Stage Whispers - Theatrical History and Ephemera

Charlotte Saunders Cushman - Famous American Stage Actress and Gay Pioneer

2013-03-26T19:48:00.002-04:00

For my first subject I chose Charlotte Saunders Cushman, a world-renowned tragedienne in the mid-1800s. And yes, she is my ancestor—my 5th cousin thrice removed.

I have vivid memories of my father telling my sister and me about the visits his "Aunt Charlotte--the famous actress," made to his home in Plymouth (in Amador County CA) when he was a child. I paid little attention to such things in those days, but about 25 years ago, when I became interested in researching our Cushman family history, I discovered that famous lady in the personage of Charlotte Saunders Cushman.

Though my father had miscalculated his relationship to Charlotte, I'm sure he always thought of her as his auntie, and would be pleased that I learned so much about her, and have passed that information along to other family members, and now to the readers of this blog.

Charlotte was born in Boston on 23 July 1816 to Elkanah Cushman and his second wife, Mary Eliza Babbitt. As a child, Charlotte’s gifts for mimicry and "play-acting" were evident to her brothers and sister and the other children growing up on Richmond Street, but music was the focus of Charlotte’s dreams of becoming a performer.

Though barely in her teens, her rich contralto voice attracted the attention of professional singers and teachers who worked with her until she made her operatic debut as Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro at the Tremont Theater, Boston, on 8 Apr 1835.

Rave reviews followed, and her success as an opera singer was within her grasp. In the fall of 1836, Charlotte traveled to New York, then sailed to New Orleans where she was booked to appear in the brand new St. Charles Theatre. However, the grueling 9-day voyage, coupled with the change in climate and the vocal strain brought on by trying to conform to roles beyond her range, ruined her singing voice, and the resultant bad notices ended her operatic career before it even began.

She was barely 20 years old, and the sole support of her mother and three siblings. It was imperative that she earn the money that would enable her to meet that responsibility. Although bruised but intact, her Yankee spirit prevailed, and she turned her magnificent speaking voice and her great gift for role-playing to the legitimate theater.

That was the world’s good fortune, and for 40 years, Charlotte Cushman reigned as the world’s best known, most beloved tragedienne. She had one of the most enduring careers the theater has ever known, playing opposite every renowned actor on both continents.

She was not an overnight success, but after many benefits and regional performances, Charlotte made her professional debut playing Lady Macbeth opposite the great William Macready, performing with him in Philadelphia and New York.

An audience member summed up the production when he said that "even with this great and cultivated artist (Macready), she held her own. She had not his experience, but she had genius. There were times when she more than rivalled him; when in truth she made him play second."

Back in Boston at the Melodeon Theater for three weeks in October 1844, Charlotte played opposite Macready in a series of plays she hoped would fully display her superior range: Queen Gertrude, Lady Macbeth, Goneril, and Emilia.

Before the brightest lights of Boston—Charles Sumner, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Joseph Story, Daniel Webster—she did her best to show what a Boston girl could do alongside London’s Macready.

Critically, Boston approved. It found her Emilia "a new revelation." Her withering contempt for Iago, her "grandeur of tone," almost buried Macready’s Othello. The audience recalled her with cheers.

Her London debut was at the Princess’s Theater, starring as Bianca in Milman’s Fazio on 13 Feb 1845. London had known Milman’s play for years. Critics considered it old-fashioned, but Charlotte was determined to give it new luster. What happened that night is theatrical legend, recorded by many critics of the time.

Audience tension that had been building during a crucial scene suddenly welled up and broke loose in a storm of applause. Charlotte was completely overcome with the passion of the scene and could only lie still for a time, unable to respond "to the ringing bravos that burst over her."

When finally she arose, she "beheld an ovation. Hats and handkerchiefs filled the air, roaring cheers rocked the Princess’s from pit to topmost gallery, from aisles to whiskey seats. Applauding men stood on the benches; those in the boxes waved and shouted." In a sudden wave of relief, Charlotte knew that her English career was assured.

The final scene of that play is Bianca’s dying scene. When at last she pressed her heart and sank to the floor in a dying heap, "the scattered house exploded." She rose to cheers and bouquets.

Among many glowing reviews of that performance, the London Sun expressed an opinion that rapidly swept through England: "America has long owed us a heavy dramatic debt for enticing away from us so many of our best actors. She has now more than repaid it by giving us the greatest of actresses, Miss Cushman. Since the memorable first appearance of Edmund Kean in 1814, never has there been such a debut on the boards of an English theatre. She is, without exception, the very first actress that we have."

The rest of her repertoire delighted audiences and critics alike, and she stayed on for an unprecedented 84 nights to play Bianca, Rosalind, Mrs. Haller, Lady Macbeth, Emilia, Beatrice, and Portia. On 4 Mar 1846, when the curtain came down on her performance of Mrs. Haller in The Stranger, the London Times had "hardly ever known such audible weeping in an audience."

Charlotte was the compleat performer. She used her body and voice to achieve many effects. She was also a skilled makeup artist who could look as young and beautiful as any ingenue, or as old and withered as any character role required.

On 10 Jun 1846, when she sprang into the moonlight as the tattered old hag, Meg Merrilies, in Guy Mannering, London saw a towering sibyl with bony arms extended, tense, rigid in fluttering rags, coils of hair escaping the folds of twisted kerchief. She darted a claw at actor Henry Bertram, and when a voice "from another world" began crooning a lullaby, the audience’s blood ran cold.

In the final scene of Guy Mannering, Meg’s dying agonies forced some women in the audience to cover their faces so as not to view the terrible writhing. "Transfixed, awe-struck expressions followed the ragged heap’s final quiverings." When the curtain closed, the audience burst into "screeches of applause; hats peppered the air. A few moments later, when Charlotte bounded through the curtains with her own dark hair brushed free of the wig, her face washed clean of its swarthy wrinkles, a new frenzy shook the house."

Like many dramatic actresses of her day, Charlotte would occasionally take on "trouser roles," i.e., some of the male roles in Shakespearean and other classic plays. On several occasions, she played Romeo to her sister Susan's Juliet. Susan's theatrical life was short-lived, however, as she met and married Sheridan Muspratt soon after arriving in England.

As Charlotte toured England, other journals wrote glowingly of her gifts, summed up by a Liverpool critic who wrote, "Miss Cushman is a very extraordinary woman. She has already attained a degree of celebrity such as no other American ever arrived at, and what is more, such as no other American ever merited. She is likely to become still more distinguished among us, for it is long—very long—since an actress possessing so much talent appeared upon the English stage."

Similar audience response and critical acclaim awaited Charlotte in Edinburgh and Dublin and throughout the provinces, and later throughout all of Europe. She followed that with another tour of the U.S. starting in 1849 and ending with a triumphant performance as Meg Merrilies at the Broadway Theatre on 15 May 1852. She returned to Europe for a well earned vacation, then revived her career and continued performing as an actress, then as a platform reader, touring both continents until her retirement nearly 20 years later.

Charlotte died 18 Feb 1876. She is buried in Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Boston, where a monument has been erected in her memory.

At some point shortly after the turn of the 20th century, stone-ground lithographs of her image, along with artists' renderings of scenes of some of her most popular roles were created on a very handsome cigar box label, and can still be found occasionally in the ephemera collectibles market.

In 1915 Charlotte Cushman was voted into New York’s Hall of Fame for Great Americans, partly at the urging of actresses Jane Cowl, Katherine Cornell, and Minnie Maddern Fiske. However, the actual ceremony did not occur until ten years later—21 May 1925—when busts of John Marshall, William T. Sherman, Asa Grey, and Harriet Beecher Stowe were also unveiled. The Cushman bust, by Francis Grimes, was financed by popular subscription. Otis Skinner delivered the address; John Drew, as president of the Players Club, presented the bust; and Dr. Allerton Seward Cushman unveiled it.

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References to Charlotte Saunders Cushman as a popular American tragedienne may be found in most modern encyclopedias, theater arts textbooks, and numerous histories of the theater, as well as in many collections of the biographies of great American women.

And, of course, she is covered extensively in the "Historical and Biographical Genealogy of the Cushmans: The Descendants of Robert Cushman, the Puritan, From the Year 1617 to 1855" by Henry Wyles Cushman.

I am privileged to own a volume entitled "Charlotte Cushman," written by Clara Erskine Clement and published in 1882 as part of the American Actor Series. It covers Charlotte's professional life and includes some of her writings.

In 1970, Yale University Press published "Bright Particular Star - The Life and Times of Charlotte Cushman" by Joseph Leach. Something less than a best-seller, it remained virtually unread on library shelves throughout the 1970s, and has been out of print for many years.

Some time in the late 1980s or early 1990s, a New York friend and I were vacationing in Connecticut, and drove up to Yale University. While there, I asked a press officer if they had an old copy of the book. They did not, but happily they directed me to an antiquarian book dealer who did.

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Additional Sources:

The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, Vol. 16, Apr 1845, "Mr. Forrest’s Second Reception in England" (author not cited).
Littell’s Living Age, Boston, Vol. 26, 3Q 1850, NEW BOOKS
The International Monthly Magazine of Literature, Science and Art, Vol. 1, No. 5, 29 Jul 1850, Authors and Books
The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, Vol. 28, Feb 1851, Notices of New Books
The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, Vol. 29, Aug 1851, Miscellaneous—Broadway Theatre
The United States Democratic Review, NY, Vol. 40, No. 6, Dec 1857, "The Drama in America" (no author cited), p. 558
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, NY, Vol. 28, Jan 1864, Editor’s Easy Chair, p. 275
The Atlantic Monthly, Boston, Vol. 21, Apr 1868, ART, "Matheiu’s Busts of the Composers" by J. S. Dwight, p. 503
The Galaxy, NY, Vol. 13, No. 1, Jan 1872: Nebulae by The Editor, p. 147
Scribner’s Monthly, An Illustrated Magazine for the People, NY, Vol. ?, Jan 1872, Culture and Progress at Home—CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN, pp. 378 & 379
The Galaxy, NY, Vol. 21, Issue 4, Apr 1876, Nebulae by The Editor, p. 580
Scribner’s Monthly, An Illustrated Magazine for the People, Jun 1876, "Charlotte Cushman" by John D. Stockton, pp. 262-266
The Galaxy, NY, Vol. 24, No. 2, Aug 1877, Nebulae by The Editor, pp. 291-92
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Vol. LVII, Aug 1878, Editor’s Literary Record, p. 465 (a review of Emma Stebbins’ book: Charlotte Cushman: Her Letters and Memories of her Life) Houghton, Osgood, and Co.
The North American Review, Vol. CXXVII, 1878, Contemporary Literature, pp. 163 & 164 (another review of Emma Stebbins’ biography of Charlotte)
The Atlantic Monthly: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics, Vol. XLII, No. CCL, Aug 1878, RECENT LITERATURE, pp. 251-252 (yet another review of Stebbins’ book)
The Atlantic Monthly, A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics, Vol. XLIX, pub. in Boston, Jun 1882, BOOKS OF THE MONTH, p. 858
The Century, A Popular Quarterly, pub. in NY, Vol. 35, Issue 3, Jan 1888, "John Gilbert" by Ranken Towse, p. 380
Harper’s Monthly Magazine, pub. in Pearl Street, Franklin Square NY, Vol. LXXIX, Nov 1889, "A Century of Hamlet" by Laurence Hutton, pp. 866-884, cited ref. on p. 884
The Atlantic Monthly, pub. in Boston, May 1892, "Severn’s Roman Journals" by William Sharp, pp. 631-645
New England Magazine, An Illustrated Monthly, pub. in Boston by Warren F. Kellogg, Nov 1893, "The Friendship of Edwin Booth and Julia Ward Howe" by Florence Marion Howe Hall, pp. 315-320 (cited ref. on p. 317)
The New England Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 1, Mar 1894, "Experiences During Many Years" by Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber, p. 30. (Apparently the author was a journalist on the Gazette for many years. The scene he has recollected had to have taken place around 1873, 74 or 75—when Charlotte was battling breast cancer.)
The New England Magazine, Vol. 18, No. 1, Mar 1895, "Massachusetts in the Civil War" by Thomas S. Townsend, pp. 3 - 21 (cited ref. on p. 10)

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NOTE -- this section added on 1/22/2011 -- A reader left a fascinating comment, which I have added here, followed by more info about the books mentioned.

Deborah Anne wrote:

"It is lovely that you're writing about your distant relative - I have to point out that the picture you identify as "The Cushman Sisters: Charlotte and Susan" is not correct. The other woman is Charlotte's first wife Mattie Hayes with whom she lived and travelled for about 10 years. In fact, if you have not read the books WHEN ROMEO WAS A WOMAN or ACROSS AN UNTRIED SEA you haven't scratched the surface of this fascinating woman. They are the latest scholarship I'm aware of on her and the first is the basis of a new play called CASA CUSHMAN being developed by the writer of THE LARAMIE PROJECT. There's also a solo play called THE LAST READING OF CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN, which I've never seen or read but seems to have received excellent reviews."

I am grateful to Deborah Anne for taking the time to share her knowledge, and will hopefully be able to get those books read in the near future.

Here is more info about the books, should my readers wish to explore the matter on their own. If you do, Dear Reader, please come back and share your thoughts here.

When Romeo Was A Woman by Lisa Merrill -- uses Cushman's and her associates' diaries and letters to explore further the actress's romantic "friendships" with other women -- Amazon link -- http://www.amazon.com/When-Romeo-Was-Woman-Triangulations/dp/0472087495 -- read a more detailed description there, and use the Look Inside feature to read a few pages.

Across an Untried Sea: Discovering Lives Hidden in the Shadow of Convention and Time by Julia Markus -- discusses the many women in Charlotte's life - Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Across-Untried-Sea-Discovering-Convention/dp/B000HWYURU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_6 -- again, you can read a more detailed description and reviews there, and use the Look Inside feature to read a few pages.

Here are a couple pix of the books:

These books have also been cited in other theater/gay/history books:

Between Women: Friendship, Desire, and Marriage in Victorian England by Sharon Marcus
Cast Out: Queer Lives in Theater (Triangulations: Lesbian/Gay/Queer Theater/Drama/Performance) by Robin Bernstein
Her Best Shot: Women and Guns in America by Laura Browder
Wearing the Breeches: Gender on the Antebellum Stage by Elizabeth Reitz Mullenix
Victorian Shakespeare, Volume 1: Theatre, Drama and Performance by Gail Marshall

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com

An Illustrated History of Britain's Christmas Pantomime

2011-12-21T00:45:00.000-05:00

Britain's Christmas Pantomime is deeply rooted in the theatrical buffoonery of 16th Century Italy's Commedia dell'Arte (literal translation: the art of comedy; preferred translation: Italian comedy). Troupes of players roamed the country, performing on temporary stages set up on city streets, in parks and courtyards — wherever they could attract a crowd. The better troupes, such as Gelosi, performed in palaces, and even traveled throughout Europe.

In Italy — a land of numerous regional dialects — audiences had no problem understanding the stories being dramatized, because Commedia dell'Arte relies on physical humor, not the spoken text, to evoke audience emotion — in this case, gales of laughter.

Note that I said "Commedia dell'Arte relies" (present tense) on physical humor..." because it is an art form still being taught today.

Students in a Commedia final at Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, California.

And it's still being professionally performed today, as evidenced by the following photos of Ferruccio Soleri in the title role of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano's production of Arlecchino, Servant of Two Masters, part of New York's Lincoln Center Festival 2005.

Originally a slapstick adaptation of the Commedia dell'arte, harlequinade is a performance piece that revolves around its five main characters: Harlequin, Pierrot, Columbine, Clown, and Pantaloon. The British harlequinade, begun in the 18th century, wove scenes from serious plays based on myth or folklore, with the typical slapstick of Harlequin and his cronies.

Harlequin

The traditional Harlequin costume includes the batte he holds in the above picture. This is the stick Harlequin uses to slap other characters — hence the term "slapstick," which has come to mean almost any kind of physical business on stage. Harlequin is quickly identified in this early 18th-century artist's rendering of a "Pantomime Entertainment Lately Exhibited."

Originally, Harlequin was the comic of the show — a servant and Columbine's love interest. His undaunting spirit and extreme cleverness (sometimes even magic!) enabled him to elude the consequences of his actions. He was the original Teflon Don, so to speak. What's more, he never held a grudge or sought revenge.

John Rich (1692-1761), English actor known as "the father of English pantomime," developed the character of Harlequin into a mischievous magician. He would use his magic slapstick to transform a scene from pantomime to harlequinade, and to magically change the settings during a chase scene. In 1716, under the stage name of Lun, Rich first appeared as Harlequin in an unnamed entertainment which developed into an annual pantomime. When he died 45 years later, the great David Garrick wrote this tribute to his friend and fellow performer:

A century later, brothers Fred and Harry Payne became the most famous Harlequin and Clown, respectively, of the early 19th century.

Columbine

The on-stage symbol of feminine charm and grace, Columbine is essentially Harlequin's sweetheart, yet all the men in the Harlequinade have loved and wooed her through numerous character transformations — even Clown, yet now he is more often portrayed as Columbine's father. Unlike her castmates, Columbine wears no mask, signifying that her purity and innocence are genuine, and she requires no "false face."

In this 1906 photo, a youthful Billie Burke (at far right) portrays Columbine. Can you think of a more perfect role for her?

Pantaloon

Originally a devious, greedy merchant — a typical character of the Commedia dell'Arte — Pantaloon has transitioned to the role of over-protective father who refuses to allow the heroic Harlequin to court his daughter Columbine. Pantaloon is always dressed in red — sometimes extravagantly:

And sometimes not so extravagantly:

Clown

A slapstick character, Clown was immensely popular in Commedia dell'arte, and easily recognizable to any one who's ever seen a mischievous circus clown. The epitome of buffoonery, Clown was a foil for the sly and slippery antics of Harlequin.

In the 17th century, Clown was known as Pulcinella, often called Punch or Punchinello in English, and Polichenelle in French. He was most often represented as the servant of Columbine's father, Pantaloon. Clown grew more important in Victorian harlequinade, the embodiment of anarchic wit and out-of-the-box humor.

The great British clown Joseph Grimaldi became a sensation when he made his first appearance in 1800. He was responsible for transitioning the character from "country bumpkin fool" to central figure of the harlequinade. Grimaldi developed jokes, catch-phrases and songs that were used for decades after his retirement. He also pioneered the second most important British pantomime tradition: the art of cross-dressing.

Enter the Panto Dame

Among Grimaldi's Pantomime Dame roles were Queen Rondabellyanna in Harlequin and the Red Dwarf, and Dame Cecily Suet in Harlequin Whittington. The earliest picture I could find of a cross-dressing Panto Dame was this one of Dan Leno as Widow Twankey in Aladdin back in 1896:

The 21st century version of Widow Twankey has many faces, foremost of whom is Sir Ian McKellen, who is reprising the role this year at the Old Vic, I believe:

And while we're on the subject of Widow Twankey, here's the jolly British comic Chris Biggins in the role:

And a popular Scottish comic, Euan McIver, in the same role:

From Grimaldi onward, Christmas Pantomime evolved into a British art form, rooted in buffoonery and providing settings for some of Britain's finest music hall comics. During the 19th century, American entertainers experimented with the Pantomime genre, to luke warm acceptance. Americans like their Harlequinade in other formats, however, such as in one of my favorite paintings...

