The Pulitzer Prize Archive: Volume 12 Drama / Comedy Awards 1917-1996 [Reprint 2012 ed.] 9783110955781, 9783598301827

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THE PULITZER PRIZE ARCHIVE A History and Anthology of Award-winning Materials in Journalism, Letters, and Arts Series Editor: Heinz-Dietrich Fischer Ruhr University, Bochum Federal Republic of Germany

PART D: BELLES LETTRES

Volume 12

K G - Saur München 1998

Drama / Comedy Awards 1917-1996 From Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams to Richard Rodgers and Edward Albee

Edited with general and special introductions by Heinz-Dietrich Fischer in cooperation with Erika J. Fischer

K G - Saur München 1998

Gefördert durch Prof. Dr. Dietrich Oppenberg aus Mitteln der Stiftung Pressehaus NRZ Essen

Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme The Pulitzer prize archive: a history and anthology of award winning materials in journalism, letters, and arts / ser. ed.: Heinz-Dietrich Fischer. - München : Säur ISBN 3-598-30170-7 Vol. 12 : Pt. D, Belles lettres. Drama, comedy awards 1917 - 1996 : from Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams to Richard Rodgers and Edward Albee / ed. with general and special introd. by Heinz-Dietrich Fischer in cooperation with Erika J. Fischer -1998 ISBN 3-598-30182-0

© Gedruckt auf säurefreiem Papier Printed on acid-free paper Alle Rechte vorbehalten / All Rigths Strictly Reserved K.G.Saur Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, München 1998 Part of Reed Elsevier Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany by WS-Druckerei Werner Schaubrach, Bodenheim Bound by Buchbinderei Schaumann, Darmstadt Cover Design by Manfred Link , München ISBN 3-598-30182-0 ISBN 3-598-30170-7 (Complete Set)

ν

PREFACE "How significant is the Pulitzer award in the development of contemporary American drama I am not prepared to say; but I think its influence has been and is noticeable." With these restrained words William L. Phelps, who temporarily had acted as juror in the drama category himself, commented more than half a century ago, in the mid-thirties, on the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Today there can be no doubt that this prize is one of the most prestigious among all the awards for theatrical achievements, prompting each year comparatively many playwrights to compete for the coveted honor. "For some playwrights, the award comes after years of effort," Carol Lawson states, "for others it arrives remarkably quickly. Some feel they won for the best play of their career; others feel they wrote more deserving plays that went unrecognized." As the drama award is held in especially high regard, this Pulitzer Prize category traditionally has been controversially discussed not only among the members of the juries and the Advisory Board but on side of the public as well. The volume at hand reflects vividly the judgments made by and all the aspects taken into consideration by the juries while trying to decide who was most deserving of the award. In addition, it was of main concern for the authors of this book that the original cast of each prize-winning play was documented in its completeness with regard to its first New York production. The intention to convey an impression of the design and content of the various theater programs necessitated endeavours sometimes taking several years in order to present facsimiles of the original playbill of every single Pulitzer Prize-winning work. That this task could be completed is due particularly to the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, where Dr. Rod Bladel and other employees were always willing to lend a hand with tracking down the documents needed for this book. Those original theatrical programs that could not be found in any collection were generously searched and supplied by Mr. Richard Stoddard (New York), who as an antiquarian specialized in theater books utilized his extensive knowledge and connec-

VI

tions to advance our ambitious undertaking. We are also indebted to Mr. Bert Fink (New York) of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Corporation as well as Mr. Mark Horowitz (Washington, D.C.) of the Music Division of the Library of Congress, both of whom were very helpful at searching for and finally locating a famous Pulitzer Prize-Certificate for facsimile reproduction purposes. Several other libraries and archives in the USA and in Germany also were of help by the completion of the material. We are especially obliged to Prof. Dr. Dietrich Oppenberg (Essen), who enthusiastically supported also the work on this particular volume. On side of the Pulitzer Prize office at Columbia University (New York) Professor Seymour Topping and Mr. Edward M. Kliment always were willing to provide important material and to give answers to certain questions. Mr. Carroll Brown and Mrs. Karen Furey (New York) of the American Council on Germany constantly offered various kinds of helpful advise. That this volume could be realized is furthermore due to Mr. Tony Abraham (New York), Dr. Daniel Boehnk (Cologne), Mrs. Anita Clesle (Düsseldorf), Miss Mady Cohen (New York), Mr. Charles Ferguson (Boston), Mr. Jürgen Η. Giesbert (New York), Mrs. Susan Gonzalez (New York), Mr. Larry Heinzerling (New York), Mrs. Anne Lewis (Washington, D.C.), Mr. Jonathan W. Pilgrim (Munich) and Mrs. Karen Vogel (Düsseldorf). At the Ruhr-University Bochum on the other hand, Mrs. Ingrid Dickhut handled the main part of the technical work on the manuscript and drew up the index. Mr. Olaf Jubin, M.A., proven expert on the American theater and musical, took on the task of translating the introduction and helped to settle various questions. Mrs. Klaudia Dworaczek is to be thanked for outlining the biographical sketches of each of the Pulitzer Prize-winners, which included carrying out the necessary additional research. Last but not least very special thanks of the authors of this book go to the members of the Pulitzer Prize Board which invited both of us to attend as guests the Pulitzer Prize Luncheon given for this year's award winners. So we had the privilege to be part of an unique event, which took place by the end of May in the very impressive Rotunda of the Low Memorial Library at Columbia University. We not only enjoyed very much the award presentation ceremony itself but also the key speeches delivered by Dr. James V. Risser, Chairman of the Pulitzer Prize Board, and Professor Dr. George Rupp, President of Columbia University. He also was the one who handed out the Pulitzer Prize-Certificates to the winners of fourteen Prizes in Journalism; six laureates received Letters and Drama Prizes, and one awardwinner came from the Music category.

VII

The final part of the award presentation ceremony brought another highlight: As the following first page of the list of participants of the Pulitzer Prize Luncheon shows, it contains a very familiar name in the history of American theater culture, because at table number 5 was placed Frances Gershwin Godowsky: 1 9 9 8 PULITZER PRIZES

Luncheon May 28, 1998 Table #

Table #

Table #

12 8 2 19 11 9 21

Abeles, Jonnet Adams, Marguerite Aibel, Douglas Alayo, Pilar Alexander, Andy Amgott, Margo Anthony, Cherlene Barnes, Sis Baum, Hilary Beeby, Kate Beeson, Jack Behr, Soma Golden Bieri, Suezette Boccardi, Louis D. Borda, Deborah Breen, Greg Breen, Joanne F. Breen, Paul H. Breen, Stephen P. Bristol, Todd Brow, Kathleen Browne, Arthur Bruce, Jeffrey C.

Carroll, John S. Case, Stephen H. Chandler, Curt Christopher, Alistair Christopher, Rita Cohn, Claire Cohn, Gary Cohn, Morton Cole, Jonathan Conarroe, Joel Cooper, Gloria Corbett, Rebecca Culver, Rose

11 Erickson, John 11 Erickson, Linda

6 8 10 10 7 8 1 5 15 15 15 15 21 20 9 11

2 1 16 18 18 14 14 14 2 12 13 14 19 17 7 4 6 9 18

Darehshori, Nader F. Damton, John Diez, Cherie Dillon, Sam Dinges, John Donatich, John

20 4 4 6 14 14

Egan, Mary Elliott, Inger McCabe Elliott, Osborn Engelberg, Steve Englund, Jessie Englund, Will

11 Carollo, Norma 11 Carollo, Russell

21 2 10 7 7 15 15 16 4

Fasciani, Barbara Fausto-Sterling, Anne Feder, Susan Fidell, Eugene Fidell, Hannah Fischer, Erika J. Fischer, Heinz-Dietrich Foster, Barbara French, Thomas

12 7 5 9 21 6 19 5 5 5 6 18 3 1

Galassi, Jonathan Gelb, Arthur Gershwin, Marc G. Gissler, Sig Giza, Dennis Glaser, Gabrielle Gloeckler, Patty L. Godowsky, Elaine Godowsky, Frances Gershwin Godowsky, Leopold Golden, Tim Goldstein, Ken Goldstein, Tom Golier, Julia

What did that mean? The Pulitzer Prize Board, on its meeting in April 1998, had bestowed a Pulitzer Special Award "posthumously on George Gershwin, commemorating the centennial year of his birth, for his distinguished and enduring contribution to American Music." Frances Gershwin Godowsky, the then 91-years-old sister of George Gershwin, had the great pleasure to accept this Special Pulitzer Prize in behalf of her brother, around sixty years after his death. It was an extremely moving moment for everybody in the Rotunda when the old lady took the Award Certificate, accompanied by big applause and standing ovations. Bochum, FRG August, 1998

E.J.F./H.-D.F.

VIII

THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED TO

GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898 - 1937) - POSTHUMOUS PULITZER PRIZE WINNER 1998 ON HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY

IX

CONTENTS

PREFACE

V

Dedication to George Gershwin

VIII

INTRODUCTION

XIX

By Heinz-Dietrich Fischer, Ruhr-Universität Bochum HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR DRAMA/COMEDY SELECTIONS FROM AWARD-WINNING ENTRIES REMARKS ABOUT THE SELECTIONS CRITERIA 1917 AWARD: ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE

XIX 1 2

3

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1918 AWARD: ABOUT THE COMEDY WHY MARRY?

4 5

By Jesse L. Williams THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1919 AWARD: ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE

6

9

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1920 AWARD: ABOUT THE TRAGEDY BEYOND THE HORIZON

10 11

By Eugene G. O'Neill THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

12

χ 1921 AWARD: ABOUT THE COMEDY MISS LULU BETT

15

By Zona Gale THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1922 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY ANNA CHRISTIE

16 19

By Eugene G. O'Neill THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1923 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY ICEBOUND

20 23

By Owen Davis THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1924 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY HELL-BENT FER HEAVEN

24 27

By Hatcher Hughes THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1925 AWARD: ABOUT THE COMEDY THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED

28

31

By Sidney C. Howard THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1926 AWARD: ABOUT THE DRAMA CRAIG'S WIFE

32 35

By George E. Kelly THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1927 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY IN ABRAHAM'S BOSOM

36 39

By Paul Green THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1928 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY STRANGE INTERLUDE

40 43

By Eugene G. O'Neill THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1929 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY STREET SCENE

44 47

By Elmer L. Rice THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

48

XI 1930 AWARD: ABOUT THE FABLE THE GREEN PASTURES

51

By Marc(us) C. Connelly THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1931 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY ALISON'S HOUSE

52 57

By Susan K. Glaspell THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1932 AWARD: ABOUT THE MUSICAL OF THEE I SING

58 61

By George S. Kaufman / Morrie Ryskind / Ira Gershwin THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1933 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY BOTH YOUR HOUSES

62 67

By Maxwell Anderson THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1934 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY MEN IN WHITE

68 71

By Sidney Kingsley THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1935 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY THE OLD MAID

72 75

By Zoe Akins THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1936 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY IDIOT'S DELIGHT

76 79

By Robert E. Sherwood THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

80

1937 AWARD: ABOUT THE COMEDY YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

83

By Moss Hart / George S. Kaufman THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

84

1938 AWARD: ABOUT THE PLAY OUR TOWN

87

By Thornton N. Wilder THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

88

XII 1939 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY ABE LINCOLN

IN ILLINOIS

91

By Robert E. Sherwood THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1940 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE

92 95

By William Saroyan THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1941 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT

96 99

By Robert E. Sherwood THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1942 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE

100

103

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1943 A W A R D : ABOUT THE COMEDY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH

104 105

By Thornton N. Wilder THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1944a A W A R D : ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE

106

109

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1 9 4 4 b S P E C I A L A W A R D : ABOUT THE MUSICAL OKLAHOMA!

110 111

By Richard Rodgers / Oscar Hammerstein II THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1945 A W A R D : ABOUT THE COMEDY HARVEY

112 117

By Mary C . C h a s e THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1946 A W A R D : ABOUT THE COMEDY STATE

OF THE UNION

118 121

By Russel Crouse / Howard Lindsay THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

122

XIII 1947 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE

125

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1948 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY A STREETCAR

NAMED

DESIRE

126 127

By Tennessee Williams THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

128

1949 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY DEATH OF A SALESMAN

131

By Arthur Miller THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1950 A W A R D : ABOUT THE MUSICAL PLAY SOUTH

132 PACIFIC

135

By Richard Rodgers / Oscar Hammerstein II / Joshua L. Logan III THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

136

1951 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE

141

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1952 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THE SHRIKE

142 143

By Joseph Kramm THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

144

1953 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY PICNIC

149

By William M. Inge THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1954 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THE TEAHOUSE AUGUST MOON

150 OF THE 153

By John Patrick THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1955 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

154 159

By Tennessee Williams THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

160

XIV 1956 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DRAMA THE DIARY OF ANNE

FRANK

163

By Albert Hackett / Frances Goodrich THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1957 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY LONG DAY'S

164 JOURNEY

INTO NIGHT

167

By Eugene G. O'Neill THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1958 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY LOOK HOMEWARD,

168 ANGEL

171

By Ketti H. Frings THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

172

1959 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY IN VERSE J. Β

177

By Archibald MacLeish THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

178

1960 A W A R D : ABOUT THE MUSICAL FIORELLO!

183

By Jerome Weidman / George F. Abbott / Jerry L. Bock / Sheldon M. Harnick THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

184

1961 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY ALL THE WAY HOME

189

By Tad Mosel THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1962 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY HOW TO SUCCEED WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

190 IN

BUSINESS 195

By Frank Loesser / Abe Burrows THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1963 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE

196

201

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD"

202

XV 1964 A W A R D : A B O U T T H E D E C I S I O N TO WITHHOLD T H E D R A M A PRIZE

203

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1965 A W A R D : A B O U T T H E PLAY THE SUBJECT

WAS ROSES

204 205

By Frank D. Gilroy THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

206

1966 A W A R D : A B O U T THE D E C I S I O N TO WITHHOLD T H E D R A M A PRIZE

209

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1967 A W A R D : A B O U T THE PLAY A DELICATE

BALANCE

210 211

By Edward F. Albee THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

212

1968 A W A R D : A B O U T T H E D E C I S I O N TO WITHHOLD T H E D R A M A PRIZE

215

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1969 A W A R D : A B O U T T H E PLAY THE GREAT

WHITE HOPE

216 217

By Howard Sackler THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1970 A W A R D : A B O U T T H E C O M E D Y NO PLACE

218 TO BE SOMEBODY.

225

By Charles Gordone THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1971 A W A R D : A B O U T T H E PLAY THE EFFECT OF GAMMA ON MAN-IN-THE-MOON MARIGOLDS

226 RAYS 229

By Paul Zindel THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

230

XVI 1972 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE

233

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1973 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THAT CHAMPIONSHIP

SEASON

234 235

By Jason Miller THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

236

1974 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE

239

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1975 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY SEASCAPE

240 241

By Edward F. Albee THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

242

1976 A W A R D : ABOUT THE MUSICAL A CHORUS

LINE

245

By Michael Bennett / James Kirkwood / Nicholas Dante / Marvin F. Hamlisch / Edward L. Kleban THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

246

1977 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THE SHADOW

BOX

251

By Michael Cristofer THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

252

1978 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THE GIN GAME

255

By Donald L. Coburn THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1979 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY BURIED

256

CHILD

259

By Sam(uel) Shepard THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1980 A W A R D : ABOUT THE COMEDY TALLEY'S

260 FOLLY

263

By Lanford E. Wilson THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

264

XVII

1981 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DRAMA CRIMES

OF THE HEART

267

By Beth Henley THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

268

1982 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DRAMA A SOLDIER'S

PLAY

271

By Charles H. Fuller Jr. THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

272

1983 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY 'NIGHT, MOTHER

275

By Marsha Norman THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1984 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY GLENGARRY

276 GLEN ROSS

279

By David A. Mamet THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1985 A W A R D : ABOUT THE MUSICAL SUNDAY WITH GEORGE

280 IN THE PARK 283

By Stephen J. Sondheim / James E. Lapine THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1986 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE

284

289

By The Advisory Board NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD" 1987 A W A R D : ABOUT THE DRAMA FENCES

290 291

By August Wilson THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

1988 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY DRIVING MISS DAISY

292

295

By Alfred Uhry THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1989 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THE HEIDI CHRONICLES

296 299

By Wendy Wasserstein THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

300

XVIII 1990 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THE PIANO LESSON

305

By August Wilson THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

306

1991 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY LOST IN YONKERS

309

By M. Neil Simon THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1992 A W A R D : ABOUT THE S E R I E S OF PLAYS THE CYCLE

310 KENTUCKY 315

By Robert F. Schenkkan THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1993 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY ANGELS

IN AMERICA

316 323

By Tony Kushner THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1994 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THREE TALL WOMEN

324 329

By Edward F. Albee THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1995 A W A R D : ABOUT THE PLAY THE YOUNG MAN FROM ATLANTA.

330 333

By Horton Foote THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE 1996 A W A R D : ABOUT THE MUSICAL RENT

334 337

By Jonathan Larson THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE

338

WINNERS OF THE D R A M A / C O M E D Y AWARD, 1997-2007

343

INDEX

345

XIX

INTRODUCTION HISTORY A N D FOR D R A M A

DEVELOPMENT

OF T H E PULITZER

PRIZE

by Heinz-Dietrich Fischer

Among the prizes that Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911) defined in detail in his last will, which he formulated in 1903, there was also one for outstanding achievements in the theater. The original description for this award read: "For the original American play, performed in New York, which shall best represent the educational value and power of the stage in raising the standard of good morals, good taste, and good manners."1 Entrusted with the annual presentation of the prize, Pulitzer bestowed upon the Advisory Board in his will not just the "power in its discretion to suspend or to change any subject or subjects," but furthermore also the authority that "if all prize nominees fell below the 'standard of excellence fixed by the Board' in any subject in any given year, then the Board could withhold an award or awards." Although, as John Hohenberg continues, "the American theater was stagnant at the time the first Pulitzer Prizes in Drama were awarded... there was a lot of excitement on Broadway, particularly about the Ziegfeld Follies and George M. Cohan's brassy musical shows." But, he adds, "much of the standard fare was both trivial and banal. In the hinterlands, there were a few struggling stock companies and occasional road shows. What it all added up to... was distressingly little."2 Therefore, in the beginning, it was rather difficult for the jurors to reach decisions that met with general acceptance, so that the results in some years understandably became "a source of irritation and resentment."3 In view of this constellation it is hardly surprising that the first Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury (Richard Burton, Hamlin Garland and Augustus Thomas), that had to judge in the spring of 1917 on the Broadway production of the previous year, had considerable problems to extract an outstanding performance. "Considering the conditions of the Pulitzer award for drama, its aims 1 Quoted from DeForest O'Dell, The History of Journalism Education in the United States, New York 1935, p. 109. 2 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes. A History of the Awards in Books, Drama, Music, and Journalism, New York - London 1974, pp. 18 f., 43. 3 John L. Toohey, A History of the Pulitzer Prize Plays, New York 1967, p. VII.

WHY MARRY? (Originally published under the title "And So They Were Married ")

BY

JESSE LYNCH WILLIAMS

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1920

XXI and requirements," the jurors wrote in the end in their report to the Advisory Board, "your committee is not agreed upon a recommendation."4 The Board consented to this vote, thus deciding on "no award" right away in the very first year of the drama category.5 Similarly unanimous were the three jurors in 1918 (Richard Burton, Hamlin Garland and Augustus Thomas), when the chairman of the jury stated in his report: "My vote emphatically is for Williams' Comedy Why Marry?"6 And another member of the jury expressed among other things the following opinion: "I have seen Why Marry? by Jesse Lynch Williams and find it an admirable piece of comedy... There are some things in the piece which I do not like but on the whole it is the best piece of drama I have seen this year."7 The third juror also voted "in favor of Why Marry?... for the award to the play produced in 1917."8 Faced with such extreme concordance in the jurors' judgment the Advisory Board endorsed this evaluation and gave the Pulitzer Prize for drama to Jesse Lynch Williams for the performance of his play Why Marry?9 Right at the beginning of their report the jury for the award of 1919 (Richard Burton, Hamlin Garland and Clayton Hamilton) came to the crucial point by explaining to the Advisory Board: "In the judgement of your committee no play produced in New York City within the calendar year 1918 is entirely worthy the prize of the Pulitzer Bequest. Whether by reason of the turmoil of war or from some change in the temper of managers and audiences, most of the plays of the year in question are either very light entertainment or so crudely melodramatic as to be of little literary value. No play by a native author stands out commandingly and as your committee can not wholeheartedly commend any candidate, we advise that the award go over to another year."10 The Advisory Board accepted the vote of the jury and likewise decided on "no award."11 In their report the jurors recommended furthermore "that as the period of play production is during the winter months, the theatrical and not the calendar year be taken as the limit in which the competing plays shall be staged. Confusion results from splitting the theatrical 4 Richard Burton/Hamlin Garland/Augustus Thomas, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, May 1, 1917, p. 1. 5 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes 1917-1991, New York 1991, p. 54. 6 Richard Burton, Letter to Frank D. Fackenthal, Columbia University, New York, March 6, 1918, p. 1. 7 Hamlin Garland, Letter to Frank D. Fackenthal, Columbia University, New York, March 25, 1918, p.l. 8 Augustus Thomas, Letter to Frank D. Fackenthal, Columbia University, New York, March 29, 1918, p. 1. 9 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 10 Richard Burton/Hamlin Garland/Clayton Hamilton, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 22, 1919, p. 1. 11 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54.

XXII season in half. Furthermore the author is less likely to be shut out of the year to which he naturally belongs if he has the entire theatrical year in which to bring his play to a New York stage."12 This suggestion also was taken up by the Advisory Board and so henceforth "the theatrical season, and not the calendar year" became "the period of judgment for the Pulitzer Prize."13 In spite of certain disagreements among the jurors of 1920 (Richard Burton, Walter P. Eaton and Hamlin Garland) about who was to be the potential prize-winner, in the end it said in the report of the jury chairman: "Up to the present moment Beyond the Horizon by Eugene O'Neill has no competitor as 'the outstanding play of the season.' It is not an 'uplifting play' in the terms of the Pulitzer Bequest but it is highly significant and I will join the other members in commending it for the prize although I am still in doubt about the author's motive. It certainly is not a mere 'show' and could not have been composed with any commercial success in mind. It is well written and presents some of the literary characteristics which have made the short stories of Mary Willins Freeman so honorably representative of village New England."14 And another member of the jury added: "The committee is almost a unit in favor of Beyond the Horizon, Eugene O'Neill's play... So far as my own judgment is concerned I can not bring myself to vote for a prize to a mere entertainment such as most of the successful plays are, and yet I can not regard O'Neill's play as 'Noble' or 'Uplifting' which are... the expressed terms of the bequest. Nevertheless as it is the outstanding play of the season, thus far, I will join in the award."15 As the verdict of the jury was not unanimous this resulted in extensive discussions within the Advisory Board, but in the end "the Board agreed with the Drama Jury and recommended Beyond the Horizon" for the award, and the Columbia University Trustees also "voted to give O'Neill his first Pulitzer Prize."16 Varying views also surfaced when the members of the jury of 1921 (Richard Burton, Hamlin Garland and William L. Phelps) met and put The First Year by Frank Craven on their short-list, Nemesis by Augustus Thomas and Miss Lulu Bett by Zona Gale. Although one of the jurors was "disposed to vote 'No Prize,'"17 finally several compromises were reached, and soon it 12 Richard Burton/Hamlin Garland/Clayton Hamilton, Report..., op. cit., p. 1. 13 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 44. 14 Richard Burton/Walter P. Eaton/Hamlin Garland, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, April 30, 1920, p. 1. 15 Hamlin Garland, Letter to Nicholas M. Butler, President of Columbia University, New York, May 11, 1920, p. 1. 16 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 48. 17 Hamlin Garland, Letter to Frank D. Fackenthal, Columbia University, New York, May 11, 1921, p.l.

XXIII

became evident that Miss Lulu Bett still had the best chances to win a majority: That very juror, who at first had pleaded for 'no award', gave in and indicated that he would join the vote of the two other members of the jury in favor of "Lulu Bett if that will solve the difficulty. Zona Gale is the kind of writer to encourage by official recognition... It would be a handsome thing to recognize a woman."18 The chairman of the jury then declared in his final vote on behalf of the whole jury: "Lulu Bett is not a great play but it is original and interesting, and Miss Gale is a woman to whom such an honor can go with justice... As the award has not gone to a woman before perhaps it would be a graceful concession to give her this year's prize... Personally," the chairman of the jury remarked in adding to the report from his own point of view, "I do not feel deep enthusiasm for any of the plays... of the year. Not one has in it the element of greatness. Not one really stands out in a commanding position."19 Despite these concerns the Advisory Board decided to bestow the Pulitzer Prize on Zona Gale for her play Miss Lulu Bett.20 As Hohenberg writes, in 1922, "Eugene O'Neill once again became an active contender for the Pulitzer Prize... with a more conventional play, Anna Christie, which did not please the critics as much as his earlier work."21 Therefore, it came as no surprise that the jurors (Hamlin Garland, William L. Phelps and Jesse L. Williams) partly also had differing opinions as is evident from their report, where it says in the words of William L. Phelps among other things: "Mr. Jesse Lynch Williams and I vote for Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill. In our opinion this deserves the prize for the best play of the year, and we have no second choice; in fact we are quite strongly of the opinion that the prize should not be given to any other play. Mr. Hamlin Garland has not seen Anna Christie but feels sure that he would not like it and will not vote for it. He has no other play to suggest and in his opinion the prize should not be given at all; he thinks that it would be better for the interests of the drama that no prize should be given this year. Mr. Williams and I feel, on the contrary, first, that it is exceedingly important that the prize should be given, and second, that it should be given to Anna Christie."22 Hohenberg reports that "Garland lost the decision, however. 18 Richard Burton/Hamlin Garland/William L. Phelps, Letter to Frank D. Fackenthal, Columbia University, New York, May 20, 1921, p. 1. 19 Richard Burton/Hamlin Garland/William L. Phelps, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, May 22, 1921, p. 1. 20 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 21 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 51. 22 Hamlin Garland/William L. Phelps/Jesse L. Williams, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, May 1, 1922, p. 1.

XXIV Phelp's championship of O'Neill was upheld by both the Advisory Board and the Trustees... When the prize for Anna Christie was announced... O'Neill's second in the first five years of the awards - it received nothing but applause and a gratifying amount of publicity."23 There also was to be no unanimous vote of the jury (Clayton Hamilton, Owen Johnson and William L. Phelps) in 1923, either, as can be inferred from the report to the Advisory Board: "By a two to one vote, your Committee vote to give the Pulitzer Prize to Icebound by Owen Davis."24 As Hohenberg found out, "Elmer Rice's remarkable play... The Adding Machine" was also under consideration,25 but the Advisory Board decided in favor of Icebound by Owen Davis. 26 In the following year the recommendation of the jurors (Clayton Hamilton, Owen Johnson and William L. Phelps) was brief and concise as well with the report stating: "The Committee have decided that the Pulitzer Prize for the best current American play should go to The Show-Off by George Kelly. We think this is an extremely good and original American play."27 But before the Advisory Board could discuss the suggestion of the jury, a docent of Columbia University, although neither a member of the jury nor member of the Advisory Board, intervened and spoke out against its verdict. "Professor Brander Matthews, who had taught dramatic literature at Columbia University for thirty-three years," Hohenberg discovered, "wrote privately to (University) President Butler... to protest the Drama Jury's selection of George Kelly's satirical comedy... Instead... (he) called for a prize for Hell-Bent Fer Heaven, a hillbilly drama set in the Kentucky mountains, by a fellow member of the Columbia faculty, Hatcher Hughes... The Board knew it would have to account for the intervention of a Columbia professor for a faculty colleague through the president of the university. Nevertheless, it voted for Hell-Bent Fer Heaven,"28 and so Hatcher Hughes won the Pulitzer Prize for best drama. Because of the course the events had taken the previous year, the jury that went to work in 1925 (Hamlin Garland, Clayton Hamilton and Jesse L. Williams) had two new members. This new jury, however, did not stay complete up until the final decision was reached, as is pointed out at the beginning of its report: "The resignation of Mr. Hamlin Garland... has reduced the Drama 23 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 24 Clayton Hamilton/Owen Johnson/William L. Phelps, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New Haven, Ct., March 31, 1923, p. 1. 25 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., pp. 94 f. 26 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 27 Clayton Hamilton/Owen Johnson/William L. Phelps, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New Haven, Ct., April 3, 1924, p. 1. 28 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., pp. 94 f.

