MADAME M's RETURN TO THE
STAGE
Within months of their arrival in the United States, Madame realized
the utopian venture in Anaheim was in shambles. A severe drought didn't
help, but these artisans were not prepared for the tough everyday work life
of farming and soon the future of their finances was bleak. Several in the
group were immediately homesick even though government and religious upheaval
had originally turned these folks against their homeland. "Artistic
license" had been in danger as well.
Madame Helena Modjeska was already renowned in her native country
of Poland and many other areas of Europe as a great Shakespearean actress
and that was all she knew as a means of regaining support for her family.
San Francisco was her first stop!
There were several Polish friends in the area who took her in as she
began the long process of returning to the stage. Her greatest problem of
course was that she did not speak ANY English! And, what she wanted to learn
was Shakespeare in English no less. She advertised for an English teacher
and soon she had hired a lady to work with her one hour every afternoon.
She had been learning many words and sentences in her first two weeks, and
when her friends first met the teacher, they were horrified to find out
the teacher was German and Madame had been learning English with a German
accent!
Soon she was to find the perfect teacher in a charming young girl
named Jo. Together they accomplished a herculean task. Madame had always
been a swift learner and dedicated student and she had memorized several
of her favorite Shakespearean roles in English - in a little over six months.
Through Jo's continued persistence, but only after many disappointments,
Madame was finally granted a rehearsal at the California Theatre with Mr.
Barton Hill, the stage manager. Upon arriving it was discovered that the
main stage was involved with performance rehearsals and she was directed
to the dusty lecture hall in the same building. It was a bare hall with
dirty windows, a dusty fifteen foot platform and one shaky table and rickety
chair. All of her many hurdles up to this point had only fueled the undaunting
spirit of this dynamic lady and she gave a performance to bring Mr. Hill
to tears. When she had completed her selection of the last Act of Adrienne
Lecouvreur, she asked directly if he would give her one evening for her
debut at the California Theater. "One evening!" he exclaimed;
"you shall have the whole week, and more, if possible."
Her next hurdle was her terribly difficult Polish name. Yes, she was
not always Modjeska. Her name at that time was Helena Modrzejewska. It was
determined that by dropping a few letters, MODJESKA would be an acceptable
last name. (Modrzejewska Canyon, California ??? - whew!)
Victory ... August 13, 1877. Her debut
as Adrienne was a great success even though her veil caught fire from the
stage lights! The shear thrill of being behind the footlights once again
gave her a calm and she proceeded without stage-fright. Even though she
had learned her role in English, she was rather at a loss to converse with
her friends and the gentlemen of the press who came to her dressing room
to share her success. She was immediately scheduled for an Eastern tour
to begin in November and ... the rest is history.
It was during her first few months in San Francisco that Count Bozenta,
his friend Paprocki, and Madame's son Rudolphe had left Anaheim and came
to Santiago Canyon and took a claim one mile above the Pleasant's pioneer
cabin. These are his words to her. "We cook our own meals and I have
learned how to make flap jacks. Paprocki is quite an expert in roasting
quail, and Rudolphe bakes fine tortillas. He is also a very good shot, and
we have game every day. We sleep all three in the only room of our shanty.
Last night the Santa Ana wind tore off the roof of our palace. We had to
get up and put it on again, and then passed a rope over it, and winding
the two ends around our wrists we succeeded in holding it in place until
daylight, when the wind subsided. We have a neighbor, a burly Russian with
a shaggy beard all over his face; a tall muscular fellow, who changed his
name for some reason or another, and who calls himself Williams. He lives
in the upper canyon about half a mile above us where he built a log cabin
with his own hands. He came to see us and we returned his call. He showed
us the tracks of a grizzly bear, for which he has been patiently waiting
ever since he came to this wilderness. He has also a magnificent skin of
a mountain lion he killed near his house and a great many skins of wildcats,
etc. It is awfully hot here now. Yesterday we spent the noon hours sitting
in the cool creek and frightening the water-snakes. Rattlers also are very
numerous at present, and we have to be very careful. We kill them with stones
or guns. Notwithstanding these inconveniences, this canyon in the most beautiful
spot on earth."
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