Lotta Faust

Lotta Faust
Everybody's Magazine 1903
Born	(1880-02-08)February 8, 1880 Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died	January 26, 1910(1910-01-26) (aged 29) New York City, New York, United States
Occupation	Actress, Dancer, and Singer
Spouse(s)	Paul Schindler Richard Ling

Paul Schindler

Lotta Faust (February 8, 1880– January 25, 1910) was an American actress, dancer, and singer from Brooklyn, New York. She performed an interpretation of the Salome dance based on the Salome (1893) by Oscar Wilde.

Faust attended public schools in Brooklyn. Her first employment was working as a cash girl in a Brooklyn department store. She worked there until she went on stage at the age of 16.

Her first appearance in theater came in The Sunshine of Paradise Alley (1896), produced by Denman Thompson. In September 1901 she acted the role of Geraldine Fair in The Liberty Belles. The play had nine writers and composers, including Harry B. Smith, the primary librettist. Aine Lauchaume wrote most of the music. It was produced at the Madison Square Theatre, 24th Street, 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue.

She became popular in The Wizard of Oz (1904 - 1905), in which she sang the Sammy song. After this she joined the company of Joe Weber and appeared in Wonderland (1905). Later she was among the cast of The White Hen (1907), staged by Louis Mann at the Casino Theatre, Broadway at 39th Street.

In 1907 she was in the of Lew Fields in The Girl Behind The Counter (1907 - 1908), The Mimic World in 1908 and The Midnight Sons in 1909. For the rest of her life she worked with Fields and in productions of the Shubert Theatre.

Faust's vaudeville career began at the Casino Theatre with the introduction of a unique cake walk. She teamed with Frank Bernard for this dance in April 1900. In August 1908 she appeared at the Casino Theatre. During an interview she admitted to being unaware of the Biblical story of Salome. Her rendition of the Salome dance came from what she was told regarding the Wilde play. She said she as if she really were the 14-year-old Salome while she was dancing on stage. She experienced both the horror and fascination during her performances. For each appearance Faust danced as if she would never be able to repeat what she was doing. There were a number of other women who presented their versions of the Salome dance in the same era as Faust. Among these were Eva Tanguay, Vera Olcott, and Gertrude H. Hoffman. Faust eventually was in a vaudeville show which featured her as a singer.