By Mike Simmons
She was an international star, performing across the United States as well as in London. Mary Anderson was certainly one to stir up an audience, performing in one of her sultry outfits, and she normally sold out every show she appeared in. Known affectionately as “Our Mary,” she starred in London in Gilbert’s Comedy and Tragedy and in Romeo and Juliet in 1884.
So, it was no surprise that, when she returned to the United States in that year and graced her presence in Pensacola on the evening of Saturday, July 24, 1884, the Municipal Opera House was packed. The Pensacola Commercial described her entrance, “When the curtain rose, Mary stepped forward, and in an original style made her presentation before the Pensacola Police. She wore a loose gown of cheviot goods with a portfolio attachment, done up at the waist with a narrow strip of indigo-blue cottonade. The sleeves were cut decollette: she wore her hair à la blouse, and the graceful makeup of her toilet was completed by the flesh-colored gloves and hosing which lent a charm to her figure almost irresistible in its effect. Her feet were encased in sandals made by the great architect, Nature, who was liberal in the measurement.”
That was the extent of her positive impression. She began cursing and abusing the audience. Unlike a recent Michael Buble concert that also featured a foul-mouthed performer, this one was arrested by the Pensacola Police and taken to the mayor for court. She was fined $10, which is the equivalent of $326 in 2025.
She was released and never came back.