...and in the elegance and romance of the Ballet...

George Fox, a popular American comic, revived the slapstick pantomime for a time but, alas, no one was there to carry on the work after him.

Here are pictures of other popular Panto Dames:

From a production of "Cindarella" (adapted from "Cinderella"):

From a production of "Jack and the Beanstalk:

Unidentified actor/character I have dubbed Lolly Palooza:

Principal Boys and Girls

In almost all panto productions, the Principal Boys are girls — statuesque and curvaceous girls — with, imperatively, long, shapely legs. For example, about 100 years ago, curvy Bessie Featherstone played the principal boy, i.e., the title role in Aladdin:

And the requirements haven't changed much over the years:

To illustrate the Principal Girls, here are Cindarella's ugly stepsisters:

Not surprisingly, Christmas Pantomime is exceedingly popular in Canada and Australia, and throughout the European community. And it extends the holiday season considerably, as it usually begins around December 1 and doesn't end until late February, sometimes early March.

Christmas Pantomime is family entertainment to the max! The scripts are all rooted in traditional children's stories, the darkest of which is Babes in the Wood. Names of traditional characters are often changed to better describe the actors playing the roles. The cast is supplemented by new characters written for the production. Silliness reigns, of course. Visual humor provokes the laughter of children which is instantly contagious. and when the hero is being chased by the bad guy and the children shout "Look out! He's behind you!" it's the greatest accolade the actors can receive, and they must work very hard to blink back their tears of joy and not break character.

Should you be fortunate enough to visit anywhere in Great Britain over the next couple of months, do yourself a big favor and include a pantomime or two in your schedule. You'll be glad you did.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

CHRISTMAS PANTOMIME

2010-12-22T17:42:00.003-05:00

Note that I said "Commedia dell'Arte relies" (present tense) on physical humor..." because it is an art form still being taught today.

Harlequin

A century later, brothers Fred and Harry Payne became the most famous Harlequin and Clown, respectively, of the early 19th century.

Columbine

In this 1906 photo, a youthful Billie Burke (at far right) portrays Columbine. Can you think of a more perfect role for her?

Pantaloon

And sometimes not so extravagantly:

Clown

Enter the Panto Dame

The 21st century version of Widow Twankey has many faces, foremost of whom is Sir Ian McKellen, who is reprising the role this year at the Old Vic, I believe:

And while we're on the subject of Widow Twankey, here's the jolly British comic Chris Biggins in the role:

And a popular Scottish comic, Euan McIver, in the same role:

...and in the elegance and romance of the Ballet...

George Fox, a popular American comic, revived the slapstick pantomime for a time but, alas, no one was there to carry on the work after him.

Here are pictures of other popular Panto Dames:

From a production of "Cindarella" (adapted from "Cinderella"):

From a production of "Jack and the Beanstalk:

Unidentified actor/character I have dubbed Lolly Palooza:

Principal Boys and Girls

And the requirements haven't changed much over the years:

To illustrate the Principal Girls, here are Cindarella's ugly stepsisters:

Should you be fortunate enough to visit anywhere in Great Britain over the next couple of months, do yourself a big favor and include a pantomime or two in your schedule. You'll be glad you did.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

Full Issues of Burr McIntosh-Monthly Magazines

2010-10-09T08:59:00.000-04:00

Here's a little something extra for your enjoyment: So that you may see all the types of photos and subject matter, here are a few issues of Burr McIntosh magazines in their entirety, courtesy of Google Books.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

INSIDE THE BURR McINTOSH-MONTHLY • Sept 1909

2010-10-01T13:34:00.000-04:00

This is the 13th and last in a series of theatrical memorabilia as it appeared in the Burr McIntosh-Monthly magazines during the first decade of the 20th century. A diverse number of articles in this issue are credited to a variety of authors, but there is no by-line on the theatrical section, which is titled simply Players and the Plays. Photo credits are listed, however.

This post focuses on Vol. 20 • No. 87 • September 1909

MABEL TALIAFERRO (Photo by Moffett Studios)

Miss Taliaferro has been on the stage since a child, and has seen more service than many of her sister actresses twice her age. She scored a big success during the past two seasons as Polly of the Circus, and this season will be seen in a new production staged by her husband and manager, Frederic Thompson.

THE DeFAYE SISTERS (Photo by Gross)

The DeFayes are great favorites in vaudeville with their mandolin and guitar playing in conjunction with some pleasing vocalization. They recently finished an extensive tour on the Keith Circuit, and are now in the hands of William Morris.

NATALIE DAGWELL (Photo by Sarony, Fifth Avenue)

Miss Dagwell is a particularly bright ornament to the vaudeville stage. Her principal work is dancing of the olden times and the crinoline age, her rendering of the minuet and other costume dancing being extremely pleasing to the eye.

AILEEN FLAVEN (Photo by Fields)

Miss Flaven did some splendid work last season as Polly Jordan in The Great Divide, and as Anita in Catspaw. She will again be under the management of Henry Miller this coming season, and will be seen in a new production.

HELEN FALCONER (Photo by Matzene)

Miss Falconer is a member of the A Broken Idol company, which is now playing at the Herald Square Theater. Last season she was also with the company when it played in Chicago and on tour. Prior to this, she appeared in the The Three Twins, also at the Herald Square.

CHRISTINE NORMAN (Photo by Otto Sarony Co.)

Miss Norman has been filling a highly successful engagement this summer as leading woman in the stock company at Elitch’s Gardens, Denver. Last season she replaced Charlotte Walker as Agatha in The Warrens of Virginia, and was previously seen in the principal roles in The Darling of the Gods and The Girl of the Golden West. She has been specially engaged by Charles Frohman to fill an important part in the new Bernstein play, Israel, which will have its premier early in the fall.

JULIE OPP (Photo by Marceau)

Miss Opp is the wife of William Faversham, the English actor, and in 1896 abandoned a journalistic career to make her first appearance on the stage in Paris as a guest in the ball-room scene of Camille in Mme. Bernhardt’s company. After much experience in London with several well-known actors, in 1901, Charles Frohman engaged her to play Marita in A Royal Rival, in support of Mr. Faversham. In 1902 she became this actor’s wife, and has subsequently been his leading woman in The Squaw Man, The World and His Wife, etc. She will be seen in New York this coming season with Mr. Faversham at the Broadway Theater in a sumptuous production of Herod.

IDA ST. LEON (Photo by White)

will take the place of Mabel Taliaferro this season as Polly in Polly of the Circus. Miss St. Leon has been a circus equestrienne for some time, but her clever reading of the above part during the absence of the star at rehearsal one day led to her engagement to fill the role.

NOTABLE PRODUCTIONS

The Follies of 1909 (Photos by White)

has been the warm weather attraction at The Jardin de Paris atop the New York Theater during the summer. It is a very meritorious production, being essentially clean, and full of mirth, melody and novel features. Eva Tanguay heads the bill, and the cast includes many well-known favorites. Miss Lillian Lorraine in her aeroplane song is a distinctive novelty; in fact, this young lady runs a close second to Miss Tanguay for first honors in The Follies.

Going Some (Photo by Hall)

was produced by the Shuberts at the Belasco Theater last season and afterwards transferred to the Maxine Elliott Theater where it will again be seen in August. It is an amusing comedy of western life and makes an hilarious evening’s entertainment.

I hope you've enjoyed this 13-week series as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you, and that you have come to love the theatrical side of the BurrMacs as much as I do. But in addition to the lively arts, the BurrMac Monthlies presented society features worldwide, and explored all manner of graphic arts from gallery showings to its annual photography contests. In fact, they were lauded for helping to raise photography to a true art form. There are people today who collect BurrMacs solely for their early coverage and photos of Ivy League sporting events and athletes. Much like today's Internet, BurrMacs appealed to people with a wide range of interests.

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

INSIDE THE BURR McINTOSH-MONTHLY • Oct 1908

2010-09-25T13:18:00.000-04:00

This is the 12th in a theatrical series from the century-old Burr McIntosh-Monthly magazines. Text in this issue was written by Paul Thompson. A variety of photographers contributed to this issue, and their work is credited here.

This post focuses on Vol. 17 • No. 67 • October 1908

LILLIAN BLAUVELT (Photo by Aime Dupont, N.Y.)

Miss Blauvelt, featured on our covers this month, is one of the most famous prima donnas on the American stage. She has sung in many of the most notable casts at the Metropolitan Opera House and has also been a very prominent singer in concert. Like most grand opera singers she achieved her reputation abroad where she became very famous and then came to this country for the further conquest of money and fame.

MAY McKENZIE (Photo by Otto Sarony Co., N.Y.)

Miss McKenzie was long a prominent member of Weber and Fields’ chorus at the diminutive music hall. After the partners separated she remained with Weber for several seasons. This past summer she was in The Follies of 1908 on top of the New York Roof accompanying that piece when it moved into the theatre proper in September.

IRENE BENTLEY (Photo by Hall, N.Y.)

Miss Bentley, wife of Harry B. Smith, author of probably more successful light operas and musical comedies than any other man in this country, decided she wanted to leave the stage after her marriage a year or two ago. She did so, but she had to listen to the call of the footlights, and now she is back again, this time in The Mimic World at the Casino, where she is one of the featured players.

MARY MANNERING (Photo by Gilbert & Bacon)

Miss Mannering will continue playing Glorious Betsy, the play by Rida Johnson Young, dealing with the historical love affair of young Jerome Bonaparte and a Baltimore belle. Miss Mannering has been using this play on the road for two seasons and may justly be expected to appear in the part in New York some time this winter.

LOTTA FAUST (Photo by Hall, N.Y.)

In her private life, Miss Faust is Mrs. Ritchie Ling, wife of a well-known light opera singer, and for a long time was in The Girl Behind the Counter with Lew Fields. Then she went into The Mimic World in which production she introduced a Salomé dance which was a veritable sensation.

IRENE MOORE (Photo by Hall, N.Y.)

Miss Moore has been playing in a stock company this past summer at the Majestic Theatre, Boston. Before that, readers of the Burr McIntosh-Monthly may remember her in James K. Hackett’s company of John Glayde’s Honour, and after that in his other pieces.

LILLIAN LEE (Photo by Otto Sarony Co., N.Y.)

Miss Lee is another musical comedy favorite in Broadway productions at Weber’s, the Casino and other like amusement houses. She is in The Follies this year, part of her work or play being to display the latest Parisian fashions, the sheath skirt.

GABRIELLE RAY (Photo by Bassano, London)

As one of several sisters who have for years been conspicuous on the musical comedy stage of London, Miss Ray has almost always been identified with pieces produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre or his other light opera house, Daly’s on Leicester Square. One sister visited this country in The Dairy Maids a season or two ago.

HATTIE WILLIAMS (Photo by Frank C. Bangs, N.Y.)

Miss Williams, who starred so successfully for two years in The Little Cherub, is to star in Fluffy Ruffles this year, the same being a musical comedy version of the New York Herald’s famous character.

BEATRICE PRENTICE (No Photo Credit)

Miss Prentice is one of the supporting members in The Call of the North, the piece in which Robert Edeson is starring this year. It is a dramatization of one of Stewart Edward White’s most popular books with the scene laid in the Canadian wilds.

MADEMOISELLE DAZIE (Photo by Otto Sarony Co., N.Y.)

She came into fame as The Girl with the Red Domino in vaudeville, then showed her gratitude to one of the men whose management made her such a success by marrying him. This was Mark Luescher, a New York theatrical manager. Last season she was the premier dancer at the Manhattan Opera House, but this past summer she has been a featured player in The Follies of 1908.

GERTRUDE HOFFMAN (Photo by Frank C. Bangs, N.Y.)

Mrs. Hoffman was the first of the many dancers to produce the famous Salomé dance in this country. She made use of the Maud Allan ideas which had set London astir. Then she followed the Salomé dances with a very different thing, Mendelssohn’s Spring Song dance, also done in London by Miss Allan. In private life, Mrs. Hoffman is the wife of the well-known composer, Max Hoffman. One of his latest pieces was The Rogers Brothers in Panama score used by the German comedians all last summer.

NOTABLE PLAYS OF THE MONTH

The Traveling Salesman by James Forbes, at the Liberty Theater.

The Man From Home by Booth Tarkington and Harry Leon Wilson,
at the Astor Theater.

The Follies of 1908, playing to packed houses on the New York Roof.

Postscript: Maud Adams appeared — shall we say "off Broadway?" — at Harvard University in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The BurrMac included a picture of that, as well:

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

INSIDE THE BURR McINTOSH-MONTHLY • Sept. 1908

2010-09-18T09:29:00.000-04:00

This is the 11th in a theatrical series from the century-old Burr McIntosh-Monthly magazines. Text in this issue was written by Paul Thompson. A variety of photographers contributed to this issue, and their work is credited here.

This post focuses on Vol. 17 • No. 66 • September 1908

AMELIA STONE, on the cover of this issue. (Photo by Frank C. Bangs, N. Y.) Miss Stone is not unfamiliar to readers of this publication through previous reproductions of her photograph. It may suffice to recall that her last appearance was in The Gay Musician at Wallack’s Theatre, in which she scored a pronounced success after the regular season had ended. She probably will sing the prima donna role in the same production on the road this season, later appearing in a new Broadway offering of a light, musical character.

JEAN AYLVIN (Photo by Dover Street Studios, London)

Miss Aylvin is an attractive musical comedy player of London. She has been prominently cast in Gaiety theatre pieces and will probably come to this country in The Girls of Gottenburg.

FLORENCE DAVIS (No photo credit)

Miss Davis is a player well known in the south and west. She has headed her own companies for several years and won an unusual amount of priase from critics and public. This year she will use Maxine Elliott’s production of Henry Esmond’s play Under the Greenwood Tree, which ought to serve her admirably for a starring vehicle.

BERNICE DE PASQUALI (No photo credit)

Mme. DePasquali is one of the acquisitions of Signor Gatti-Casazza, the new head of the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York. She is an American, her name being Bernice James, receiving her musical education at the National Conservatory in New York. She made her debut in London three years ago, then went to Italy to sing in the principal opera houses in that country. After her Italian tour she visited Greece, France, Mexico and Cuba duplicating her success in those countries.

MINNIE MADDERN FISKE (Photo by Marceau, N. Y.)

Mrs. Fiske, following a remarkably successful season in Ibsen’s Rosmerholm, will make her New York reappearance this fall in a new play at the Belasco Theatre which has been secured for her use for several months. The new play will be on a timely subject and of a novel character, the scenes being laid in New York and will give the gifted star an opportunity to create a role entirely new to the stage.

JANE HADING (Photo by Reutlinger, Paris)

Miss Hading is one of the greatest of modern French actresses vying in many critics’ opinion with Bernhardt and Rejane. She is now at the Odeon in Paris, one of the principal theatres in the French capital. She has toured England recently but has not been seen here for many years, though I believe she once came here with Coquelin.

BERTHA KALISH (Photo by Alice Boughton, N. Y.)

Mme. Kalish will appear once more this coming season under the direction of Harrison Grey Fiske, husband and manager of Mrs. Fiske. Her last season was rather unsuccessful in Sapho and Phaon and Marta of the Lowlands, the latter used for a few performances by Mrs. Fiske.

LOUISE LeBARON (Photo by Purdy & Co.)

Following a successful stay in Boston in light opera, Miss LeBaron repeated her success this past summer at the Coliseum in Cleveland as a prima donna of the Imperial Opera Company. For two years Miss LeBaron was a member of Fritzi Scheff’s company singing one of the important roles in support of that former “little devil of Grand Opera” in Mlle. Modiste.

ROSE MELVILLE (Photo by Bushnell, S. F.)

Miss Melville has been associated for so many years with Sis Hopkins plays that her name is as inseparably associated with that part as ever Joseph Jefferson’s was with Rip Van Winkle or Denman Thompson’s with The Old Homestead. She is one of the unfailing stars “out on the road” although New York knows her only for a week or two at some theatre off Broadway which plays traveling attractions.

ALEXANDRA PHILLIPS (No Photo Credit)

Miss Phillips has been with Wilton Lackaye in Hall Caine’s melodrama, The Bondman. This has been offered throughout the country, but has not been seen in New York yet, though there is a possibility of its being presented in this city this season at one of the bigger playhouses.

THE MIMIC WORLD (Photos by Hull)

Beneath the picture in the BurrMac, the caption reads as follows: From left: Margaret Illington from The Thief; 4th—Kid Burns from The Talk of New York; 6th—Lord Dundreary; 7th—Prince Danilo; 8th—Samuel Spotwood from Father and the Boys; 9th—The Merry Widow; 10th—Phillip Bridau from Honor of the Family; 11th—Kyrle Bellew from The Thief; 12th—Jack Brookfield from The Witching Hour; 13th—Lotta Faust.

[I found that slightly confusing, so I looked up The Mimic World on the Broadway database. The show is loosely described as a musical comedy strung together with tableaux of show biz references. And it was exceedingly popular. The Broadway database lists a large and talented cast on opening night in July 1908. If the show's script was as witty as the descriptions of its characters, it's no wonder it was a hit.]

Also featured in The Mimic World were Irene Bentley and Her Dancing Girls.

Topping the long list of popular productions that summer were The Follies of 1908 and a rip-roaring singing & dancing comedy entitled The Three Twins. [The Burr McIntosh-Monthly didn't offer any pictures of this comedy, but it so happens that I have this great turn-of-the-century cigar box label that I'm happy to share with you here.

This was the show in which Bessie McCoy became famous as the Yama Yama Girl. If you want to find out more about the plot and the cast, visit the Broadway Internet Database.]

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.
Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

INSIDE THE BURR McINTOSH-MONTHLY • July 1908

2010-09-11T09:54:00.000-04:00

This is the 10th in a summer series designed to acquaint you with the very collectible Burr McIntosh-Monthly magazines popular a century ago. Text in this issue was written by Paul Thompson. A variety of photographers contributed to this issue, and their work is credited here. It's obvious that by mid-1908, Mr. McIntosh had little time for his magazine, as he spent more of his time in Los Angeles, forging a new career in motion pictures.

This post focuses on Vol. 17 • No. 64 • July 1908

OLIVE MAY (Photo by Dover Street Studios, London)

is one of the more attractive of the younger generation of players on the London stage. She is now appearing in that city as one of the gaiety girls in the new production, Havana.

ROBERT MANTELL (Photos by Otto Sarony Co., N.Y.)

is now one of the most prominent actors playing Shakespearean roles in this country. Although he is an old-time actor and has been well known for his portrayals of melodramatic and romantic roles in the popular priced houses, it was not until a very few years ago when he came into the late Princess Theatre on Broadway that New York realized the ability of the man. He probably will have a London engagement shortly if his manager’s plans go through.

PERCY HASWELL (Photos by Otto Sarony Co., N.Y.)

has had the good fortune to be in one of the conspicuous New York successes, being cast for the leading woman’s part in The Honor of the Family, Paul Potter’s adaptation from the French of Fabre’s play based on Balzac’s story, The Two Brothers. Miss Haswell is the wife of George Fawcett, who has made such a big hit in London in The White Man, known in this country as played by Faversham under the title of The Squaw Man. At one time Miss Haswell was a member of the late Augustin Daly’s company. Of late years she has been in her husband’s stock company in Baltimore.