XXV Jury to two members," and the remaining two thirds of the jury had to work out an acceptable candidate on their own. Their discussion resulted in the following proposal: "We recommend for the Pulitzer Prize (season of 192425) the play called They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard. In our opinion, this play stands head and shoulders above all the other American plays of the season, with only one exception (What Price Glory? by Maxwell Anderson and Laurence Stallings)... We have chosen it positively, because we believe that it would stand out in any season, as one of the best plays ever written by an American author. They Knew What They Wanted treats a difficult and delicate theme with rare human insight and even rarer philosophical profundity... A minor point, not necessarily important, is that They Knew What They Wanted has been praised without reservations by all of the professional reviewers and that it has been exceedingly successful with the public. In this instance the broadest popular opinion is in agreement with the verdict of the Drama jurors."29 Faced with this praise the Advisory Board agreed with the vote of the jury and announced that Sidney Howard was winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his Broadway play They Knew What They Wanted,30 When the prize was to be decided upon in 1926 a completely new jury (Owen Davis, Walter P. Eaton and Albert E. Thomas) was put together, writing in its report to the Advisory Board that it was "unanimously of the opinion that the prize should go to Craig's Wife by George Kelly... The Jury has seen all the plays of American authorship eligible for the award. Several of them seemed meritorious to the Jury. It may not seem invidious to mention as among them: In a Garden by Philip Barry, A Man's Man by Patrick Karney, and The Wisdom Tooth by Marc Connelly. Neither of the Eugene O'Neill plays, The Fountain and The Great God Brown seemed to the Committee to be among the author's best works. Craig's Wife has been selected by the Jury on account of the dignity of its theme, the soundness of its construction, the excellence of its dialogue and its effectiveness in the theatre. Without sacrificing any of these essentials of a good play, it possesses in addition considerable literary quality - a thing none too common on the stage of today."31 The play Craig's Wife "about a domineering woman who wrecked her marriage by alienating her husband from his friends" had, as

29 Clayton Hamilton/Jesse L. Williams, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 15, 1925, pp. 1 f. 30 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 31 Owen Davis/Walter P. Eaton/Albert E. Thomas, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 25,1926, p. 1.

XXVI

T H E Y KNEW W H A T THEY WANTED A Comedy in Three

Acts

BY

SIDNEY HOWARD

THE THEATRE GUILD VERSION, WITH TWO ILLUSTRATIONS FROM P H O T O G R A P H S OF THE THEATRE GUILD PRODUCTION

GARDEN

CITY

NEW

YORK

D O U B L E D A Y , PAGE & C O M P A N Y 1925

XXVII

Hohenberg puts it, "no rivals for the award,"32 and so the Advisory Board also reached the decision to give the Pulitzer Prize for drama to the theatrical play Craig's Wife, thus honoring its author, George Kelly.33 The jurors of 1927 (Walter P. Eaton, Clayton Hamilton and Albert E. Thomas) discussed plays such as Saturday's Children by Maxwell Anderson, The Silver Cord by Sidney Howard, Broadway by Philip Dunning and George Abbott and several others, but soon had a clear favorite for the prize. "It is the unanimous opinion of the Drama Jury," it says at the beginning of the report, "that the Pulitzer Prize for the current theatre-season should be awarded to Paul Green for his play entitled In Abraham's Bosom... The play does not sentimentalize on the tragic situation of the negro. It is scrupulously fair to the white race. But it brings us face to face with one of the most serious of the social problems of this country, and forces us to view this problem in the light of tragic pity. The piece is loosely constructed... But this loose construction is almost necessitated by the nature of the material. The characterization is magnificently true, and the writing of the dialogue reveals a mastery of racial and local dialect... In Abraham's Bosom is not without its faults, most of which are merely technical; but the jurors feel that it is an admirable example of precisely the sort of composition which Mr. Pulitzer most desired to encourage when he established the Pulitzer Prize for Drama."34 As "both the Advisory Board and the University Trustees agreed" and declared In Abraham's Bosom to be an outstanding achievement, Paul Green, as Hohenberg puts it, "a stranger to the alluring qualities of Broadway and the very antithesis of the box-office type of playwright, won the Pulitzer Prize for 1927."35 Looking for an outstanding dramatist, the jury of 1928 (Walter P. Eaton, Clayton Hamilton and Albeit E. Thomas) put no fewer than eight plays on its short-list, namely The Royal Family by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman, The Racket by Bartlett Cormack, Behold the Bridegroom by George Kelly, The Trial of Mary Dugan by Bayard Veiller, Paris Bound by Philip Barry, Coquette by Ann P. Bridgers and George Abbott, Four Walls by Dana Burnett and George Abbott as well as Strange Interlude by Eugene O'Neill. Whereas the production of Four Walls was second choice on the jurors' list of priorities, O'Neill's Strange Interlude was regarded as the absolute favorite. "This play, by a man who has twice won the prize," it says 32 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 100. 33 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 34 Walter P. Eaton/Clayton Hamilton/Albert E. Thomas, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 15, 1927, pp. 1 ff. 35 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 101.

XXVIII

in the jury-report, "repeats nothing of his former work. It develops a new technique to make possible a play of Freudian interpretations... This drama of the subconscious and of frustration is sound and thoughtful in its development; but it also has great intensity of feeling, moments of beauty, and above all it shows dramatically that the conscious emotions, which give us dignity in our own eyes as individuals, cannot be ignored... Strange Interlude gets its fingers deeply tangled in the web of human life, it has depth and intellectual power above any and all of its rivals. It is... the logical recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for 1927-1928." 36 This vote was brought forward so convincingly that the Advisory Board joined in, awarding Eugene O'Neill his third Pulitzer Prize for Strange Interlude?Ί The jurors that had to decide upon a potential Pulitzer Prize winner in 1929 (Walter P. Eaton, Clayton Hamilton and Albert E. Thomas) presented in their report no finalists, but concentrated on only one favorite instead. This favorite, however, was controversely discussed. "Unfortunately," they wrote to the Advisory Board, "the Committee is devided in its opinion. The majority... are completely persuaded that the play Street Scene by Elmer Rice is not only the best American play of the year, coming under the terms of the Pulitzer award, but also that it is the only play of the year, deserving of the prize... The majority... consider Street Scene as a technical achievement in American drama of rather high order, inasmuch as it dramatizes the melting pot in a New York tenement... Incidentally, the play is, no doubt for that very reason, extremely popular, its truthful qualities of observation being amply recognized."38 Although one member of the jury did not agree with this praise and even made the suggestion to give no award at all, 39 the Advisory Board bestowed the award on Street Scene and thus on its author, Elmer L. Rice. 40 "Street Scene might not have had much of a chance," Hohenberg explains, "if the terms of the drama award had remained" in the original version, but "the 1929 revisions of the Plan of Award" made it possible that the former wordings of "good morals, good taste, and good manners" were dropped and, therefore,41 it became easier for pieces like Street Scene to take part in the Pulitzer competition.

36 Walter P. Eaton/Clayton Hamilton/Albert E. Thomas, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 17, 1928, pp. 1 f. 37 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 38 Walter P. Eaton/Clayton Hamilton/Albert E. Thomas, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, April 1, 1929, p. 1. 39 Ibid. 40 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 41 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 102.

XXIX

XXX In 1930, the jury (Walter P. Eaton, Clayton Hamilton and Austin Strong) was partly reconstituted, and after its members "had visited all the American plays of the New York season which showed any pretension to serious consideration," it arrived at the following vote: "One play - The Green Pastures by Marc Connelly - towers so far above the other American plays of the season and comes so near to setting a new standard of excellence for the American drama of all time that the jurors desire, with unusual enthusiasm, to recommend it for the Pulitzer Prize. It is a work of astonishing originality; and it is rich in all those qualities which Mr. Pulitzer - in the opinion of the jurors - desired most to foster and encourage. It is simple, gentle, kindly, tender, humorous, compassionate, wise, beautiful, exalted, and exulting. It interprets the religion of thousands of Negroes in the deep South with the simple sincerity of the very best of the Mediaeval Mystery Plays. A delicate task has been accomplished with faultless taste; and the piece deserves to be cherished as a Devine Comedy of a living religion interpreted consistently in the terms of its believers. On this occasion, the jurors state emphatically that they have no second choice." 42 Yet this play was based on sketches by Roark Bradford, published under the title Ol' Man Adam an' His Chilian, and so the question arose whether it was indeed "an original American play" in accordance with the Plan of Award. But because both the jury and the Advisory Board affirmed this classification, 43 the Pulitzer Prize for drama was given to The Green Pastures by Marc Connelly 44 In 1931, the decision-making process turned out to be more complicated as the jurors (Walter P. Eaton, Clayton Hamilton and Austin Strong) did not reach an unanimous vote, even though the jury-report at first glance might give a different impression, stating among other things: "The jury... consider Alison's House by Susan Glaspell... as the best candidate. The reason for this choice to a considerable extent is found in the fine sincerity of the dramatist, her choice of a theme which is fresh, taken out of American life, and worthy of serious attention, and her evident interest in what she had to say, quite apart from any considerations of temporal styles or box office appeal. Technically the play is by no means perfect, less nearly so than some others of the season, but it excels all of them in the freshness of its theme and the honesty of its treatment." 45 The majority of the jurors put Five Star Final by Louis Weitzenkorn under second place on their lists of finalists, while As 42 Walter P. Eaton/Clayton Hamilton/Austin Strong, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, undated (spring 1930), p. 1. 43 Cf. John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 103. 44 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 45 Walter P. Eaton, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 21,1931, p. 1.

XXXI

BROADWAY THEATRE B R O A D W A Y AT 53rd STREET

XXXI!

Husbands Go by Rachel Crothers ranked third.46 One member of the jury, however, regretted that he could not endorse the "enthusiasm for Alison's House. But... I do not want to stand in the way of this play receiving the prize, as it is sincerely written and without thought of commercial success. For myself I would like to suggest... that it might be a wise decision to give no prize this season."47 Yet the Advisory Board did not follow this recommendation, but supported the majority vote of the jury instead, and therefore declared Alison's House by Susan Glaspell to be the best play of 1931.48 The year 1932 was to bring a special surprise as the jurors (Walter P. Eaton, Clayton Hamilton and Austin Strong) had the courage to give preference to a genre hitherto neglected in the tradition of the Pulitzer Prize. "The jury for drama recommends," it can be read in the report, "that the award... be given to George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind for the play, or 'book', of the musical comedy Of Thee I Sing. This may seem unusual, but the play is unusual. Not only is it coherent and well knit enough to class as a play, aside from the music, but it is a biting and true satire on American politics and the public attitude toward them... It may well be that this play, Of Thee I Sing, will influence our stage (as) much as The Beggar's Opera influenced the 18th century stage, and Gilbert and Sullivan that of our fathers... The play is genuine, and we feel the prize could not serve a better purpose than to recognize such work. Few other plays," the jury-report continues, "this past season deserve much consideration. Those which have been seriously considered are, in order of merit: Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill, The Animal Kingdom by Philip Barry, and The House of Connelly by Paul Green, with The Left Bank by Elmer Rice a possibility."49 The Advisory Board publicly announced Of Thee I Sing, George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind as winners of the Pulitzer Prize, also including Ira Gershwin, the lyricist, among the honorees.50 But the Board as well as the jurors did not mention at all George Gershwin, the composer! Those plays taken into consideration by the jury of 1933 (Walter P. Eaton, Clayton Hamilton and Austin Strong) belonged once again to more traditionell genres. The jury-report gave the following comments on the resultant short list: "The Play Jury recommend that the Pulitzer Prize for 46 Clayton Hamilton, Letter to Frank D. Fackenthal, Columbia University, New York, March 23, 1931, p. 3. 47 Austin Strong, Letter to the Committee of Award for the Pulitzer Prize, New York, March 21, 1931, p.l. 48 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 49 Walter P. Eaton/Clayton Hamilton/Austin Strong, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 16, 1932, pp. 1 f. 50 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54.

XXXIII

Drama... be awarded to Maxwell Anderson for his play Both Your Houses... The spirit of the play is idealistic, it breathes a fine indignation, but it is so conducted that legitimate entertainment values are not lost, and the characters speak and act with convincing naturalness... Incidentally, this play would fulfill Mr. Pulitzer's ideal of a prize winner, and its presentation through the country would be of public service. The play considered next in value by the jury is Another Language (by Rose Franken)... It was a truthful and interesting picture of domestic life in a family which tried to put the same stamp on all its members. Miss Rachel Crothers' When Ladies Meet was probably third choice, a comedy of manners not so spontaneous in development as Another Language. Alien Corn by Sidney Howard seemed not so good as the play with which he had already won a prize, and so was not seriously considered. Two other candidates, not quite up to the prize standard, were Pigeons and People by George M. Cohan, and Biography by Samuel N. Behrman."51 The Advisory Board decided as the jury had suggested, thus granting, as Hohenberg formulates, "Maxwell Anderson his long deferred award."52 In 1934, the search for an outstanding dramatist led to a resounding row, after the members of the jury (Walter P. Eaton, Clayton Hamilton and Austin Strong) gave notice in their report that they had "voted unanimously in favor of Mary of Scotland by Maxwell Anderson, an historical play of fine dramatic and literary accomplishment... The merits of this piece have been so generally recognized that a detailed criticism is not deemed necessary in this report. The jurors," they added, "have not endeavored to agree upon a second choice."53 Despite this definite recommendation the Advisory Board turned down the proposal of the jury and did not give the award to Mary of Scotland but declared Men in White by Sidney Kingsley as best play of the theatrical season.54 Although the winning play had been among the six titles compiled by the jurors as being worthy of further discussion, it had not reached the jury's short list.55 Hohenberg stresses that "none of the jurors questioned the right of the Board to reverse them," but the snub did annoy them all the same.56 Walter P. Eaton, long-standing member of the drama jury, commented on the conduct of the Advisory Board as follows: "They 51 Walter P. Eaton/Clayton Hamilton/Austin Strong, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 23, 1933, p. 1. 52 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 107. 53 Walter P. Eaton/Clayton Hamilton/Austin Strong, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 22, 1934, p. 1. 54 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 55 Walter P. Eaton/Clayton Hamilton/Austin Strong, Report..., op. cit., p. 1. 56 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 148.

XXXIV

don't want dramatic experts any more. They want office boys. No selfrespecting, intelligent critic would serve on such a jury." Although Nicholas M. Butler, President of Columbia, asked the jurors to return as members of the Pulitzer Prize jury in the following year, all three declined. 57 Consequently, in 1935, three new jurors (John Erskine, William L. Phelps and Stark Young) selected the prize-worthy plays and, according to a modification of the instructions as to how to draw up jury-reports, worked out a list of "four plays in the order of preference: 1. The Old Maid (by Zoe Akins), 2. Personal Appearance (by Lawrence Riley), 3. Merrily We Roll Along (by George S. Kaufman), 4. Valley Forge (by Maxwell Anderson)." 58 Once again there were lots of rumours and speculations about the way this list materialized all the while until finally the winner was announced, but the Advisory Board as well as the University Trustees decided in favor of The Old Maid, and so the Pulitzer Prize for drama went to Zoe Akins. 59 In 1936, when the jury consisted of only two persons (Mary M. Colum and William L. Phelps), the following constellation arose: "1. We are absolutely in complete agreement in recommending... Idiot's Delight by Robert E. Sherwood," it says in the report. "It is a first-rate play, full of dramatic invention, and one or two of the comedy scenes have a Molierian richness... 2. ... End of Summer by Samuel N. Behrman. This is a sophisticated society comedy with possibly smarter and more finished dialogue... 3. Murder in the Cathedral by Thomas S. Eliot. This within limits is a very fine poetic drama, but its appeal is that of a pageant rather than of a play... We may add," the two members of the drama jury stated at the end of their report, "that... we... have no hesitation in recommending Idiot's Delight."60 The Advisory Board accepted the verdict of the jury, and so Robert E. Sherwood received his first Pulitzer Prize. 61 Hohenberg adds that the jurors "overlooked that year one of the greatest contributions to the American theatre, George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess."62 The jury of 1937 was this time once again made up of three members (Mary M. Colum, William L. Phelps and Arthur H. Quinn), who, after watching and judging all of the eligible plays, however, found themselves, as is obvious in their report, "unable to agree after a number of extremely 57 58 59 60 61 62

Ibid., pp. 148 f. John Erskine/William L. Phelps/Stark Young, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, N e w York, March 14, 1935, p. 1. John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., pp. 149 f. Mary M. Colum/William L. Phelps, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, N e w York, April 3, 1936, pp. 1 f. Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 152.

XXXV

S H U B E R T THEATRE 4οΤΒ4Λ" MATINEES

WEtiKEigtl

»XD

S i l O l E t t

XXXVI interesting and wholly amicable discussions... Since no agreement was reached, each member of the Committee is presenting an individual, signed statement," although all of these statements contained evaluations of the following four plays: You Can't Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, High Tor by Maxwell Anderson, Marching Song by John Howard Lawson, and Tide Rising by George Brewer Jr.63 Whereas Arthur H. Quinn explained that his "preference among the plays of Mr. Anderson is for High Tor," followed by other plays by the same author,64 Mary Colum criticized that so much attention was being paid to the work of this one dramatist, even to the point of interceding that no award should be given that year. She indicated, however, that she was "willing to agree that You Can't Take It With You is the most lively and entertaining dramatic offering of the year."65 The third juror, William L. Phelps, was of the opinion, "that You Can't Take It With You is far and away the best play of the season... because it is first-rate theatre and keeps the audience in a state of continued excitement and delight; secondly, because it is wholly original in plot, dialogue and treatment; third, because the philosophy, as expressed by the chief character, contains valuable ideas."66 So the Advisory Board had altogether favorable assessments of this play by two jurors, and therefore it decided to honor You Can't Take It With You, thus giving the Pulitzer Prize to the team of Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. 67 The jurors of 1938 (Mary M. Colum, William L. Phelps and Schuyler Watts) had only one clear favorite. In their report they informed the Advisory Boars that the "Drama Jury are enthusiastically and unanimously agreed in nominating and recommending... for the award... Our Town by Thornton Wilder. We are not only agreed on this, but we are also agreed that there is really no good second choice." 68 When afterwards one of the heads of Columbia University "asked for an additional report, evidently because he felt the Advisory Board might need some convincing before going out on another limb,"69 this was what the jurors added about the selection of Our Town: "Our reasons for this (suggestion) are that both from the standpoint of dramatic ability and of the theatre the play seems to us the most original, the 63 Mary M. Colum/William L. Phelps/Arthur H. Quinn, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New Haven, Ct., undated (April 1937), p. 1. 64 Arthur H. Quinn, Report, Philadelphia, Pa., April 7, 1937, p. 1. 65 Mary M. Colum, Report, New York, April 7,1937, p. 1. 66 William L. Phelps, Report, New Haven, Ct., undated (April 1937), p. 1. 67 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 68 Mary M. Colum/William L. Phelps/Schuyler Watts, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New Haven, Ct., March 15, 1938, p. 1. 69 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 154.

XXXVII

most beautiful, and the most impressive of the season. Furthermore, it is wholly American, confined entirely to an American scene and American characters. The structure of the play is original, the dialogue is written by a master of English, and there is a dignity and a nobility about the whole play and its performance worthy of the highest praise. We wish it distinctly understood that in our judgment there is, strictly speaking, no second place because we think that all the other plays, good as they may be, are inferior to our first

Playwrights George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart completing their comedy You Can't Take It With You

XXXVIII choice." 70 In an additional paragraph the jurors simply stated that they had also discussed in detail the plays Susan and God by Rachel Crothers, The Star-Wagon by Maxwell Anderson as well as On Borrowed Time by Paul Osborn. 71 Faced with this explicit praise for Our Town the Advisory Board gave the award to Thornton Wilder. 72 Referring to the unanimity of the jurors in the preceding year, the chairman of the jury of 1939 (Mary M. Colum, William L. Phelps and Schuyler Watts) wrote to the Advisory Board: "I am sorry that I can't report an agreement in the three members of the committee. But one reason for this, in my own judgment, is that there is no absolutely first-class outstanding play as there was last year... It is only fair to say that Mr. Watts fully believes that Family Portrait (by Leonore Coffee and William J. Cowen) is an outstanding play of this season and fully deserves the prize. Mrs. Colum has a much lower opinion of it... I am equally devided in my own mind for first place between Abe Lincoln in Illinois (by Robert E. Sherwood) and Family Portrait."13 Mary M. Colum spoke out in favor of Abe Lincoln in Illinois, because "first of all, it is an American chronicle-play, and, as such, of importance in American theatrical history; secondly, it is a competent play by an experienced dramatist, with the chief figure movingly presented, with the minor characters done adequately and adroitly."74 After William L. Phelps and Mary M. Colum finally supported the idea of ranking Abe Lincoln in Illinois first on their short-list, the third juror, Schuyler Watts, stated with vehemence that he himself did not endorse this vote, as he still considered Family Portrait to be the best theatrical play. 75 So Abe Lincoln in Illinois ranked first with two jurors, while the third juror held the play in lower regard, 76 yet the majority vote was accepted by the Advisory Board. Therefore, the Pulitzer Prize for drama was given to Robert E. Sherwood, 77 receiving the prestigious award for the second time. In 1940, the three members of the jury (Mary M. Colum, William L. Phelps and Schuyler Watts) reached a certain consensus of opinion, making 70 Mary M. Colum/William L. Phelps/Schuyler Watts, General Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 18, 1938, p. 1. 71 Ibid. 72 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. 73 William L. Phelps, Letter to Frank D. Fackenthal, Columbia University, New York, April 3, 1939, p.l. 74 Mary M. Colum, Report on Plays 1938-1939, New York, April 2, 1939, p. 1. 75 William L. Phelps, Letter to Frank D. Fackenthal, Columbia University, New York, April 23, 1939, p.l. 76 Mary M. Colum/William L. Phelps/Schuyler Watts, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New Haven, Ct., April 26, 1939, p. 1. 77 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54.

XXXIX

clear at the beginning of their report: "Our Pulitzer Prize drama committee agrees on the following: first, the theatre season in New York has been the poorest in years; second, it is much better to award the prize than to withhold it; third, we agree unanimously on recommending to the Board that the prize be awarded to The Time of Your Life by William Saroyan. This play is wholly original, not taken from any novel, is wholly American in theme and treatment, and contains more promise for the future than any other play of the past season. It shows a knowledge of human nature and a sympathy with various obscure specimens of mankind, without any propaganda." 78 Furthermore, the jurors had long discussions on the following plays, even though their individual evaluations and rankings differed: Life With Father by Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay, Key Largo by Maxwell Anderson, The Male Animal by James Thurber and

Shown at rehearsal of There Shall Be No Night: Playwright Robert E. Sherwood, Richard Whorf, Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt, Sydney Greenstreet 78

Mary M. Colum/William L. Phelps/Schuyler Watts, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New Haven, Ct., April 2, 1940, p. 1.

XLI Elliott Nugent, The Man Who Came to Dinner by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, Two on an Island by Elmer Rice as well as Night Music by Clifford Odets.79 The Advisory Board gave the prize to The Time of Your Life, and thus William Saroyan received the award.80 But the author, as Hohenberg found out, "rejected the $ 1,000 prize immediately after the announcement because he said it would compromise his art to accept it... The check, when it was returned, went back into the Pulitzer Fund,"81 however William Saroyan did not reject the honor itself. The selection process caused comparatively few problems in 1941, although one of the three jurors (Mary M. Colum, William L. Phelps and Schuyler Watts) temporarily did not wholeheartedly support the one favorite for the award who arose out of the discussions, even suggesting to consider "no award." Nevertheless, there was far-reaching agreement that There Shall Be No Night by Robert E. Sherwood should be regarded as best theatrical production. "This play is very far ahead of all possible competitors during the season," it says in the report, "and this not because of its opportuneness but because of its immense dramatic value, its profound sincerity, and its splendid artistic dealing with great issues; and furthermore its deeply spiritual quality which is felt by every spectator and yet always leaves the play as a work of art and never vulgarizes it into a sermon."82 In the evaluation of two jurors Claudia by Rose Franken ranked next on the list of recommendations, because it was "a good American play dealing in an unusual but wholly honest and sincere manner with marriage." The Talley Method by Samuel N. Behrman also was put on the list of finalists, as were Johnny Belinda by Elmer Harris and Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring. "We were especially fortunate in having such a magnificent drama as There Shall Be No Night,"83 the jury-report concluded. Hohenberg explains that "all the leading plays had war themes,"84 and the favorite for the award was no exception, its main theme being the invasion of Finland. The Advisory Board approved the vote of the jury and declared There Shall Be No Night best play of the season, thereby bestowing upon Robert E. Sherwood his third Pulitzer Prize.85

79 80 81 82

Schuyler Watts, Report on the Theatrical Season 1939-40, New York, April 2, 1940, pp. 1 f. Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 54. John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 155. Mary M. Colum/William L. Phelps/Schuyler Watts, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, undated (April 1941), p. 1. 83 Ibid. 84 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 155. 85 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55.

XLII In 1942, when an author of international reputation was one of the jurors (Mary M. Colum, W. Somerset Maugham and William L. Phelps), the jury discussed among other plays the drama The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck as well as Cafe Crown by Hyman S. Kraft, Hyman S.. But in the end it reached the following verdict: "Reviewing the whole season, we are... positively and unanimously agreed that it is better not to give the Pulitzer Prize this season." 86 The Advisory Board considered the reasons for this vote, given in detail in the jury-report, and then accepted it, deciding on "no award." 87 The same three jurors (Mary M. Colum, W. Somerset Maugham and William L. Phelps) selected the prize-worthy production in 1943, and once again their judgment was unanimous. This time, however, all three were unanimously supporting one particular play. Aside from Harriet by Florence Ryerson and Colin Clements, The Patriots by Sidney Kingsley or The Eve of St. Mark by Maxwell Anderson, there was above all one outstanding achievement: The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder. "I am of the opinion that this play shows more imagination, more fresh theatrical invention, more of an innovating spirit than any other play of the season," one juror commented, stressing: "It is far from being successfully projected, it is even in parts confused and confusing, but it represents the highest imaginative and intellectual reach of any of the Broadway plays." 88 And another juror added: "This has vitality, a gay and fantastic invention, and is almost consistently entertaining." 89 In view of this unanimity the Advisory Board raised no objections and gave the award to The Skin of Our Teeth. Thus Thornton Wilder received his second Pulitzer Prize. 90 The jury of 1944 (Mary M. Colum, W. Somerset Maugham and Glenway Wescott) was partly reconstituted and dealt in particular with the production of The Voice of the Turtle by John Van Druten and Winged Victory by Moss Hart. Although two jurors deemed Van Druten's play to be prize-worthy, the author's nationality - he was no American citizen - proved to be an obstacle. 91 "What the Board did," Hohenberg writes, "was to pass the prize, but at the same time it took the unprecedented step of announcing a special award for Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. This was 86 Mary M. Colum/W. Somerset Maugham/William L. Phelps, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, April 12, 1942, p. 2. 87 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. 88 Mary M. Colum/W. Somerset Maugham/William L. Phelps, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 25, 1943, p. 1. 89 Ibid., p. 7. 90 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. 91 Mary M. Colum/W. Somerset Maugham/Glenway Wescott, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 29, 1944, p. 1.

XLIII

XLIV evidently done on the Board's own initiative for there was no mention of Oklahoma! in the jury report."92 In 1945, the members of the jury (Oscar J. Campbell, Mary M. Colum and Joseph W. Krutch), however, had hardly any problems at all in agreeing on a favorite: After conducting exhaustive discussions on Dark of the Moon by Howard Richardson and William Berney as well as The Hasty Heart by John Patrick they decided on Harvey by Mary Chase. They held this comedy in high regard "on account of its richness of content and the fresh imaginative field it has taken over; in plot and character it marks a departure from the usual Broadway play." Only one of the jurors even mentions The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, writing in his report: "I have not seen The Glass Menagerie but I am seeing it tonight and if, as seems unlikely, I should wish to put it first, I shall send... a supplementary report."93 Yet, as Hohenberg found out, "there was no supplementary report," and so the Advisory Board "without dissent voted the... award to Harvey,"94 thus making Mary Chase a Pulitzer Prize-winner.95 Passing judgment on the theatrical achievements of 1946, the drama jury (Oscar J. Campbell, Mary M. Colum and Joseph W. Krutch) recommended to give the award to State of the Union by Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay.96 The Advisory Board did not object and announced this team of authors to be joint-winners of the Pulitzer Prize.97 In 1947, the work of the jurors (Oscar J. Campbell, Mary M. Colum and Joseph W. Krutch) was characterized by fairly differing opinions concerning a potential prizewinner. Whereas one member of the jury regarded the New York production of Christopher Blake by Moss Hart as well as The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill as outstanding, a second juror also mentioned Christopher Blake, but then introduced All My Sons by Arthur Miller and The Fatal Weakness by George Kelly as ranking next on his list. The third member of the jury offered the following ranking: All My Sons, The Fatal Weakness and The Iceman Cometh. He remarked additionally that he did "not really believe the prize should go again to Mr. O'Neill, who has had it on two previous occasions and for better plays."98 Referring to O'Neill one juror made the comment that his "play is too long and is somewhat dated; ... but at the 92 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 206. 93 Oscar J. Campbell/Mary M. Colum/Joseph W. Krutch, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, April 3, 1945, pp. 2, 5. 94 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., pp. 207 f. 95 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. 96 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 208. 97 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. 98 Oscar J. Campbell/Mary M. Colum/Joseph W. Krutch, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 31, 1947, p. 1.

