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TWO FELLOWS AND A GIRL

July 19, 1923

Two Fellows and a Girl is a comedy in three acts by Vincent Lawrence, produced by George M. Cohan. It ran at the Vanderbilt Theatre for 132 performances. 

The play toured the Chautauqua circuit in 1925. 

The play is set in Lea’s home and then the new home.  

CAST

Jack Bennett as Thomas Ellery

Alan Dinehart as Jim Dale

Claiborne Foster as Doris Wadsworth

John Halliday as Jack Moorland

Ruth Shepley as Lea Ellery

George Smithfield as Johnson 

PLAYWRIGHT

Vincent Lawrence (1880-1946) made his Broadway playwriting debut two years earlier. Two Fellows and a Girl was his second play on Broadway but it was closely followed by In Love With Love, which opened while Two Fellows was still running but closed around the same time. While Two Fellows was never filmed, In Love With Love was immediately filmed in 1924, the first of his nearly 40 screenplays. After In Love With Love, he wrote ten more plays and musicals for Broadway, the last in 1945, a year before his death. 

~ Heywood Braun, Vanity Fair

VENUE

Vanderbilt Theatre (148 West 48th Street; 780 seats) Next door to the Cort Theatre, producer Lyle Andrews built it to house his own productions but lost it during the Depression. From 1939 to 1952, it was used as a radio studio. In 1953 it reopened it as a legit venue, but it only lasted a year before it was razed in 1954 to build a parking facility which itself was torn down in 2018. The venue famously hosted the original productions of Irene (1919), O’Neill’s Anna Christie (1921), and A Connecticut Yankee (1927).  

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ADRIENNE

May 28, 1923

Adrienne is a musical in two acts by Albert Von Tilzer; Book & lyrics by A. Seymour Brown from a story by Frances Bryant and William Stone. Produced by Louis F. Werba; Staged by Edgar J. MacGregor; Choreographed by David Bennett.  It ran for 235 performances at George M. Cohan’s Theatre. 

The action is set at Sing Sing Prison in New York, John Grey's Home near New York, and the Shrine of Ramah.

COMPOSER

Albert Von Tilzer (born Albert Gumm,1878–1956) was the younger brother of fellow songwriter Harry Von Tilzer. He wrote the music to many hit songs, including, most notably, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".  This was one of eight Broadway shows to which he contributed music. 

CAST

Vivienne Segal (1897-1992) as Adrienne Grey. Segal's career began when she was 15 years old and began performing with the Philadelphia Operatic Society. Her Broadway debut came in The Blue Paradise (1915), a production that was underwritten by her father. In 1924 and 1925, she was a member of the Ziegfeld Follies. Segal may be best remembered for creating the role of Vera Simpson in Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey and introducing the song "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered". 

VENUE

George M. Cohan’s Theatre (1482 Broadway at West 43rd Street; 1085 seats) was built in 1911 by George M. Cohan and Sam H. Harris. In 1915, it was sold and forfeited it to the mortgage lender in 1938. To help keep the theatre in operation, the management began screening movies in the early-1920’s on weekends, and while not dark, presenting legitimate fare onstage. While a handful more of minor stage hits occurred during the late-1920’s and into the 1930’s, like “Rain or Shine” in 1928 and 1931’s “DuBarry”, The George M. Cohan Theatre by then was making much more money off its on-screen than on-stage fare, including a long run of the MGM spectacular silent movie “Ben Hur” in 1925. In 1932, the theatre switched over to movies altogether, ending almost two decades as a legit house. It could not compete with larger cinemas and was torn down in 1938. The New York Theatre (first used for newsreels) was opened on the site in April 1940.

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SWEET NELL OF OLD DRURY

May 18, 1923

Sweet Nell of Old Drury was a revival of a play by Paul Kester that first premiered on Broadway in 1901. The four-act farce ran for 35 performances at the 48th Street Theatre. It was produced by the Equity Players and J. Hartley Manners. 

This production was a benefit for Equity Players. Star Laurette Taylor was allowed to pick the play.  

The play concerns the relationship between actress Nell Gwynn (Sweet Nell aka Little Nell) and King Charles II. The role of Nell was originally played by Ada Rehan on Broadway, and Julia Neilson in the West End.  In this revival Laurette Taylor played opposite Alfred Lunt, two of the most respected actors on stage. Lunt’s wife of one year, Lynn Fontanne, was also in the play. 

There was a silent film version in 1911 that was shot in Australia and starred Nellie Stewart, who had played the role on the Australian stage. It was the first time an internationally famous Australian actress had been recorded on celluloid. The film was retitled Nell Gwynn in the USA. It is now considered lost. Julie Neilson, star of the UK production, also did a silent short (2 minutes!) based on the play in 1900.

The character of Nell Gwynn also appeared in other films, not based on the Kester playscript: Mary Pickford (1915), Dorothy Gish (1926), Gracie Fields (1934), Anna Nagle (1934 and 1954), Virginia Field (1941), Margaret Lockwood (1949), Teresa Codling (1983), Lucy Speed (1995), Emma Pierson (2003), Zoe Tapper (2004), 

Coincidentally, two days before this revival opened on Broadway, London’s West End produced a play titled Ned Kean of Old Drury. The two plays had nothing in common except the title. 

