1 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:10,559 Speaker 1: Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties podcasts featuring conversations with industry 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: leaders about the business of entertainment. I'm Cynthia Littleton, business 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: editor for Variety Today. My guest in New York is 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: Peter Raider, author of the new book Playing to the Gods, 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,759 Speaker 1: Sarah Bernhardt, Eleanora do Say and the Rivalry That Changed 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: Acting Forever. This subject matter is a departure for Strictly Business, 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: But when I read this book earlier this year, I 8 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: was fascinated by the details of how the theater business 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: worked in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds. 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: I was impressed by how much Bernhardt and do Say 11 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:46,560 Speaker 1: were true entrepreneurs. They ran every aspect of their theater companies. 12 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: They commissioned their own plays and booked their tours. Playing 13 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: to the Gods as a beautifully written document of the 14 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: personal and professional stories of two women who helped define 15 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: what it means to be a superstar. As Peter explains 16 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: in our conversation, Welcome to Peter Raider, author of Playing 17 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: to the Gods, Sarah Bernhardt, Eleanora Doze and the Rivalry 18 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 1: That Changed Acting Forever. This is a terrific book. That 19 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: I just devoured. I picked up kind of randomly and 20 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: just absolutely devoured it. It's you bring to life an 21 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:29,040 Speaker 1: incredible story of these legendary actor names that their names 22 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: that people know, but we don't know the stories behind them. 23 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: And what really struck me when I was reading the 24 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: book was what incredible, what an incredible story of entrepreneurial 25 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 1: fervor that both of these women exemplified in their lives. 26 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: They were as actors, they lead their production companies, they 27 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: were responsible for commissioning their own plays, they booked their 28 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: own tours, they soup to nuts, they ran their businesses, 29 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: and particularly Sarah was a forerunner of you know, understanding 30 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: how to milk celebrity culture, how to make herself one 31 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: of the most famous women in the world. The business 32 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: aspect of this is really fascinating, and that's what I 33 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: want to talk about today. So welcome, Peter, Thank you 34 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: so much for having me. Um. Yeah, it really is 35 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: quite an inspirational story. Um. They were among the first. 36 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: Sarah was the first actress to really seize control of 37 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: her own destiny, and she kind of learned these entrepreneurial 38 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: skills in a sense from her mother, who was a 39 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: courtisan in Paris, in the demi Monde of Paris in 40 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, and her mother, Um and her aunt 41 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: ran away from home. Um they were they were from Amsterdam, 42 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: and they fled sort of an abusive household very young, 43 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: like twelve or thirteen, and ran across Europe and ended 44 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,640 Speaker 1: up in Paris. And you know, her mother, Yule, was 45 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,839 Speaker 1: quite smart and um, someone who was you know, had 46 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: sort of entrepreneurial instincts, and she said, I know business 47 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,800 Speaker 1: that I can start. And she basically created a salon, 48 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: a courts in salon and ended up being you know, 49 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: right up there with some real celebrity clients, you know, 50 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: very famous people, influential people who then went on to 51 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:17,119 Speaker 1: help Sarah and her career. And Um, you know, Sarah 52 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,640 Speaker 1: um fell in love with with acting and the stage 53 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: in the theater. And then you know, at a certain 54 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 1: point she realized that she had leverage. Um, she understood 55 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: the power of her own celebrity. She actually created celebrity culture. 56 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: One of the things that she understood was that the 57 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: performance does not end on the stage. It's actually continues. 58 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,119 Speaker 1: It's seven. In fact, her offstage performances were often much 59 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: more entertaining she figured out a way of staying relevant 60 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: and staying in the press. There was there was a 61 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: period in her life where not a day went by 62 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: where her name wasn't mentioned somewhere in a newspaper and 63 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: across the planet. She knew how to build her brand instinctively, 64 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: as it reads in your pages. Yes, um she and 65 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: you know that that sort of culture of the exotic celebrity, 66 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: kind of the Angelina Jolie or whatever, the person who 67 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: goes one of the things the her. She was propelled 68 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: to fame right after the Franco Prussian War where she 69 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: um decided that um, the wounded troops needed help, and 70 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: she basically commissioned her own theater. She was at the 71 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: Odeon at the time. She went to the theater, uh 72 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: you know, the owners and said, let's turn this into 73 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: a field hospital. And she was like, you know, Florence Nightingale. 