Today in the Lincoln Conspiracy: May 24

An evening at the theater in 1862 meant just that.  Audiences were entertained for the entire evening.  There would generally be two complete plays performed -- a tragedy and a farce.  There would also be an orchestral overture and, between plays, a musical interlude featuring one or more vocalists.  Not a bad deal for 25 cents.

On May 24, John Wilkes Booth closed his 1862 Boston Museum engagement with a Saturday matinee.  Booth once again portrayed Claude Melnotte in the melodrama The Lady of Lyons.  The curtain rose at 3 o'clock.

Today in the Lincoln conspiracy: May 23

Many scholars dismiss John Wilkes Booth as a second-rate actor.  Some even place him in the third rank of his own family, behind his brothers Edwin and Junius Brutus Jr. 

But the evidence is clear that the youngest of the acting Booth brothers was a shining star of his age.  It's instructive to note that at the beginning of his May 1862 engagement at the Boston Museum, his name appears at the bottom of the handbills promoting each play.  By the end of the run, the name "J. Wilkes Booth" was emblazoned across the top.

On May 23, Booth gave the final evening performance of his engagement in Boston.  He played the lead in Shakespeare's Richard the Third.

Today in the Lincoln Conspiracy: May 22

The Boston Museum's breathless promotion of John Wilkes Booth continued through his final appearances during May of 1862.  Theater management urged patrons to buy tickets early for the remaining performances by "the young American tragedian".

On May 22, Booth portrayed Claude Melnotte, a gardener's son who falls for a wealthy young woman, marries her and then loses her, in The Lady of Lyons; Or, Love and Pride.  The play was written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1838.  Today, Bulwer-Lytton is best known for the prize named after him and awarded annually for particularly (and intentionally) bad writing.