CRITIQUE

~ The Bookman, Volume 57

~ Theatre Magazine, Volumes 37-38

AUTHOR

Paul Kester (1870-1933) made his Broadway debut with the original production of Sweet Nell of Old Drury. Many of his plays were revived over his 30 years on Broadway.  He also penned dramatic versions of classic novels like Don Quixote and Tom Sawyer. 

CAST

Laurette Taylor (1883-1946) made her Broadway debut in The Great John Ganton in 1908 and appeared in 30 other stage productions until the year before her death.  Her biggest hit was Peg o’ My Heart, written for her by her husband Manners. It ran on Broadway from December 20, 1912 to May 1914, setting a new Broadway dramatic-play run record of 607 performances. The play made Taylor “the most generally worshiped [theatrical] star of her time,” and cemented her reputation as a skilled actress. After it closed on Broadway, Taylor starred in the London production until 1915. Taylor toured the US with a revival of Peg o’ My Heart, which reopened on Broadway at the Cort Theater on February 14, 1921, and ran for another 692 performances. She recreated her role in the 1922 (silent) film version. Despite her great stage success, she only did three films and never did a talkie. Her final role on Broadway was in the original production of The Glass Menagerie in 1945.  

Taylor’s previous Broadway production was Humoresque at the Vanderbilt Theatre. 

Alfred Lunt (1892-1977) was one of 20th century Broadway's leading male stars. He married actress Lynn Fontanne (1887-1983) on May 26, 1922. They became the pre-eminent acting couple in Broadway history. Secure in their public image as a happily married couple, they played adulterers, as in Robert Sherwood's Reunion in Vienna, or as part of a menage a trois in Noël Coward's Design for Living, a play written expressly for the Lunts. The couples appeared together in more than twenty plays. Despite not playing opposite one another, this was their first Broadway collaboration. In 1958, the former Globe Theatre was renovated and re-named The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in their honor. It is still in operation under that name today. 

VENUE

48th Street Theatre (157 West 48th Street; 970 seats) was built by producer William A. Brady in 1912. In the 1920s, Actors’ Equity leased the space for its Equity Players, producers of Roger Bloomer. Renamed the Windsor in 1937 and leased to Labor Stage (the culture wing of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union). It reverted back to its original name in 1943 to avoid confusion with a similarly named theatre in the Bronx. On August 24, 1955, a water tower collapsed and destroyed the theatre. The owners opted to sell the land rather than repair the damage.

The most successful play in the theatre’s history was Harvey (1944) by Mary Chase which ran for 1775 performances, won Chase the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was adapted into a 1950 film. Another success at the theatre was Stalag 17 (1951), which was also made into a successful 1953 film.

Previously in 1923, the 48th Street Theatre housed Roger Bloomer, Anathema, and The Inspector General. 

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DEW DROP INN

May 17, 1923

Dew Drop Inn is a musical comedy in two acts with music by Alfred Goodman; Book by Walter De Leon and Edward Delaney Dunn; Lyrics by Cyrus Wood. It also featured songs by Rudolf Friml, J. Fred Coots and Jean Schwartz with lyrics by McElbert Moore. Ensemble music was by Sigmund Romberg. Staged by Fred G. Latham under the supervision of J.J. Shubert. Choreographed by Francis Weldon. It ran for 83 performances at the Astor Theatre. As was usual with New York theatres in summer (pre-air conditioning), the production went on hiatus for the month of July and re-opened on July 30, closing August 25th. 

After closing on Broadway, the musical went on tour and played Brookyn’s Majestic Theatre.

The musical takes place on the terrace and in the Garden in the moonlight at a Hotel on the shore of a Southern California Seaside Resort.

CAST

The cast included James Barton, Alice Brady, Spencer Charters, Harry Clark, Danny Dare, William Holden, Marcella Swanson, and Mabel Withee.

James Barton (Ananias Washington) was born into a theatrical family on November 1, 1890 in Gloucester City, New Jersey. Barton began performing in minstrel shows and burlesque houses throughout the country in 1898. His years of experience working with African American performers led to his becoming one of the first jazz dancers in America. He made his Broadway debut in the musical revue The Passing Show of 1919 in a role originally intended for Ed Wynn.  This was his fourth Broadway show in a career that last until 1957, including being a replacement in Tobacco Road and in the original company of Paint Your Wagon. He died in 1962. 

VENUE

Astor Theatre (1537 Broadway at 45th Street; 1,600 seats) was built in 1906 by the producing team Wagenhals and Kemper. From 1912 to 1916, it was managed by George M. Cohan and Sam Harris. The Shuberts followed, managing the theatre until 1925, when it became a movie theater. In 1972, faulty air-conditioning forced it to close for good. It was demolished in 1982 (along with the Victoria, Helen Hayes, Morosco, and Bijou theatres). The Marriott Hotel, which houses the Marquis Theatre, was built on the site.

Among the plays that debuted at the Astor were Cohan's Seven Keys to Baldpate (1913) and Why Marry? (1917) by Jesse Lynch Williams, the first winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

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THE CHIP WOMAN’S FORTUNE

May 15, 1923

The Chip Woman’s Fortune is a one-act drama written by Willis Richardson that opened at the Frazee Theatre for a run of 31 performances. The play was produced by The Ethiopian Art Players, at the personal invitation of H.H. Frazee. 

The play was on the same bill as Oscar Wilde’s Salome, a condensed and jazzy  A Comedy of Errors, and a jazz band. 

The play has the distinction of being the first dramatic play written by a black author on Broadway. Although Broadway had seen African American musical comedies and revues, it had never seen a serious drama.