XLV same time it has qualities rare on Broadway - emotional power, strong communication with life, fine character creation, and a superb theatrical sense. O'Neill simply knows more about people than any other Broadway dramatist, but he is long winded which defect may come from a lack of control of his material... I do not see how this jury could pass over O'Neill's excellencies in favor of other plays that are swifter in movement, more modern in technique."99 Despite this fairly positive evaluation of The Iceman Cometh the Advisory Board decided to give "no award."100

Playwrights Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse at work for State of the Union 99 Ibid., p . 3. 100 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55.

XLVI

The jurors of 1948 (Oscar J. Campbell, Joseph W. Krutch and Maurice J. Valency) took into consideration several Broadway production of the preceding season, among them Command Decision by William W. Haines and Mr. Roberts by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan, but all attention focused on A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. "It is a superb drama - full of originality and power both in conception and in execution," the jury-report underlines. It then continues its eulogy: "It tells with sincerity and compassion the poignant story of a woman's inevitable degradation. Though on the surface the author treats his theme with savage realism, yet it is in essence a story of intangibles, revealing perceptions and understandings of human nature that are deep and subtle. His prose is instinct with the feeling and nuance of poetry. The play is expertly composed, beginning in a low key and moving relentlessly to a catastrophe which awakens the mixture of pity and terror that all authentic tragedy should. The production and acting of this play are also of superlative quality ... There is... no... doubt... that it is not only incomparably the best American play of the year but also both the best in several years and even, by absolute standards, a remarkable work... To fail to give it the prize would be absurd and, from a perfectly practical standpoint, would seriously damage the prestige of the prize." 101 The Advisory Board completely agreed and awarded Tennessee Williams the Pulitzer Prize for his play A Streetcar Named Desire,102 The jurors of 1949 (Oscar J. Campbell, Joseph W. Krutch and Maurice J. Valency) could not reach complete concordance, because one of them voted in favor of Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams, whereas the other two preferred Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman,103 "I strongly recommend that the prize be given to Death of a Salesman," one member of the drama jury wrote in his report, adding: "This tragedy is by all odds the most notable American play of the season. Indeed, I am inclined to regard it as the best modern American tragedy of the last decade. In a sense, it is the tragedy of every one who plays an important part in our acquisitive civilization... The Pulitzer award would add to its already great prestige by crowning so distinguished a work by a young American playwright." 104 Another juror, also inclined to give the prize to Death of a Salesman, called it "the year's outstanding play" although he did not think it a "great" one. "It is," he wrote, "open to very grave objections from the point of view of intellectual 101 Oscar J. Campbell/Joseph W. Krutch/Maurice J. Valency, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, undated (April 1948), pp. 1 f. 102 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. 103 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 210. 104 Quoted ibid.

XLVII

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Producer Irene M. Selznick and playwright Tennessee Williams at rehearsal for A Streetcar Named Desire

XLIX content, style, and construction. Nevertheless, it is an extremely powerful play and I believe it will have consequences in the development of the sphere of drama which has not previously been practiced with conspicuous success in this country." 105 The very high esteem for Arthur Miller's drama on the part of the jurors was also shared by the Advisory Board, and so the playwright won the Pulitzer Prize for his work Death of a Salesman.106 In 1950, the jurors (Oscar J. Campbell, Joseph W. Krutch and Maurice J. Valency), as Hohenberg puts it, "ran into trouble because they recommended Gian-Carlo Menotti's The Consul, which was, as it turned out, also the first choice in the Music Jury and the eventual winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Music that year. The Advisory Board, in a thoroughly musical mood, decided on its own that the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for that year should go to South Pacific,"101 and so the honor went to Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II

Director Joshua Logan, composer Richard Rodgers, librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, Mary Martin, author James A. Michener at rehearsal of South Pacific 105 106 107

Quoted ibid. Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 211.

L and Joshua Logan for their musical.108 The jury of 1951 was made up of only two persons (Oscar J. Campbell and Maurice J. Valency) and "recommended a dramatization of Herman Melville's novel Billy Budd by Louis O'Coxe and Robert Chapman, but the Advisory Board refused to accept it for undetermined reasons"109 and opted for "no award" instead.110 The same two jurors in 1952 judged 19 Broadway productions before finally coming up with a list of three suggestions consisting of Point of No Return by Paul Osborn, One Bright Day by Sigmund Miller as well as The Shrike by Joseph Kramm. Kramm's play ranked first with the jury for the following reasons: "It is an expertly constructed play on a subject of great importance, extremely well produced and acted. We both feel that it would best serve the interest of the American theatre if this play were awarded the Pulitzer Prize."111 The AdviTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK TO ALL PERSONS TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS MAY COME GREETING BE IT KNOWN THAT "SOUTH PACIFIC" BY RICHARD RODGERS, OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN, 2ND AND JOSHUA LOGAN HAS BEEN AWARDED

THE PULITZER PRIZE IN LETTERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE STATUTES OF THE UNIVERSITY GOVERNING SUCH AWARD IN WITNESS WHEREOF WE HAVE CAUSED THIS CERTIFICATE TO BE SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY AND OUR CORPORATE SEAL TO BE HERETO AFFIXED IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ON THE EICHTH DAY OF JUNE IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY

Courtesy: The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Pulitzer Prize Certificate for the Drama Winners of 1950, signed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of Columbia University from 1948-1953 108 109 110 111

Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 211. Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. Oscar J. Campbell/Maurice J. Valency, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, April 2, 1952, pp. 1 f.

LI

sory Board endorsed this opinion by awarding Joseph Kramm the Pulitzer Prize for his play The Shrike.m When the jury (Oscar J. Campbell and Maurice J. Valency) had to select the best play of 1953 it judged 18 theatrical productions and wrote in the report that followed: "The most successfully original stage entertainment of the season was without doubt John Brown's Body (by Charles Laughton). It also brought to a triumph a new sort of play which may properly be called 'poetic platform drama' and set the standard for a new form. Since it cannot be regarded as a new play and the poem (by Stephen Vincent Benet) from which Charles Laughton has made the platform drama has already received a Pulitzer Prize,113 we assume that John Brown's Body does not fulfill the conditions which a Prize play must meet... Apart from John Brown's Body we believe that Picnic by William Inge is most deserving of the award. This is a notable play about a group of people in a small Kansas town on a hot Labor Day... It is an expertly composed piece, beautifully written and American to the core. Joshua Logan has staged a fine performance and the acting is superb. Mr. Inge's first play, Come Back Little Sheba, showed great promise which Picnic has splendidly fulfilled."114 Although The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Time of the Cuckoo by Arthur Laurents also were mentioned on the list of the jury, the Advisory Board decided in favor of Picnic and honored William Inge with the Pulitzer Prize for drama.115 After watching and evaluating 26 plays the two jurors of 1954 (Oscar J. Campbell and Maurice J. Valency) faced a similar problem as in the previous year, and so they stated in their report: "Undoubtedly the best dramatic entertainment of the season was afforded by The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (by Herman Wouk). However, since the novel, upon which a part of this drama is based, has already received a Pulitzer Prize,116 we feel that we cannot in all conscience recommend an excerpt from that novel for another Pulitzer Award. If this dramatization be excluded from consideration, we believe that the best play of the season is The Teahouse of the August Moon by John Patrick... This is an altogether delightful comedy, a fantasy about the impact of the East and West on each other... Second on our list but substantially lower we place Tea and Sympathy by Robert Anderson. The acting 112 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. 113 Cf. Heinz-D. Fischer/Erika J. Fischer (Eds.), The Pulitzer Prize Archive, Vol. 11: Poetry/Verse Awards 1918-1995, Munich 1997, pp. 43 ff. 114 Oscar J. Campbell/Maurice J. Valency, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 31, 1953, pp. 1 f. 115 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. 116 Cf. Heinz-D. Fischer/Erika J. Fischer (Eds.), The Pulitzer Prize Archive, Vol. 10: Novel/Fiction Awards 1917-1994, Munich - New Providence - London - Paris 1997, pp. 135 ff.

LII

Producer Maurice Evans, director Robert Lewis and playwright John Patrick discussing the production of The Teahouse of the August Moon of the two principals in this play was as fine as any of the season. We feel," the jurors continued, "that in this report we should express our admiration for In the Summer House by Jane Bowles. It had qualities of insight and poetic imagination which might have made it the outstanding play of the year. But we do not believe that the new promising writer realized many of its dramatic and theatric potentialities." 117 Considering the arguments brought forward for the author ranking first the Advisory Board had no reservations in giving the award to John Patrick's The Teahouse of the August Moon. 1 1 8 1955 turned out to be a remarkable year for the Pulitzer Prize for drama, because the award-winning production was picked in a rather unusual way. The jury (Oscar J. Campbell and Maurice J. Valency) shortlisted five out of the 35 plays produced on Broadway that season, namely: The Bad Seed by 117 Oscar J. Campbell/Maurice J. Valency, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 31, 1954, pp. 1 f. 118 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55.

I III

Maxwell Anderson, The Flowering Peach by Clifford Odets, The Desperate Hours by Joseph Hayes, Bus Stop by William Inge and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. In an additional process of selection, it says in the jury-report, "the first to be eliminated was Cat on a Hot Tin Roof... The drama is amateurishly constructed, obscure in the solution of the principal problem, shows little intellectual grasp of the material and is from the stylistic points of view annoyingly pretentious. We do not believe that the author should be encouraged in this direction by the award of a Pulitzer Prize."119 After crossing another two plays off their short-list the jurors stated: "We believe that both The Bad Seed and The Flowering Peach are greatly superior to the other plays of the season... We believe that The Flowering Peach is the strongest contender for the award."120 But the Advisory Board was not willing to join the verdict of the drama jury. As Hohenberg relates, Joseph Pulitzer Jr., chairman of the Board, had "seen Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and thought it worthy of the drama prize. He had little patience with the arguments against its extravagant language and unpleasant sexual themes, but based himself entirely on its effectiveness as a piece of realistic theater. The... Board, after considerable discussion, went along with him and voted for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,"121 so that Tennessee Williams received his second Pulitzer Prize for drama.122 The two members (John M. Brown and Oscar J. Campbell) that made up the jury of 1956 anticipated a certain problem as they attempted to convincingly justify the dramatists ranking first on their list. "The play both of us feel is outstandingly meritorious," they wrote in their report, "is Frances Goodrich's and Albert Hackett's dramatization of The Diary of Anne Frank. We are well aware that, according to the terms of the award, the prize should go 'for the American play, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life,' etc., etc. The Diary of Anne Frank, we realize, does not deal with American life and is a dramatization. But we feel, and strongly feel, that its merits, sensitivity, and importance are such that they justify ignoring the qualifying clause that begins with 'preferably'... The Diary of Anne Frank is a tragedy that happens to be a comedy and a romance. More than being a brilliant and poignant reminder of the agonies through which the world has recently gone, it is a statement, courageous and immensely human, of the need of all of us in our daily lives to live not merely with death but above it. 119 Oscar J. Campbell/Maurice J. Valency, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 31, 1955, pp. 1 f. 120 Ibid., pp. 2 f. 121 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 261. 122 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55.

LIV Should the Advisory Board feel that The Diary of Anne Frank is barred from consideration because of being a dramatization laid in a foreign land, ... (we) recommend Inherit the Wind... by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee... Third in our list of preferences is Time Limit!, a melodrama by Henry Denker and Ralph Berkey..."123 Due to the fact that the vote for the play ranking first was brought forward with so much conviction, Hohenberg relates, "there was no dissent from the Board in 1956,"124 and so the Pulitzer Prize went to Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett for The Diary of Anne Frank,125 With the Pulitzer Prizes celebrating their fortieth anniversary in 1957, one juror, who had been member of the drama jury for several years, took stock. "Looking back over the forty years of its history," he summed up, "we can see that it has reflected the changes in the standards of public taste and that it has been an important factor in effecting these improvements. During these years the standards of the juries and the Advisory Board on Pulitzer Prizes have become increasingly more severe."126 At that point in time 23 Broadway production were eligible, but the two jurors (John M. Brown and Oscar J. Campbell) were unanimously agreed that only one play should be considered for the award. "By far the most distinguished drama of the season," it can be read in the report, "is Eugene O'Neill's posthumous tragedy, Long Day's Journey Into Night. In spite of some of its blemishes - its great length, its tending to repeat and its heavy literary style - it richly deserves the award. In fact, it is the only play by an American author, presented during the current season, that can be regarded as a serious candidate. All competent judges agree that it is one of O'Neill's greatest plays; a few think it is his very greatest. In any case, it is an emotionally overwhelming tragedy. It is frankly autobiographical, for O'Neill faces with courage and tortured sympathy the mental and spiritual anguish of the life of his family during his young manhood."127 Although Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams and A Visit to a Small Planet by Gore Vidal also made the list of finalists,128 the Advisory Board also voted for Long Day's Journey Into Night, thus granting

123 John M. Brown/Oscar J. Campbell, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 27, 1956, pp. 1 f. 124 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 263. 125 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. 126 Oscar J. Campbell, Drama Awards, in: Columbia Library Columns (New York), Vol. VI/No. 3, May 1957, pp. 34 f. 127 John M. Brown/Oscar J. Campbell, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, April 1, 1957, p. 1. 128 Ibid., p. 2.

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LVI Eugene O'Neill, several years after the death of the dramatist, his fourth Pulitzer Prize posthumously.129 The two jurors of 1958 (John M. Brown and John Gassner) did not find any opportunity to draw up a joint report, but nevertheless they both arrived at exactly the same suggestions in all points. "Just as Long Day's Journey Into Night towered above last season's new plays," one member of the jury stated, "so, it seems to me, Look Homeward, Angel towers above its competitors this year... It is with pleasure and deep conviction that I recommend Ketti Frings' dramatization of Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel. The second juror also recommended "Look Homeward, Angel for the Pulitzer Prize as the most distinguished play of the season. It is not only a well written and ably organized work," he continued, "but a probing study of characters who carry much reality and conviction. The play, moreover, not only provides a vivid picture of the environment of one of America's leading literary figures but expresses the more or less universal dreams and tensions of youth in relation with its personal problems and aspirations."131 Both jurors had as second choice on their list The Dark at the Top of the Stairs by William Inge, and both were also of the opinion that Sunrise at Campobello by Dore Schary should rank third.132 The sound reasons given for choosing Look Homeward, Angel dispelled any doubts the Advisory Board might have had, and so the Pulitzer Prize was given to Ketti Frings.133 "Neither the jury nor the Board," Hohenberg points out additionally, "considered Leonard Bernstein's musical evocation of the Romeo and Juliet theme in a New York setting, West Side Story."134 The drama jury (John M. Brown and John Gassner) also had a clear favorite in 1959: It picked J. B. by Archibald MacLeish as most prize-worthy. "That MacLeish's J.B. has its deficiencies," one of the jurors declared, "I do not deny. Yet these expected deficiencies appear to me to be insignificant and almost irrelevant when compared to the audacity of MacLeish's reach and the power of his achievement... My admiration and gratitude for the play are genuine. I am overjoyed to have a distinguished poet - twice a Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry - bring his fine talents to the stage, to hear verse so sharp, muscular and modern, and to encounter a large treatment of a large

129 130 131 132 133 134

Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. John M. Brown, Report, New York, March 24, 1958, pp. 1 f. John Gassner, Report, New Haven, Ct., March 21, 1958, p. 1. Ibid. Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 263.

LVII theme in a play that is immensely contemporary."135 And his colleague added among other things, "that J.B. is the only play I can recommend to the Committee as the logical choice; we honor ourselves and honor the intent of the donor of the Pulitzer Prizes in giving recognition to this work."136 Among the other plays taken into consideration by the jury were Sweet Bird of Youth by Tennessee Williams, The Rivalry by Norman Corwin and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.137 But the unanimous verdict of the jurors was as follows: "Certainly no other play of this or many seasons has attempted to come to grips with so large and universal a theme and succeeded in stating it in terms more eloquent, moving, and provocative" than / β . 1 3 8 The Advisory Board shared this point of view, and that is why Archibald MacLeish, having already won two Pulitzer Prizes for poetry,139 now also received the prestigious award in the drama category.140 The quest for the best play of 1960 once again made evident that the opinions of the jury (John M. Brown and John Gassner) and those of the Advisory Board diverged to a certain degree. "This has been a disappointing season," it says in the jury-report. "Many new American plays, such as The Andersonviile Trial (by Saul Levitt), The Miracle Worker (by William Gibson), and The Tenth Man (by Paddy Chayefsky) have had arresting themes and compelling scenes, and have been brilliantly acted, directed, and set. But as playwriting, they have been more in the nature of scenarios than maturely and expertly developed scripts. The one, the glowing, the notable exception... is Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic... She shows that same driving muscularity of mind and unflinching attitude towards life which have distinguished her work. Each of her lines has planning and purpose in it and says far more than it seems to say... It may not be Miss Hellman's best work, but certainly it is by all odds the best play of the season," and therefore, the Board should not decide on "no award."141 But the Advisory Board, Hohenberg writes, "didn't particularly care for Toys in the Attic... There was some discussion about passing the award, but the Board was reluctant to do so. However, it was also unimpressed with the alternatives in

135 136 137 138 139

JohnM. Brown, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 24, 1959, pp. 1 f. John Gassner, Report to John Hohenberg, New York, March 28, 1959, p. 2. Ibid., pp. 1 f. John M. Brown, Report..., op. cit., p. 1. Cf. Heinz-D. Fischer/Erika J. Fischer (Eds.), The Pulitzer Prize Archive, Vol. 11: Poetry/Verse Awards 1918-1995, op. cit., pp. 59 ff., pp. 135 ff. 140 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55. 141 John M. Brown/John Gassner, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 14, 1960, pp. 3 f .

LVIII the... report... until someone mentioned a new musical, Fiorello! which had not even been referred to in the jury-report. Thus the musical about legendary New York mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia obtained the award, and consequently the honorees were book writers Jerome Weidman and George Abbott as well as composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick. 143 Despite the fact that their recommendation had been rejected in the previous year the two jurors (John M. Brown and John Gassner) returned in 1961 to once more select a potential prize-winner. After shortlisting Mary, Mary

At rehearsal of Fiorello! (1. to r.): George Abbott, Jerome Weidman, Robert E. Griffith, Harold S. Prince, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock (at piano) 142 143

John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 264. Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 55.

LIX

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PLEASE ENCLOSE NOMINEE'S Biography {CJand Photograph 034nd check accordingly. The following awards will be made annually as Prizes in Letters: Indicate by a check ( y ) the particular prize for which the nomination is made.

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( 1 ) For distinguished fiction published in book form during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, One thousand dollars ($1,000).

1

( 2 ) For a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life, One thousand dollars ( $ 1 , 0 0 0 ) .

2

(3) For a distinguished book of the year upon the history of the United States, One thousand dollars ($1,000).

3

( 4 ) For a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author published during the year, preferably on an American subject, One thousand dollars ($1,000).

4

( 5 ) For a distinguished volume of verse published during the year by an American author, One thousand dollars ( $ 1 , 0 0 0 ) .

5

( 6 ) For a distinguished book by an American which is not eligible for consideration in any other existing category, One thousand dollars ($1,000).

6

XX

( 7 ) For distinguished musical composition in the larger forms of chamber, orchestral or choral music, or for an operatic work (including ballet), by a composer of established residence in the United States, which has had its first American performance during the year, One thousand dollars (,1'000)' Signature of nominator

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Name; title, and organization (Please Print) 122 E a s t

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(Pitait stnd nomination and exhibits in the Letters competition before November 1 to Professor John Hohenberg, Secretary, Advisor) Board on the Pulitzer Prizes, at 702 Journalism, Columbia University, New York, N.Y. 10027. Telephone: 212-280-3841 or 3842.

FILLED-OUT ENTRY FORM FOR THE 1973 COMPETITION

LXVII After carefully sifting through the theatrical production of 1973, the jurors (Brendan Gill, Elliot Norton and George Oppenheimer) were "in immediate enthusiastic agreement on the play that should be given the Pulitzer - That Championship Season by Jason Miller. It then turned out," the report continues, "that we were not in agreement about any second choice, though The River Niger (by Joseph A. Walker) would have gained two of the three votes. No play seemed to us to come within voting reach of those two; but That Championship Season was clearly much the favorite over The River Niger."175 The Advisory Board had no problems whatsoever with this suggestion, so that with That Championship Season by Jason Miller it was once again a play that was chosen,176 "that had started off-Broadway,"177 as Hohenberg pointed out. The drama jury of 1974 (Clive Barnes, Glenna Syse and Douglas Watt) had to face a different situation. It considered the following production: Short Eyes by Miguel Pinero, What the Wine Sellers Buy by Ron Milner, The Great MacDaddy by Paul C. Harrison, The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin by Robert Wilson, Bad Habits by Terrence McNally and Baba Goya by Steve Tesich. But after watching, evaluating and discussing these plays, the members of the jury stated that they were "unable to find a play that we could wholeheartedly recommend as worthy in every respect of receiving a Pulitzer Prize, although there were a number of plays worthy of some serious consideration."178 Because of this argumentation the Advisory Board joined in with the vote of the jury and decided to give "no award."179 "Contrary to most expectations," the jury of 1975 (Richard L. Coe, Brendan Gill and Glenna Syse) said in its report, "the theatre on Broadway has enjoyed an exceptionally full and prosperous year. There have been more openings and more money taken in at the box-office than for many seasons past... The jury is unanimous in choosing Edward Albee's Seascape as the most distinguished American play of the year. Indeed, it seemed to all three of us so far in advance of any other play that we would care to recommend that we proposed no second or third choices to each other in the course of discussing our decision. The play is certainly imperfect, but it is imperfect in part because it is so ambitious. It is a most serious comedy, 175 Brendan Gill/Elliot Norton/George Oppenheimer, Report York, April 2, 1973, p. 1. 176 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 177 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 329. 178 Clive Barnes/Glenna Syse/Douglas Watt, Report of the April 2, 1974, pp. 1 f. 179 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p.

of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New 56. Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, 56.

LXVIII seeking to ask - and answer - the most serious questions that we can put to each other and to ourselves.... Seascape is written with an elegance that... only Albee among his living contemporaries could have achieved. It is a strong work and was given a fine production - one in which we learned, among other things, that Albee is at least as good a director as he is a playwright..."180 Although the jury-report in passing also mentioned such plays as Bad Habits as well as The Ritz by Terrence McNally, Same Time, Next Year by Bernard Slade or A Letter for Queen Victoria by Robert Wilson as worth seeing,181 the Advisory Board supported the recommendation of the jury and bestowed the award on Seascape by Edward Albee,182 who thus was honored with his second Pulitzer Prize. The drama jury of 1976 (Clive Barnes, Edith Oliver and Douglas Watt) made it perfectly clear: "A unanimous vote," they wrote in their report, "goes to the musical A Chorus Line, devised by Michael Bennett, with book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, lyrics by Edward Kleban and music by Marvin Hamlisch. We also gave particular consideration to David Rabe's play Streamers... Another play we seriously considered was Leslie Lee's The First Breeze of Summer... Both plays represent trends in the American theatre... Both would, in our opinion, be worthy in some years, of the prize. However, our choice fell on A Chorus Line for very good reasons. Firstly, the musical has an essential place in the American theatre which the Pulitzer Prize Committee has, of course, recognized in the past. And this particular musical, the best of what has come to be known as the 'concept musicals,' does seem to us to represent a resurgence of the musical as an artistic force. It is Broadway theatre at its very best and most collaborative, and does, we submit, deserve to be recognized."183 The Advisory Board signalled its approval of this proposition, and therefore the Pulitzer Prize in the drama category went to A Chorus Line and all of the five people who conceived it: Michael Bennett, James Kirkwood, Nicholas Dante, Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban.184 In the following year, the jury (Richard L. Coe, Brendan Gill and George Oppenheimer) also did not have the slightest difficulties in agreeing on a recommendation for best theatrical production of 1977. "The play that, by 180 Richard L. Coe/Brendan Gill/Glenna Syse, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 31, 1975, pp. 1 f. 181 Ibid., pp. 2 f. 182 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 56. 183 Clive Barnes/Edith Oliver/Douglas Watt, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, April 1, 1976, p. 1. 184 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 56.

LXIX good fortune, we all felt equally in favor of," the jurors enthused in their report, "is The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer... It is a play of the utmost seriousness, on a subject that few people would feel inclined to examine how people respond when they know they are dying... Mr. Cristofer is a superb writer, a born playwright, and (as it happens) a very good actor. The Shadow Box takes a strongly affirmative view of life; it examines with sympathy the difficulties of family love and other kinds of love, and it ends with a chant of joyous 'Yes's.' We are told, not for the first time, that we must have the wisdom to seize 'this moment,' and we are told it with passion. No other play came close to this one in our judgment."185 Other productions that had temporarily been discussed in the jury as potential favorites included A Texas Trilogy by Preston Jones and The Runner Stumbles by Milan Stitt.186 The Advisory Board did not hesitate in announcing The Shadow Box as winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama, honoring Michael Cristofer with the award.187 After judging all eligible theatrical plays the jurors of 1978 (Walter Kerr, Edith Oliver and Edwin Wilson) told the Advisory Board that "there was considerable discussion of the new young writers emerging Off Broadway and of the plays A Life in the Theater (by David Mamet), The Water Engine (by David Mamet), The Curse of the Starving Class (by Sam Shepard), Landscape of the Body (by John Guare), Uncommon Women and Others (by Wendy Wasserstein), A Prayer For My Daughter (by Thomas Babe), Feedlot (by Patrick Meyers) and others. But the general feeling of the committee was," the members of the jury declared, "that the Pulitzer should be reserved for larger and more substantial achievement rather than simple - if welcome - promise. There was also some general feeling that Neil Simon is sooner or later due for recognition..., but the members (of the jury) did not feel that Chapter Two was the proper play for it... The new musicals, I Love My Wife (by Michael Stewart and Cy Coleman), Annie (by Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin), On the Twentieth Century (by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Cy Coleman) were not thought to be of Pulitzer stature."188 After also eliminating William Gibson's Golda and Vieux Carre by Tennessee Williams from its group of finalists, the jury came to the following verdict: "The one new play... of sufficient originality, invention 185 Richard L. Coe/Brendan Gill/George Oppenheimer, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 29, 1977, p. 1. 186 Ibid. 187 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 56. 188 Walter Ken/Edith Oliver/Edwin Wilson, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 29, 1978, p. 1.

LXX and staying power was... The Gin Game (by Donald L. Coburn)... All three members were satisfied that it represented the best work of the season to come from an American hand."189 The Advisory Board readily agreed, and thus Donald L. Coburn won the award for his play The Gin Game,190 In 1979, the members of the jury (Richard Eder, Brendan Gill and Edwin Wilson) also had a clear favorite: Buried Child by Sam Shepard. "Over the past several years," they wrote in their report, "Mr. Shepard has produced a remarkable body of work... As a playwright, he has devoted himself to American themes... He is preoccupied with the question of our relationship to the past; he explores with a lyrical exuberance the moral and spiritual values to which as Americans we continue to subscribe... In recommending Mr. Shepard for the Pulitzer Prize, we of the jury have felt entitled to consider that, beyond the high quality of the play itself, Mr. Shepard's substantial body of work and its inspiring determination to come to grips with American life are worthy of honoring."191 The Advisory Board did not contradict, awarding the prize to Sam Shepard's Buried Child.192 In 1980 the jurors (Richard L. Coe, Mel Gussow and Edwin Wilson) proceeded just as their colleagues in the previous year had done by acknowledging merely their favorite production, which was Talley's Folly by Lanford Wilson. "A prolific writer," the jury emphasized in its explanation, "Mr. Wilson has produced a large body of work, virtually all of it dealing with the American experience. Talley's Folly is a love story, but it touches on a number of subjects characteristic of American life... The Committee felt that it was important, too, to recognize that Talley's Folly is part of a group of related plays... Mr. Wilson contemplates four plays which when completed will constitute a tetralogy - an impressive undertaking in today's theater."193 The Advisory Board agreed and that is how Talley's Folly by Lanford Wilson received the Pulitzer Prize for drama.194 The jurors of 1981 (Mel Gussow, Henry Hewes and Edith Oliver) also had only one recommendation for the drama award: Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley. This play for them represented "an outstanding family play... It deals, sometimes comically, with tragedies in everyday life. Enormously theatrical, it begins wit a specific provincial American situation and be189 Ibid., pp. 1 f. 190 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 56. 191 Richard Eder/Brendan Gill/Edwin Wilson, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, April 3, 1979, p. 1. 192 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 56. 193 Richard L. Coe/Mel Gussow/Edwin Wilson, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 31, 1980, p. 1. 194 Columbia University (Ed.), The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 56.

