t h e r o s a t r o u p e
Sherwood Campbell
Sherwood Campbell was associated with the beginnings of the company and
shared the distinction with William Castle (see separate Troupe note) and Carl
Rosa himself of participating in both the American and British company
premieres. He was born Sherwood Coen or Cohen in North Guilford, Connecticut
about 1829 and spent his formative years in nearby New Haven. His youthful tenor
voice led to a career in show business, minstrel shows, and the stage name of
Campbell. He eventually developed into a bass baritone and in the early 1860s he
acquired operatic ambitions and for a time headed an operatic troupe with
William Castle. Both subsequently progressed to the Caroline Richings company
before joining Parepa and Carl Rosa for their inaugural season.
The new company opened with the American premiere of Balfe’s Puritan’s Daughter
at the French Theatre in New York on 11 September 1869. The opera was not a
popular success and achieved only thirteen performances during the season.
Happily, more familiar fare attracted audiences and he was frequently seen as
Arnheim in Bohemian Girl and Don Jose in Maritana. He was probably most at home
in ballad opera but his repertoire extended to Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro and
Don Giovanni although I suspect he would have been a sedate Figaro and a rather
tame Don. His two American seasons (1869–70 and 1871–72) yielded about 290
performances in thirteen operas. His only British season (1873–74) totalled just
sixty-eight performances and there were press rumours that he was unwell. His
last Rosa performance in Faust at Liverpool on 7 February 1874 in the shadow of
Parepa’s death must have been a difficult occasion for him as she had been both
friend and colleague.
He returned to America shortly afterwards but was unable to resume his career.
The British press speculations about his health were not just rumours. He died
in Chicago on 26 November 1874 and was buried at Graceland Cemetery three days
later with old Rosa colleagues Edward Seguin and William Castle as pall bearers.
© 2019 John Ward