The play was previously produced in Chicago and at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem. The Ethiopian Players disbanded when their manager absconded with the company’s money, leaving the troupe stranded in NYC. 

THE STORY

The play opens with Liza not feeling well and being taken care of by her Aunt Nancy. Emma and Liza agree that Aunt Nancy has been a very helpful presence in the home, but with debt collectors at the door Liza suspects that they will need to put Aunt Nancy out of the house. Silas suspects Aunt Nancy secretly has a fortune that she keeps buried in the backyard. Aunt Nancy confesses that she is keeping money for her son Jim, who got out of jail. Jim gives Silas fifteen dollars. half of the money that Aunt Nancy has saved. Silas repays his debts and Aunt Nancy and Jim move on.

AUTHOR

Willis Richardson (1889-1977) was considered one of the most important playwrights for the African American community. Richardson stressed "that the plays should focus on the black community and not on racial tension and differences."  He goes on to state that most of his plays would be "drawn for the most part from folk tradition, they should center on black conflicts within the black community."  Richardson stated “Negro drama has been, next to my wife and children, the very hope of my life. I shall do all within my power to advance it.” During these formative years of black drama, Richardson exerted his energies towards promoting and perfecting his craft. Richardson was awarded the AUDELCO Prize for excellence in black theatre. His play Mortgaged was presented in 1923 by the Howard Players at Howard University. It was subsequently produced by the Dunbar Players in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1924.

CRITIQUE

“’The Chip Woman’s Fortune’…is an unaffected and wholly convincing transcript of everyday character. No one is tricked out of pleasure; no one is blackened to serve as a dramatic contrast. I am referring, of course, to points of essential character, not to that matter of walnut stain.” ~ Bernard Peterson, The New York Times

"The Negro Drama in America took another step forward when The Ethiopian Art Players under Raymond O'Neil, came to Broadway, New York. Financially the experiment was a failure; but dramatically and spiritually it was one of the greatest successes this country as ever seen."  ~ W.E.B Du Bois, The Crisis 

“Richardson's characters in ‘The Chip Woman's Fortune’ are not stereotyped: They have dignity, pride, and a love of God, family, and neighbors. Nor did other works produced by The Ethiopian Art Players stereotype African Americans as drunks, prostitutes, criminals, or clowns who grin and sham their way through life.” ~  Marvie Brooks

VENUE

The Frazee Theatre (254 West 42nd Street; 880 seats) opened in December 1904 as The Lew M. Fields Theatre. Fields, one half of the Weber & Fields comedy team, leased this venue from Oscar Hammerstein. After two successful years, producer-actor James K. Hackett took over the lease and renamed the theatre for himself. In 1911, William B. Harris did the same. In 1920 it became the Frazee, named after the producer / director. It became a movie house in 1930 (as Wallacks), then a grind movie house in 1940, the ANCO Cinema. In 1988, the interior was gutted and it was used as retail space. It was finally demolished in 1997 as part of the 42nd Street redevelopment. 

The theatre was best known for its tiered boxes on each side of the proscenium arch, which could seat over 20. It was also one of the earliest Broadway theatres to install a fire-prevention system, complete with a pair of 5,000-gallon water tanks on the roof. 

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BOMBO

May 14, 1923

[Note: Inclusion in this blog does not imply legal permission to perform material that may still be under legal protection!]

Bombo is a revival of a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Harold R. Atteridge and music by Sigmund Romberg. It was produced by Lee Shubert and J.J. Shubert and staged by J.C. Huffman at the Winter Garden Theatre for 32 performances. It starred Al Jolson. 

Songs were added by several composers during the run of the show and subsequent tour. By the end of the run there were more songs by other composers than Romberg. During the three year tour several songs were added including “Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo’ Bye)” by Gus Kahn, Ernie Erdman & Dan Russo and “California, Here I Come!” by Jolson, B.G. de Sylva & Joseph Meyer.  

This production was a return engagement of the original production which played at the Jolson's 59th Street Theatre from from October 1921 to April 1922 for a total of 218 performances before going on a National Tour which preceded this return engagement. 

The show is a revue designed to showcase the talents of Al Jolson, who plays the title role.  

Synopsis ~ Bombo starts with Jolson's blackface character Gus as the servant for a modern day explorer. In a flashback, he became a slave that Columbus brought along on his first voyage to the new world.

VENUE

The original production of Bombo opened Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre, named after Al Jolson by the Shuberts. When the show returned from its nearly three year tour, however, it went into the Winter Garden Theatre, home of large-scale musicals and revues, despite the fact that the theatre where the show premiered and which was named for him remained dark during this month-long return engagement. However, Jolson was partial to the Winter Garden, where he had performed all of his seven previous Broadway musicals from 1911 to 1919. After Bombo’s revival, he continued at the Winter Garden in a couple of shows, but would never return to the theatre bearing his name again. 

Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway at West 50th Street; 1,526 seats) In 1910, the Shuberts leased the American Horse Exchange and turned it into theatre. This would be the second theatre in New York named Winter Garden. In 1922, the Shuberts hired Herbert J. Krapp to design an extensive renovation and modernization of the auditorium. In 1932, the Shuberts negotiated with Ziegfeld's widow, Billie Burke, to assume the name and format of his Follies. Later, the house was host to many long-running musicals, including Cats, its longest-running tenant at nearly 18 years. It is still in operation today and one of the few Broadway theatres actually located on the thoroughfare named Broadway. 

