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OUR TOWN BY THORNTON WILDER:
A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF ITS PRODUCTION MODES

BY

Gerald E. Snider

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Theatre

1983

ABSTRACT

OUR TOWN BY THORNTON WILDER:
A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF ITS PRODUCTION MODES

BY

Gerald E. Snider

This dissertation examines selected stagings of Thornton
Wilder's 925 Town as presented in the production modes of the
legitimate theatre, film and television. The study conse-
quently focuses on six of the many productions staged since
1938: Jed Harris' 1938 Broadway premiere, Jose Quintero's
1959 off-Broadway revival, Alan Schneider's 1981 mid-western
thrust staging, Sam Wood's 1940 motion picture, Delbert Mann's
1955 live television production, and George Schaefer's 1977
video-taped production.

These six productions serve as models for a variety of
approaches to staging 92; 3933. Directors often use one or a
combination of these three common interpretations when
presenting the play: 1) Austere and detached objectivity;

2) Romantic and sentimental reverie; 3) Casual caricature
focusing on farce. The many presentations of 923 Town hold
several production concerns in common. The technical
realization of the play gives emphasis to the use of light

and shadow and to varying degrees of stage realism. Each of

ii

the productions presented in this study were staged with a
conscious effort to establish as intimate a relationship with
the audience as the mode would allow. Significant to this

is that the playing space, whether defined by the stage and
auditorium, or by the camera and screen, influenced each
production. The progression of the time itself also affected
the critical evaluation of the various productions through
the ever-present and changing social values of restraint and
response.

Thornton Wilder's 92E Town maintains its vast and
popular appeal because of its simplicity, dramatic irony,
actor/audience relationship, and because of its beneficent
view of death. From the boldness of reaching out beyond the
proscenium arch in Harris' 1938 production to the novel media
montage multiple reality of the Schechner inspired Wooster
Group's 1981 treatment, 93; 2933 stands up against its many
detractors as it continues to challenge producers, directors,
and audience members with its unique invitation to open and

creative theatrical collaboration.

iii

C) Copyright by

GERALD EDWARD SNIDER

1983

iv

To
CONNIE

For and With Love and Understanding

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study stands as a tribute to its subject through
the collaborative assistance of many people.

To begin with, the advice and counsel of Frank C.
Rutlege, chairman of the guidance committee, was invaluable not
only in shaping the outline of this study, but also in encouraging;
the work of the student. Next, the committee members them—
selves--John Baldwin, Joyce Ramsay, Farley Richmond, and
Donald Treat provided the support required for such an under-
taking. Then, the collective assistance of those special
individuals who agreed to be interviewed added integrity to
the examination: Boyd Gaines, Richard H. Goldstone, Delbert
Mann, Theodore Mann, Adam Redfield, Ken Ruta, George Schaefer,
Alan Schneider, and Isabel Wilder.

No academic endeavor could ever be adequately realized
without the aid of efficient libraries staffed by competent
professionals. Two Michigan State University librarians,
Anita Evans and Linda DeWitt, consistently offered their
services to the intent of this research. David Schoonover
and his staff at Yale University's esteemed Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library must be acknowledged for their
sterling commitment to academic scholarship. Other university
libraries also offered helpful assistance: University of
California at Los Angeles, University of Southern California,
and University of Michigan. Lanell Pruett was of particular
assistance in the preparation of this dissertation.

The photographs appended here are reproduced through
the permission and courtesy of several sources: The Billy Rose
Theatre Collection at the New York City Public Library's
Performing Arts Research Center, The Beinecke Rare Books and
Manuscripts at Yale, the Arena Stage, Bruce Goldstein
of the Guthrie Theatre, Delbert Mann and Isabel Wilder.

Finally, to the casual reader the specter of Thornton
Wilder may appear to loom over this study as a mythic-like
patron seeking his share of recognition. If so, so be it;
for Mr. Wilder certainly affected his bold and novel influence.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . .

LIST OF APPENDICES . . . . . . .

Chapter

II.

III.

IV.

V.

APPENDICES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION . . . .

Statement of Purpose
Justification . . .
Definition of Terms

Limitations . . . .
Method . . . . . . .
Procedure . . . . .
Sources . . . . . .

LEGITIMATE THEATRE .
Broadway Proscenium
Off-Broadway Arena

Regional Thrust . .

FII‘M O O O O O O O O

TELEVISION . . . . .

"Producer's Showcase" Musical Adaptation

The Bell System "Salutes"

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Vii

Page
vi

viii

16
17
31
46
66
89

90
112

132
153

226

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix

A.

B.

Selected Our Town Production Chronology

 

Production Staff for Companies Studied

Biographical Sketches .

Production Photographs

0 0

viii

Page
154
157
167

187

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Statement of Purpose

 

The purpose of this study is to present a descriptive
examination of Thornton Wilder's 925 Town as represented in
selected productions from 1938 to 1981.

The study will deal with the following:

1. How has QE£.$2!E been staged within the various
production modes of the legitimate theatre, film and television?
2. What directorial influences contributed to
the realization of these selected productions?
3. What has been the critical response to each of

these presentations?

Justification

 

Our Town is the most often produced play in this

1 and as such deserves its own attention in scholarship.

country
Following its 1938 Broadway opening the play was awarded the

Pulitzer Prize, subsequently enjoying countless productions

in professional, academic and community threatres. In 1940

 

1Personal interview with Isabel Wilder, September 14,

1981.

Our Town was made into a major motion picture and has since
had no less than six different television interpretations.
In 1946 the U.S.O. presented Our Town to American G.I.'s

stationed in Europe. In 1958 the New York Times published a

 

survey of leading theatre personalities indicating their
preferences for a national repertory of American drama.2

92E Town was on that list more than any other play. In 1973
the United States Department of State sent a production of QEE
Town in cultural exchange to Russia as the first American play
to be presented in that country. Three years later, as Americans
were enjoying their Bicentennial festivities, hundreds of
producing groups across the country elected to present 92E
Town as a part of their cultural heritage celebrations.
Wilder's play had established its place in the annals of
American theatre history. To date the script itself has been
included in over two hundred anthologies. Richard H. Goldstone
commented on the historical significance of QEE Town by writing
that it "has in effect become our national p1ay--or come as

close as any play has come thus far".3

 

2

New York Times, November 9, 1958, p. 18. The six
people polled were: Tyrone Guthrie, Helen Hayes, Norris
Houghton, Elia Kazan and Cornelia Otis Skinner.

3Richard H. Goldstone, Thornton Wilder: nn Intimate
Portrait (New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc., 1975)
p. 138.

 

Yet, onn Town began without immediate or complete
success. In fact many theatre critics vascillated in their
estimation of Wilder's unconventional play. Its bare stage
simplicity, static if not plotless dramatic structure, and
its seeming sentimental reverie have provoked a great deal of
critical consternation. Reviewing its first out-of-town

try-out in Princeton, Varietyls critic reported that it was

 

"hard to imagine what the erstwhile wonder boy of Broadway
[Jed Harris] saw in this disjointed bittersweet affair of
small town New Hampshre 1ife—--for once the novelty has been
worn thin, the play lacks the sturdy qualities necessary to
carry it on its own".4 Following the New York Opening of 92E
Town less than two weeks later, Variety modified its earlier
analysis of a production not appreciably changed5 by saying
that, "Box office criticism has a tough one in QE£.IQEE
because its simple, sincere, philosophical and literary nature
does not suggest the commercial wallop that is beautifully

6

written, staged and acted fine points warrant". John Gassner

reviewed the 1938 New YOrk premiere remarking that:

 

4Varietyz January 26, 1938, p. 58.

5Personal interview with Isabel Wilder, September 14,

1981.

6Variety, February 9, 1938.

I shall continue to insist that for all its
affecting qualities 925 Town is devoid of developed
situations and hence its effect is one vast blur
of kindly sentiment. For a collective drama 92E
Town lacks a core of dramatic action. It is the
outline of a drama rather than the finished product.
One may also question the completeness of the outline.
I should hardly call the totality of effect a major
dramatic experience.

Twelve years later in his preface to the play for its inclusion

in his Treasury oi the Theatre anthology, Gassner presented his

 

revised insights.
Locating Our Town historically and explaining

its style is, however, less important than experiencing

the play. Once we become acquainted with a dramatic

style, it rapidly loses novelty and ceases to have

any value apart from the life and feeling it conveys....

It is a work of love and of wisdom.

Brooks Atkinson, however, is one of the few original
laudatory critics whose opinion remained unchanged during later
revivals of the play. In 1938 he wrote that, "With about the
best script of his career in his hands, Mr. Harris has risen
nobly to the occasion. He has reduced theatre to its lowest
common denominator without resort to perverse Showmanship...

Our Town is a microcosm. It is also a hauntingly beautiful

play".9 Twenty—one years later, Atkinson had not changed his

 

7John Gassner. "Our Town", One—Act Play Magazine,
February, 1938, pp. 226-227.

8John Gassner. A Treasury oT the Theatre. (New York:
Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1950) pp. 926-927.

9New York Times. February 5, 1938.

 

mind about the beauty of Wilder's play when he reviewed Jose
Quintero's 1959 off-Broadway revival: "92E Town is one of the
loveliest dramas of our time....Thank Mr. Quintero for preserving’
its faith and wisdom. And its universality, for on£_Town is
the chronicle of everyman."10

Literary scholars, too, have debated the merits and
scope of Wilder's play. These scholars seem concerned with
discovering the literary point of view from which QEE Town can
be academically categorized. Arthur Ballet called the play a
tragedy comparingiJ:to Classic ancestors: "Like Oedipus
before her, Emily finds a place in dramatic literature as a
tragic figure of enormous dimensions, for in her blindness,
or death, she gains, the true ability to see and understand."
George Stephans argued that Ballet's discussion was inconsistent
with the precepts of Aristotelian criticism, stating his own
views that the play more appropriately belongs to the literary
genre of nostalgic Romanticism so popular with the middle
class:

92£.3222 is popular...because it is not tragic....
In addition, the 'truths' about life discovered by
Emily...--that the living and the blind, troubled,

etc., are just the observations as would impress the
average audience. Emily's pathetic death, popularly

 

10New York Times. March 24, 1959.

 

11Arthur H. Ballet. "In Our Living and In Our Dying,"
English Journal, 1956, XLV, p. 249.

 

mistaken for tragedy, is evocative of tender feelings
of pity...it is not, in my opinion, a play which ranks
with Ene great tragedies-~not, in fact, a tragedy at
all.

Robert Corrigan countered both scholars' arguments with a
compromising analysis of Wilder's tendency toward a tragic
vision of life:

It is this tendency consistent with his
Platonism, to reduce the dimension of eternity so
that it can be encompassed by life itself, that has
led me to believe, although he has written no
tragedies, that Wilder has essentially a tragic
rather than a Christian or even a religious view
of life. To be sure, Wilder has not created any
Ahabs or Lears, but this is not because he lacks a
tragic vision. He happens to believe, as did
Maeterlinck, that there are times in each of our
lives when we are conscious of moving into the
boundary of situations of the tragic realm, and that
furthermore, life tragedies can be best seen in th 3
drama of the everyday, in life's smallest events.

Francis Fergusson14 and C. Wixon 15 both attempted to define

Our Town as an allegory in the manner of technique of Brecht

 

12George D. Stephans. "Our Town--Great American

Tragedy?" Modern Drama, 1959, I pp. 258-264.

 

3Robert W. Corrigan. "Thornton Wilder and the Tragic
Sense of Life," The Theatre in Search of a Fix. (New York:

Delcorte Press, 1973) pp. 239-246.

14Francis Fergusson. "Three Allegorists: Brecht,
Wilder and Eliot," The Human Image Tn Dramatic Literature.
(New York: Anchor Press, 1957) pp. 41—71.

15 ,
C. Wixon. "Dramatic Techniques of Thornton Wilder
and Bertholt Brecht: A Study in Comparison," Modern Drama,

Summer, 1972. pp. 112-114.

 

 

and Eliot. Winfield Townley Scott16 and T. E. Porter17 each
expanded the allegory idea to include their respective
contentions that Wilder's play is a significant work of
literature for its mythic elements reflecting the spirit and
values of the American ideal.

QE£.$2EE continues to puzzle critics, analysts, and
therefore many producers for its refusal to be neatly cate-
gorized. Investigation into other related areas offers only
implicit answers concerning the play's production potential
in whatever mode. The several published critical and biograph-
ical treatments of Wilder are included in the bibliography
appended to this study and while they are adequate by degrees
to the general subject of the writer and his work, they do not
focus on the production aspect of his plays. Of the fourteen

dissertations listed in Dissertation Abstracts dealing with

 

Wilder, only three are specifically concerned with his plays;

two of them are of a literary analysis nature. The one study
concerned with theatrical production relates the events leadingtu>
to the initial performance of each of Wilder's major plays and

the critical responses to the opening night performances.

16Winfield Townley Scott. "Our Town and the Golden
Veil," Virginia Quarterly Review. January, 1953. pp. 103-107.

17T. E. Porter. Myth and Modern American Drama.
(Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1969).

 

 

In spite of the fact that a great volume of material
on the history, technique, and aesthetics of cinema exists,
only those motions pictures which have been accorded classic
stature in their own right have received significant attention
in film studies. Discussions of less monumental films, such
as onanown, have been limited to popular magazines. Television,
still quite young, is just beginning to assess its own historical
perspective in technology and programming. Research materials
on television productions are scant, sporadic and often
non—existent. Information regarding specific presentations
must be gleaned from personal interviews.

Hence this study. It proposes to be the first to
examine a specific American play as it has been staged in the
various production modes of the legitimate theatre, film and
television.

Definition o: Terms

 

The term study is intended in its general meaning

suggested by Webster's New World Dictionary as "careful

 

attention to, and critical examination and investigation of

18
any subject, event, etc.".

Descriptive is essentially a detailed accounting of

 

the facts of the events.

 

18Webster's New World Dictionary, Second College
Edition, (1980), s.v. "study".

 

Production modes are those entertainment mediums of

 

the legitimate theatre, motion pictures and television, each

with their own unique presentation styles and techniques.

Limitations

 

1. Three major legitimate productions are included:
Jed Harris' 1938 Broadway premiere, Jose Quintero's 1959
off-Broadway revival, and Alan Schneider's 1981 regional
production; the one motion picture version of 1940; two
television presentations: Delbert Mann's 1955 musical adapta-
tion and George Schaefer’s 1977 Bell Special. There may be
references to other legitimate or television productions of
Q 5 Town, but no academic or community theatre presentations
are included.
2. The criteria for the selection of the productions
included in this study are:
a. the uniqueness of the particular production
b. the reputation of the director
c. the availability of adequate documentation
concerning the production.
3. The attention and emphasis on a literary analysis
of onn Town will vary with production, the director, and the
critical responses, and may be noted, but a literary analysis

as such is not a consideration of this study.

10

4. In evaluating critical responses to productions
of Our Town, reviews are emphasized with support from criticisms

in magazines and journals.

Method

The three production modes covered in this study are
discussed in the context of six selected presentations as
previously indicated. The specific productions have been chosen
for their distinct and unique staging approach to the play.

The legitimate theatre mode details the premiere
production originally written and staged for a large Broadway
proscenium theatre. The second legitimate staging considers
the intimate space used by an off-Broadway arena. The third
production of 92£ Town discussed is the staging of the play on
a large midwestern thrust stage.

The film mode, of course, is limited to the single
1940 production by virtue of the fact that only one motion
picture of the play has been produced to date. However, it is
particularly relevant to a descriptive study of QE£.IQEE
productions because of the naturalism of the film mode and the
"Hollywood star"19 mystique.

Of the six television productions of on£_Town that

have been aired, two are examined here because of their

 

19Isabel Wilder, op. cit.

11

particular approaches to the script. The 1955 "Producer's
Showcase" musical adaptation was televised live as one of the
first color broadcasts. In 1977 the NBC Bell System presented
a video-taped production attempting to reflect the style of a
television documentary.

The discussion of translating the meaning and intent of
Wilder's 92E Town will include those elements unique to that
particular production mode. Each specific production will be
reported in a narrative manner with particular focus given to
the fundamentals of modern theatre practices and.the biographical

circumstances surrounding these selected stagings.

Procedure

 

Each chapter dealing with a specific mode will consider
those selected productions in chronological order. Comments
about the demands of the mode imposed upon the script will
be made when necessary to clarify the unique elements of that
production. Discussion will include consideration of producers,
directors, and other contributing staff members. Each chapter
will be reviewed from the context of critical responses for
indications of those elements used in the specific productions
which were translated effectively within the given mode.

Each individual production will be introduced with an

overview of the circumstances leading up to its final realization

12

in performance. Examination of each production will give
attention to the particular director's approach to the play and
its visual presentation. Productions which depart from the

1938 Samuel French acting edition of the script will be noted.20

The final chapter will summarize the study, present
conclusions based on the findings of this examination, and
provide implications for further research.

Appendix A includes a chronology of significant
productions of 92£.IQE£ presented in the three modes. Appendix
B provides a playbill format listing of those people involved
in each of the presentations considered in this study. Appendix
C offers biographical sketches outlining the lives and careers

of many people who worked on the various productions of Our

Town. Appendix D contains photographs of selected productions.

Sources
An initial compilation of major legitimate, film, and
television productions of 92E Town was made from an investigation
of two sources:
1. The biographical studies of Thornton Wilder
2. Related biographical studies of the various

personalities who worked with the play during their careers.

 

20Three published versions of 92E Town exist: The 1938
Samuel French acting edition, the Coward-McCann reading edition
published in 1938, and Wilder's "definitive" edition published
in 1955 by Harper and Row in Three Plays oy Thornton Wilder.

13

The Thornton Wilder Collection at the Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscript Library at Yale, the Billy Rose Theatre
Collection of New York Public Library's Research Center for the
Performing Arts, and the film and television collection at the
University of Southern California were the primary sources in
collecting data on the productions included in this study.
Other facilities used were The Performing Arts Library at the
University of California at Los Angeles, and various libraries
throughout the Inter-Library Loan System. The three published
versions of onn Town are available in most libraries. Type-
scripts, screenplays, and teleplays are available among the
special collections mentioned above.

The background preparation for this study included an
investigation of several sources to determine general attitudes

surrounding the productions. The Reader's Guide 32 Periodical

 

Literature and The New York Times Index were checked from 1937

 

 

to 1981 for articles relative to Our Town, Thornton Wilder,
theatre, motion pictures, television and those personalities

involved with the specific productions. The New York Times was

 

stressed as a source because of its location and its reputation
as a chronicle of American entertainment.
A general knowledge of twentieth century theatre modes

was obtained from a variety of sources: Oscar Brockett and

14

Robert Findlay's A Century ofi Innovation, Lee Simonson's The

 

Stage To Set, Norris Houghton's The Exploding Stago, and

 

Alexander Bakshy's The Theatre Unbound. Allardyce Nicoll's

 

Film and Theatre and Nicholas Vardac's Stage E2 Screen offered

 

valuable insights into dealing with the realism of the film mode.
Because television is still such a young production mode, com-
prehensive sources are more elusive. However, a general sense

of television aesthetics was gained from A. William Bleum's

Television: The Creative Experience.