74 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: She kind of put on a nurse uniform and she 75 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: got all her friends to volunteer. She commit, you know, 76 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: she got supplies that she needed and she was basically 77 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: taking care of the troops and that basically made her 78 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: national hero. And this is like the eighteen sixties, mid sixties. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 79 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: a little later than that, um, and uh and so, 80 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: and then right after that her theater company went abroad 81 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: to to England, and um, she realized that the all 82 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: the British press was really interested in her and her story. 83 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,599 Speaker 1: So she just insisted on first billing and you know, 84 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: and then and then right after that she she quit 85 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: the company and formed her own company because she just 86 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: realized that she had cloud. The celebrity profile was sort 87 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: of invented, you know, around Sarah Bernhardt. But talk about 88 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: the way that that the theater business was constructed in 89 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: those days, because again that that struck me that it 90 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: was so much of its you know, started and finished 91 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: with the stars. It was didn't seem like it was 92 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: as much of a circuit kind of a business that 93 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:51,720 Speaker 1: you saw in the early twentieth century in this country. Well, um, 94 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: so they were repertory theaters and then there was they 95 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: ran a series of plays in rotation. You got to 96 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: think about the act that this was before radio, before TV. 97 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: I mean, the only the thing that you did to 98 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:06,679 Speaker 1: be entertained at night was you went out to the theater. 99 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: So um, they made sure that there was a different 100 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: play every night of the week. So you kind of 101 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:16,280 Speaker 1: rotated these these plays and in succession and the company 102 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: UM uh had you know, a bunch of UM plays 103 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,720 Speaker 1: that were ready at hand, and they were popular, They 104 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 1: were entertaining, they were light, they weren't particularly heavy, UM 105 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: in terms of theme and plot, and uh, it was 106 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: a social experience. You went there, you kind of paid 107 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: attention to play kind of didn't you know, you were 108 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: kind of panning the audience with your offer or glasses 109 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: even more than the play. You know, who's who's wearing 110 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: wat and gossiping, and there was lots of noise. You know, 111 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: people weren't paying attention particularly the play. They probably had 112 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: seen it before. Um. They were kind of throwaway exercises. 113 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: It was a way of just gathering and you know, 114 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: having an entertaining experience. UM. They were run by men. 115 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:02,119 Speaker 1: Men made all the decisions, you know, costume, casting, a rep, 116 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: you know what play was being played. And UM at 117 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: a certain point when UM Sarah realized that, you know, 118 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: the power that she had, she basically abandoned the patriarchy 119 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 1: and sees control of her own career and her own 120 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: destiny by forming her own company, which was unprecedented at 121 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: the time and again for a woman to waltz into 122 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: a theater and say, Okay, I'm going to book this theater. 123 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: And she I mean she in the book you you 124 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 1: describe she's booking tours across Europe, She's coming to the 125 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: United States. I can't even imagine, you know, people even 126 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: taking taking a woman seriously in terms of trying to 127 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: do that kind of a business venture. But on the 128 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: other end of not on the other end of the phone, 129 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: but on the other end of the correspondence was one 130 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: of the most famous women in the world. And that's 131 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: as you say, she knew how to leverage that. And 132 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: here's another interesting thing about Sarah is that her breakout role, 133 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: the role that really made her famous, was a man. 134 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: Several times during her career she played she she you know, 135 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: played the male parts. And her first role was Zaneto 136 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: in a play called Lupassant by Coupe and Um. It 137 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: was like he was a sort of a minstrel who 138 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: was stroll, you know, going around and it's about him 139 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: and his relationship with a older um Cordissan actually and 140 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: um that was her breakout role. And that's the first 141 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: role that she played, you know. And and her final 142 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: role was also a man. Um she played a a 143 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: morphine addict named Daniel um And and then in the 144 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: middle there she played Hamlet a couple of times. In fact, 145 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 1: right now on Broadway there's this there's this play called 146 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: Bernhard Hamlet, which celebrates the fact that she played tackled 147 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,839 Speaker 1: theater's most challenging role. She had the guts to play 148 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: Hamlet multiple times in her career, including after she lost 149 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: her leg she had a leg amputator, that she still 150 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: played Hamlet. So there was something about that um gumption. 