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FOR VALUE RECEIVED

May 7, 1923

For Value Received was a four act melodrama by Ethel Clifton, directed by Augustin Duncan (who also acted in it) that opened at the Longacre Theatre and ran for 48 performances.  

SYNOPSIS

AUTHOR / STAR

Augustin Duncan 1873-1954 (Director & Almeric Thomson) was the brother of famed dancer Isadora Duncan. From 1900 to 1946 he did more then 40 plays on Broadway. 

CRITIQUE

~ Dorothy Parker

VENUE

The Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street; 1,091 seats) was presumably named for Longacre Square, the former name of Times Square, by manager-promoter Harry Frazee (who also owned the Boston Red Sox. It opened in 1913. The Shuberts bought it in 1919. In the 1930s, the Group Theatre produced several Clifford Odets plays there. From 1943 to 1953, it was leased as a radio and television playhouse and inally returned to legit use in 1954. It is still in operation today under its original name. 

Also Opening on May 7, 1923....

The Mountebank by W.J. Locke at The Lyceum Theatre (32 performances)

Salome by Oscar Wilde at The Frazee Theatre (8 performances)

The Apache by Will H. Gregory at The Punch & Judy Theatre (16 performances)

The Drama League’s Little Theatre Tournament at The Nora Bayes Theatre (20 plays over 5 days)

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PRIDE

May 2, 1923

Pride is a three act play by Thompson Buchanan, produced and directed by Oliver Morosco at the Morosco Theatre for a run of 13 performances. 

The play takes place in New York City and Long Island. 

AUTHOR

PRODUCER / DIRECTOR / THEATRE OWNER

Oliver Morosco (1875-1945) was a theatrical impresario as well as an acrobat, and operated Morosco’s Grand Opera one of San Francisco’s leading theaters. Morosco began producing plays in New York City in 1906 and mounted over 40 productions on Broadway. In 1926 he filed for bankruptcy, his fortune lost in part due to a large speculative purchase of land in California where he planned to create a development called “Morosco Town”. At the age of 69, Morosco was struck and killed by a streetcar in Hollywood.

CAST

Hilda Spong (1875-1955) as The Duchess de Valmont. Spong had a 40 year-long stage career with more than 50 productions to her credit. In 1914 she was in the original Broadway company of Bernard Shaw’s Getting Married. 

CRITIQUE

~ Dorothy Parker

VENUE

Morosco Theatre (217 West 45th Street) was built by the Shuberts, who constructed it for Oliver Morosco in gratitude for his helping them break the monopoly of the Theatrical Syndicate. It had approximately 955 seats. It opened to the public on February 5, 1917 with Canary Cottage, a musical with a book by Morosco and a score by Earl Carroll. The Shuberts lost the building in the Depression and City Playhouses, Inc. bought it at auction in 1943. It was sold in 1968 to Bankers Trust Company and, after a massive “Save the Theatres” protest movement failed, it was razed in 1982.

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MY AUNT FROM YPSILANTI

May 1, 1923

My Aunt from Ypsilanti is a farce in three acts by Paul Gavault translated and produced by Henry Baron. Directed by Armand Robi, it opened at the Earl Carroll Theatre for a run of seven performances. The action is set in Greenwich Village New York and Virginia. 

[Ypsilanti is a city in Washtenaw County in the US state of Michigan, perhaps best known as the home of Eastern Michigan University. Baron probably thought the name sounded humorous and indeed it is the only Broadway play in history to have this city in its title!]

The original 1914 French script by Gavault was titled Ma Tante D’Honefleur. It was adapted for the British stage as The Aunt.  

This was Broadway’s second English translation of Gavault’s play. The first was She’s In Again in 1915. It played at the Gaiety Theatre for a run of 48 performances and starred Sydney Greenstreet, later an Oscar nominee for The Maltese Falcon in 1942. 

The original French script was filmed three times: 1923, 1931, and 1949. 

CAST 

Alice Fisher (1869-1947) as Mrs. Armitage, from Yspilanti.  Fisher performed in more than 25 Broadway productions between 1898 and 1935. Her one film appearance was the now lost 1917 National Red Cross Pageant. She founded the Twelfth Night Club in New York and was the President of the organisation for over 20 years.

CRITIQUE

~ Dorothy Parker

VENUE

Erroll Carroll Theatre (753 7th Avenue at 50th Street; 1025 seats) was built in 1922 by Earl Carroll to stage revues. In 1930, he demolished it, bought the adjacent building and rebuilt it as a bigger theatre and movie palace -- but the weekly running costs proved unsustainable. Foreclosure followed, and Ziegfeld acquired and renamed it the Casino (or French Casino) Theatre. In 1936, it was a night club called Casa Manana. By 1939, then owner Billy Rose had lost interest and closed the venue. Later replaced by Woolworth's, it was razed in 1990.

My Aunt From Ypsilanti was its eighth show. 

There is also an Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood that opened in 1938 and was more of a nightclub than legitimate theatre. After Carroll’s death the name was changed to the Moulin Rouge. The building is now occupied by Nickelodeon studios.

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THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

April 30, 1923

The Inspector General is a four-act comedy by Nikolai Gogol, translated by Thomas Seltzer and Samuel Grossman, directed by Maurice Swartz (who also played the leading role), produced by Classic Theatre Inc. It opened on April 30, 1923 at the 48th Street Theatre and played 8 performances. 