 

A major source for this study grew out of a series of
personal interviews and correspondences with a number of key
people in the production history of QE£.22!E‘ Richard Goldstone,
Delbert Mann, Theodore Mann, Raymond Massey, George Schaefer,
Alan Schneider, and Isabel Wilder. Their acquaintance with
Thornton Wilder as well as their own professional experience
with the several productions make them a most valuable source
in this study. Of the six productions being examined this
writer observed four:

1. The 1940 motion picture
2. The 1955 television musical adaptation
3. The 1977 television Bell System special

4. The 1981 Guthrie Theatre production.

15

Finally, a brace of published reviews from many different
periodicals serve to demonstrate the critical response to each

of the productions.

CHAPTER II

LEGITIMATE THEATRE

This chapter will study own Town as staged in the
production modes of the legitimate theatre. Three specific
presentations have been selected for this examination:

1. Jed Harris' Broadway premiere at the Henry
Miller Theatre in 1938.

2. Jose Quintero's off—Broadway revival at the
Circle-in-the-Square Theatre in 1959.

3. Alan Schneider's regional theatre production
at The Guthrie Theatre in 1981.

These productions represent three unique staging
approaches to QE£.EQEE3 large Broadway proscenium theatre,
intimate off—Broadway arena, and large regional thrust stage.
The study also provides an implicit reflection on the work of
three eminent directors in the American theatre.

Each particular production will be discussed in the
light of those background circumstances leading up to its
final realization in performance. Biographical sketches of the
playwright and director will be presented. The director's

rehearsal techniques and his staging of the play in the given

16

l7

theatre space will also be considered. Finally, each
production will be studied for its unique theatrical effective-
ness through a comparative analysis of published critical

reviews.

Broadway Premiere

Thornton Wilder wrote own Town in 1937 for the
proscenium theatre with the hope of having it produced and
directed by the reigning "boy-wonder" of Broadway, Jed Harris.1
Wilder biographer Richard Goldstone details many of the
influences and events that led to the play's eventual Broadway
premiere on February 4, 1938. According to Goldstone's
accounting, several theatrical and literary influences came
to bear on Wilder's creation of QE£.32!£7 certainly the
production modes of the Greeks, the Elizabethans, and the
Orientals. More contemporaneously he was influenced by the
theatres of Reinhardt, Copeau and Pirandello.2 Wilder, himself,

admits to the profound literary influence of the Classics,

 

1Both men, former Yale students, had worked together
that same year on a moderately successful revival of Ibsen's
A Doll's House for Ruth Gordon; Wilder as translator and adaptor
of the script and Harris as producer and director.

 

2During the late teens and throughout the twenties
Wilder spent a great deal of time in Europe where he witnessed
much of the early works in progress of these men and their
respective companies.

18

of James Joyce, and Gertrude Stein on his own writing.3
However, since 92E Town is the particular concern of this
study, Wilder's own early exercises in dramatic writing,
which Alan Schneider calls "sketchbook" pieces, must also be
viewed as influential on Wilder's later writing.4
It is interesting to note from Goldstone's study that
in spite of the subject matter, if not the setting, of 92E
Town and Wilder's frequent trips to the Monadnock region of
New Hampshire, that most of the play was not written in the
United States. He began writing it in 1936 during a visit to
the Virgin Islands. Wilder was always working on several
projects at the same time. The next year during a trip to

Europe he continued his "little masterpiece" project which he

had tentatively entitled Our Village. He worked on the play

 

in Innsbruck, Salzburg and Zurich. Then, in late October of
1937 he met with Jed Harris in Paris and offered him Our Town.

Harris was ecstatic.

 

3Goldstone suggests Theodore Dreiser's anti-
naturalistic one-act play The Blue Sphere as having particular
influence on Wilder's ideas on staging multi-levels of reality.

 

4Walter Beaver presents an extensive analysis of
these short plays in his dissertation, A Critical Study oT Eng
Apprenticeship Plays of Thornton Wilder and Their Relationship
Ego‘His Major Dramatic Works.

 

 

 

 

19

He was drawn to BEE Town because the play
fulfilled all his dreams as a director: its
spaciousness was for him a liberation, freeing him
of furniture, props, drawing rooms, and doors--
in fact, the whole three-hundred year old Western
theatre tradition. The play would enable him to
work exclusively with language, gesture, movement,
light and shade.5

Both men were exhilerated and anxious to begin working
at once to produce QE£.IQEB for the Broadway stage. Harris
left immediately for New York with Wilder arriving there
shortly afterwards. Much was yet to be done. Harris' reputation

as the enfant terrible of Broadway still echoes along the

 

Great White Way. He was a major force in New York professional

6 "At the age of 28 he had

theatre for nearly twenty years.
(counting road companies) seven productions on the boards at
once, and an income of $40,000 a week".7 Ting magazine
referred to him as a man of "drive and mettlesomeness (as

both producer and director) that acted like ozone, even if at

times they were only shots of dope. A meteoric manager,

 

5Goldstone, op. cit., p. 128.

6Patricia Lynn Borroughs' dissertation,The Theatrical
Career of Jed Harris in New York, 1925-1956 and Harris' own auto-
biographical books, Watchman, What o£ the Night? and Dancing on
the High Wire seem to be the only sympathetic studies of this
"meteoric" giant of the twentieth century American theatre. In
1979 Harris was interviewed by Dick Cavett in a five-part
televised series presentation produced by WNET and the Public
Broadcasting System. Shortly afterward he died, according to
Goldstone, in poverty.

 

 

 

 

7Time, February 19, 1945, pp. 69-70.

20

Harris is a volcanic man."8 The same TTno article quoted a
nameless Harris friend as remarking that, "Jed will quarrel
with you, he will embarrass you, he will break your heart,
he will drive you crazy--but he will be good for the show".9

What Harris brought to the show was not so much
innovation as it was discipline, a commitment to a tight
cohesive script, and an uncanny ability to gather together the
right cast and crew for that particular production. Harris'
rehearsals, aside from being tedious and overlong, were
conducted in the traditional manner; read-through, blocking,
polishing and technical. He seldom left his seat during
rehearsals to work among the actors. Just how bombastic or
intimidating he actually was while rehearsing is a controversial
issue that cannot be answered.

In later years he reflected on his analysis of the
play and his approach to the production. According to
Burroughs, Harris felt Wilder's script was contrived.

Of the play, he says, 'The critics say it was
phony, and it is phony. QEE Town is far from an

interesting play. It was an academic, scholarly
cribbing from all sorts of places'. He [Harris]

 

8Ibid.

91bid.

21

even agrees with George Jean Nathan's statement
that there is no interesting line in the play.

He views all the characters as stereotypes-—the
good mother, the good father, the good children.
'What I loved was the opportunity for me to do
something like free-hand drawing. How I welcomed
it, if only to get away from the usual trappings
of the realistic theatre.‘

Even though Wilder and Harris had worked together on

A Doll's House just a year before with only minor personal

 

differences, such was not to be the case with their new project.
The stories surrounding their conflicts during the preparations
of 92£.32!E are now legendary and certainly two-sided. And
while it is not the purpose of this study to distill legends,
they are, in fact, a part of a production that its actors were
later to fondly remember as "a transcendent experience,
differing from anything they had undergone before or afterward".
Indeed, the script was and is Wilder's, but because of Harris'
keen sense of the theatre, both as its producer and its
director, onn Town might never have made its Broadway premiere,

much less into the annals of American theatre history. It

 

10Patricia Lynn Burroughs. "The Theatrical Career of
Jed Harris in New York, 1925-1956." (Unpublished Ph.D.
disseration, Louisiana State University, 1978), p. 274.

11Goldstone, op. cit., p. 130.

ll

22

must be remembered that Wilder wanted Harris to direct his
play. Therefore, all stories of the conflicts between them must
be understood as the emotional outbursts of two extremely
talented men of genius who were both intensely committed to
their work, each in his own way.

The first major conflict between the two occurred
when Harris demanded Wilder cut certain lines from his script
and add an entire scene between Mr. Webb and George Gibbs.12
Harris rented an apartment on Long Island for Wilder and told
him not to come out until he had finished rewriting the script.
Not without a small degree of resentment Wilder obligingly
moved into the apartment and made the required adjustment to
his play.13

That obliging quality of Wilder's would one day become
his trademark. In 1953 TTno magazine featured him as the
subject of their cover story article.

On my grave, says Thornton Wilder, they will
write: "Here lies a man who tried to be obliging."
And he gives a nervous bark of laughter--the laugh,

slightly louder than the occasion warrants, of a man
accustomed to putting people at their ease.

 

12The 1938 Harper & Row reading edition of Our Town
contains many of the lines Harris wanted cut from the production.

13He later acquiesced to Harris' judgment. In 1955
Wilder published his definite copy of onn Town in Three Plays.
It read more like the Samuel French acting edition than the
Harper & Row version.

23

No one could mistake this faintly fussy,
professorial-looking character for a man of the
people. Yet he has written some of the most
authentic Americana of his time, and numbers among
his friends prizefighters, Chicago gunmen,
waitresses, and a gambler who is a member of
Alcoholics Anonymous. Full of bubble and bounce,
he has the ready grin of the seasoned meeter-of-
people. He puts on no airs, and has an immense
interest in human beings, young an old, whom he
treats with fatherly didacticism.

The second major conflict between the two men occurred
.when Wilder came to observe one of Harris' rehearsals for the
play. The playwright was naturally anxious, nervous, and also
relatively inexperienced in the ways and means of the rehearsal
process and became increasingly frustrated by what he thought
was a complete misunderstanding of his play. His nervous
gestures and mannerisms so distracted the actors that Harris
banned Wilder from attending rehearsals until a few days prior
to the show's out-of—town try-out; a sort of final dress
rehearsal, according to Isabel Wilder, at the McCarter Theatre
in Princeton, New Jersey. Whether or not Harris and his actors
understood Wilder's play at those early rehearsals, the play
was a failure in its first public performance. Wilder was
distraught. Variety reviewed this try-out production in less
than "cool" terms, refusing to take the play seriously.

As theatre fare, it is not only disappointing

but hopelessly slow---and it will probably go down
as the season's most extravagant waste of fine talent.

 

142lflgr January 12, 1953. pp. 45-47.

24

Play's chance will rest solely on the
novelty of the production. It's the type of
stuff put on here every now and then by the
Princeton Theatre Intime, university experimental
group, and other serious collegiate organizations.
92E Town should never have left the campus.

Goldstone attributes much of the failure of Our Town's

 

first performance to inadequate lighting and poor acoustics.
Isabel Wilder, who was present at that production, agrees with
this evaluation and adds that these problems could have been
easily remedied had the McCarter Theatre been available for

16 She also

a longer set-up and rehearsal period of time.
indicated that the company was not allowed into the theatre
until after 1:00 P.M. and that Harris with his technical
director, Raymond Sovey, spent most of the afternoon working
on the lighting. There was no time for a rehearsal.

Undaunted by the Princeton performance and Wilder's
disappointment, Harris continued with his production plans
for the play's next try—out--two weeks in Boston. But the
critical response there was no better and the show closed
one week short of its scheduled run. Harris, never a man easily
discouraged by overwhelming odds, forged ahead with his plans
for a New York opening as soon as possible. opp Town had

been contracted to play inaShubert Organization house, but

since an adequate one was not currently available, Harris

 

15Variety, January 23, 1938.

16Isabel Wilder, op. cit.

25

negotiated with Gilbert Miller for a week's run at the Henry
Miller Theatre. The producer in Harris speculated that if
Our Town were to succeed, another Broadway house would become
available. After its week's run at the Henry Miller Theatre,
Our Town moved to the Morosco Theatre for 336 performances.
In addition to the problems of finding a suitable theatre in
New York, Harris was also troubled by the stagehands' union
over actors moving furniture during the performance.
According to Variety, the issue caused a minor skirmish
backstage.
Harris insisted that as the script called for
actors to move chairs and other props (there is no
scenery) there was no need for more than a skeletonized
crew. Vincent Jacobi, business agent for the
deckhand union, demanded that men be engaged
anyhow. There was some pushing around backstage
and several poorly-aimed punches were thrown,
but the jam was finally cleared.
The union conceded to Harris' explanation that only for
artistic reasons were the actors and not the stagehands to
handle the scenery; the additional crew members were not
engaged.

While making his final preparations for the February 4,

1938 Broadway premiere of Our Town, Harris had a chance meeting

with Brooks Atkinson, respected drama critic for the New York

17Variety. February 9, 1938.

26

Times. The outcome of this chance meeting offers another
example of the Harris "Chutzpah" as Broadway producer. He
invited Atkinson to a rehearsal of Our Town, thus providing
the esteemed critic ample time for academic reflection before
the demands of journalistic deadlines forced a less than
meaningful critical analysis for its writer. It is, of course,
impossible to say whether or not Atkinson would have had the
same impressions of Our Town had Harris not offered and he not
accepted the invitation. Nor is it possible to conclude that
the play would have succeeded without Atkinson's glowing
praise.

Taking as his material three periods in the
history of a placid New Hampshire town, Mr. Wilder
has transmuted the simple events of human life into
universal reverie. He has given familiar facts a
deeply moving, philosophical perspective. Staged
without scenery and with the curtains always up,

Our Town has escaped from the formal barrier of the
modern theatre into the quintessence of acting,
thought and speculation. In the staging, Jed Harris
has appreciated the rare quality of Mr. Wilder's
handiwork andeilluminated it with a shining
performance.

Only speculation itself, or perhaps a circle of

critics, would dare attribute the success of Our Town to

Brooks Atkinson. But it is appropriate to suggest that he

 

18Brooks Atkinson. New York Times, February 5, 1938.

 

27

helped to establish Thornton Wilder as a popular American
playwright and to add another hit to Jed Harris' already long
list of Broadway victories.

Atkinson's critical response, while not singular in
its praise for onanown, was not without its opposing opinions.
The one critical concern consistently directed against the
production was its experimental, bare-stage, scenery-less

novelty. John Anderson of the New York Journal-American wrote

 

 

that the play offered little more than "another brand of
hokum that is obligingly abetted by the audience. There is
at the moment, a sort of intellectual chi-chi about having no

scenery in the theatre".19

What Anderson perhaps knew but
refused to acknowledge was that Wilder and Harris seemed to

have accepted the challenge offered by a member of that

"intellectual chi-chi"--Lee Simonson. In his book, The Stage

 

To Set, published in 1932, Simonson made the following challenge
to his colleagues in the American theatre:

Let me go on record as offering a standing
challenge to Sidney Howard, Elmer Rice, Eugene
O'Neill, Philip Barry, S. N. Behrman, Paul Green,
or any other American playwright who dares accept
it. Namely: Let one of them write a play in which
lines and business are so independent of scenery
that it can be played on a bare stage, with no more
furniture than three chairs, one couch, and one
table, and with no more dependence on doors and

 

19John Anderson. New York Journal-American,

February 5, 1938.

 

28

windows than a comedy by Moliere. An open air
scene will be allowed two potted plants of any
description, or lef shadows cast by a stereopticon.
I'll gladly offer my services free to light the
show. But I'm making a safe offer. It won't be
taken up. If it is, what you will see will be,
not a new school of staggosetting, but a new
school of playwrighting.

Wilder had, in fact, written such plays for his anthology of

one-acts, including The Happy Journey E2 Trenton and Camden,

 

 

which he published a year before Simonson's book. Wilder
had also spoken out on the issue of unemcumbered stage spaces
as early as 1933. In an article published in the Honolulu

Star Bulletin he remarked on the element of audience imagination

 

as a means to their active participation in the total theatre
experience. "I look forward to the time when actors will be
able to play not only without scenery, but without specific
costumes-—perhaps using a sort of Guild uniform--and thus the
imagination of the audience can clothe the actors in their
fitting garb as well as the stage with its fitting scene."21
However, it would take another five years before American
audiences would be introduced to the realization of Simonson's

challenge as it came in Harris' staging of Wilder's Our Town.

 

20Lee Simonson. The Stago To Set. (New York: Harcourt,
Brace and Company) 1932. p. 124.

21Star Bulletin. November 4, 1933.

 

 

29

If much of the bare stage concept and floor plan
arrangement was Wilder's,22 Harris' great contribution to
staging the play was in his use of lighting. According to
Burroughs, Harris invested $44,000 in producing QE£.EQEE-
Even with a cast of fifty-five, the costumes executed by
Helene Pons studio cost under $1,000. But Harris committed
himself to almost $30,000 in electrical equipment from Century

23 Harris and Sovey spent endless

Lighting for his production.
hours installing the two lighting boards, hanging, focusing,
and setting over 100 lighting instruments in order to establish
the right atmosphere and mood for 92E Town which they felt, in
the absence of scenery, could only be created through the power
of plastic lighting.24

It is curious, however, that in spite of all the

expense, time and detail spent on painting the "scenery" of

 

22Early typescripts of Our Town in the Wilder Collection
housed in the Beinecke Rare Books Library at Yale indicate this
to be true.

23Burroughs. op. 213°: p. 273.

24For the producer interested in recapturing the look
and feel of that original proscenium theatre production, he need
only turn to and follow the 1938 Samuel French acting edition
of the script. It is the published version of the production
stage manager Edward P. Goodnow's production book which is now
located in the Harvard Library Theatre Collection. Most of the
production elements are included in noted detail: "Suggestions
for the Director", "Curtain Call Routine", "Note on Pantomime",
"Note on Wedding Entrance", "Doubling and Understudy Plot",
"Property Plot", "Carpenter's Plot", "Publicity Ideas", "Costume
Plot", "Scene Design" floor plans for each act, and an extensive
"Lighting Plot".

30

Our Town with light from "the wings, overhead, and from the

"25

rear of the Henry Miller Theatre that such efforts went

practically unnoticed by the watchful eyes of nearly every
critic. One reviewer rather cursorily commented that "there was
technical direction' by Raymond Sovey, who having no scenery
to design, presumably took care of such eerie effects as the

. . . 26
sun rising over the steam pipes".

Whatever the critical responses to the Broadway premiere
of Our Town might have been, the production demonstrated that
the 300-year old tradition of the proscenium theatre was ready
for a change.

Our Town showed that realistic-naturalistic

theatre had pretty much exhausted itself and that

realism now prOperly belonged to the realm of films

and radio plays. Further, it was clear now that

the legitimate theatre, if it were to survive, would

have to address itself to a-~-more discriminating

audience and devise new modes of presentation.

Indeed, Our Town had done its part to free American theatre
practices from the shackles of convention. Wilder had created
a more intimate theatre experience. As Norris Houghton suggested,

Wilder

offered us a character like the Stage Manager
of Our Town who smashed the barrier of the footlight

 

25Variety. February 9, 1938.

26
Wilella Waldorf. New York Post. February 5, 1938.

27Goldstone, op. cit., p. 138.

31

and held out his hand inviting the audience to

commune with him and the performers. 'Not

versimilitude but reality' its author wafiaseeking,

and by this means he caught it superbly.

