Dramatic interpretations of literary masterpieces: Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh

              1906
Forward fill you see the highest
DRAMATIC INTERPRETATIONS OF LITERARY MASTERPIECES

MRS. ERNEST VOSBURGH


MANAGEMENT OF
MUTUAL LYCEUM BUREAU
AUDITORIUM BUILDING
CHICAGO, ILL.



We are Poets when we read a Poem Well.
LITERATURE at its best has a message for the Soul, which enriches, enlarges and enobles it.

There is that in literature which appeals to the divinest part of our nature, and makes us realize our kinship with God and with all that is immortal.  It puts us into sympathy with the true, the pure and the right and awakens in us the highest aspirations, and the noblest resolves.

The great literature of the ages has transformed all the experiences of life, including poverty, hardship, toil, affliction, temptation, as well as the joys, hopes and triumphs which come to us, into evangels of God calling us to a greater inheritance.

MRS. ERNEST VOSBURGH presents the best in literature, both story and drama, in its purest form, free from all theatric atmosphere, but with such a vividness of portrayal, that the great characters given us by the Masters, become living, human beings, whose experiences we understand and take into our own lives.



Programs


1.
THE SUNKEN BELL

Gerhart Hauptman




A German Fairy Play in five Acts.  Open the Windows, Light and God stream in.



2.
PAOLA AND FRANCESCA

Stephen Phillips


3.
THE SPANISH GYPSY

George Eliot




A Poem Drama.  The struggle between love and duty.



4.
IN A BALCONY

Browning




Truth is The Strong Thing.



5.
ADAM BEDE

George Eliot




Evil comes out of evil.Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap.



6.
JANET'S REPENTANCE

George Eliot




A true life is a life of service.



7.
MILL ON THE FLOSS

George Eliot




There is an obligation laid upon man to accept some other rule of conduct than the desire of pleasure.



8.
ARMGART

George Eliot




No artistic success is of so much worth as a loving sympathy with others.



9.
THE SCARLET LETTER

Nathaniel Hawthorne




As an example of imaginative writing, 'The Scarlet Letter' has no parallel in any literature.



10.
THE LOST WORD

Henry Van Dyke




There is a name which none can lose without being lost.  The blessed name of God, our Father.



11.
ENOCH ARDEN

Alfred Tennyson




A strong heroic soul, whose firm faith and prayer upbore him and kept him a living soul.



12.
READINGS FROM THE GREAT POETS





Other Programs in preparation.




Personal Letters and Press Comments
From Prof. S. H. Clark, University of Chicago.

 Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh is a reader of great force and character, and you may recommend her with the absolute certainty that she will succeed.

Mrs. Vosburgh is an artist, and there is that in her reading which satisfies the best taste and judgment in her audience, while those who come for entertainment only, are held by her poise, simplicity, vividness of portrayal and sureness of touch.

Her interpretations are far, very far above the average.

Sincerely,
S. H. CLARK.

From Mr. R. A. Hockensmith, Secretary Carthage, Mo., Chautauqua Assembly.

My Dear Mrs. Vosburgh:

The Carthage Chautauqua is now eleven years old.  The Department of Literature has ever been looked after with a most critical eye in an effort to make it superior in every sense.  During the two years that you have been in charge of the department we have been especially gratified at the plane of things and I take this means of simply and sincerely telling you of it.

Sincerely yours,
R. A. HOCKENSMITH, Secretary.

From Elbert Hubbard, East Aurora, N. Y.

My Dear Mrs. Vosburgh:

* * * We will be greatly pleased to have you come and visit us at East Aurora.

* * * I greatly enjoyed your reading and know the Chautauqua management and audiences were also well pleased.

So here are congratulations and all best wishes

Your sincere
ELBERT HUBBARD.

From Prof. F. H. Lane, Tabor College, Tabor, Iowa.

Those who were fortunate enough to hear Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh's interpretation of Gerhart Hauptmann's The Sunken Bell have in their minds a picture that will not pass away.  It was so vividly and beautifully portrayed that we seemed to behold the dramatic creation glowing with emotion and life.  Such a result is obtained only by artists, those who have stood upon the misty mountains and have heard the voiceless promptings of Rautendelein.

From D. A. Clippinger, Director Madrigal Club, Chicago.

My Dear Mrs. Vosburgh:

I want to thank you for your splendid work on our program of Tuesday night.  I have heard nothing but the most complimentary things said about you.  You certainly are splendidly equipped for your work in every way, and it will always be a great pleasure to recommend you.

