Master and Man (play)
Master and Man in a play in four acts by British playwrights George R. Sims and Henry Pettitt.[1] It was written in 1889 for the actor Robert Pateman and his wife, the actress Bella Pateman.[2] The play revolves around the character of Jack Walton who competes for the love of Hester Thornbury with his rivals, Robert Carlton and Humpy Logan.[3]
Performance history
[edit]Master and Man premiered at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Birmingham, England on March 18, 1889.[1][4][5] That same year it toured to the Tyne Theatre,[6] the Theatre Royal, Middlesbrough,[7] Theatre Royal, Brighton,[8] Prince's Theatre, Bristol,[9] and the Theatre Royal, Cardiff among other British provincial theaters.[10] It opened in London at the Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel on September 16, 1889.[3] It was positively reviewed in England.[1]
The play was brought to the United States in 1890 by impresario T. Henry French.[11] It was initially staged on Broadway where it ran for less than two weeks;[12] opening at Palmer's Theatre on February 5, 1890 with Richard Mansfield as Humpy Logan, Isabelle Evesson as Hester Thornbury, and J. H. Gilmour as Jack Walton.[13][14] It was given a scathing reviews in the New-York Tribune,[14] and The New York World.[13] The Philadelphia Inquirer stated it was "the worst melodrama New York has seen for years".[15] The Detroit Free Press summed up reaction to the play as a success for Mansfield's performance as Humpy Logan, but otherwise falling flat with critics.[16]
Despite negative reviews, the Broadway production of Master and Man went on tour, beginning with a transfer to the Grand Opera House in Manhattan with Dominick Murray replacing Mansfield as Humpy Logan.[17] It then toured to Buffalo, New York,[18] Cleveland, Ohio,[19] and Chicago, Illinois among other American cities.[20] At some point on this tour actor Robert Cummings took over the role of Humpy Logan.[21]
Adaptations
[edit]The play was adapted into film three times, as a 1915 silent film directed by Percy Nash, a 1929 silent film directed by George A. Cooper and a 1934 film directed by John Harlow.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Mansfield's New Part". The New York Times. 18 January 1890. p. 5.
- ↑ "Notes and Opinions". Nottingham Evening News. 27 February 1889. p. 2.
- 1 2 "Pavilion Theatre". The Daily Telegraph. 23 September 1889. p. 3.
- ↑ "Local News". Birmingham Weekly Post and Midland Pictorial. 2 March 1889. p. 7.
- ↑ "Miss Bella Pateman's Tour". The Era. 9 March 1889. p. 5.
- ↑ "Tyne Theatre". The Newcastle Daily Journal. 7 May 1889. p. 4.
- ↑ "Middlesbrough- Theatre Royal". The North Star. 14 May 1889. p. 4.
- ↑ "Brighton Theatre Royal". The Daily Telegraph. 1 June 1889. p. 4.
- ↑ "Prince's Theatre, Bristol". Western Daily Press. 5 August 1889. p. 4.
- ↑ "Theatre Royal, Cardiff". Western Mail. 12 August 1889. p. 1.
- ↑ "At the New York Theatres". Chicago Tribune. 3 February 1890. p. 5.
- ↑ Bordman p.293
- 1 2 "Master and Man". The New York Evening World. 6 February 1890. p. 2.
- 1 2 "Master and Man". New-York Tribune. 6 February 1890. p. 6.
- ↑ "News and Notes of the Stage". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 16 February 1890. p. 10.
- ↑ "The Stage". Detroit Free Press. 12 February 1890. p. 4.
- ↑ "Last Night In the Theaters". New-York Tribune. 11 March 1890. p. 6.
- ↑ "Plays at the Theatres". Buffalo Courier Express. 20 April 1890. p. 14.
- ↑ "H. R. Jacobs' Theater". The Cleveland Leader. 29 April 1890. p. 2.
- ↑ "Alhambra". The Inter Ocean. 5 October 1890. p. 12.
- ↑ "With the Theaters". The Grand Rapids Press. 11 September 1897. p. 2.
Bibliography
[edit]- Bordman, Gerald Martin. American theatre: a chronicle of comedy and drama, 1869-1914. Oxford University Press, 1994.