The play takes place in Russian in the 1830s. 

It was originally staged in Moscow at the Maly Theater in May 1836.  

The play is also known as The Government Inspector. Originally published in 1836, the play was revised for an 1842 production. Based upon an anecdote allegedly recounted to Gogol by Pushkin, the play is a comedy of errors, satirizing human greed, stupidity, and the extensive political corruption of Imperial Russia.

The play was revived on Broadway in 1930, 1935, 1978, and 1994. 

The play has been performed in various translations since 1923. It has also served as the inspiration for numerous adaptations on film, literature, television, and opera. In 1949, Danny Kaye starred in a musical comedy film adaptation. 

Synopsis ~ A small provincial town in Russia has been informed that a dreaded inspector is soon to arrive. They mistakenly assume that the inspector is Khlestakov, an irresponsible, feckless young clerk returning home from St. Petersburg. The servility and bribery displayed by the officials betrays their fear that their misdeeds will be uncovered.

AUTHOR

Nikolai Vassilievitch Gogol (1809-52) was a Ukrainian-born humorist, dramatist, and novelist whose works, written in Russian, significantly influenced the direction of Russian literature. His novel Dead Souls and his short story “The Overcoat” are considered the foundations of the great 19th-century tradition of Russian realism. His only other Broadway credit was his play Marriage in 1935 performed by the Moscow Art Players. 

CRITIQUE

CAST

Maurice Swartz (Khlestakóv) was also the show’s director, as well as the producer of Anathema, another Russian story that opened (and closed) a few weeks earlier.  

Florence Earle (Pevrónya Petróvna Poshlyópkina) was also in the cast of Anathema. In 1934, she was in the ensemble of the musical Anything Goes with Ethel Merman, followed by Lilliom, which served as the basis for the musical Carousel. 

Emil Hoch (Luká Lukítch Khlopov) was in three shows in a row on Broadway, starting with Roger Bloomer, then Anathema, and finally The Inspector General. 

VENUE

48th Street Theatre (157 West 48th Street; 970 seats) was built by producer William A. Brady in 1912. In the 1920s, Actors’ Equity leased the space for its Equity Players, producers of Roger Bloomer. Renamed the Windsor in 1937 and leased to Labor Stage (the culture wing of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union). It reverted back to its original name in 1943 to avoid confusion with a similarly named theatre in the Bronx. On August 24, 1955, a water tower collapsed and destroyed the theatre. The owners opted to sell the land rather than repair the damage.

The most successful play in the theatre’s history was Harvey (1944) by Mary Chase which ran for 1775 performances, won Chase the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was adapted into a 1950 film. Another success at the theatre was Stalag 17 (1951), which was also made into a successful 1953 film.

Earlier in 1923, director and star Maurice Swartz also produced Anathema, another Russian play at the 48th Street Theatre

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SYLVIA

April 25, 1923

Sylvia is a three-act comedy by Leighton Osmun that opened April 25, 1923 at Provincetown Playhouse and ran for 13 performances. 

Leighton Graves Osmun was born in Newark NJ in 1881. Sylvia was the third of his five Broadway* plays between 1919 and 1931.  He wrote the novel The Clutch of Circumstance in 1914, which also included a character named Sylvia. In Hollywood, he worked alongside Cecil B. DeMille. He died in California in June 1929. 

* This production pre-dates the geographical and seating requirement of what is now considered a ‘Broadway’ show. 

SYNOPSIS

CRITIQUE

VENUE

Provincetown Playhouse (133 MacDougal Street) is named for the Provincetown Players, who converted the former bottling plant into a theater in 1918. The Players were formed while vacationing in Provincetown, Mass. The original Players were Eugene O’Neill, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Djuna Barnes.  The building was extensively renovated in 1940 when it became designated as an Off-Broadway rather than a Broadway theatre.  The Playhouse’s longest-running play was the five-year run of Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (1985-1990) by Charles Busch, which was also its last major production before being shut down for many years, needing building code upgrades.  From 1998 until the present, the Playhouse has primarily been used by New York University’s Educational Theatre department. In the Fall of 2008, however, the original Playhouse structure was torn down to make way for office space for the university’s law school, citing that the original building’s foundation (built in the 1840s) was structurally unsound to build upon. The university promised a new theatre in the same air space as the original and construction was completed by the fall of 2010. The space was then returned for use by the University’s Educational Theatre program.

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WITHIN FOUR WALLS

April 17, 1923

Within Four Walls is a two act play by Glen MacDonough, staged by Oscar Eagle, produced by Mack Hilliard. It opened at the Selwyn Theatre for a run of 13 performances. 

Synopsis 

CRITIQUE

“Here was an idea for a good play spoiled by careless, amateurish handling.” ~ Theatre Magazine

“When Helen Ware made her first appearance as Delphine, the octoroon, in ‘Within Four Walls’ at the Selwyn Theatre, we sat back with a feeling that real drama was at hand. But it wasn’t.” ~ Alice Rohe, United Press

“If there are occasional threadbare patches in the warp of Mr. MacDonough’s play, these faults are more than redeemed by the inherent possibilities in his arresting dramatic situation.” ~ Robert Allerton Parker, The Independent

AUTHOR

Glen MacDonough (1870-1924) is best-remembered today as the librettist of Victor Herbert's operetta, Babes in Toyland (1903). He was also one of many lyricists called to help out in the first musical production of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz (1902). Within Four Walls was his final play.   

