Desperately Seeking Old (Old, Old) Theater Program

Cafe Society
1

For my biography of the Castles, I am trying—with notable lack of success—to find a program for the show The Summer Widowers (a.k.a. Girlies, opened at the Broadway Theater, June 4, 1910), starring Lew Fields, Irene Franklin and Burt Green, and Vernon Castle.

The library at Lincoln Center has programs for all the Fields/Castle shows except this one: not in their Fields files, Castle or Summer Widowers files. Searches under eBay, bookfinder.com, oldmagazines.com, etc., have also come up zero.

Now, I’m not expecting anyone—even a Doper—to just happen to have a program from The Summer Widowers sitting around their flat, under the cat’s litter box. But maybe one of you might know a dealer in such items, or a web site I am neglecting?

Thanks!

2

I would contact the folks who run the Internet Broadway Database, and ask if they know of other sources for theater programs.

3

Thanks—come to think of it, I got the above info on the show from IBDB, so it stands to reason they must have had some kind of access.

4

P.S. Also sent an e-mail to Lew Fields’s grandnephew . . .

5

The Library of Congress has a collection of older manuscripts. I believe you can search the catalogue of that collection online, although you would actually have to go to the reading room in D.C. to look at it.

–Cliffy

6

The Library of Congress has an amazing collection of dance manuals, which has been a huge help—but not much in the way of B’way theater programs.

7

Eve - Would this site help?

StG

8

Sadly, The Summer Widowers was not therein. I pin my hopes on Lew Fields’s nephew, let’s see if he gets back to me.

9

Eve - It was, almost at the end. It’s item number e.28.

StG

10

If you do a Ctrl-F search on the word “Widowers” it’ll take you right to it.

StG

11

Ah! That’s just the sheet music for one song, “Gee, But I’d Like To Furnish A Flat For You, Dear,” by A. Baldwin Sloane and Glen Mac Donough, “Performer: unknown.” What I need is the complete program, giving me cast list, acts, scenes, songs and who performed them . . .

Although very handy on that link was the information on the song “I Can Dance With Everybody But My Wife,” from the 1916 show Sybil, by John L. Golden and Joseph Cawthorn. I want to use a chorus as a chapter heading, and lacked the copyright information till now.

12

John L. Golden? Any relation or is “Golden” you nom de guerre?

13

I think you mean nom de plume, though I have heard that publishing is akin to war…

14

And how sad is it that I’ve heard that song before?

15

Sorry, Eve. I tried. Maybe the UNH collection might be helpful for future projects. Good Luck with Lew Fields’ nephew. Does the NYPL have collections of this sort of thing?

StG

16

You might try posting this request at Talking Broadway’s message board.

17

See the OP. The New York Public Library’s theater collection is at Lincoln Center.

18

Just when I get disgusted with this place and and its humorless gargoyles, terrorist apologists, repulsive trannie-bashers (the trannies are repulsive, not necessary the bashers), the creepy stalkers who save up years of slights to spring on your unsuspecting noggin . . .

. . . Alomg comes a dear girl who, through a friend, scans and e-mails me the entire 1910 program for The Summer Widowers, including cast list (Vernon Castle plays “Oxford Tighe, American Agent for Eyzzzassst, the new Hungarian Cordial”), management, scenes. Young Helen Hayes was in the show, as was a chorus girl who grew and grrew to become, 20 years later, the great Margaret Dumont! Vernon opens the show singing “I Never Know How to Behave when I’m with Girls, Girls, Girls,” surrdounded of course, by a tantalizing bevy of Gs,Gs,Gs.

I’d write more, and better, but I’ve been struck down like an ox by some mystery illness this weekend: splitting “can’t life my head” headache," nasty, burning red rash on my neck and chin–hope the antihistamines and hydrcortisone catch it before it really takes holds and turns me into The Elelphant Woman. LOTS of sleep I’ll get tonight. I have to stay in like a vampire if it takes hold, “no sunlight,” says the doc. I’m sure they’ll believe THAT at work. Some weak sister I am–Irene Castle went on and danced with a broken arm and Vernon on a cane after a plane crash, but I’m a sad excuse for a trouper.

Wish sick Little Eva in her deathbed well, and thanks to the lovely and charming friend who was able to drege up a 95-year-old theater program for me!

19

Glad you found what you needed! That’s one of the things that keeps me on the SDMB. I’ve asked for help in finding, or ID’ing things, a number of times, and the folks here always, always come through. And it’s usually in fairly short order too.

20

I’m glad the book is continuing, Eve! And, my goodness. Helen Hayes!