151 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: You know that she ceased, can you know I can 152 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: do anything? Basically that was a force of nature. You know, 153 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 1: she literally never stopped in her life, and she went 154 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: as the book recounts, you know, she went through you know, 155 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: Highs and Lowe's career like any like any actor today. 156 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: But the story of in nineteen fifteen, having her leg 157 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: for medical reasons amputated and still going out on stage 158 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: for almost another decade, it's just incredible. But she knew, 159 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: she knew what she had. She also took defeats and 160 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: turned them somehow, she spun them into triumphs. She would 161 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: and nothing. All publicity was good. It didn't matter what 162 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: she did, you know, she she just knew this idea 163 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: of milking you know, milking um every angle for for 164 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: for you know, for publicities purposes, and also celebrity endorsements. 165 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: She did that too. She she invented that whole idea 166 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: that you know, celebrities could you know, um, you know 167 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 1: aperitif you know, they would. There were soaps named after 168 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: Sarah Bernhardt. There was you know, beef Bull all, you know, 169 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: all sorts of things crazy. Um. Yeah, endorsements and let's 170 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: talk about Eleanora, a very different type of personality, very 171 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: different type of actor on stage, but still behind the scenes. 172 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,440 Speaker 1: She did that. She was also very entrepreneurial. Yes, so 173 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 1: um Eleanor is fourteen years Sarah's jr. And was very 174 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: much inspired by her in the sense of a woman 175 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: seizing control of her own destiny. Um. In Italy, uh, 176 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 1: you know, the theater was a little behind France. Paris 177 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: was the center of the theater um at that point, 178 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: and the French plays. Everyone was putting on the French play. 179 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: So um Eleanor was was doing French plays in translation 180 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: um and there were no real Italian play rights at 181 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: the time. And that's kind of one of the things 182 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:49,680 Speaker 1: that she was her life mission is to really establish 183 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: the Italian theater and find an Italian play right, which 184 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: really got her into trouble um with this fellow named Anusia. 185 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: But we'll get to that in a second. Um. But um, 186 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: what what I thought was fascinating about this story and 187 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: this rivalry is it's very much like an Amadeus um, 188 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: which is one of my favorite movies and plays, um, 189 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: but in reverse because in some senses, the the Amadeus, 190 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 1: the prophet, the genius was obscured by history. No one 191 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: knows Eleanor Dousa's name. Everyone still knows Sarah Bernhardt hundred 192 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: and fifty years after, you know, a hundred twenty years 193 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: after her death. She's she's still a household name in 194 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: some senses, because she made sure of it. She made 195 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: sure that she stayed relevant. Um. Eleanora kind of discovered 196 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 1: this idea of um, the modern style of acting, of 197 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,560 Speaker 1: the idea of disappearing into your characters, the idea of 198 00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: being a chameleon. And she also shunned the press. So um, 199 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,679 Speaker 1: she she you know, didn't do a lot of interviews 200 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 1: and and um, she was not about, you know, calling 201 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: the spotlight to herself. So we kind of forgot her, 202 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: you know, and yet in her day critics would rave 203 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: about her technique and her ability and her her empathy, 204 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: whereas Sarah was a more heightened kind of what you 205 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: discret you know, what you described as pose acting, lots 206 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,959 Speaker 1: of tableaus and lots of hands to the forehead, but 207 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:23,319 Speaker 1: you know, of the moment and and a style for 208 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: her time, whereas Eleanora was really an innovator on stage. Yeah. 209 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:31,680 Speaker 1: In fact, this sort of the basic comparison i'd like 210 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:33,560 