New England theatergoers used to have the reputation of “sitting on their hands” or being reserved in their expression of appreciation for a performance.
In the case of “The Petrified Forest” which made its world premiere in Hartford in December 1934, the polite review in the New York Times gave no real indication of the impact the play would have on audiences, such that it lead to the eventual movie stardom of Humphrey Bogart.
“Leslie Howard delighted an audience that filled Parson’s Theatre here tonight at the world premiere of Robert E. Sherwood’s latest play ‘The Petrified Forest’,” began the review of December 21st, “Ably supported by a well-balanced cast of nineteen that included Peggy Conklin, Blanche Sweet, Humphrey Bogart, and Charles Dow Clark.”
In the biography “Bogart” by A.M. Sperber and Eric Lax (William Morrow and Company, Inc., NY, 1977), the tryout performance in Hartford is recalled a bit more dramatically, “…the company became aware of how compelling Bogart was as Mantee. Audiences literally gasped when he entered with his two days’ growth of beard and prison pallor, his shuffling gait and menacing mannerisms.”
The play opened on Broadway a couple of weeks later in January 1935. A New England audience seemed to have shucked at least some of its reserve on at least this occasion and picked a winner.
Showing posts with label Humphrey Bogart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Humphrey Bogart. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Summer Stock and Hollywood Stars
As noted in an earlier post on my Another Old Movie Blog (see here), film stars from Hollywood’s heyday found their start and made their mark in New England summer theater. We’ll be covering more on summer theater, past and present, as the season gets underway.
Henry Fonda and James Stewart found acting work early in their careers in summer stock on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Both worked with the University Players in Falmouth. Fonda also worked with the Cape Playhouse down the road in Dennis, where a young Bette Davis was an usher, soon to get her own chance to perform onstage under Laura Hope Crews. Robert Montgomery, Constance Collier, Frances Farmer, and Lloyd Nolan all appeared here in their apprentice years. Other movie stars who performed here were Humphrey Bogart, Lana Turner, and Ginger Rogers.
Later on, Fonda, still scrounging for work on the New England summer theater circuit, would do odd jobs at the summer theater in Surrey, Maine, where he chauffeured and picked up guest actor Joseph Cotten’s trunk at the railroad depot.
Humphrey Bogart appeared a little further south in Maine at the Lakewood Theater in Skowhegan.
Jane Wyatt got her start with the Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge, Mass., where Mary Wickes also played.
Summer stock and road shows were not only for the novice actors. Ethel Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and Judith Anderson regularly trod the boards of rather humble New England playhouses, long after they had achieved their fame.
Sometimes called “the straw hat circuit”, summer stock reached its peak probably in the 1940s through the 1960s. Along with the above-mentioned playhouses, some others were the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass, the Priscilla Beach Theatre in Plymouth, Mass., the South Shore Music Circus in Cohassett, and the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis. If you’ve seen shows at any of these theaters, please drop by and share your memories.
Henry Fonda and James Stewart found acting work early in their careers in summer stock on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Both worked with the University Players in Falmouth. Fonda also worked with the Cape Playhouse down the road in Dennis, where a young Bette Davis was an usher, soon to get her own chance to perform onstage under Laura Hope Crews. Robert Montgomery, Constance Collier, Frances Farmer, and Lloyd Nolan all appeared here in their apprentice years. Other movie stars who performed here were Humphrey Bogart, Lana Turner, and Ginger Rogers.
Later on, Fonda, still scrounging for work on the New England summer theater circuit, would do odd jobs at the summer theater in Surrey, Maine, where he chauffeured and picked up guest actor Joseph Cotten’s trunk at the railroad depot.
Humphrey Bogart appeared a little further south in Maine at the Lakewood Theater in Skowhegan.
Jane Wyatt got her start with the Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge, Mass., where Mary Wickes also played.
Summer stock and road shows were not only for the novice actors. Ethel Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and Judith Anderson regularly trod the boards of rather humble New England playhouses, long after they had achieved their fame.
Sometimes called “the straw hat circuit”, summer stock reached its peak probably in the 1940s through the 1960s. Along with the above-mentioned playhouses, some others were the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass, the Priscilla Beach Theatre in Plymouth, Mass., the South Shore Music Circus in Cohassett, and the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis. If you’ve seen shows at any of these theaters, please drop by and share your memories.
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