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David Belasco
David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of many actors, including James O'Neill, Mary Pickford, Lenore Ulric, and Barbara Stanwyck. Belasco pioneered many innovative new forms of stage lighting and special effects in order to create realism and naturalism.Osnes, Beth, and Gill, Sam. ''Acting: An International Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO (2001) p. 34Marker, Lise-Lone, ''David Belasco: Naturalism in the American Theater'', Princeton Univ. Press (1975) Early years David Belasco was born in 1853 in San Francisco, California, the son of Abraham H. Belasco (1830–1911) and Reyna Belasco (née Nunes, 1830–1899), Sephardic Jews who had immigrated to the United States from London's Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community during the California Gold Rush. He began working as a youth in a San ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David James (actor, Born 1839)
David James (born David Belasco; 1839 – 2 October 1893) was an English comic actor and one of the founders of London's Vaudeville Theatre. He was born in London to a family of Sephardic Jewish origin. He made his stage debut as a child actor at the Princess's Theatre, London, then managed by Charles Kean. As a young man. he appeared in various burlesques. One of his best roles during that time was as Mercury in Francis Burnand's ''Ixion'', which he performed in its 1863 premiere at the Royalty Theatre.'' Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906)"James, David (David Belasco" Retrieved 9 February 2014. Rubinstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael; Rubinstein, Hilary L. (2011)''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'' p. 471. Palgrave Macmillan. In 1870 he joined Henry James Montague and Thomas Thorne as the first managers of the newly opened Vaudeville Theatre where his greatest success was as Perkyn Middlewick in Henry James Byron's ''Our Boys'' which opened on 16 January 1875 and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madison Square Theatre
''The Madison Square Theatre'' was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, on the south side of 24th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway (which intersects Fifth Avenue near that point.) It was built in 1863, operated as a theater from 1865 to 1908, and demolished in 1908 to make way for an office building. The Madison Square Theatre was the scene of important developments in stage technology, theatre design, and theatrical tour management. For about half its history it had other names including the Fifth Avenue Theatre, Daly’s Fifth Avenue Theatre, Hoyt’s Madison Square Theatre, and Hoyt’s Theatre. History Merchant and real estate magnate Amos R. Eno leased land next to his Fifth Avenue Hotel in 1862 to James Fisk Jr., who built an after-hours gold trading exchange during the U.S. Civil War. The “ regular stock exchange” found the competition disruptive and soon shut down the operation."Another Disaster.: Total Destruction of the Fifth-Avenue Theatre by Fire," ''The Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Warfield
David Warfield (November 28, 1866 – June 27, 1951) was an American stage actor. Life and career Warfield was born David Wohlfeld in San Francisco, California, to German-Jewish parents, Louise and Sigmund Wohlfeld. His first connection with the theatre was as an usher. He made his first stage appearance in 1888 in '' The Ticket-of-Leave Man''. Two years later he went to New York City, where he appeared at the Casino Theatre and at Weber and Field's Music Hall. In 1901, he was discovered and promoted by David Belasco who starred him in '' The Auctioneer'', in which he played 1,400 times, including a revival that extended over several seasons. He remained under the Belasco management. Although he appeared in many productions, his fortune and success in theater centered on his playing four major roles over a 25-year period: Simon Levi in The Auctioneer (1901), Anton von Barwig in The Music Master (1904), Wes Bigelow in A Grand Army Man (1907) and the title role in The Retu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeanne Eagels
Jeanne Eagels (born Eugenia Eagles; June 26, 1890 – October 3, 1929) was an American stage and film actress. A former Ziegfeld Girl, Eagels went on to greater fame on Broadway and in the emerging medium of sound films. She was posthumously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her 1929 role in '' The Letter'' after dying suddenly that year at the age of 39. Early life Eugenia Eagles was the second of six children born to Edward, of German and French Huguenot descent, and his wife Julia Eagles (née Sullivan), who was of Irish descent. Her birth year – depending on the source – is given as 1888, 1890 (official bio year), 1891, 1892, 1893 (death certificate), or 1894. Jeanne, who later changed the spelling of her surname to "Eagels", would later claim that her father was a Spanish architect and she was born in Boston. In reality, she was born in Kansas City, Missouri and her father was a carpenter. Eagels attended St. Joseph's Catholic School and M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Men And Women (play)
''Men and Women'' is an American play written by David Belasco and Henry Churchill de Mille. It was featured on Broadway in 1890, opening at Proctor's Twenty-Third Street Theater on October 21, 1890. The cast included Maude Adams Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 1905 Broadway production .... It proved successful with audiences, and played for over 200 performances.Fields, ArmondMaude Adams: Idol of American theater, 1872-1953 p.79-83 (2004) It was adapted to a silent film of the same name in 1914. References External links * American plays 1890 plays {{1890s-play-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maude Adams
Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 1905 Broadway production of ''Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up''. Adams's personality appealed to a large audience and helped her become the most successful and highest-paid performer of her day, with a yearly income of more than one million dollars during her peak. Adams began performing as a child while accompanying her actress mother on tour. At age 16, she made her Broadway debut, and under Charles Frohman's management, she became a popular player alongside leading man John Drew Jr. in the early 1890s. Beginning in 1897, Adams starred in plays by J. M. Barrie, including ''The Little Minister'', '' Quality Street'', '' What Every Woman Knows'' and ''Peter Pan''. These productions made Adams the most popular actress in America. She also performed in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gold Diggers (1919 Play)