Off-Broadway Revival

Thornton Wilder's circle of acquaintances in 1937 New
York did not include those people committed to the intimate
and experimental spirit of the burgeoning off-Broadway theatre.
Had that been the case, the revival of his play there over
two decades later might never have taken place at all; much
less become the recipient of such sensational critical acclaim.
Even though Jose Quintero's staging of the play was not the
first New York revival of on£_Town since its Broadway premiere,29
it was, however, the first professional New York revival to
play for an extended run. The production opened on March 23,
1959, at the original off—Broadway Circle-in-the Square Theatre
and closed 375 performances later on February 21, 1960, after

having been transferred to the Circle's new facilities five

blocks away.

 

28Norris Houghton. The Exploding Stage. (New York:
Dell Publishing Co., 1971). p. 140.

29The first New York revival of QE£ Town opened at
the City Center on January 10, 1944, and closed after a limited
run engagement of 24 performances on January 29, 1944. The
production was again staged by Jed Harris and included many
0f the original performers. However, Marc Connelly played
the Stage Manager.

32

The story of 92E Town under Quintero at the Circle-in-
the-Square Theatre is perhaps its best story. All three had
proven their success: opp Town had had over twenty years of
popular stagings in academic, community and regional theatres.
It had been made into a major motion picture, broadcast on
radio, and produced for television with no less than five
different interpretations.30 Quintero's reputation as a director
of breathtaking sensitivity was firmly established. He
ostensibly became recognized as a major interpreter of Eugene
O'Neill's work and ultimately credited with much of the renewed
critical interest in this renowned American playwright.
Quintero's intuitive and dance-inspired utilization of the
intimate arena-like stage space and his poignant revivals of

such plays as Summer and Smoke and The Iceman Cometh helped

 

 

to make the Circle-in-the-Square off-Broadway's leading theatre.
Often what is most important about a particular
production is the unique combination of those elements outside
the given script itself. To study a script produced by an
off-Broadway company, it is also essential to view the group,

its personalities involved, and their corporate philOSOphy of

30One of these television interpretations was directed
by Quintero. It was aired November 13, 1959, on the CBS
ngid Susskind Presents.

:3“

lie

Ii:

33

what the theatre experience should be.

That off-Broadway theatre experience, according to
Martin Esslin, "is more adventurous in producing plays of
literary merit or social relevance, and more experimental with
staging techniques".31 While Esslin's description does not
account for those Broadway exceptions like Jed Harris, the
general rule remains; the difference between Broadway and off-
Broadway theatre is more than the distance from Times to Sheridan
Square. Francis Fergusson's brief sketch of the Broadway theatre
details what the off-Broadway scene, particularly the work of
the Circle, refused to be until more recently when the inevi-
tability of fiscal responsibility pushed that "downtown"
ideal further off-Broadway. Fergusson essayed the Broadway
ideal.

The producer is a key figure in the Broadway

set-up. Anyone who has, or can find, the money can

be a producer....As entrepreneur, he is between the

investor (or angel) and the show. But he cannot

afford his own acting company, theatre, director,

designer, or musician;...He shops around for stars

with "names", directors and designers with good

reputations, orchestrators who have, as nearly
as possible, the infallible touch; and out of

 

31Martin Esslin, Illustrated Encyclopaedia o: World
Theatre (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1977) p. 204.

 

 

34

these elements (often quite strange to each other)

he puts together a show.
Quintero spoke of the off-Broadway experience of putting a
show together in more simplistic terms. "We have a sense of
belonging....We have a base. We're not a migrant pack like
Broadway producers."33

Indeed, the off-Broadway phenomenon is in itself a
vital subject for study. Several cogent and insightful
sources are available and provide adequate historical perspec-

tives and analyses of the movement. The most pervasive work

to date on the topic is Stuart W. Little's Off-Broadway: The

 

Prophetic Theatre. He begins his book with a tribute to the

 

revitalization of the off-Broadway spirit by Ted Mann, Leigh
Connell, Jose Quintero and their Circle-in-the-Square Theatre
company. Lewis adds that for historical purposes off-Broadway
"may be said to have begun in Sheridan Square on the evening

of April 24, 1952, when Summer and Smoke with Geraldine Page

 

Opened at the Circle-in—the-Square and became the first major

theatrical success below 42nd Street in thirty years".34

 

32Francis Fergusson. The Human Image Tn Dramatic
Literature (New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1957).

 

 

33Stuart W. Little, Off-Broadway: The Prophetic
Theatre (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., 1972)
pp. 43-440

34

 

Stuart W. Little, loc. cit. p. 14.

 

35

Much of the critical acclaim for the success of the
Circle's revival of Williams' play was attributed to its
"sensitive" direction. How Quintero got to that point and the
ensuing development of his sky-rocketing career as one of
America's leading stage directors in given full treatment in

his autobiography, T: You Don't Dance They Beat You. The

 

sensitive directing style which consistently marked the Circle's
intimate productions soon became recognized as the Quintero
signature. It was the signature of an intuitive, brooding,
passionate man. Where Harris' public display of passion was
bombastic and often denigrating, Quintero's passion was tacit
and always reassuring. The personality of both men naturally
permeated their rehearsal work. For Harris, the rehearsal

was a process activity--an administrative exercise. For
Quintero, the rehearsal was a communion of souls--a spkitual
exorcism. Neither Harris not Quintero was born of temperate
spirits and while both artists were greatly influencedknrtheir

35 each man was troubled by the fear of failure

separate gods
and non-acceptance.

Quintero's approach to the playwright's script differed

greatly with that of the elder director. Harris looked for a

 

5 . . .
Harris was JerSh; Quintero was Roman Catholic.

pf
k, L

'1
.._

L1

36

script with production potential but one that he could "doctor";

36 For Harris the production

one that he could "possess".
script was Of primary importance. That is not to say his
concerns were always literary. They were not. He was concerned
with the theatrical stage—worthiness of the script and if
the play had been produced unsuccessfully before, the challenge
of the exercise was his inspiration. Quintero, too, liked to
revive old scripts that had proven less than successful under
another director's touch. But his approach to the script was
not to rewrite it as Harris did, but to direct the focus Of the
play more sharply and more personally into the intimate thoughts
and feelings Of the characters. In his book Quintero spoke
about his mission as a director of stage plays. "When you
direct, you're after that shy inner thing hidden in the woods
Of your being. But it is not technique that I was ever
searching for, but rather the treasure Of the blind heart."37
In directing QE£.IQEE for its premiere performance
Harris was preoccupied with the play's unique staging
Opportunities for himself. In directing 92E Town for its
first major legitimate theatre revival since 1944, Quintero was

36Personal interview with Isabel Wilder, September 14,

1981.

37Jose Quintero, TT You Don't Dance They Beat You.
“haston: Little, Brown and Company, 1974) p. 182.

37

committed to discovering the essence of the play. Breathing,
he felt, was the essence Of life. "People inhale and in that
inhalation are the most powerful Of man's expressions of his
innermost soul's longings."38
Quintero was an actor's director. Jason Robards, Jr.
once commented about Quintero's direction: I don't remember
Jose actually telling me anything. He was always acting with

"39 And so he was. Quintero was ever an active participant

us.
in his rehearsals playing every part and every moment right
along side his actors. He seldom remained seated for more

than a few minutes at a time. He would pace around the theatre
talking to the actors; questioning,probing, expanding, helping
them to discover the treasure Of their character's blind heart.
He Often conducted rehearsals with improvisational techniques
allowing, if not encouraging, his actors to create their own
additional dialogue; which, Of course, was never used in the
actual performance, but which always helped the actors create
deeper and richer characterizations. This improvised dialogue
approach Quintero admitted was a great distraction to his stage

managers who kept flipping prompt script pages in an effort

to stay with the director and his actors.

 

38Quintero, op. cit., p. 154.

39 .
Steve Lawson, "Jose, Jason, and Gene", Horizon,

September, 1978, p. 79.

Q

in:

38

Whatever Quintero's directing approach was, it was
personal; it was intimate. Jose Quintero and his space at the
Circle-in-the-Square Theatre was indeed a fortuitous marriage
of the artist and his medium. The physical structure Of the
Circle only enhanced his spontaneous style. "The Openness Of
the Circle stage--the absence of the picture frame proscenium--
made for extreme simplicity in the physical production....The
only structure was the work itself."40 Lewis also suggested:

Theoreticians are tempted to give Quintero and
the Circle credit for the concept Of three-quarter
arena staging, for finding the way to break out Of
the dimensionality of the proscenium box. But the
shape of the stage and the style Of the playing
derived less from theory than necessity; given a
nightclub, Quintero created a theatre. He saw how
actors would enter and leave and how they would play
to a nearly surrounding audience. The proscenium
stage dictated the horizontal movement, one that more
nearly fitted the contours of the human body.
Quintero could feel the motion in his own body,
how to fill the space and make it live, the actors
not as paintings to be studied from one perspective
but as sculpture to be viewed from all angles. It
was this dance-derived sense Of sculptured movement
that was to give a distinctive shape to future
Circle-in-the-Square productions.4

A description of the theatre's facilities by Richard Cordell

and Lowell Matson give a more complete picture Of the intimate

 

40Lewis, op. cit., pp. 47-48.

411bid.

39

actor—audience rapport that was possible at the Sheridan
Square renovated nightclub. "The theatre still resembles a
nightclub with horseshoe seating, a ring Of small tables and a

snack bar in the lounge. It seats 270 people and has a small

art gallery with changing shows".42 Lewis described the future

site Of the Circle as Quintero might have seen it.

...the vacant nightclub once known as the
Greenwich Village Inn at the bottom Of two joined
brownstones at 5 Sheridan Square....On the initial
inspection trip Quintero stood on the rectangular
nightclub floor with its low ceiling and supporting
columns...Yes, he thought, these supports could be
used as part Of the set-—as trees, as umbrellas,
as anything at all. He began to imagine patterns
of stage movements flowing in and around the three-
sided rectangular stage.

With the Open "congenial" ambiance Of the theatre and
the intimate directing style of Jose Quintero, it is not
surprising that QB£.32!B was such a resounding success. Ted
Mann, one Of the Circle's co—founders, essentially its business
manager and the driving force behind the company's survival,
considered the success of the play to be in the "very simple,

44

honest, and direct playing Of Wilder's script". He reported

on the day after the show Opened that "lines of between ten and

 

42 ‘
Richard A. Cordell and Lowell Matson, eds., The
Off-Broadway Theatre (New York: Random House, Inc., 1959)
pp. xvi-xvii.

 

43Lewis, op. cit., pp. 46-47.

44Personal interview with Ted Mann, September 16, 1981.

40

fifteen persons formed all day yesterday to purchase tickets
for as far ahead as June".45 Mann also speculated that Our
Town could well prove to be as successful as the Circle's

previous hits, The Iceman Cometh and its history making pro-

 

duction of Summer and Smoke, both directed by Quintero. ‘Mann's

 

speculation was accurate. After an impressive run of 375
performances in two different theatres, Qn£_Town closed its
most critically successful professional production. The
critics had been kind.

Perhaps it was Wilder's script, or Quintero's
directing; or perhaps it was the theatre itself, but nearly
every drama critic Of the New York dailies wrote favorable
reviews. In its eight-year history Of producing primarily
revivals, the Circle had seldom so captured the complete and
unmitigated support Of both critics and patrons. Robert E.
Rhodes, filling in for vacationing Newsday drama critic George
Oppenheimer, reported the production's special and endearing
appeal.

It is such a personal thing that one does not
watch Qn£_Town; one participates in it. This
participation has never been so intimate as it is
in the Circle-in-the-Square's production....The

arena presentation is made to order for Our Town.
With only about 200 in the audience, with everyone

 

45New York Times, March 25, 1959, p. 40.

41

sitting almost close enough tO touch the players
and with the warmth and folksiness Of the narrator
as he talks directly to the audience, it is as if
each person has been personally invited to come
and get to know the people Of Grover's Corners.

Whitney Bolton of the Morning Telegraph agreed with Rhodes'

 

assessment, writing as he did that the Circle's production Of
own Town had seemingly come home; that the arena production
mode served the play more effectively than the proscenium
theatre.

Oddly the arena floor Of the Circle seems a
perfect place for the retelling Of the familiar and
human events Of Thornton Wilder's deceptively
simple play. Although one medium of entertainment
even presented it with sets (the movies), in a
proscenium theatre it always has been somewhat
Of a wrench to the mind to discard concerns with
stages, back walls and similar adornments Of the
average play. In an arena style presentation,
there is no such impediment and one can accept the
play forthwith and wholly.

Even though the major focus Of the critical response to
Quintero's staging Of 92E Town at the Circle centered on the
appropriateness of the arena playing space, critics did point
to other production elements. John McClain Of the E§!.XQEE

Journal-American simply noted, "The lighting and costumes

 

deserve praise; they were achieved by David Hays and Patricia

Zipprodt".48 Frank Aston of the New York World-Telegram wrote:

 

 

46Newsday,‘March 25, 1959.

47Morning Telegraph, March 25, 1959.

 

4
8New York Journal-American, March 24, 1959.

 

42

"The women's high necks and long sleeves gave Patricia
Zipprodt a good time with her needle. The lighting by David
Hays is smooth."49 And Robert Rhodes in his Newsday review
also made special mention of the effectiveness Of the lighting.
He wrote, "The lighting by David Hays, particularly in the
third act cemetery scene was imaginary and fitting".50 Like
Harris' premiere production in 1938, so it was in 1959 at
the Circle that the production's elements Of costumes and
lighting were significant in their separate contributions tO
the staging Of 92E Town.

Of course, the critics reviewed once again the
literary merits of Wilder's script. Walter Kerr Of the Now
York Herald-Tribune reported that, "QE£.IQEE is still the
enchanting play Mr. Wilder wrote, perhaps even more valuable

51

for having become a piece of archeology". Jerry Talmer Of

the village Voice spoke glowingly in tribute of Wilder's

 

enduring masterpiece.

I have been seeing or reading or re-reading
92E Town for something like two decades now, and
not once on any Of those occasions has Mr. Wilder's
calm, stupendous Declaration of the Artist failed
to send shivers up my spine. Obviously we are either

 

49
New York World-Telegram, March 24, 1959.

50Newsday, op. cit.

51New York Herald-Tribune, March 24, 1959.

43

to think him a madman stuffed with delusions

Of grandeur or, which happens to be the case,

the most exceptional sort of writer who has had

at least an intimation of how close he hp? come

to producing a masterpiece for the ages.
Wilder's play had been revived and staged successfully by
Quintero on the intimate Off-Broadway Circle-in-the-Square
Theatre. Critics and patrons alike responded with enthusiastic
support. Even Wilder himself was pleased.53

Ironically, QE£.IQEE marked a transition in the
history of the Circle. During the seventh month Of the showks
long run, Mann received a notice that the building was being
sold and that they would have to move out by October 31. The
Sheridan Square building was to be demolished to provide space
for a 17-story apartment complex. Mann knew that the task Of
locating a new home for the Circle would not be an easy job.
SO many Of the once available facilities had been taken by
producers who came to the Village inspired by the Circle's
success. After a frantic search, Mann acquired the Amato
Opera Theatre a few blocks away, still in Greenwich Village
at 159 Bleeker Street. 92E Town was moved from the Old to

the new in a matter of hours. According to the New York Times

the new theatre would maintain the same ambience as the Old.

52the village Voice, April 1, 1959.

53Wilder expressed appreciation by giving the Circle
his; brace Of one-act plays, Plays for Bleeker Street, for
Pdeuction in 1962.

44

"Again there will be a long Open stage with 200 seats on
ramps surrounding three sides. Since the Amato Theatre is
wider and longer than the Sheridan Square building, the stage
will be a little wider and longer and also free Of posts. The
4
seats, thank the Lord, will be comfortable."5 Lewis described
the move as having taken place with ease and precision.
The changeover in the theatres was accomplished
in January, 1960, without skipping a beat, thanks
to Mann's precise planning. Our Town played its 333rd
performance on January 8 at Sheridan Square and the
following evening gave its 334th performance igSthe
new Circle on Bleeker Street five blocks away.
McClain commented that the excellent production Of Our Town
seemed a fitting and "suitable requiem" for the Old theatre.
That fitting and final performance in the old Sheridan
Square theatre gave occasion for celebration. In his autobio-
graphy Quintero recalled that evening, not only for its particu-

lar meaning in the history of the Circle, but also for its

moment of transition in his own life and career.56 It was a

 

54New York Times, September 6, 1959, p. II, 1.

 

55Lewis, op. cit., p. 73.

6Quintero left the intimate space of the Circle to
direct in a variety Of other places. Fourteen years later on
Broadway he was awarded the Tony for his outstanding direction
Of O'Neill's Moon for the Misbegotten.

45

champagne farewell party with many Of the people who had
worked with the Circle during its eight-year history of
eighteen productions. Various performers from among them did
short scenes from the plays that they had presented there.
Colleen Dewhurst, Geraldine Page, Jason Robards, Jr., and
George C. Scott were a few Of the notable actors present.
Tennessee Williams was there and Thornton Wilder. The last
scene to be performed that night was the drugstore scene from
Our Town by the show's current stars, Jane Arthur and Clinton
Kimbrough. Quintero recounts his final moments at the Circle
with fond memories.

After the scene was over, Jane and Clinton
removed their chairs and the board, so the stage was
empty. And then Thornton said: "Well, folks.
There's the eleven O'clock train. A woman in Polish
town has just had twins. I think it's time for us
to go home and go to sleep. And so, good night."

I came up on the stage.

I agree with Thornton. It is time to go home.
But I want to thank you for coming not only tonight,
but for all these years and instead of goodnight, I
say---goodbye.5
Even though Quintero was saying goodbye tO the Circle,

Our Town still had nearly fifty more performances to play before

it would say farewell to the Off-Broadway theatre company in

which it had been given such a glorious rebirth. If Wilder had

 

57Quintero, op. cit., p. 296.

46

written his play to demolish the barriers Of Harris' two-
dimensional proscenium theatre, Quintero's sculptural Openness
of the intimate arena stage gave full and complete proof to
Wilder's intent. But it took twenty years to accomplish that

feat.

 

Regional Staging in a Thrust Mode
Thornton Wilder considered himself a Broadway playwright
in 1937 and so gave little thought to what Edith Isaacs and

her Theatre Arts magazine called the "tributary theatre." But

 

it remains that a satisfactory definition of the classification
seems wanting. Edith Hartnoll describes tributary theatre

as "the theatre outside New York which has also been called
nation-wide theatre, and on the suggestion Of Kenneth McGowen...

”.58

'local theatre In his "Foreward" to Joseph Wesley

Zeigler's expansive book on the subject, Regional Theatre,

 

Alan Schneider comments on this dilemma Of classification
semantics.

Once upon a time groups of theatre people met
and talked and dreamed about something we called,
for lack of a better phrase, the tributary theatre.
At that point we thought Of ourselves as serving
the once—flourishing theatre in New York City as a
river's tributaries serve the mainstream by spreading
their most sparkling waters surging into it. Then
the tributary theatre became the regional theatre,

 

58Edith Hartnoll, ed. The Concise Oxford Coppanion E2
the Theatre. (London: Oxford University Press, 1972) pp.
562-563.

