Lotta Faust
Encyclopedia
Lotta Faust was an actress, dancer, and singer from Brooklyn, New York. She performed an interpretation of the Salome
dance based on the Salome (play)
(1893) by Oscar Wilde
.
Faust attended public schools in Brooklyn. Her first employment was working as a cash girl in a Brooklyn department store. She worked there until she went on stage at the age of 16.
. In September 1901 she acted the role of Geraldine Fair in The Liberty Belles. The play had nine writers and composers, including Harry
B. Smith, the primary librettist. Aine Lauchaume wrote most of the music. It was produced at the Madison Square Theatre, 24th Street (Manhattan) (5th Avenue (Manhattan) and Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
).
She became popular in The Wizard of Oz (1904 - 1905), in which she sang the Sammy song. After this she joined the company of Joe Weber and appeared in Wonderland (1905). Later she was among the cast of The White Hen (1907), staged by Louis Mann at the Casino Theatre, Broadway (Manhattan) at 39th Street.
In 1907 she was in the troupe of Lew Fields
in The Girl Behind The Counter (1907 - 1908), The Mimic World in 1908 and The Midnight Sons in 1909. For the rest of her life she worked with
Fields and in productions of the Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
.
Biblical story of Salome. Her rendition of the Salome dance came from what she was told regarding the Wilde play.
She said she as if she really were the 14-year-old Salome while she was dancing on stage. She experienced both the horror and fascination during her performances. For each appearance Faust danced as if she would never be able to repeat what she was doing.
There were a number of other women who presented their versions of the Salome dance in the same era as Faust. Among these were Eva Tanguay
, Vera Olcott
, and Gertrude H. Hoffman. Faust eventually was in a vaudeville show which featured her
as a singer.
in recalling her is quoted as saying that "he used to grab a lotta back", this when dancing with the actress and because Faust had a penchant for wearing dresses with large open backs.
which resulted from
an operation she had several weeks earlier. Just before she became ill, she played a primary role in The Midnight Sons. She sued Ling for divorce a short while before her death.
Faust was engaged to Malcolm A. Strauss, an illustrator, at the time of her death. He resided at
30 West 40th Street, Manhattan (New York). Strauss painted a posthumous portrait of Faust. It was sold and the proceeds given to Faust's parents at a benefit.
Salome
Salome , the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament...
dance based on the Salome (play)
Salome (play)
Salome is a tragedy by Oscar Wilde.The original 1891 version of the play was in French. Three years later an English translation was published...
(1893) by Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
.
Faust attended public schools in Brooklyn. Her first employment was working as a cash girl in a Brooklyn department store. She worked there until she went on stage at the age of 16.
Actress
Her first appearance in theater came in The Sunshine of Paradise Alley (1896), produced by Denman ThompsonDenman Thompson
Henry Denman Thompson was an American playwright and theatre actor.Rufus Thompson, a carpenter, and his wife Anne Hathaway Baxter moved in 1831 from West Swanzey, New Hampshire to Girard, Pennsylvania, where their son Henry Denman Thompson was born...
. In September 1901 she acted the role of Geraldine Fair in The Liberty Belles. The play had nine writers and composers, including Harry
B. Smith, the primary librettist. Aine Lauchaume wrote most of the music. It was produced at the Madison Square Theatre, 24th Street (Manhattan) (5th Avenue (Manhattan) and Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. In doing so, it passes through Midtown, the Upper East Side , Spanish Harlem, and...
).
She became popular in The Wizard of Oz (1904 - 1905), in which she sang the Sammy song. After this she joined the company of Joe Weber and appeared in Wonderland (1905). Later she was among the cast of The White Hen (1907), staged by Louis Mann at the Casino Theatre, Broadway (Manhattan) at 39th Street.
In 1907 she was in the troupe of Lew Fields
Lew Fields
Lew Fields , born as Moses Schoenfeld, was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager and producer....
in The Girl Behind The Counter (1907 - 1908), The Mimic World in 1908 and The Midnight Sons in 1909. For the rest of her life she worked with
Fields and in productions of the Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...
.
Vaudeville
Faust's vaudeville career began at the Casino Theatre with the introduction of a unique cake walk. She teamed with Frank Bernard for this dance in April 1900. In August 1908 she appeared at the Casino Theatre. During an interview she admitted to being unaware of theBiblical story of Salome. Her rendition of the Salome dance came from what she was told regarding the Wilde play.
She said she as if she really were the 14-year-old Salome while she was dancing on stage. She experienced both the horror and fascination during her performances. For each appearance Faust danced as if she would never be able to repeat what she was doing.
There were a number of other women who presented their versions of the Salome dance in the same era as Faust. Among these were Eva Tanguay
Eva Tanguay
Eva Tanguay was a Canadian-born singer and entertainer who billed herself as "the girl who made vaudeville famous".-Early life:...
, Vera Olcott
Vera Olcott
Vera Olcott was an American dancer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who became popular in Europe in the early20th century.-Dance innovator:She was one of many women who performed Salome dances in vaudeville venues in New York City...
, and Gertrude H. Hoffman. Faust eventually was in a vaudeville show which featured her
as a singer.
Marriages
She was married twice. Her first husband was Paul Schindler, a musical director, whom she divorced in 1902. Her second husband was singer and comedian Richard Ling. However in between marriages the beautiful Faust was popular with men. John BarrymoreJohn Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
in recalling her is quoted as saying that "he used to grab a lotta back", this when dancing with the actress and because Faust had a penchant for wearing dresses with large open backs.
Death
Faust died in January 1910 at a sanitarium on 33 East 33rd Street in New York City. The cause of death was pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
which resulted from
an operation she had several weeks earlier. Just before she became ill, she played a primary role in The Midnight Sons. She sued Ling for divorce a short while before her death.
Faust was engaged to Malcolm A. Strauss, an illustrator, at the time of her death. He resided at
30 West 40th Street, Manhattan (New York). Strauss painted a posthumous portrait of Faust. It was sold and the proceeds given to Faust's parents at a benefit.
External links
- Lotta Faust New York Public LibraryNew York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
Digital Gallery photos - Lotta Faust at Internet Broadway DatabaseInternet Broadway DatabaseThe Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....
- Lotta Faust in The Actors Birthday Book(1908 & 1909 editions) by Johnson Briscoe