Page:Sketches of representative women of New England.djvu/160

Rh of 1875 she entered upon her chosen career as a member of the Boston Museum Company. It was with a heavy heart, on account of the bitter opposition of her family. Her rapid rise from unimportant to leading noles proved she had not mistaken her vocation. During her second season she made a vivid impression in the short part of Servia, to the Virginius of John McCullough and the Virginia of Mary Gary. The critics united in her praise, saying she "showed powers which will with care develop into something suited for the best roles in tragedy." Mr. McCullough was so impressed with her work he personally requested she might be cast for the leading Indian role of Nameokee to his Metamora. Her success in this led Mr. McCullough to invite her to become a member of his own company the following season, but the Museum management induced her to remain. Immediately following Mr. McCullough, Harry J. Mt)ntague, leading man at Wallack's Theatre, filled an engagement as star at the Museum. Mrs. Kent's acting in various roles won his attention to such an extent that, with the consent of the management, she accepted his offer to make a tour of New England, supporting him in many of the leading roles of his repertoire.

Upon her return to the Museum she appeared in a large number of important parts, and as Valentine de Monias, in "A Celebrated Case," made a pronounced hit. The Museum of those days was a busy place, and its superb company found the hours available for preparation barely sufficient. Frequently, for weeks at a time, there would be a run of the glorious Shakespearean tragedies and the standard comedies, with almost nightly changes in the bill. There were but few of these in which Mrs. Kent did not appear, first in small roles and, as her standing in the company advanced, in higher ones. She had a remarkable capacity for "quick study." Harry Murdoch was said to be her only equal in this exhausting but often necessary effort. Many times, with but two or three hours' notice, she came to the aid of the management and played, letter-perfect, long and sometimes leading parts.

In her third season the management recognized her ability by engaging her for the leading heavy—that is, the leading tragic—roles, but in addition she was frequently called upon to appear in juvenile, ingenue, and even soubrette characters. When Madame Modjeska came to the Museum, in 1878, Mrs. Kent was cast for the Princess de Bouillon, a part hardly second to that of Adrienne Lecouvreur itself. At the end of the great scene between the two women, Madame Modjeska, at the final fall of the curtain, taking both ber hands, thanked her for "such splendid work." "Perhaps nothing," says Mrs. Kent, "gave me more happiness than when Mr. Longfellow asked to meet me, and complimented me in his gracious and beautiful way." Madame Motljeska, her husband. Count Bozenta, and their son had but just bade the company farewell, when Mr. Lawrence Barrett began a four weeks' engagement, Mrs. Kent appearing in the cast of nearly every play. In 1879 he again filled a fortnight's engagement, and Mrs. Kent, whose work the year before had attracted his attention, was again found in his support. As Emilia to his lago (Mr. Barron as Othello and Miss Clarke as Desdemona), Mrs. Kent made the most brilliant success of her career thus far. Mr. Barrett had himself coached her. He showered congratulations upon her, and, with the consent of the management, secured her as leading lady for his New England tour. She had, therefore, at this early stage in her career, the privilege and distinction of appearing in most of the leading female roles of his extensive repertoire. Upon returning from this tour she supported Mr. Warren as Clara Weigel in "My Son" and in many other plays. When the Union Square Theatre's great success, "The Danicheffs," was produced at the Museum, to Mrs. Kent was apportioned the part of the sixty-year.s-old Countess Danicheff, created in New York by Miss Fanny Morant. It seemed almost cruel to ask so young a girl to impersonate this magnificent and imperious elderly woman, but the critics accorded her high praise, saying her "signally powerful and effective work augurs for her a brilliant future."

During her long engagement at the Museum Mrs. Kent studied elocution at the Boston School of Oratory. For five years she contin-