CAST

Leonard Doyle (1893-1959) as Gerrit Minuet.  Doyle did more than 25 Broadway plays, including the original production of The Time of Your Life  (1939). He is best known as detective Harrigan on “Mr. District Attorney” from 1939 to 1953, first on radio, then on television. 

Helen Ware (1877-1939) as Delphine. Ware made her first appearance in 1899 with Maude Adams and by her thirties was playing the character parts for which she became famous. In 1911 she told the New York Times that she was tired of acting on stage, calling it drudgery.  She began acting in silent films in 1914 and continued into the sound era. 

VENUE

Selwyn Theatre (227 West 42nd Street; 740 seats) opened on October 2, 1918 and was named for Arch Selwyn. By 1934, it was showing movies. In 1950, a unique policy was introduced: a sixty-minute play to precede each screening resulting in thirty live shows each week. Traditional double features quickly took over, lasting into the 1990s, when the theatre fell into the hands of The New 42nd Street, Inc. Roundabout Theatre Company signed a long-term lease and renovated the theatre as American Airlines Theatre.  

One of its most popular presentations was the Kaufman and Hart comedy The Royal Family, based on the lives of the Barrymores, which ran 345 performances in 1927. 

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HOW COME

April 16, 1923

“A GIRLY MUSICAL DARKOMEDY”

How Come is a black musical in two acts with a book by Eddie Hunter, music and lyrics by Ben Harris with additional songs by Will Vodery and Henry Creamer. Directed by Sam H. Grisman, choreographed by Henry Creamer and Frank Montgomery.  It opened at the Apollo Theatre and ran for 40 performances, closing May 19, 1923.

The musical takes place in Montgomery, Alabama and Chicago, Illinois.

Pre-Broadway, the show played Philadelphia, where it starred Bessie Smith. After closing on Broadway, the show went on tour to cities like Washington DC.

SYNOPSIS ~ A black musical comedy with songs, dances and specialty numbers strung around a wispy story about Rastus Skunkton Lime and his scheme to steal funds from the Mobile Chicken Trust Corporation, run by Ebenezer Green and Brother Ham. 

CRITIQUE

CAST 

Andrew Tribble in drag as Ophelia Snow. This was the last of his four drag roles on Broadway. In his 1907 Broadway debut he also played a character named Ophelia. 

Librettist Eddie Hunter as Rastus Skunkton Lime

Legendary clarinetist and saxophonists Eddie Bechet as The Police Chief

VENUE

Apollo Theatre (223 West 42nd Street: 1,200 seats) was built in 1910 as the Bryant, 42nd Street's first motion picture and vaudeville house. In 1920, the Selwyn brothers rebuilt it as a legit house, the Apollo. From November 1934 to 1937, burlesque was produced, until the Brandt chain took over. By 1938, it was a popular art and foreign movie house. 1979 to 1983 marked a brief return to legit theatre under the name The New Apollo. Later, it held rock concerts as the Bryant. Architectural elements from the building were incorporated into the Ford Center in 1998.

The Apollo’s former tenant was the final home of Gods of Vengeance, a long-running and controversial drama by Sholem Asche. The play was the subject of Paula Vogel’s 2015 Broadway play Indecent.

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ZANDER THE GREAT

April 9, 1923

Zander the Great is a three-act play with prologue written by Salisbury Field. It opened on April 9, 1923 at the Empire Theatre for a run of 80 performances. The production was staged by David Burton and Produced by Charles Frohman Inc. 

The play takes place in Weeweedin, New Jersey and Southern Arizona.

Synopsis ~ Mamie, an abused orphan girl, is taken in by Mrs. Caldwell, a kindly woman with a young son named Alexander. Mamie hits it off with the lad, and nicknames him "Zander". When Mrs. Caldwell dies, the authorities decree that the boy must be placed in the same orphanage where Mamie came from. Horrified, Mamie determines to see to it that the boy will be spared the same treatment that she had to suffer and takes him away, facing bootleggers and cowboys. 

A year after closing on Broadway, the play was produced at the Fulton Theatre in Oakland, California.  

In 1925 Zander the Great was made into a silent film directed by George W. Hill, his first directing role for MGM. The film was produced by William Randolph Hearst and starred his wife Marion Davies. Also in the film was future gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. 

CRITIQUE

~ Theatre Magazine

~ The Independent

AUTHOR

Salisbury Field (1878-1936) was a great friend and former employee of William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies.  This was the last of four plays of his on Broadway. His first, Twin Beds (1914) was filmed four times: in 1920, 1929, 1934, and 1942. He was also an illustrator who signed his drawings “Childe Harold.” 

CAST

George Abbott (1887-1995) as Texas, makes his sixth acting appearance on Broadway. He would go on to become one of Broadway’s most legendary producers, directors, and playwrights in a career that spanned nine decades. He won a 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Fiorello and also earned 11 Tony Awards, the last of  which honored his 100th birthday. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1930. 

VENUE

Empire Theatre (1430 Broadway between 40th & 41st Street; 1100 seats) Producer Charles Frohman had it built "uptown" in 1893 at the suggestion of Al Hayman -- "Everything theatrical is moving uptown," he said. Hayman later owned it after Frohman died on the Lusitania in 1915. In 1948, the Astor estate purchased the theatre and announced, in 1953, that it would be torn down to make way for an office tower. Waves of nostalgia spread through the theatre community, and performers gathered to celebrate the venue in a retrospective farewell performance. After its final performance, audience members tore at the theatre for souvenirs including seat covers, plumbing pieces, and lighting fixtures.

