This was one busy Lady!
Nine months out of each year, Madame Modjeska and her husband, Count Bozenta, left ARDEN in the hands of the year-round help and traveled as she performed in the United States and Europe.
Immediately upon her debut on the San Francisco stage on August 13, 1876 she became an overnight success and was encouraged to appear on the East Coast the following November.
Following are her own words about going on tour. "Before I went on a regular tour, I asked Mr. Sargent (her theatrical agent) to show me the route he planned for me. There were several one-night towns on the list, and I anxiously inquired if I should be obliged to wake up to catch trains early in the morning. He answered that, sometimes, it was inevitable of course. Upon that I declared that I could not possibly consent to it, because I must have at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, or I could not act at all. Usually I could not go to sleep immediately after the play, being too excited. When we had no guests, I would read or play the piano before going to bed; then I would sleep soundly until nine in the morning. I was simply unable to sleep in the daytime. I advised Mr. Sargent to cut out the one-night towns. He looked rather amused, and said he could hardly do so, having much higher percentage in those towns than in the large ones, and tried to persuade me that, in my own interest, I should accept the route as it was. I stood firm in my decision, and Mr. Sargent went away discontented. Next morning, however, he came in, smiling, and said he had found a way to give me as many hours of sleep as I desired by renting a private car. It was an ordinary Wagner's sleeper, without drawing room, but it was a great comfort ... for me ... thus it happened that I had the first theatrical private car on the road."
The following 2 1/2 month schedule in 1883, seven years after her successful stage debut in the United States, is very representative of Madame's performances. In the earlier years she would play in small theatres and sometimes rooms upstairs over "noisy barrooms" to bring the mystic of the stage to all who came.
Philadelphia PA , Chestnut Street Theatre *October 1 and 2 - Cymbeline *October 3 Matinee - As You Like It, Evening - Camille *October 4 - As you Like It *October 5 - Frou Frou *October 6 - Matinee - Camille, Evening -Twelfth Night
Scranton PA, Academy of Music October 9, Twelfth Night
Elmira, NY, The Opera House October 10 - Twelfth Night
Utica, NY, Utica Opera House October 11 - Mary Stuart
Oswego NY, Richardson Theatre October 12 - Camille
Syracuse NY, Wieting Theatre October 13 - Matinee - Camille, Evening - Twelfth Night
Rochester NY, Academy of Music October 16 - Camille
Detroit MI, Whitney's Grand Opera House *October 19 - Frou Frou *October 20 - Matinee - As you Like It, Evening - Mary Stuart
Buffalo, NY Academy of Music *October 22 - Cymbeline *October 23 -Mary Stuart *October 24 - Matinee -Twelfth Night, Evening - As you Like It.
Indianapolis, IN The Grand Theatre *November 1 - Cymbeline * November 2 - Adrienne Lecouvreur *November 3 - Matinee - Frou Frou, Evening - As You Like It
Milwaukee, WI Grand Opera House *November 5 - Frou Frou *November 6 - Cymbeline *November 7 - Twelfth Night
Oshkosh, WI The Grand Theater November 8 - As You Like It
Rockford, IL The Opera House November 9 - As You Like It
Minneapolis, MN Grand Opera House *November 12 - As You Like It *November 13 - Frou Frou *November 14 - Matinee - Camille, Evening - Twelfth Night
St.Paul, MN Grand Opera House *November 15 - Adrienne Lecouvreur *November 16 - Cymbeline *November 17 - As You Like It
Cincinnati, OH Grand Opera House *November 19 and 20 - Mary Stuart *November 21 - Matinee - Camille, Evening - As You Like It *November 22 - Frou Frou *November 23 - Cymbeline *November 24 - Matinee - As You Like It, Evening - Twelfth Night
St. Louis MO, Grand Opera House *November 26 - Mary Stuart *November 27 - Camille *November 28 - As You Like It * November 29 - Matinee - Camille, Evening - Frou Frou *November 30 - Adrienne Lecouvreur * December 1 - Matinee - As You Like It, Evening - Twelfth Night
Louisville, KY Macauley's Theatre *December 3 - Camille *December 4 - Mary Stuart * December 5 - Frou Frou *December 6 - As You Like It * December 7 ** - Thora (A Doll's House) *December 8 - Matinee - Camille, Evening - Twelfth Night
** This is the performance that prompted the candy maker to name a new caramel biscuit after Madame Helena Modjeska.
Terre Haute, IN The Opera Hose December 10 - Adrienne Lecouvreur
Springfield, IL The Opera House December 11 - Twelfth Night
Burlington, IA Grand Opera House December 13 - As You Like It
Peoria, IL Grand Opera House December 14 - As You Like It
Evansville, IN The Opera House December 15 - Adrienne Lecouvreur
As far as we know, her favorite Shakespearean role was that of Rosalind in As You Like It.
Of course, we know she named their home for the Forest of Arden in this play, but also, this character spoke more lines than other of Shakespeare's female roles. Rosalind was an adventurous person, with the twist that she dressed as a boy to go into the Forest to seek her banished father. These all would have added to the enjoyment of the role for Madame. In the above 2 1/2 month tour, about twenty-five percent of the time she performed As You Like It.