MARIE TEMPEST (Photo by Dover Street Studios, London)

is starring in London in Mrs. Dot, by W. somerset Maugham, at the Comedy Theatre, this being the third success by the same author now being played in the English capital. It is one of the best things the talented Miss Tempest has done, and the rights for America have already been secured by Charles Frohman for next year.

MME. GLACIA CALLA (Photo by Otto Sarony & Co., N.Y.)

has studied grand opera singing under the best masters in Paris, and now at the very end of the season in this country she is to have an opportunity to display her ability with a light opera company that will possibly be heard in New York after a road tour.

ANTOINETTE WALKER (Photo by Frank C. Bangs, N.Y.)

is the ingenue who created the role of Jenny in the original production of The Music Master. The past winter when David Warfield revived that play, which in time will become as much of an American classic as The Old Homestead, Miss Walker was engaged to play her original role once more.

FRITZI SCHEFF (No photo credit)

who deserted grand opera for the musical comedy stage, has one potent reason for remembering the season just ended, inasmuch as it brought release from her marital bonds. Moreover she ended her use of Henry Blossom’s clever piece, Mlle. Modiste, which has served her so successfully for three seasons, a result due to Blossom’s clever book and lyrics, Victor Herbert’s good music, and Manager Dillingham’s excellent staging of the piece.

RUTH MAYCLIFFE (Photo by Frank C. Bangs, N.Y.)

is one of the three girls in Clyde Fitch’s Girls, the satire on the bachelor girls of today which has been so very successful at Daly’s Theatre, New York. She plays the youngest and most impressionable of the bachelor girls, and is the first apostate from the non-marrying faith.

CRISSIE BELL (Photo by Bassano, London)

One of London’s show girls, Crissie is also a noted beauty. She created a sensation in the beauty contest recently held there to determine who should be called the most beautiful woman in England.

MARGARET ILLINGTON (Photo by Sarony, 5th Ave., N.Y.)

has been starring with Kyrie Bellow for eight months in New York in The Thief. With her husband, the well-known manager Daniel Frohman, she departed immediately after her theatrical work had ended for a vacation in Arizona.

MAUD ADAMS (Photo by Sarony, 5th Ave., N.Y.)

has been playing in The Jesters, a romantic comedy in blank verse, which was first done in Paris by Mme. Bernhardt, this marking the second time that the American star has followed the great French actress in masculine roles, the other time being in L'Aiglon. Miss Adams is to play before Yale and Harvard Universities in As You Like It and other Shakespearean comedies, and is probably to make her debut in such roles in London next season.

NOTABLE PRODUCTIONS IN THE SUMMER OF 1908

Among the pieces with a seeming grip on life as far as a prolonged stay in Nw York is concerned, are the following:

PAID IN FULL by Eugene Walter, one of the big hits of the season, has a most interesting history. It was to come into the Astor Theatre last December but did not because it was such a pronounced failure on the road. Another attraction was substituted and the work of reconstruction begun, a most hopeless appearing task and one which the wise-acres said was foredoomed to failure. Meanwhile, the author, who had a play called The Undertow done here by a popular-priced stock company with virtually no success, was sleeping in parks and getting food where he could. Then came the premier of Paid in Full, and in one night he became the most sought-after dramatist of the moment, with managers galore seeking for any play he might have written or might write. Indeed, shortly after Paid in Full, another play, a melodrama of the Canadian woods call The Wolf, was produced, and is at the present writing being offered on Broadway, but not with the success of the first play. All the critics united in praising Paid in Full, which had a quality of naturalness and conviction which goes straight to the mark. It has the advantage, moreover, of being well cast so that every role is in capable hands, and that counts for a great deal. The story is a simple one of a married couple in moderate circumstances, the husband going wrong and wrongly blaming his missteps on the wife.

Once more The Four Cohans, a quartette as famous today in the houses where big prices are charged for seats as they were formerly in vaudeville. George M., the son and genius of the family, has scored in a most decided manner with The Yankee Prince, whose life at the Knickerbocker Theatre bids fair to be a regal one. He has written a satire on the title-hunting Americans with bank rolls to substantiate their claims to foreign alliances, but it is not so much in his satire, which is only occasionally in evidence, that he wins out, as it is in the clever manner in which the piece is made to hold together a number of excellent specialties in songs, dances, etc. His idea is evidently that of the late Charles Hoyt, who had a wonderful vogue the latter part of his lifetime—people like vaudeville, consequently give it to them disguised as a play, the characters in your story to provide the specialties. Hoyt combined a very clever satire on some public foible with his good vaudeville and made a great big success of the plan. Cohan works along somewhat similar lines, but substitutes musical comedies for farces as the connecting link to the "turns." Josephine, his sister, who has been absent from the family group for some years, her place being taken by her brother's former wife, Ethel Levey, has now returned from vaudeville, and her reappearance with the family has evidently exerted a beneficial influence, for her brother's book, lyrics, music and personal work were never better. The Yankee Prince may be commended as a clean, well-staged, tuneful, amusing offering.

Clyde Fitch has failed so often of late that it is a pleasure to record the unquestioned success of his latest play, Girls, a satire on the bachelor girl and her foibles. While it borders on the vulgar at times, as Fitch plays are apt to do, one can even forgive that for the sake of the genuine fun which is provided. Three girls have an organization which foreswears man and matrimony and in the course of the play each girl falls a victim to the darts of the youthful, scantily clad marksman. Here again clever players add to the enjoyment of the author's work. Laura Nelson Hall, ringleader in the anti-man society, was the star of Rachel Crothers' short-lived play, The Coming of Mrs. Patrick; Amy Ricard will ever be remembered for her athletic girl in The College Widow, while Ruth Maycliffe, youngest and prettiest of the trio, is to me unknown. Charles Cherry, Herbert Standing and Zelda Sears are the other notables in the cast who make the play the success it unquestionably is.

In addition to the aforementioned lighthearted entertainments, Mr. Thompson also gives a nod to two summer productions of New York's Metropolitan Opera Company. (Photos by Byron, New York)

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.
Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

INSIDE THE BURR-McINTOSH MONTHLY • May 1907

2010-09-03T10:13:00.001-04:00

This is No. 9 in a summer series designed to acquaint you with the very collectible Burr McIntosh-Monthly magazines popular a century ago. Text in this issue was written by Paul Thompson. This post focuses on Vol. 13, No. 50 • May 1907:

MARGUERITE CLARK

has been in the support of DeWolfe Hopper in Mr. Pickwick, Wang and Happyland for the last three or four years. She was born in Cincinnati, the daughter of A. G. Clark, a prominent merchant of that city. As a child she took part in amateur theatricals and charitable entertainments, and after her education was completed in the Brown County Convent in Ohio, she went on the stage. She served an apprenticeship in the chorus, following which she had roles of minor importance in The Belle of Bohemia, The Burgomaster, The New Yorkers, and The Wild Rose, after which came her engagement with DeWolfe Hopper. It is confidently expected that she will be starred this coming season in a musical version of Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper.

MARIO SAMMARCO

joined the Manhattan Opera Company, New York, in January, succeeding Maurice Renaud as baritone of that company, and making his debut in I Pagliacci. He came to New York direct from the Teatro Real, Madrid. He has also sung leading baritone roles in Milan, Vienna, Berlin, Buenos Aires, St. Petersburg and all the principal opera houses of Italy. He has a fresh voice, warm in color, eloquent and of ardent feeling. His style of singing is free and easy. Critical observers feel that he has not yet reached the apex of his powers.

ANDREAS DIPPEL,

who has long been one of the conspicuous tenors of the Metropolitan Opera Company, was born in Cassel, Germany, November 30, 1866. He studied at Berlin, Milan and Vienna, making his debut at Bremen in September, 1887 in The Flying Dutchman. After five years spent in that city, he went to Breslau. America claimed him in the years 1890, 1891 and 1892. In the spring of the latter, Dippel was in Vienna, but in 1898 he returned to America where he has been heard regularly since. His repertoire is an extensive one, including some one hundred roles.

MLLE. REGINE PINKERT,

a noted coloratura soprano, came from Kiev, Russia, where she was singing at the Municipal Opera, to become a member of New York's Manhattan Opera Company. She was born at Varsoria, of Polish parentage, and began the study of music at the age of five. When she was fifteen years old she was a pianist of high order and began playing in concerts. She studied in Paris under Madame Marchesi for two years and then, at the age of seventeen, made her debut at Milan, afterwards appearing at the prominent theaters and opera houses throughout Europe and South America. Her repertoire consists of such operas as Lucia, Somnambula, Puritani, L'Elisir, La Boheme, Barbiere, Rigoletto, Hamlet, etc.

GERALDINE FARRAR,

the American girl who became a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company last fall, making her debut as Juliette, added other laurels to her wreath by her performance of Madama Butterfly in Puccini's opera when it was produced at the Metropolitan and Caruso sang the role of Lt. Pinkerton. This was the Italian version of the same opera which Henry W. Savage presented in English in New York and throughout the country using a relay of three prima donnas for singing the title role and also three sets of principals for the roles of Sasuki and Lt. Pinkerton, respectively. Miss Farrar's father was once a noted professional baseball player.

PAULA EDWARDES

has headed her own comic opera or musical comedy company in the past few years with varying degrees of success. Her last vehicle was called The Princess Beggar, and was seen at the New York Casino. Before that she appeared in Winsome Winnie. She was born and educated in Boston and made her first appearance in the chorus of Tabasco, of which Thomas Q. Seabrook was the star. She next appeared in Hoyt's A Black Sheep, created a character part in A Dangerous Maid at the Casino, and then made a great success as Mamie Clancy, a Bowery girl, in The Belle of New York when that piece introduced Edna May to the theater-going public of America and England. In Augustin Daly's company playing A Runaway Girl, she created the part of Carmencita, following this with a part in The Great Ruby. In 1900 she appeared in Mam'zelle 'Awkins. After a revival of A Runaway Girl, Miss Edwardes became a star in Winsome Winnie.

ELEANORE DI CISNEROS

is one of the new contraltos of Oscar Hammerstein's company. Her maiden name was Eleanore Broadfoot, her home being in Brooklyn where she sang in a choir for a short time. She succeeded in securing an engagement to sing small parts at the Metropolitan Opera House under the management of Maurice Grau. Then she disappeared for quite awhile, during which time she became the wife of a Cuban gentleman and went abroad to make a career for herself. In six years she rose from an unknown singer of small parts to a position where she was accepted in leading roles in Italy, Austria and England. Her American success naturally followed. Both in her singing and in her acting she scored deserved success that winter.

MME. BRESSLER-GIANOLI

has been a member of the Manhattan Opera forces during the inaugural season of grand opera under Oscar Hammerstein's direction. She made her first appearance two years ago with the French Opera Company from New Orleans which had a rather disastrous season at the Casino Theater, New York, although she personally scored at that time principally because of her Carmen, which won her immediate artistic recognition, dramatically and vocally. She repeated this success at the Manhattan last winter, her vocal work being admirable, splendidly seconding her acting and enhancing its effect. Her dancing, moreover, was much better than when she was first seen in New York. This was but one of many roles in which she scored during the Manhattan Opera season.

NOTABLE PLAYS OF THE SEASON

Among the most interesting dramatic productions of the season now ending is that of Hauptmann's John the Baptist by Edward Sothern and Julia Marlowe, at the Lyric Theater, is notable. This was one of the splendid repertoire of classical and poetic plays presented by these talented American players in the principal cities of this country and subsequently staged by them at the Waldorf Theater, London. The title role, played by Mr. Sothern, was an interesting study though chief honors were accorded Miss Marlowe for her conception of the part of Salome, one of the features of this performance being her much discussed dance of the seven veils. Like the other pieces in their repertoire, including Jeanne d'Arc, The Sunken Bell and the serious Shakespearean offerings, John the Baptist was admirably staged.

The Belle of Mayfair has been a musical comedy of truly international importance. Americans were more or less familiar with this latest work of Leslie Stuart, the man who composed the tuneful measures of Floradora, long before the piece was given an American production, last November, and ran for several months in New York prior to a long Chicago engagement. It was while starring in this typical English musical comedy at the Vaudefille Theater in London that Edna May became piqued because of the prominence attained by Camille Clifford, another American girl in the supporting company (who had incidentally annexed to herself a peer of England), and left the piece, subsequently starring in Nellie O'Neil.

In this country the piece was presented by an American company of notable excellence, including Christie MacDonald, Van Rensselaer Wheeler, Richard Carroll, Ignacio Martinetti, Irene Bently and Valeska Suratt. Both here and abroad its success has been largely due to the tuneful numbers contributed by Leslie Stuart. Its book is a paraphrase of Romeo and Juliet, telling the story of two modern lovers in Mayfair, London, who are parted by their respective families, although the outcome, as might be imagined, is happier than that of the Shakesperean original.

After several months given over to the presentation of original plays by some of the most famous dramatists writing for the stage, including Israel Zangwill, Clyde Fitch, Eugene Presbrey and Jerome K. Jerome, with only a minimum amount of artistic or financial success as the result of her offerings, Eleanor Robson last January put on at the Liberty Theater a play by Paul Armstrong, based on Bret Harte's short story, Salomy Jane's Kiss. He took two or three characters from some other Bret Harte stories and gave the whole to the theater-going public under the title of Salomy Jane. Mr. Armstrong had previously won recognition from the theater-goers of this country by writing for the late Kirk La Shelle The Heir to the Hoorah which, produced several seasons ago, is still being played throughout the country. The vehicle with which he provided Miss Robson is one of the best, if not the best, of the many western plays staged in recent years and has met with success richly deserved. The dramatist was materially aided by the excellence of the supporting company provided for the nominal star, virtually every role being well played and, although the piece depended less than most western dramas on its scenery for its appeal, that phase of the play was far from neglected. The success which the piece scored resulted in the management's abandoning the idea of presenting Miss Robson in any other plays during the remainder of her New York season.

George Broadhurst contributed his share to the notable plays of the season in The Man of the Hour, a play dealing with political conditions that obtain in practically every lrge city, yet which are particularly true of New York, inasmuch as the types depicted find their counterparts in the political world of the metropolis. The piece went into the Savoy Theater last fall, after a series of failures had been staged at that house, and at once scored a remarkable success. Although there is a strong love interest, the play makes its appeal along wholly different lines and, because of this, there was some doubt as to its ultimate success, a doubt, however, which was dispelled shortly after its production, when a series of crowded houses gave even more satisfactory proof than favorable criticisms of how completely the play had scored. Mayor McClellan, Tammany Chieftain Murphy, and other lesser lights in New York politics, are rather faithfully reproduced.

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

INSIDE THE BURR McINTOSH-MONTHLY • March 1907

2010-08-28T10:19:00.001-04:00

This is No. 8 in a summer series designed to acquaint you with the very collectible Burr McIntosh-Monthly magazines popular a century ago. Text in this issue was written by Paul Thompson and Edwad T. Heyn. This post focuses on:

Burr McIntosh-Monthly, Vol. 12 • No. 47 • March 1907

THE ROSE OF THE RANCHO

The season of 1906-07 has been a remarkable one in the number of artistic and financial theatrical successes. One of the most important of these has been the annual production of David Belasco, The Rose of the Rancho, a play based on life in Southern California just prior to the acquisition of that country by the United States. The piece was originally written by Richard Watson Tully and staged on the Pacific coast. In its elaborated form it received its first New York presentation last November and, following the precedent of other Belasco pieces, settled down for an all-season's run. Although nominally without a star, the piece did succeed in elevating to stellar prominence Miss Frances Starr, hitherto a little known stock actress discovered by Mr. Belasco. The production is notable for its wonderful stage pictures, surpassing in this respect probably any of the same wizard's previous productions.

FRANCES STARR

is the discovery of David Belasco, under whose management, in The Rose of the Rancho, she has achieved a wonderful success. She was born in California in 1886, making her first appearance on the stage as a member of a stock company in Los Angeles. She came to New York and joined F. F. Proctor’s Stock Company at the Fifth Avenue Theater. Last year she was in Gallops with Charles Richman and in the fall of 1906 opened as leading woman in The Music Master, leaving that piece to create the part in The Rose of the Rancho that brought her fame.

THE RED MILL

is a remarkable musical comedy success that has served to reintroduce Montgomery & Stone to Broadway and demonstrate beyond cavil the versatility and fun-making ability of these two men. As Tin Man and Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, they first came into public favor, and the wiseacres decided that they were one part actors and dolefully shook their heads when it was announced that they would be cast in so-called straight comedy roles. Their success, however, is due not only to their own capability, but to the excellent music composed by Victor Herbert, the genuinely funny book written by Henry Blossom, and for the manner in which The Red Mill is staged. The piece came into New York last September and has been playing to capacity houses ever since.

THE GREAT DIVIDE

has been hailed by come critics as the long-awaited "great American play." It has been playing to full houses in New York since fall. It enjoys the distinction of enlisting the services of two equally prominent and successful stars, Margaret Anglin and Henry Miller. It was written by Prof. William Vaughan Moody of the University of Chicago, a man known in the literary world, but unknown on the stage prior to this, his first play. The piece was originally produced out of New York and called The Sabine Woman, and was rather harshly criticized ... on its moral score. Heedful of this, the play was changed somewhat and ever since its first presentation in New York early in October, has crowded the doors of the Princess Theater. It has proved to be an absorbing play presented by a very capable company of players and notable also for its production at the hands of actor-manager Henry Miller.

MARGARET ANGLIN

co-stars with Henry Miller in The Great Divide (see above). Last season she scored a success of equal proportion in Zira under Henry Miller’s management. When Lena Ashwell was playing in New York last winter in The Shulmanite in which she was originally seen in London, two revivals of Henry Arthur Jones’s Mrs. Dane’s Defense were made. One afternoon Miss Ashwell played the role of Mrs. Dane which she had created in London; the following afternoon Miss Anglin essayed the same part as she had played the role when the play was first staged in America, and in this had scored the first and greatest success of her career. The New York critics were evenly divided as to the comparative merits of the two interpretations. Miss Anglin unquestionably occupies the position today of one of the, if not the greatest emotional actress on the American stage.

THE CHORUS LADY

Rose Stahl in The Chorus Lady is a graduate of vaudeville who has scored a notable success on her elevation to stardom. She has been playing a comedy written by James Forbes, a former New York newspaper man, who has for several years been associated with Henry R. Harris as assistant manager, etc. The Chorus Lady was originally a vaudeville skit that depended equally upon Miss Stahl's personality and the clever lines given her in the leading character, chorus girl Patricia O'Brien, for its success. It was produced in London after touring the vaudeville houses in this country and scored a remarkable success. Mr. Forbes took the central character and made her the basis for a four-act comedy drama whose success, as in the vaudeville skit, has been dependent almost wholly on the star herself. (At this writing, The Chorus Lady was in its 8th month and still going strong.)

