Amelia Bingham (1869-1927) was born in Hicksville, Ohio, and was educated at Ohio Wesleyan. She pursued a career in theater notwithstanding her deeply religious family’s opposition. After a successful stage career in New York, she became an actress-manager on Broadway.
Miss Bingham appeared at Elitch in Olympe by Pierre Decourcelle, a play taken from the Alexander Dumas novel M’lle Olympe De Cleve. There are seven scenes in the play that takes place in Avignon, Lyons and Paris in 1758 during the reign of Louis XV.
Olympe is an actress and in the opening scene she goes to the cloisters of Avignon. There she meets Jacques Banniere, who is studying for the priesthood. The young man falls in love with the fair actress, follows her to the theater and later deserts the priesthood and becomes an actor. He gives up this profession in turn and becomes a soldier. An odd complication is brought about by the fact that an actor deserts the stage and takes the place of the young priest in the work of the church.
While Olympe is a romantic drama, it is also known as a costume play. In addition to her excellent performance skills, Miss Bingham brought to Elitch the original costumes used in the New York production. She had spent some two months in France creating the costumes for the play, and, as a result, they were historically correct. One gown alone cost Miss Bingham $1,000, which gives one an idea of their beauty.
A Denver theater patron who had seen the play in New York commented – “If there was nothing to Olympe but the gowns, I could go a score of times to see the beautiful creations of Amelia Bingham.”
[Borrillo, T. A. (2012). Denver’s historic Elitch Theatre: A nostalgic journey (a history of its times). Colorado. pp. 58-59]
Seasons at the Theatre
Productions/Roles:
Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:
Elitch Theatre Connections:
Wikipedia Link:
