Premiere and Broadway production The Enchantress premiered at the
National Theatre in Washington, D.C. on October 9, 1911, with a cast led by
Kitty Gordon as Vivien. The cast also included Harold Forde as Prince Iva,
Ralph Riggs as Troute, Hattie Arnold as Mamoute,
Nellie McCoy as Marion Love, Ida Fitzhugh as Princess Diana, Venita Fitzhugh as Princess Stephanie, Arthur Forrest as Ozir, and
Katherine Witchie as Nina. The production moved to
Broadway where it opened at
New York Theatre on October 19, 1911, with the same cast. It ran there for a total of 104 performances, closing on January 20, 1912.
First North American tour The production then toured with its original cast intact and Herbert conducting performances, beginning in Philadelphia at
Chestnut Street Opera House in late January 1912. Other stops on the tour in 1912 included
Parsons Theatre in
Hartford, Connecticut;
Ford's Grand Opera House in Baltimore; Star Theatre in Buffalo, New York; the
Collingwood Opera House in Poughkeepsie, New York; the Princess Theatre in
Toronto;
His Majesty's Theatre, Montreal; the Grand Opera House in
Hamilton, Ontario; Russell Theatre in
Ottawa;
Newark Theatre in New Jersey;
Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City;
Colonial Theatre in Boston; Court Square Theatre in
Springfield, Massachusetts; the Jefferson Theatre in
Portland, Maine;
Lyric Theatre in Allentown, Pennsylvania; the Majestic Theatre in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Nixon Theatre in
Pittsburgh; Lyceum Theatre in
Scranton, Pennsylvania;
Valentine Theatre in Toledo, Ohio; the Grand Opera House in
Cincinnati; the
Detroit Opera House in Michigan; Illinois Theatre on
Jackson Boulevard in Chicago; and return engagements in New York City for brief runs at Teller's Broadway Theatre in Brooklyn, Montauk Theatre in Brooklyn, and the
Grand Opera House in Manhattan.
The Enchantress continued to tour the
Midwestern United States from January to March 1913, with stops in Michigan at Stone's Opera House in
Flint; Power's Opera House in
Grand Rapids; The Athenaeum in
Jackson; Whitney Theater in
Ann Arbor; Gladmer Theatre in
Lansing; Fuller Theatre in
Kalamazoo. The production also toured to the Metropolitan Theatre in
Minneapolis, Minnesota; Waterloo Theatre in
Waterloo, Iowa; the
Burtis Opera House in Davenport, Iowa; Berchel Theatre in
Des Moines, Iowa; Brandeis Theatre in
Omaha, Nebraska; Oliver Theatre in
Lincoln, Nebraska; the Grand Theater in
Topeka, Kansas; Willis Wood Theater in
Kansas City, Missouri; Olympic Theatre in
St. Louis; the Chatterton Opera House in
Bloomington, Illinois; Joliet Theatre in Joliet; the Powers Opera House in
Decatur, Illinois; Oliver Opera House in
South Bend, Indiana; Wells-Bijou Theatre in
Evansville, Indiana; and
English's Opera House in Indianapolis. The tour also went further south to
Macauley's Theatre in
Louisville, Kentucky; and the
Lexington Opera House. In late March 1913 the tour was impacted by the
Great Flood of 1913; stranding members of the company. The tour then ended, and Gordon became a headliner in the
Orpheum Circuit in April 1913.
Second North American tour A second tour of
The Enchantress began in Winnipeg, Canada on September 2, 1913, at
Walker Theatre. This tour was also headlined by Kitty Gordon in the title role, but with a mostly different cast in the other parts. Herbert did not join this tour as conductor with a Mr. Mayhood serving as musical director. The only other returning performers were Hattie Arnold as Mamoute and Arthur Forrest as Ozir. New cast members included the German operatic tenor Gustav Werner (1881–1963) as Prince Ivan, Inez Bauer as Marion Love,
Walter Catlett as Troute, Helen Goff as Princess Stellina, Mary Ambrose as Princess Diana,
Ernest Torrence as Poff,
Sydney Deane as Milock, and Edith Abbott as Mina. There were several stops in
Montana on this tour including the Broadway Theatre in
Butte; the Grand Opera House in
Great Falls;
Babcock Theatre in
Billings; Missoula Theater; and Helena Theatre. The second tour also traversed the
Pacific Northwest for performances at the Heilig Theatre in
Portland, Oregon;
Moore Theatre in Seattle; the American Theatre in
Spokane, Washington; Tacoma Theatre; and Keylor Grand Theatre in
Walla Walla. Other stops on this tour included
Royal Victoria Theatre in British Columbia and
Cort Theatre in San Francisco.
Robert Woolsey took over the role of Troute by the time the production reached Macdonough Theatre in
Oakland, California on October 20, 1913. It then played at the
Majestic Theatre in Los Angeles, where, on October 30, 1913, Gordon collapsed on the stage during her performance, and the audience was subsequently dismissed. It was reported that she was seriously ill, and the remaining tour dates were cancelled.
Other performances Ken Wlaschin described
The Enchantress as a "neglected comic opera" with no professional stagings of note in the modern era.
The Muny presented the operetta in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1929. In 1982 the work was revived
off-off-Broadway in New York by Bel Canto Opera Company with a new book by Frederick S. Roffman, who also directed the production. The cast was led by Joyce Guyer-Hiller as Vivien.
The New York Times described this production as amateur and not reaching the standards of a professional company. Victor Herbert Renaissance Project produced the piece at Christ & St. Stephens Episcopal Church in New York City in 2018, directed by Alyce Mott.
Kurt Gänzl's entry on
The Enchantress in
The Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre lists only one performance of
The Enchantress occurring outside the United States. He states that the work was presented in a one-off performance at
Ladbroke Hall in
Southam, Warwickshire for its UK debut on October 9, 1911. According to Gänzl, the operetta was "not picked up for overseas productions" and only enjoyed popularity in America on tour in performances given mainly by Kitty Gordon. Another production was mounted in December 2019 at Accidental Theatre,
Belfast, Northern Ireland by
NI Opera. ==Recordings==