For the week of June 1, 1902, American’s leading opera Contralto — Jessie Bartlett Davis — appeared at the theatre for a one-week run of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“A characteristically clever stroke of business, and a brilliant achievement on the part of Mary Elitch Long, is the securing of Jessie Bartlett Davis for the production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The combination is superlatively attractive. Jessie Bartlett Davis has no peer among American singers.”
[Rocky Mountain News, May 28, 1902.]
Cherished in my memory as one of the most charming women I have ever known, beloved by men and women alike, Jessie Bartlett Davis’ beautiful character was reflected through her work. She was in every sense a real woman, and her delight in my weekly children’s day was genuine. Her pleasure in the beauty of the Gardens was manifested in the hours she daily spent with me beneath the trees during her two weeks’ stay in Denver.
I would like nothing better than to give a detailed account and full measure of the praise and appreciation meted to this great woman, my friend, by the public and the press of our city.
The first Symphony concert of the season, June 6th, under the direction of Signor Cavallo, opened with Beethoven’s great Symphony No. 1, C major, followed by Miss Davis singing, with full orchestra, Beyond the Gates, The Rosary and 0 Promise Me.
[Mary Elitch from Dier, C. L. (1932). The lady of the Gardens: Mary Elitch Long. Hollywood: Hollycrofters, Inc., Ltd.]