LXXI

JOHN GOLDEN THEATRE yThr««r ephanie OWHn«on A Dtftcted by Oayld CMvhto TOOAY at2 66 TOM Wat 3 TOOAY Μ 2 X16 SUN M3 Cal (2(7)935-»» T«H merg« (212)239-6200 i?4hr»,7dy«| PREVIEWS TOOAY 21 .lTOM^W 217 FUNKY Some sems t?5 ai boi olHce only 1996 PULITZER PRIZE WN I NER Theatre Μ St Peter« Church Out»«» Μ·Ιό NY (600)432-7250 WINNER' 1996 Crowd-n*e»«r Award 619Le«mgt Ca« Now For Euct Seat Location» onAve ^54thSir»M THING Κ A R E N Z I E M B A D A V I O G A R R I S O N lc*etme»!er(212)307-4100(24hr»'7(Jyj) GREASE! THE NICHT OF m the mualcM musical com« Reed AFTER-PLAT BRING IN'DA NOISE Directed by John Henry Davis INTENSE A SEXYI TheMerWee« by ANNE MEARA Tu«»· SM 6. Mats Wed 1 Sal 2. Sun 3 BRING IN'DA FUNK directed by DAVIO SAINT CM T»l«.Ch«tge (2t?) 239-6700 VIRGINS t OTHER MYTHS Today et 216. Tom'wetlie Telecharge 239-6200/Groupi 669 4300 Dougl Choreography By S»«Wn Glover M Fairbank» ThM 432W4?St Tue-Fne SM 6110 Sun 7 THIS CHARMING SHOW IS THE LES MISERABLES ΤΙΙΕΑτΓΐ roun. 424 Wen S3lh St Gv«Mved and Directed by CalNnwi TfeCharo· 212 7?» «7T0 F IRS ι BLOOM 0» SPRING 10TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR' George C Wolfe ATLANTIC 'HEATER336Westes; JacquM la Sourd. Ganneti TICKETS FROM $15 t?0 rush the aval day Ol pert CI For Ε «aci SMI Locat i o n» TOOAYai 2 16 TOMWI I 3 Sal 6 Mm« w«d 1 Sat 2. Sun 3H« charge (212) 739 6700 (24hr» 7dy»| THE BEST NEW PLAY OF 1996' atBO on»y . beginning 11am for man Tu« Today»1346 Sun3 OFF B R O A D W A Y ' Fo«Fhf « N» G R O U P S A L E S 2 30pm lor tv*» I noon lor Swwayi (600)223-7565.(212)239-626? (Ml* Metro NY (»001432 7250 PROVOCATIVE· NY Time» -Donald Lyons. Wal StraM Journal Cal No* For Enact Seat Location· INTRIGUING' -Star ledger PERFECT CRIME (212)239 6700 (74 hr»/7dy»l DAVIO MERRICK UNGETUPABLE' -NYPo«l Out»«» Metro NY (600)432-7250 Group» (212)396-6363 or (ί 17)739 676! ROOGERS ^HMtMERSTEIN S THE TRUTH LIES BELOW THE BELT Β 0 695 3401 Tioelmasler X/ 4100 WHERE Tut-Sat 6 w«d 1 Sat 2. Sun 3 ew Play by Cath«nne Buttert laid A N»w Comedy Al Seats 135 Mal Order« Now A NDeeded STATE FAIR by Evan Ylonouls wr.twn by Rlchwd OrMser DUFFYTMEATRE l553Bway(46lhSt) e(»)?19W°4$thSt TOOAYat216 TuM-Fri 8. SM 318. Sun 3 directed by Gkma MUJO SM Μ 6. Wad 1 SM Μ 2, Sun at 116Telecherge 5 Outat Ctlics Nommatton» Including Tu«Tl d MSl Info cal 2'2 279 4200 239 6W0/ G roups 6694 300 (715 39β-β3»3,(»00) 223-7565 Tu*S«8 MMs Wed ISM 2. Sun 3 TONIGHT 619 TO·. ANOING BROADWAY PLAY Group». Irish Repertory Theatre I32W27SI Music Βο» Thaawrl·) 239 W 45th Si John Preview» Today 2 6 6: Open« TuMday OUTSTA 2 Outer Cnnct Cede TOTAL TRIUMPH! HousMtwn Theater. 450 W 42nd ISt SpedMPert Monday. Apr 29 at 6pm t c t u dwg B E S T O F F B R O A D W A Y P L A Y BamM. MY Po«l Ca« Now For Exact S«it Location« Can Now For -Civ· Three Thous»vl Lauah·' WABC-TV OFF—OFF—8R0ADWAY Exact Seal Locadom Tic»etmMter(?l7)X7-4lOO(24hrs:7dy») TM·-Charge TONIGHT AT 7110, SUN 417 TIX BY PHONE (21?) SeO-1313 ΤHENί FOLL Γ (212)239 6200 (24hr»/7dy») SIGN.WHEN OutMde NY'NJ/CT (600) 755-4000 A SENSATION TIME MAG TM« charge (?1?)?39 6?W(74hr»/7dy·) FOLLOWWQ THE OulMto Metro NY (600) 432 7250 TWTS E«ienoed Th'u Mey 5 Oniy NAME OF A THEATER. INDICATES Z O E C A L D W E L L BLUE MAN GROUP PICASSO THAT A SHOW IS E Q W P E D WITH BURIED CHILD T U B E S AN INFFVWITO LISTENINQ SYSTEM THE TRAGIC «HORRIBLE MASTER CLASS by SAM SHEPAAD Tue Thu· 6 Frt-SM 7H0.Sun 417 A T p E LAPIN AGILE deeded by GARY SiNtSE By TERRENCE McNALLY C H A R G E TI C KETS (212)254-4370 UFE OF THE SINGING NUN Tu« Sat at 6. Mail Wed I Sal 7. Sun 3 TU»-SMM8 W«dlSatai2 GROUP SALES (2l2)6»»-4300 " S T V E M W Wad-Frie S»I7A10 Sun Group« (212) 396-6363· (600) 223-7565Group« (212) 396 6363. (600) ?23 7565 TICKETMASTER (21M07-4100 Tu· FrlMl Sal619.Sun317 ET CENTRAL 212 279 42t GnlOen Τ he et'· (.) 25? W 45th St Astw Ptec· Theater(. )4341 »layette Si TheM·) 2162 Β way al 76(h TICKGrove St Playhouse 39 Grov· Si

BROADWAY S e ä w w m i p

Source: The New York Times, April 27, 1996, p. 19.

LXXXI worthy of discussion and six that had sufficiently ardent support to make it to a semifinal round. The three finalist plays led the way at every stage of the discussion and each of them has the respect (if not always wild enthusiasm) of all the jurors. In order of preference (although the voting could not have been closer save through a tie), the plays are: Three Tall Women by Edward Albee, A Perfect Ganesh by Terrence McNally, Keely and Du by Jane Martin... Albee's play was the first choice of two jurors, the second choice of two more and the third choice of the remaining panel member... The jurors are aware that Albee has been honored twice already... and admire him for having kept at the craft despite repeated rebuffs from critics in New York City. But this is in no sense a recommendation for a comeback award. We simply liked the play enormously. McNally, in contrast to Albee, is one of the handful of most distinguished playwrights in America who have never won the Pulitzer... It was the first choice of one juror and the second choice of three others. The juror who ranked it third... felt it sometimes bordered on the cute... Two jurors rated Keely and Du first... The other three rated it third."223 Because Three Tall Women ranked highest with the majority of the jurors, the Advisory Board announced this play and its author as winner in the drama category, which meant that Edward Albee received already his third Pulitzer Prize.224 Judging the plays of 1995 the five members of the jury (Clive Barnes, Richard Christiansen, Jack Kroll, Nancy Melich and Frank Rich) shortlisted the following three productions: 1. The Cryptogram by David Mamet, which was called a "short, trenchant, eloquent drama... Mr. Mamet's play is a move beyond his earlier, notable works... 2. Seven Guitars by August Wilson... displays the playwright's unique gift of language... Humble in its words, Mr. Wilson's language is woven into beautiful, rich speeches... 3. The Young Man from Atlanta by Horton Foote... is another of his meticulously crafted, subtly detailed and deeply felt studies of the family ties that bind - and are shattered... Mr. Foote's sure, almost invisible ability to deeply touch the viewer with the seemingly everyday conversations and actions of his ordinary people is amazing."225 The Advisory Board members did not vote for Mamet or for Wilson who had earned Pulitzer Prizes before, but they opted for Horton Foote who thus obtained the award for The Young Man from

223 Lawrence DeVine/Sylvie Drake/Judith Green/William A. Henry Ill/Howard Kissel, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, March 8, 1994, pp. 1 f. 224 Columbia University (Ed.), The 78th annual Pulitzer Prizes..., New York, April 12,1994, p. 6. 225 Clive Barnes/Richard Christiansen/Jack Kroll/Nancy Melich/Frank Rich, Report of the Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury, New York, February 21,1995, pp. 1 f.

LXXXII

Atlanta.226 In 1996 the jurors (Clive Barnes, Richard Christiansen, Jeremy Gerard, Judith Green and Frank Rich), after sifting through all the plays produced that season, once again presented three recommendations, listing A Fair Country by Jon Robin Baitz, Old Wicked Songs by Jon Marans as well as Rent by Jonathan Larson.227 The Advisory Board decided in favor of the New York production of Rent, posthumously awarding the Pulitzer Prize to the composer and lyricist Jonathan Larson.228 When taking stock by looking over the eight decades since the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes, one cannot fail to notice that the award in the drama category was withheld thirteen times, proving once more that the award system, in cases of doubt, preferred to give "no award" instead of honoring minor productions with the coveted prize. "The drama prizes, like those in fiction, have always attracted controversy," J. Douglas Bates summarizes the course of events, adding: "Overall... the Pulitzer drama judging has undoubtedly achieved greater success than the fiction judging in reflecting the best writing for the American stage."229 As Hohenberg states, "it had long been contended, mainly by critics and editors outside New York, that what was produced on Broadway and off Broadway could no longer be considered a true measurement of the American theater... However, no new American play that opened elsewhere had failed... to reach Broadway and win consideration for a Pulitzer Prize."230 All in all, a long-standing juror in the drama category points out, "the prestige of the Prize has continuously risen," because it always served "as a reliable guide to the stages of the American public's growth in taste and aesthetic judgment to its... point of sophisticated maturity."231 And what did mean the Pulitzer award to some of the winners in the drama category? "Suddenly your name has a value. It's like having your credit rating go up," James Kirkwood stated. "The Pulitzer is a business sort of thing," Beth Henley said, "the prize helps your business as a playwright." And Marsha Norman thought that the award "is an unadulterated blessing. A great and wonderful honor. It is a chair at the writer's table. You are officially declared a writer of the United States." The prize also produces "great security in knowing your obituary is set," she added. "When you die, The New 226 Columbia University (Ed.), The 79th annual Pulitzer Prizes..., New York, April 18, 1995, p. 7. 227 Columbia University (Ed.), The 80th annual Pulitzer Prizes..., New York, April 9, 1996, p. 7. 228 Ibid. 229 J. Douglas Bates, The Pulitzer Prize. The Inside Story of America's Most Prestigious Award, New York 1991, pp. 126f. 230 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Prizes, op. cit., p. 330. 231 Oscar J. Campbell, Drama Awards, op. cit., pp. 34, 36.

LXXXIII

LXXXIV

York Times will have to print a piece about you and say you won the prize."232 On the other hand, as John Hohenberg writes, "the dramatist Edward Albee thought of the awards as a 'declining honor' because he believed his best play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, had been slighted. Another in the theater, Arthur Miller, was also discouraging, saying that the award usually 'comes to those who don't need it.'"233 Anyway, as Carol Lawson summarizes, "no matter when they won and which play was cited, most winners agree that their lives and careers have not been the same since the day when they became Pulitzer playwrights."234 DRAWING OF A PULITZER PRIZE-WINNER AS A CRITICAL OB SEVER235

Playwright George S. Kaufman inspects a performance of his play You Can't Take It With You from a spot in the rear of the theater 232 Quoted from Carol Lawson, Playwrights and Pulitzers, in: Playbill - The National Theatre Magazine (New York), Vol. 2/No. 11, 1984, p. 10. 233 John Hohenberg, The Pulitzer Diaries. Inside America's Greatest Prize, Syracuse, N.Y., 1997, pp. 161 f. 234 Carol Lawson, Playwrights and Pulitzers, op. cit., p. 6. 235 From: John L. Toohey, A History of the Pulitzer Prize Plays, op. cit., p. 145.

PRESENTATION OF AWARD-WINNING PLAYS

2

REMARKS ABOUT THE DOCUMENTATION CRITERIA

While presenting details about all Pulitzer Prize-winning dramas/comedies/musicals the editors were guided by the following principles: * There is a short biography of every prize-winner at the beginning of each chapter, ranging up to the year when the award was bestowed. * The biographical information about each prize-winner is based on the biographical notes attached to the award-winning entry at Columbia University as well as various biographical reference works. * Each biographical sketch is followed by basic information about the content of the award-winning play in question. * The short content descriptions are verbatim extracts from press reviews as well as from main reference works like Edwin Bronner's Encyclopedia of the American Theatre, 1900-1975, Samuel L. Leiter's Encyclopedia of the New York Stage, 1920-1950, and John L. Toohey's History of the Pulitzer Prize Plays, 1917-1967. * In addition to presenting the content of each play, precise information on the date when its New York production was first performed is given together with the name of the respective theatre on Broadway, off-Broadway, or off-offBroadway. * Finally, the first New York production of each play is documented by facsimile reproductions from the theatre program showing the original cast together with scene photos.

3

1917

AWARD

ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE BY THE ADVISORY BOARD

Since the members of the 1917 Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury in their report declared themselves unable to single out any play performed during the previous season, the Advisory Board accepted the jury's recommendation to give no award in this category.

4

NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD"

Nicholas M. Butler

Columbia University

Solomon B. Griffin

Springfield (Ma.) Republican

John L. Heaton

The New York World

George S. Johns

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Victor F. Lawson

Chicago Daily News

St. Clair McKelway

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Charles R. Miller

The New York Times

Edward P. Mitchell

The New York Sun

Ralph Pulitzer

The New York World

Melville E. Stone

The Associated Press

Charles H. Taylor

Boston Globe

Samuel C. Wells

Philadelphia Press

5

1918

AWARD

ABOUT THE COMEDY WHY MARRY? BY JESSE L . WILLIAMS

Jesse Lynch Williams (born on August 17, 1871, in Sterling, II.) prepared for college at the Beloit Academy in Wisconsin, and received the degree of B.A. at Princeton in 1892. As an undergraduate he was one of the editors of the Nassau Literary Magazine. He was even then keenly interested in the drama, and with Booth Tarkington and several others founded the Triangle Club, which has ever since been the center of amateur acting at Princeton. In the summer of 1893 he became a reporter on the New York Sun under Charles Anderson Dana. He did a great deal of newspaper and fiction writing during his years on the Sun, and in 1895 published his first volume, Princeton Stories, the forerunner of many volumes of college fiction. For a time (18971900) he was connected with Scribner's Magazine, but he returned to Princeton as first editor of the Princeton Alumni Weekly (1900-1903). After 1903 he devoted himself to writing. In addition to a number of college stories the author also published books of fiction. Among these were New York Sketches and The Married Life of the Frederic Carrolls. His first play, The Stolen Story, produced in 1906, was followed by Why Marry? in 1917, which ran for a year. The play, based on his book called And So They Were Married, made Jesse L. Williams the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in drama the following year.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Why Marry? shows, in the words of John L. Toohey, that "Helen, a freethinking young woman, and Ernest, a highly respected but underpaid bacteriologist, are in love, but Helen would prefer not to marry him... All around her Helen can see examples of bad marriages... Ernest has a chance to study in Paris, and wants to marry Helen and take her with him. She is all for the Paris trip, but without the marriage vows... Helen's family is also shocked by her attitude, but nothing will change her mind... Uncle Everett, however, gets Helen and Ernest to admit aloud, in his presence, that they feel they are married... Then he quickly pronounces them man and wife, under the powers granted him as a judge. Helen is furious at first, but quickly becomes resigned... The newlyweds head for Paris." The first New York production of Why Marry? opened at the Astor Theatre on December 25, 1917. Following are two scene photos together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Edmund Breese, Lotus Robb, Ernest Lawford, Estelle Winwood, Shelley Hull and Nat C. Goodwin

THEATRE

ASTOR. B r o a d w a y and 4 5 t h Street

N e w York City

FIRE NOTICE Look around NOW and choose the nearest Exit to roar seat In caa· of fire walk (not run) to THAT Exit

De not try to beat your neighbor to the street ROBERT ADAMSON, Fire Commissioner. BEGINNING TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 25, 1917. Matinees Wednesday and Saturday.

SELWYN & COMPANY PRESENT (By arrangement with Roi Cooper Megrue)

W H Y MARRY? A Comedy in Three Acts By JESSE LYNCH WILLIAMS The scene is a week-end at a country house not far away; the time, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning and Sunday night. The People at the Honse (As Tou Meet Them) JEAN, the host's younger sister, who has been brought up to be married and nothing else LOTUS ROBB REX, an unmarried neighbor, who has not been brought up to be anything but rich HAROLD WEST LUCY, the hostess, who Is trying her best to be "just an oldfashioned wife" In a new-fashioned home. .BEATRICE BECKLEY COUSIN THEODORE, a clergyman and yet a human being, who believes in everything—except divorce ERNEST LAWFORD JOHN, who owns the house and almost everyone in it—and does not believe in divorce EDMUND BREESE UNCLE EVERETT, a Judge, who belongs to the older generation and yet understands the new—and believes in divorce, NAT C. GOODWIN HELEN, the host's other sister, whom everyone wants to marry, but who doesn't want to marry anyone ESTELLE WINWOOD ERNEST, a scientist, who believes in neither divorce nor marriage but makes a great discovery SHELLEY HULL THE BUTLER RICHARD PITMAN THE FOOTMAN W A L T E R GOODSON The play produced under the direction of Roi Cooper Megrue Gowns by Luclle. Scene by JOB. Physioc Studio.

8 Scene from Why Marry ?

Lotus Robb, Edmund Breese and Harold West

9

1919

AWARD

ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE BY THE ADVISORY BOARD

Since the members of the 1919 Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury in their report declared themselves unable to single out any play performed during the previous season, the Advisory Board accepted the jury's recommendation to give no award in this category.

10

NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD"

Nicholas M. Butler

Columbia University

Solomon B. Griffin

Springfield (Ma.) Republican

John L. Heaton

The New York World

George S. Johns

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Victor F. Lawson

Chicago Daily News

St. Clair McKelway

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Charles R. Miller

The New York Times

Edward P. Mitchell

The New York Sun

Ralph Pulitzer

The New York World

Melville E. Stone

The Associated Press

Charles H. Taylor

Boston Globe

Samuel C. Wells

Philadelphia Press

11

1920

AWARD

ABOUT THE TRAGEDY BEYOND THE HORIZON BY EUGENE G . O'NEILL

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (born on October 16, 1888, in New York City) was educated first in Catholic schools and later at Betts Academy, a nonsectarian preparatory school in Stamford, Connecticut. In 1906-1907 he attended Princeton University but left it very soon again to work at a few jobs. He also lived for some time in Honduras but was forced to return to New York when he contracted malaria. The following years O'Neill shared his time between living at a waterfront dive in New York and sailing as a seaman. After attempting suicide by taking an overdose of Veronal he was reunited with his family and toured with his father, James O'Neill Sr., who was an actor. At the end of 1912, after a short career as a journalist with the New London Telegraph, O'Neill entered Gaylord Farm Sanatorium to be treated for tuberculosis, which he left resolved to become a writer. He wrote his first play, A Wife for a Life, in the spring of 1913. After this first attempt O'Neill began to write steadily, completing some twenty-four plays in the next four years. In 1914 the author took George Pierce Baker's English 47 course on playwriting at Harvard. Shortly afterwards he moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he became involved with the Provincetown Players, who produced his Bound East for Cardiff, written in 1914. During his time in Provincetown the author wrote a number of plays, one of which he titled Beyond the Horizon. The play, finished in winter 1918, won Eugene G. O'Neill the Pulitzer Drama award two years later.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Beyond the Horizon is the "tale of the woman Ruth, who, faced by the choice between two brothers, marries the romantic Robert rather than the pragmatic Andrew and finds unhappiness," Samuel L. Leiter describes the play's content in short. And Edwin Bronner explains the story more in detail: "New England farmer Robert Mayo, filled with wanderlust and hating the farm on which he was born, is about to leave home on a long sea voyage. Ruth Atkins persuades Robert to stay and marry her, while Robert's prosaic brother Andrew, who really loves the farm, goes on the planned trip. All three fail in their search for meaning in life, none more cruelly than Robert, who dies without having seen beyond the horizon." The first New York production of Beyond the Horizon opened with a special matinee at the Morosco Theatre on February 2, 1920. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Mary Jeffery, Erville Alderson, Max Mitzel, Richard Bennett and Edward Arnold

13

Morosco Theatre M E S S R S . L E E AND J . J . S H U B E R T , O W N E R S Forty-fifth Street, Went of Broadway

O L I V E R MOROSCO Lessee and Manager

T e l e p h o n e B r y a n t 230 T H I S T U U A T H E , U N D B H NUK.HAL C O N D I T I O N S , W I T H E V E R Y S E A T O C C U P I E D , CAN B E E M P T I E D IN L E S S T H A N T H R E E M I N U T E S . LOOK AROUND NOW, CHOOSE T H E N E A R E S T E X I T TO Y O U R S E A T , A N D IN C A S E O F D I S T U R B A N C E O F A N Y K I N D , TO A V O I D T H E D A N G E R S O F P A N I C . W A L K (DO NOT R U N ) T O T H A T E X I T . ~ ~ T Ü O M A S J . DRENNAN, F i r e Commissioner

SPECIAL

MATINEE

FEBRUARY 3, 1 9 2 0 JOHN D.

WILLIAMS

Presents A New American Tragedy in Three Acts

B E Y O N D THE HORIZON By EUGENE G. O'NEILL Cast of Characters (In the order of their appearance) R O B E R T MAYO. I n f Jame

Lije Hunneycutt

> ^urPenCinc 1 Hands

Puny Avery

}

Frank Wilson Thomas Mosley James Dunmore

Abraham ΜcCranie

Julius Bledsoe

Colonel Μ cCranie

L. Rufus Hill -H. Ben Smith

Lonnie McCranie Goldie McAllister

Rose McClendon

Muh Μac\. Abrahams

aunt

Douglass McCreroe. his son Eddie Williams

.

Lanie Horton

> his students

Heilly McNet»

'

Abbie Mitchell R· J· Huey Melvin Greene Armithine Lattimer Stanley Greene

42 Scene 1—The Turpentine woods of Eastern North Carolina, the summer of 1885. Intermission of seven minutei

Scene 2—In Abraham McCranie's Cabin, spring, three years later. Intermission of two minutes Scene 3—The school house, winter of the same year. Intermission of two minutes Scene 4—A house in Durham, winter, eighteen years later. Intermission of ten minutes SCENE

5—Same as Scene 2, an autumn evening, three years later. Intermission of two minutes

Scene 6—On a road, near the school house, an hour later. Intermission of two minutes Scene 7—Same as Scene 5, about thirty minutes later. Costumes by Evelyn Clifton Technical Director.— Herbert Lutz FOR THE PROVINCETOWN JAMES LICHT, EUGENE O ' N E I L L , HENRY G . A L S B E R G ,

Advisory

CLEON THROCKMORTON,

STBLLA HANAN,

Director

Advisory

M . ELEANOR FITZGERALD,

HAROLD M C G E E ,

PLAYHOUSE

Director

Press

Manager

Technical

Stage

Director Director

Director

Representative

Dunhill London cigarettes are given to patrons in our lounge Pianos of the Carried Theatre are furnished by Wm. Knabe and Company, 439 Fifth

exclusively Avenue

43

1928

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY STRANGE INTERLUDE BY EUGENE G. O'NEILL

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (born on October 16,1888, in New York City) was educated first in Catholic schools and later at Betts Academy, a nonsectarian preparatory school in Stamford, Connecticut. In 1906-1907 he attended Princeton University but left it very soon again to work at a few jobs. He also spent some time in Honduras but was forced to return to New York when he contracted malaria. O'Neill shared the following years between living at a waterfront dive in New York and sailing as a seaman. After attempting suicide by taking an overdose of Veronal he was reunited with his family and toured with his father, James O'Neill Sr., who was an actor. At the end of 1912, after a short career as a journalist with the New London Telegraph, O'Neill entered Gaylord Farm Sanatorium to be treated for tuberculosis, which he left resolved to become a writer. He wrote his first play, A Wife for a Life, in the spring of 1913. After this first attempt O'Neill began to write steadily, completing some twenty-four plays in the next four years. In 1914 the author took George Pierce Baker's English 47 course on playwriting at Harvard. Shortly afterwards he moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he became involved with the Provincetown Players, who produced his Bound East for Cardiff, written in 1914. The following years O'Neill continued to write steadily. The plays Beyond the Horizon and Anna Christie, won the author the Pulitzer Prize in drama in 1920 and 1922. His next play, The Emperor Jones, marked a turning point in O'Neill's career since it was the first one, in which he adapted expressionistic techniques. During the 1920s he continued to experiment with his plays using new items, such as spoken thoughts in Strange Interlude. The play opened in January 1928 and gained Eugene G. O'Neill his third Pulitzer Drama award the same year.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Strange Interlude "zeroes in on four characters, chief among whom is the neurotic Nina. When her beloved, Gordon Shaw, died in the war before they could consummate their love, Nina consoled herself with the bodies of wounded soldiers, until she married Sam Evans, whom she did not love... A close friend... remains her lover through the years that follow," Samuel L. Leiter explains and continues: "Nina becomes the center of a circle of men: her husband, her lover, ... the mother-fixated novelist Charles Marsden, and her son. Her son develops into the heroic image of Gordon Shaw. She fails in her jealous attempts to disrupt the son's romance with Madeline Arnold. Sam dies; she marries Marsden."

The first New York production of Strange Interlude opened at the John Golden Theatre on January 30, 1928. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Lynn Fontanne and Helen Westley

45 flßflil

THE N E W Y Q R K MAGAZINE

PROGRAM

l^flflß]

John Golden Theatre 68th Street, Broadway and 7th Avenue

F I R E N O T I C E : Look around NOW and choose the nearest Exit to your seat. In case of fire, walk (not run) to T H A T Exit. Do not try to beat your neighbor to the street. JOHN J. DORMAN, Fire Commissioner. W E E K BEGINNING MONDAY EVENING, J U N E 18, 1928 FOURTH PRODUCTION OF T H E T E N T H SUBSCRIPTION SEASON

THE THEATRE GUILD presents

STRANGE INTERLUDE A Play In Nine Acts By Eugene O'Neill

The Production directed by Philip Moeller Settings by Jo Mlelziner CAST (In the order of their appearance) CHARLES MARSDEN TOM POWERS PROFESSOR LEEDS PHILIP LEIGH NINA LEEDS LYNN FONTANNE SAM EVANS BARLE LARIMORE EDMUND DARRELL GLENN ANDERS MRS. AMOS EVANS HELEN WESTLEY GORDON EVANS, as a boy CHARLES WALTERS MADELINE ARNOLD ETHEL WESTLEY GORDON EVANS, as a man JOHN J . BURNS

S C E N E S ACT 1 Library, Leeds' home in a small university town of New England. An afternoon in late summer.

46 ACT 2 The same. Fall of the following year.

Night.

ACT 3 Dining room of the Evans' homestead In northern New York Statt Late spring of the next year. Morning. ACT 4 The eame as Acts 1 and 2. Fall of the same year.

Evening.

ACT 6 Sitting room of small house Sam has rented at the Seashore near New York. The following April. Morning. (DINNER INTERMISSION OF ONE HOUR) ACT β The Same. A little over a year later.

Evening.

ACT 7 Sitting room of the Evans' apartment on Park Avenue. Nearly ten years later. Early afternoon. ACT 8 Section of afterdeck of the Evans' cruiser anchored near the finish Un& at Poughkeepsie. Thirteen years later. Afternoon. ACT 9 A terrace on the Evans' estate on Long Island. Several Months later. ΓλΙο afternoon.

Stajre Manager—Maurice Mcltao Ass't StaK«' Manager—lOric I.imU'ii

Scenery b u i l t by Cleon T h r o c k m o r t o n , Inc. S t o c k i n g s by Van Ilnalte.

P a i n t e d by R o b e r t B e r g m a n .

