''Miss Lulu Bett'' is a 1920 play adapted by
American author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
Zona Gale
Zona Gale, also known by her married name, Zona Gale Breese (August 26, 1874 – December 27, 1938), was an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. She became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921. The close r ...
from her
novel of the same title.
Production
''Miss Lulu Bett'' premiered on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
at the Belmont Theatre on December 27, 1920 and closed on June 18, 1921 after 198 performances. Directed by Brock Pemberton, the cast featured
Carroll McComas as Lulu Bett, Louise Closser Hale (Mrs. Bett), William E. Holden (Dwight Herbert Deacon), and Willard Robertson (Neil Cornish).
The play won the 1921
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...
. In the foreword to the script, Robert C. Benchley wrote: "Miss Gale has violated many sacred dramatic rules. She has given us characters who talk as people really talk and who therefore are dull... The result of such adherence to uninspiring reality might well have been expected to be a failure in its appeal to an uninspiring nation of theater-goers. But Miss Gale took the chance. She wrote the play, as she had written the book, without compromise, and was rewarded by an enthusiastic public."
[Gale, Zona]
Script for ''Miss Lulu Bett''
archive.org, accessed December 19, 2015.
Characters
Source:
* Lulu Bett – a spinster in her 30s, she lives with her sister and brother-in-law and their children
* Mrs. Bett – Lulu's and Ina's mother who also lives in the household
* Ina – Lulu's sister
* Dwight Deacon – Lulu's brother-in-law
* Mr. Cornish – a suiter for both Lulu and the young daughter of the Deacons, Di; he owns his own business
* Ninian Deacon – Dwight's brother who has not been with the family for many years, he has been living in South and Central America
* Monona - Dwight and Ina's youngest daughter
* Diana (Di) - Dwight and Ina's older daughter; dating Bobby Larkin
* Bobby Larkin - Di's suitor; a lower-class youth in town
Film
The play and novel were the basis of the
film of the same name, released in 1921. Directed by
William C. deMille, the cast featured Lois Wilson (Lulu Bett), Milton Sills (Neil Cornish), Theodore “Daddy” Roberts (Dwight Deacon), Helen Ferguson (Diana Deacon), and Ethel Wales (Grandma Bett).
''Miss Lulu Bett''
imdb.com, accessed December 19, 2015
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Script
1920 plays
Broadway plays
Plays based on novels
Pulitzer Prize for Drama-winning works
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