William H. MacDonald

William Henry MacDonald (November 1, 1849 – March 27, 1906) was an American baritone and actor who built his career across opera, operetta, and musical theater during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in Steubenville, Ohio, he received his vocal training in England, Germany, and Italy, making his stage debut in Italy in Verdi's Il trovatore. During his European studies he met the soprano Marie Stone (1847–1899), who would become his wife. Before returning to the United States, he performed leading roles in The Barber of Seville, Ruy Blas, and La forza del destino.

MacDonald made his American concert debut in Pittsburgh in January 1876 as part of the concert company of Thérèse Tietjens. That August he was appointed a resident artist at the Boston Lyceum Opera Company, debuting with that organization in December 1876 at the Boston Academy of Music in Martha. His roles there included Don José de Santarém in Maritana and Don Pedro in The Rose of Castille. In 1878 he joined the English Opera Company, managed by William T. Carleton, where his repertoire encompassed Ferrando in Il trovatore, Count Arnheim in The Bohemian Girl, and Giacomo in Fra Diavolo. During this period he also served as a singer at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

By January 1879 MacDonald and his wife were members of Adelaide Phillipps's opera troupe. On March 17, 1879, he made his Broadway debut at Booth's Theatre in the United States premiere of Charles Lecocq's Le petit duc. In June 1879 he portrayed General Kantschukoff in Franz von Suppé's Fatinitza at McVicker's Theatre in Chicago, and in August 1879 he performed at the unveiling of the Custer Monument at West Point, singing in a quartet the piece "Hail! and Farewell to Custer," composed for the occasion by the American novelist Henry Morford. For the 1879–1880 season MacDonald and his wife joined Emma Abbott's traveling opera company, beginning its tour at the Grand Opera House in Manhattan. His roles with Abbott's company included Mephistopheles in Faust, St. Croix in Victor Massé's Paul and Virginie, Capulet in Roméo et Juliette, and Count Arnheim in The Bohemian Girl.

In November 1880 MacDonald joined the Boston Ideal Opera Company at the same time his wife, Marie Stone, was appointed the company's prima donna. He debuted with the organization as Sir Marmaduke in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer, with Stone performing as Aline. When the Boston Ideals dissolved and reorganized as The Bostonians in 1887, MacDonald was credited as one of the founding forces behind that restructuring. With The Bostonians he created the role of Little John in Reginald De Koven's Robin Hood in 1890, Louis Biron in Victor Herbert's Prince Ananias in 1894, and Carlos Alvarado in Herbert's The Serenade in 1897, all of which were staged on Broadway.

His Broadway activity between 1891 and 1904 included a return to the role of Little John in the 1900 revival of Robin Hood and the operetta's sequel, Maid Marian, in 1902. He also appeared in The Viceroy in 1900, playing the role of Corleone, and in A China Doll in 1904, in which he portrayed Wing Lee.

MacDonald was performing with the company of The Free Lance in Springfield, Massachusetts in March 1906 when he fell ill with a cold that developed into pneumonia. He died in Springfield on March 27, 1906.