Lewis Hallam

Hallam, Lewis (1714–56), actor and manager. His father, Adam, and brother, William, were both actors at London's Covent Garden. William later became a manager, and though he failed, he was left with enough theatrical properties and supporters to organize a company of actors for the American colonies. To this end, he appointed Lewis as head of the troupe, and the company set sail in 1752 for Virginia, where he quickly obtained the governor's permission to act and set about refurbishing the primitive auditorium he found. The company's first bill offered The Merchant of Venice and The Anatomist. Then Hallam moved the troupe to New York, where he had to battle formidable antitheatrical sentiment as well as rebuild another inadequate playhouse. Puritanical opposition plus the limited audiences in what were still relatively small cities forced Hallam to keep on the move. So after his New York stand he traveled with his players to Philadelphia and then to Charleston. In all of these cities he attempted to offer as broad and extended a repertory as possible, ranging from Shakespeare through the Restoration and contemporary dramatists. Some time in late 1754 or early 1755, he took the company to Jamaica, in the West Indies, where he died.