T H E T H E A T R E G U I L D . INC. B o a r d of M a n a g e r s Theresa Helburn P h i l i p Moeller Maurice W e r t h e l m Lawrence Langner Lee Slmonson Helen Westley Executive Director: Theresa Helburn Business Manager Press Department W a r r e n P. Munsell R o b e r t F. Slsk P l a y R e a d i n g Dept. C o u r t e n a y Lemon R e a d e r of F o r e i g n P l a y s — A n i t a Block Technical Director Counsel Subscription Secretary Kate Lawson C h a r l e s A. R l e g e l m a n Addle W i l l i a m s Address communications to the T H E A T R E G U I L D , Inc. 245 West 52nd Street, New York City

47

1929

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY STREET SCENE BY ELMER L. RICE

Elmer Leopold Rice (born as Elmer Leopold Reisenstein on September 28, 1892, in New York City) was raised in upper Manhattan. At age fourteen, after only two years of high school, his family's financial difficulties forced him to go to work. In 1907 he worked as a claims clerk, and from 1908 to 1914 in his cousin's law firm. During this time he earned a New York State Board of Regents certificate, the equivalent of a high-school diploma, and attended the New York Law School. Only a few weeks after being admitted to the New York bar he gave up his job at the law firm in order to become a playwright. Less than eight months later, in August 1914, his first play, titled On Trial, opened in New York. The following time Rice developed great interest in many political as well as dramatic activities. Not only did he show an engagement at the Socialist Press Club and frequent participation in the Sundaynight forum at the Church of the Ascension, for which he edited a weekly bulletin, but he also directed the dramatic activities at the University Settlement during 1915-16 and initiated an exchange of dramatic activities between various settlement houses. In 1916 Rice made a trip to North Carolina to investigate child labour, he marched up Fifth Avenue in a parade supporting women's suffrage, and went to Washington in 1917 with a New York group to participate in a national protest against World War I. These political activities gave rise to Rice's serious writing during this period. He went to Paris in the mid-1920s and remained there for several years. Towards the end of the decade, the author began work upon Street Scene. The play, which was completed in 1928, won Elmer L. Rice the next year's Pulitzer Drama award.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Street Scene is, as Edwin Bronner puts it, a "grimly realistic drama of New York tenement life. A stagehand, whose wife has been having a sordid affair with the milkman, returns unexpectedly and kills them both. The incident serves chiefly to crystallize the reactions of a large number of representative character types, and to capture the varying moods of daily life in a heedless, impersonal city." And Samuel L. Leiter adds: "A wide assortment of nationalities and ethnic types populates the old apartment house... As the action of the play progresses, the life inside the rooms and outside on the street goes on... Within the busy picture, several stories unfold... Scenes of love, hate, birth, and death were well woven together into a harmonious compendium."

The first New York production of Street Scene opened at the Playhouse Theatre on January 10, 1929. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Horace Braham, Anna Kostant, John M. Qualen, Leo Bulgakov, Robert Kelly, George Humbert, Mary Servoss, Eleanor Wesselhoeft and Beulah Bondi

49

PLAYHOUSE Forty-eighth Street East of Broadway Brady Enterprises, Inc., Owners - - - - William A. Brady, Lessee and Manager FIRE N O T I C E : Look around now and choose the nearest exit = to your seat. In case of fire, walk (not run) to that exit. Do not try to beat your neighbor to the street.

JOHN J. DORMAN, Fire Commissioner. WEEK BEGINNING MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 4, 1929 MATINEES WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY AND SATURDAY

Evenings at 8:30 WILLIAM A. BRADY, LTD. PRESENTS

STREET SCENE A Play in Three Acts By ELMER RICE DIRFCTED BY THE AUTHOR SETTING BY JO MIELZINER

CHARACTERS (IN THE ORDER OF THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE)

ABRAHAM KAPLAN GRETA FIORENTINO EMMA JONES OLGA OLSEN WILLIE MAURRANT ANNA MAURRANT D A N I E L BUCHANAN FRANK MAURRANT GEORGE JONES STEVE SANKEY AGNES CUSHING CARL OLSEN SHIRLEY KAPLAN FILIPPO FIORENTINO ALICE SIMPSON LAURA HILDEBRAND MARY HILDEBRAND CHARLIE HILDEBRAND SAMUEL KAPLAN ROSE MAURRANT

LEO BULGAKOV ELEANOR WESSELHOEFT BEULAH BONDI HILDA BRUCE RUSSELL GRIFFIN MARY SERVOSS CONWAY WASHBURNE ROBERT KELLY Τ. H. MANNING JOSEPH BAIRD JANE CORCORAN JOHN M. QUALEN ANNA KOSTANT GEORGE HUMBERT EMILY HAMILL FREDERICA GOING EILEEN SMITH ALEXANDER LEWIS HORACE BRAHAM ERIN O'BRIEN-MOORE

50 HARRY EASTER MAE JONES DICK McGANN VINCENT JONES DR. JOHN WILSON OFFICER HARRY MURPHY A MILKMAN A LETTER-CARRIER AN ICE-MAN two m n v r v ptrts TWO COLLEGE GIRLS A MUSIC STUDENT MARSHALL JAMES HENRY FRED CULLEN AN OLD-CLOTHES MAN AN INTERNE AN AMBULANCE DRIVER A FURNITURE MOVER m m c r u A T n s

TWO NURSE MAIDS POLICEMEN TWO APARTMENT HUNTERS

GLENN COULTER MILLICENT GREEN JOSEPH LEE MATTHEW McHUGH JOHN CRUMP EDWARD DOWNES RALPH WILLARD HERBERT LINDHOLM SAMUEL S. BONNELL f . . . . R O S E LERNER {ASTRID ALWYNN MARY EMERSON ELLSWORTH JONES JEAN SIDNEY JOE COGERT SAMUEL S. BONNELL ANTHONY PAWLEY ED. A. McHUGH (ASTRID ALWYNN j NELLY NEIL f . . CARL C. MILTER JOHN KELLY [ANTHONY PAWLEY S ^ ^ F R E D E M C K

PASSERS-BY RUTH RANDOLPH, ELIZABETH GOODYEAR, JOSEPHINE COGHLAN, EMILY HAMILL, JEAN SIDNEY, SAMUEL S. BONNELL, ROBERT MACK, JOHN CAMBRIDGE, CARL C. MILTER, ANTHONY PAWLEY, HERBERT LINDHOLM, ED. A. McHUGH, RALPH WILLARD, OTTO FREDERICK, BENN TRIVERS

The action takes place on a night in June, and on the morning and afternoon of the following day.

Stage Manager Αι.·» Stage Manager

Glenn . ...Einily Samuel S. John ..Edward

Coulter Hamill Bonnell Crump Downes

Scenery built by Martin Turner. Scenery painted by Kennel & Entwisle. The sound effects indicating the hum and noises in a large city taken with P. A. Powers' Cinephone System by the Earle W. Jones Research Laboratories. The management it not responsible for the loss of personal property unlet· cheeked in the cheek-room. People at out-of-town point· desiring to reserve ticket! for T h e Playhouse in advance, or to secure them for delivery to friends, may order and remit for same, and arrange for their delivery, through Western Union Money Transfer, at a small additional eost.

51

1930

AWARD

ABOUT THE FABLE THE GREEN PASTURES BY MARC(US) C . CONNELLY

Marcus Cook Connelly (born on December 13, 1890, in McKeesport, Pa.) developed his love for the theatre very early as his home - a hotel his parents owned - was patronized by touring theatrical companies, circus troupes, and vaudeville performers. After his father died of pneumonia in 1902, Connelly was sent to Trinity Hall, a boarding school in Washington, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1907. Because of the bankruptcy of his family's hotel he gave up plans for Harvard and moved with his mother to Pittsburgh, where they lived with relatives for a time. Connelly landed his first job with the Pittsburgh Press, moved on to the Pittsburgh office of the Associated Press, and finally became a reporter for the Pittsburgh Gazette Times, where his duties included serving as second-string drama critic and writing a Sunday humor column called "Jots and Tittles". After hours he was a director-stage manager of the monthly entertainments of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association and created several of their skits. In 1917 he got a job as a reporter for the New York Morning Telegraph, but he kept his interest in theatre, which led to the acquaintance of George Kaufman, a reporter for the drama section of the New York Times who shared Connelly's passion for the theatre. Their collaboration resulted in many plays. Among these were Dulcy, To the Ladies·, Merton of the Movies, and The '49ers. After a stint in Hollywood writing the screen play for Exit Smiling, Connelly made his Broadway directing debut in 1926 with The Wisdom Tooth. In the fall of 1928 he began work on The Green Pastures, which brought Marc(us) C. Connelly the 1930 Pulitzer Prize in drama.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE The Green Pastures, in the words of Samuel L. Leiter, is a "folk play based on... Bible stories," a "warm and reverent retelling of the Old Testament as explained by a rural black Louisiana Sunday-school teacher to his naive youthful brethren... The Green Pastures recounted... eighteen scenes of the Bible, from the Garden of Eden to the story of Noah to Moses and the Pharaoh to the Battle of Jericho to the debauchery of Babylon to God's envisioning of the Crucifixion. De Lawd was seen as a kindly white-haired country preacher in frock coat working at a rolltop desk, Heaven was a place for grand fish frys, Babylon was a Harlem night club, and so on." The first New York production of The Green Pastures opened at the Mansfield Theatre on February 26,1930. Following are two scene photos together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Richard B. Harrison surrounded by "angels"

53

MANSFIELD THEATRE Forty-seventh Operated

by

IRWIN

Street,

West of

S. C H A N I N HARRY

D.

and

Broadway

HENRY

I.

CHANIN

KLINE

Managing Director Elbert Severance, General Press

Representative

FIRE NOTICE: Look around now and choose the nearest exit = to your seat. In case of fire, walk (not run) to that exit. D o not try to beat your neighbor to the street.

JOHN J. DORMAN, Fire Commissioner. BEGINNING WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26, 1930 M A T I N E E S T H E R E A F T E R WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY

LAURENCE RIVERS PRESENTS

"THE GREEN PASTURES" A FABLE BY

MARC CONNELLY PRODUCTION DESIGNED BY ROBERT EDMOND J O N E S MUSIC UNDER T H E DIRECTION O F HALL J O H N S O N PLAY STAGED BY T H E A U T H O R

"The Green Pastures" was suggested by Roark Bradford's Southern Sketches, "01' Man Adam an* His Chilian" CAST OF CHARACTERS (IN T H E ORDER O F T H E I R A P P E A R A N C E )

MR. DESHEE MYRTLE FIRST BOY SECOND BOY THIRD BOY RANDOLPH A COOK CUSTARD MAKER FIRST MAMMY ANGEL A STOUT ANGEL A SLENDER ANGEL ARCHANGEL GABRIEL THE LORD CHOIR LEADER ADAM EVE.

CHARLES H. MOORE ALICIA ESCAMILLA JAZZLIPS RICHARDSON, Jr. HOWARD WASHINGTON REGINALD BLYTHWOOD JOE BYRD FRANCES SMITH HOMER TUTT ANNA MAE FRITZ JOSEPHINE BYRD EDNA THROWER J. A. SHIPP WESLEY HILL RICHARD B. HARRISON McKINLEY REEVES DANIEL L. HAYNES INEZ RICHARDSON WILSON

54 Scene from The Green

Pastures

Lou Vernon and Richard B. Harrison

55 CAIN CAIN'S GIRL ZEBA CAIN THE SIXTH BOY GAMBLER FIRST GAMBLER SECOND GAMBLER VOICE IN SHANTY NOAH NOAH'S WIFE SHEM FIRST WOMAN SECOND WOMAN THIRD WOMAN FIRST MAN FLATFOOT HAM JAPHETH FIRST CLEANER SECOND CLEANER ABRAHAM ISAAC JACOB MOSES ZIPPORAH AARON A CANDIDATE MAGICIAN PHARAOH THE GENERAL FIRST WIZARD HEAD MAGICIAN JOSHUA FIRST SCOUT MASTER OF CEREMONIES KING OF BABYLON PROPHET HIGH PRIEST THE KING'S FAVORITES OFFICER HEZDREL ANOTHER OFFICER

LOU VERNON DOROTHY RANDOLPH EDNA M. HARRIS JAMES FULLER LOUIS KELSEY COLLINGTON HAYES IVAN SHARP JOSEPHINE BYRD TUTT WHITNEY SUSIE SUTTON MILTON J. WILLIAMS DINKS THOMAS ANNA MAE FRITZ GENEVA BLYTHWOOD EMORY RICHARDSON FREDDIE ARCHIBALD J. HOMER TUTT STANLEIGH MORRELL JOSEPHINE BYRD FLORENCE FIELDS J. A. SHIPP CHARLES H. MOORE EDGAR BURKS ALONZO FENDERSON MERCEDES GILBERT MCKINLEY REEVES REGINALD FENDERSON GEORGE RANDOL WALT McCLANE EMORY RICHARDSON ARTHUR PORTER STANLEIGH MORRELL IVAN SHARP BILLY CUMBY JAY MONDAAYE IVAN SHARP J. HOMER TUTT f LEONA WINKLER FLORENCE LEE \CONSTANCE VAN DYKE I MARY ELLA HART { INEZ PERSAND EMORY RICHARDSON DANIEL L. HAYNES STANLEIGH MORRELL

THE CHILDREN Philistine Bumgardner, Margery Bumgardner, Fredia Longshaw, Wilbur Cohen, Jr., Verdon Perdue, Ruby Davis, Willmay Davis, Margerette Thrower, Viola Lewis. ANGELS AND TOWNSPEOPLE Amy Escamilla, Elsie Byrd, Benveneta Washington, Thula Oritz, Ruth Carl, Geneva Blythwood. BABYLONIAN BAND Carl Shorter, Earl Bowie, Thomas Russell. Richard Henderson. THE CHOIR SOPRANOS—Bertha Wright, Geraldine Gooding, Marie Warren, Mattie Harris, Elsie Thompson, Massie Patterson, Marguerite Avery-

56 ALTOS—Evelyn Burwell, Ruthena Matson, Leona Avery, Mrs. Willie Mavs, Viola Mickens, Charlotte Junius. TENORS—John Warner, Joe Loomis. Walter Hilliard, Harold Foster, Adolph Henderson, William McFarland, McKinley Reeves, Arthur Porter. BARITONES—Marc D'Albert, Gerome Addison, Walter Whitfield, D. K. Williams. BASSOS—Lester Holland, Cecil McNair, Tom Lee, Walter Meadows, Frank Horace. SYNOPSIS OF SCENES Scene Scene Scene Scene Scene Scene Scene Scene Scene Scene

PART I. 1—The Sunday School. 2—A Fish Fry. 3—A Garden. 4—Outside the Garden. 5—A Roadside. 6—A Private Office. 7—Another Roadside. 8—A House. 9—A Hillside. 10—A Mountain Top.

Scene Scene Scene Scene Scene Scene Scene Scene

PART II. 1—The Private Office. 2—The Mouth of a Cave. 3—A Throne Room. 4—The Foot of a Mountain. 5—A Cabaret. 6—The Private Office. 7—Outside a Temple. 8—Another Fish Fry.

Acknowledgement ia made to Alma Lillie Hubbard of New Orleans for her assistance in the selecting of the spirituals.

E X E C U T I V E AND TECHNICAL S T A F F FOR LAURENCE R I V E R S . INC. C. C. Stewart General M a n a o r Joseph Rob»· Press Representative Marcella Holchiasen Executive I m i l i n I . A. C u t i s General S t a n M a u a e r Claude Archer S t a i r Manager Edward Gardiner Technical DircHar Fred Maine? Master Mechanic Danirl Marpbr Master · ( P r v » « t i « s Walter Lommatzsch Electrician Alfred Lommatzsch Assistant Electrician R. M. Sweet Assistant Electrician

This theatre designed by Herbert J . Krapp, Architect.

57

1931

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY ALISON'S HOUSE BY SUSAN K . GLASPELL

Susan Keating Glaspell (born on July 1, 1876, in Davenport, la.) was educated in the Davenport public schools and at Drake University in nearby Des Moines. While still a college student she began submitting her stories to magazines. Upon her graduation in 1899, Glaspell joined the Des Moines News as a reporter. Encouraged by the acceptance of her short stories by such magazines as Harper's Monthly and the American Magazine, Glaspell gave up her job in 1901 to spend all of her time on her own writing. In 1912, only three years after the publication of her first novel, The Glory of the Conquered, she was successful enough to warrant the publication of Lifted Masks, a collection of short stories. The following year the author married the playwright George Cram Cook, and the couple's first joint effort resulted in the one-act play Suppressed Desires. While spending the summer of 1915 in Provincetown, they presented that play on the seaside veranda of a house belonging to Neith Boyce and her husband Hutchins Hapgood. Afterwards it was decided to repeat the play together with some others in a more elaborate setting. For that reason Cook secured the use of a fish house on a wharf, which was named the Wharf Theatre and became the birthplace of the Provincetown Players. The following years Susan Glaspell contributed a number of plays to that theatre. Among these were Tickless Time; Inheritors, and The Verge. After her husband's death Glaspell wrote two more plays, which have been produced: The Comic Artist, a play, which resulted from her collaboration with Norman Matson, and Alison's House. The latter won Susan K. Glaspell the 1931 Pulitzer Prize in drama.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Alison's House is a play which takes place on December 31, 1899. In the words of Susan Glaspell it "concerns the family of Alison Stanhope, a... poet who had died eighteen years before, and whose house is about to be sold... The family gathers once more, this time to... share in... belongings which have been preserved by her old sister, Agatha... As the old century is about to pass on, she who... symbolizes... the old life, passes on with it, leaving a secret which she has guarded carefully all the years since Alison's death. This secret, which to some members of the family comes as a revelation is to others merely a confirmation. It throws a new light on the life of the poet and reveals her as a truly great soul." The first New York production of Alison's House opened at the Civic Repertory Theatre on December 1,1930. Following are two scene photos together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Eva Le Gallienne, Walter Beck, Donald Cameron and Leona Roberts

59

CIVIC REPERTORY THEATRE, INC.

ALISON'S HOUSE By SUSAN GLASPELL Costumes and Scenery designed by Aline Bernstein C A S T

(in order of

appearance)

Ann Leslie Jennie Richard Knowles Ted Stanhope Louise John Stanhope Eben Elsa Miss Agatha Hodges Mrs. Hodges Act

Florida Friebus Leona Roberts Robert F. Ross Herbert Shapiro Josephine Hutchinson Walter Beck Donald Cameron Eva Le Gallienne Alma Kruger Howard da Silva Mary Ward I

A c t II A c t III

Time—December 31st, 1899 The library of the old Stanhope homestead in Iowa, on the Mississippi. 11 A. M. The same as Act 1—3 P. M. Alison's Room—About 11 P. M.

T h e curtain will be lowered f o r a few moments during the third act to denote the passing of a half hour. Settings executed by Cleon T h r o c k m o r t o n . Inc.

Painted by Horace Armistead

OFFICERS Helen Lohmann, Vice-President Mary Duggctt Benson, SrO'· Trejs. STAFF Mary Duggett Benson General Manager Helen Lohmann, Playreading, Library, Casting Carolyn Darling P r « j Representative Fannie Lev.ne Box-Ogice Treasurer Ruth Norman Business Manager Ida Foster Asst. Box-Ogice Treasurer Mollie B. Steinberg, Foreign Publicity and Membership Dept. PERMANENT COMPANY Jacob Ben-Ami Eva Le Gallienne Egon Brecher Josephine Hutchinson Morgan Farley Alma Kruger Donald Cameron Sayre Crawlry Leona Roberts Paul Lcyssac Beatrice de Neergaard Walter Beck Ria Mooney Harold Moulton Robert F. Ross Agne» McCarthy Florida Friebus Mary Ward Robert H . Gordon J. Blake Scott Herbert Shapiro David Kerman Vernon Jones Joseph Kramm Gordon Wallace Assistant to Miss Le Gallienne Ria Mooney Assistant to Ahne Bernstein Irene Sharatf Stage Manager Thelma Chandler Asst. Stage Mgrs Joseph Kramm it Peter H y u n Master Carpenter John L. Ward Master Electrician Henry Linck Eva Le Gallienne, President

Master of Properties Joe Roig Costumes for all productions executed by Emma Cashin Wardrobe Orchestra under the direction of Theodore Zarkevich Constantine Shevtchenko, Cello Peter Tcharkovsky, Bass

Mistress—Helen McDeviti Paul Zamulenko, Violin Abraham Batkin, Piano

60 Scene from Alison's

House

Walter Beck and Eva Le Gallienne

61

1 9 3 2 AWARD

ABOUT THE MUSICAL OF THEE I SING BY GEORGE S . KAUFMAN / MORRIE R Y S K I N D / I R A GERSHWIN

George Simon Kaufman (born on November 16, 1889, in Pittsburgh, Pa.) began his writing career by working for different newspapers. In 1917 he started on the drama desk of the New York Times and soon became drama editor, a position he retained until 1930. Working on the Times drama desk provided him with contacts in the theatrical business which resulted in the collaboration with other writers on many plays. Together with collaborators he wrote Of Thee I Sing. - Morrie Ryskind (born on October 20, 1895, in New York City) graduated from Townsend Harris high school in 1912. While studying at Columbia University, Ryskind contributed to several Broadway revues and shows. A major break for Ryskind came in 1925, when George Kaufman hired him to be his assistant. Their collaboration resulted in a number of plays, such as The Cocoanuts\ Animal Crackers, for which Ryskind also fashioned the screenplay later on, and the musical Of Thee I Sing. - Ira Gershwin (born on December 6, 1896, in New York City) attended the College of the City of New York. He then worked on several different jobs before he decided to begin a career in lyric writing under a pseudonym. As Arthur Francis, he wrote the lyrics for many musicals, such as .4 Dangerous Maid and for Two Little Girls in Blue, a show that ran for a year on Broadway in 1921. During the following years he collaborated on many stage productions. Among these were Be Yourself, Lady Be Good, and Of Thee I Sing. In 1932 Of Thee I Sing became the first musical comedy to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama, awarded to George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Of Thee I Sing has, in the words of John L. Toohey, this story: "John P. Wintergreen, candidate for President of the U.S., needs a... First Lady, so a national beauty contest is held. It is won by... Diana Devereaux, but Wintergreen falls in love with... Mary Turner... Wintergreen jilts Diana, and with Mary at his side is swept into the White House... After... a while... it turns out that Diana Devereaux is a direct... descendant of Napoleon, and the French Ambassador is furious at this affront to his nation's honor. The Ambassador demands that Wintergreen be impeached, and the Supreme Court... has never yet impeached an expectant father; Wintergreen is saved,... Mary has twins, and love is triumphant."

The first New York production of Of Thee I Sing opened at the Music Box Theatre on December 26, 1931. Following are two scene photos together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Victor Moore and William Gaxton

63

TUE MUSIC BOX SAM Κ HARRIS AND IRVING BERLIK MANAGERS

PROGRAM · PUBLISHED · BY · THE · NEW · YORK . THEATRE^ PROGRAM · CORPORATION

FIRE N O T I C E : Look «round new «nd ckooto the notroit oiit to your toot. In cote of flro, w«lk (not run) to thot oxit. Do not try to bo«t your neighbor to tho tfroot.

JOHN J. DORMAN, Fir· Commission··'.

BEGINNING SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 26, 1931

9MB ^ J

MATINEES THURSDAY AND SATURDAY

SAM H. HARRIS PRESENTS

O F THEE I SING" A NBW MUSICAL COMEDY

BOOK BY GEORGE S. KAUFMAN and MORRIE RYSKIND MUSIC BY CEORCE GERSHWIN LYRICS BY IRA GERSHWIN WITH

WILLIAM

LOIS

VICTOR

GAXTON

MORAN

MOORE

BOOK STAGED BY GEORGE S. KAUFMAN SINGING AND DANCING ENSEMBLES STAGED BY GEORGIE HALE SETTINGS BY JO MIELZINER ORCHESTRA UNDER THE DIRECTION OF EUGENE FUERST

CAST LOUIS LIPPMAN F R A N C I S X. G I L H O O L E Y MAID MATTHEW ARNOLD FULTON S E N A T O R R O B E R T E. L Y O N S S E N A T O R C A R V E R JONES ALEXANDER THROTTLEBOTTOM J O H N P. W I N T E R G R E E N SAM JENKINS DIANA DEVEREAUX MARY TURNER MISS BENSON VLADIMIR VIDOVITCH YUSSEF YUSSEVITCH T H E CHIEF JUSTICE SCRUBWOMAN

Played by SAM M A N N " HAROLD MOPPET " V I V I A N BARRY " DUDLEY CLEMENTS " GEO ROE E. MACK " EDWARD H . ROBINS . " VICTOR MOORE " W I L L I A M GAXTON " GSORGE MURPHY " GRACE BRINKLEY " LOIS MORAN " JUNE O ' D E A " TOM DRAAK " SULO HEVONPAA " RALPH RICGS " LESLIE BINGHAM

Lois M o r a n and W i l l i a m G a x t o n

65 T H E F R E N C H AMBASSADOR

"

"

FLORENZ AMES

SENATE GUIDE

" "

» "

M A R T I N LKROY RALPH RIGGS

CLERK

Photographers, Policemen, Supreme Court Justices, Secretaries, Newspapermen, Senators, Flunkeys, Guests, etc.:

Sight-seers,

The Misses Ruth Adams, Olgene Foster, Peggy Greene, Yvonne Gray, Jessica Worth, Billie Seward, Grenna Sloan, Adele Smith, Peggy Bancroft, Kathleen Ayres, Bobbie Brodsley, Mary Carroll, Ann Ecklund, Virginia Franck, Dorothy Graves, Claire Carroll, Terry Lawlor, Lillian Lorray, Martha Maggard, Mary Mascher, Anita Ρ am, Lilyan O'Jala, Baun Sturtz, Peggy Thomas, Patricia Whitney. The Messrs. Robert Burton, Ray Clark, Charles Conklin, Frank Erickson, Jack Fago, Frank Gagen, Hazzard Newberry, Jack Ray, Bruce Barclay, Tom Corley, Leon Dunar, Michael Forbes, David Lawrence, John Scortiano, Richard Neely, John McCahill. The Jack Linton Band: Jack Linton, Dave Allman, Ronald Perry, Walter Hinger, Milton Hollander, Frank Miller, Pete Shance, Jake Vander Meulen.

T H E SCENES

A C T I. 1. Main Street. 2. A Hotel Room. 3. Atlantic City. 4. Madison Square Garden. 5. Election Night. 6. Washington.

ACT II. 1. The White House. 2. The Capitol. 3. The Senate. 4. Again the White House. 5. The Yellow Room.

MUSICAL SYNOPSIS

ACT I. SCENE 1— "Wintergreen for President"

Ensemble

SCENE 3— "Who Is the Lucky Girl To B e ? " . . . . Miss Brinkley and Ensemble "The Dimple On My Knee" Miss Brinkley, Mr. Murphy & Ensemble "Because, Because" Miss Brinkley, Mr. Murphy Λ Ensemble Finaletto "Never Was There a Girl So Fair". . . Company "Some Girls Can Bake a Pie" Mr. G ax ton and Company SCENE 4— "Love Is Sweeping the Country". . . .Mr. Murphy, Miss O'Dea and Ensemble "Of Thee I Sing" Mr. Gaxton, Miss Moran and Company

66 SCENE 6— Finale: Entrance of Supreme Court Justices. "Here's a K i n for Cinderella" Mr. Gtxtoa and "I W a t the Moat Beautiful B l o u o m " . Miss Brinkley

ACT

Ensemble

II.

S C E N E 1— "Hello, Good Morning" Mr. Murphy, Miss O'Dea Λ Secretaries "Who Care·?" Mr. Gaxton, Miss Μ or an and Reporters Flnaletto "Garcon, S*H Voua Plait" French Soldiers Entrance of French Ambassador" . . . "The Illegitimate Daughter" Mi Ames S C E N E 3— "The Roll CaU" Flnaletto "Jilted" "Who Could Ask for Anything More?". "Posterity"

Mr.

Moore

Miss Brinkley and Company Miss Moran and Company Mr. Gaxton and Company

S C E N E 5— "Trumpeter, Blow Your Horn" Finale:

Orchestrations by Russell Bennett and William Daly.

REPRESENTING S A M H. H A R R I S Company Manager

Morris Jacobs

General Press Representative

John Peter Toohey

Stage Manager

Harold W o o l f

Assistant S t e g e M a n a g e r

Jack M a s o n

M a s t e r Carpenter

Lou

M a s t e r Property M a n Master

Riley

M a x Davis

Electrician

Richard

W a r d r o b e Mistress

Jennie

Kramer Pianos Used In This Theatre.