Speaker 1: to I like to make is that in the nineteenth 211 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 1: century acting was very much from the outside in. It 212 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: was there were literally manuals of poses. You know, grief 213 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: was post nineteen, so you go up, come upstage and 214 00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:46,200 Speaker 1: you know, do post nineteen and deliver the line, so 215 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:50,080 Speaker 1: you know, and the master actors like Sarah were champions 216 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: of these poses and they would turn them into works 217 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: of art and and um. You know what's interesting about 218 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: it is that it was very emotionally effective. It wasn't 219 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 1: like the audience was saying, oh, that's so funny. No, 220 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: we were completely buying into that convention and we were 221 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: sobbing in the audiences. I mean, there's all sorts of 222 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:11,440 Speaker 1: anecdotes of people fainting, you know, during Cerebradhart's performances and 223 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 1: being having to be revived with smelling salts and stuff 224 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: like that, because she was so emotionally effective and yet 225 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: and yet, at a certain point, playwrights started act writing 226 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: plays about things that were much more subtle, about the 227 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,319 Speaker 1: disillusion of a marriage, for instance, like like Ibsen, you know, 228 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: a doll's house, a woman walking out on a on 229 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: a marriage. You can't really act that with poses. So, 230 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: you know, Eleanor is kind of rediscovered kind of original acting, 231 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: which is this idea of acting from the inside out, 232 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: of finding an emotionally truthful place and you know, acting 233 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 1: from from from that place in their own way. Both 234 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: of these women were helping to develop the visual language 235 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:54,839 Speaker 1: of what is now. You know what what now plays out, 236 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:58,559 Speaker 1: whether it's on stage or on screen. It's interesting. And 237 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: Eleanora how her own company and did not as not 238 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,320 Speaker 1: as not as well and not as successfully for as long. 239 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:08,079 Speaker 1: But she also was a businesswoman in her own right 240 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: in terms of packaging and putting together her own company. 241 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: If I'm not mistaking, yeah, absolutely, Um. She didn't nearly 242 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: have the um energy and stamina Sarah. Sarah, who would 243 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: you know, put on twice as many shows in any 244 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: given week, or maybe even three times as many shows. 245 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: Um Eleanor was a little sickly. She would often take 246 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: to her bad you know, do fewer performances. But certainly 247 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 1: in her time she was just as famous and just 248 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: as as powerful, and she definitely followed Sarah's example of 249 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: season control of her own career. As soon as she 250 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: realized that she could do that, she did. She um 251 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: partnered with with with a manager who would run run 252 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 1: the company, but she definitely made all the decisions herself. 253 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: And what for in her day in her prime? What 254 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: kind of what kind of money was Sarah pulling in? 255 00:14:57,480 --> 00:14:59,520 Speaker 1: I recall in the book it's a pretty stunning figure 256 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: for turn of the century. I'm trying to think what 257 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: it is in contemporary dollars, but it would be in 258 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: the in the you know, tens of millions. Um, you know, 259 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 1: she was she and she insisted upon being paid in 260 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: gold sovereigns in her tour of America. It was like, 261 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,760 Speaker 1: bring me the bag of gold before I go on stage, 262 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 1: or I'm not performing. When you think about the construct today, 263 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: like did she had was there like a promoter layer 264 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 1: that would help her or would would Sarah if there 265 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: was a fight with the theater over the over the splitting, 266 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: the splitting the receipts, would it be Sarah, you know, 267 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: having to go in there and and fight with somebody 268 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: for something like that. I think that Sarah fought her 269 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: own fights. Yeah, she definitely hadn't had the ability. You 270 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 1: know what's interesting, Um, there's a funny anecdote about promotion 271 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 1: and how Sarah would use publicity. Um. When she toured America. 