JULIA MARLOWE

is starring with E. H. Sothern in a repertoire of classical plays, including Sudermann's John the Baptist, Hauptman's The Sunken Bell, The Daughter of Jorio and Jeanne D'Arc, as well as the several Shakespearean plays that were in their repertoire last year. The co-stars have been remarkably successful in an artistic and financial way, and this March plan a European invasion, starting in London and subsequently going to the continent.

EMMA TRENTINI

is a member of the Manhattan Opera Company. One of her greatest successes has been scored as Bertha in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Seviglia.

ALEXANDER PETSCHNIKOFF

is the celebrated violinist who has been appearing in this country with his wife during the present season. He hails from Moscow where he entered the conservatory when a very young boy. He was a pupil of Hrimaly for a number of years, in due course winning the conservatory's first prize, a gold medal, after which he was offered the opportunity to continue his studies in Paris. At the outset of his career he had the good fortune of interesting the Princess Oursoroff, whose influence was exerted in his behalf with the result that he was soon favored and courted by nobility. She presented him with the famous Ferdinand Lamb violin, which is said to be the most valuable instrument in existence. Petschnikoff's playing is said to be free from charlatanism and trickery, the charm of it being in his temperament, ideal conception and wonderful power of expression. His wife is an American girl and was a pupil of her husband before marriage. They have appeared frequently in Europe in joint concerts, one of their greatest triumphs being at the Mozart Festival held in Salzburg.

DAME NELLIE MELBA

Mme. Melba's return to the grand opera stage after an absence of almost six years, at the new Manhattan Opera House, has been one of the conspicuous things about the grand opera season of 1906-07. Making her reappearance in La Traviata, she subsequently sang a number of times at the Manhattan, invariably being greeted by crowded houses. In the intervals between her opera appearances she has sung in concerts in large eastern cities. Mme. Melba's son, George Armstrong, was married in December 1906, the wedding being a great social event in London. She gave her son a wedding present of $7,500 a year in addition to the $250,000 which she settled on him as a child. Prior to her departure for New York, the rumored engagement of Mme. Melba to Lord Richard Nevill was revived.

AFTERWORD

Although listed in the Table of Contents, the portrait of Mme. Melba is missing from my copy of the March 1907 issue of the Burr McIntosh-Monthly. This doesn't happen often, but it's not surprising when it does, especially when it's Nellie Melba, the most popular diva ever! The publisher encouraged readers to remove photo panels from the laced-together books. After all, the pages were never numbered. They even supplied readers with inexpensive mats and frames to display their favorite performers. Anyway, I thought you might wonder about the picture I substituted, which is a copy of the flyer once used to promote Mme. Melba's autobiography.

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

WORDS & PHOTOS BY BURR McINTOSH • February 1907

2010-08-20T23:28:00.000-04:00

This is the No. 7 in a summer series designed to acquaint you with the very collectible Burr McIntosh-Monthly magazines popular a century ago. Text in this issue was written by Paul Thompson and Edwad T. Heyn. This post focuses on:

The Burr-McIntosh Monthly • Vol. 12, No. 47 • Feb. 1907

BLANCHE BATES finished in November what was virtually an all-year’s run at the Belasco Theater, in The Girl of the Golden West, and at present is touring the country. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Bates, who owned theaters on the Pacific coast thirty years ago. Both were prominent in their profession, Mr. Bates being a prominent star in the ‘60s. Blanche Bates made her debut at Stockwell’s Theater, San Francisco, in August 1894, in Brandon Matthews’ one-act play This Picture and That. For four years Miss Bates played in stock companies on the coast and went to New York in 1898. She secured a position in Ada Rehan’s company under the management of Augustin Daly, and in 1902 joined David Belasco, under whose management she has appeared in The Darling of the Gods, following this with her present great success.

THE STUDENT KING, a comic opera about music, composed by Reginald DeKoven, with book and lyrics by Stanislaus Stange and the late Frederick Ranken, was originally produced in Boston, being subsequently seen in Chicago, and offered to New York theater goers on Christmas Day 1906.

Star of The Student King is Miss Lina Abarbanelle, who was very successful at the German Theater on Irving Place in New York.

GERALDINE FARRAR, the grand opera singer who made her New York debut at the Metropolitan in Romeo et Juliette at the opening of the 1906-07 season, after enjoying worldwide fame for her singing in Berlin. She was born in Melrose, Mass., 24 years ago, the daughter of Syd Farrar, a noted baseball player. She made her first appearance at the Melrose City Hall in an opera written by a Melrose woman. At the age of 10, over her father's objections, she went to Boston to study music. Miss Farrar then went to Europe, locating in Berlin. She made her debut October 15, 1901, at the Royal Opera House in Berlin, as Marguerite in Faust, and thrilled her audience. The next day she signed a three years' contract to sing at $10,000 a year, being the first American ever engaged for a long engagement at the Royal Opera House. The Kaiser asked her to sing before him at the Wiesbaden Festival in 1902. Miss Farrar was made the recipient of numerous offers of marriage in Germany, among others who sought her hand being the crown prince of Germany, who showered gifts upon her.

LILLIAN RUSSELL's first starring tour in the straight comedy, as opposed to her appearance for so many years in light opera or musical comedy, was anything but the success hoped for. The play was called Barbara's Millions, and was an adaptation from the French by Paul Potter. It failed in Chicago and lasted two very unprofitable weeks in New York. Undaunted by her failure, Miss Russell started out again in December in a new piece called The Butterfly.

DELLA ROGERS was born in Denver, Colo. She went abroad at the age of 14 and studied for three years with Anna de la Grange in Paris. She made her debut in St. Petersburg as Carmen. The following winter she performed at La Scala in Milan. Miss Rogers also sang in Rome, Palermo, and later made a tour through Roumania and also appeared at Constantinople. After appearing in Budapest, she returned to Vienna to study German, and the next winter accepted a two years' engagement at Elberfeld. She is at present at the Hamburg Stadttheater.

ALAN C. HINKLEY, the well known basso singer of the Hamburg Stadttheater, was born in Boston, Mass. in 1877. Early in youth his musical abilities were evident, for when still at the university, he sang with success in church and in concerts. He taught harmony and counterpoint and for a time was the leader of a small chorus of 45 voices. After leaving the university, his studies were directed by Mr. Oscar Sanger, and it is due to the latter that his voice developed to what it is now. Later under Sanger's direction he sang his first opera parts and oratorios, and finally made his debut in Boston in Robin Hood, singing the Serenade in that opera 100 times in one year with success

Not satisfied with singing smaller parts and striving for reputation, Hinkley went to Germany in 1903, where he accepted a five-year contract at the Hamburg Stadttheater appearing in 1904 as King Henry in Lohengrin. Despite his youth, Hinkley has been successful in Italian and French, as well as Wagnerian operas. His success is all the more remarkable because he knew no German before coming to Germany and had to become the master of this difficult language. He also sang with success the roles of Cardinal in The Jewess, St. Bris in The Huguenots, Landgraf in Tannhauser, and King Marke in Tristan and Isolde.

FRANCES ROSE. America is represented at the Breslau Stadttheater by Miss Frances Rose, a native of Cleveland, Ohio. After she finished her voice culture, she went abroad and studied a repertoire under Prof. Adolph Robinson in Vienna. Her first position she still holds in Breslau. Miss Rose's career there has been a successful one.

PUTNAM GRISWOLD, who is engaged at the Berlin Opera, is a native of Oakland, California. He began his career as a singer in the Congregational Church of that city. He went to England to study under Rendegger and in Munich under Leonati, and from there he proceeded to Paris to work with Plançon. While passing through Berlin, he was engaged by the Frankfurt Opera House. After three years there, he was engaged by Mr. Savage of the Savage Opera Company, and appeared 110 times in 25 weeks in the United States. Finally he was engaged by the Berlin Opera, where he still is.

FLORENCE WICKMAN. An artist well known in the United States, having appeared as Kundry in the Savage Opera Company's production of Parcifal, is Miss Florence Wickman, who at present sings at the Theater des Westens. Miss Wickman was born in Beaver Falls, Penn. She made her public debut in Fides at the Wiesbaden Opera House. She next sang Aida at the Royal Opera House, Munich, and it was then that Mr. Savage engaged her to sing in Parcifal.

ROXY KING. Another American artist engaged at the Theater des Westens is Miss Roxy King, who was born in Ohio, but when a child went to Brazil. Five years ago she went to Berlin and, while still a pupil at the Stern Conservatory, sang the part of Recha in The Jewess at a public performance of the institution. The Direktor of the Theater des Westens heard her, and engaged her at once for his establishment.

LEO REINS. Of all the American opera singers in Germany, probably Leo Reins of the Dresden Opera holds the best position. Born in New York in 1870, he made his first appearance when he was 12 years old as a soprano with Lawrence Barrett in Francesca de Rimini at the Star Theater, New York. In 1889 he was granted a scholarship in the National Conservatory of Music, New York, and came under the tuition of Oscar Sanger of that city, thereafter appearing in many concerts and oratorios. After a few months in Paris under the management of Jaques Bonhy, Reins was engaged by Damroach and Ellis for an American opera tour, and the fall found him again at home singing opera in four languages.

At the end of the regular season, Melba took a small company to the Pacific Coast and engaged Reins as leading basso. After that, he went to Germany where he sang prominent roles in Tannhauser and The Huguenots. Having mastered the repertoire, he has appeared in almost all court concerts and gala performances. In 1904, he made his first appearance at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, London, and at the last Bayreuth Festival, he sang the role of Hagen in all Gotterdammerung performances.

MARCELLA CRAFT was born in Indiana, but from early childhood lived in California, where she studied singing and appeared in concerts in Pasadena and Los Angeles in 1895. The following year she went to Boston to study with the late Charles R. Adams, and she soon became known there and throughout New England as a concert and oratorio singer. Thus from 1898 to 1900, she sang in Elijah, The Messiah, The Creation, The Seasons, Hymn of Praise, Gallia, The Golden Legend, Snow and Skylock, and other works, among them a concert version of Lucia.

In 1900, Miss Craft sang in Flotow's Stradella in Mainz. In November of that year she went to Milan where she studied singing with A. Georgin Benvenuti, and dramatic action with Francesco Mottino. She made her debut as Leonora in Trovatore at Morbegno in May 1902, when she was praised for the freshness and beautiful timber of her voice, her perfect intonation, and her artistic rendering. She is at present at Mainz.

LOUIS BAUER is one of the stars of the Cologne theater, and a native of St. Louis, Mo. He entered upon his singing career as basso in the most prominent church choirs in his home city. However, his ambition to be an artist in every sense of the word, led him across the water to take up a thorough study of the art of singing. And for this service, he entered the conservatory in Vienna, taking up all branches necessary for a career. He sang in Weimar and Zurich, and had many flattering offers from other German cities, but he preferred his position in Cologne which he still holds.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

INSIDE THE BURR McINTOSH-MONTHLY • September 1906

2010-08-14T12:36:00.001-04:00

This is the sixth in a summer series designed to edify and entertain you with the camera and the sometimes-pen of editor/publisher Burr McIntosh. Text in this issue was written by Paul Thompson. This post focuses on:

The Burr-McIntosh Monthly • Vol. 11, No. 42 • Sept. 1906

JULIA SANDERSON has been playing in The Tourists, a musical comedy by R. H. Burnsides, music by Gustav Kerker, whose New York premier was celebrated on Labor Day at the Majestic Theater. This piece was produced in Philadelphia last spring and subsequently sent to Boston for a highly successful run. Miss Sanderson first came to Broadway’s notice in Fantana, another musical comedy which ran for several months at the Lyric Theater, New York, in 1905. It is proposed to star this young woman in a piece called The Motor Girl later this coming season.

ADELE von OHL was a conspicuous member of the New York Hippodrome last spring in the spectacular production A Society Circus. Under the stage name of Champion she rode a white horse and performed the dangerous feat of plunging into the Hippodrome tank in the course of the play. She comes of a family, all of the women of which are clever in handling horses. Her mother has conducted a riding academy at various times and a younger sister is famed not only through New Jersey but elsewhere as a horse breaker, both her experience and that of Miss Adele having been secured in the west on ranches where they lived.

DORIS KEANE first came to Broadway notice in September 1905, playing an ingenue role in support of John Drew in Augustus Thomas’s play Delancey. Miss Keane received her training for the stage in a New York dramatic school and it was due to her personal attractiveness and cleverness in playing a part in one of the annual graduation productions of this school that led Charles Frohman to give her an opportunity in the company of his star.

VIOLA ALLEN has once more forsaken the modern playwright for Shakespeare and this coming year is to play in the latter’s Cymbeline. The season of 1905-06 she starred in Clyde Fitch’s play The Toast of the Town, playing the role of the famous actress, Betty Singleton.

LOTTA FAUST is the wife of Ritchie Long, a tenor singer very well known in Broadway musical comedy productions. Miss Faust probably made her first and greatest hit in Babes in Toyland, Victor Herbert’s tuneful musical comedy, which was staged at the Majestic Theater in New York. She subsequently appeared in Wonderland by the same author, which piece, however, did not meet with the same measure of success that had attended Babes in Toyland. She was to be featured in a revival of a musical comedy called The Land of Nod, which was put on at the Grand Opera House in Chicago last July, but was prevented at the last moment from playing this part on account of illness.

JEAN GERARDI is an internationally famous cellist. His first tour of the United States was almost a decade ago when he was hailed as a child prodigy. Since then, he has made frequent visits to this country and is known from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. He was born in Leige, Belgium, in June 1878. He has played in virtually every civilized country. He is the possessor of an artistic temperament and a splendid technique, has a large repertoire, and though his first fame was that of a child prodigy, he has won still greater praise as a finished artist.

TWO ADDITIONAL PANELS were included in this issue.

The first is self-explanatory:

And if you lived in New York in 1907, you would recognize immediately this popular comic actor, DeWolfe Hopper. (See my earlier posts on the life and loves of DeWolfe Hopper, Husband of His Country.)

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

WORDS & PHOTOS BY BURR McINTOSH • October 1905

2010-08-07T11:54:00.000-04:00

This is the fifth in a summer series originally designed to edify and entertain you with the camera and pen of the multi-talented Burr McIntosh (although it's clear that he did not write the material in this issue). This post focuses on:

The Burr-McIntosh Monthly • Vol. 8, No. 31 • October 1905

LOUISE GUNNING is the daughter of a Methodist minister. she was discovered by the late Charles Hoyt, who thought he foresaw a great future for the auburn-haired little girl who invaded his office in quest of employment. He placed her in A Trip to Chinatown when that piece was enjoying its phenomenal run at the Madison Square Theater under his direction and that of Frank McKee. She sang Scotch ballads in that play and afterwards in A Day and A Night, when the latter piece was put on at the Garrick Theater, New York. After Hoyt’s death she went into vaudeville, where was playing when Charles Dillingham looked about for a prima donna for The Office Boy, Frank Daniels’ first starring vehicle under his management; he discovered her and gave her the place. She married shortly after the New York engagement of this piece and retired for a while from the stage. She made her reappearance in vaudeville, but succumbed to the offer of Fred C. Whitney to sing a leading role in Love’s Lottery in support of Madame Schuman-Heink, when this former grand opera star made her debut in light opera at the Broadway Theater, New York.

MARGARET ANGLIN comes from one of the best families in Canada. Her father is edits the leading newspaper in St. John’s, N.B., and is a member of the Provincial Parliament. For a great many years she was Canada’s favorite amateur actress; as a child playing many parts with companies from the States and going as far West with these companies as Toronto, then returning to her home in New Brunswick. By her perseverance she secured a hearing from Charles Frohman, virtually forcing her way into his office, as a reward for which he gave her a place with the Empire Theater Stock Company. Her success was immediate. She played in many productions at the Empire, including Brother Officers, The Unforeseen, etc., but made the greatest success of her career in Mrs. Dane’s Defense, at once establishing her position as one of the best emotional actresses in America. She has played a great many times as co-star with Henry Miller, being possessed of a very great popularity, particularly on the Pacific Coast.

THELMA FAIR is a Denver girl. Her stage experience has been short but remarkable for the progress that she’s made. Fred C. Whitney found her and gave her one of the leading roles in his military musical comedy or opera, When Johnnie Comes Marching Home. With her pronounced blonde hair, her natural good looks and singing voice of splendid range, she was successful from the very start, the New York critics treating her kindly when the war musical comedy was first produced in New York. She subsequently went under Edward E. Rice’s management when that veteran of the stage produced at the Bijou Theater Mr. Wix of Wickham. When Charles Frohman put on The Rollicking Girl at the Herald Square Theater, he gave Miss Fair an important part in the production and made her the understudy for Hattie Williams, who was virtually a co-star with Sam Bernard. On several occasions she sang the leading woman’s role and scored a decided success.

MABEL DIXEY is a sister of Henry E. Dixey, the former star of Adonis, who is one of the most versatile and clever actors on the American stage. She has been making a name for herself, however, through her portrayal of various roles of the ingenue type. She was under the management of W. N. Lawrence for a long while and was well cast in The Frisky Mrs. Johnson when Amelia Bingham put on that Clyde Fitch play at the Princess Theater. She has also played with Henry Miller, and at one time was in that bucolic drama, New England Folks.

CLARA LEIGH is one of two sisters who are very well known in the amusement world as The Leigh Sisters. They came from England, and because of their clever dancing, particularly in featuring the umbrella dance, when this was a great novelty, made an enviable name for themselves. They played in burlesque productions for a number of years, and ultimately found their way into the chorus of Weber & Fields’ Music Hall.

ELLA SMYTH is a lyric soprano who played one of the minor roles in the Bangs-Penfield version of A School for Scandal, — Lady Teazle. She was made understudy for Lillian Russell when the piece was at the Casino Theater before the fire came that sent them on the road, and, on one or two occasions, sang the role of Lady Teazle in decidedly acceptable fashion. The latter part of the season she was entrusted with the part of Mrs. Candour. By a peculiar coincidence she had been understudy for Miss Russell when the latter was at Weber & Fields’ prior to her starring in the musicalized Sheridan play. Miss Smyth comes from San Francisco, and it was there that she received her first stage training.

BONNIE MAGINN is probably one of the richest women on the stage. She is worth between two and three million dollars, is the owner of an extensive cattle ranch in Montana and, because her possession of this wealth is not mythical, but real, will probably retire from the stage after this season. She first came to New York theater-goers’ notice through her remarkable dancing at Weber & Fields’, opposite Belle Robinson, when Peter Dailey was singing there. She stayed there for a number of seasons and left to play a much more important role in Klaw & Erlanger’s production of Mr. Bluebeard at the Knickerbocker Theater, in which piece she had one of the leading parts. When Joseph Weber and Lew Fields separated, and the former was organizing his company for the season of 1904-05, he at once opened negotiations looking toward the return to the Music Hall of Miss Maginn. As a result, she was prominently cast in both Higgledy-Piggledy and The College Widower. This coming year she is to occupy an even more important position, playing the roles that would have fallen to Anna Held had she remained and had the firm continued to be Weber & Ziegfeld instead of Joseph Weber’s Music Hall.