 

47

a phrase nobody liked and everybody used, and the
regional theatre eventually came of age or at least
began to fill the growing vacuum Of Broadway. As
our theatre kept dying in one place and springing
up in new forms and new rhythms in lots Of other
places, we came to think of it as a resident
professional theatre, although it was too rarely
resident and tOO Often not nearly professional
enough. Repertory theatre we called it in shorthand,
although it usually wasn't repertory either, and we
knew it wasn't. And non-commercial or nonprofit
theatre, which it usually was and we didn't want

it to be. Progressively inaccurate descriptions
for the same geographical and psychological
phenomenon: the spread of the American theatre
outside the steadily-growing-colder canyons Of
Times Square--or at least the growth Of a theatre
bound not up in New York's traditional processes
and attitude, what Zelda Fichlan er has labelled
the "whaddaya—call-it" theatre.

Whatever label best distinguishes this theatre outside New
York, for the purposes Of this study the phrase "Regional
Theatre" will be used.

It is precisely here in the regional theatres of
America where untold productions would support Goldstone's
thesis that 92E Town had come as close as any play had come to
being our national drama. The intent in this section Of the
study focuses on Wilder's play as produced by one Of the leading
regional theatre companies in this country, the Guthrie Theatre,

Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 

59Joseph Wesley Zeigler. Regional Theatre. (Minneapolis:
University Of Minnesota Press, 1973) pp. vii-viii.

 

48

However, before getting to the specifics Of the Guthrie
and its production of Our Town, a few remarks regarding the
activities Of another leading American regional theatre, the
Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., must be addressed. While the
Arena does not hold the reputation Of the first major professional
regional theatre in this country, (that distinction belongs to
The Alley Theatre of Houston) it has given much inspiration, if
not talent, to many Guthrie productions. It is significant to
note that prior to the 1981 presentation of own Town at the
Guthrie, its director, Alan Schneider, directed the play twice
at the Arena Stage where he had also served in various
directorial capacities beginning in 1951. He first directed
the play at the Arena in 1953 and then again twenty years later.
The 1973 production was also invited to tour Russia as the
first American non-musical production to be performed by
American artists in that country. A few cursory comments
concerning that tour are worth mentioning here.

When the United States State Department determined to
participate in a cultural exchange with Russia they invited the
Board of Directors Of regional theatre groups across the
country to apply for the honor. In a personal interview
Schneider recounted the reason behind the ultimate selection

of the Arena and Our Town. During the period of time while

49

final decisions were being made, the wife Of a Russian envoy

in Washington attended a performance Of Our Town then appearing
at the Arena. Her simple response to the play was decisive.
Even though certain unnamed people on the selection committee
were pushing for a more contemporary script by a producing
group yet unchosen, the Russian lady's reaction sealed the
course Of events.

As it happened, Arena Stage, right smack in our
nation's capital, was doing Thornton Wilder's Our
Town...and the wife Of the Soviet cultural attache
saw the production and was moved to tears (and a
cable) because "it was just like our Chekov". SO
that's how this particular exchange was born.

The final selection was to be made from three Of the
country's leading regional theatres of the time: The Guthrie
Theatre in Minneapolis, The American Conservatory Theatre in
San Francisco, and the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Schneider

continues that the Russian delegation did not care for the

Guthrie selection Of 9£ Mice and Men. The San Francisco company

 

did not have anything intrinsically American and that city's
symphony orchestra had gone to Russia just the year before.
The choice of the Arena's production Of Our Town proved

inevitable.

 

60New York Times, November 18, 1973, p. II, 1.

 

50

Ironically, Schneider's initial problem in staging the
play for its Russian tour was in converting the production
back to the proscenium from the arena mode. None Of the
Washington area critics commented on the appropriateness of
92E Town to the intimate playing space Of the Arena as happened
with the Circle's production. The major changes Schneider made,
beyond adjusting the actor's movement patterns and creating
new pictures, was in his set design and his handling of the
script. It is these two aspects which seem to remain constant
in Schneider's staging of 92£.$2!E7 aspects that also were
evident in his 1981 production for the Guthrie Theatre in
Minneapolis.

The designer for the 1973 Arena production of QE£.22EB
was Ming ChO Lee. Since the theatre Operates in the round, no
backdrops or rear walls are possible. But Schneider conceived
Of a way to use Lee's talent and also bringaiunique visual
approach to QEE Town. Even though he selected a minimum Of
set pieces, they were, in fact, designed with great detail.

He avoided in all his productions the use of rehearsal furniture.
The tables and chairs, church pews, pulpit, and drug store
counter were all authentic and historically accurate looking
pieces. Actors used some props: real but empty soda glasses

with real straws; real coffee cups but an imaginary coffee pot.

51

In designing the production for its proscenium tour Of Russia,
Schneider and Lee created instead of a bare brick back wall as
for the Harris presentation, a suspended collage-like backdrop
Of early pieces Of Americana; a real rocking chair, phonograph,
spinning wheel, butter churn, and so on. Nearly twenty years
later the same visual spirit would be represented in Schneider's
production in Minneapolis. For the thrust stage of the Guthrie
Theatre, Karl Eigisti, who had also worked at the Arena,
designed for Schneider a setting which the Minneapolis Star
Tribune described as an "evocative weathered wood setting,
complete with antique furniture and clapboard cutouts Of a New
England home and church..."61
The Guthrie Theatre itself was built thirteen years
after the Opening Of Washington's Arena Stage. The story behind
the creation of a new regional theatre in Minneapolis is given
full treatment in Sir Tyrone Guthrie's book, n New Theatre.
Guthrie, Oliver Rea, and Peter Zeisler, all three astute men
of the theatre, found themselves bored with Broadway. Accord-
ing to Guthrie, "All of us felt considerable dissatisfaction

with the theatrical set-up as we found it in New York, and for

very similar reasons. But dissatisfaction is a negative state

 

61Minneapolis Star Tribune. July 13, 1981., p. 73.

52

Of mind. About the positive steps which we should take we
were neither clear nor unanimous."62
The many steps the three men did eventually take

brought them to the destination they were seeking. They were
looking for a "city which felt deprived of live theatre and
would take us under its wing".63 They were looking for an area
that was "large enough to support a theatre, and small enough

64 After narrowing the field

to enable us to be a big frog".
of such hinterland Shangri-Las from seven tO three, the men
decided upon Minneapolis, Minnesota for three reasons.
Minneapolis was the most remote from the theatrical world Of

New York in its social and psychological condition. Minneapolis
was a growing city with little culture and therefore a first—
class theatre set up there might just "be a very big frog".
Minneapolis and the mood of its people reflected a zest for

life like none of the other cities being considered. And so

in 1960 the drive to build a theatre in Minneapolis began.

Three years and $2,250,000 later the Minnesota Theatre Company

celebrated the gala opening of their new Guthrie Theatre building.

 

62Tyrone Guthrie. A New Theatre. (New York: McGraw-
Hill, 1964) p. 10.

63

 

Ibid., p. 10.

641bid., p. 56.

53

True to their staged purpose, "TO present classical repertory
theatre and serve as community resources to our region", the
Guthrie began its premiere season with a modern dress version
of Hamlet opening night, followed the next evening with a

production Of The Miser. As one Of the current leading

 

regional theatres in this country, the Guthrie and its paid

staff of over 200 employees have remained committed to that

ideal. Each season the theatre serves as a community resource

by bringing outstanding internationally known artists tO The

Guthrie in an effort to help enrich the cultural atmosphere

not only Of Minneapolis but also Of the entire Midwest region.
Alan Schneider was first brought to the Guthrie in 1964

tO direct their production of The Glass Menagerie,65 after his

 

having just become the only director ever to receive the Tony
and Obie Awards in the same year. In 1963 he earned the Tony

for his direction Of Who's Afraid o; Virginia Woolf? and the

 

Obie for his staging of The Collection and The Dumbwaiter.

 

Schneider's first visit to the Guthrie Theatre and Minneapolis

proved propitious; his production of The Glass Menagerie went

 

well, he made many friends and contacts for future references,
and he served as an effective and valuable resource to the

region.

 

65He directed the same play for his first production
at the Arena Stage.

54

Schneider has been variously described as bearing a
somewhat Brechtian resemblance, "the same wistful sanity in
a lunatic world, the same alert smile not fully masking some

66 One of the most

fierce ideals, the same cynical intensity".
articular67 directors Of the American stage, he approaches his

craft from those ideals not terribly unlike those of Brecht.

In an interview with a New York Times reporter, Schneider spoke

 

about what it is that he is after when directing a play.
"I'm interested in the theatre theatrical, which extends and
enhances the resources Of the stage."68

Schneider is no less articulate in discussing his
experiences with 92£,39!2r his interpretation, and theatrical
staging Of the play. In a personal interview Schneider shared
the wonder of his first experience with on£_Town. He saw the
original 1938 Harris Broadway premiere and remembered that the

production confused, startled and knocked him dead. "I fell in

69
love with Martha Scott, but I didn't like the play", he began.

 

66New York Times Magazine. October 20, 1963. p. 27+.

 

7 I I I I I
Schneider has written for various newspapers including
the New York Times.

68

 

New York Times Magazine. October 20, 1963. p. 27+.

 

9Personal interview with Alan Schneider. September 20,
1981.

55

He went on to express his concern at the time for the play's
lack of traditional dramatic structure—-no conflict, tension,
no beginning, middle and end. Then he continued by saying
that he saw the play several years later and responded to it
much differently. In 1938 and until after he had studied the
idea of the open stage and presentational theatre put forth

in Alexander Bakshy's little book The Theatre Unbound, Our

 

Town remained alien to his artistic sense Of what a good

play and therefore good theatre should be. In Schneider's
words, he "had to learn to think theatrical".70 As soon as he
came to understand, as Gassner did, that "the play written

for theatricalism was so constructed as to present a view Of
life rather than a literal copy Of it"?1 then 92E Town began
to take on new levels Of meaning for him. He admits to
discovering new levels each time he directs the play.
Schneider details his understanding and love of Wilder's
"little masterpiece" for an article published in the 1981
Guthrie Theatre playbill that reflects the play's mythic

elements suggested by Porter and Scott and mentioned earlier

in this study.

 

70
Ibid 0

1
7 John Gassner, ed. A Treasury on the Theatre. (New

York: Simon Schuster, 1950) p. 927.

 

56

Wilder's dramatic masterpiece has never been
and it is not now a piece Of journalism whose
validity is altered by each shift in social values,
urban redevelopment or economic growth-—or decline.
It was always meant to Offer up not sociology but a
metaphysical demonstration. Even back in less complex
and cynical days, we knew that its gentle, lyrical
compilation Of daily life, love and marriage and
death was mythic rather than literal, that it dealt
less with facts than with truth. That it was a
poem about essentials and essences Of the human
condition, not so much concerned with the way we
happened tO be living on the northeast coast Of the
American mainTand as about what it has always meant
to be human.

Schneider attempts to bring his particular understanding
and interpretation of a play to his actors through various
techniques during the rehearsal process. He prefers to begin
with a traditional sit-down reading Of the script by the actors
during which he "enhances" the playwright's work, Often
changing or modifying lines in the script. For the Russian
tour he translated the first part Of the Stage Manager's Opening
speech that introduces the play, its producing group, author,
and actors into the native language of its audience. For the
Guthrie production he changed lines to help the play seem more
contemporaneous. He modified "...more than the Treaty Of
Versailles and the Lindbergh flight" to read as "...more than

the Salt II Treaty and the Columbia flight". After he has made

 

72Guthrie Theatre Playbill, 1981.

57

what he considers the essential line alterations, he discusses
the essence Of the play with his actors in an effort to discover
the core Of what he calls the play's "inner truth". And he
Often likes to move next tO using improvisation tO help the
actor find elements Of that core of truth within himself.
Schneider felt that in the specific case of the Guthrie cast

73 In fact, according

the improvisation work "didn't help much".
to actors and director, there seemed tO be less than a close
working relationship between those involved. Three actors of

the cast were interviewed immediately following their performance
in the play.74 All three indicated their dissatisfaction with
Schneider's interpretation and indecisive direction. They

argued that his interpretation presented the play in too much

Of a cavalier manner and that he kept changing his mind on
directing choices. Schneider, too, indicated a sense Of

disunity when he remarked that he had had a greater feeling

of actor ensemble at the Arena.

 

3Personal interview with Schneider, September 20, 1981.

74Ken Ruta who played the Stage Manager, Boyd Gaines
who played George, and Adam Redfield who played Joe Crowell--
the same role created by his father in the 1938 Broadway
production.

58

Whatever Schneider's professional relationship with
his actors, he easily communicates his ideas to the technicians.
In fact, he Often insists on working with the same people.
Three such technicians worked with Schneider on the Guthrie
production Of 92E Town: scenic designer, Karl Eigsti, lighting
designer, Richard Riddell, and costumer Marjorie Slaiman.75
If Quintero is an actor's director, Schneider seems to be the
technician's. His several production of 92E Town imply this to
be so. In his Russian proscenium production he not only added
his collage backdrop Of realistic pieces Of Americana, but he
also used follow spots, an element he had wanted in his Guthrie
production as well. Schneider's technical presentation Of
QEE Town has remained relatively constant given the various
modes Of staging. An interesting and perhaps contradictory
statement outlining his production concepts appears in the
Guthrie playbill. And while it is addressed to the specific
presentation at the Guthrie, evidence such as photographs of
other productions and remarks made by Schneider in a personal
interview suggest that the playbill statement reflects his
approach to the visual presentation of QEE Town. It also

suggests that the influence Of the Group Theatre's drama Of

 

75Actually Schneider had Marjorie Slaiman's costumes
for the Arena Stage's 1973 production Of Our Town borrowed
and shipped to Minneapolis.

59

social realism, in which he was originally trained and caused
him to reject that first production of QEE Town, still affects
his thinking. Although his statement is rather lengthy, it is
significant to a better understanding Of his productions and
is therefore quoted here in full.

The Guthrie production Of 92E Town with its
physical emphasis on what is beautiful and true and
lasting in our American past, is intended to mirror
the real meaning of the play. The production concept
is to present the play as simply and as clearly as
possible without gimmicks or "special effects". As
the theatre is the art of the living of life, so
92E Town should simply stress the value Of that living
in each moment and in every aspect. We are using
American antiques for the furniture and props instead
of the usual rehearsal chairs and tables. And for
the bare walls and exposed radiators of the proscenium
stage, we have substituted some simple outlines Of
a New England clapboard house, a New England church
steeple, that metaphor Of all our American small towns,
even for those who have never lived in one--Or gone
to church. On the Guthrie stage, with its own
simplicity and directness, its particular warmth and
texture and glow, we believe that such a visual image
should feel at home. And the performances, we hope,
straightforwardly thrust into the very heart of the
audience, will serve to reinforce that glow. For the
truth of 92E Town lies neither in geography nor in 76
detailed reproduction. It lies in our imagination.

Schneider's great contradiction seems to lie in his conviction

that the truth is best represented simply and without gimmick,

 

76
Guthrie Theatre Playbill, 1981.

60

yet he chooses to use ornate antique furniture and clever
cut-out drops in the color and detail of Andrew Wyeth, all
of which works to limit the imagination of the audience.

The two critics who saw the Guthrie production of 92E
Town each responded to the play somewhat differently. T. E.
Kalem Of Ting magazine reviewed the Guthrie's entire Opening
season of three shows in a positive manner. Specifically
regarding on£_Town Kalem honored the craftsmanship of Wilder
and describes Schneider's direction as "pellucid". "We hear
the playwright's earthly voice and—-something rarer--the
splashless echo Of pebbles of speculation dropped into a
metaphysical well....In this luminous rendering, Director
Schneider and his solid troupe unveil the soul of onnTown."77

A little less esoteric and positive, Mike Steel, critic for

the Minneapolis Star Tribune, takes a more thorough and

 

objective point of view. He, too, salutes Wilder's masterpiece
and assumes a generally positive posture toward the production
giving special mention to the setting and costumes. However,

Steel also recognizes a few Of the production's weaknesses.

 

77Minneapolis Star Tribune. July 13, 1981. p. 7B.

 

61

The Guthrie production under Alan Schneider's
direction is traditional and thoroughly competent
and, once the cast loosens up, could possibly be
more than that. Right now there's a certain lack of
spontaneity and Openness tO it all, a stiffness
that may be the result Of Schneider's decision to
play with New Hampshire accents. At this point the
actors seem more involved in getting it right than
in acting it out.

This last critical concern about the obtrusiveness Of awkwardly
delivered accents also appeared in the published reviews of
Schneider's 1973 Arena staging. And if there is indeed any
similarity between the two productions, an examination of those
Washington critics might be helpful in presenting insights into
the critical response to Schneider's productions Of QE£.EQEE-

David Richards of The Evening Star and Daily News commented

 

 

that he kept being jolted out Of Wilder's world. "Accents
are problems to begin with. Just about everyone in the large
cast succeeds in saying 'Jawg' for George. Otherwise Emily...
has an Irish lilt; George tends to the cockney; his mother,
Mrs. Gibbs...obviously had a Southern upbringing, and so on

79

down the line". Clifford A. Ridley of The National Observer

 

also felt distracted by the inconsistent sounds suggesting that

"most of the New England accents would be incomprehensible in

 

8
Minneapolis Star Tribune. July 13, 1981. p. 7B.

79
The Evening Star and DaiTy News. December 21, 1972.

 

 

p. D1.

62

Boston".80 But Ridley also points out that Schneider's
directorial contribution to the play is "in his mine Of humor
he discovers lodged just beneath the surfact Of so many scenes.
It is this...that saves BEE Town from sentimentality."81
Goldstone agrees that Schneider's metier is his capacity to

enrich a play with elements Of humor and farce; perhaps a

talent more suited to Wilder's The Skin oT Our Teeth, which

 

Schneider also directed.

If Schneider's 92E Town is anything, it is unsentimental.
He distinguishes that there is a difference between sentiment
and sentimentality. He says that a sentimental play is one
where everyone and everything is so exaggerated and "one-sidedly
good",82 that sentiment is merely a simply honest feeling of
emotion. If Schneider's QE£.IQEE is anything, it is casual;
particularly his Guthrie production according to the critics.
Kalem sees the Stage Manager presented as the "playgoer's

83

friend and guide". Steel describes the production as "a

 

80The National Observer. January 20, 1973.

81Ibid.

 

2Personal interview with Schneider. September 20, 1981.

83Time. July 27, 1931. pp. 74-75.

63

sort Of casually unsentimental rendering delivered with a
clipped Yankee wryness that steers the production away from
the arch".84 Perhaps such response tO the play's seeming
casualness could be in part due to the atmosphere Of the interior
Of the Guthrie Theatre. Where the austerity and innovation
of Harris' production was evoked by the environment of a
proscenium theatre, so, too, did the intimate playing space
Of an Off-Broadway cabaret influence the playing and response
to Quintero's sensitive interpretation of 92E Town. The
interior Of the Guthrie is unique; larger than either the Henry
Miller or Morosco Theatres where the play first appeared and
had its run on Broadway.85 TTno magazine published a description
of the Guthrie house and stage after the manner Of a baseball
stadium.
The stage itself juts forward like a mammoth

home plate with a blunted tip....Around this arena

stage sweeps a C—arc Of 200°, some tiers of the 1437

seats rising as steeply as bleachers, others sloping

more conventionally, none more than 52 feet from the

playing stage: the seats come in twelve shades of
color. 6

 

84Minneapolis Star Tribune. July 13, 1981. p. 7B.