Lartin Fuld

67

1 9 3 3 AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY BOTH YOUR

HOUSES

BY MAXWELL ANDERSON

Maxwell Anderson (born on December 15, 1888, in Atlantic, Pa.) attended the University of North Dakota. While still in college he saw a stage play for the first time. Although he did join the college dramatic society, wrote and acted in the senior class play, he wanted at that time only to write poetry. After graduating in 1911, he went to California and taught English while earning his M.A. degree at Stanford University. For three years he was an instructor in English in the Polytechnic High School in San Francisco. The urge to write became stronger, and he decided on newspaper work for his career. He worked first on the Herald in Grand Forks, North Dakota, then as editorial writer on the San Francisco Bulletin, and later on the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1918 Anderson went east, at the invitation of Alvin Johnson, of the New Republic staff who had liked one of his poems, "Sic Semper". He continued to write poems and articles and occasionally dramatic criticisms for the New Republic, then went to the New York Evening Globe as an editorial writer, and finally joined the editorial staff of the New York World. On the World, Anderson met Lawrence Stallings, a book reviewer, to whom he showed his first play, The White Desert. Stallings liked it and helped to find a producer for it. Despite a discouraging reception of the play, Anderson intended to go right on writing plays. In 1925, the year a collection of his poems, You Who Have Dreams, was published, Anderson resigned from the World to concentrate on his work as a playwright. Among the plays he wrote alone or in collaboration with other writers were What Price Glory?·, Elizabeth the Queen and Mary of Scotland. In 1932, Both Your Houses was published and won Maxwell Anderson the Pulitzer Prize for drama the following year.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Both Your Houses is a "satire on American politics," Edwin Bronner states and describes the content of the play in short: "A newly elected congressman, at work on a big appropriations bill, is pitted against a group of old-time politicians. The young idealist tries to draw up a reasonably honest bill but, realizing the hopelessness of his cause, turns around and makes the bill so outrageously dishonest that he feels certain it will instantly be killed. Instead, the bill is so pleasing to all parties that it goes through both Houses, and its author is hailed as a political genius. This keen-witted and incisive portrait of Washington corruption" came out in the times of the 1933 bank holidy and the Depression. The first New York production of Both Your Houses opened at the Royale Theatre on March 6, 1933. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Shepperd Strudwick, Robert Strange and Aleta Freel

69

KOYALE TWEATKt 45th STREET, WEST OF BROADWAY DIRECTION, J O H N GOLDEN PROGRAM • PUBLISHED · BY · THE · NEW · YORK · THEATRE · PROGRAM · CORPORATION

FIRE NOTICE:

Look «round now and c h o o s e of fir·, walk (not run) to that «it. Do n o t t r y t o

t h e n e a r e s t exit t o y o u r t e a t . beat

your

neighbor

to t h e

In c a s e In

street.

J O H N J. D O R M A N , Fire Commissioner.

BEGINNING M O N D A Y EVENING, M A R C H 6, 1933

B B £8»

MATINEES THURSDAY AND SATURDAY

FOURTH PLAY OF THE FIFTEENTH SUBSCRIPTION SEASON THE THEATRE GUILD, INC. PRESENTS

"BOTH YOUR

HOUSES"

A PLAY IN THREE ACTS BY MAXWELL ANDERSON THE PRODUCTION DIRECTED BY WORTHINGTON MINER SETTINGS DESIGNED BY ARTHUR P. SEGAL

CAST (The Order in Which They Speele) M A R J O R I E GRAY BUS EDDIE WISTER SOLOMON FITZMAURICE MARK S I M E O N GRAY LEVERING MERTON DELL SNEDEN MISS McMURTRY WINGBLATT PEEBLES FARNUM ALAN McCLEAN EBNER

Played

by ALETA FREEL MARY PHILIPS ROBERT SHAYNE WALTER C. KELLY OSCAR POLK ROBERT STRANGE MORRIS CARNOVSKY JOHN BUTLER WILLIAM FORAN JEROME COWAN JANE SEYMOUR J . EDWARD BROMSERG RUSSELL COLLINS JOHN F . MORRISSEY SHEPPERD STRUDWICK JOSEPH SWEENEY

T h e play t a k e s place in the H o u s e Office B u i l d i n g , W a s h i n g t o n , D. C.

ACT

I.

Scene 1—The office of the C h a i r m a n of the A p p r o p r i a t i o n s C o m m i t t e e . A m o r n ing in early spring. Scene 2 — T h e C o m m i t t e e R o o m . T h e action of t h i s scene begins t h r e e m i n u t e s before the close of Scene I.

70 ACT

II.

Scene 1

T h e office of the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee. a f t e r n o o n . T h r e e days later. Scene 2—The Committee Room. One hour later.

ACT

Late

III.

Scene 1—The Committee Room. Evening. T h r e e days later. Scene 2—The same. T h r e e hours later. PRODUCTION COMMITTEE THERESA H E L B U R N and LEE S I M O N S O N Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager

Norris Houghton Quentin Anderion

71

1 9 3 4 AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY MEN IN

WHITE

BY SIDNEY KINGSLEY

Sidney Kingsley (born as Sidney Kirshner on October 22, 1906, in New York City) first attended public school on the Lower West Side and then Townsend Harris Hall high school, graduating in 1924. While at high school, he began writing one-act plays, directing, and acting. He won a scholarship to Cornell University and went on to earn his B.A. in 1928. Studying at Cornell, he continued to write short plays and direct them. In 1928 he won an award for the best one-act play written by a student for a work entitled Wonder-Dark Epilogue. After his graduation from Cornell, Kingsley worked for a time as an actor with the Tremont Stock Company in the Bronx. He played a small role in a play called Subway Express by Eva Kay Flint and Martha Madison, which was produced in 1929. The same year he moved to California and worked as a play reader. Then he became a scenario reader for Columbia Pictures. But he was also struggling with a play of his own. This play was about doctors and their work, and he called it Crisis. It was repeatedly optioned but a production failed to materialize until the Group Theatre joined forces to present it. The play, now bearing the new title, Men in White, made Sidney Kingsley the winner of the Pulitzer Drama award in 1934.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Men in White is a drama in which "the title figures... are idealistic, hardworking practitioners whose devotion to their profession precedes their personal feelings," Samuel L. Leiter describes the background and adds: "A young interne named Dr. Ferguson is on his way to becoming a brilliant surgeon, but according to the elderly chief of the surgical staff, Dr. Hochberg, he must devote himself to perfecting his skills for the next half decade or so. His wealthy fiancee, Laura Hudson, wants more of his time than his calling permits. But Ferguson... decides... to pursue a selfless path toward surgical perfection and to abandon any desire for a comfortable private life."

The first New York production of Men in White opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on September 26, 1933. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Russell Collins, Clifford Odets, Gerrit Kraber, Sanford Meisner, Luther Adler, J. Edward Bromberg and Lewis Leverett

TUE

ßKOADWURST THCATRE AFFILIATED THEATRES BUILDING C O .

FIRE NOTICE:

INC.

Look around now end choose the nearest exit to your seat.

In ease

of fire, walk (not run) to that exit. D o not try to beat your neighbor to the street.

J O H N J. D O R M A N , Fire Commissioner.

BEGINNING MONDAY

M G M

MATINEES

EVENING,

WEDNESDAY

O C T O B E R 30, 1933

AND

SATURDAY

THE G R O U P

THEATRE

AND S I D N E Y H A R M O N A N D J A M E S R.

ULLMAN

PRESENT

"MEN

IN BY S I D N E Y

WHITE" KINGSLEY

D I R E C T E D BY LEE

STRASBERG

S E T T I N G S BY M O R D E C A I

GORELIK

CAST (In the order of a p p e a r a n c e ) DR.

GORDON

DR.

HOCHBERG

Played "

by

" J .

LUTHER

DR.

MICHAELSON

"

"

WILLIAM

ADLER

EDWARD

BROMBERG

CHALLEE

DR.

VITALE

"

"

HERBERT

DR.

McCABE

"

"

GROVER

DR.

FERGUSON

"

"

ALEXANDER

" "

" "

SANFORD MEISNER BOB LEWIS

DR. W R E N DR. O T I S (Shorty) DR.

LEVINE

DR.

BRADLEY

(Pete)

DR. C R A W F O R D NURSE MR.

(Mac)

JAMISON

HUDSON

"

"

MORRIS

"

"

WALTER

"

"

ALAN

"

'·

EUNICE

»

" A R T

RATNER BURGESS

CARNOVSKY COY

BAXTER STODDARD

SMITH

JAMES

MOONEY

»

"

GERRIT

LAURA

HUDSON

"

"

MARGARET

"

"

SANFORD

»

»

RUTH

»

·'

MAB

"

PHOEBE

MR. MRS.

SMITH SMITH

DOROTHY

SMITH

BARBARA

DENNIN

(Student Nurse) . . . "

KIRKLAND

KRABER BARKER

MEISNER

NELSON MAYNARD BRAND

74 DR. CUNNINGHAM . . F I R S T NURSE NURSE MARY RYAN ORDERLY MR. H O U G H T O N . . . MR. S P E N C E R MR. DRUMMOND . . . MRS. D'ANDREA SECOND NURSE

RUSSELL PAULA

COLLINS

MILLER

DOROTHY ELIA

PATTEN

KAZAN

CLIFFORD LEWIS

ODETS

LEVERETT

GERRIT

KRABER

MARY VIRGINIA ELENA

FARMER

KARAH

T A B L E O F SCENES The entire action of the play takes place within the walls of St. George's Hospital.

ACT I. Scene Scene Scene Scene

1—The Staff Library. 2—Mr. Hudson's Room. 3—A Patient's Room. 4—George Ferguson's Room.

INTERMISSION—TWELVE

MINUTES

ACT II. Three Months Later. Scene Scene Scene Scene

1—The Board Room. 2—The Staff Library. 3—A Corridor. 4—The Operating Room.

INTERMISSION—FIVE MINUTES

ONLY

ACT III. George Ferguson's Room, the following morning. M A N A G E R I A L STAFF Company Manager Prau Repreientatlve Stag· Manager Ait». S t a g · M a n a g a r A tit. S t a g · M a n a g e r A » t . Production M a n a g e r

Philip Adler Bernard Simon A l i i · Walker Bob Lawk Ell· Kaian Arnold L Scheuer, Jr.

The play " M e n in W h i t e " ii controlled by Ullcraw Production», Inc.

75

1935

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY THE OLD MAID BY ZOE AKINS

Zoe Akins (born on October 30, 1886, in Humansville, Mo.) became interested in the stage after seeing productions of touring companies at various St. Louis theatres. She wrote her first play at the age of twelve, and her early poetry was published in William Marion Reedy's St. Louis Mirror, a journal that had earlier recognized other talents. Her first professional work for the stage was a three-act comedy titled Papa. It was followed by The Magical City, which was her first play to be produced in New York. A one-act melodrama in verse, it was performed by the Washington Square Players at the Bandbox Theatre during their 1915-1916 season. It was Declassee that gained Akins the critical and public acclaim she desired. The play, an English society drama, opened at the Empire Theatre in New York in 1919 and has its origin in the writing of Elinor Glyn and in the short works of Saki. Akins followed Declassee with a number of plays, including Daddy's Gone A-Hunting\ The Varying Shore, and The Moon-Flower. As early as 1924 various film producers began purchasing the screen rights to Akins' plays. During the following years several of her works have been filmed. In 1928 Akins moved to California for her health. Less than two years later she was under contract to Paramount, writing the books for six films during 1930 and 1931, and contributing original stories or plays for three others. The playwright also worked on scripts for other studios such as Goldwyn, RKORadio, and M-G-M. In addition to her work for the film Akins continued writing for the stage. Zoe Akins reached the pinnacle of her stage career with the production of her play The Old Maid, an adaptation of a novella by Edith Wharton, for which she received the 1935 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE The Old Maid is the story "about two well-bred cousins, Delia and Charlotte," Samuel L. Leiter states and adds: "It begins in 1833 New York when Delia weds James Ralston, which so pains Delia's true love, artist Clem Spender, that Charlotte spends a night consoling him, resulting in a illegitimate child, Tina. To enable her to raise Tina without causing undue suspicions, Charlotte establishes a day nursery in which Tina is placed with other children... In 1847 Charlotte and Tina are living with the widowed Delia... Delia adopts Tina to enhance the girl's social position. When, in 1853, Tina is getting married, she still does not know who her real mother is." The first New York production of The Old Maid opened at the Empire Theatre on January 7, 1935. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Florence Williams and John Cromwell

77

THE EMPIRE THEATRE FIRE NOTICE:

The e*it, indicated by a red light and sign, nearest to the seat

you occupy, is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency please do not r u n — W A L K T O T H A T EXIT.

J O H N J. McELLIGOTT, Fire Chief and Commissioner T H E · P L A Y B I L L · P U B L I S H E D • BY • T H E • N E W

YORK • T H E A T R E · PROGRAM · CORPORATION

BEGINNING MONDAY

MATINEES

EVENING,

JANUARY

WEDNESDAY

14, 1935

AND

SATURDAY HARRY

JUDITH ANDERSON

MOSES

Presents

HELEN MENKEN

and

THE O L D

MAID

by ZOE A K I N S Founded on β novel of the same name by

EDITH W H A R T O N Staged by

GUTHRIE

McCLINTIC

Settings and costumes designed by

STEWART

CHANEY

CAST D E L I A L O V E L L (Later Mrs. James Ralston) Played C H A R L O T T E L O V E L L (Her Cousin) . . . " MRS. J E N N I E M E A D E " BRIDGET " CLEMINTINA " DR. L A N S K E L L " MRS. M I N G O T T " J O S E P H RALSTON " J A M E S RALSTON " SERVANT " D E E (Delia's Daughter) " J O H N HALSEY (Her Husband) " LANNING HALSEY " TINA "

by

JUDITH

ANDERSON

HELEN

MENKEN

MARY

RICARD

HOPE

LANDIN

YVONNE

NASH

MARGARET

DALE

RODERT

WALLSTEN

FREDERIC GAIL FLORENCE

MARGARET

VOIGHT READE

WILLIAMS

WARREN JOHN . . . .

MANN

GEORGE

TRENT

CROMWELL ANDERSON

78 T h e Scene is N e w York.

A C T I. Scene 1—Delia Lovell's room, Lovell Place, 1830. Scene 2—A D a y - n u r s e r y in M e r c e r Street, 1836.

A C T II. T h e Ralston d r a w i n g room, G r a m e r c y Park, that evening.

A C T III. Scene 1—The same r o o m — F o u r t e e n years later. Scene 2—The same r o o m — F i v e hours later. Scene 3—The same r o o m — T h e following J u n e .

Scenery constructed by Voll Scenic Construction Co., painted by Bergman Studio. Costumes by Helene Pons Studio. Wigs by Barrls. Draperies by I. Weiss & Sons. Shoes by LaRay & George's. Special properties by Gebhardt. Furniture by Ashley-Kent Ltd. and Harry Flayderman. Floral decorations by Feiippeiii. Lighting equipment by Duwlco.

MR. MOSES1 STAFF Business Manager Press Representative

TECHNICAL STAFF

Saul Abrahahm

Master Electrician

John Peter Toohey

Master Carpenter

Edward Smith

Master of Properties

Edward Mack

General Stage Manager

Karl Nielsen

Assistant Stage Manager

Edward T. Howe

Wardrobe Mistress

Louis Hartman

Margaret Hartman

79

1936

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY IDIOT'S DELIGHT BY ROBERT E . SHERWOOD

Robert Emmet Sherwood (born on April 4, 1896, in New Rochelle, N.Y.) attended Fay School at Southborough, Massachusetts before he entered Milton Academy in 1909 and began his preparation for Harvard. At Milton he was a constant contributor to the school's monthly magazine, the Milton Orange and Blue (which he edited in his senior year), president of the Civics-Literature Club and Dance Committee, and a letter-man in football. After a summer of being tutored, Sherwood entered Harvard in the fall of 1914. There he became editor of the Redbook, a magazine produced by the freshman class, and centered his attention on clubs and extracurricular literary activities. He was an active member of the Hasty Pudding Club, for which he wrote two plays: A White Elephant and Barnum Was Right. In addition he was contributor to the Harvard Lampoon and served as its editor in his senior year. During World War I Sherwood enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was sent on active duty to France. After the war he returned to Harvard, from which he graduated in 1918. Thereafter Sherwood accepted a position as motion-picture critic at Vanity Fair magazine. In 1920 he was hired by Life magazine, where he first worked as a motion-picture critic and, additionally, after 1924 as its editor. He served the magazine in both these positions until 1928. Sherwood wrote his first professional play, The Road to Rome, in 1926. It was followed by numerous other plays such as The Love Nesf, The Queen's Husband·, Reunion in Vienna, and The Petrified Forest. In 1936 Robert E. Sherwood's play Idiot's Delight gained him the Pulitzer Prize in drama the same year.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Idiot's Delight is a "comedy-drama... in which a dozen guests of various nationalities find themselves marooned in a Swiss hotel on the eve of World War II," Edwin Bronner states and then continues: "Above the frightened banter, the author's voice can be heard damning the munitions makers, the world's indifference to fascism, and the stupidity of war. Among the guests in the hotel are a glib American song-and-dance man and a fake Russian countess he had casually bedded years before in Nebraska. In the end, only these two likable charlatans elect to remain behind, laughing, singing, and drinking champagne as the holocaust begins." The first New York production of Idiot's Delight opened at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre on March 24, 1936. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne

81

SAM S. SHUBERT THEATRE CENTRAL THEATRES LEASING & CONSTRUCTION

FIRE NOTICE:

CO.

The exit, indicated by a red light and sign, nearest to the seat

you occupy, is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency please do not r u n — W A L K T O T H A T EXIT.

J O H N J. McELLIGOTT, Fire Chief and Commissioner T H E · P L A Y B I L L · P U B L I S H E D • BY · T H E • N E W · YORK • T H E A T R E • PROGRAM · CORPORATION BEGINNING MONDAY

EVENING,

S

R

B

ö

MATINEES THURSDAY

M A R C H 30, 1936

AND

SATURDAY (Sixth production of the Eighteenth Subscription Season)

THE THEATRE GUILD, INC. presents

IDIOT'S

DELIGHT

A PLAY BY ROBERT E. S H E R W O O D with

ALFRED LUNT & LYNN FONTANNE Directed by B R E T A I G N E

WINDUST

Production C o n c e i v e d and Supervised by M R . L U N T and M I S S

FONTANNE

Setting Designed by LEE S I M O N S O N Dances S t a g e d by M o r g a n Lewis

CAST (In the order in which they speak) DUMPTSY SIGNOR

Played

PALOTA

DONALD

by "

GEORGE

MEADER

S T E P H E N SANDES

"

"

BARRY

PITTALUGA

"

"

S. T H O M A S

AUGUSTE

"

"

"

"

"

"

CAPTAIN

NAVADEL

"

LOCICERO

DR. W A L D E R S E E MR. C H E R R Y

"

"

MRS.

"

"

"

"

"

"

CHERRY

HARRY

VAN

SHIRLEY

THOMSON GOMEZ

EDGAR BARRIER EDWARD SYDNEY

RAQUELLO

GREENSTREET

BRETAIGNE WINDUST JEAN

MACINTYRE

ALFRED JACQUELINE

BEULAH

"

"

EDNA

"

"

CONNIE

FRANCINE

"

"

ELAINE

"

"

MARJORIE

BEBE

"

"

RUTH

1st O F F I C E R

"

"

CROWELL

2nd O F F I C E R

"

"

FRANCES

FOLEY

ETNA

ALAN

LUNT PAIGE

ROSS

BAGLIN

TIMMONS HEWITT

WINSTON R o s s

82 3rd O F F I C E R

Played

by

GILMORE BUSH

4th O F F I C E R

"

"

QUILLERY

"

"

RICHARD

SIGNOR

"

"

LE ROI

OPERTI

"

"

ERNESTINE DE

BECKER

MAJOR

"

"

GIORGIO

ANNA

"

"

IRENE

"

"

LYNN

"

"

FRANCIS

SIGNORA

ACHILLE

ROSSI ROSSI

W E B E R

TOMMASO

TITTONI WHORF

MONTEVERDE UNA

VAL

FONTANNE COMPTON

Musicians: Gerald Kunz, Max Rich, Joseph Knopf.

The scene of the play is the Cocktail Lounge in the Hotel Monte Gabriele in the Italian Alps, near the frontiers of Switzerland and Austria.

SYNOPSIS OF SCENES

A C T I. Afternoon of a day in February.

A C T II. Scene 1. 8 o'clock that evening. Scene 2. 11 o'clock. Scene 3. A f t e r midnight.

ACT III. T h e following afternoon. The Theatre Guild wishes t o thank Irving Berlin for the use of some of his songs and for the special lyric for "Swanee River," sung by M r . Lunt, and for invaluable suggestions in the staging of the musical number in A c t . II. The following musical numbers are played or sung during the action of the play by permission of the copyright owners: " J u n e in January," " W h e n M y Baby Smiles at M e , " " W a t e r s of the Minnetonka," "Some of These Days," " P u f f i n g on t h e Ritz," "Pardon M y Southern A c c e n t , " "Valencia," "It's a Long W a y t o Tipperary." FOR THE THEATRE G U I L D Company Manager Stage Manager Asst. Stage Manager Asst. Stage Manager Treasurer

Lawrence FarreH George 6 r e e n b * r g Le Roi O p o r t i Tommaso Tittoni Elsie Nichols

House Physician, Dr. H . A . Coveler, telephone PEnnsylvania 6-1717

83

1937

AWARD

ABOUT THE COMEDY YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU BY

Moss

HART / G E O R G E

S.

KAUFMAN

Moss Hart (born on October 24, 1904, in New York City) wrote his first play while working as an office boy for the theatrical producer Augustus Pitou Jr. The play, titled The Hold-up Man or The Beloved Bandit was not very successful and as a result, Hart was fired. During the next six years Hart spent his winter evenings as a director of little theater groups in New York and New Jersey and his summers as a social director at adult resort camps in the Catskills. In September 1929 Hart began his first comedy. A rewritten version of Once in a Lifetime, which was the result of a collaboration with George S. Kaufman, won the Roi Cooper McGrue prize. Another play the two playwrights worked together on was You Can't Take It With You. George Simon Kaufman (born on November 16, 1889, in Pittsburgh, Pa.) discovered his interest in theater as a youth. He wrote his first play, The Failure, at fourteen and also acted in plays performed by his family's synagogue. He began his writing career by working for different newspapers, first as a contributer to the humour column and later as a reporter. In 1917 he started on the drama desk of the New York Times and soon became drama editor, a position he retained until 1930. Working on the newspaper provided him with contacts in the theatrical business which resulted in the collaboration with other writers on many plays. Among these were Once in a Lifetime and Of Thee I Sing, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1932. Together with Moss Hart playwright George S. Kaufman also collaborated on You Can't Take It With You which won the Pulitzer Drama award in 1937.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE You Can't Take It With You, as Edwin Bronner states, plays in "a Depression-era commune" of New York City, where "everyone does his own thing with a vengeance. The patriarch of the family is a wise old man who walked out of his job thirty-five years earlier and never went back. His philosophy - life is best when people do as they like rather than as they should - is practiced... by his family and friends. The play's climax is reached when the granddaughter of the house falls in love with the son of a wealthy Wall Street tycoon, and the boy's stuffy parents arrive unexpectedly for dinner. Before the final curtain falls, this family of amiable lunatics has converted the tycoon to their way of thinking." The first New York production of You Can't Take It With You opened at the Booth Theatre on December 14,1936. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Josephine Hull

85

THE BOOTH THEATRE CENTRAL THEATRES LEASING & CONSTRUCTION

FIRE NOTICE:

CO.

The exit, indicated by a red light and sign, nearest to the seat

you occupy, is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other e m e r g e n c y please d o not r u n — W A L K T O T H A T EXIT.

J O H N J. McELLIGOTT, Fire Chief and Commissioner T H E • P L A Y B I L L • P U B L I S H E D • B Y · T H E • N E W • Y O R K · T H E A T R E · PROGRAM • C O R P O R A T I O N

BEGINNING MONDAY

MATINEES

EVENING,

WEDNESDAY

M A R C H 22, 1937

AND

SATURDAY

S A M H. HARRIS present·

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU A farcical c o m e d y by

MOSS HART and G E O R G E S. KAUFMAN Setting by D o n a l d O e n s l e g e r

CAST P E N E L O P E

SYCAMORE

. Played

JOSEPHINE

by

ESSIE RHEBA PAUL

SYCAMORE

MR. D E

PINNA . . .

ED

TRUEMAN

RUTH

ATTAWAY

FRANK

WILCOX

FRANK

CONLAN

GEORGE

HELLER

OSCAR

DONALD MARTIN

VANDERHOF

.

. . .

HENDERSON TONY BORIS GAY

HENRY

MARGOT

ALICE

KIRBY KOLENKHOV

WELLINGTON

. . . . .

. . .

HULL

PAULA

POLK

TRAVERS

STEVENSON

HUGH

RENNII

JESS

BARKER

GEORGE MITZI

TOBIAS HAJOS

86 MR. K I R B Y .

Played

by

MRS. K I R B Y

"

T H R E E MEN

F " < [

OLGA

"

"

WILLIAM

J.

VIRGINIA

KELLY

HAMMOND

G E O R G E LEACH GEORGE CALVERT FRANKLIN HELLER ANNA

LUBO-WE

The scene is the home of Martin Vanderhof, New York.

ACT I. A Wednesday Evening. During this «et the curtain it lowered t o denote the petting of several hour«.

A C T II. A Week Later.

A C T III. The Next Day. Play Staged by M r . Kaufman Costuming of the entire production supervised by John Hembleton. Technical assistant t o M r . Oenslager

Isaac Benesch

STAFF FOR S A M H . HARRIS Morris Jacobs John Peter Toohey Ben Kornzweig William McFadden Franklin Heller . . . . Robert Ritchie . . . O t t o Diehl Sam Roseman . . . .

Company Manager Press Representative Assistant Press Representative Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Master Carpenter Master Electrician Property Master House Physician, Dr. H . A . Coveler.

T h · Aerzonator A i r Purifier and Soaperior Liquid Soap Dispensing System used in this theatre are made by the U. S. Sanitary Specialties Corp., New York and Chicago.

87

1938

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY OUR TOWN BY THORNTON N . WILDER

Thornton Niven Wilder (born on April 17, 1897, in Madison, Wi.) studied from 1915 to 1917 at Oberlin College, where he published his first prose pieces in the college's literary magazine. Transferring to Yale University, he contributed short plays, as well as essays, to the Yale Literary Magazine, which in his senior year published serially his first full-length play, The Trumpet Shall Sound. After one year of military service in World War I as a corporal in the Coast Guard artillery, he obtained his B.A. degree from Yale in 1920. After his graduation Wilder went to Rome to study archeology at the American Academy. During his year in Italy, he also began writing his first novel, The Cabala. He completed this work while employed as a member of the faculty of the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, N.J., where he had taught French since 1921. During a two-year leave of absence for writing and study he worked for his master degree in French literature, awarded by Princeton University in 1926. The following year he published his book The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which won him his first Pulitzer Prize in 1928 in the novel category. The same year the author started his first cross-country lecture tour of the United States and published The Angel That Troubled the Waters, a three-minute plays collection. From 1930 to 1936 he held the post of lecturer in comparative literature at the University of Chicago. Free to devote half the year to writing, he spent several summers at the MacDowell Colony near Peterborough, N.H. During that time a volume of Wilder's six plays, titled The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays in One Act, appeared. The experimental devices of Thornton N. Wilder's short plays anticipated those of his first major work, Our Town, which won him the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Our Town, in the words of Samuel L. Leiter, shows "the ordinary everyday life of the folk in Grover's Corners... over the course of a dozen years... At the heart of the story is the relationship of Emily Webb ... and George Gibbs... Emily and George are first seen as adolescent neighbors in the early stages of a romantic relationship; then, after high school graduation, getting married; and finally after Emily's death in childbirth. Emily, unable to accept the fact of her death, is granted the wish to return for one day to any day in her life; the experience, however, proves unsettling... and she returns willingly to her resting place on Cemetery Hill." The first New York production of Our Town opened at Henry Miller's Theatre on February 4, 1938. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

John Craven and Martha Scott

89

ΜΜΙΙΓΪ smiygm Mums 4 3rd ST. Ε. of B ' W A Y

MATS. THÜRS. 8C SAT.

JED HARRIS present·

A PLAY BY

THORNTON WILDER with

Production by Mr. Harris Technical Direction by Raymond Sovey Costumes Designed by Helene Pons

T H E CAST [ In the order of their appearance ] Stage Manager Dr. Gibbs Joe Crowell Howie Newsome Mrs. Gibbs Mrs. Webb George Gibbs

Frank Craven Jay Fassett Raymond Roe Tom Fadden Evelyn Varden Helen Carew John Craven

Rebecca Gibbs Wally Webb Emily Webb Professor Willard Mr. Webb Woman in the Balcony Man in the Auditorum

Marilyn Erskine Charles Wiley, Jr. Martha Scott Arthur Allen Thomas W. Ross Carrie Weiler Walter O. Hill

FIRE NOTICE: The exit, indicated by a red light and sign, neareit to the «eat you occupy, is the shortest route to the street. In t h · event of fire or other emergency please do not r u n — W A L K T O T H A T EXIT. J O H N J. McELLIGOTT, Fire Chief and Commissioner

90

Lady in the Box Simon Stimson Mrs. Soames Constable Warren Si Crowell Baseball

Aline McDermott Philip Coolidge Doro Merande E. Irving bocke Billy Redfield ι Alfred Ryder < William Roehrick ' Thomas Coley Ftancis G. Cleveland William Wadsworth ί Thomas Morgan

Players

Sam Craig Joe Stoddard Assistant

Stage Managers

) Alf*ed

j William \ Thomas

RyJer

,

Roehrick Coley

People of the Town: Carrie Weiler, Alice Donaldson, Walter O. Hill, Arthur Allen, Charles Mellody, Katharine Raht, Mary Elizabeth Forbes, Dorothy Nolan, Jean Piatt, Barbara Brown, Alida Stanley, Barbara Burton, Lyn Swann, Dorothy Ryan, Shirley Osborn, Emily Boileau, Ann Weston, Leon Rose, John Irring Finn, Van Shem, Charles Walters, William Short, Frank Howell, Max Beck, James Malaidy

The entire play takes place in Grovers Corners, Ν. H. CREDITS Music arranged and organ played by Bernice Richmond. Elechricat Equipment by Century Lighting. Costumes executed by Helene Pons Studio. Hosiery by Jessie Zimmer. Bird and animal effects by IVillard Cary. Production owned and operated by J. H. D. H.f Inc.