CATHERINE COOPER is the daughter of a Milwaukee photographer. Her stage experience covers a short period. Her mother was on the stage, and it was largely because of this that she herself adopted the theatrical profession as a livelihood. She played in several Chicago musical comedy productions and came to New York in Weber & Fields’ ill-fated An English Daisy. When Fantana left the Garrick Theater of Chicago to come to New York, she was transferred by the late Sam Schubert to this latest musical comedy, which was destined to enjoy so great a measure of popularity in New York City. She is an extremely attractive girl and her dancing played an important part in Fantana.

WALKER WHITESIDE is an actor who enjoys a splendid reputation in the middle west and far western parts of this country, through his portrayal of various Shakespearean and other classic roles. He played one engagement in New York at the Herald Square Theater, but the New York critics refused to take him seriously and, as they are prone to do with most strangers within their gates, treated him with scant courtesy, so much so, in fact, that it has deterred him from repeating his invasion of Broadway. When the dramatization of Lew Wallace’s book, Ben Hur, was determined upon, the famous Indiana author wanted Walker Whiteside to play the title role. His wishes were not realized, however, for it was felt that the actor’s size would operate against a successful stage portrayal of the character of Ben Hur, because he is not as tall as the average man, being in fact about the stature of Edwin Booth. In other roles, even those requiring a dominating physique, he has overcome this handicap and made his followers forget the limitations under which he labored.

DAVID WARFIELD, the most conspicuous figure on the American stage at the present day, because of his phenomenal success as a character actor, a success that The Music Master, which is now in its second year in New York, did more to enhance than anything he has ever done, began his theatrical career as an usher in the Bush Street Theater in San Francisco. He did not remain in that position for long, however, for he soon went into the minstrels, joining a troupe which was playing in the house where he was ushering. His first New York appearance was at Herman’s Concert Hall on Eighth Avenue, where he gave a Jewish character imitation. George Lederer discovered him and, in the heyday of his success as a producer at the Casino, brought Warfield uptown and put him in some of the famous Casino productions which have made Lederer and the Casino famous. Warfield scored his greatest success playing the role of an eccentric Dutch comedian in The Merry World. He afterwards went to Weber & Fields’ and played very important parts in their various burlesques. David Belasco saw him there and came to the conclusion that he was capable of better and greater things, and put Warfield under contract. His first year under the Belasco management was in the piece called The Auctioneer. Belasco ended Warfield’s second season in The Auctioneer, and had the new piece, The Music Master by Charles Kline, written for his star. Warfield went to the Bijou Theater, and scored the one great big hit of the theatrical season. His run was interrupted only on account of the summer and resumed early in September, with the probability that the play would run through most of the present season.

NELLIE McCOY, who has an important part in The Earl and the Girl at the Casino Theater, and has for a long time enjoyed a reputation as a clever dancer with her sister, Bessie, who is in A Yankee Circus on Mars at the Hippodrome, had a singing and dancing role in Lady Teazle before she went into The Earl and the Girl. Before that she was at Weber & Fields’. The first act of The Earl and the Girl is a copy of that famous painting, “The Fallowfield Hunt,” this having been copied by the scenic artist, not because it has anything to do with the plot of the musical comedy, but because it afforded an opportunity for an attractive stage setting. Accordingly, when a part was created for Miss McCoy, she was given the name of Daisy Fallowfield. She did so well with the two or three lines entrusted to her that her part was immediately broadened and the ambitious Miss McCoy was given a role that ultimately assumed an importance that was not to be denied.

THE EARL AND THE GIRL, which reopened the famous Casino in New York after this historic playhouse had been closed for several months following the fire which drove Lady Teazle out of New York, is an English importation. It ran for something like two years in London at George Edwardes’ Gaiety Theater, with Willie Edouin playing the leading role. When the piece opened in New York it was far better known in other cities than in the metropolis, for many months ago it was put on in Chicago and played there for a long while, subsequently going into the Boston Theater for an extended engagement. Ivan Caryll, composer of The Duchess of Danzig and other equally successful English musical comedies, is responsible for the music, while Seymour Hicks and Percy Greenback wrote the book and lyrics. The American version, which was changed a great deal to fit the peculiar fun-making abilities of Eddie Foy, who was virtually made the star of the piece when it was produced in New York, was staged by Richard Burnsides. The story, in brief, is of how the earl of Stole (Victor Morley), who is in financial distress, is about to give a house party to an American girl (Georgia Caine), whom he is desirous of marrying. An animal trainer, Jim Cheese (Eddie Foy), who is down on his luck, breaks into the earl’s place at this time, just as the bailiffs are about to attach the estate for debt. To make it possible to continue with the house party, the earl persuades the animal trainer to change places with him, the comedy opportunities thus afforded being rather unusual.

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.
Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

WORDS & PHOTOS IN THE BURR McINTOSH-MONTHLY • August 1905

2010-07-31T13:11:00.000-04:00

This is the fourth in a summer series designed to edify and entertain you with the camera and the pen of the multi-talented Burr McIntosh. This post focuses on:

The Burr-McIntosh Monthly • Vol. 8, No. 29 • August 1905

(Carla's Note: "Blurbs" in this issue are longer than in previous issues. As they lack the sweet teasing and romantic whimsy of Mr. McIntosh's previous texts, I believe they were written by someone else .)

E. S. WILLARD, one of the best known actors on the English stage, was brought to this country by the late A. M. Palmer, and made his American debut at what was then known as Palmer’s Theater (Wallack’s), at the corner of 30th Street and Broadway. He presented The Middleman which scored an immense success. Subsequently he produced The Professor’s Love Story and other plays that he has retained in his repertoire and which he revived only last season when he returned to America in Wilson Barrett’s play, Lucky Durham, which proved to be another unsuccessful actor-made play and whose non-success necessitated his putting on other plays to fill in the time allotted him in New York. For many years after leaving A. M. Palmer, he starred under his own management. He plans to return to America this coming season.

MARGUERITE CLARKE, who enjoys the reputation of being one of the youngest actresses on the American stage, is a Boston girl. She made her real debut in The Isle of Champagne when she was understudy for Elvira Croix-Seabrooke, playing the latter’s role one night in Boston when she (Croix-Seabrooke) became ill. Her success was instantaneous. She made a great hit in The Burgomaster and has always been a great favorite in Chicago where she has appeared in many musical comedies. She was under George Lederer’s management for awhile in The Blonde is Back, appeared one season on the New York Roof, and for the past three years has been with DeWolf Hopper, playing in both Mr. Pickwick and the revival of Wang. It is expected that she will have a prominent part in the new piece in which the elongated comedian will star this coming year, Elysia, by Reginald DeKoven and Frederick Rankin.

ELSIE DeWOLFE, who is one of the few society women who have adopted the stage as a career, was first of all a society entertainer and reader, giving numerous Browning matinées and readings on other like subjects. She scored her first important success in Catherine in the support of Annie Russell. Then, after playing in several pieces, she starred in Clyde Fitch’s ill-fated The Way of the World. This being unsuccessful, she gave up her stellar ambition for a period and played instead leading roles. Then she secured Hubert Davies’ Cynthia (this clever Englishman is best remembered as the author of Cousin Kate in which Ethel Barrymore starred the season before last). Despite the cleverness of the play, Cynthia failed to appeal to New York theatergoers, and was withdrawn. Then Miss DeWolfe went into Augustus Thomas’s play The Other Girl. After this clever comedy left New York, Miss DeWolfe left the stage and the past year has been engaged in selecting decorations for the homes of wealthy New Yorkers.

ETHELLE EARLE played a prominent part in Augustus Thomas’s dramatization of the series of Gibson pictures entitled The Education of Mr. Pipp at the Liberty Theater, New York. For several weeks before the end of the theatrical season 1904-05, Miss Earle played the role of Julia Pipp, one of the Gibson girls in the production, being selected for the role on account of her conforming to the ideals of the great American artist. She came to New York from Boston, where she had served an apprenticeship in the Castle Square Stock Company.

MILLIE JAMES is the daughter of Louis James. She served her apprenticeship in stock companies. Then she appeared with James J. Corbett, the ex-heavyweight champion of the pugilistic world, in the latter’s first starring vehicle, Gentleman Jim. Then she appeared in farce and in the melodrama Wine and Women. It was, however, in Lovers’ Lane as Simplicity Johnson, that she made her first great success. After Lovers’ Lane she was featured by Charles Dillingham in The Little Princess, that delightful child’s play by Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett. So successful was she in this play that Charles Froh-man secured her to play what was virtually a stellar role in Clyde Fitch’s ill-fated Glad Of It, a satire on department stores and various other things. It was produced in 1903 at the Savoy Theater, New York, but it had only a short life. Following this, Miss James married and retired from the stage, although it is expected that this coming season will see her acting once more.

ROSELLE KNOTT is an actress who is extremely well known throughout the country, better in fact than she is in New York City. She has been very successful in playing roles which Julia Marlowe has created; for instance, in The Cavalier, When Knighthood Was in Flower, etc., appearing in these in parts of the country where Miss Marlowe’s tour did not take her. She made her first big success playing the role of Lygia in Quo Vadis at the Fifth Avenue Theater, when the latter place was devoted to legitimate dramatic productions and had not become one of the Proctor vaudeville houses. Miss Knott has also played in a piece called The Empress Josephine with William Humphreys, and this past season she played throughout the country, under Frank Perley’s management, Cousin Kate, the vehicle used the year before last by Ethel Barrymore for starring purposes.

MAY McKENZIE has passed most of her stage life in the little music hall on Broadway which for so many years was under the direction of the actor-managers Joseph Weber and Lew Fields. When the partners separated she elected to stay with Weber and was given a part in Higgledy-Piggledy and The College Widower of greater importance than any she had played before. She has also achieved a certain measure of popularity by contributing, under the name of Maid Marian, to the local theatrical daily, chatty gossip relative to the chorus-girl world.

LOUISE DREW is the daughter of John Drew, that well known star of the American stage. Following in her father’s footsteps and that of other members of the famous Drew family, she determined to adopt the stage as a career and made her debut in Arthur Wing Pinero’s Iris in support of Virginia Harned. This was in 1902. Then she appeared in the short-lived dramatization of Lady Rose’s Daughter, made at the Garrick Theater, New York, and also appeared in the support of Fay Davis in Whitewashing Julia, the English comedy which likewise had so short a career. Last spring she went into Strongheart in support of Robert Edison when this piece left New York for the road. She has been playing during the summer in William Harcourt’s Stock Company at Albany. She has always been a great chum of her cousin, Ethel Barrymore.

BESSIE McCOY, whose name is inseparable from that of her sister, Nellie, because for many years they were known only as the McCoy Sisters, comes naturally by her ability as an actress and dancer, for she was born and brought up on the stage. Her parents were circus performers, although her mother afterwards became a character actress. For a long while the McCoy Sisters were featured in the production of Charles Hoyt’s farces by the late Sam Schubert, who secured his real start producing these revivals of the Hoyt farces. The girls were so successful that Mr. Schubert advised their separating and seeking distinction as individual players. Daniel Frohman, who became very much interested in the sisters, sent Bessie to Charles Dillingham, who put her in the revival of Fatinitza in the support of Fritzi Scheff last winter. She subsequently went to the Hippodrome, where she now is playing the role of the soubrette Aurora. Her sister, Nellie, has been very successful in The Earl and the Girl, the Schubert musical comedy that is to come into the rebuilt Casino this month.

TRULY SHATTUCK is a California girl. She has for many years been a very prominent figure in the vaudeville world. When Sousa’s marches were first coming into popularity she created something of a furore by having words written to the music of these marches and singing them in music halls like Koster & Bial’s, New York. Although she is more closely identified with the vaudeville stage, she has played in musical comedies. She played the leading woman’s role in King Dodo in support of Raymond Hitchcock, and afterward appeared in other productions made by Henry W. Savage. She was in An English Daisy and last season had a prominent part in George Cohan’s production, Little Johnnie Jones. She is the wife of Stephen Douglas, a New York promoter. Truly Shattuck also appeared for a number of seasons in Lillian Russell’s roles in road productions of Weber & Fields’ burlesques, as it was formerly the custom to send these burlesques on the road, inasmuch as the original music-hall company did not leave New York.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

WORDS & PHOTOS BY BURR McINTOSH • August 1904

2010-07-23T09:29:00.000-04:00

This is Number Three in a summer series designed to edify and entertain you with the camera and pen of the multi-talented Burr McIntosh. This post focuses on:

The Burr-McIntosh Monthly • Vol. 5, No. 17 • August 1904

LULU GLASER as a new summer girl will be welcomed by all who are fortunate enough to see this picture. I don't know much about these filigree arrangements, but I predict that the funny little bunch of fluff on the port side of her chin will be extensively copied before the present crop of leaves disappears. But when she appears as The Madcap Princess in the fall, then there'll be some things to copy.

ISADORE RUSH has been one of the most popular and attractive of the light opera favorites for several seasons. Many recall with pleasure her attractive work as Lady Hollyrood in Floradora. During the coming season Miss Rush will have the opportunity of her life, which will make the theatre-going public very glad.

FAY TEMPLETON. Don’t you feel your face broaden and your sides begin to shake a wee bit just at the mere mention of the name? Nobody on our stage has done so much in clever mimicry, and there is no personality that is so all-pervading as that of Fay Templeton. Long may she laugh that others may laugh with her.

WILLIE COLLIER is funny. Just natural born funny. Years ago he used to be a kid. As he was outgrowing this, he occupied the important position of call boy in the Augustin Daly Company. Willie was funny and prankish even then; in fact, he was such an amusin’ cuss that Mr. Daly kept him as a producer of funny shocks. Now Mr. Collier is “The Dictator” himself, but still funny.

DOROTHY HAMMOND is one of the cleverest of our young leading ladies. Last season she aided Henry Miller to make his starring tour attractive. There is no question but that Miss Hammond is destined to be one of the popular favorites, as she is the possessor of that very much to be desired quality of womanly personality.

DELIA MASON is the summer girl whom we will all undoubtedly be glad to see. Miss Mason is far away at the present moment; in fact, she is away off in Australia, showing the natives how attractive The Little Maids can be, but as she has grown no older since this picture was made just before she left, it is a pleasure to reproduce it.

AILEEN CRATER is blessed with a bubbling personality. Some people are demure, while others are effervescent. If you wish the latter, then get before the magical spell of Miss Crater, and all nature will seem glad.

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

WORDS & PHOTOS BY BURR McINTOSH • January 1904

2010-07-17T03:38:00.000-04:00

This is the second in a summer series designed to acquaint you with the camera and the pen of the multi-talented Burr McIntosh. This post focuses on:

The Burr-McIntosh Monthly • Vol. 3, No. 10 • January 1904

Minnie Ashley

is the girl who is presented in glowing colors this month. And so she should be. During her brief but wonderfully successful career on the stage she established herself as one of the greatest favorites with the theater-goers who appreciated cleverness and refined methods. “Rhoda” will never more tell of her “pagoda.” A very fortunate young man, who has won his own spurs on many worthy fields, has succeeded in leading Miss Ashley to change her name to Mrs. W. Astor Chandler. Once more is the stage impoverished.

Forbes Robertson

Besides being the proud and happy husband of his wife (below referred to), Forbes Robertson is now, and has been for years, one of the very best and most interesting actors on the stage. Americans have seen only too little of him, but in England he is one of her greatest favorites. In his present tour in The Light That Failed, he has increased, very materially, our very great regard for his splendid genius.

Gertrude Elliott

has also been and gone and done it. Four years ago last summer her name was plain, simple “Midge.” As Joe in The Cowboy and the Lady, I used to tell her what a fine little girl she was, night after night. And she used to tell me in return—well, such pleasant things that, in my advanced age, I can but look back upon and marvel. And yet—woman-like—no sooner did we close up the ranch than she flies away and marries another man. But, as they are both very happy and very much in love, why shouldn’t I join in the chorus of well-wishers? I do.

(Carla's Note: The photo of Gertrude Elliott is from an old postcard, and is not a Burr McIntosh photo. Her picture had removed from the book. Sorry.)

Kathleen Warren

is my idea of a beautiful, wholesome girl from dear old England. She nightly adds to the enjoyment of Three Little Maids, but in no greater degree, I’m sure, than the reproduction here offered will give to the beholder.

Agnes Booth

What a flood of delightful memories must sweep over the minds of our theatre-goers of the recent past. When Colonel Moberly bent over her hand, down in Alabama, and cried with all of the gallantry and chivalry in his soul, “Mistress Page, I kiss you’ hand,” there wasn’t a man in the audience who didn’t echo the expressed sentiments. And then Nina Ralston in Captain Swift and the scores of other charming portrayals will live with thousands of Agnes Booth’s admirers while life shall last.

Maude Lillian Berri

is a very beautiful woman. She is also a very clever one, as all of those who have seen The Sultan of Sulu will testify. Miss Berri is destined to become even better known to our public than she is at present.

Sibyl Carlisle

is assisting William Gillette to make The Admirable Crichton the great success which it is. Miss Carlisle visited our shores a few years ago, and was a popular member of the late Augustin Daly Company. Since returning to her native country she has made very rapid strides in her chosen profession and is an extremely popular young woman, off the stage as well as on.

Evelyn Nesbit

has just flitted back from dear Paris, and is here presented in one of the choicest creations which returned with her. Miss Nesbit is one of the photographic beauties of the stage, and I’m sure that he who observes this reproduction will agree that there is just cause for the fact. At this writing Miss Nesbit is assisting The Girl from Dixie to become popular.

Vera Edwardine (b

elow)

is another English beauty who has been sent to gladden our eyes in conjunction with Three Little Maids. That she has accomplished her mission is an undisputed fact.

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.

STAGE WHISPERS is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

WORDS & PHOTOS BY BURR McINTOSH • August 1903

2010-07-10T17:32:00.000-04:00

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Burr McIntosh was a stage actor, a war correspondent, a peerless photographer, a magazine publisher and, eventually, a motion picture actor and producer. His legacy, however, is his magazine, The Burr-McIntosh Monthly, (commonly known by collectors as "Burr-Macs") which contain a vast collection of his photos of performers who were popular back in the day, each accompanied by a few of his well-chosen words.

Although I will, as time allows, feature other Burr-Mac editions, this post focuses on:

The Burr-McIntosh Monthly • Vol. 2, No. 5 • August 1903

Mary Mannering

It is unbecoming to tell how in another incarnation, away back in the days of the Revolution, I, as Philemon Hennion, told her, as Janice Meredith, the solemn truth, that she was the sweetest, dearest girl in all the world. I did that six nights a week, and once or twice in the afternoons during the week. Also on holidays. And now, in this later day, seeing this summery picture of her, one could not blame anybody for thinking that she is just as winsome today as she was in the far-away, dim past.

Kitty Cheatham Thompson

“Katey” as she used to be affectionately referred to when, as one of the brightest lights in the late Augustin Daly’s company, she graced the American stage, has been residing in England for the past five or six years. After a long absence, she recently returned to public life, and is now one of the most sought after of the smart entertainers in London and Paris. When she sings the old Southern songs, learned as a child in Nashville, where she grew up to be a popular belle, she carries all before her.

Minnie Ashley

The Palm isn’t exactly under the bamboo tree, but nobody prettier ever graced a Palm Beach palm tree than does Miss Ashley.