 

85
Both the Henry Miller and the Morosco Theatres had
seating capacities less than 1,000.

86Time. May 17, 1963, pp. 87-88.

64

Richard Gilman in Commonweal also comments on the festive

 

ambience of the Guthrie auditorium saying "the whole thing
gives rise to an atmosphere of bright, self-confident, non—
competitive vigor and casual expertise".87
While published critical responses are public domain
for the most part, no evidence exists to indicate Wilder's
reaction to Schneider's casual approach tO QE£.EQEE- In 1981
Wilder had been dead for six years and in 1973 when the Arena
production was staged, Wilder was in failing health and missed
the performance. In 1953 when Schneider first staged the
play at the Arena, both director and theatre group were Of
no major theatrical consequence. However, that indistinction
soon changed and both men became well acquainted with one
another.88 It can only be surmised the extent to which
Schneider was willing to abide by his own doctrine Of
"fidelity to the script".
The ambiguity of such a doctrine is only exceeded by
its potential for artistic license. Schneider's regional

theatre production of Our Town on the arena/thrust stage in

the large festive Guthrie auditorium was modestly successful.

 

87
Commonweal. May 31, 1963. pp. 282-83.

 

88Wilder and Schneider spent fourteen days together
aboard a steamer bound for Europe and a meeting Wilder had
arranged between Schneider and Samuel Beckett.

65

He approached the play with casual humor using unique visual

metaphors for his production concepts.

CHAPTER III

FILM

This chapter will study QE£.39EE as presented in the
production mode of motion pictures. Since only one commercial
film Of the play has been produced to date, that singular
effort will necessarily serve the purpose of this examination.
The film to be studied here is Sol Lesser's United Artists
release Of 1940. The presentation Of QE£.22!E in the film
mode suggests certain unique approaches to the play that will
be discussed in this chapter. The study further provides a
reflection on the life and work Of selected motion picture
artists connected with the film. The film itself will be
discussed in the light Of those background circumstances
leading up to its final realization in presentation. The
process of transferring the script from its intended mode on
the formalistic stage Of the legitimate theatre to the
"realistic" screen of the picture house will be explored. The
producer and director's approach and commitment tO the filming
of Wilder's play will also be considered. Finally, the film

production will be studied for its particular effectiveness

66

67

at the time through a comparative analysis Of published

critical reviews.

The Motion Picture

 

Thornton Wilder consented to the 1940 film-making of
own Town with resignation and reserve. Jed Harris, as its
Broadway producer, retained production control Of the play so
that when the Opportunity to sell the film rights came along,
according to Isabel Wilder, her brother was consulted only
for his Opinion not his permission.1 However, the accurate
details Of this issue are somewhat cloudy. Goldstone avoids
the point in his biography by referring to the "independent
Hollywood producer who had secured the film rights to QEE

2
Town". Ms. Wilder remembered that Harris sold the rights and

 

that "there was nothing that Thornton could do".3 She further
commented that Harris gave her brother a check for five hundred
dollars as his share of the film sale. Yet a letter in the
Wilder Collection at Yale University's Beinecke Library,
written by Wilder, indicates the playwright's request to buy

the motion picture rights from Harris. Unfortunately no other

 

Personal interview with Isabel Wilder.
2Goldstone, p. 132.

3Wilder interview.

68

supporting evidence exists at the Beinecke concerning the

fact whether or not such a transaction did ever take place.

The 922.2222 Hollywood film pressbook on file in the Billy

Rose Theatre Collection of New York Public Library's Performing
Arts Research Center only confuses the issue more by reporting
that the film's producer had paid its playwright the sum Of
"$45,000 for production rights". Whatever the financial aspects
Of securing the play, it is understandable that Wilder felt

the formalistic style of QE£.$2EE hardly apprOpriate material
for the demands Of what Allardyce Nicoll had recently referred
to as "the camera—cannot-lie realism Of film".4 Also an
earlier experience of Wilder's work on film had been less than
satisfactory for the writer. The 1929 film version Of his

novel, The Bridge o; San Luis Rey, had been reviewed as "vague"

 

and "uncinematic".5 Nevertheless, motion picture rights to
Wilder's opp Town were sold in the summer of 1939 to Hollywood
producer Sol Lesser.

Prior to that time Lesser's reputation as a producer
Of motion pictures was founded on the box Office success of

his "B" grade films including the popular Tarzan series.

 

4
Allardyce Nicoll, Film and Theatre. (New York:
Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1936.) p. 168.

 

 

5The New York Times. March 23, 1929.

69

Lesser's decision to immortalize 92£.22!E on film marked the
beginning of his career as a Hollywood producer of serious
stature. His decision to take on the project was inspired by
his daughter. She had seen the Broadway premiere and asked her
father to produce it on film for her as a gift. He acquiesced,
went to New York to see the play for himself, and later remarked
that, "From the moment I first saw Jed Harris' beautifully
evocative play, I felt the urge tO transfer it to the
screen".6 The task Of making that transfer began to take
place almost immediately after Lesser had completed his New
York negotiations.

Work began on the film with Lesser's return to
California. The initial task that lay before him was to
adapt Wilder's proscenium theatre script to the mode Of motion
pictures. The Hollywood producer had at hand the services of
Harry Chandlee, a studio writer for United Artists. Frank
Craven, now in Hollywood had signed on to recreate his role
as the Stage Manager, also assisted in adapting the screen-

7 . . . .
play. But Lesser was committed to his "determination to carry

 

Sol Lesser. Comment by Mr. Lesser included in the
program for the film's Hollywood press review held at Grauman's
Chinese Theatre, May 9, 1940.

7 I I D I
Craven also had preVious experience writing for
stage and screen.

70

this script through to its finality in as faithful a
translation of its original as it is possible in our medium".
He spent a week of September, 1939, in New York conferring with
Wilder about the translation. Goldstone suggests in his book
that Wilder was unhappy with the screen treatment Of his play
by Lillian Hellman and so Offered his services to Lesser
gratis. When questioned about this point in a personal
interview, Goldstone responded that Wilder had given him that
information. However, an examination Of Hellman's bibliographic
resources Offers no such evidence that she ever wrote an
QE£.$2!E screenplay. During the next nine months the two men
"exchanged more than one hundred twenty letters...adapting the
story tO the screen". A substantial portion Of these

letters appeared in the November, 1940 issue Of Theatre Arts
magazine. These letters are significant not only for their
"illuminating insight both personal and technical into the
translation Of an excellent play into an excellent motion

picture,"9 but also for their revelation Of Wilder's own

thoughts about his play.

 

8Theatre Arts, "Our Town--From Stage to Screen".
November, 1940. p. 817.

9

 

Theatre Artpy p. 815.

 

71

The correspondence was "lively and friendly" between
the two; Lesser was sincere and Wilder helpful. They shared a
common concern that although the film was addressed to an
audience of forty million people, it should maintain both the
"boldness" and the "novelty" of the stage version. Not, Wilder
wrote, "for their own sakes, but merely as the almost indispen—
sible reinforcement and refreshment of a play that was never
intended to be interesting for its story alone, or even for
. 1 .
its background..." 0 Throughout their correspondence Lesser
continued to seek counsel on a number of details in adapting
the screenplay. Often his questions were nothing more than
tactfully stated suggestions for the enhancement Of Wilder's
original script.

January 9, 1940
Dear Thornton:
Does it occur to you that we should expose as

a premise early in the picture 'that human beings

do fairly move about in self-pre-occupied matter-Of-

factness--admitting that human beings are inadequate

to experience'--all as demonstrated in the last act?

If this could be accomplished subtly, yet thoroughly

understandably to the forty million, perhaps the

third act will take on a still added value.

As an example, Craven says: 'And there comes
Howie Newsome and Bessie delivering the milk--adding--

'Howie, you know, does one of those services that
we just naturally take for granted'.

 

10Ibid., p. 816.

72

While I realize that this premise 'cannot be
taken as a motto for this picture', do you feel as
I do, that it is an important collateral--which when
exposed should have everyone in the audience right
where we want him?

Think this through for me, and let me hear.

Cordially, 1

Sol Lesser

Wilder's immediate and academic reply reflects two important
items: the influence Of Chekov on Wilder's thinking and his
"obliging" willingness to consider the possibility Of Lesser's
suggestions.

January 13
Dear Sol:

Re planting unobtrusively the notion Of
everybody's inevitable self-pre-occupation.

I should suggest that the idea is not so much
suggested by the service a Milkman renders...but by
some picture of a person's not noticing another's
need or claim or call. (Chekov's plays are always
exhibiting this: Nobody hears what anybody else says.
Everybody walks in a self-centered dream.) Children
perpetually feel it as a rebuff:

"Mama, mama, look what I found--isn't it
wonderful?"

"Yes, dear, now go and wash your hands."

It is certainly one Of the principal parts that
the Return to the Birthday makes; when I read the
script today I'll be thinking over a way to
incorporate some advance indications Of it in the
earlier part of the picture.

All my best, 12
Thornton

Other letters communicated a variety Of details

concerned with the process of adapting and creating the

 

11Theatre Arts, p. 822.

 

12
Ibid.

73

screenplay of Q n Town; such details as finding substitute
events for the Treaty of Versailles and the Lindbergh Flight
which Wilder wrote into the original version as contemporary
reference points. NO satisfactory substitute was found. The
line was eliminated. A great deal of thought was given to

the characterization, or what Allardyce Nicoll called the
cinematic "individualization" of Emily and George. According
to Nicoll, a major distinction between cinema and the legitimate
theatre is that the characters in a film become more personally
associated with the actor playing the role, whereas these

same actors on the live stage can more easily sustain the
abstract levels of the playwright's larger meaning.13 Lesser
wondered if the character relationship between Emily and George
would be concrete enough for film. He asked Wilder if a
continuing conflict between the brighter Emily and the reticent
George might not heighten her later regret for having taken

him so much for granted and therefore be more appealing to

the masses. Wilder responded strongly and rationally "against
showing Emily returning to her fifth wedding anniversary and
regretting that she had been an unwise wife".1 Lesser

conceded. The initial relationship between Emily and George

 

13 , ,
Nicoll, op. Cit.

4
Theatre Arts, p. 818.

 

74

was retained, but instead of her twelfth birthday, she

returned to her sixteenth. The time-frame was also changed
from the 1901-1913 period of the stage script to 1919-1923

for the screenplay. The implication Of the time change was

to avoid any Oblique comparison to the years before World War I
and the contemporary world situation of growing military
unrest.

However, perhaps the most significant change in the
script was in its ending. In the original production Emily
dies giving birth to her second child. She is buried among
her people, chooses to relive her twelfth birthday, then
returns in revelation to the grave. The presentation of this
ending in the realistic mode Of motion pictures puzzled
Lesser. He confessed to Wilder his own inability to decide
whether Emily should live or die. Wilder's response, ironically
dated "Easter Night", conveyed the spirit, if not the words,
Of Nicoll's views concerning film.

...I think Emily should live. I've always
thought so. In a movie you see the people so

oTooo £2 that a different relation is established.

In the theatre they are halfway abstractions in

an allegory, she dies--we die--they die; insofar

as it's a concrete happening, it's not important

that she die; it's even disproportionately cruel

that she die.“
Let her live. The idea will have been imparted

anyway.15

 

15Theatre Arts, p. 824.

 

75
And so Lesser did. In the film Emily suffers through a
painful labor during which she becomes delirious. In this
fevered state of delirium she experiences an expressionistic
nightmare of death in which she relives her sixteenth birthday
and then returns to the grave as in the original production.
However, in the film Emily survives the agony Of childbearing
and as the nightmare subsides, she cries out, "I want to live.
I want to live." The shadow Of a doctor slapping the newborn
child is shown as the sounds Of the crying infant are heard.
The camera lens zooms in for a closeup of George, the living
Emily, and their new child. The film ends with the Stage
Manager/Narrator's final scene presented against a realistic
hillside backdrop Of Grover's Corners.

Of course, much attention was given to the visual
presentationcfifthe story on film because the medium seemed to
demand a departure from the play's original production style.
Therefore, Lesser gathered together a group of highly talented
motion picture artisans to create a novel and bold look for
his new film. The producer's first choice for director was
William Wyler, but finding him unavailable Lesser signed Sam
Wood to take the job. William Cameron Menzies was hired as
production designer and Harry Horner as his design associate.
Actually Horner was to do most of the design concept sketching

himself; Menzies was merely to coordinate the visual aspects

76

of the film with producer, director, designer, costumer, and
cinematographer. The combined expertise Of these major creative
forces was impressive. Wood's recent direction of Good-bye

Mr. Chips had received critical praise. Menzies' design

 

co-ordination of Gone With the Wind won him a special Oscar.

 

And although 92E Town was Horner's first Hollywood design
commission, he had been a student Of architecture and an
associate of Max Reinhardt in Vienna. Bert Glennon's work as
a cinematographer was highly regarded in the film business

and costumer Edward Lambert was a chief executive for Western
Costume Company, the largest costume house in the world.
Lesser even hired Edward P. Goodnow, production manager of the
Broadway premiere of 92E Town, to serve as Technical Advisor
to the film. The creative talent and energies Of these
assembled artistic personalities made staff meetings sizzle.
SO many ideas and ideologies sky-rocketed around and across
the planning table that Lesser, though ecstatic with what he
had wrought, was frequently confused. This, perhaps, explains
his constant return to Wilder for sage advice and counsel.

One such letter written in report reflects Lesser's enthusiasm
over the work being done on the film and his continuing efforts

to win Wilder's praise and approval.

77

January 17, 1940
Dear Thornton:

...You are going to get a real thrill, Thornton,
when you see on the screen the production Of the
graveyard sequence as designed by Mr. Menzies. There
is great inspiration from the time the mourners under
their umbrellas come into the graveyard. We never
show the ground-~every shot is just above the ground--
never a coffin nor an Open grave—-it is all done by
attitudes, poses and movements--and in long shots.
The utter dejection Of Dr. Gibbs--we have his clothes
weighted down with weights so they sag--the composi-
tion of Dr. Gibbs at the tombstone is most artistic--
and as Dr. Gibbs leaves the cemetery the cloud in the
sky gradually lifts revealing stars against the
horizon--and as the cemetery itself darkens, a
reflection from a star strikes a corner Of a
tombstone which is still wet from the recent rain
and the reflection (hilation) seems to give a
star-like quality--and the scene gradually goes
to complete darkness. We get a vast expanse Of
what seems to be sky and stars. When this dissolves
to the dead people this same reflection of hilation
appears to touch the brows Of the dead. It is
lovely--something quite bold! Well, if it comes out
on the screen as we hope, we will get that feeling
of joy. 16

Cordially, Sol Lesser

Sam Wood had seen Harris' original Broadway production 7
and was impressed with Martha Scott's work as Emily. He wanted
her for the film and arranged for the screentests. The results
were disastrous but Wood was not to be undone. He and cinema-
tographer Glennon re-examined the tests more closely and in
the process discovered that Scott's face and figure had been

poorly photographed due to improper lighting. Another

 

6
Theatre Arts, p. 823.

 

78

screentest was scheduled. This time the results were favorable
and Wood got his actress.

Wood was, indeed, a formidable force in the Hollywood
film industry.17 He once commented about his career in a Now

York Times interview that, "It was Obvious to me that any picture

 

was at the mercy Of the director. SO I decided tO become a
director."18 He had worked with such Hollywood stars as
Jackie Coogan, Gloria Swanson, Rudolf Valentino and the Marx
Brothers. In fact, Wood attributed much Of his success to
"his insistence upon having first-rate actors and technicians
to work for him".19 He has been variously described as
"shrewd", "versatile", and "the most thorough director in the
business".20 Ting magazine eloquently remarked Of his talents
that "if a Hollywood executive were confronted with the dread
fact Of having to turn out at one try a Grade—A, sure-fire
hit, he would almost inevitably turn to the tall, dignified,
soft-spoken man [Sam Wood] who has been quietly making excellent

pictures for the last twenty years."

 

For nearly ten years Wood actively campaigned against
the alleged infiltration of Communists into Hollywood films. TO
that end he served as founding president Of The Motion Picture
Alliance for the Preservation Of American Ideals.

18
New York Times, January 4, 1942, p. IX 4.

19Ibid.

20New York Times, October 5, 1942, p. 14.

 

 

21Time, February 2, 1942, p. 54.

79

Whatever distinction Wood held in the film industry
at the time Of on£_Town, he seemed more than adequate to
Lesser. However, years later Harry Horner, who in effect,
designed the film, recalled with some regret the experience

Of working with "Uncle Sam".22

Horner had only recently come
tO the United States as chief assistant to the Austrian

impresario Max Reinhardt and his American tour Of Werfel and

Weill's The Eternal Road. The new country with its remoteness

 

from the impending doom Of Nazi encroachment attracted the
young architect-turned—theatre-artist. SO he stayed and soon
became a New York scenic designer where he worked for a time
as apprentice to Norman Bel Geddes. Although Horner had
designed a few Broadway productions on his own prior to 1940,
on£_Town was his first Hollywood film design assignment.
However, he did the preliminary design sketches at his studio
in New York. Lesser became so excited with the sketches of
these early design concepts that he insisted artist and
playwright should meet. He wrote another of his many letters
to Wilder regarding Horner's work.

...I have a feeling that it might be helpful to
you in visualizing the script to meet Harry Horner
who could show you a number Of sketches that he has
prepared and which in a great number Of cases have

acted as a stimulant to our art designer here. I
can't commence to tell you my enthusiasm for the

 

22A nickname for Sam Wood coined by the child-star,

Mickey Rooney.

80

sketches that have so far been prepared. They are
indeed artistic, and I think we will get a very
unusual result.

Most Of the conversational scenes will be
played in very close shots, eliminating scenic
proportions, in order to capture the original
purpose Of the play--the non-use of scenery——but
at the same time we will have a beautifully scenic
production in3the places where scenery will serve
its purpose.

Horner and Wilder did meet. What degree of warmth that
meeting between the two engendered is not known. But their
mutual adulation for the genius and rank of Reinhardt must
have had some bearing on their common interest, aside from the
filming of QE£.IQEE- In an interview published in the February,

1977, issue Of the American Film journal, Horner recalled that

 

meeting, his experience with Sam Wood, and his design work

on Our Town. He remembered that "Thornton Wilder liked my
sketches and the producer liked them--he probably liked them
because Thornton Wilder liked them. My intention was to do the
movie almost without scenery, primarily with props. That is
where the disagreement started with the director. It ended

. . "24

in a compromise I hated.

The compromise in concept he mentions is reflected in

Lesser's somewhat airy statement quoted earlier in this chapter

 

23Theatre Arts, p. 821.

 

24
American Film, February, 1977. p. 34.

 

81

that close-up shots would be used to capture the original
sceneryless purpose Of the play but that scenic production

would be used "in the places where scenery will serve its

purpose“.25 Horner admitted his frustration with the fact

that his "visual concept was not entirely used," which he
naturally felt harmed the picture. If indeed Horner's design
concept was to give greater focus to the props in the film,
another Of Lesser's exuberant letters to Wilder point to this
issue of compromise.