E X E C U T I V E S T A F F FOR J E D H A R R I S Thomas Bodkin Robert Reud Edward P. Goodnow Thomas Morgan miliam Roehrick Thomas Coley Thomas Connell Ernest De Wolfe John Davis

Company Manager Press Representative Stage Manager Stage Manager Asst. Stage Manager Asst. Stage Manager Master Electrician Assistant Electrician Assistant Electrician

91

1939

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS BY ROBERT E . SHERWOOD

Robert Emmet Sherwood (born on April 4, 1896, in New Rochelle, N.Y.) attended Fay School at Southborough, Massachusetts before he entered Milton Academy in 1909 and began his preparation for Harvard. At Milton he was a constant contributor to the school's monthly magazine, the Milton Orange and Blue (which he edited in his senior year), president of the Civics-Literature Club and Dance Committee, and a letter-man in football. After a summer of being tutored, Sherwood entered Harvard in the fall of 1914. There he became editor of the Redbook, a magazine produced by the freshman class, and centered his attention on clubs and extracurricular literary activities. He was an active member of the Hasty Pudding Club, for which he wrote two plays: A White Elephant and Barnum Was Right. In addition he was contributor to the Harvard Lampoon and served as its editor in his senior year. During World War I Sherwood enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was sent on active duty to France. After the war he returned to Harvard, from which he graduated in 1918. Thereafter Sherwood accepted a position as motion-picture critic at Vanity Fair magazine. In 1920 he was hired by Life magazine, where he first worked as a motion-picture critic and, additionally, after 1924 as its editor. He served the magazine in both these positions until 1928. Sherwood wrote his first professional play, The Road to Rome, in 1926. It was followed by numerous other plays such as The Love Nest; The Queen's Husband, and Reunion in Vienna. In 1936 his play Idiot's Delight gained him the Pulitzer Prize in drama. Another Pulitzer Drama award was granted to Robert E. Sherwood in 1939 for Abe Lincoln in Illinois.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Abe Lincoln in Illinois "looks at the man during the years 1830 to 1861, beginning with his life as a somewhat introverted twenty-twoyear-old, debt-plagued backwoodsman living and learning (grammar) in New Salem, Illinois; his persuasion by friends to run for the state assembly; ... his meeting with and... marriage to the ambitious Mary Todd," Samuel L. Leiter tells several episodes and then continues: "His debate with Stephen A. Douglas over slavery during his campaign for the senatorship; his choice as a candidate for the presidency, and the concomitant tensions that develop between him and Mary; his election; and his departure... on the train from Springfield for Washington, D.C." The first New York production of Abe Lincoln in Illinois opened at the Plymouth Theatre on October 15, 1938. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Raymond Massey and Muriel Kirkland

93

THE PLYMOUTH THEATRE PLYMOUTH

THEATRE

CORPORATION

FIRE NOTICE:

The indicated by a red light and sign, nearest to tha seet you occupy, i> tha shortest routa to tha stieet. In ( k · event of fire or other emergency please do not r u n — W A L K T O THAT EXIT

JOHN J. McELLIGOTT, Fir· Chief and Commissioner T H E · P L A Y B I L L • P U B L I S H E D . B T · T H E · N E W · T O R E · T H E A T S E · PROORAH · CORPORATION BEGINNING MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 17, 1938

MATINEES WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY

B^B lmhJ THE PLAYWRIGHTS'

Maxwell Anderson

e

Elmer Rice

COMPANY

S. N . Behrman ·

e

Sidney Howard

R o b e r t E. S h e r w o o d Present

RAYMOND MASSEY in

ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS by R o b e r t E. S h e r w o o d S t a g e d b y Elmer R i c e Settings by J o Mielziner

CAST (In the order in which they speak) MENTOR GRAHAM ABE LINCOLN ANN R U T L E D G E JUDITH BEN MATTLING JUDGE BOWLING GREEN NINIAN EDWARDS JOSHUA SPEED TRUM COGDAL JACK ARMSTRONG B A B

FEARGUS J A S P

! . ! ! . . ! . .

SETH GALE ! NANCY GREEN WILLIAM HERNDON ELIZABETH EDWARDS MARY TODD T H E EDWARDS' MAID

Played " "

by " "

FRANK A N D R E W S RAYMOND M A S S E Y ADELE LONCMIRE

" " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " "

L R I S WHITNEY GEORGE CHRISTIE ARTHUR G R I F F I N L E W I S MARTIN CALVIN THOMAS HARRY L E V I A N HOWARD DASILVA E V E R E T T CHARLTON

" "

" "

DAVID CLARKE K E V I N MCCARTHY

" " " " " "

" " " " " "

HERBERT RUDLEY LILLIAN F O S T E R WENDELL K . PHILLIPS MAY COLLINS M U R I E L KIRXLAND AUGUSTA DABNEY

JIMMY GALE AGGIE GALE GOBEY S T E P H E N A. D O U G L A S WILLIE LINCOLN TAD LINCOLN ROBERT LINCOLN T H E LINCOLNS' MAID CRIMMIN BARRICK STURVESON JED PHIL KAVANAGH CAVALRY CAPTAIN

Played " " " " " " " " " " · · •

" " " "

by " " " " " " " " " "

H O W A R D SHERMAN MARION R O O N E Y HUBERT BROWN ALBERT PHILLIPS LEX PARRISH L L O Y D BARRY JOHN PAYNE IRIS WHITNEY FRANK T W E D D E L L J O H N GERARD THOMAS F . TRACEY

" " " "

HARRY L E V I A N K E V I N MCCARTHY G L E N N COULTER E V E R E T T CHARLTON

Soldiers, Railroad Men, Townspeople: Allen Shaw, Phillip Caplan, David Hewes, Dearon Darnay, Harrison Woodhull, Robert Fitzsimmons, Joseph Wisemin, Walter Kapp, George Malcolm, Bert Schorr, Bette Benfield, Ann Stevenson, Dolores Williams, Ora Alexander, Alfred Jenkins, Emory Richardson, McKinley Reeves, Elizabeth Reller. SYNOPSIS ACT O N E is in and about New Salem, Illinois, in the 1830's. Scene 1—Mentor Graham's cabin. Late at night. Scene 2—The Rutledge Tavern. Noon on the Fourth of July. Scene 3—Bowling Green's house. Late in the evening. A year or so after scene 2. ACT T W O is in and about Springfield, Illinois, in the 1840's. Scene 4—The law office of Stuart and Lincoln on the second floor of the Court House in Springfield. A summer's afternoon, some five years after the preceding scene. Scene 5—Parlor of the Edwards house. An evening in November, some months after the preceding scene. Scene 6—Again the law office. It is afternoon of New Year's Day, a few weeks after the preceding scene. Scene 7—On the prairie at New Salem. Evening, nearly two years after the preceding scene. Scene 8—Again the parlor of the Edwards house. A few days after the preceding scene. ACT T H R E E is in and about Springfield in 1858-'61. Scene 9—A speaker's platform in an Illinois town. It is a summer evening in the year 1858. Scene 10—Parlor of the Edwards home, now used by the Lincolns. Afternoon of a day in the Spring of 1860. Scene 11—Lincoln campaign headquarters in the Illinois State House. The evening of Election Day, November 6th, 1860. Scene 12—The yards of the railroad station at Springfield, February 11, 1861. Business Manager

THE EXECUTIVE STAFF FOR THE PLAYWRIGHTS' C O M P A N Y

Press Representatives Assistant in Casting Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Assistant to Mr. Rice

Victor Samrock ( William Fields ) Philip Stevenson Jane Broder Elmer Brown John Trigg« Pearl C. Krebs

This play is owned end controlled by the P L A Y W R I G H T S ' P R O D U C I N G CO., INC. House Physicien, Dr. H. A. Coveier.

95

1940

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE BY WILLIAM SAROYAN

William Saroyan (born on August 31, 1908, in Fresno, Ca.) began selling newspapers at the age of eight and became a telegram messenger boy at fourteen. By that time he had decided to become a writer. For that reason he transferred in 1921 from Longfellow Junior High School to Technical High School to learn typing. At fifteen he dropped out of Fresno High School, so he was free to spend more time at the public library in reading books and magazines. In 1926 Saroyan went to San Francisco, where he soon became manager of a branch office of the Postal Telegraph Company. His literary apprenticeship of several years was rewarded with the publication of one of his stories in 1928 in Overland Monthly and Outwest Magazine. Another story, which he wrote under the name of Sirak Goryan, appeared in Hairenik, an Armenian magazine, in 1933. His first real opportunity to win national attention came in 1934 with the acceptance by Story magazine of The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, which later in that year was made the title story of his first book, a collection of twenty-six stories. Several other collections of short stories followed his initial success. Among these were Inhale and Exhale; Three Times Three; Little Children, and Peace, It's Wonderful. Saroyan developed his first play, My Heart's in the Highlands, from the story "The Man with the Heart in the Highlands", published in Three Times Three. The play was followed by the five-act play The Time of Your Life, produced by the Theatre Guild in 1939. That play by William Saroyan enjoyed the distinction of being the first one to win both the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize in drama in the following year.

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE The Time of Your Life, as Edwin Bronner put it, is a "comedy set in a waterfront dive grandly titled 'Nick's Saloon, Restaurant and Entertainment Palace.'... A bizarre assortment of characters frequent Nick's dingy but hospitable barroom. Among them: a mysterious big spender, a couple of hookers, a pure-in-heart streetwalker, a hoofer who wants to make people laugh, a singing newsboy, and a pinball addict. Also, an old Arab who keeps shaking his head solemnly and muttering to himself, a sadistic vice squad cop, a pair of Nob Hill slummers, and a teller-of-talltales named Kit Carson. Essentially plotless, this modern morality play was a paean to the joy of life, a declaration of faith in mankind." The first New York production of The Time of Your Life opened at the Booth Theatre on October 25, 1939. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Eddie Dowling and Edward Andrews

97

THE BOOTH THEATRE CENTRAL

FIRE NOTICE:

THEATRES

LEASING

&

CONSTRUCTION

CO.

T h · exit, indicated by a red light and sign, nearest to the seat

you occupy, is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency please do not r u n — W A L K T O T H A T EXIT.

JOHN J. McELLIGOTT, Fire Chief and Commissioner T H E • P L A Y B I L L · PUBLISHED • BY • T H E • NEW • YORK • T H E A T R E • PROGRAM • CORPORATION

It is urged for the comfort and safety of all, that theatre patrons refrain from lighting matches in this theatre.

BEGINNING MONDAY

EVENING,

NOVEMBER

13,

193?

MATINEES THURSDAY

AND

SATURDAY

First production of the Twenty.second Subscription Season THE THEATRE GUILD. INC. in association with EDDIE

DOWLING

presents

THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE a New Play by WILLIAM

SAROYAN

Directed by E D D I E D O W L I N G and W I L L I A M Settings by W A T S O N

SAROYAN

BARRATT

Production under the supervision of T H E R E S A H E L B U R N and L A W R E N C E

LANGNER

CAST (In the order of their speaking) NEWSBOY

Played

DRUNK WILLIE,

a marble maniac

JOE

by

Ross

BAGDASARIAN

"

"

.JOHN

"

"

"

"

EDDIE

FARRELL WILL

LEE

DOWLING

N I C K , owner of Nick's Pacific Street Saloon, "

"

CHARLES D E

T O M , Joe's admirer, stooge and friend

Restaurant

and E n t e r t a i n m e n t

Palace. .

"

"

EDWARD

KITTY

"

"

"

"

DUVAL

DUDLEY,

a y o u n g m a n in l o v e

H A R R Y , a natural born hoofer

"

"

W E S L E Y , a c o l o r e d b o y w h o plays the piano

"

"

LORENE,

an

unattractive

woman

BLICK A R A B , an E a s t e r n philosopher and L

K R U P P , a waterfront cop MCCARTHY,

a

longshoreman

K I T C A R S O N , an old Indian NICK'S

MA

" "

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

JULIE

HAYDON

CURT CONWAY GENE REGINALD

KELLY BEANE

NENE

VIBBER

GROVER

BURGESS

harmonica

player MARY

" "

SHEIM

ANDREWS

fighter

. . . . H O U S E L E Y S T E V E N S , SR. CELESTE WILLIAM JACK

HOLME BENDIX

HARTLEY

LEN MICHELETTE

DOYLE BURANI

98 SAILOR ELSIE A KILLER HER SIDE KICK A SOCIETY LADY A SOCIETY GENTLEMAN FIRST COP SECOND COP

Played " " " " " " "

by " " " " " " "

RANDOLPH W A D E CATHIE BAILEY EVELYN GELLER MARY CHEFFEY EVA LEONARD BOYNE AINSWORTH ARNOLD RANDOLPH W A D E JOHN FARRELL

A C T I. Nick's Pacific Street Saloon, Restaurant and Entertainment Place at the foot of the Embacadero, in San Francisco. Late morning.

A C T II. Scene 1. The same. A little later. Scene 2. A room in the New York Hotel, around the corner. Ten minutes later. Scene 3. Nick's Saloon. Afternoon of the same day.

A C T III. The same. That evening. FOR THE THEATRE G U I L D A N D EDDIE D O W L 1 N G Company Manager Press Representative-—"The Time of Your Life" Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager

Max A. Meyer Leo Freedman John Haggott Randolph W a d e

House Physician, Dr. H. A . Coveler. The Aerzonator Air Purifier and Soaperior Liquid Soap Dispensing System used in this theatre are made by the U. S. Sanitary Specialties Corp., New York and Chicago.

99

1941

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT BY ROBERT E . SHERWOOD

Robert Emmet Sherwood (born on April 4, 1896, in New Rochelle, N.Y.) attended Fay School at Southborough, Massachusetts before he entered Milton Academy in 1909, where he became contributor to the school's Milton Orange and Blue, a magazine which he also edited in his senior year, and president of the Civics-Literature Club and Dance Committee. In the fall of 1914 Sherwood entered Harvard. There he became editor of the Redbook, a magazine produced by the freshman class, and was an active member of the Hasty Pudding Club, for which he wrote two plays: A White Elephant and Barnum Was Right. In addition he was contributor to the Harvard Lampoon and served as its editor in his senior year. During World War I Sherwood enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was sent on active duty to France. After the war he returned to Harvard, from which he graduated in 1918. Thereafter Sherwood accepted a position as motionpicture critic at Vanity Fair magazine. In 1920 he was hired by Life magazine, where he first worked as a motion-picture critic and, additionally, after 1924 as its editor. He served the magazine in both these positions until 1928. Sherwood wrote his first professional play, The Road to Rome, in 1926. It was followed by numerous other plays. Among these were Idiot's Delight and Abe Lincoln in Illinois, which gained the playwright the Pulitzer Prize in drama in 1936 and 1939. In addition to playwriting Sherwood showed active participation in the social and political movements of his time. In 1940 he was appointed special assistant to the Secretary of War and was named president of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA). The same year his play There Shall Be No Night was performed and won Robert E. Sherwood his third Pulitzer Drama award in 1941.

100

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE There Shall Be No Night "takes place in Nobel Prize-winning neurologist Dr. Kaarlo Valkonen's Helsinki home in 1938 before the Russian invasion," Samuel L. Leiter explains the historical background. "Dr. Valkonen lives there with his twenty-year-old son, Erik; his Americanborn wife, Miranda; and his uncle Waldemar. Early in the play the philosophical Dr. Valkonen delivers a lengthy anti-Hitler radio broadcast to America. A year passes... Dr. Valkonen and Miranda gradually shed their pacifist beliefs when faced by the forces of reaction. Erik dies in the ensuing conflict with Russia, Dr. Valkonen learning of the tragedy... he himself meets with death." The first New York production of There Shall Be No Night opened at the Alvin Theatre on April 29, 1940. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Montgomery Clift, Elisabeth Fraser, Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt

101

ALVIN

THEATRE

ALVIN T H E A T R E CORP., OWNERS AND MANAGERS Directors James O'Day A. H. Pincus

F I R E N O T I C E : The exit, indicated by a red light and sign, nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency please do not r u n — W A L K T O THAT EXIT.

J O H N J. McELLIGOTT, Fire Commissioner THE · PLAYBILL · PUBLISHED · BY • THE • NEW · YORK • THEATRE • PROGRAM · CORPORATION BEGINNING M O N D A Y EVENING, J U L Y 22, I940

MATINEES WEDNESDAY A N D THURSDAY

THE PLAYWRIGHTS' Maxwell Anderson

COMPANY

S. N. Behrman Elmer Rice and

Robert E. Sherwood

THE THEATRE GUILD present the

ALFRED LUNT

LYNN FONTANNE production of

w

THERE SHALL BE N O

NIGHT"

by ROBERT E. S H E R W O O D with R I C H A R D

WHORF

—

S Y D N E Y GREENSTREET —

Staged by M R . LUNT

MAURICE

COLBOURNE

Settings by MR. W H O R F

Costumes by V A L E N T I N A

CAST DR. K A A R L O V A L K O N E N MIRANDA VALKONEN DAVE

CORWEEN

UNCLE GUS ERIK

ALFRED LUNT

by

LYNN FONTANNE RICHARD W H O R F

. . ,

WALDEMAR

.

. . . .

SHUMAN VALKONEN

KAATRI DR.

Played

. . .

ALQUIST

. .

MAJOR

BEN

GICHNER

FRANK OLMSTEAD SERGEANT

GOSDEN

WEST CLIFT

FRÄSER

MAURICE COLBOURNE

RUTKOWSKI

BURNETT

BROOKS MONTGOMERY ELISABETH

ZIEMSSEN

JOE

SYDNEY G R E E N S T R E E T

EDWARD

RAQUELLO

CHARLES ANSLEY THOMAS GOMEZ . . .

. . . .

W I L L I A M L E MASSENA CLAUDE HORTON

• THE M A N A G E M E N T IS N O T RESPONSIBLE FOR P E R S O N A L APPAREL ERTY O F P A T R O N S UNLESS PROPERLY C H E C K E D W I T H THE THEATRE

OR PROPATTENDANT

LEMPI

Played

ILMA

.

"

"

PHOTOGRAPHER

.

"

"

PHOTOGRAPHER

.

"

"

by

PHYLLIS THAXTER CHARVA

CHESTER

RALPH

NELSON

ROBERT DOWNING

SCENES

A C T I. Living-room of the Valkonens' house in Helsinki. Early in October, 1938, (INTERMISSION—FIVE MINUTES)

A C T II. Scene 1 . The same. Late in November, 1939. Scene 2. The same. The next day. Scene 3. The same. January 1, 1940. ( I N T E R M I S S I O N — T E N MINUTES)

A C T III. Scene 1. Dave Corween's rooms in the Hotel Kamp, in Helsinki. Late in February. Scene 2. Classroom in a schoolhouse near Viipuri Bay. A few days later. Scene 3. The Valkonens* living-room. A few days later.

Scenery constructed by Τ. B. MacDonald, painted by the Triangle Scenic Studio. Lighting equipment from Century Lighting Company. Uniforms by Eaves Costume Company. Shoes by I. Miller. Hosiery by Jessie Zimmer. Draperies by I. Weiss & Sons, Inc. Properties by Gebhardt Studios. Equipment through the courtesy of the Columbia Broadcasting Company. Lighting fixtures by Knickerbocker. Musical arrangements by Herbert Kingsley and Joseph Moon. Research through cooperation of the Finnish Information Bureau. Corona Zephyr Typewriter used. EXECUTIVE STAFF

Business Manager Press Representative Company Manager Stage Manager

Vietor Samrock William Fields Lawrence Farrell Charva Chester

j R.J^^g

Assistant S t . g . M . n . g . r . Stage Carpenter Property Man Electrician Assistant Electrician Wardrobe Mistress

James Greig Fred Welters Ernest Smith Edward Kett Anna Fayhin

This play is owned and controlled by the Playwrights' Producing Company, Inc. The Alvin Theatre is perfumed with Prince Matchabelli's Potpourri. Air-Conditioned ALVIN THEATRE CORP., O W N E R S A N D MANAGERS Norman Pincus Thomas J . R. Brotherton

General Manager Treasurer

103

1942 AWARD ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE BY T H E ADVISORY BOARD

Since the members of the 1942 Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury in their report declared themselves unable to single out any play performed during the previous season, the Advisory Board accepted the jury's recommendation to give no award in this category.

104

NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD"

Carl W. Ackerman

Columbia University

Sevellon Brown

The Providence

Nicholas M. Butler

Columbia University

Kent Cooper

The Associated Press

Julian Harris

The Atlanta Constitution

Walter M. Harrison

The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City

Arthur M. Howe

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Frank R. Kent

The Baltimore Sun

Arthur Krock

The New York Times

Stuart H. Perry

The Adrian (Mi.) Telegram

Harold S. Pollard

New York World-Telegram

Joseph Pulitzer (II)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

William A. White

Emporia Gazette, Emporia, Ks.

Journal-Bulletin

105

1943

AWARD

ABOUT THE COMEDY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH BY THORNTON N . WILDER

Thornton Niven Wilder (born on April 17, 1897, in Madison, Wi.) studied from 1915 to 1917 at Oberlin College, where he published his first prose pieces in the college's literary magazine. Transferring to Yale University, he contributed short plays, as well as essays, to the Yale Literary Magazine, which in his senior year published serially his first full-length play, The Trumpet Shall Sound. After one year of military service in World War I, he obtained his B.A. degree from Yale in 1920. After his graduation Wilder went to Rome to study archeology. During his year in Italy, he also began writing his first novel, The Cabala. He completed this work while employed as a member of the faculty of a school in New Jersey, where he had taught French since 1921. During a two-year leave of absence for writing and study he worked for his master degree in French literature, awarded by Princeton University in 1926. The following year he published his book The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which won him his first Pulitzer Prize in 1928 in the novel category. The same year the author started his first cross-country lecture tour of the United States and published The Angel That Troubled the Waters, a three-minute plays collection. From 1930 to 1936 he held the post of lecturer in comparative literature at the University of Chicago but was free the Lawrenceville School in Lawrencevilleto devote half the year to writing. During that time a volume of Wilder's six plays, titled The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays in One Act, appeared. The experimental devices of Wilder's short plays anticipated those of his first major work, Our Town, which won him the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for drama. It was followed by The Merchant of Yonkers, A Farce in Four Acts and The Skin of Our Teeth, for which Thornton N. Wilder was granted his second Pulitzer drama award in 1943.

106

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE The Skin of Our Teeth represents, in the words of Edwin Bronner, a "seriocomic tribute to the indestructibility of the human race. The play traces the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus, their son, daughter, and servant Sabina from the dawn of history to the present. A New Jersey couple, Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus have been married five thousand years. Through pestilence, flood, and war, these durable optimists manage again and again to survive by the skin of their teeth. Jumbling time and space, this... comedy abounds in deliberate anachronisms. At one point a baby dinosaur seeks shelter from the Ice Age in the Antrobus living room while a Western Union messenger delivers a singing telegram." The first New York production of The Skin of Our Teeth opened at the Plymouth Theatre on November 18, 1942. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Florence Eldridge, Frances Heflin, Fredric March and Tallulah Bankhead

107

THE PLYMOUTH THEATRE η

η

μ

β

β

μ

β

μ

η

^

Η

PLYMOUTH THEATRE C O R P O R A T I O N

«

W

W

H

F I R E N O T I C E : The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire please do not r u n — W A L K T O T H A T EXIT. Patrick Walsh, Fire Commissioner and C h i e f of Department

E M E R G E N C Y N O T I C E : In the event of an alert, remain in your seats. A competent staff has been trained for this emergency. K e e p calm. You will receive information and instructions from the stage. F. H . La G U A R D I A , M a y o r

It is urged for the comfort and safety of all, that theatre patrons refrain from lighting matches in this theatre. THE

·

PLAYBILL

·

A

·

WEEKLY

W e e k beginning Sunday, January 24, I943

·

PUBLICATION

·

OF

• PLAYBILL

·

·

INCORPORATED

Matinees W e d n e s d a y and Saturday

MICHAEL MYERBERG Presents

TALLULAH

FREDRIC

BANKHEAD

FLORENCE

MARCH

ELDRIDGE

in

THE

SKIN

OF

OUR

TEETH

A New Comedy By THORNTON WILDER with α company of forty and FLORENCE

REED

Directed by

ELIA KAZAN

Settings by

ALBERT JOHNSON

Costumes by Mary Percy Schenclc

CAST (In the O r d e r of Their A p p e a r a n c e )

ANNOUNCER SABINA MR. FITZPATRICK MRS. ANTROBUS DINOSAUR MAMMOTH TELEGRAPH BOY GLADYS HENRY MR. ANTROBUS

BLAIR DAVIES TALLULAH BANKHEAD E. G. MARSHALL FLORENCE ELDRIDGE REMO BUFANO ANDREW RATOUSHEFF DICKIE VAN PATTEN FRANCES HEFLIN MONTGOMERY CLIFT FREDRIC M A R C H

108 DOCTOR PROFESSOR JUDGE HOMER M I S S E. MUSE M I S S T. MUSE M I S S M. M U S E USHER USHER GIRL Ϊ r* > ι · .. GIRL J D r u m M a l ° r e t t e s FORTUNE TELLER C H A I R PUSHER C H A I R PUSHER CONVEENER CONVEENER CONVEENER CONVEENER CONVEENER BROADCAST OFFICIAL DEFEATED C A N D I D A T E MR. TREMAYNE HESTER

ARTHUR G R I S S I N R A L P H KELLARD J O S E P H SMILEY RALPH CULLINAN EDITH F A V E R S H A M EMILY L O R R A I N E EVA M U D G E N E L S O N STANLEY PRAGER HARRY CLARK ( ELIZABETH S C O T T I PATRICIA R I O R D A N FLORENCE REED EARL S Y D N O R CARROLL CLARK STANLEY WEEDE S E U M A S FLYNN AUBREY FASSETT STANLEY PRAGER HARRY CLARK BLAIR DAVIES J O S E P H SMILEY RALPH KELLARD EULABELLE M O O R E VIOLA DEAN STANLEY PRAGER

FRED BAILEY!

ACT I. Home, Excelsior, New Jersey. 4 C T II. Atlantic City Boardwalk. ACT III. Home, Excelsior, New Jersey. CREDITS Costumes from Brooks Costume C o . Dinosaur and M a m m o t h costumes and special properties designed and executed by Remo Buffano. Scenery built and painted by Studio Alliance, Inc. Electrical equipment from Duwico. W o m e n ' s shoes by I. Miller & Sons. STAFF FOR MR.

MYERBERS

General M a n a g e r

Ben F. Stein

Press Representative,

J . . ^ . r d M.n.y I John Latham Toohey B. D. Kranz Stanley Prager Julius Gazverde John Tweedle Α . V. Rymslci Nellie Miller

Γ

Stage Manager Assistant Stage M a n a g e r Carpenter Electrician Assistant Electrician W a r d r o b e Mistress H o u s e Physician, Dr. H . A . Coveler.

109

1944 a AWARD ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE BY THE ADVISORY BOARD

Although the members of the 1944 Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury in their report mentioned several plays of the previous season as worthy to receive the prize, the Advisory Board decided to give no award in this category and, at the same time, gave a special award to the musical Oklahoma!

110

NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD"

Carl W. Ackerman

Columbia University

Sevellon Brown

The Providence Journal-Bulletin

Nicholas M. Butler

Columbia University

Robert Choate

The Boston Herald

Kent Cooper

The Associated Press

Walter M. Harrison

The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City

Arthur M. Howe

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Frank R. Kent

The Baltimore Sun

John S. Knight

Knight Newspapers, Inc.

Arthur Krock

The New York Times

William R. Mathews

The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson

Stuart H. Perry

The Adrian (Mi.) Telegram

Harold S. Pollard

New York World-Telegram

Joseph Pulitzer (II)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Roy A. Roberts

Kansas City Star

111

1 9 4 4 b SPECIAL AWARD ABOUT THE MUSICAL OKLAHOMA! BY RICHARD RODGERS / OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II

Richard Rodgers (born on June 28, 1902, in New York City) attended Columbia College, where he submitted the winning score for the annual varsity show, Fly With Me, thus becoming the first freshman ever to be so honored. Leaving Columbia at the end of his sophomore year, Rodgers worked on a few productions but since work in the theater was difficult to find, he began a two-year study of music at the Institute of Musical Art in 1920. There he was assigned to write the annual show. The employment situation unimproved after two years, he began - together with Lorenz Hart, a Columbia graduate, - to put on a number of amateur productions for schools, churches, and synagogues, and the two collaborators^ work developed quite successfully. Besides composing, Rodgers was also interested in other aspects of theater as his commitments as coauthor and coproducer of several productions show. In the early 1940s he began to collaborate with Oscar Hammerstein. From their first joint effort came the folk operetta Oklahoma! - Oscar Hammerstein II (born on July 12, 1895, in New York City) received his preparatory education at the Hamilton Institute of his hometown between 1904 and 1912. Four years later, in 1916, he obtained his A.B. degree from Columbia University. Hammerstein wrote in collaboration with other authors books and lyrics of many musical plays including Wildflower, New Moon; Sweet Adeline, and Music in the Air. Together with Richard Rodgers Oscar Hammerstein Π collaborated on Oklahoma! In 1944 the musical won the Donaldson Award and a Special Pulitzer Prize for drama.