''The Gold Diggers'' is a play written by Avery Hopwood. It popularized the use of the term "gold digger" to refer to women who seek wealthy partners, as opposed to the earlier usage referring to gold miners. Producer David Belasco staged it on Broadway in 1919, with Ina Claire in the lead role. It was a hit, running for two consecutive seasons before going on tour. Plot Stephen Lee is a wealthy man who is convinced that the chorus girl engaged to his nephew is a "gold digger", who only wants his nephew's money. Lee asks Jerry Lamar, another chorus girl he knows, to convince his nephew to break off the engagement. Instead she tries to convince Lee that not all chorus girls are out for money. Unfortunately for her effort, several of her friends demonstrate that they are as money-hungry as Lee fears. Annoyed by Lee's comments, Lamar decides to show him up by getting him drunk and tricking him into proposing to her. Her scheme proves harmless when it turns out that she and Lee re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ina Claire
Ina Claire (born Ina Fagan; October 15, 1893February 21, 1985) was an American stage and film actress. Early years Ina Fagan was born October 15, 1893 in Washington, D.C. After the death of her father, Claire began doing imitations of fellow boarders in the boarding house where she and her mother, Cora, and brother, Allen, were forced to live. Claire's mother took her out of school in the eighth grade, and she used her mother's maiden name when she began her career appearing in vaudeville. In 1906, she gave a recitation as the grand finale of a program presented by Miss Cora B. Shreve's pupils in Washington, D.C. She was identified in a newspaper article as Ina Claire Fagan. Career Claire made her professional stage debut in October 1907 in Elmira, New York. She played Florie in a production of ''The Fatal Flower'' — the beginning of a two-year contract. In 1909, she appeared in a vaudeville act entitled "Dainty Mimic", which included an imitation of actor Harry Lauder. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zaza (play)
''Zaza'' is a French-language play written by playwrights Pierre Berton and , and staged for the first time at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, in May 1898.Johnson, Katie N. (2002). "Zaza: That "Obtruding Harlot" of the Stage." ''Theatre Journal''. Vol. 54, no. 2. pp. 223-243. Retrieved 2017-08-31 via ''Project MUSE'' database. . The title character is a prostitute who becomes a music hall entertainer and the mistress of a married man. The play is probably best known in the English-speaking world in the adaptation of the same title by David Belasco, which premiered at the Lafayette Square Opera House in Washington, D.C., in December 1898, and subsequently opened at the Garrick Theatre in New York City, in January 1899. It is also the source material for the 1900 opera '' Zazà'' by Ruggero Leoncavallo. A substantial difference between the two stagings is that in the original French play, Zaza and her married customer resume their relationship after she be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Heart Of Maryland (play)
''The Heart of Maryland'' was a theatrical play written, produced and directed by David Belasco. The four-act melodrama set in the American Civil War opened at the Herald Square Theatre in New York on October 22, 1895 and ran for 240 performances. Mrs. Leslie Carter originated the role of Maryland Calvert and Maurice Barrymore originated the role of Col. Alan Kendrick. William Furst composed the play's incidental music. The play toured throughout the United States for several years, and was made into a silent film by the same title in 1927. Silent versions also appeared in 1915, with Mrs. Carter in her original role, and in 1921. Belasco said that the play was inspired in part by the poem '' Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight'' by Rose Hartwick Thorpe Rose Hartwick Thorpe (July 18, 1850 – July 19, 1939) was an American poet and writer, remembered largely for the narrative poem, '' Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight'' (1867), which gained national popularity. It was translated into nea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hearts Of Oak (play)
''Hearts of Oak'' is an 1879 play by Americans James Herne and David Belasco taken from the British play, ''The Mariner's Compass'', by Henry Leslie (1830–1881). ''Hearts of Oak'' The play is a melodrama concerning a woman who marries her guardian out of gratitude, even though she loves another man. It was extraordinarily successful on tour, starring Belasco, and earning a fortune for him. ''Hearts of Oaks'' first opened as a five act and six tableaux production at the Hamlin's Theatre in Chicago on November 17, 1879. The actress Chrystal Herne was named after the character her mother, Katherine Corcoran, portrayed in the piece. Cast Reviews The ''Daily Globe'', St. Paul, Minnesota – January 23, 1882 The ''Hearts of Oak'' company began an engagements of four performances at Leubrie’s theater last night. They may be congratulated. The company has been improved and strengthened since last season and is now equal to any presenting dramas of like character on the road ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadway Theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names (12 others used neither), with many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also using the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, are the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats, located in the Theater District and the Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the thoroughfare is eponymous with the district and its collection of 41 theaters, and it is also closely identified with Times Square, only three of the theaters are located on Broadway itself (namely the Broadwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