...the picture itself will be treated in an
unconventional manner with regard to camera set-ups,
following our original idea Of introducing properties
intended to accentuate the moods and to visualize
something deeper than just mere dialogue.

For instance, the Simon Stimson episodes, with
the scenes played in moonlight, the photography will
accentuate the black and white shadows. The little
white New England houses which look so lovely in
other shots will look naked and almost ghostly in
relation to Simon Stimson, to whom they did not
Offer nice lovely homes but a cold world which
ruined him.

As a further example: When we come to Mrs.
Gibbs on the morning Of the wedding, we will see her
through the kitchen window grinding the coffee,
but in the foreground the flower pots will be
dripping in the rain to accentuate the general mood,
so that Mrs. Gibbs is almost a secondary element
in the scene.

 

25
Theatre Arts. Op. cit., p. 822.

 

 

6 . . .
American Film, op. c1t., p. 36.

82

And just another example: When Rebecca is

crying in her room the morning Of the wedding, we

see her little pig bank tied by a ribbon tO a corner

Of the bed, which will remind the audience of what

Rebecca likes most in the world. I think this

little effect will give as much to an audience as

if we had a whole scene about her.2

For Horner the Our Town film experience was an
unfortunate artistic compromise that disappointed him. He knew
too well that the conceptual origins Of Wilder's stagecraft
lay in the innovative theatre practices of his Austrian mentor
Reinhardt. Horner wanted to be loyal. He wanted the film to
be bolder than it proposed to be. He wanted the film to be
more like the stage version eliminating "all that crap that is

28

called scenery". But Wood was the director and however
formidable and expert a force he was, his own approach to
film realism was being stretched to the limit. Years later
Horner reported in the interview, he discovered that Wood
had not liked working on the picture.29 An understanding of
Wood's state Of mind during the time when Our Town was being

filmed might give further insights into his disenchantment

with Lesser's project in general and the film industry in

 

 

 

27Theatre Arts, op. cit., p. 821.
28

American Film, op. cit., p. 35.
29

Ibid., p. 36.

83

particular. Of course he knew he had been second choice as

a director for the film. However, an account by his daughter
suggests personal and professional anxieties and disappointments
that affected her father deeply and permanently. She traces
Wood's distraction "to his failure to win the Best Director

Academy Award for Good-Bye, Mr. Chips...the defeat galled and
30

 

disappointed him beyond measure". The fateful defeat came
as work on 923 Town was just beginning. Jeane Wood also spoke
of her father's "Obsession" with Communism as having transformed
a charming gentle man into a "snarling, unreasonable man".

opp Town was not a consoling experience for its film director.

Whether its director or designer enjoyed their

experience with Lesser's film Of Wilder's 925 Town, the audience
32

and critics did. The film received several Oscar nominations,

a poll by the New York Times included it as one Of the year's

 

 

30Larry Ceplair and Steven Englund. The Inquisition
in Hollywood (Garden City, New York: The Anchor Press, 1980),
p. 210.

31Ibid., p. 209.

 

3292; Town received six Oscar nominations: Best Picture,
Best Actress, Interior Decoration, Sound, Music and Original
Score.

84

33 and critics in general were supportive. Only

top ten films,
the purists were distressed. When the film Opened its gala
world premiere showing on May 23, 1940, at Lowe's Theatre in

Boston, the critical response there was characteristically cool.

The Boston Globe's film critic, Elizabeth Copeland, wrote that

 

"the simplicity of the camera which does not Often lend itself
to good photoplay becomes the most useful tool of all in the

experienced hand of director Sam Wood, who knows how to keep

things simple".34 She also remarked on the script and its

translation into the film mode as did the other critics. After
viewing the New York showing on the Radio City Music Hall
motion picture screen, Bowsley Crowthers Of the New York Times
reviewed the film and its translation with superlatives.

We hesitate to employ superlatives, but Of
Our Town the least we can say is that it captures
on _film the simple beauties and truths of humble
folks as very few pictures ever do; it is rich and
enobling in its plain philosophy--and it gives one
a passionate desire to enjoy the fullness Of life
even in these good Old days of today....For this is
not an ordinary picture, not a straight-away plotted

 

33Other films were: The Grapes 9: Wrath, The Great
Dictator, The Baker's Wife, Rebecca, The Long Voyage Home,
Fantasia, The Mortal Storm and The Great McGinty.

34Boston Globe, May 24, 1940.

 

 

85

story film. This is a story which utilizes the
fullest perogatives Of the camera tO participate
as a recognized witness to a simple dramatic
account Of people's lives, not just to spy on
someone's fictitious emotions.

Two days later Crowthers' superlatives for the film were again
pronounced in a featured article for the screen section Of the

New York Times Sunday edition.

 

For a few days Of pleasant reflection upon the
splendid picture, now at the Music Hall, leaves us
with the stubborn suspicion that it must have been
written originally for the screen. And if it wasn't,
it should have been....Maybe Mr. Wilder had no
thought at all of the screen when he was writing
QEE Town; maybe his use Of flashbacks, lap dissolves,
and cut-ins was merely fortuitous. But so completely
workable is it as a "different" screenplay that we
say--looking straight and hard at the boys in
Hollywood who passed it up--that it should have
been, and a long time ago.

Film critic for the Hollywood edition Of Variety
curtly commented that the "picture rates high in all technical
departments; photography by-Bert Glennon being particularly

noteworthy".37 The New York Herald critic thought Glennon's

 

frequent and effective use Of close-up and two-shot camera

techniques created an "enormously compelling drama and striking

38

imagery". The technique also seems to have anticipated the

 

35New York Times, June 14, 1940, p. 25.

 

36léiéop June 16, 1940, p. IX 3.

37Variety, May 10, 1940.

38New York Herald, June 14, 1940.

 

86

cinematic intensity of Jose Quintero's legitimate theatre
Off-Broadway revival nineteen years later. Other critics
pointed to more outstanding elements in the film. Archer

Winston Of the New York Post reported that Aaron Copeland's

 

musical score for the film "though quiet and unostentatious

as befits a modest New England town, will repay your attention".39
Douglas Campbell wrote about the success of a device used in

the film that was originated by its production designer,

William Cameron Menzies.

Instead Of employing the ancient method Of a
transparent figure moving about the room to denote
a ghost in the sequence involving Emily's sixteenth
birthday, Menzies originated a method by which the
normal scene was photographed under natural conditions.
The mature Emily then was shot against a black
Velvet backdrop and, in a white dress, she was flooded
with an excess of light. This film has been super-
imposed on the other, a travelling matte blotting
out the normal scene and allowing the light
radiation to dominate the screen, ths giving the
woman's figure an eerie appearance.

For the purists Menzies' clever device created hardly
more than an obtrusive distraction. In fact, for them the

entire third act graveyard scene was a disappointment. Lee

 

39New York Post, June 14, 1940.
40

 

Mr. Churchill's article is among a file of uncatalogued
newspaper clippings on 92E Town located in the Billy Rose

Theatre Collection at New York Public Library's Performing Arts
Research Center.

87

Mortimer felt that a serious crime had been committed by

41
"providing a happy ending to Thornton Wilder's Our Town."

 

However, later in the review he expressed his respect for the
beauty and simplicity Of the film--in spite Of his one
disappointment. "The entire production is so well cast and
so beautiful in every detail but the one, that...this commenta-
tor must note that his aforementioned harsh words are in sorrow
because a great film was not made greater".42

Disappointed purists and frustrated filmmakers
notwithstanding, the production was an immediate critical and
commercial success. Wilder had indicated his approval early
on in his correspondence with Lesser and the producer himself
was ecstatic over the final outcome Of his film. For it had
been a bold and novel risk, even if certain artistic compro-
mises were inevitable. The film had been daring in its
presentation of a non-traditional plot line and its use of
the narrative story-telling technique advanced in the French
films Of Sacha Guitry. Lesser's film had also dared to attempt
bold ideas in the use of design concepts predating Orson

V
Welles' cinematic masterpiece, Citizen Kane. Perhaps most

 

importantly, the Our Town film attempted to expand the realistic
eye Of the camera as it became a sensitive, searching instrument
capable of revealing not so much Nicholas Vardac's photographic

realism Of externals, but more fully the reality of Wilder's

88

psychological versimilitude. The filmed version Of Our Town

 

remained faithful to its original purpose of abstract
stylization and the precepts Of photographic realism at the
same time. If QE£,EQEE had given new perspectives to the
staid tradition of the legitimate theatre, so, too, had Mr.
Wilder's script challenged the boundaries Of the still-growing

film mode Of 1940.

CHAPTER IV
TELEVISION

This chapter will study QB£.32!E as stated in the
production mode of television. Two specific presentations
have been selected for this examination:

1. Delbert Mann's musical adaptation broadcast
live on NBC-TV in 1955.

2. George Schaefer's Bell System Special
broadcast pre-recorded on NBC-TV in 1977.
These productions represent two unique staging approaches to
pop Town; live television studio performance and edited video-
taped presentation. The study also provides an implicit
reflection of the advancement in television technology as well
as a closer look at the work of two eminent American television
directors.

Each particular production will be discussed in the
light Of those background circumstances leading up to its final
realization in performance. Biographical sketches Of the
producer and director will be presented. The director's
apprOach to staging Wilder's play within the given space Of the

television studio will also be considered. Finally, each

89

90

production will be studied for its own unique effectiveness

through a comparative analysis Of published critical reviews.

Musical Adaptation

 

Thornton Wilder allowed the 1955 television musical
adaptation Of onn Town with an attitude that suggests his
confidence in the durability Of his play regardless Of the
form or quality of the particular production. This attitude
seems not unfounded when considering the stature QE£.IQEE
attained in the few years since its Broadway premiere. The
play ceased to be connected solely to its creator, now ranking
as a national treasure belonging to its people. In the twenty
years since the play's first performance, QE£.$2!E had been
translated into an outstanding Hollywood film in 1940 and
given its first limited—engagement legitimate theatre revival
on the New York stage during 1944. Subsequently Wilder's
"little masterpiece" became the most Often produced play in
this country. It has also become the most anthologized script
in America next to the plays Of William Shakespeare. Radio
and television presentations were an inevitable matter Of
course.

Although onn Town had been produced on radio and on
live television at least four times prior to 1955,1 Delbert

Mann's NBC-TV presentation was unique in two major respects:

 

1
See Appendix A of this study for other radio and
television broadcasts Of Our Town.

91

1) it was a musical comedy version starring the current young
male singing idol, Frank Sinatra; and, 2) the production was
telecast live and in "living color". Mann's production also
represents a single presentation on one of the many early
drama anthology series so popular during television's "Golden

Age”. In his book Television: The Creative Experience, A.

 

 

William Bleum describes the golden era as having begun with
"Kraft Television Theatre" on May 7, 1947; ending ten years
later with the final production Of "Playhouse 90". He goes
on to comment that the television content Of the age "was
anthology drama--stories Of human conflict and confrontation
played with honesty and authority in living sight, sound and
motion before audiences the size of which no actor, writer or
director in all theatrical history would have dared tO dream".2
As Bleum continues, he also Offers a vital distinction between
the major modes Of this study. Television, he says,

...is not quite cinema and not quite the living

stage. It allows for intense visual concentration,

and yet at its best it is verbal. In some ways

T.V. is the penultimate technological extension Of

the naturalistic drama and its rejection Of romantic

superficiality in favor Of the vital inner revelation

Of human character. The entire theatrical movement

toward realism in acting and staging seems to

culminate upon the small screen, where it can work
out its own absolutes Of form and style.

 

A. William Bleum and Roger Manvell, eds., Television:
The Creative Experience (New York: Hastings House Publishers,
1967) p. 16.

 

 

92

Little matter that the cineaste deplores the
shaky lines Of light upon the tiny screen. NO
difference that the stage-bound theorist pompously
declares the medium 'incapable Of grandeur'.
Television is the medium Of the mass, and here alone
can the man in the living room see the private
tragedy delineated with a final degree Of refinement.
If twentieth century man has any tragic proportion,
it is Observed, the events and circumstances Of
his time have3perfectly scaled it to fit the
small screen.

Bleum concludes his essay on television's L'Age D'Or with

 

a final justification that since the new medium was visual, no
one questioned the "logical turn to the stage and the movies
for forms of fiction, fantasy and fun".4

The television drama anthology series which presented
Mann's production of onn Town, "Producer's Showcase", first
began broadcasting over NBC-TV affiliate stations on
October 15, 1954, and aired every fourth Monday evening from
8:00 to 9:30 P.M. The producer Of this monthly showcase,
Fred Coe, began his work in television drama during 1947 by
directing for the "Theatre Guild on the Air" series, also

billed as the "U.S. Steel Hour". Among the various Broadway

dramas he directed for this series is the first television

 

3Ibid.

4 .
Ibid.

93

production Of Our Town which John Gassner reviewed in his

column for The Forum magazine.

 

Unless I greatly miss my guess, The Theater
Guild's telecast of own Town over NBC on Sunday,
June 6th, will gO down in history as the date when
televised drama was really born. It was the first
time a play Of quality was televised in the new
medium with style and distinction. Congratulations
are in order to the producer Lawrence Langner, to
Frederick Coe who directed, and to the good cast
headed by Raymond Massey in the celebrated Frank
Craven role. More important, however, it is
possible at last to appraise a televised production
without condescension and to draw conclusion as
to its worth as a dramatic form. This is because
the Guild's 925 Town, while suffering from the as
yet unsolved technical problems, accomplished what
every art does; it turned the limitations Of the
medium into an advantage, just as the good sculptor
takes advantage Of the intractability Of his
materials ipstead Of being defeated by the conditions
of his art.

Mann's own career in television, inspired as it was
by Coe, began to develop into one of distinction and national
prominence in 1953 with his direction Of the now classic
"golden age" production Annoy. Produced by Coe on the NBC-TV
"Kraft Theatre" series, the live television treatment Of Paddy
Chayefsky's script so caught the attention and interest of
Hollywood producers Harold Hecht and Burt Lancaster that they
arranged to secure the motion picture rights. This done, they

hired Mann to recreate Marty on film. Whether a matter Of

 

5
John Gassner, The Forum, August, 1948, p. 91.

 

94

luck or timing, Mann's first experience as a Hollywood film
director proved a resounding, if not surprising, success.
At the 1955 Oscar ceremonies, Marty received eight Academy
award nominations and won four: Best Picture, Writing, Actor
and Direction.

Riding high with the enthusiasm, confidence and the
reputation accorded one Of filmdom's newest leading directors,
Mann quickly became, as Vogue magazine reported, "burningly

in demand".6

However, maintaining his characteristically
Southern sense of loyalty, he returned to work in television
with his friend "Pappy" Coe. During the late summer of that

same year it seemed that Coe had a new project that only Mann

could handle; a production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town to

 

be aired on the new NBC-TV "Producer's Showcase" in mid—
September. The project itself presented a number Of unique
problems to solve; not the least of which involved adapting
Wilder's idyllic poem to a ninety-minute musical comedy.

The major problem facing Mann was that the production
would be a showcase in more than one way. The first item
being showcased was the spectacle of color television Offered
only over NBC stations. In fact, the entire series aimed to

encourage the sale Of RCA color television sets. The second

 

6Vogue. September 1, 1955, p. 55.

95

item being showcased in this particular production was the
talents of the currently popular male singing idol, Frank
Sinatra. He would play the role of the Stage Manager. The
task of preparingaacolorful production to sell television sets,
while not without its own problems, became a minor challenge
when compared to the anxieties of working with the star. In
a personal interview Mann spoke with a mixture Of fond
memories and frustrated anguish about his experiences with
the production.7

The show was staged in the new NBC-TV studio complex
located in Burbank, California, and since the production held
a position of top priority it received more than the usual
few days set-up and rehearsal time. According to Mann, the
three weeks' rehearsal time on the studio set did much for the
show's ultimate success. Even though the Burbank complex was
new and modern by contemporary standards, it was not large
enough to facilitate the entire production in one single unit.
The orchestra had to be placed in a separate studio with a
television monitor focused on the actors to cue the conductor,
Nelson Riddle. The sound was then piped back to the studio

where the actors anticipated their musical accompaniment. Mann

 

7
Personal interview with Delbert Mann, September 20, 1981.

96

felt the effect rather telling with the "tentative" musical
entrances. The music itself he now described as seeming
"lethargic".

If the musical coordination Of the production presented
more than its share Of problems, the design and execution of
the scenery did not. Otis Riggs, the NBC-TV premiere designer
since the very early days Of the television drama and a
classmate Of Mann's, created stylized scrim sets combining
realistic and non-realistic elements. The cartooned cut-out
sets with transparent walls behind realistic properties and
furniture served to suggest a scenic impression closer to the
sort Of compromise Harry Horner might have happily tolerated
in the 1940 film version. Accordingly, Variety described the
simplicity of Riggs' design in a manner that emphasized the
recurring and predominant use Of light in the productions of
92E Town. "The settings with two 'Open-faced' kitchens, the
pencil-outlined church, drugstore, picket—fence, etc. had a
becoming simplicity, with the third act graveyard scene mainly
a product Of lights and shadow".8

That scenic product of light and shadow, Mann recounts,

came only after his determination tO prove that the mood-creating

 

8Variety. September 21, 1955.

97

silhouette effect he wanted could be accomplished over
television. Al Scarlett, the man credited with the lighting
Of the show "just didn't understand what I wanted," Mann
recalled. SO he and Riggs stayed at the studio all night
adjusting the instruments until they indeed accomplished the
dramatic and specific effects Of light and shadow; the bright
oranges and blues so necessary to fulfill the original purpose
of the showcase.

If the color and magic in a musical production of
Thornton Wilder's American classic QE£.IQEB failed tO sell
television sets, RCA corporate executives felt confident that
the charisma Of Frank Sinatra would do the job. SO convinced
were they Of this possibility that they invested $25,000 Of
the production's $400,000 budget for the singer's salary.
However, no one knows which element actually sold the most
televisions, if, in fact, either element sold any at all, but
Mann knows that working with Sinatra was less than pleasant.
The young singer built his public image on a breezy, casual
style which he also carried over into his professional work
habits. On several occasions Sinatra was late tO rehearsal or
altogether absent. One specific instance Mann recalled caused

him no small amount Of anguish. On the day before the show

98

Sinatra was not to be found for the dress rehearsal. To
protect the production, another young singer, Johnny Desmond,
then performing in Las Vegas, was hired and put on stand-by.
However, Sinatra showed up in time to perform for the live
broadcast. Mann remarked in Sinatra's defense that the
entertainer knew his own style and talent well enough and was
no doubt beginning to feel the loss Of his casual spontaneity
in the role. Coincidentally, the singer complained in a Now

York Times telephone interview published that day before the

 

production about the amount of rehearsal time required for the
show. "One day they're going to have to devise a method of
cutting down on rehearsals".9

From the start much attention focused on shaping the
show to the star's unique style, cutting much Of the original
script to accommodate songs, dances and Ford Thunderbird
commercial intermissions. Sinatra's own choice for composer
and librettist, Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn, were hired to
write the music and songs for the production. David Shaw, one
of Coe's studio writers, assumed the awesome task of adapting

the script to the ninety-minute time frame as well as providing

 

9New York Times, September 18, 1955. p. X 13.

