She made her stage debut there as a 13-year-old girl as a chess piece in the operetta The Royal Middy.

Lawrence returned to New York, followed by a position with the National Theatre Stock Company in Washington, D.C., then had Shakespearean roles with Thomas W.

As stock theatres often put on new plays on a weekly basis, by summer 1897, she had taken on over 300 operatic and 500 dramatic roles over the course of her career.

Her popularity was such that when she temporarily left the group in 1901 on a 16-month sabbatical, she received a rousing ovation and tribute.

[6] Lawrence returned to San Francisco in 1904, joining the repertory at the Alcazar Theatre and becoming immediately popular.