Ragtime Roles: Evelyn Nesbit

Sarah Poole – NCSU Class of 2018

Evelyn Nesbit learned the hard way that beauty can be dangerous. Born in either 1884 or 1885, Evelyn was a model, chorus girl and actress. Her career as a model came after the sudden passing of her father around age 11, which left her family penniless. In a chance encounter, an artist was struck by Evelyn’s beauty and charm and asked her to model. After a few years, Evelyn grew bored of the long hours posing and moved on to being a chorus girl. Her career led her to meet Stanford White, a wealthy architect. White was roughly 30 years older than Evelyn, who was around 16 at the time. After gaining the trust of Evelyn and her mother by assuming a paternal role in her life, White sexually abused Evelyn while she was unconscious. Despite this, a brief relationship followed. Evelyn allowed several other men to vie for her affections until ultimately meeting Harry Kendall Thaw. Through Evelyn’s relationships with other men, White remained her benefactor. Thaw resented White, who he was convinced had essentially blacklisted him from society for his self-indulgent life. After nearly four years of relentless pursuit, Evelyn agreed to marry Thaw. Thaw had a wicked temper, which he assured Evelyn was directed at White. After they were married, Thaw grew increasingly paranoid about White and his presence in Evelyn’s life. This culminated in Thaw shooting and killing White in front of an entire audience during a show at the rooftop theatre of Madison Square Garden.

Thaw was arrested and would eventually face two trials, with Evelyn testifying in both. After the second trial where he pleaded temporary insanity, Thaw would spend just seven years in asylum before being allowed to walk free. Evelyn continued acting for several years to support herself and her son, but struggled with alcohol and drug abuse. She published two memoirs about her life, having been such a high-profile figure for many years.

Evelyn Nesbit lived an interesting life, and who better to portray that than someone who has lived an interesting life of their own. Jade Estrada is just the person to do it. I had a wonderful time sitting with Jade and learning all about her life and where it has taken her. Jade is a graduate student studying at SKEMA, a French business school that partners with NC State. She is currently doing her exchange year here in the U.S. before going back to France next year to finish. Jade studies International Marketing and Business Development. She has hopes of applying her masters to branding development for a company, as she loves to work in teams and make connections.

I was fascinated by all of the places Jade has lived in her lifetime, and to still be young with so many opportunities ahead. She was born in NYC, but moved at age four to Tokyo where she stayed for 10 years. Following her time in Japan, she spent 7 years living in London, and in just the past couple of years before coming to Raleigh, spent time living in Valencia and Paris. After learning about the places she has lived, it came as no surprise to learn she speaks French fluently and Spanish at an intermediate level.

Outside of her studies, Jade enjoys a great many things; skiing, cooking, hiking, painting and drawing, to name a few. One of her favorite things to do is sing, which brings us to how she came to be in Ragtime. Jade was honest with me in saying that she has never had nearly as much interest in acting as she’s had in singing. When she learned of the auditions for Ragtime, she saw it as the perfect opportunity to use her singing in the context of a story. She said she wasn’t sure she’d be able to tell a story on stage without music. That is how she connects to the story and can then make that connection with the audience.

Jade has done quite a bit of research on Evelyn. Even I have to admit I spent a great deal more time than needed reading about her. The incredibly high-profile life she led makes it an easy read. Jade has gone above and beyond to feel like she is doing justice to the real Evelyn Nesbit, and feels that getting to know a character as well as possible makes taking direction from the show’s director, Mia Self, much easier. As a business and marketing student, Jade is no stranger to research. In marketing, you do research to sell something. For Jade, she is doing her research to, in a sense, sell Evelyn to the audience. She did internet research, watched videos of other Ragtime productions on YouTube and found a great deal of insight from the script. When I asked what insight she gained from the script, Jade said that some of Evelyn’s lines, though seemingly insignificant, told her a lot — more specifically, how she often refers to herself in the third person when talking to others. It gives Evelyn the ability to distance herself from situations, something Jade feels she had to learn after being thrust into the adult world and public spotlight at such a young age. Jade admitted that at first, she thought Evelyn was just another annoying, naive and nasally-speaking girl. Jade now believes Evelyn did what she had to to survive and feel justified in her life. She was simultaneously adored and scrutinized by the public, a hard place to be for a young woman. Jade sees a difference between “the girl on the swing” and who Evelyn really was, an independent woman ahead of her time.

In her approach to the role, Jade has wanted to make sure Evelyn stands out as much as she did in real life. She is the only character in heels, and is much flirtier than the other girls. Mia wanted Evelyn to have a naive appearance, but with depth that shows more underneath — that meaning Evelyn’s keen awareness of how she can use her sexuality as a manipulative tool, especially with men. Jade remarked that it’s interesting that Evelyn would not stand out nearly as much in today’s society.

Jade has had an incredible time preparing for the show and can’t wait to be in front of an audience, hopefully being able to convey all of the hard work she has put into Evelyn Nesbit. She is very excited that her parents and sister are flying in to see the show, coming all the way from France and the UK. She is very impressed with University Theatre’s level of production ability. She never expected to have this opportunity and feels honored to work with so many wonderful people. It’s not every day you get to play “ the most beautiful woman in America.”