Ethel Barrymore

is picking a new shade of poppy. Every known flower has been laid at her feet, intermingled with the hearts of many brave knights. In offering this new flower, we are doing our best to show our deep admiration. There are no words to properly describe the proud success of Miss Barrymore. It is simply hers, and she and her personality, as long as they are on good terms, can reach any heights.

Belle Harper

is one of the all-too-few prima donnas on the light opera stage who have beauty, youth and a voice.

Blanche Ring

The Blonde in Black once more presents Blanche Ring's pleasant features in a manner which will surely add brightness and cheer to many homes.

Elsie Leslie

As haughty Katherine, she's quite different from the Elsie Leslie who, as Little Lord Fauntleroy, first showed the divine spark which has continued to increase in lustre ever since. A glance at the imperious countenance will show that the lovable side of the shrewish maid best befits Miss Leslie.

Ada Verne

Many of us old timers will recall the days of our youth when the sweet face of Ada Verne is seen as “An Old Time Bridge Girl.” In those days the girls used to remain down on the farm. Miss Verne, however, after standing on the bridge all day, has to hurry back to assist A Blonde in Black to cheer up the hot night.

John Drew

The panel of John Drew tells its own story. The photograph was recently made at his summer home, East Hampton, L.I. Here, with his charming wife and daughter, most of his leisure days are passed.

Mrs. G. H. Gilbert

Dear Mrs. Gilbert. Nobody ever refers to her without adding some affectionate prefix. Those who are fortunate enough to know her, know how truly dear she is. Age has been known to dim the kindly light in the eye of many who have grown old on the stage, but with Dear Mrs. Gilbert, it has only mellowed and softened. Maybe it is because she hasn’t grown old. In spirit, in sympathy, in affection, she is as young today as she was when our theatre-going public first began to love her.

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.

STAGE WHISPERS is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

AMERICA'S MUSICAL PATRIOTS

2010-06-26T16:20:00.000-04:00

Just "Click the Pix" to enlarge.

American patriotic music has been with us since before the revolution, much of it then written as lyrics to known British melodies. For example, The Liberty Song, written in 1768 by patriot John Dickinson (1732 - 1808), member of the Continental Congress 1774-76 & '79, and signatory to the U. S. Constitution, was set to the music of William Boyce, a well known British composer.

You can listen to this spirited march, and read Dickinson's lyrics, on this wonderful Folk Music history website.

Edward Taylor Paull (1858 - 1924) was a prolific writer of patriotic marches. His first hit was The Chariot Race or Ben Hur March, published in 1894. He started his own publishing company to accommodate the music that was pouring out of him. One of his most popular works was the America Forever March. In 1924, his final composition was Spirit Of The U.S.A., copyrighted only six weeks before he died.

Throughout history, much of our patriotic music was written to stiffen our spines and see us through the horrors of wars without losing hope for our country. As we moved toward the 20th Century, we were blessed with the works of a superb musician and prolific composer, John Phillip Sousa (1854 - 1932), whose output was more than 130 compositions, most of them marches so timeless they are still favored by today's orchestras and marching bands. I bet I'm not the only one who gets goose bumps when they play Stars and Stripes Forever, Liberty Bell March or, as a former Marine, my particular favorite: Semper Fidelis.

There came along an entertainer so special that his music inspired us through two world wars. George Michael Cohan (1878 - 1942) was way more than the sought-after triple threat (actor/singer/dancer), He was also a playwright, a composer, and a lyricist, credited with creating the first musicals that used songs and dances to further the plot, not interrupt it. George had so much energy left over that he also became a producer. He and his partner, Sam Harris, were for 20 years Broadway's busiest producing team.

George had his first big hit on Broadway in 1904 with his show, Little Johnny Jones, which introduced his songs "The Yankee Doodle Boy" and "Give My Regards to Broadway." He published more than 1500 original songs over his long career — none of them more affecting than "You're A Grand Old Flag," and none more needed than "Over There" as America entered WW1.

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented George with the Congressional Gold Medal (not to be confused with the military Medal of Honor) for his contributions to WW1 morale, in particular his songs "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Over There." The latter, as I recall, was also sung a lot during WW2.

When Georgie was ten, and still criss-crossing the country with The Four Cohans, a little baby was born in Russia who was destined to become one of the most prolific American songwriters. Irving Berlin (1888 - 1989) wrote more than 1,000 songs in his 101-year life — so much good music, that it has spilled over into succeeding generations — youngsters thinking it's new, while we oldsters just smile, belt out the lyrics, and watch their little jaws drop. (Don't you just love when that happens?)

Irving Berlin wrote "God Bless America" in 1918, although it may not have been published then, as it doesn't seem to occur in any production until he wrote and produced This Is The Army during WW2. But it was the song's powerful rendition by singing star Kate Smith that turned "God Bless America" into our country's second national anthem. She sang it every week on her radio show, and record sales of her rendition were enormous. In 1941, she also recorded a touching British wartime song, "The White Cliffs of Dover," which became a big hit in the U.S.

Irving Berlin was deeply patriotic. Throughout WW2 he wrote patriotic songs such as "Any Bonds Today?" and donated all proceeds to the war effort. He donated the proceeds from the film This Is The Army to the U. S. Army, and entertained the troops far and wide with a road company of that show, in which he was a cast member. At war's end, he was recognized for his important contribution to troop morale, and was awarded the Medal of Merit by President Harry S. Truman.

One of these days I'll revisit some of these patriots, for they have provided us with some wonderful theater over the years. But right now, on the occasion of America's 234th birthday, I wish to thank them for the gifts of their music. Their love for this nation is our good fortune.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

IN MEMORIAM

2010-05-13T11:14:00.000-04:00

Doris Eaton Travis (1904 - 2010), the last surviving Ziegfeld Follies Girl, died Wednesday, May 12, at the age of 106.

If you followed last year's series of Follies posts to Stage Whispers, you'll remember that the Eaton siblings, male and female, were superb dancers who, for many years, formed the strong backbone of the dancing chorus. Tiny Doris (barely 5 feet tall) was the youngest Eaton. In 1918, when she was just 14 years old, she auditioned for the Follies by tagging along with her older sister, Mary.

After three seasons with the Follies, she went on to other projects, and during the Great Depression, she worked for the Arthur Murray Dance Studios, where she met her husband, Paul Travis. The Travises operated a horse farm in Norman, Oklahoma for nearly 75 years, but after Paul died in 2000, the farm became too much work for Doris to handle alone, so she gave it up in December of 2008, when she was 104.

So much energy and talent in one tiny bundle, Doris Eaton Travis was the last icon of a fabled era. Another light just went out on Broadway.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

MADAME HELENA MODJESKA (1840 - 1909)

2010-04-24T19:58:00.001-04:00

Born in Krakow, Poland, Helena grew up in a household of six talented children, of whom four became actors. She made her amateur acting debut at age 20, and soon thereafter, joined a company of strolling players managed by Gustave Modrzejewski, the man who fathered her two children, Rudolf (later Ralph) and Marylka. (They were wed, but years later Helena discovered that they weren't legally married, as Gustave and his first wife had never divorced.) As Helena Modrzejewska, she made her professional stage debut in 1861, but after the death of her daughter, Helena left Gustave and, with her four-year-old son, returned to Krakow where she joined the resident company of that city's municipal theatre.

Helena was beautiful, talented, and dedicated to her craft, and was soon recognized as an actress of substance. In 1868, she married Karol Bozenta Chlapowski, editor of a liberal nationalist newspaper, Kraj (The Country). In her memoir, Helena described their home as being at the center of Krakow's artistic and literary worlds, frequented by actors, authors, poets, politicians, composers, and artists of every stripe.

Chlapowski was also an actor/director who skillfully managed his wife's career for 40 years. (Ultimately he became known in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries as Count Bozenta. They also anglicized Modzejewska to the more pronounceable Modjeska.)

Under Bozenta's guidance, Helena's career blossomed, and for more than a decade, she was the reigning diva of the Polish National Theatre.

Poland's zero-tolerance for so-called radical views drove many dissidents to America, among them Helena, her husband, and her 15-year-old son, Ralph, who landed in New York in the summer of 1876. They traveled to Southern California and purchased a ranch near Anaheim, where they intended to establish a Polish agricultural colony. The Utopian experiment failed, however, in part because of the drought and depression of 1877, but largely because none of the colonists knew anything about ranching or farming. And they couldn't speak English very well, either.

In need of funds, Madame Modjeska, still with a heavy Polish accent, made her triumphant American stage debut in San Francisco in August 1877. She chose an English version of one of her greatest roles, Ernest Legouvé's Adrienne Lecouvreur.

Now viewed as an important newcomer, she quickly followed this with performances as Ophelia, Juliet and Camille, before returning to Adrienne Lecouvreur for her New York debut.

Beginning in 1879, Helena spent three years abroad, mostly in England, attempting to improve her English before performing again on the American stage. The following portrait was painted in 1880, while she was away from America.

Though never able to lose her accent entirely, her command of the language was much improved by the time she arrived home in 1882. Her performance as Juliet that year was enthusiastically received.

Modjeska's banner year was 1883, when she (1) became an American citizen; (2) produced A Doll's House, the first Henrik Ibsen play ever staged in America; and (3) published a volume of seven plays "As Performed by Madame Modjeska (Countess Bozenta." I'm privileged to own a copy of this frail, old book which I call Modjeska's Lucky Seven, but which is titled on the spine simply Modjeska's Plays, and on the front cover in gold leaf, Yours sincerely, Helena Modjeska (her signature). Opposite the first page of each play script is a woodcut illustration of Helena as the character she portrays in that play. I share those illustrations with you now, in book order:

Throughout the 1880s and '90s, Modjeska and Bozenta travelled throughout the U.S. and Europe, and occasionally to their native Poland, with their company of actors. Each year, they spent nine months on the road, performing the more than 250 dramatic roles in Helena's repertoire. They not only played the elegant theaters of the world's grandest cities, but the halls and opera houses of rural America, popularizing the works of Shakespeare and other classical playwrights.

And at the end of each 9-month circuit, they would eagerly head for Arden, their beautiful home situated in Orange County's Santiago Canyon, where they would rest and recuperate and plan the next season's schedule of productions. It wasn't until after her death in 1909 that a portion of the canyon was renamed Modjeska Canyon. At the same time, the north peak of Saddleback Mountain was named Modjeska Peak. Arden is now a registered National Historic Landmark.

Helena Modjeska's personality endeared her to everyone she met. She was popular with her neighbors and the citizens of Anaheim, and with theater managers, playwrights, play-goers, fellow actors, and with the press—most certainly with the journalists of The New York Times. It seems that anywhere she opened in the U.S., Times reps were sent to cover it, and she graciously made time for them. She could always entertain them with a funny story about something that happened in a rehearsal or back stage—a humorous anecdote they could run with in their story. Simply put, she was "good press."

In 1897, Helena suffered a slight paralytic stroke, but returned to the stage within a year. On May 2, 1905, she gave a Jubilee Performance in New York City, then toured for two years before ending her acting career. After that, she appeared only occasionally in support of charitable causes. She died April 8, 1909, at age 68, in Newport Beach, California. Her remains are buried in the family plot at Rakowicki Cemetery in Krakow, Poland.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

DAVID GARRICK (1717 - 1779) — MOST CELEBRATED BRITISH ACTOR OF THE 18TH CENTURY

2010-04-05T14:02:00.010-04:00

David Garrick was the third of five children born to Captain Peter Garrick and his wife, Arabella Clough. Peter was an army officer stationed in Gibraltar during most of David's young life.

At the age of 10, David enrolled in Lichfield Grammar School, where he showed his predilection for the stage by performing the role of Sergeant Kite in George Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer. When he was 19, he became the pupil of Mr. (not yet Dr.) Samuel Johnson, but when Johnson's school was closed, they both travelled to London to seek their fortunes. For the next four years, David Garrick made a half-hearted attempt to become a successful wine merchant while, at the same time, performing in amateur theatricals and writing his first play. Just before his business failed completely, he saw that play, a satire (Lethe: or Aesop in the Shade) produced at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Then he did what he was meant to do: He embarked upon a professional career in the theatre. And after a few months in Ipswich performing the role of Aboan in the tragedy Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave, by English dramatist Thomas Southerne, and doing some comedy turns as Harlequin, Garrick found himself back in London and on the boards of the theatre in Goodman's Fields on October 19, 1741, making his first appearance in the title role of Richard III at the age of 26.

Like a wildfire, his fame spread throughout London. When, on December 2 he played Lothario in The Fair Penitent, citizens from all parts of town flocked to see him. It was said that the theaters in the West End were entirely deserted that night.

Garrick moved on to other roles: Tate's adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear; Pierre in Otway's Venice Preserv'd; Bayes in Buckingham's comedy, The Rehearsal; and others, for a total of 18 roles in just the first six months of his acting career.

What was so compelling about this young actor? He was on the short side of average height for the time, just 5' 4" tall. His voice wasn't particularly loud. And his build was slight (although it thickened over the years). But the quality that set him apart from other actors was his natural delivery. He eschewed the bombastic performance style so prevalent then, in favor of more realistic, more believable speech patterns.

Garrick's astounding success prompted the poet Alexander Pope, who saw him perform three times in six months, to surmise that young Garrick never had his equal as an actor, and to predict that "he will never have a rival." Like so many others, Pope became a Garrick fan, but sadly, he died in 1744 at the age of 56.

Garrick's acting had its detractors, of course. New styles, new methods, disrupt the status quo, and some actors believed their lines were best delivered with all the bombast they could muster. As late as 1756, Theophilus Cibber, an actor and theater critic, earnestly believed that Garrick's realistic style went way too far, and expressed that in nearly 100 words of deep purple prose that simply reeked with jealousy.

David Garrick thoroughly enjoyed his work. After two seasons at Drury Lane, working with major players, he wound up the season with his popular Richard III, and King Lear opposite Margaret "Peg" Woffington, with whom he was having an affair. When the London season ended, he and Woffington travelled to Dublin for the summer season at the Theatre Royal, where Garrick added several new roles to his repertoire.

Peg Woffington was a popular actress in all genres and, although her affair with Garrick ended before they returned to London, she remained his leading lady in London and Dublin until 1748.

Garrick attributed some of his success in Dublin to one of his earliest fans, John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork, to whom he was grateful for having written the praises of his talent to many Irish noblemen and gentlemen.

In 1745, Garrick again travelled to Dublin to become a director and joint manager with Thomas Sheridan, father of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, of the Royal Theatre. In 1746, he returned to England and was engaged for the season at Covent Garden while a farce he had written, Miss In Her Teens, was also produced there.

In April of 1747, Garrick jumped at the chance to partner with James Lacy in the ownership and management of the Drury Lane. It was a dream come true. Productions under their partnership enjoyed great success from their very first performance which opened with an Ode to Drury Lane Theatre, on dedicating a Building and erecting a Statue, to Shakespeare, read by Garrick and written by his friend, Dr. Johnson.

The ode promised patrons that "The drama's law the drama's patrons give / For we that live to please must please to live" — succinctly summing up Garrick's ability to balance both artistic integrity and the public's fickle tastes.

Since the Woffington affair, Garrick had a series of short-lived liaisons until, in December 1746, he met and fell in love with Eva Maria Veigel, a Viennese dancer who made her first appearance at the Drury Lane on December 3rd. Their joyful courtship ended happily in marriage, twice on the same day, June 22, 1749 — first in the chapel near Russell street, Bloomsbury, and a few hours later at the chapel of the Portuguese Embassy in South Audley Street, in accordance with the rites of the Roman Catholic Church. Husband and wife were preserved together in several portraits, including this one by the great William Hogarth:

Though childless, their union was exceedingly happy. Garrick called Eva "the best of women and wives," and according to all reports, they were inseparable throughout their nearly 30 years of marriage.

Over the years, Garrick and some of his leading ladies were sought-after subjects for paintings by some of the greatest artists of all time — a Who's Who of the 18th century art world. In addition to Hogarth, who painted David & Eva Garrick several times, many other artists recorded theatre scenes and players.

For example, SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS:

And THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH:

(Sarah Siddons was the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century, most famous for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth.)

And ANGELICA KAUFFMAN:

And JOHANN ZOFFANY:

And the following four paintings which cannot be overlooked, for even though I cannot identify the artists, their paintings are valuable contributions to the theatrical and literary histories of 18th century England:

David Garrick was a member of The Literary Club (called merely The Club by its members), which was founded in 1764 by Dr. Samuel Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds. What a thrill to read the names of the luminaries seated around this table.

In the 30 years that David Garrick managed the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, the art of play production slowly began its evolution to time-appropriate costumes, prompted by a friend and fellow actor/playwright of Garrick's, Charles Macklin. It was Macklin who coached Garrick when he prepared his first major role, Richard III. As an actor, Macklin was in sync with Garrick's natural speech patterns.

Macklin took natural acting a step farther: He believed that a play set in, say, the 15th century, should not be performed by actors wearing 18th century fashions, and yet, that's what they did. If you don't believe it, look at these pictures:

Note that Macbeth is costumed as a British army officer, and Lady Macbeth wears a fashionable dress of the 18th century. Hard to believe, isn't it?

I get it now — the reason for all those "oldentime costume" jokes.

In 1776, Garrick gave up Drury Lane and retired from the stage. He died at his home in the Adelphi on January 20, 1779, at the age of 63, and was buried in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey, the first actor to be so honored. For the next 43 years, Eva survived as his widow. She died on October 16, 1822, at the age of 98, having retained her faculties to the last. She was buried on October 25th in the same grave with her husband, near the cenotaph of Shakespeare.

In the theater, David Garrick did it all. He has been heralded as the greatest actor of his time, and one of the greatest of all time. He was an astute theater manager, a creative director and, arguably, not a half-bad writer. It has been said that Garrick is another definition for "theater." Appropriately, Garrick Theatres abound throughout the U.K. The preeminent site is in London, of course, in the West End on Charing Cross Road, Westminster. It opened April 24, 1889. It's been refurbished from time to time, and is still in operation today.

There used to be one in New York, as well, at 63 - 67 W. 35th Street, just off Herald Square. It was built by Edward Harrigan and opened as Harrigan's Theatre on December 29, 1890. When actor Richard Mansfield took over the house five years later, he renamed it, and the Garrick Theatre thrived for many years under a succession of owner/operators. The Theatre Guild took it over in 1919, and staged a series of distinguished dramas there before moving into new quarters in 1925. Over the next four years, two Rodgers and Hart musicals and two Eugene O'Neill plays were produced there. Alas, in 1929 the New York Garrick became a burlesque house, and in 1932 was torn down.

A fitting paean to David Garrick was the establishment of The Garrick Club in London in 1831, as a club for "gentlemen only."

The word "only" has been removed from the club's definition, allowing women to attend functions as guests, but they are still denied membership. Magnificent English actresses are legion. Get with it, boys!

Since his death 231 years ago, David Garrick's images have been viewed, his works have been studied, and his successes have been honored in myriad ways. Sometime close to the turn of the 20th century, homage was paid to him in the form of this beautiful (and highly collectible) cigar box label:

Having watched David Garrick on stage, and having thoroughly enjoyed the natural acting style which held Garrick's audiences spellbound, dramatist and classical scholar Richard Cumberland (1732 - 1811) wrote:

"It seemed as if a whole century had been stepped over in the passage of a single scene; old things were done away, and a new order at once brought forward, bright and luminous, and clearly destined to dispel the barbarianisms of a tasteless age, too long superstitiously devoted to the illusions of imposing declamation."