272 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: One of her most famous plays was this play m 273 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: Camille Ladamo Camilia um, which is about a cortison who 274 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: falls in love with one of her clients and it's 275 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 1: an ill fated, doomed relationship the courts and also has 276 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: um tuberculosis, so she ends up dying at the end 277 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: of the play. Um. But it was you know, scandalous 278 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 1: and you know, um, it was a very popular play 279 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: because you basically got to go into the boudoir of 280 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: a cortisan see backstage like how that works that you know, 281 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: Demi Monde world works. Um. Sarah play the part over 282 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: a thousand times in her career. Um. When she brought 283 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 1: it to America, the puritanical sort of um uh, Protestant 284 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: community basically decided that it was scandalous and it needed 285 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 1: to be banned or we needed to boycott her plays 286 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: or whatever. So one of the um clerics, I forgot 287 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: in which community, but but you know, wrote some op 288 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: ed piece about how it was shocking or whatever. So 289 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: Sarah basically sent him, you know, a couple hundred dollars 290 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: saying thank you so much for that publicity. Normally I 291 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 1: would hire a publicists to do promotion of my but 292 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: since you've done the work for me, you know, I'm 293 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: going to pay you this, please donate it to your right. 294 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: You know, she was a genius in that way. Um. 295 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: And how did the you you talk in the book 296 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,680 Speaker 1: about how in later years the sense of the rivalry, 297 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:15,119 Speaker 1: the competition between the rivalry between Eleanora's style and Sarah's style, 298 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: how that also became a business opportunity for both Yes, 299 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: um and certainly the promoters who were working with them thought, 300 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:25,680 Speaker 1: you know, this is this is goal, This is like 301 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,879 Speaker 1: you know, um uh McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, this is like 302 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: one of these things where we can just milk this 303 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: for all it's worth, you know, Um, and uh, so yes, 304 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: they had these you know, it's radically different approaches. It culminated, 305 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: um in the where Um, Sarah and Eleanor were both 306 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 1: playing the same play in the same city, across the 307 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 1: street from each other in London, in London's West End. 308 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 1: They were both doing this play Magda, which was a 309 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: very famous play at the turn of the last century. 310 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,879 Speaker 1: And you know, in the in these two radically different styles, 311 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,680 Speaker 1: and um, the London Times sent its uh definitive theater 312 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: critic to do the comparison review between the two, and 313 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: that was George Bernard Shaw, before he became a playwright, 314 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,920 Speaker 1: was actually a theater critic, and his review is just delicious. 315 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: What kind of it must have been, you know, given 316 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 1: that both of these women died in the nineteen twenties, Um, 317 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: the research to to really bring these women to life 318 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: must have been you know, a lot of books and 319 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 1: a lot of diving into into very musty archives. What 320 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: kind of source material really helped you paint this great portrait? Well, Um, 321 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,920 Speaker 1: you know, first of all, thank god for Google. It's 322 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: just amazing what you can get, I mean, you know, Um, 323 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:48,040 Speaker 1: and also the press at the time was was very 324 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: very active this was the sort of time of the 325 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: kind of the Hearst papers, and you know, there was 326 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:57,200 Speaker 1: just constant coverage. And also both of them, especially Eleanora, 327 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:01,919 Speaker 1: wrote just tons of letters, so you have these very specific, 328 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,399 Speaker 1: very detailed um first person accounts of you know, what 329 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,640 Speaker 1: she was feeling and doing. I also, you know, went 330 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 1: to Italy. I grew up in Italy. Actually my first 331 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,920 Speaker 1: fifteen years were in Rome, and you know, I went 332 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,399 Speaker 1: back and went to some of the places because I 333 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: like to write in a very visual style and I 334 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,320 Speaker 1: kind of like to see the place and feel and 335 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: smell what what what is it really like? You know 336 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:27,159 Speaker 1: these places. She she grew up in the Benetto region 337 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: near Venice, and you know, I went to some of 338 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: those places and really got a sense of of the 339 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 1: of the place and in the period um and uh. 340 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: And also you know, they both have been covered in 341 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: some really excellent biographies by by other writers, So you know, 342 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: I definitely went into secondary sources to um to sort 343 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:48,880 Speaker 1: of fill out the picture. What would you say in 344 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: all your research, what would you say was the most 345 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: surprising thing that you learned, whether it was about the 346 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 1: business of the time or about the two women, was 347 00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: there was there a moment. Was there a moment where 348 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 1: you would just floored to when you came across a 349 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: piece of information