 

99

the transition material into and out Of the songs and dances.
Unlike the 1940 screenplay, all television presentations Of
QE£.$2!E retain the original ending. Mann's production was
no exception. However, because Of time restrictions and the
musical interpolation Of seven songs and two dance numbers,
Shaw cut much of the play's darker elements: Simon Stimson,
the Stage Manager's longer speeches, and other interior
monologues spoken during the course of the play.
Mann's own response to the production when viewed on
a kinescope recording over twenty-five years later is
interesting for the insights it provides into the director's
analysis Of his own work. He generally considered the
presentation effective and affecting; nearly perfect with good
"clean shots" and "no marks or boom shadows". However, he
accepted the blame for the production's one major mistake.
During Act III when Emily rushes out of her mother's kitchen
in despairing recognition, Mann confessed he became so involved
in the scene he forgot to cue the cameraman to dolly back
and the actress playing the role almost ran into the camera.
Little evidence exists to indicate Wilder's response

to the production. It is doubtful whether he even saw it at all.

But in her biography Thornton Wilder: His World, Linda Simon

 

 

100

suggests the playwright's disappointment with "the musical
television version in which Frank Sinatra sang the role Of
the Stage Manager. There was only one reason he allowed the
musical to be done, Thornton admitted: 'it kept him in
Martinis"for a year".10 According to an article published

in New Republic, Wilder's royalty fee for the one time only

11

 

presentation was $5,000.

Whatever private or professional motivations gave
rise to the responses Of director and playwright, the few
published critical reviews available lOOk on the production
in terms generally favorable. The initial point Of critical
departure centered on the showcase idea and the fact that
within the same month two of Wilder's classics had been aired
on national television. Reviewers seemed to think that the
earlier and disjointed production Of EBE.§E$E 2E Our Teeth12

might have detracted audiences from watching Our Town. Rod

Nordell Of the Boston Globe spoke to this point. "With the

 

10Linda Simon. Thornton Wilder: His World. (Garden
City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1979) p. 234.

 

11New Republic. October 3, 1955. p. 23

12Aired on NBC-TV's "Color-Spread" series, Sunday,
September 11 (7:30 to 9:30 P.M. EDT).

 

101

new television season underway, Thornton Wilder has been
represented by two major productions. It would be sad if the

conflicting Opinions on The Skin o: Our Teeth prevented anyone

 

from tuning in on last week's BEE Town."13 Variety echoed
the same enthusiastic support for opp Town in spite Of a
speculated fear that the first production, directed by Alan
Schneider, may have turned audiences away from the musical

showcase.

The long-heralded musical version of Thornton
Wilder's Our Town, which ushered in the new "Producer' 5
Showcase" spec season on NBC- TV Monday night (19)
proved a warm and finely wrought 'tv play with songs'.
If as in the case Of Skin o: Our Teeth Wilder's
simplicity and unorthodox expounding Of his
philosophy was not grooved to popular appeal, then
once again the impatient viewing public was the
loser.

 

Viewing public or no, the critics applauded the artistic
integrity Of Mann's television production of 92E Town. Wendell
Brogan Of the New Reppblic alluding to the mediocre level of
television programming commented that the production "came

. 15 .
close to and occasionally embraced distinction..." Variety,

 

3
1 Boston Globe. September 27, 1955.

14Variety. September 21, 1955.

15
Boston Globe. September 27, 1955.

102

tOO, remarked on the artistic achievement Of the showcase.
...NBC can justly take pride in fashioning

from Wilder's legit play a TV production that had

many fine and rare moments. It emerged as a simple

paen to the beauty Of life, with a minimum Of story
or acting, yet in its very simplicity conveyed the
quiet, peace and contentment of Wilder's original
thesis and fundamental understanding of 116 essential
theme. Our Town was upgraded television.

As mentioned before, one of the major tasks confronting
the production and given to David Shaw came in the assignment
Of adapting Wilder's script. His handling Of the job did much
to enhance the show's overall sense of artistic integrity.
Variety called Shaw's adaptation "skillful" and Nordell Of
the Globe commented likewise writing that "In David Shaw's
skillful adaptation, the love story between Emily and George
survived at the expense of some details that might have lent
more texture to the depiction Of the town. Something had to
be trimmed; what remained was memorable."17

Perhaps Of equal importance to the critics when
considering the memorable quality of the production was the

music of Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn. The two men, who

Often worked together on joint musical projects, had become

 

16
Variety. September 21, 1955.

7
1 Boston Globe. September 27, 1955.

 

103

close friends with Sinatra, writing and arranging much Of his
material. Hence, in hiring the star, his musicians were also
hired. Critical response to their work on the show was mixed.
Brogan of the New Republic reacted negatively to the intrusion

Of the musical score on Wilder's play.

I hated the musical score. The superbly
realized dramatic writing Of Wilder was jarred
by the...got-to-get-Off-the-air-on-coming in Of
Frank Sinatra to sing. Never was a song-plug
so out Of place.

Nordell of the Boston Globe on the other hand, felt more

 

favorable about the effectiveness of the musical scoring.
Speaking of the music following the wedding scene he wrote

that it "came as a natural part of the festivities",19 and

that "other musical numbers were inserted with similar
adroitness".20 He also described one Of his favorite numbers,
"Love and Marriage" as having a "jaunty combination Of rhythm,
.rhyme and melody".21 The gTooo critic went on to say that most
all Of the songs in the score "were fitting and unobtrusive and

22

deftly arranged". Variety supported Nordell's praise for

18
New Republic. October 3, 1955, p. 23.

 

19Boston Globe. September 27, 1955.
20

 

Ibid.

21Ibid.

22Ibid.

104

the musical scoring of the showcase, remarking that the
challenge Of expounding "Wilder's homilies with feeling and

understanding"23 then veering Off into light-hearted tempo...

24 was well met.

songs without disturbing the mood"
It was no easy task for composer Jimmy Van

Heusen and lyricist Sammy Cahn to fashion a score
that would at once capture the mood and tell the
story Of this pastoral drama, yet they met the
assignment with perhaps the best success to date
on TV. The music and the lyrics were so deftly
integrated into the play's continuity that the
viewer was never aware of a song's intrusion.

There are at least three potential hits in
"Impatient Years", "Love and Marriage", and "Look
to Your Heart" (already recorded by Sinatra for
Capitol Records). A fourth, the thematic "Our
Town" with its regprring note, has an undeniable

haunting quality.

As a musical, dance numbers also provided an essential
element Of spectacle to the production. Choreographer
Valerie Bettis created two special dances for the show; a
simple pantomimic ballet between Emily and George on a swing
Silhouetted upstage while Sinatra sang "Impatient Years" and

1Zhen a full-scale production number following the wedding scene

Staged in a festive party mood of song and celebration called

23Variety. September 21, 1955.

24Ibid.

25Ibid.

105

"Wasn't It a Wonderful Wedding?" For the most part critical
response to the choreography was minimal. Nordell only
reported the fact that the show had dancing in it. Brogan
remarked in a similar vein that "there was a bit of ballet
added, requiring the services Of a big time choreographer,
Valerie Bettis".26 Variety returned to its theme on the task
of adapting Wilder's script by saying that "Valerie Bettis'
choreography for the after-wedding scene was once more a
challenge that was well met, for to introduce a dance number
into QEE Town was no mean accomplishment".27

Given the focus Of the showcase--a musical production
Of one Of America's most popular plays starring one Of the
country's most popular entertainers, critics also necessarily
gave much attention to Sinatra's playing Of the Stage Manager.
While this study has intentionally avoided the discussion of
acting as it relates to the various presentations, so much of
the musical television showcase was designed around its star,
that.some brief comment on his contribution is essential to a

fuller understanding of Mann's production. Sinatra's performance

experience had not been limited tO singing. He previously

26
Boston Globe. September 27, 1955.

27
Variety. September 21, 1955.

106

performed roles in such straight dramatic films as "From Here

to Eternity" and "Not As a Stranger". The Chicago Herald

 

Tribune reported about Sinatra that "In the part Of the Stage
Manager, in the musical on£_Town, he will have ample Opportunity
to display both facets Of his talent as singer and actor".28
Critical response to his display ranged from Brogan's "pretty
plausible talent"29 to Nordell's "he handled the singing
without a crooner's overemphasis".30 Nordell gave further
response to Sinatra's acting ability by saying, "Sinatra made
little attempt at a New England characterization in the role
of the stage-manager-narrator. But apart from slighly mechanical
reading of the lines, he had an appropriate unsentimental
folksiness."31 Variety credited much of the show's success
to Sinatra's talent, charisma, and casual spontaneity.
Sinatra was indeed a happy choice for the
"stage manager" role Of narrator--not only in the
song department, where he carried Off the major

burden in fine style and voice, but by his charm
and warmth succeeded in providing a lift that

28
Chicago Herald Tribune. September 17, 1955. p. 23.

 

29
New Republic. October 3, 1955, p. 23.

30Boston Globe. September 27, 1955.

 

 

l
3 Ibid.

107

softened the tragic overtones Of the play. This

was unquestbnably Sinatra's peak tv performance as

he wandered through the sets in introducing the

Grover's Corners' townspeople and bridging the

story gaps with characteristic ease and assurance.

It's to Sinatra's credit that he managed the
transitions from songs to sfiory dialogue with such
dexterity and naturalness.

Although positive as well as negative comments
concerning the talent and style Of Sinatra preoccupied much
of the attention given the television showcase, critics also
responded to other production elements. Inasmuch as Mann's
reputation as one Of Hollywood's leading directors was
particularly press-worthy, some attention was therefore given
his contributions to the production. The man whose award—winning’
work on the film Marty earlier that year had been lauded as
ll ' II 33 fl 3' 34

properly unostentatious and accurate to a fault now
received similar critical accolades for his television
staging Of Our Town. Nordell of the Boston Globe wrote

perhaps the most insightful reaction to Mann's direction.

Speaking about one Of the production's most affecting moments,

32Variety. September 21, 1955.

33Time. April 18, 1955, p. 106.

34
Nation. April 30, 1955, p. 381.

108

Nordell commented that the soda fountain scene, played "with

shining sincerity",35

...was the more touching for a lack of
polish in keeping with the characters.

This scene illustrated the shrewd television
sense Of the director, Delbert Mann. Like an artist
in any medium, he knows how tO make a virtue Of
limitations. Here the camera hardly moved. The
two figures and their sodas occupied most of the
small screen. They were seen clearly, and their
emotions came through without trickery.

Nordell's response here also suggests Mann's approach
to the scene as contrasted tO Sam Wood's 1940 black and white
film version in which the camera work assumes a more compli—
cated and mobile interpretation. But whereas only one critic
directly mentioned Mann's work, other commentators were just
as sensitive to "the idyllic purity of the second act soda

37
fountain scene". Brogan Of the New Republic was also

 

impressed by the scene and the director's decision to maintain
its stark simplicity.
Especially touching, I thought, was the scene

at the soda fountain when the girl (Eva Marie Saint)
and the boy (Paul Newman) realize their love, neither

35
Boston Globe. September 27, 1955.

 

36
Ibid.

37!§£ip£y. September 21, 1955.

109

looking at the other, neither saying what he

really is saying. How awful it would have been

if music had "sneaked in behind" this scene. And

this could happen on certain television programs

even though long ago, in radio days, all directors

were warned by Norman Corwgn, "never louse up a

love scene with fiddles".

Given the fact that journalists are allowed only a
certain amount Of space, they gave little or none to commenting
on production settings, lighting or costumes. Variety Offered
its cursory summation of the entire showcase staff's overall
achievement by reporting that they had more than lived up to

39 "On

those expectations established by "advanced bally".
more than one count producer Fred Coe, director Delbert Mann,
David Shaw in his skillful adaptation, and the many other key
production and creative components fulfilled the promise."4
Nordell merely remarked that the visual presentation Of the
showcase was more realistic than the stage play. "For example,
instead Of standing on ladders on a bare stage, Emily and
George had bedroom windows to look out of. But the sets did

38New Republic. October 3, 1955, p. 23.

 

39Variety. September 21, 1955.

401bid.

110

not prevent fluid movement."41 Also commenting on the colors
used in the production, he felt that they "had apparently been
chosen for maximum clarify on black-and-white receivers".42

NO other evidence from published comments on the effectiveness
of other production elements seem to exist.

However, a brief glance at the nominations made for
outstanding achievements in television broadcasting for the
1955-6 season might offer a closer look at the success of this
particular production and those individuals involved. Altogether'
nine Academy Of Television Arts and Sciences nominations for
outstanding achievement in the musical showcase were made.

The series over which the production broadcast, "Producer's
Showcase", was named Outstanding Dramatic Series Of the Year.
The Cahn-Van Heusen song from the show, "Love and Marriage", won
the Musical Contribution award. Fred Coe was honored for his
work on "Producer's Showcase" as the year's Outstanding

Producer Of a live series and Otis Riggs won the award for

(Art Direction in the same category. Eva Marie Saint, David
Shaw, Nelson Riddle, and Delbert Mann were each recognized
through academy nominations for their outstanding achievements

41
. Boston Globe. September 27, 1955.

42Ibid.

111

iri television. Frank Sinatra was also nominated as the male

singer Of the year, but the award went to Perry Como.

In the mid-fifties television predominated as one of

this country's most pOpular modes of entertainment. Fred Coe,

Delbert Mann, and their NBC-TV "Producer's Showcase" were
pioneers during the time that later became known as the "Golden

Age Of Television". Their musical adaptation Of Wilder's

Our Town presented live and in living color serves as one

isolated example Of the "bold" and "novel" strides being made-

in the burgeoning new world Of entertainment. The television

showcase also serves as another example of unique approaches

to the staging and endurance Of Our Town. If Wilder's classic

had indeed become America's most Often produced play, it could
now be. experienced in the genre Of the country's most popular
theatrical form-—musical comedy; as well as through the
Country's most popular mode of entertainment--television.
% Town would be produced on television again during 1959,
restaged for television by Jose Quintero from his current
02EIFS-Broadway revival discussed earlier in this study. The
next television presentation, Offered nearly twenty years
later, brought its own unique and interesting approaches to

Producing Our Town and is considered more fully in the

following section Of this chapter.

Bell System Special

Thornton Wilder met director-producer George Schaefer

for lunch at the Harvard Club in New York late in November,
1975, to discuss plans for a "new" television production of

Our Town. The project had long preoccupied Schaefer's

thoughts, but Wilder seemed hesitant and convinced that his

Play "could not be translated to the medium of television

or motion pictures". However, the playwright was impressed

with the enthusiasm Of the noted director and said he would

1i‘—lf'l:i.nk it over. Schaefer consequently left the meeting hopeful

that his persuasive appeal would have a positive influence

on Wilder's decision to approve the production. It was a

hope well met. One week after the meeting, Wilder called to

Say, "I like the idea. GO ahead and do it."‘“1 That telephone

COnversation was the last time Schaefer ever spoke to the aging

playwright; Wilder died the following week. The death news

cEilzue as a great shock. Wilder's energy and obliging nature in

life so struck Schaefer that he now grew even more committed

to the project and its ultimate realization.

 

43The New York Times. May 29, 1977. p. 27.

44
Los Angeles Times. "TV Times," May 29, 1977, p. 4.

112

113

Subsequently, due to prior Obligations, it took a
year and a half for that commitment to reach its final
fruition as it did on May 30, 1977, over NBC—TV affiliate
stations. Schaefer's memorial production presented two parti-
cular unique approaches to the television staging of Wilder's
QB£.22EE that will be discussed in the following pages of
this chapter.

1. The pre-recorded video-taped Bell System Special
telecast represents the most complete version of Wilder's script
ever produced on film or television.

2. The production concept Of Schaefer's staging give
particular focus to the distinctive elements of the television
mode.

In the interim since Mann's 1955 musical adaptation,

‘Q n Town appeared again on television in 1959 directed by Jose
Quintero. As mentioned earlier in this study, the production
ESimply transferred from its Off-Broadway arena theatre to the
tlfialevision studio. However, Variety did review this television
iJiterpretation in favorable terms applauding the work of both
<3ramatist and director. "...the mastery Of Wilder in treating
almost pure sentiment so tastefully in the first place, the
‘mastery of Quintero in treating Wilder in like fashion, and

45 . .
Los Angeles Times, op. Cit.

114

the general acting performance made this a potent whole and--
as the cliche goes--memorable tv."46 Yet the Quintero
television treatment remained essentially a restaging of his
Circle-in-the—Square production with adjustments for the
studio and the television cameras. Schaefer's 92E Town
therefore became the first presentation of Wilder's script

in twenty-two years created specifically for the television
production mode.

In those two decades since Mann's musical adaptation,
giant strides in technology did much to create a more complex
and flexible mode Of popular entertainment. The development
and refinement Of outer space exploration did wonders for the
technical advancement Of television. In 1977 the camera eye
had become more mobile with increased sensitivity to its
environment through greater lens control. Color was now
brighter and more consistent. Studios were larger and more
(complete. Also the use Of video-tape, unlike motion picture
ifilm, easily produced the lOOk of a "live" performance. Of
c3Ourse, the use of tape allowed for a more polished production.
If a major mistake occurred, such as Mann's failure tO cue the
Cameraman, the scene could be retaped, edited and broadcast
in near perfect form.

46Variety. November 11, 1959.

115

By the time Of Schaefer's production, The Golden Age
of the televised drama anthology series no longer dominated
the air waves. Only one such program continued broadcasting
with any sort of regularity--"The Hallmark Hall Of Fame",
which made its debut during the golden era in 1953. In fact,
it was with the Hallmark series premiere season that Schaefer

47 Prior to that, Schaefer's

first began his work in television.
career in the entertainment world had been well established
and dated back to 1932 when he directed his sixth grade class
plays. While in high school and college he remained active
in dramatics and debating. He also spent one year of post-
graduate work at Yale University School of Drama. During the
summers from 1937 to 1941 Schaefer "directed the Pastime
Players, a semi-professional theatre group in Oak Park,
Illinois".4

Fortuitously, Schaefer's 1942 enlistment with the

United States Army proved to be a deciding step in the direction

47A comprehensive treatment of Schaefer and his experi—
‘Ence with the Hallmark series is offered in E. R. Diehl's
lxnpublished dissertation, George Schaefer and the Hallmark
Hall op Fame: A Study 2: the Producer on A Live Television
Series. Ohio State University, 1964.

 

 

 

 

 

Current Biography. "George Schaefer". (New York:
The H. W. Wilson Co., 1970) p. 372.

 

116

Of his professional career. His assignment to a Special
Services unit of the Central Pacific Base in Honolulu, Hawaii,
brought him three years' experience under the direct command
of the famous classic actor, Maurice Evans. A recent emigrant
from England, Evans now served the United States Army as a
major in charge of the Pacific base entertainment section.
Together Evans and Schaefer "helped stage and rehearse over
fifty plays, many Of which were presented at outlying bases".
One Of those plays Of particular significance was a production
of Hamlet, directed by Schaefer and starring Evans in the
title role. The production was a "streamlined version Of the
tragedy especially designed for American servicemen unschooled
in Shakespeare".50 After their discharge in 1946 both men
worked together again to bring their "G.I. Hamlet" tO Broadway
and a subsequent national tour. Reviewing the New York
Production, George Jean Nathan referred to Schaefer as the
best director Of the year and during the next three seasons
SChaefer directed several Broadway productions--none Of which
a(thieved any particular distinction.