The Empire Theatre hosted Life With Father (1939), which holds the record for the longest running play in Broadway history. It also was home to a far shorter run of its sequel Life With Mother (1945).  Its final production was The Time of the Cuckoo (1953) which won Shirley Booth her third Tony Award. 

The opening of the Empire Theatre was partly responsible for the birth of Broadway as we know it today, as well as the development of Times Square. 

ALSO ON THIS DATE...

The Exile ~ a three-act play by Sidney Toler opened at George M. Cohan’s Theatre for a run of 32 performances. 

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ANATHEMA

April 10, 1923

Anathema ~ is a fantasy in seven scenes written by Leonid Andreyev (translated by Herman Bernstein) and produced by Maurice Swartz. It opened at the 48th Street Theatre and ran 15 performances.  

The play takes place at the Gates of Heaven and in a Russian Village.

SYNOPSIS

On November 25, 1910 the play had its American premiere (in Yiddish) at the Lipzin Theatre, 225 Bowery. The Tribune was the only New York newspaper published in English to print a review of the play.

“At last Leonid Andreyev's ‘Anathema’ has been produced in this country at the Yiddish Art Theatre by Maurice Swartz. It waited thirteen years for its production in New York. Andreyev gave me the manuscript of ‘Anathema’ in 1909, before it was published in Russia and before it was produced by the Moscow Art Theatre.” ~ Herman Bernstein (translator) in The New York Times  

Paul Muni as David Leizer in the 1910 Yiddish production, a role taken by producer Maurice Swartz on Broadway.  

In speaking of Anathema translator Herman Bernstein said:

"Andreyev told me that while he was not a Jew himself he wanted to portray the Jew as he has never before been pictured. 'The Jew,' he said, 'has always been before the bar of justice--he has either been defended by his friends or attacked by his enemies. He has never been depicted as he really is. I want to portray the martyred Jew of all ages.” 

Bernstein asked Andreyev how he has caught the psychology of his Jewish characters not being a Jew himself. He replied, “I lived with them for three days at Odessa. If one sees a man's coat he can tell what he is inside. All it requires is imagination.”

AUTHOR

Leonid Andreyev (1871-1919) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who led the Expressionist movement in the national literature. He was active between the revolution of 1905 and the Communist revolution which finally overthrew the Czarist government. It was not, however, until Gorky discovered him by stories appearing in the Moscow Courier and elsewhere that Andreyev’s literary career really began.He was hailed as a new star in Russia, where his name soon became a byword. Although he started out in the Russian vein he soon startled his readers by his eccentricities, which grew even faster than his fame. 

CRITIQUE

“A wonderful play. Very interpretive of life.” ~ Theodore Dreiser in his diaries

“Like most Russian plays, ‘Anathema’ is a plunge into the basic mysteries and contradictions of life, but Andreyev (author of last season's Theatre Guild success, ‘He Who Gets Slapped’) works with symbolized, metaphysical ideas instead of with the raw material of actual life from which Chekhov and Gorky draw. Anathema is the Inquiring Spirit, the Searcher after Truth, who goes to the gates of Heaven to ask God what his weights and measures are for determining Justice.” ~ Time Magazine

CAST

Ernest Glendinning (1884-1936) as Anathema. Glendinning was the son of British-American actors John Glendinning and Clara Braithwaite. He made his stage debut in 1903 in a walk on part in the Annie Russell play, Mice and Men. His career was devoted primarily to the theatre where he played in vaudeville and on Broadway, with 40 plays to his credit between 1903 and 1935.  

VENUE

48th Street Theatre (157 West 48th Street; 970 seats) was built by producer William A. Brady in 1912. In the 1920s, Actors’ Equity leased the space for its Equity Players, producers of Roger Bloomer. Renamed the Windsor in 1937 and leased to Labor Stage (the culture wing of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union). It reverted back to its original name in 1943 to avoid confusion with a similarly named theatre in the Bronx. On August 24, 1955, a water tower collapsed and destroyed the theatre. The owners opted to sell the land rather than repair the damage.

The most successful play in the theatre’s history was Harvey (1944) by Mary Chase which ran for 1775 performances, won Chase the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was adapted into a 1950 film. Another success at the theatre was Stalag 17 (1951), which was also made into a successful 1953 film.

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THE DICE OF THE GODS

April 5, 1923

The Dice of the Gods ~ a three-act play by Lillian Barrett, produced by H.H. Frazee, directed by Harrison Grey Fiske. It opened at the National Theatre on April 5, 1923 and ran 20 performances.

The play takes place in Newport, New York, and Florence

The production toured the US with stops in Wisconsin and Chicago before moving to New York City.

SYNOPSIS

“Doctors, next to clergymen, are the greatest humbugs on earth.” ~ Patricia Baird in The Dice of the Gods “A good woman is an abomination in the sight of the Lord.” ~ Patricia Baird in The Dice of the Gods

CRITIQUE

"Two things made ‘The Dice of the Gods’, another play about drugs, seem much better than it had any real right to seem. One was that ‘Morphia’ had come first, and once you had seen ‘Morphia’, nothing seemed so very terrible to you.” ~ Dorothy Parker  

“It is fortunate for the authoress of this piece that Mrs. Fiske has such a large following among theatre-goers or her play might not have had more than one consecutive performance. A more negligible, inept effort it has seldom been my misfortune to sit through.” ~ Theatre Magazine

“The play has no excuse for being.” ~ James W. Dean, Freeport Journal- Standard

AUTHOR

Lillian Barrett was born on June 13, 1884 in Newport, Rhode Island, which is one of the locations of that the play is set. She was also a writer of magazine articles and novels. This was her only Broadway credit.

