 During a break Sargent went to California to arrange a tour for the magician Robert Heller.After the completion of this he remained on the west coast managing a minstrel show and in 1877 attended the California Theatre (San Francisco) to see a performance by Helena Modjeska, playing Adrienne Lecouvreur .She was a Polish actress, born 1840 in Kraków, who moved to America with her husband in 1876 to start a new life farming.