Mrs. John Wood
Matilda Charlotte Vining (6 November 1831 (baptised 28 November), Liverpool – 11 January 1915, Birchington-on-Sea), known professionally as Mrs. John Wood, was an English actress and theatre manager.
Biography
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Born into a theatrical family, Matilda Charlotte Vining travelled the country as a child actor. Over time, she developed a talent for comedy. An older cousin was Fanny Vining.
In 1854, Vining married John Wood, an English actor. The couple moved to
Mrs. John Wood was a very pretty woman, possessing a fine figure and an attractive face. Her style was excellent in everything she attempted. She read well, had a melodious voice, was affecting in pathetic scenes and lively in those of a cheerful character, was a graceful dancer, and, although her voice was not very strong, it was melodious and well cultivated. She possessed the artistic talent which satisfied every demand that could be made by the most rigid stickler for a high degree of merit in a theatrical artist.[1]
Mr. and Mrs. Wood again played Wallack's in the summer of 1857, then moved to
In mid-1859, she parted ways with her husband, daughter, and mother and returned to New York. There she joined Dion Boucicault's troupe at the Winter Garden Theatre. She and Boucicault clashed, so Mrs. Wood decided to tour New York independently for three seasons. On 2 April 1861, ten days before the outbreak of the American Civil War, Mrs. John Wood performed[2] "Dixie" for a concluding scene featuring a Zouave march in a production of the burlesque Po-ca-hon-tas in New Orleans. The song was well-received and encored seven times,[3] contributing to the popularity of the song as a Civil War anthem for the Confederacy.
Mrs. Wood met
Mrs. Wood continued her management career at the St James's Theatre in London from 1869 until mid-1872. She then returned to the United States for the 1872–73 season, then returned to England. In 1881, she appeared in Foggerty's Fairy by W. S. Gilbert. Until her retirement in 1893, she managed a number of English theatres.
Mrs. Wood died in 1915 at the age of 83 in Birchington-on-Sea, Thanet, Kent, England.
Notes
References
- Brown, T. Allston (1903). A History of the New York Stage: From the First Performance in 1732 to 1901. Dodd, Mead and Company.
- Roberts, Vera Mowry (1993). The American Stage: Social and Economic Issues from the Colonial Period to the Present.New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. .
- "Mrs. John Wood coming to act in "The Rivals," as Mrs. Malaprop, with Joseph Jefferson". The New York Times. 31 March 1898.
It was reported yesterday that Mrs. John Wood would return to this country to act with Joseph Jefferson the role of Mrs. Malaprop in "The Rivals." It was known that Rose Coghlan had been offered this role by Mr. Jefferson, but declined it, as she intends to retain "on tour" her present character, Lady Janet in "The White Heather," which, by the way, was "created" by Mrs. Wood in London.
- Reinert, Thomas D. (2013). "Mrs. John Wood: Unrecognized 'Burlesque Queen' of the Nineteenth Century American Stage." Thomas D. Reinert. Apple iBook 591677282
- Newcomb, J., Peters, W. H., Emmett, Danl. D. (music), Viereck, J. C. (arranger). "I Wish I Was In Dixies Land." New Orleans, P. P. Werlein; New York, Firth Pond & Co., 1860. Cover text "Sung by Mrs. John Wood."