Golden Age Live Theatre

[Baggers]

How many people here would go to watch performances of stage plays that were written during the !920s, 30s or 40s? I see a lot of interest in Golden Age film, but what about live theatre from the same period?

Specifically, if there were a theatre that specialized in productions from that era, would you go there? And if so, what shows would you like to see?

Cheers!

 

[jake_fink]

Here in T.O. The Co. at Actors Equity has put on a couple of Clifford Odet's pieces. Awake and Sing was great, in a big space at the back of an old Anglican church it really had a period feel, even in the bathrooms. If you're not familiar with Awake and sing it is one of Odets major works and is spoofed in Barton Fink. Other than that, GE theatre is pretty rare round here.

 

[Jessica]

I have acted in William Inge's Bus Stop , as Cherie, and in Inge's Picnic. We had full houses many nights. A lot of people loved our costumes and the sets. I was in Heaven!!

 

[Michael Mallory]

It entirely depends on the play. Some plays are timeless, some are hopelessly dated. In my acting career (which ended some years ago, to nobody's regret), I seemed to specialize in the latter, embarassing myself in such chestnuts as "The Bat" and a thing called "The Boss," which must be the worst play written in the 20th century. With only a few exceptions -- like "Show Boat" -- early 20th century plays, those prior to the late 1930s, do not hold up well.

 

[scotrace]

Bumping this to remind me to add to it later.

I am a part of the Canton Comic Opera troupe.

 

[bunnyb.gal]

It entirely depends on the play. Some plays are timeless, some are hopelessly dated. In my acting career (which ended some years ago, to nobody's regret), I seemed to specialize in the latter, embarassing myself in such chestnuts as "The Bat" and a thing called "The Boss," which must be the worst play written in the 20th century. With only a few exceptions -- like "Show Boat" -- early 20th century plays, those prior to the late 1930s, do not hold up well.

For me, too, it would depend on the play. I definitely lean toward mystery, horror and that kind of thing, so I'd definitely go see, say "Dracula" (first to pop into my head). "The Bat" in all of it's cinematic incarnations, anyway, is one of my faves, chestnut though it may be! I think it'd be great fun to see it on the stage.

I posted on it earlier, but here there's a company reviving the old plays of the Grand Guignol and I am very excited about that!

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've appeared in a number of Golden Era shows, in the days when I had nights free, and would love to see more of them being done, especially musical comedies. There are plenty of great shows by the likes of Porter, Kern, Kalmar and Ruby, DeSylva Brown and Henderson, etc. etc. that haven't been done since their original productions, and it'd be a lot of fun to see someone try to bring them back. I don't care much for modern Sondheim/Webber-type musicals, but the pre-1940 stuff, yes indeed.

 

[dhermann1]

I've appeared in a few Golden Era shows in the last few years, including Anything Goes, Music Man, etc. The community theater group in Brooklyn that I've worked with does a lot of them. Last year I saw a very creditable version of Room Service, and the year before that they did The Man Who Came to Dinner. I was also in a revival of the 1936 Marc Blitzstein show, The Cradle Will Rock, with a cast of all (except me and one other person) Actors Equity members. That was a great experience.
My earliest experience was in 1950, when at the age of 4, I was taken by my grandmother to the Broadway production of Peter Pan (original James Barrie version) starring Jean Arthur as Peter Pan, and with Boris Karloff as Captain Hook. I wish I remembered it better.
During the 50's Chautauqua Institution had the Cleveland Playhouse in summer residency. They were (and still are) a very fine professional repertory group. I saw a number of productions by them over the years.