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

THREE ENDURING COMEDIES • PART 3

2010-03-16T12:25:00.011-04:00

Comedy number three is Harvey, the play that earned its author, Mary Coyle Chase, the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Harvey opened at the 48th Street Theatre on November 1, 1944, and remained the brightest light on Broadway for more than four years; it ran 1,775 performances, and closed on January 15, 1949. Harvey advanced the cause of female playwrights, as it did for female directors. Harvey was directed by Antoinette Perry — yes, that very inspiration for Broadway's Toni Awards. (It saddens me that we had to wait until 2010 to acknowledge the talent of a female film director.)

Harvey is a lovely story about a gentle, likable man, Elwood P. Dowd, and his presumably imaginary friend Harvey, a very tall rabbit whom Elwood met while walking home after a night of drinking in a local pub. They became inseparable friends who spent a great deal of time in the local watering holes. When the ever-polite Elwood introduces Harvey to guests attending his sister Veta's afternoon musicale, the society matrons rapidly make their excuses and leave. Veta tries to explain to Elwood that his behavior is damaging her daughter Myrtle Mae's chances to find a suitable husband.

Elwood and his sister, Veta Simmons, were played by Frank Fay and Josephine Hull. Jane Van Duser was featured as Myrtle Mae.

Frank Fay (1897 - 1961) was an American stage and film actor, emcee and comedian, best known for his star turn in HARVEY. He was a popular comedian and in the 1920s was Vaudeville's highest paid headliner. When talkies arrived, Hollywood reached out to Frank Fay who acted and sang in numerous films throughout the 1930s and early '40s. He was also exceedingly popular on radio, and a very big draw on the night club circuit.

As Josephine Hull (1883 - 1957) was featured in all three enduring comedies, I can only imagine how the superstitious acting community regarded her talents. Every play she was in seemed destined to become a hit, keeping actors working for years. Josephine Hull was the ultimate theatrical good luck charm. She performed brilliantly throughout her 50+ years on stage.

After Elwood and Harvey ruined her party, a teary Veta, no longer able to tolerate her brother's eccentric behavior, calls a friend, Judge Gaffney (played by John Kirk), and they conspire to have Elwood committed to Chumley's Rest, a sanitarium at the edge of town.

At the sanitarium, Nurse Kelly (played by Janet Tyler) listens to what Veta says about her brother, then sends Elwood upstairs to begin his treatment. Meanwhile, Veta is interviewed by Dr. Sanderson (played by Tom Seidel), and in her nervous confusion, leads him to believe that she, not Elwood, is the one who sees Harvey. Sanderson commits her and sends her upstairs with Wilson, the orderly (played by longtime character actor, Jesse White). They bring Elwood back downstairs, apologize for inconveniencing him, and release him.

Tom Seidel (1917-1992) had a minor film career, playing scores of bit parts through the 1940s. He retired in 1950 and ran a successful contracting business. He was married to MGM actress Jean Hagen.

Jesse White (1917 - 1997) played Wilson in both the stage play and the motion picture, as well as in a 1972 made for TV version. From Vaudeville to Burlesque to Broadway to Motion Pictures to Television, Jesse White entertained several generations of Americans. He is well remembered for his active television career in the 1950s and 1960s, but probably best remembered for his long-time portrayal of "the loneliest guy in town," the Maytag repairman.

Veta's friend, Judge Gaffney, threatens Drs. Sanderson and Chumley, for having committed the wrong person, and finally gets them to free Veta, who's determined to sue them for the embarrassment she suffered at their hands.

Meanwhile, Elwood returns to Chumley's Rest, looking for his pal Harvey. It seems that Harvey had been visiting Dr. Chumley, but had left his office. Elwood and Dr. Chumley visit for awhile, discussing the wonders of Harvey.

Veta, Myrtle Mae and Judge Gaffney show up, as well, and when Elwood hears Veta explain how difficult it is for her to live with his delusion, he agrees to take an injection of Dr. Chumley's Formula 977, guaranteed to erase all delusions and restore normalcy. While Dr. Sanderson and Nurse Kelly are preparing the formula, taxi driver C. J. Lofgren (played by Robert Gist) enters, seeking his cab fare. When he discovers that Elwood is about to get an injection of the special formula, the cabby explains how he's been driving that route for 12 years, that he's driven nice people on their way to Chumley's, but on the ride back, those same passengers are mean, nasty, impatient and penurious. In other words, they're perfectly normal people, "and you know what stinkers they are!" he says.

Robert Gist (1924 - 1998) was an actor and director, who grew up as something of a hooligan in Chicago during the Great Depression. He barely avoided reform school after injuring a boy in a fist fight, ending up instead in a Chicago settlement house where he became interested in acting. He started out in Chicago radio, followed by a few stage roles before moving to New York. His very first Broadway show was HARVEY. Gist's acting and directing careers were long and distinguished.

In the end, Veta realizes she'd rather have the carefree, kindly brother she loves, even if it means living with a 6-1/2 foot rabbit. She runs to Dr. Sanderson's office and prevents him from injecting Elwood

Harvey was made into a film in 1950, directed by Henry Koster and starring James Stewart, with Josephine Hull and Jesse White reprising their stage roles.

Of course, the story is essentially the same, but film always calls out for a little expansion of scenery. In Harvey, we get a little local color, by seeing more buildings and streets in Elwood's home town.

We become privy to Harry's Bar & Grill and other watering holes where Elwood and Harvey spend much of their time, and we see and hear Elwood's interaction with other patrons, giving us a fuller picture of the man's kindness and generosity, and his genuine concern for everyone he meets.

We see Elwood and Harvey strolling about town. And we have a pretty good idea what Harvey looks like from seeing that picture on the Dowds' mantelpiece.

Up-and-coming young film actors Charles Drake and Peggy Dow play Dr. Lyman Sanderson and Nurse Ruth Kelly in the movie version.

New Yorker Charles Drake (1917 - 1994) was a well-educated young salesman when in 1939 he turned to acting. He moved to Los Angeles and signed a contract with Warner Brothers, but WWII snapped him up before he could make a name for himself, and by the time he returned to Hollywood in 1945, he no longer had a WB contract. After a few years of freelance work, he turned to television, where he was rediscovered by film makers. He made 83 pictures in his film career.

Peggy Dow is now 81 years old. In the late 1940s, the pretty, wholesome blonde was a U-I contract player with a great future in film. But soon after her 1951 marriage to Walter Helmerich III, she retired to Tulsa OK, where they brought up five sons — Rik, Zak, Mat, Hans and Jon — and are happily enjoying their 12 grandchildren.

Dr. Chumley and Mrs. Chumley were portrayed by longtime character actors Cecil Kellaway and Nana Bryant.

Cecil Kellaway (1893 - 1973) spent many years as an actor, author and director in the Australian film industry befoe trying his luck in Hollywood in the 1930s. When he discovered that he could get only gangster bit parts, he became discouraged and returned to Australia. Then William Wyler called and offered him a part in the 1939 production of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, and from then on he was always considered for every part that called for a kind-hearted middle-aged man. He worked steadily in films through 1970, then moved on to guest roles in several television series. He died of arteriosclerosis at the age of 80.

Nana Bryant (1888 - 1955) was born in Cincinnati OH and worked on stages throughout the midwest. In her late 40s, she headed for Hollywood where she made 108 films, all in the last 20 years of her life. She was talented, versatile and very well liked by her co-workers. She was also a pioneer in early 1950s TV soap operas.

Elwood's niece (Veta's daughter) Myrtle Mae was played by Victoria Horne who, in real life, was the loving wife of Jack Oakie.

Victoria Horne (1911-2003) was an American actress who appeared in numerous films in the 1940s and '50s. In 1950 she married actor Jack Oakie, and they lived their entire married life at OAKRIDGE, their 11-acre estate in the Northridge area of Los Angeles. She was widowed in 1978, after which she arranged for the publication of her husband's book, JACK OAKIE'S DOUBLE TAKES, and also published a number of other books about him.

SIDEBAR: Before starting to make this film, James Stewart played Elwood on stage for 6 months in England, and grew very comfortable in the role. He talked about it in an introduction to the film that was added when it was transferred to video for home viewing (and is now available on DVD). When Mary Chase wrote the play, she described Harvey as 6 feet 3-1/2 inches tall. Mr. Stewart, himself, was 6 feet 3 inches, so during the London run, and the film, Harvey became 6 feet 8 inches, as Mr. Stewart believed the pooka should be 5 inches taller than Elwood. Since then, that has pretty much been the rule of thumb. It seems about right, don't you think?

The film's end credits impressed me, so I'm adding them here:

Like any popular comedy, Harvey has been played on stage an infinite number of times here in the U.S., and in Canada, Australia, and throughout Great Britain. But five additional motion pictures of Harvey were also made: In 1958, Art Carney starred as Elwood in a made-for-TV version; in 1970 a version for West German TV starred Heinz Rühmann as Elwood; in 1972, a TV version starred James Stewart as Elwood and Helen Hayes as Veta; in 1985, another version for West German TV featured Harald Juhnke as Elwood and Elisabeth Wiedemann as Veta; and in 1998, Harry Anderson and Swoosie Kurtz starred in a TV film of Harvey which has since been converted to DVD. Until recently, I didn't know that one existed, so I rented it last week and was pleasantly surprised.

Actor Harry Anderson is a working magician, but you may remember his eight seasons as Judge Harry Stone on the TV sitcom Night Court, followed by four seasons as Dave in Dave's World, loosely based on the life of humorist and popular newspaper columnist Dave Barry.

Versatile actress Swoosie Kurtz played Elwood's sister, Veta. More recently, you may remember her and her colorful eye patches in the delightful but short-lived series, Pushing Daisies.

Featured were two well known character actors, Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Chumley and William Schallert as Judge Gaffney.

Supporting actors included Lisa Akey as Myrtle Mae, Jessica Hecht as Nurse Kelly, Robert Wisden as Dr. Sanderson, and Jonathan Banks as the taxi driver.

Now here's something to contemplate: Yet another Harvey film for theatrical release almost became a reality last year when Steven Spielberg showed interest in directing a remake of Harvey, with production to begin in early 2010. The film was to be co-produced by 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Studios. However, Spielberg and the scriptwriter had different visions for the film, and in December 2009, Spielberg opted out of the project.

While Mr. Spielberg was considering the project, he first approached Tom Hanks to play Elwood, but Hanks turned it down. Later, Spielberg approached Robert Downey, Jr. who appeared interested in the role. The way I see it, Robert Downey, Jr., would be perfect for Elwood. And if the writer beefed up the role of Dr. Chumley, it could be a delightful character turn for Tom Hanks.

Oh, isn't this fun. How would you cast the show? Please share your casting ideas in the comments section.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

THREE ENDURING COMEDIES • Part Two

2010-02-24T20:07:00.002-05:00

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, a macabre comedy in three acts written by Joseph Kesselring in 1939 under the title Bodies in Our Cellar. Produced by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, it debuted at New York's Fulton Theatre on August 18, 1941, as Arsenic and Old Lace, and became an immediate critical and popular success, running for 1,444 performances.

Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse each had long Broadway careers as actors before and during their collaboration as Broadway writers, producers and theater owner/operators.

Characters in Arsenic and Old Lace in order of appearance:

AUNT ABBY BREWSTER, Josephine Hull

THE REV. DR. HARPER, Wyrley Birch

TEDDY BREWSTER, John Alexander

OFFICER BROPHY, John Quigg

OFFICER KLEIN, Bruce Gordon

AUNT MARTHA BREWSTER, Jean Adair

ELAINE HARPER, Helen Brooks

MORTIMER BREWSTER, Allyn Joslyn

MR. GIBBS, Henry Herbert

JONATHAN BREWSTER, Boris Karloff

DR. EINSTEIN, Edgar Stehli

OFFICER O'HARA, Anthony Ross

POLICE LT. ROONEY, Victor Sutherland

MR. WITHERSPOON, William Parke

The entire action of the play takes place in the living room of the old Brewster home in Brooklyn, a structure as Victorian as the two delightfully dotty old sisters, Abby and Martha Brewster, who occupy the house with their nephew, Theodore "Teddy" Brewster. As the curtain rises, Abby is seated at the tea table with a neighbor, the Rev. Dr. Harper. Standing nearby is Teddy, costumed in a frock coat, with pince-nez fastened to a black ribbon, and looking very presidential `a la Teddy Roosevelt.

Josephine Hull and Jean Adair reprised their roles in the 1945 film, as did John Alexander. Contractual obligations prevented Boris Karloff from doing the same.

Wyrley Birch was a Canadian actor, busy in American films throughout the 1930s & '40s, and in television during the 1950s, appearing often on "Sgt. Bilko/The Phil Silvers Show."

Arsenic and Old Lace's opening scene is a wealth of exposition: We learn that Dr. Harper is pastor of the church next door; that there's a war in Europe; that the sisters' nephew, Mortimer Brewster, is a theater critic who's dating Dr. Harper's daughter, Elaine; that Dr. Harper is opposed to his daughter's relationship with Mortimer as he is opposed to the evils of theater. They are interrupted when local police, Officers Brophy and Klein, stop by to pick up the sisters' donation of toys for the Christmas fund.

Officer Klein was played by Bruce Gordon, best remembered for his role as Frank Nitti in the TV series, The Untouchables.

The following bit between the police officers and Teddy confirms our suspicion that Teddy Brewster does indeed believe he is Colonel Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

(The cops cross to Teddy and give him a snappy salute.)

TEDDY: What news have you brought me?

BROPHY: Colonel, we have nothing to report.

TEDDY: Splendid! Thank you, gentlemen! At ease!

(Teddy crosses to the stairway, blasts his bugle loudly, and hollers "C H A R G E !" running up the stairs.)

So five pages into the script and you're already hooked on the zany antics of the lovable Brewster family. Uh...well...maybe not so lovable. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Abby & Martha treat lonely old men to their homemade elderberry wine laced with a mixture of arsenic, strychnine, and a pinch of cyanide, turning over the bodies to Teddy as yellow fever victims for burial in the Panama Canal (the basement). At last count there were eleven bodies buried there. The twelfth body was put in the window seat by Abby when Martha was out tending a sick neighbor. Before they can alert Teddy to the next yellow fever victim ready for burial, Mortimer comes home to tell his beloved aunts that he's going to marry Elaine. He discovers the body in the window seat, believes that his harmless brother Teddy has finally gone over the edge, and tries to explain that to Abby & Martha. Naturally, they correct him, explaining that the body in the window seat is really one of their gentlemen.

For many years, Allyn Joslyn was a fixture as a leading man on Broadway, but the roles he originated on stage were always given to filmdom's matinee idols. As a result, Joslyn spent most of his film career playing obnoxious "other men" who never got the girl. He was good at that, though.

Soon after the body is transferred from the window seat to the Panama Canal, the sisters' other nephew, Jonathan Brewster, who recently escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane, returns to and forcibly enters his childhood home, bringing with him Dr. Einstein, his partner in crime, as well as the body of one Mr. Spenalzo, whom Jonathan had killed at some point on their road trip; they stash him smartly in the window seat.

Karloff was an English actor who emigrated to Canada in the 1910s, best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein's "monster" in the films Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). It's easy to forget that he had a keen sense of humor; here's a reminder:

Evil Jonathan's partner in crime was played by the talented Edgar Stehli, a legendary character actor who worked steadily on New York stages for 50 years.

Throughout the play, police representatives are in and out of the house for a variety of reasons, none of them having anything to do with dead bodies or capturing criminals. Jonathan and Dr. Einstein are at the top of the "most wanted" list, yet the local cops aren't even curious when they find Mortimer tied up and gagged, assuming that Officer O'Hara, a budding playwright, has ensured a captive audience for a play he's written and is reading to Mortimer.

Officer O'Hara was played by Anthony Ross, probably best remembered for playing "the Gentleman Caller" in the original 1944 production of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie." In 1947, he embarked on what promised to be a successful film career, but in 1955 he died of heart failure at the age of 46.

Throughout the play, Mortimer comes to believe that if both his aunts and both his brothers are totally insane, surely he has the same genes! He tells Elaine (played by Helen Brooks) that they can't get married because insanity runs in his family — "it practically gallops!" he says.

Helen Brooks had a very active Broadway career from 1929 through 1944. When her role as Elaine in "Arsenic and Old Lace" came to an end, so did her career, or so it seems. She certainly dropped off the radar. I could find no picture of her, not even a sentence about her anywhere. Hopefully, some reader will enlighten me.

After Police Lieutenant Rooney dresses down his men for not doing their job, they finally haul Jonathan and Dr. Einstein away.

Victor Sutherland was largely known for his motion picture career from the 1910s to the 1950s. Between 1919 and 1950, he also appeared in eight Broadway plays. In the '50s, he was seen occasionally on television, including several appearances in the courtroom drama, "Perry Mason."

Mortimer finally gets Teddy legally committed to Happy Dale Sanitarium, and when Abby & Martha see that Teddy's actually leaving, they realize how sad they will be without him, so they prevail on Happy Dale's administrator to let them commit themselves to Happy Dale, so they can always be together.

Before Mortimer has a complete nervous breakdown, and before his aunts leave their home forever, they take Mortimer aside to confess that he isn't really a Brewster. He was born to the Brewsters' cook, who died shortly after childbirth. They kept him and raised him with their late brother's two boys. Not a Brewster?! Not insane?! Mortimer is beside himself with glee! He and Elaine can now begin their life together.

In 1945, Frank Capra's film of Arsenic and Old Lace was released, and it's interesting to note that Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, and John Alexander reprised their original roles (Aunt Abby, Aunt Martha and Teddy Brewster), but contractual obligations prevented Boris Karloff from recreating Jonathan Brewster. Capra used Raymond Massey in the role...

...made up to look as much like Karloff as possible:

Massey was born to a privileged life in Canada, was well educated, fought with the Canadian Army in WW1, and was severely wounded in action in France. By 1922 he was a civilian, making his debut on the London stage. He began his long American film career in 1927, with time out for service, again with the Canadian Army, in WWII. After the war, Massey became an American citizen, and was seen frequently on TV in the 1950s and '60s.

Dr. Einstein, Jonathan's partner-in-crime, was enacted in the movie by Austrian-American Peter Lorre in his inimitable soft-spoken, off-center style that was always guaranteed to spook us out. King of filmdom's serial killers, Lorre was a popular featured player in Hollywood crime films and mysteries.

In the film, the role of Mortimer was played by the talented British-American actor Cary Grant, one of Hollywood's most popular and enduring performers.

With all due respect to Allyn Joslyn, no one could have played Mortimer better than Cary Grant, and even a hint of biography here would be redundant.

Mortimer's love interest, Elaine Harper, was played in the film by the reliable supporting actress, Priscilla Lane.