112

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Oklahoma!, as The Oxford Companion to American Theatre puts it, shows "Curly, a handsome young cowboy, (who) comes to ask Laurey to ride with him... to the local box social. Since the pair has been quarreling Curly is not surprised to learn that Laurey may go with someone else,... Jud Fry, a farmhand for Laurey's Aunt Eller... At the social Curly outbids Jud for Laurey's box lunch... When the men do fight later, Curly kills Jud. Curly is acquitted in time for Laurey and him to ride off their honeymoon, while all their neighbors celebrate the joy of living in Oklahoma." The first New York production of Oklahoma! opened at the St. James Theatre on March 31, 1943. Following are two scene photos together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Joseph Buloff, Celeste Holm and Ralph Riggs

113

ST. JAMES THEATRE

^ m ^ ^ m ^ ^ m m ^ ^ ^ m m m S E L E C T

THEATRES

C O R P O R A T I O N β · ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ™ · ™ · · ^ ™ · ™ F IRE N O T I . " : T. he « i » i n d i e , f , d ί r T. d ψ *ndf «,ςη n . 4 r . , t to t h . you oeeupy .. t h . . h o r t . , t rout· to the street. In the event of f i r · please , . W A I V Τ Λ T U A R CVIT do not run—«WALK T O T H A T EXIT. ι l t· /B . . . w Patrick Walsh, Fire Commissioner and C h i . » of D . p . r t m . n t

EMERGENCY N O T I C E : In t h . . v . n t of . n . l . r t , remain in your , « t , . A c o mrp . t . n t staff h . • . Φ i t Η· > u been trained for this emergency. Keep calm. ν «ι· j · χ χ» t Tou will receive information and instructions from 11 * c u ι r t i A D n u >i t h . stage. F. H . L . S U A R D I A , Mayor

It is urged for the comfort and safety of all, that theatre patrons refrain from lighting matches in this theatre. THE

·

PLAYBILL

·

A

·

WEEKLY

·

PUBLICATION

Week beginning Sunday, July I I , 1943

·

OF

·

PLAYBILL

·

·

INCORPORATED

Matinees Thursday and Saturday

THE THEATRE GUILD presents

OKLAHOMA! A Musical Play Based on the play " G r e e n Grow the Lilacs" by Lynn Riggs

Music by RICHARD RODGERS Book and Lyrics by OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN 2d Production directed by ROUBEN MAMOULIAN Dances by AGNES de MILLE

Settings by

Costum.s by

LEMUEL AYERS

MILES

WHITE

With

BETTY G A R D E LEE D I X O N

ALFRED DRAKE H O W A R D da SILVA M A R C PLATT

JOSEPH BULOFF CELESTE H O L M

J O A N ROBERTS RALPH RIGGS

K A T H A R I N E SERGAVA

Orchestra directed by Jacob Schwartzdorf Orchestrations by Russell Bennett Production under the supervision of Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner

CAST (In Order of Appearance)

AUNT ELLER CURLY LAUREY IKE SKIDMORE

BETTY GARDE ALFRED DRAKE JOAN ROBERTS BARRY KELLEY

> > Because of governmental restrictions, The Playbill, in common with all publications, will have t o curtail its consumption of paper. During this emergency it will not be possible t o furnish a copy of The Playbill to every person. W i t h your cooperation this regulation can be met without hardship if you will share your copy of The Playbill with your companion.

114

Alfred Drake and Howard da Silva

115 FRED SLIM W I L L PARKER JUD FRY ADO ANNIE CARNES ALI HAKIM GERTIE C U M M I N G S ELLEN KATE SYLVIE ARMINA AGGIE ANDREW CARNES C O R D ELAM JESS CHALMERS MIKE JOE SAM

EDWIN CLAY HERBERT R I S S M A N LEE D I X O N H O W A R D da SILVA CELESTE H O L M J O S E P H BULOFF JANE LAWRENCE KATHARINE SERGAVA ELLEN LOVE JOAN MeCRACKEN KATE FRIEDLICH B A M B I LINN RALPH RIGGS OWEN MARTIN VLADIMIR K O S T E N K O M A R C PLATT PAUL SHIERS HAROLD GORDON HAYES GORDON

TIME: Just After the Tarn of the Century. PLACE: Indian Territory iNow Oklahoma I ACT I. Scene I. The Front of Laiirey's Farm House. Scene 2. The Smoke House. Scene 3. A Grove on Laurey's Farm. ACT II. Scene I. The Skidmore Ranch. Scene 2. Skidmore's Kitchen Porch. Scene 3. The Back of Laurey's Farm House.

MUSICAL NUMBERS ACT I. Scene I Oh, W h a t a Beautiful Mornin' Curly The Surrey with the Fringe on the Top Curly, Laurey, Aunt Eller Kansas City Will, Aunt Eller and the Boys I Cain't Say N o A d o Annie Many a New Day Laurey and the Girls Danced by Joan McCracken (The Girl W h o Falls Down), Kate Friedlich and Katharine Sergava It's a Scandal I It's an Outrage I Ali Hakim and the Boys and Girls People Will Say Curly and Laurey

Scene 2 Pore Jud Lonely Room

Curly and Jud Jud

116 Scene 3 Out of My Dreams

Laurey and the Girls Laurey Makes Up Her Mind Danced by: Katharine Sergava as Laurey, Marc Piatt as Curly, Vladimir Kostenko as Jud, Bambi Linn as the Child. Jud's Post Cards: Joan McCracken, Vivian Smith and Margit DeKova. Laurey's Friends: Rhoda Hoffman, Rosemary Schaeffer, Nona Feid, Maria Harriton, Diana Adams, Billie Zay. Cowboys: Gary Fleming, Eric Kristen, Jack Dunphy, Leif Argo, Kenneth LeRov, Eddie Howland, Kenneth Buffet. Other Post Cards: Bobby Barrentine and Kirsten Valbor.

ACT II. Scene I The Farmer and the Cowman

All er Nothin'

Sung by Carnes, Aunt Eller, Curly, Will, A d o Annie, Fred and Ensemble Danced by: Marc Piatt

A d o Annie and Will Danced by Joan McCracken and Margit DeKova Scene 2

Reprise: People Will Say

Curly and Laurey

Oklahoma

Curly, Laurey, Aunt Eller, Ike, Fred and Ensemble

Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin" Finale

Laurey, Curly and Ensemble Ensemble

Singers: Joseph Cunneff, Edwin Clay, Hayes Gordon, George Irving, Arthur Ulisse, Herbert Rissman, Paul Shiers, Robert Penn. Elsie Arnold, Harvey Brown, Suzanne Lloyd, Ellen Love, Dorothea MacFarland, Virginia Oswald, Faye Smith, Vivienne Simon. Dancers: Kenneth Buffet, Jack Dunphy, Gary Fleming, Eddie Howland, Leif Argo, Eric Kristen, Kenneth LeRoy. Diana Adams, Margit DeKova, Bobby Barrentine, Nona Feid, Rhoda Hoffman, Maria Harriton, Bambi Linn, Joan McCracken, Vivian Smith, Billie Zay. FOR THE THEATRE ©UILD, INC. Production Manager S t a g · Manager Company Manager Pre·· Representative Orchestra Contractor Assistant Stage Manager Wardrobe Mistress Master Electrician Master Carpenter Master of Properties

John Haggott J a r o m · Whyta Max A . Mayor Joseph Heidt Sol Guslkoff Elaine Anderson Hallye Clogg Fred Leturmey Abe Kurnit Marty Fontana House Physician, Dr. H . A . Coveler.

The Deodorizing Air Purifiers and the Creco Liquid Soap Dispensing System used in this thi manufactured by the Creco Company, Inc.

117

1945

AWARD

ABOUT THE

COMEDY

HARVEY BY MARY C. CHASE

Mary Coyle Chase (born on February 25, 1907, in Denver, Co.) became interested in the theater at the age of eleven. At that period she would play truant from school in order to attend a matinee at a Denver theater. In 1922 she graduated from the West Denver High School and entered the University of Denver, where she remained two and a half years before she went to Boulder to attend the University of Colorado. During summer vacation she served her apprenticeship as a reporter on the Rocky Mountain News, without getting payed. At the end of a year at Colorado the playwright, who had completed a major in the classics in two years, gave up her formal schooling to accept a reporter's job on the News, this time with salary. On her job she met Robert L. Chase, also a reporter on the News staff. After the couple's marriage, Mary Chase departed from the paper, which provided her with the time for a number of various activities. She aided in forming a chapter of the American Newspaper Guild, handled publicity for a Government project of the depression period, and fought for the rights of the Spanish-Americans in Denver. In addition she spent a lot of time on her special interest - writing plays. Her first play, Me Third, was a comedy concerned with a Western politician. Among the plays that Chase wrote after that political satire were The Banshee and Harvey. The latter made Mary C. Chase the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1945.

118

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Harvey is a play about "Elwood P. Dowd, a friendly tippler who... befriends Harvey, a six-feet, one-and-a-quarter-inches-tall rabbit, who is leaning against a lamppost when he first meets him. Harvey is technically a pooka, a creature from Celtic mythology," Samuel L. Leiter tells the background and adds: "Elwood brings the wise and kindly rabbit home, becomes his inseparable companion, and even has a portrait painted of themselves together. Because only Elwood can see Harvey, a number of complications develop;... especially when a place must be set for him at table, or when Elwood introduces his friend to the ladies attending a reception given in the house." The first New York production of Harvey opened at the Forty-Eighth Street Theatre on November 1, 1944. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Jesse White, Frank Fay, Tom Seidel and Janet Tyler

119

FORTY-EIGHTH STREET THEATRE n, , lL L ι ι , E M E R G E N C Y N O T I C E : In the event of « «lert. remain in your .eat». A competent »taff has been trained for this emergency. Keep calm. You will receive information and instruction, from the stage. F. H . La S U A R D I A , M a y o r

F I R E N O T I C E : The e«it indicated by a red light and nearest to the , „ t o c c u p i t t h . ,K o r terf ,„ t h e e v , n t o f fir. p | „ „ rff > Because of governmental restrictions, The Playbill, in common with all publications, will have to curtail its consumption of paper. During this emergency it will not be possible to furnish a copy of The Playbill to every person. W i t h your cooperation this regulation can be met without hardship if you will share your copy of The Playbill with your companion.

120 DUANE W I L S O N

JESSE W H I T E

L Y M A N S A N D E R S O N , M.D

T O M SEIDEL

W I L L I A M R. C H U M L E Y . M.D

FRED I R V I N G LEWIS

BETTY C H U M L E Y

DORA CLEMENT

J U D G E O M A R GAFFNEY

J O H N KIRK

E. J. L O F G R E N

ROBERT G I S T SCENE

SYNOPSIS

The action of the play takes place in a city in the Far West in the library of the old Dowd family mansion and the reception room of Chumley's

Rest.

Time: The present. ACT

I.

Scene 1: The library, late afternoon. Scene 2: Chumley's Rest, an hour later. ACT Scene

II.

1: The library, an hour later.

Scene 2: Chumley's Rest, four hours later. ACT

III.

Chumley's Rest, a few minutes later.

CREDITS A l l gowns by Kraus G o w n s . H a t s by W a l t e r Florell. M r s . Hull's hats by J a y Thorpe. Coiffures by Lura d e G e l . Jewelry by Lambert Bros. W a t c h e s by Bulova. Bags by W e i l l y . H o s i e r y by Jessie Zimmer. S e t t i n g s built by M a r t i n Turner S c e n i c Construction C o . Painted by Robert W . B e r g m a n Studios. Electric e q u i p m e n t by Duwico. Beverages by Park & Tilford Import C o r p . M u s i c by M a u r i c e Nitke Ensemble. STAFF FOR MR. PEMBERTON G e n e r a l M a n a g e r and Press Representative Office M a n a g e r Company Manager Stage Manager Assistant S t a g e M a n a g e r P r o d u c t i o n Electrician

Thomas Kilpatrick H e l e n Reilly C l a r e n c e Taylor Bradford H a t t o n Robert Gist W i l l i a m H . Davis

S T A F F F O R 48th STREET Manager Treasurer Assistant Treasurer

Saul La η court Julius Specter Harry Goldhardt

THEATRE

Carpenter Property M a n Electrician

C l y d e Smith M a c k Landsman Louis Saltiman

H o u s e Physician, Dr. H . A . Coveler. The D e o d o r i z i n g A i r Purifiers and the C r e e o Liquid S o a p Dispensing System used in this theatre are manufactured by the C r e c o C o m p a n y .

121

1946

AWARD

ABOUT THE COMEDY STATE OF THE UNION BY RUSSEL CROUSE / HOWARD LINDSAY

Russel Crouse (born on February 20, 1893, in Findlay, Oh.) was educated in public schools. In 1910 he started to work as a reporter for the Cincinnati Commercial-Tribune, but switched to the Kansas City Star the following year, where he worked as a reporter and sports columnist during the next five years. In 1917 he accepted a post as a political reporter on the Cincinnati Post. Another newspaper Crouse worked for as a reporter was the New York Evening Post, where he was also columnist between 1925 and 1931. In addition to his work for the press Crouse showed also interest in writing for the theatre. Many of the plays Crouse has worked on in the course of his career were written in collaboration with Howard Lindsay. Among others the playwrights worked together on State of the Union. - Howard Lindsay (born on March 29, 1889, in Waterford, N.Y.) graduated from Boston Latin School in 1907. Thereafter he attended Harvard University for one year. He began his career with the theatre as an actor in the play Polly of the Circus in 1909. Later on he became stage director and playwright. Among the numerous plays he wrote in the course of his career were Tommy, Your Uncle Dudley, and Oh Promise Me. All these plays were written in collaboration with Bertrand Robinson. Lindsay also collaborated with other authors. Several plays resulted from the collaboration with Russel Crouse. The two playwrights first worked on Anything Goes. It was followed, among others, by Red, Hot and Blue, and State of the Union, for which Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay earned the Pulitzer Drama award in 1946.

122

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE State of the Union is the story "about Grant Matthews, a well-to-do idealistic airplane manufacturer, married to the cynically amusing Mary Matthews, from whom he is estranged," Samuel L. Leiter explains. "His mistress is a powerful newspaper publisher, Kay Thorndyke... She uses her persuasive powers to get the Republican party interested in him as a potential 1948 presidential candidate... The party bigwigs insist that he make his speaking tour with his wife... Grant realizes that to gain the nomination, he will have to make too many compromises and too many deals; he thereby loses the presidential bid. He and Mary are reconciled, and Grant promises to fight for his ideals and the 'state of the union.'" The first New York production of State of the Onion opened at the Hudson Theatre on November 14, 1945. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Ralph Bellamy and Ruth Hussey

123

HUDSON — ι ^ Μ ^ · · —

THEATRE

UNDER THE D I R E C T I O N O F H O W A R D L I N D S A Y & RÜSSEL C R O U S E

F I R E N O T I C E : The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire please do not r u n — W A L K T O T H A T EXIT. Patrick Walsh, Fire Commissioner and C h i e f of Department THE

·

PLAYBILL

·

A

·

WEEKLY

·

W e e k beginning Sunday. December 23, I945

«

m

h

m

PUBLICATION

·

OF

·

e

PLAYBILL

·

Matinees W e d n e s d a y and Saturday

presents

RALPH BELLAMY and RUTH HUSSEY in

OF THE

UNION

A N e w C o m e d y by

HOWARD LINDSAY and RUSSEL CROUSE with

Myron McCormick

Minor Watson S t a g e d by B R E T A I G N E Settings by R A Y M O N D

Kay Johnson

WINDUST SOVEY

Gowns by H A T T I E C A R N E G I E

CAST ( I n the order in which they speak)

JAMES CONOVER SPIKE McMANUS KAY THORNDYKE GRANT MATTHEWS NORAH MARY MATTHEWS

MINOR WATSON MYRON MeCORMICK KAY JOHNSON RALPH BELLAMY HELEN RAY RUTH HUSSEY

STEVENS

JOHN ROWE

BELLBOY

HOWARD GRAHAM

WAITER SAM PARRISH

ROBERT TOMS HERBERT HEYES

The M a n a g e m e n t is not responsible for personal apparel or property of patrons unless properly cheeked with the theatre attendant. Patrons a r · advised to take their coats and wraps with them whenever thev leave their statt.

»

INCORPORATED

LELAND HAYWARD

STATE

m

Thoughtless persons annoy patrons and distract actors and endanger the safety of others by lighting matches during the.performance and intermissions. This violates a city or· dinance and renders the offender liable to a summons from the fireman on duty. It is urged that all patrons refrain from lighting matches in the auditorium of this theatre.

124 SWENSON

FRED AYRES COTTON

JUDGE JEFFERSON DAVIS ALEXANDER. .G. ALBERT SMITH MRS. ALEXANDER

MAIDEL TURNER

JENNIE

MADELINE KING

MRS. DRAPER WILLIAM HARDY

ALINE McDERMOTT VICTOR SUTHERLAND

SENATOR LAUTERBACK

GEORGE LESSEY

SYNOPSIS

OF

SCENES

Time: The present. ACT I. Scene 7. The study in James Conover's home in Washington, D. C. Scene 2. A bedroom in the Conover home. The following evening. ACT

II.

The living-room of a suite in the Book-Cadillac Hotel, Detroit. Several weeks later. ACT III. Scene 7. The living-room of the Matthews' apartment in New York. Two weeks later. Scene 2. The same. An hour later. C o s t u m e supervision by Emeiine Roche.

CREDITS Scenery constructed by Τ. B. M c D o n a l d Construction C o m p a n y ; painted by the Robert W . B e r g m a n Studio. Electric equipment from C e n t u r y Lighting, Inc. M i s s Johnson's fur piece furnished by J a e c k e l & C o . Bags from C o b l e n t i Bag C o . ; M o n o c r a f t initials. Jewelry from C o r o Inc. L u g g a g e from Dale Fifth A v e . M i s s H u s s e y ' s and M i s s J o h n s o n ' s coiffures by Antoine, Saks Fifth A v e n u e . Wrist-watches by Bulova W a t c h C o . Flowers from G e n e r a l Flower Decorating C o . Silver from H e n r y N o r d , Inc. Draperies by I. W e i s s & Sons. C a r p e t s from the H o t e l & Theatre C a r p e t C o . Stockings by Jessie Z i m mer. M i s s Hussey's portrait painted by S a m W a r s h a u e r . Fabrics used in the Book-Cadillac scene furnished by G o o d a l l Fabrics C o . M a k e - u p , cosmetics a n d colognes by C h a r l e s of the Ritx. Somerset Importers products used. R o o m Service Table furnished by Sterno C o r p o r a t i o n . The m a n a g e m e n t wishes to thank the Book-Cadillac Hotel, Detroit, for its help in making the scene which is laid in that hotel authentic.

STAFF FOR L E L A N D

HAYWARD

General Manager

Herman

Press Representative,

{

Bernstein

Business M a n a g e r G e n e r a l S t a g e Director Stage Manager Assistant S t a g e M a n a g e r Production Assistant

H a r r y Essex Walter Waaner Victor Sutherland Howard Graham Sallie C h a s e

T h * Deodorizing A i r Purifiers and the C r e c o Liquid S o a p Dispensing S y s t e m used I n this theatre are manufactured by the C r e c o C o m p a n y .

125

1947 AWARD ABOUT THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE DRAMA PRIZE BY THE ADVISORY BOARD

Although the members of the 1947 Pulitzer Prize Drama Jury in their report mentioned several plays of the previous season as worthy to receive the prize, the Advisory Board decided to give no award in this category.

126

NAMES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS VOTING FOR "NO AWARD"

Carl W. Ackerman

Columbia University

Sevellon Brown

The Providence Journal-Bulletin

Robert Choate

The Boston Herald

Kent Cooper

The Associated Press

Gardner Cowles Jr.

The Des Moines Register & Tribune

Frank D. Fackenthal

Columbia University

Palmer Hoyt

The Denver Post

Frank R. Kent

The Baltimore Sun

John S. Knight

Knight Newspapers, Inc.

Arthur Krock

The New York Times

William R. Mathews

The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson

Stuart H. Perry

The Adrian (Mi.) Telegram

Harold S. Pollard

New York World-Telegram

Joseph Pulitzer (II)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

127

1948

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Tennessee Williams (born as Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Ms.) attended Eugene Field public school in St. Louis, where his family had moved when he was about twelve years old. He discovered his interest in writing early on. His first published short story, "The Vengeance of Nitocris", appeared in the August 1928 issue of Weird Tales. In 1931 he entered the University of Missouri, where he spent most of his time writing. In 1933, he withdrew from college, and during the next two years he worked all day at routine employment and stayed awake in the small hours of the night, with the help of black coffee, writing short stories. To recover from a nervous breakdown, he quit his job, traveled about but continued to write. In 1936-37 he attended the University of Washington, and then studied for a year at the University of Iowa, which awarded him the B.A. degree in 1938. A few of his plays were produced by little theatres and community dramatic groups. His work was also recognized by a Rockefeller fellowship, which subsidized him for a while. In 1942 MGM signed him to a six-month contract in Hollywood as a scriptwriter. There, he outlined the plot of a screenplay entitled The Gentleman Caller, but the studio rejected his script and decided against renewing his contract. So he was left free to transform his script into The Glass Menagerie in 1945. The New York Drama Critics' Circle awarded the piece the prize for the best play of the year. It also won the Donaldson Award and the Sidney Howard Memorial Award. Two years later his play A Streetcar Named Desire gained Tennessee Williams the Pulitzer Drama award in 1948.

128

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE A Streetcar Named Desire is described by Samuel L. Leiter as follows: "Stanley... and Stella are deeply in love, but their lives are disrupted by the arrival of Stella's frail, neurotic, guilt-ridden, and alcoholic older sister Blanche, who moves in with the couple... Blanche, formerly a Mississippi schoolteacher, is a compulsive dreamer and self-dramatizer ... and seriously annoys Stanley with her refined attitudes and delusions of grandeur... While Stella is in the hospital giving birth, Stanley and Blanche confront one another, she fabricating a tale about an admirer she dreams of... The scene ends with Blanche being raped by Stanley. When Stella returns, she cannot believe Blanche's story. A doctor and matron from a mental institution come for Blanche and take her away." The first New York production of A Streetcar Named Desire opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on December 3, 1947. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Marlon Brando, Nick Dennis, Rudy Bond and Karl Maiden

129

Stiel

Έ>&νιψΡίΑη€ Jfceatne Barrymni^ Theaire Corporation

F I R E N O T I C E : The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to t h · seat you occupy is the «hortest route to the street, in the event of fire please do not r u n — W A L K T O T H A T EXIT. Frank J. Quayle, FIRE C O M M I S S I O N E R THE

·

PLAYBILL

• A

·

WEEKLY

·

• • —•

Thoughtless persons annoy patrons and distract actors and endanger the safety of others by lighting matches during the performance.

Lighting of matches in theatres

dur·

ing the performance or at intermissions violates a

city

ordinance and renders the offender liable to a summons.

PUBLICATION

W e e k beginning M o n d a y , January 26, I948

·

OF

·

PLAYBILL

e

·

INCORPORATED

M a t i n e e s W e d n e s d a y and Saturday

IRENE M. SELZNICK presents

ELIA KAZAN'S PRODUCTION OF

A

STREETCAR

NAMED

DESIRE

by

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS Directed by MR. KAZAN with

JESSICA TANDY Marlon Brando

Kim Hunter

Karl Maiden

Scenery and Lighting by

C o s t u m e s D e s i g n e d by

J o Mielziner

Lucinda Ballard

"And so it was I entered the broken world To trace the visionary company of lore, its voice An instant in the wind (I know not whither hurled) But not for long to hold each desperate choice." —The Broken Tower by Hart Crane

C>iST (In order of a p p e a r a n c e )

NEGRO W O M A N

GEE GEE JAMES

EUNICE HUBBEL

PEG HILLIAS

STANLEY KOWALSKI HAROLD MITCHELL (MITCH) STELLA KOWALSKI STEVE HUBBEL

MARLON BRANDO KARL MALDEN KIM HUNTER RUDY BOND

130 BLANCHE DU BOIS

JESSICA TANDY

PABLO GONZALES

NICK DENNIS

A YOUNG COLLECTOR

VITO CHRISTI

MEXICAN WOMAN

EDNA THOMAS

A STRANGE WOMAN A STRANGE MAN

ANN DERE RICHARD GARRICK

Habitues of the Quarter The action of the play takes place in the Spring, Summer and early Fall in New Orleans. During the play the lights will be lowered to indicate the passing of time. There will be a ten minute intermission after the fourth scene and a five minute intermission after the sixth scene. Assistant to the Producer

IRVING

Musical Adviser

SCHNEIDER

LEHMAN

Assistant Designers to Mr. Mielziner

ENGEL

John Harvey, Arthur H . Ross

Assistant Designer to Mrs. Ballard

Ellen Freeman

Atmospheric Music Played by Eddie Barefield, John Mehegan, Denny Strong, Dick Vance and M a x Marlin Author's Representative Liebling-Wood Scenery built and painted by Studio Alliance. Screen coverings and gauze by I. Weiss & Sons. Costume fabrics by Dazian's, Inc. and Gladstone. Electrical equipment by Century Lighting, Inc. Lighting fixtures by City Knickerbocker Lighting C o . Sound equipment by Sound Associates. Furniture by Newell Art Galleries. Properties by Joe & Henry Studio. Costumes executed by Eaves Costume Co. Miss Tandy's shoes by Delman. Flower and party decorations by Universal Flower C o . Stockings by Jessie Zimmer. Jazz musicians assembled by George Avakian. STAFF F O R M R S . S E L Z N I C K Company Manager M a x Siegel Assistant Electrician Press Representative Ben Kornxweig Assistant Electrician Production Stage Manager Robert Downing Assistant Electrician Stage Managers.. .Clinton Wilder, Joanne Albus Master Carpenter Production Secretary M a y Boehlert Master of Properties Master Electrician John W . Davis Wardrobe Mistress

Frank Errico Arthur T. Minor E u g e n · Granate Edmund Doremus M o e Jacobs Mete Klinge

House Physician, Dr. H . A . Coveler. The Deodorizing Air Purifiers and the Creco Liquid Soap Dispensing System used in this theatre ere manufactured by the Creco Company. The Management is not responsible for personal apparel or property of pa· trons unless properly checked with the theatre ettendant. Patrons are ad· vised to take their coats and wraps with them whenever they leave their seats.

131

1949

AWARD

ABOUT THE PLAY DEATH OF A SALESMAN BY ARTHUR MILLER

Arthur Miller (born on October 17, 1915, in Harlem, N.Y.) first went to school in Harlem and later attended high schools in Brooklyn. He did not discover his literary aspiration until after his graduation from high school. At that time he made up his mind to study in the Department of Drama at the University of Michigan but he was not able to pay his tuition. For that reason he worked for two years, saving future tuition money out of every paycheck. At first he briefly worked for his father, a clothing manufacturer, and then as a shipping clerk in an automobile parts warehouse. In 1934 Miller finally gained admittance to the University of Michigan, where he concentrated on playwriting. After his savings ran out, he supported himself by washing dishes, serving as night editor of the Michigan Daily, and winning several substantial playwriting prizes. In 1938 Miller took his B.A. degree in English and returned to New York as a writer in the Federal Theatre Project. In the early years of World War II the playwright wrote radio dramas for the network programs Columbia Workshop (CBS) and Cavalcade of America (NBC) while working part-time as a truck driver and steamfitter in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Miller also gathered material about Army camps, and the best of it was published under the title Situation Normal in 1944. The following year the same publishing house issued the only novel Miller has written, Focus. Miller's first Broadway effort, The Man Who Had All the Luck, was not very fortunate, but his next play, All My Sons, was a success with public and critics and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. It was followed by Death of a Salesman, which brought Arthur Miller another New York Drama Critics' Circle Award of 1949 as well as the same year's Pulitzer Prize in drama.

132

THE WORK AND ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE Death of a Salesman, according to Edwin Bronner, tells "two days in the life of Willy Loman, an aging traveling salesman 'riding on a smile and a shoeshine' in futile pursuit of the American Dream of success. After thirty-six years of struggle and worry, Willy is coming up empty. Unbidden memories - ranging over years of self-deception and despair - return to haunt him as his energies wane and his mind begins to crack. Moving relentlessly to its inevitable conclusion, the play ends with the suicide of this back-slapping mediocrity. In the elegiac final scene, Willy's wife underscores the tragedy implicit in the destruction of this seemingly unimportant little man."

The first New York production of Death of a Salesman opened at the Morosco Theatre on February 10, 1949. Following are a scene photo together with main portions of the program containing the original cast:

Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock

133

((»•rated bv Cit? Plirbouin I nr.

Leuia A. Lotilo, Pr««i