Again thanking you, I am,

D. A. CLIPPINGER.


From Chautauquan Daily, Chautauqua, N. Y., July 25, 1906.
The five o'clock reading hour this week is given over to a series of readings, Great Moments from George Eliot, by Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh.  In her readings Monday and Tuesday afternoons Mrs. Vosburgh gave Janet's Repentance and Adam Bede, showing interpretative skill and dramatic power in their presentation.  She has undoubted talents in entertaining an audience and interpreting a literary masterpiece.
Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh continued her popular readings of Great Moments from George Eliot yesterday with Mill on the Floss.  She read with great feeling and interpretative sympathy.  The reader's excellent voice and manner added much to the charm of the reading.—July 26, 1906.



From Carthage Press, Carthage, Mo., July 10, 1906.
Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh, who has charge this year of the Department of Literature, gave her first reading of this session yesterday afternoon.  Mrs. Vosburgh was here last year and so pleased the many people who heard her that her coming has long been anticipated by lovers of literature.  Few of the people who have read Mill on the Floss realized its splendid possibilities as a dramatic reading until Mrs. Vosburgh's interpretation of it yesterday.



From Carthage Democrat, July 10, 1906.
Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh made her first appearance this season yesterday afternoon.  She was greeted by a good-sized audience who were expecting a treat, and they were not disappointed.  The rain, which fell in torrents, somewhat interfered with the speaker on account of the noise, but she made herself heard all over the Auditorium.  She has a splendid, clear, strong voice of good dramatic quality.  She held the close attention of her audience to the end.  Mrs. Vosburgh is already a general favorite with the Chautauqua goers and her interpretations will be looked forward to with pleasure.


From Carthage Democrat, July 11, 1906.
Mrs. Vosburgh in her reading of The Scarlet Letter was more than worth all the discomfort which was occasioned in the getting there through the rain.  It is doubtful if any of her appearances have been so happy or more inspiring.


From Carthage Press, Carthage, Mo., July 12, 1906.
Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh appeared for the last time at the Chautauqua yesterday afternoon.  She read George Eliot's Armgart.  The reading is pronounced far ahead of any previous reading and was a masterly effort.  It is a fine piece of writing, peculiarly adapted to the dramatic quality of Mrs. Vosburgh's splendid voice.


From Los Angeles Daiy Times, Feb. 1st, 1907.
Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh gave a reading of George Eliot's Spanish Gypsy at Cumnock Hall last night that was appreciated by a large audience of critical people.  The reader is possessed of a fine voice and her interpretation of the poem gave great pleasure to the audience.


From Los Angeles Herald, Feb. 1st, 1907.
Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh gave a most delightful reading of Eliot's The Spanish Gypsy at the Cumnock School last night.  She has a clear enunciation that is a delight to hear and she brought out with eloquence the beauty of the piece.


Walton Perkins in Chicago Inter Ocean.
Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh read with charming grace, perfect diction and artistic interpretation.


From Springfield, Ill., Journal.
Each time she has appeared in Springfield she has captured her hearers by her fascinating reading.


From Quincy, Ill., Herald.
Young and accomplished woman whose talent as a reader is fast creating for her a reputation both extended and deserving.


From Hannibal, Mo., Post.
She can hold an audience spellbound during an entire evening.


From Columbus, O., Journal.
Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh made a splendid impression.  Her humorous work was extremely clever, and she became the bright particular star of the evening.  She is one of the most satisfactory readers the writer has ever heard.


From Newton, Mass., Journal.
The entertainment consisted of the reading of Longfellow's poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish, by Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh.  Mrs. Vosburgh read the poem in a most acceptable manner, her artistic conception and execution of the lines was excellent and called forth no end of applause.


From Chicago Daily News.
The members of the Arche Club sat yesterday and listened to the tragic story of the lovers of Constance and Norbert and the Queen from Browning's In a Balcony.  * * * Mrs. Vosburgh read the lines with tenderness and understanding.


From Daily Republican, Joliet, Ill.
Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh has unusual talent and the finest literary discrimination.  Her selections are entirely different from those usually given on the platform.  Her first number, The Lost Word, showed her powers in serious and emotional work.  The second number was full of human nature and bubbling over with laughter.  Here Mrs. Vosburgh was as delicate and discriminating in her methods as in the more serious selection and her audience responded as completely.


From Howard County Advertiser, Fayette, Mo., March 29, 1906.
Mrs. Ernest Vosburgh gave two most excellent entertainments Monday and Tuesday evenings.  Monday she gave that celebrated German fairy play, The Sunken Bell.  Tuesday evening George Eliot's The Spanish Gypsy was interpreted in the same artistic manner that characterized the performance the evening before.  She was greeted with a large and cultured audience both evenings, and was pronounced an artist of the highest type.  The ladies of the Aid Society deserve the thanks of the large audiences for the delightful entertainments.