CAST

Mrs. Fiske nee Marie Augusta Davey aka Minne Maddern (1865-1932) as Patricia Baird. She was widely considered the most important actress on the American stage in the first quarter of the 20th century. Her acclaimed performances in several Henrik Ibsen plays introduced American audiences to the Norwegian playwright. From 1871 to 1930 she acted in more than 50 Broadway productions. In 1890 she married Harrison Grey Fiske, her second husband, who directed her in The Dice of the Gods.

“Positively the worst play we sat through this season. Possibly it might have left a little better impression had our hearing been better, but Mrs. Fiske has never overcome her habit of rapid, indistinct enunciation, and, besides that, whenever she starts to say anything that is not obviously very grave her admirers begin to giggle audibly, apparently concluding in advance that it is bound to be something excruciatingly witty. The play impressed us as so amateurish and jejune in conception, and slipshod in construction that it might have been written by a girl just out of high school. By the way, we find it difficult to perceive any very obvious connection between becoming a victim of drugs and the habit of dice-playing among the Gods.” ~ Brooklyn Life, April 14, 1923

VENUE

The National Theatre (208 West 41st Street; 1235 seats) opened in 1921. In 1927, it was bought by the Shuberts. During an antitrust investigation, they sold it to Billy Rose, who refurbished it, renamed it after himself, and reopened it in 1959. The Nederlander Organization bought it in 1978 and it bore their name after a short stint as The Trafalgar.  The Nederlander Organization bought it in 1978 and it soon bore their name (1980). It was a church from 1987 to 1989, when it returned to legit use.  The Dice of the Gods followed Will Shakespeare as the theatre’s seventh tenant.

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CINDERS

April 3, 1923

Cinders ~ A comedy with music in two acts. Music by Rudolf Friml, Book and Lyrics by Edward Clark, Produced and Directed by Edward Royce, with Scenic Design by P. Dodd Ackerman, Costume Design by Paul Poiret, Evelyn McHorter, Earl Benham and Brooks-Mahieu Company. It opened on April 3, 1923 at the Dresden Theatre where it ran 31 performances. 

The musical is set in New York City in the present day. 

“A probable all-summer hit! The likelihood is that this latest adaptation of the old yarn should run prosperously. The price is high and so is the theatre.” ~ Variety

[Despite the clever pun, the show closed by the end of April.]

SYNOPSIS

CAST

Nancy Welford (1904-91) as Cinders. She was born in England and came to the United States when she was six years old. As early as 1921, she was active in vaudeville. Cinders was the second of her four Broadway musicals. In 1926, Welford starred in Nancy, a musical for which she was the inspiration. She acted in five films between years 1929 and 1933. She is probably today mostly known for starring in the 1929 Warner Brothers musical Gold Diggers of Broadway, which was the second all color-all talking feature ever made.  On October 24, 1924, Welford married film director F. Heath Cobb in Cleveland, Ohio.

“Miss Welford, slightly miscast,was a thrill and a sensation. She sings with a sympathetic quality helped by youthful unsteadiness rather than hurt by hoydenish lack of technical polish; she dances like a wind-blown pussy-willow and she has an ingratiating look of diffidence and surprise that is one of the classic assets of Charlie Chaplin. She plays Cinders and she is ‘Cinders’.” ~ Variety

Queenie Smith (1898-1972) as Tillie Olsen. Also played a character named Tillie in her previous Broadway musical (also starring Nancy Welford) Orange Blossoms (1922) at the Fulton. She performed in a baker’s dozen of Broadway tuners, and also had a full career in Hollywood, including the 1934 version of Show Boat. At one point she was engaged to Cary Grant!  She is perhaps best remembered as May Whipple on TV’s “Little House on the Prairie” (1974-77). 

Shortly after opening Walter Regan took over for W. Douglas Stevenson in the role of John Winthrop. 

VENUE

The show was originally announced for the Fulton Theatre, but opened at the Dresden, the rooftop venue over the New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street. The top ticket costs $3.00. When the show’s profits dipped, it was thought it might move to another venue, but instead it folded.  

Dresden Theatre (214 West 42nd Street; 680-720 seats)

The venue was situated on the roof of the New Amsterdam Theatre. It opened as the Aerial Gardens in 1904, presenting legit shows during the summer months. By 1910, the New Amsterdam was air-conditioned and the Aerial Gardens closed. Florenz Ziegfeld reopened it in 1915 as the Ziegfeld Roof and in 1919 it became Danse de Follies, presenting late-night performances until 1921. Cinders was the first and only show to perform at the Dresden under that name. It re-opened in October 1923 as the Frolic Theatre, and remained under that name until 1929. It became a radio studio in 1930 and, later, a television studio. In November 1943, two plays were presented there before structural flaws prevented further theatrical use prompted the auditorium to be gutted. The New Amsterdam, however, was refurbished and remains in operation today.

ALSO THAT NIGHT...

Uptown West ~ a play in three acts by Lincoln Osborne, opened at the Bijou Theatre for a run of 73 performances, outlasting Cinders by more than a month.