Priscilla Lane started out as a singer with her sisters, Rosemary and Lola, and was signed to a Hollywood contract in 1937. She began her film career in a supporting role, and over the years she would play an assortment of similar roles. Her starring role was as the real-life wife of an Air Force Colonel for 34 years (until his death in 1976). After she retired in 1948, she followed her husband around the world from base to base, often singing in camp shows. They eventually settled in New England and had four children.

In the film, Officer O'Hara's first name was revealed. The role of the single-minded would-be playwright, Officer Patrick O'Hara, was played by Jack Carson.

Canadian-born Jack Carson was a popular character actor during the golden age of Hollywood, with a film career spanning 3 decades. Though occasionally he excelled in a dramatic role, he was usually cast in supporting roles for comic relief. He perfected the character of the wisecracking know-it-all who's eventually undone by his ego.

Also, Mr. Capra took the liberty of promoting Officer Brophy to Sgt. Brophy, and cast Edward McNamara in the role...

...and Officer Klein was replaced by Officer Sanders who was enacted by young John Ridgely.

The film's top cop, Lieutenant Rooney — the man in charge of the three officers — was played by one of my favorite character actors, James Gleason.

Master of the double-take, Jimmy Gleason built a career playing tough but warm-hearted characters. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award for his performance as boxing manager Max "Pop" Corkle in the 1941 film, "Here Comes Mr. Jordan." Gleason was also an award-winning film writer, having co-authored "The Broadway Melody," the second film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

In covering the film, I have saved for last Mr. Witherspoon, administrator of Happy Dale Sanitarium, played by the remarkably enduring actor, Edward Everett Horton.

Horton began his career in Vaudeville in 1906, was in a couple of plays on Broadway, and in 1919 he moved to Hollywood where he started getting film roles. His first starring role was in the 1922 comedy, "Too Much Business." He worked steadily, tapering off in the 1960s. He specialized in characters who were pleasant and dignified, but politely hesitant when faced with situations outside their comfort zones. My favorite Horton role is the gentleman's gentleman in A Pocketful of Miracles. My second favorite is Mr. Witherspoon.

In the stage play, the final curtain closes on this scene, so the audience is left wondering whether the wine is actually the sisters' special blend, and if so, did he drink it? In the film, however, Mr. Witherspoon happily helps Mortimer usher Abby, Martha and Teddy to the waiting transportation to Happy Dale Sanitarium.

Since the original Broadway play, there have been multitudes of productions in community and regional theaters across the country, as well as in Canada and England. There are many community-supported theaters that bring it back regularly, every few years, to tickle the funny-bones of new generations of theater-goers. But oddly enough, there's been only one Broadway revival:

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. The only Broadway revival of Arsenic and Old Lace opened at the 46th Street Theater on 26 June 1986, starring Jean Stapleton as Abby Brewster and Polly Holliday as Martha Brewster...

...with Tony Roberts as Mortimer Brewster...

...Abe Vigoda as Jonathan Brewster...

...William Hickey as Dr. Einstein...

and Michaeljohn McGann as Teddy Brewster. (No picture available)

The supporting role of Rev. Harper was played by Gwyllum Evans.

The bit role of old Mr. Gibbs, who drinks the spiked elderberry wine, was played by William Preston.

You may remember him as Carl "Oldy" Olsen on mid-'90s TV:

The one review of the opening-night performance that I read was scathing. The reviewer (Frank Rich, New York Times) found nothing and no one to his liking. Yet the show ran for over six months (221 performances). Oh well, it wouldn't be the first time audiences disagreed with a critic.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

THREE ENDURING COMEDIES • Part One

2010-02-03T16:09:00.001-05:00

I hope you've had a pleasant holiday, and I welcome your return to STAGE WHISPERS. Obviously, I took the month of January off...but I'm happy to be back...so let's get started.

I encountered a few false starts determining a topic for this post. American Playwrights of the 1930s & '40s with emphasis on Clifford Odets and Arthur Miller? I don't think so. The History of the Group Theatre? Tabled for later. The WPA Theatre Project in the Great Depression? I gave up trying to compare theater then with theater now. Instead, what surfaced were three enduring comedies written and produced between the middle of the Great Depression and the end of World War II, which (a) had lengthy Broadway runs, (b) have had frequent revivals over the years, and (c) are still popular today.

Their commonalities are obvious: All three fall delightfully into the category of family entertainment. Each plot revolves around lovable but eccentric characters; each play ran for several years on Broadway; each won a slew of awards; and each was made into a popular motion picture, garnering more awards; and each film has become a popular classic.

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, debuted at New York's Booth Theater December 14, 1936 — smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression, and a mere three years away from World War II — and continued to play for 837 performances. It earned Kaufman & Hart the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The film version was produced by Columbia Pictures and directed by the inimitable Frank Capra, who was rewarded with two Academy Awards — Best Director and Best Picture. It was the highest grossing film of 1938.

The characters of You Can't Take It With You, in order of their appearance, are:

Penelope "Penny" Vanderhof Sycamore — daughter of Martin Vanderhof, wife of Paul Sycamore, and mother of two daughters — Alice and Essie. Penny has two hobbies which occupy most of her time: writing not-very-good potboilers (because a typewriter was delivered to their home by mistake a few years back), and painting not-very-good pictures (because she has a houseful of willing models). Penny is a loving wife and mother, and is always focused on making sure everyone is happy.

The superb character actresses who played this role — Josephine Hull on stage and Spring Byington in the film — had long and distinguished careers. Ms. Hull's Broadway career spanned 50 years before she took some of her best roles to film. Ms. Byington was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but did not win. She was a regular on Broadway before she segued to motion pictures, then to radio during WWII. She is best remembered for her 8-year run on radio and television as the star of the popular sitcom December Bride.

Essie Sycamore Carmichael — wife of Ed Carmichael, daughter of Paul & Penny Sycamore, granddaughter of Martin, and sister of Alice. Essie dreams of being a ballerina, and has studied dance with Boris Kolenkhov for eight years. She's gone as far as she can go, and is still a really terrible dancer. However, as a hobby Essie makes excellent candy, and husband Ed sells every batch she makes. Dancer-actress Paula Trueman played Essie on stage.

In the film, a great dancer, Ann Miller, cleverly disguised her dancing talent and enacted the awkwardness of the not-so-great dancer, Essie.

Rheba — live-in maid and cook to the Vanderhof-Sycamore family. Making her Broadway debut, Ruth Attaway played this role on stage. Over the next 40 years, she appeared in many Broadway, off-Broadway and summer stock productions, and was with the Repertory Society of Lincoln Center from 1964 to 1967. She also performed on radio and television, and was in several films, among them Porgy and Bess, Raintree County and Being There, yet I could find no image of Ruth Attaway.

In the film the role of Rheba was played by Lillian Yarbo. Near the end of Part One, I will post a couple of large group photos showing every member of the film cast. They contain the only images of Lillian Yarbo that I could find.

Paul Sycamore — husband of Penny, father of Essie and Alice, and son-in-law of Martin. With the aid of his assistant, Mr. DePinna, Paul manufactures fireworks in the basement. As a hobby, he tinkers with erector sets. In the original stage production, Paul was played by Frank Wilcox, who went on to a long film and television career.

In the film, the role of Paul Sycamore was played by popular stage and screen character actor, Samuel S. Hinds.

Mr. DePinna — a former ice man who, one day a long time ago, came inside to speak to Paul, and has been there ever since. He helps create the fireworks, and moonlights as a model for Penny the painter. In the play, he was enacted by Irish-American actor Frank Conlan, whose Broadway career ran from 1901 to 1944.

In the film version, Mr. DePinna was played by familiar character actor Halliwell Hobbes.

Ed Carmichael — xylophone-playing, candy-selling husband of Essie, and son-in-law of Paul and Penny Sycamore. Hobbies are important to members of this unique household, and Ed's hobby is printing. He prints their dinner menus, as well as any phrase he hears that sounds good to him, even if he doesn't understand it, which often he doesn't. He is inclined to insert his printed phrases into the candy boxes he distributes for Essie.

On stage, Ed was played by handsome George Heller. Yes, the very George Heller whose successful radio career prompted his almost single-handed founding of the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA), later to be known as the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA). He headed the organization for many years.

In the film, Ed was played by young Dub Taylor, who went on to become an identifiable character actor in a slew of western films and television series.

Donald — boyfriend of Rheba, and household handyman and errand-runner. It's unclear whether Donald also lives under Grandpa Vanderhof's roof, but it is clear that he's at home among the family. In the stage production, Donald was played by American actor Oscar Polk, best known for his portrayal as the servant "Pork" in Gone With the Wind. He died on January 4, 1949 — not yet 50 years old — when he was fatally struck by a taxi cab as he stepped off a curb in Times Square.

In the film, Donald was portrayed by the familiar sandy-throated comic actor, Eddie Anderson, best remembered for his long-running gig as Rochester — the butler on the Jack Benny Radio Show, and the valet on the Jack Benny Television Show.

Martin Vanderhof — father of Penny, father-in-law of Paul, grandfather of Alice and Essie — is usually referred to as "Grandpa" by one and all. His philosophy of life is simply "follow your heart and enjoy yourself." As a result, he's a happy old man who's seemingly without a care in the world, despite never having paid a cent of income tax — because (a) he doesn't believe in it, and (b) he's certain the government wouldn't spend it wisely if he did pay it.

In the stage play, Grandpa Vanderhof was played by that lovable old character actor Henry Travers, whom you may remember as Jimmy Stewart's guardian angel Clarence in the film It's A Wonderful Life.

Grandpa Vanderhof was played in the film by that venerable thespian, Lionel Barrymore. Unlike his siblings, Lionel never wanted to be a stage or film actor. However, he loved to perform on radio, and did so at every opportunity.

Alice Sycamore — sister of Essie, daughter of Paul & Penny, granddaughter of Martin, and the only so-called "normal" member of the household. She is engaged to Anthony J. "Tony" Kirby, Jr., for whom she works in his father's firm. She loves her family, but there are moments when their eccentricities embarrass her. Usually she manages to control such situations, but when Tony brings his parents to dinner the night before they're expected, she sees that his stodgy family will never accept her as their daughter-in-law.

In the stage play, Alice was played by the beautiful and talented Margot Stevenson. Member of a theatrical family, Ms. Stevenson enjoyed a long Broadway career (1932 - 1966) as both an actress and a stage manager. She married a wonderful character actor, Val Avery. Their 56-year marriage ended with Mr. Avery's death, just this past December. She is 96.

Jean Arthur, a popular film star of the 1930s and 1940s, played Alice in the movie. Miss Arthur was, and will probably always be known as "the quintessential comedic leading lady." The queen of "screwball comedy," no actress was more closely identified with that genre than she.

Wilbur C. Henderson — a representative of the IRS who comes to collect the taxes Grandpa's never paid. No matter how many times it's explained to him, Agent Henderson cannot comprehend why Mr. Vanderhof refuses to pay. In the stage play, he was portrayed by Hugh Rennie, whose stage career included acting, directing and producing. He went on to a successful film career, as well.

In the motion picture, Charles Lane played Agent Henderson. Lane was a fixture in Frank Capra's films, and was also a favorite of Lucille Ball, who enjoyed playing her zany TV comedy characters off of his no-nonsense authority figures.

Tony Kirby — fiancé of Alice Sycamore, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony J. Kirby, Sr., and vice-president of the large and successful development firm of Kirby & Son. Unlike his fashionable and pompous parents, Tony is easy-going and unpretentious. He once dreamed of being a scientist, and does not want to become a stuffed shirt like his dad. He likes Alice's family, and envies their love and care for one another.

In the stage play, Tony was the Broadway breakout role for Jess Barker, who afterward worked in three short-lived productions before moving to Hollywood where he had a lackluster career. He seems to be best remembered for his 10-year marriage to Susan Hayward.

The late, great Jimmy Stewart played Tony in the motion picture. Mr. Stewart's seven decades in Hollywood films made him one of the most recognizable faces and voices in the world. He won numerous acting awards, but I've long had the impression that he was most proud of his military career, in both war and peace, rising to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve.

Boris Kolenkhov — a Russian emigre and Essie's dance instructor, Kolenkhov doesn't actually live in the Vanderhof-Sycamore household, but he gives Essie her ballet lesson there almost every day — always arriving in time for dinner. He speaks often of knowing other prominent Russians now working in New York, especially his friend the Grand Duchess Olga Katrina.

Kolenkhov was played on stage by the popular character actor, George Tobias, who enjoyed a 15-year career on Broadway before becoming a successful motion picture and television actor. He was enticed back to Broadway in 1955 to play Commissar Markovitch in the highly successful 14-month run of the musical comedy Silk Stockings, a good call that introduced him to a whole new generation of theater-goers. You may also remember him as Abner Kravitz in the iconic television series, Bewitched.

In the film, Kolenkhov was played by Russian-born American actor, Mischa Auer — actually, Mischa Ounskowsky, but he renamed himself Auer after his grandfather, the violinist Leopold Auer. Those of us who grew up in the 1930s and '40s enjoyed Mischa Auer in numerous films, and in the '50s he came into our homes when he began appearing in episodes of major television-theater series.

Gay Wellington — an alcoholic actress whom Penny Sycamore met on a bus and invited home to read one of her plays. Ms. Wellington makes her appearance at the beginning of Act 2, proceeds to get very drunk, takes a look at Grandpa's pet snakes, and passes out cold. Ms. Wellington was played on stage by Hungarian dancer/actress Mitzi Hajos. She had truncated her professional name to just "Mitzi" during the 1920s and early '30s, when she was appearing on Broadway in one musical after another, but by the time she played Gay Wellington, she was again using the Hajos surname.

The role of Gay Wellington was not included in the film script.

Anthony W. Kirby, Sr. — husband of Miriam Kirby and father of Tony, he is the stereotype of the self-important corporate CEO who rolls roughshod over his family as well as his employees...and isn't above a little subterfuge in his business dealings. He sits on numerous corporate boards and frequently invokes the names of posh clubs and societies to which he belongs. He is, in short, a stuffed shirt, and a very unhappy man.

In the play, Mr. Kirby was played by William J. Kelly, who isn't mentioned in any of my reference materials. The Internet Broadway Data Base (IBDB) shows that he appeared in only eleven Broadway productions between 1907 and 1949. In the film, however, the role of Mr. Kirby was enacted by the superb and long familiar character actor, Edward Arnold.

Miriam Kirby — wife of Anthony J. Kirby, Sr. and mother of Tony, and the stereotype of that era's monied, class-conscious corporate wife. In short, she's a snob, and can't understand why she doesn't get the respect to which she is entitled by virtue of her exalted station in life. Needless to say, she is offended by the Vanderhof-Sycamore household.

In the play, Mrs. Kirby was played by Virginia Hammond, whose Broadway career spanned 40 years. It is said that she became a character actress at a very young age, and remained a character actress throughout her career. She also played in many films in the 1910s, '20s & '30s, yet I found nary a picture of her.

The movie version of Mrs. Kirby was enacted by the regal beauty, Mary Forbes, who made over 130 films from 1919 to her retirement in 1958.

G-Man 1, G-Man 2 and G-Man 3 — Federal agents who show up to investigate Ed because of some of the so-called propaganda he's been printing and putting into the candy boxes he delivers for Essie. In the stage play, they were played by Franklin Heller, who was a Broadway actor from 1935 to 1944, then went on to a long film career; Ralph Holmes, who suffered from traumatic stress after his wartime experiences, and whose tragic life ended in suicide at the age of 30; and George Leach, a Broadway character actor for 35 years. These were uncredited roles in the film, although later it was discovered that one of them was played by Ward Bond in what was possibly his first acting role. He went on to an enormously popular career in films, always playing macho characters. These may jog your memory:

Grand Duchess Olga Katrina — a member of the Russian royal family who, with her Uncle Sergei (the Grand Duke), fled to the U.S. just before the revolution. Olga is a friend of Boris Kolenkhov, and works as a waitress at Childs Restaurant. Her Uncle Sergei works as an elevator operator.

On stage, Olga Katrina was portrayed by Anna Lubowe, but no images exist. As for the film makers, they eliminated that role entirely.

However, the film script added three characters to the cast: One was an uncredited role as Mr. Kirby's administrative assistant which was actually played by not-yet-famed character actor Ian Wolfe, whose film career included more than 270 films from 1934 to 1990.

Another was billed merely as Ramsey, played by English character actor H. B. Warner, whose long career in American films spanned 42 years (1914-1956).

The other was Mr. Poppins — quite a nice standout role for that lovable character actor Donald Meek. He scored as the nervous little man who worked in the accounting department of Kirby & Son. There he met Mr. Vanderhof who told him he should do only what he wanted to do. As Mr. Poppins had an amazing talent for creating clever mechanical toys...well...that's what he wanted to do, and he settled quickly into the Vanderhof-Sycamore bedlam. Mr. Meek had been a stage actor in his native Scotland before coming to the U.S., where he played in many American movies.

Other scenes from the film bring back fond memories:

And here are the two photos of the complete movie cast which I promised you earlier:

Be sure to click on the above picture to enlarge it. You'll be able to identify every actor and read every signature. BTW, that's Frank Capra seated on the stepladder.

You Can't Take It With You has been revived on Broadway five times: 1945 at the City Center (17 performances); 1966 at the Lyceum Theatre (239 performances); 1967 at the Lyceum Theatre (16 performances); 1983 at the Plymouth Theatre, then the Royale Theatre (312 performances); and finally in the summer of 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre, using this new logo:

Beyond Broadway, however, You Can't Take It With You has been produced countless times by regional and community theaters across the country. I can't hazard a guess at how many thousands of productions have been staged over the last 70 years — a staggering number, I'm sure.

Thank you, Messrs. Kaufman and Hart for writing such timeless material, and Mr. Capra for so beautifully capturing it for all time.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/

CHRISTMAS PANTOMIME

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Note that I said "Commedia dell'Arte relies" (present tense) on physical humor..." because it is an art form still being taught today.

Harlequin

A century later, brothers Fred and Harry Payne became the most famous Harlequin and Clown, respectively, of the early 19th century.

Columbine

In this 1906 photo, a youthful Billie Burke (at far right) portrays Columbine. Can you think of a more perfect role for her?

Pantaloon

And sometimes not so extravagantly:

Clown

Enter the Panto Dame

The 21st century version of Widow Twankey has many faces, foremost of whom is Sir Ian McKellen, who is reprising the role this year at the Old Vic, I believe:

And while we're on the subject of Widow Twankey, here's the jolly British comic Chris Biggins in the role:

And a popular Scottish comic, Euan McIver, in the same role:

...and in the elegance and romance of the Ballet...

George Fox, a popular American comic, revived the slapstick pantomime for a time but, alas, no one was there to carry on the work after him.

Here are pictures of other popular Panto Dames:

From a production of "Cindarella" (adapted from "Cinderella"):

From a production of "Jack and the Beanstalk:

Unidentified actor/character I have dubbed Lolly Palooza:

Principal Boys and Girls

And the requirements haven't changed much over the years:

To illustrate the Principal Girls, here are Cindarella's ugly stepsisters:

Should you be fortunate enough to visit anywhere in Great Britain over the next couple of months, do yourself a big favor and include a pantomime or two in your schedule. You'll be glad you did.

Stage Whispers is published by carlacushman.blogspot.com/