 April 1884). The Lottery of Life, Daily Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia)(21 November 1893). Advertisement, Morning Call(21 December 1901). The Theatres, The Butter Inter Mountain
To the extent the play gets any attention in the modern day, it is about the stereotyped Jewish villain of the play, who was also called upon to wear a "false Jewish nose."Erdman, Harley. M. B. Curtis and the Making of the American Stage Jew, Journal of American Ethnic History, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Fall, 1995), pp. 28-45Harap, Louis. The Image of the Jew in American Literature, p. 212 (2003 ed.)
References