or I guess it was this Um 350 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: in the letters between Dousa and d Nunzio, her kind 351 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: of tumultuous love affair, the love of her life who 352 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: also tried to destroy her career and ended up betraying 353 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 1: her and and actually sleeping with Sarah right right, and 354 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: they were both courting him at some point they were 355 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,399 Speaker 1: both courting him, and Sarah stole his play that he 356 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,720 Speaker 1: had that Eleanor had commissioned from him. It's really quite 357 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: juicy that part of the book. UM. But what was 358 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: interesting is that UM in that period, the eies eighteen nineties, 359 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: is that the intelligencia we're really looking for answers to 360 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:48,400 Speaker 1: deep philosophical questions, especially spiritual ones, and UM they were 361 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 1: reading ancient Vedic texts like the Baga a Gita and 362 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:56,719 Speaker 1: the kind of sutra and and things that you know. 363 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 1: I UM did a move movie about this this Um 364 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,200 Speaker 1: Yogi Parmahansa Yogaanda, and did a whole bunch of research 365 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:07,680 Speaker 1: about you know, and I realized that they were reading 366 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:10,160 Speaker 1: the same things that we were reading, you know, we've 367 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: been reading my wife and I, um recently about this idea, 368 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: the Vedantic idea of of of an expansive um divinity, 369 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: a divinity that's not a patriarchal bearded man throwing down 370 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: lightning bolts, but the idea of divinity being a field, 371 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: you know. And Eleanor called it the grace. There was 372 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 1: something mystical about the way she took the stage and 373 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 1: the way she approached her art. It was the idea 374 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:40,080 Speaker 1: of subjugating your ego, or allowing the ego to actually, 375 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: you know, sit on the bench for a while and 376 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,480 Speaker 1: let something else flow through you. And um, I was 377 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,920 Speaker 1: intrigued by the fact that, um, she was reading these 378 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:53,120 Speaker 1: really ancient texts which had just been translated. Yeah, she's 379 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: quite a Her intellectual life is very active, just as 380 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,000 Speaker 1: her romantic life was as well. And she was an 381 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 1: autodied act. She never went to school. She was basically, 382 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: you know, grew up penniless and and kind of taught herself. 383 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,639 Speaker 1: She was born in a trunk and born and died 384 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:14,160 Speaker 1: backstage in Pittsburgh. Correct, she was she was she born, 385 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,359 Speaker 1: She was born, she uh in a hotel room. She 386 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:19,199 Speaker 1: was born and she died in a hotel room on 387 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: the road. Her entire life was on the road. Yeah, 388 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 1: it's just an incredible story, and it's such an incredible story, 389 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: it just like screams to be a film or a 390 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:30,360 Speaker 1: limited series. I understand there's some some movement in that direction. 391 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: There is, indeed, Um, I always do think cinematically, and um, 392 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: I am blessed to have this book already have been 393 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: optioned by Michael Susy, the Emmy and UM Golden Globe 394 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 1: winning writer director of Grey Gardens, terrific HBO movie from 395 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: a few years ago, Drew Barrymore discaling Yeah, two strong 396 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,880 Speaker 1: female characters. So he's really kind of the ideal director, 397 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,879 Speaker 1: and I'm so blessed to have him. Uh. It's one 398 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: of those things where I'm like, please, yes, take this 399 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,399 Speaker 1: material and make it your own. And you see it 400 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,080 Speaker 1: as a future film. Yeah, yeah, it could be a 401 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: limited series two in the vein of Feud, certainly there's 402 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 1: a precedent there. Um, but we'll we'll see what happens 403 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: with that. Great, Well, good luck with that process. What 404 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:19,160 Speaker 1: else you're working on? Anything anything you can talk about? Um, 405 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: I guess I can. Um, My wife and I we 406 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: have a production company are creating an event in India 407 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:33,640 Speaker 1: next year called Come Together, which is about um commemorating 408 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: the Beatles going to India fifty years ago and opening 409 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: up the floodgates to the idea of yoga and meditation 410 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: and basically changing the world um through the examination. You know, 411 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,120 Speaker 1: now yoga is ubiquitous and it kind of began with 412 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,680 Speaker 1: the Beatles taking an interest in it. Wow, that's an 413 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 1: interesting prison on history. All right, well we'll stay tuned 414 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,520 Speaker 1: to that. Peter Raider, thank you so much for coming by. 415 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:01,720 Speaker 1: You're so welcome. Thanks for listening. Be sure to tune 416 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:06,119 Speaker 1: in next week for another episode of Strictly Business m