49Ibid.

50Ibid.

117

Then in 1949 Schaefer joined the staff Of the New York
City Center Company on the recommendation Of Evans who had
become the company's honorary artistic supervisor. During his
four-year tenure at the City Center, Schaefer developed "what
was essentially a stock company to a professional company
able to present its productions in out-of—town tryouts and
to attract top theatrical talent".51 In 1953, again with Evans,

Schaefer co-produced and directed John Patrick's award-winning

play, The Teahouse on the August Moon, which ran for 1,027

 

performances.

That same year Schaefer also made his television debut
as producer-director for the new NBC-TV "Hallmark Hall of Fame"
series. Schaefer remained the major creative force behind the
Hallmark series for the next fifteen years. During that time
he directed a number Of award-winning productions, many of
Which starred Evans in major roles. For his outstanding
<30ntributions tO television broadcasting, Schaefer has received
rmore awards Of recognition than any other individual. In 1959
Tue added to his responsibilities as executive producer of the
'Hallmark series by forming his own company, Compass Productions.

E. R. Diehl wrote in his unpublished dissertation, George

51Ibid., p. 373.

118

Schaefer and the Hallmark Hall 2: Fame: A Study o: the

 

Producer 9:.2 Live Television Series that,

 

...Schaefer's role as producer-director is a major
one...As an independent producer'his influence has
increased. As financial head Of Compass Productions,
engaged in motion pictures, theatrical, and television
productions, he is in a strong bargaining position
regarding the acceptability or unacceptability of
playscripts....Schaefer's work as producer-director
reinforces commonly held standards of artistic
endeavors. He has the perceptive understanding Of
play values and the ability to communicate them to
actors; and it is the well planned operation Of

his production company, and the coordination with

the NBC production sggff which makes this

creativity possible.

Diehl continues his evaluation of Schaefer's administrative
abilities and personal commitment to quality and organization
in a manner reminiscent Of a style Mann found appealing in
1955 but one that Sinatra thought lugubrious.

In this regard, it was noted that Hallmark
utilizes a longer rehearsal period than comparable
live anthology dramas Of the fifties, enforces a
rigid adherence to specific times on the schedule,
and makes use Of the unique abilities Of production
associates to ensure remarkably facile Operation.

52E. R. Diehl. George Schaefer and the Hallmark Hall
SEE Fame: A Study 2: the Producer 93.2 Live Television Series.
(unpublished dissertation, Ohio State University, 1964).

53Ibid.

 

 

 

 

119

Otherwise, this unassuming man who stood five feet ten inches
tall with gray eyes and thinning brown hair has been variously
described as looking "like everybody's favorite uncle or the
likeliest candidate to play Santa Claus in the PTA's Christmas
pageant".54 Her persuasive spirit also once caused a colleague
to comment that Schaefer could "sell air—conditioning to an
igloo-dwelling Eskimo".55

It was this unassuming yet persuasive personality which
perhaps convinced the late playwright to accept Schaefer's
approach to staging QEE Town for television. But whatever
reason motivated Wilder's obliging acquiescence to yet another
television rendering Of 92E Town, Schaefer began to plan for
its upcoming production. However, he had several other prior
contractual Obligations to finish before he could give himself
completely tO the new project. In an interview with pop
Apgeles Times reporter Cecil Smith, Schaefer spoke Of his
Gratitude to the sponsors Of the planned broadcast for being
5M3 patient. "The Bell people wanted onn Town for April, but,
'thank God, they were willing to wait for me".56 It was not a
long wait; for on May 29, 1977, The Bell Telephone System

54Current Biography. op. cit., p. 374.

55Ibid.

56 . .
Los Angeles Times., op. Cit.

120

presented its special production of Wilder's American Classic

to millions Of television viewers over NBC-TV affiliate

57
stations.

Smith's pre-production interview also provides insights
into Schaefer's fondness for the play as well as several descripr-
tive accounts Of his approach to the staging of the television
production. The director affectionately admitted that, "I
think it's the best American play ever written. But it's
never been done well on television."58 The more Schaefer
studied the script, the more he became increasingly aware Of

the notion

...to produce the play as it if was written for
television. Not to alter a word but to rethink it
for television. Actually, no Stage Manager would
ever come out and talk to the audience in a theatre--
it never happens. But on television a commentator,
an anchorperson...who talks one-to-One to the audience-—
that's standard tv language. TO suddenly freeze
frame on a face at Emily's wedding and to hear a
voice expressing thoughts--that's standard tv. To
have a Commentator say: 'This is what happened 15
years before'—-and to cut back there and play Be
scene, that's done all the time in television.

 

57The Bell System also rebroadcast the production the
following year on Monday, June 5, 1978, in a special salute
to the play's fortieth anniversary.

58Los Angeles TimesL op. Cit.

59
Ibid C

121

Then, speaking Of Wilder's script in terms suggesting Crowthers'
evaluation Of the 1940 motion picture, Schaefer continued by
commenting that, "What Wilder created was a television play
before we had television. All the things he broke ground with
in the theatre are standards Of television."60

Actually, there is some question regarding the source

Of the "anchorperson" idea used in the production. In a New

1
York Times article Saul Jaffe,6 who worked with Schaefer on

 

the ill-fated television presentation Of Wilder's novel

Theophilus North, credited himself with convincing the play-

 

wright tO allow the new production of Our Town that Schaefer
proposed. Jaffe further reported that while considering the
project

one day it suddenly occurred to the playwright that
he had actually written a script for television in
1938 before television existed....It was Wilder's
suggestion that instead Of using the Stage Manager
as one of the characters in the play to use him as
a tv host or anchorman, having a direct one-to-One

 

60
Ibid.

611m his capacity as president Of his own company,
Hartwest Productions, which the Bell System had commissioned
to oversee the television presentation of pop Town, Jaffe also
served as the production's executive producer.

122

62
relationship with the home audience.

In his article Jaffe also commented on another idea Offered
by Wilder and used in the show.

Wilder further implemented his concept for the

television suggesting the use Of an Obviously bare

television studio with only 'suggested' sets and a

minimum of props. He felt that these devices,

aided by the use of sophisticated lighting and the

unique sound effect available in television,

would accomplish the original aims he had for

the play in the theatre, one Of which was tO

enable each member of the augience to see Our

Town as his or her own town.

The question Of who convinced or persuaded Wilder and
who suggested what ideas now can be answered only by conjecture
and perhaps seem irrelevant. .Yet Wilder did allow the production.
The anchorman and bare studio ideas were incorporated into the
production. In effect, both Schaefer and Jaffe in their
separate newspaper articles reflect a common visual approach
taken in staging the production and it is interesting to
consider the possibility Of Wilder's input into the television

creation of his masterpiece. Jaffe described the context of

what he understood as Wilder's "anchorman" idea.

 

62 . .
The New York Times, op. Cit.

 

631bid.

123

While sitting Close to the camera (much as

Chancellor and Brinkley do when they are covering

a political convention) as Joe Crowell, Jr.--

down on the 'floor'--is delivering the papers and

talking to Dr. Gibbs, the Stage Manager swings

around and says to the audience, 'Want to tell

you about that boy, Joe Crowell there....' This

is the Stage Manager as 'commentator'--much like

a political analyst swinging around in his Chair

and 'commenting' tO the home audience gpout some

young senator on the convention floor.
Schaefer's remarks, while not ignoring the focus Of the Stage
Manager/Anchorman, address a more technical concern for
maintaining a definitive visual point of reference in the bare
television studio in order to keep the home viewing audience
from becoming lost; a concern similarly manifested in
Schneider's letigimate production Of Our Town discussed in
Chapter II Of this study. Schaefer expressed his feeling about
the play's need for greater Visual definition by saying,
"When you do a play without sets or scenery, the audience
tends tO get lost. If you do it with realistic scenery as
in the movie, the play gets lost."65 Schaefer also spoke
about the double task of keeping the audience visually oriented
as well as eliciting their proper and imaginative response.
"The major problem in directing Our Town," Schaefer wrote,

"was to force the home audience, which is used to literal

presentation, to expand its imagination. This imaginative

 

64Ibid.

65Los Angeles Times. op. Cit.

124

'66
participation is essential if the third act is to work."

Schaefer commented further in the Smith interview regarding
the issue Of audience involvement, saying that to get the

proper imaginative response going, "you have to break down

barriers or you've failed".67 He then continued by describing

his approach to staging the production in ways that he felt
would accomplish his goals of maintaining a visual point Of
reference while breaking down audience barriers to imaginative
participation.

I think it's essential people use their imagi-
nations, fill in the pieces...I didn't want anything
literal, no sets, no props, everything in pantomime.
But with the camera, when you come in for a Close
shot and pull back again, the audience has problems
locating themselves without walls. What I did was
to hang a camera 40 feet up in the eaves of the
studio and paint the floor for each act to identify
houses, streets, the Church, the cemetery. Whenever
I felt people might get lost, I cut to that high
camera to re-orient them.

We Open on that high shot, actors moving around.
We cut tO follow Holbrook as he walks between our
stars to his Stage Manager's desk. On it there's a
small model of the town. He turns it around and
begins to tell you about Grover's Corners...

 

66Personal letter from Mr. Schaefer. June 10, 1981.

67 it.

0

Los Angeles Times. op.

 

68Los Angeles Times. op. cit.

 

125

In his review Of Schaefer's production, published a week later,
Smith Offers another detailed description Of the Opening scene:

Thus, we see Holbrook in close-up on the morning

Of May 7, 19- ought -1, and over his shoulder in the
far distance we see Ned Beatty as DOC Gibbs yawning
his way along a painted street between the painted
green Circles Of trees that line it. The Gibbs and
Webb houses in outline have scrim rOOfs and through
invisible walls we see Sada Thompson, as Mrs. Gibbs,
fixing breakfast on an invisible stove...

Given his earlier expressed commitment to the most

complete production of Our Town ever staged, Schaefer met with

 

some difficulty and compromise. "We have recorded every word

Of the play that Thornton Wilder wrote....Our version is even
more complete than the original Jed Harris production on
Broadway....I'm not sure we'll get all of it on the air, even
though the Bell people have cut their commercials way down."70
Schaefer's doubts were well founded as his persuasive appeal

this time fell on deaf ears. NBC and the Bell System would

not be moved and the production was therefore broadcast with a
few minor but distinctive adjustments. The first such adjustment

in the script came in dividing the presentation into four acts,

not three as in the original, "to accommodate the carefully

 

69Los Angeles Times. May 30, 1977.

 

0Los Angeles Times, op. cit.

126

placed commercials"71 that the Bell people required as barely
essential. Act one Of Wilder's script was divided into two
parts for the Schaefer production; the other act divisions
remained unchanged. The second adjustment came in the addition
of a scene included in Wilder's initial draft, but cut by
Harris from the 1938 production and therefore absent in
subsequent stagings. The added "ironing board" scene in

Act two gives greater emphasis to the conversation between
Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs as they contemplate the perils Of parent-
Child relationships on the eve of their son's wedding. The
third script adjustment came in the deletion Of one scene
from the televised production. The twelve-minute Professor
Willard scene from Act one was cut to accommodate network
playing time. Smith reported that Schaefer "hoped wistfully
that NBC might regard the great play as they would a football
game or a movie and let it run over time. NO such luck.

The play had to be cut to fit the space."72 In spite Of

the few compromises Schaefer had to make in presenting 92E
Town, his production did achieve the distinction Of being

the most complete version ever created for television or film.

 

71
Los Angeles Times. op. cit.

72lbid.

 

127

Schaefer's production ran two hours' playing time. All other
television versions ran less than 75 minutes; the motion
picture "ran about 90 minutes and left a great deal out".73

This most complete of Our Town television productions

met with mixed critical reviews. The Hollywood Reporter critic

 

appeared the most negative in response to the production by
commenting that the theatrical devices of Wilder's play

"worked beautifully within the confines Of the live theatre.
However, this very technique, when brought to the extremely

74 The

naturalistic media Of TV, gets to be a distraction."
same reviewer also wrote of the Stage Manager's obtrusive
explanation of the play's action and that even though
"Producer-director George Schaefer brings a faithful rendition
of the play, he does not conquer the electronic medium."75

The reporter did, however, react favorably to William
Brownwell's "superbly provided" sound effects and Roy

Christopher's "artful production design", but wrote that

"the absence Of music" created a coldness. Kay Gardella Of

 

 

 

73

Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1977.
74

Hollywood Reporter, May 27, 1977.
75

Ibid.

128

the New York Daily News also expressed the same response to

 

Schaefer's distracting direction. She found the focus and
detail Of the production's pantomime particularly overstated.
"...the pantomime...defeats its purpose. The idea is to
isolate the Characters and what they're saying without
distraction. It has the Opposite effect."76 Morton Moss Of
the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner directed most of his attention
to the "poignant poetry" Of Wilder's drama. Yet, like
commentators twenty years earlier, Moss decries the dismal
state Of television entertainment by raising Schaefer's
production to levels of excellence above the norm. "Generally
the word 'creative' is applied in television to innumerable
works that don't even come Close. The staple Of the trade is
engineered formula. Not so, however, with 92E Town, Thornton
Wilder's 1938 play and the imaginative staging it has been
given on NBC."77 Moss added that Schaefer's contribution to
the production resulted in an "uncommonly gOOd job of stamping
a unity on the Wilder work"78 and that the director had "deftly

maneuvered" his "accomplished cast".

 

 

 

76Daily News. May 30, 1977.
77

Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. May 30, 1977.
78

Ibid.

129

Perhaps the most laudatory Of all critics, Cecil Smith

Of the Los Angeles Times, also wrote the pre-production inter-

 

view with Schaefer cited earlier in this study. Smith spoke

only with superlatives in his follow-up review Of the Our Town

 

television broadcast.
The production is simply superb, as definitive
a work Of theatrical art as television's small screen
has ever housed. Schaefer's notion of treating the
play as a work Of television, with Holbrook's Stage
Manager with his decided New England twang a kind
Of televigion host and narrator, is an unqualified
success.
Smith makes special note of Schaefer's visual point of
reference in commenting about his scenic device Of the Grover's
Corners outline painted on the floor of the bare television
studio. "One never has the feeling that we're in any sort
of realistic environment, there's never what Wilder called
'the childish attempt to be real'; we are always conscious
that these are actors performing a play."80 The reviewer also
points to the director's use of pantomime as well as sound
effects to heighten the play's demands on the viewer's

imagination. In a final evaluation of Schaefer's television

production, Smith describes what he feels is the essence Of

 

79
Los Angeles Times, May 30, 1977.

80Ibid.

 

130

92E Town; that it "is essentially a mirror. And beautifully
has Schaefer polished it."81

The reflection of success which shone in Schaefer's
"definitive" television presentation Of Wilder's 92E Town can
be given additional illumination. An examination of the
recognition awarded outstanding achievements in television
broadcasting during the 1977 season Offers further insights into
merits Of Schaefer's production. The Bell System's special
program was awarded seven nominations Of excellence in its
category Of "Special--Drama or Comedy". The production itself
was nominated as Program Of the Year. Hal Holbrook and Sada
Thompson82 were each nominated for their performances and
Schaefer for his direction. Roy Christopher received the
nomination for his work as art director. Technical director
0. Tamburri and his three cameramen, Jon Olson, Roy HOlm and
Reed Howard were collectively nominated for their respective
achievements in Technical Direction and Electronic Camerawork.
Another television technician, Ron Estes, earned a nomination
for his work in Tape Sound Mixing. The one Emmy ultimately

awarded the production went tO William F. Brownell and John

H. Kanthrowe, Jr. for their outstanding Sound Effects; Chosen

 

81Ibid.

82Miss Thompson played the role Of Mrs. Gibbs.

 

131

from nominees in the broadly defined category "Individual
Achievement in Any Area Of Creative Technical Crafts".
Production concepts, critical response, and professional
recognition notwithstanding, The Bell System Special stands
as the most complete presentation of Wilder's Qn£_Town ever
created in the production mode of television. TO date it
remains the last interpretation presented in that medium.
The production reflects not only its unique "anchorman" and
painted floor reference point approach, but also the advance-
ments made in television technology during the nearly forty
years since its first "live" sixty-minute telecast by The
Theatre Guild on the Air. And as the sixth separate television
presentation of Wilder's play broadcast through the popular
entertainment mode Of the masses, onn_Town maintained its
position Of prominence as the American play most Often
produced as well as the play seen by the greatest number Of

people.

 

83The production was broadcast again the following year
on Monday, June 5, 1978, in a special tribute to the play's
endurance: "The Bell System Salutes The 40th Anniversary Of
Thornton Wilder's 925 Town".

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The following Chapter concludes this study of
Thornton Wilder's opp 22KB as staged for the various production
modes Of the legitimate theatre, film, and television with a
presentation of the following three considerations:
1. Summary of the study
2. Conclusions reached by the study
3. Implications for further study suggested by

this research.

m

The purpose of this study as indicated has been to
present a descriptive examination Of Thornton Wilder's 92E
Town as represented in selected productions from 1938 to
1981.

Justification for the study pointed to QE£.22!E'S
status as the most Often produced play in this country in spite
Of the critical disagreement concerning its genre, merit and
scope. Chapter I presented a review Of the literature

pertaining to Wilder and Our Town. The paucity Of such

132

133

existing literature led to the Opening chapter's statement
which suggested the essence, if not the purpose, Of this
study-~the first scholarly effort to examine a specific
American play as it had been represented in the various
production modes Of the legitimate theatre, film and
television.

Chapter II focused on three legitimate theatre
productions:

l. Jed Harris'1938 Broadway premiere

2. Jose Quintero's 1959 Off-Broadway revival

3. Alan Schneider's 1981 regional theatre
thrust staging.

Chapter III studied the creation Of the single United
Artists motion picture release produced by Sol Lesser and
directed by Sam Wood in 1940.

Chapter IV addressed the television production mode
with an examination of two unique stagings especially created
for that medium and which were selected from six separate and
distinct productions:

l. Delbert Mann's 1955 musical adaptation

2. George Schaefer's 1977 Bell System special.

Conclusions

 

Thornton Wilder's on£_Town has indeed become one Of
the most popular and therefore most frequently produced
American plays. For that reason alone the import of this study
seems to be that it provides the first compilation of informa-
tion regarding the staging of 92£.22EE as presented in a
variety of production modes and performing spaces. Hence,
the study may be used as a comprehensive resource by theatre
historians who wish to supplement their research of the
American genre or by directors and producers planning tO
stage an_Town and wish to consider the various approaches
taken in presenting the play. The study therefore intends
tO serve as a sourcebook for those individuals interested
in gaining further insights into the presentation of onn
Town and its concommitant realization through each Of the
major current production modes of entertainment.

The three letigimate theatre productions considered
were alike in that they each attempted to establish a personal
actor-audience relationship. They differed primarily in their
manner of establishing that relationship; a manner perhaps
dictated by the times in which they were produced. Harris'

Broadway production stated during what Harold Clurman called

134

135

the "austere"1 thirties, attempted to create a more informal
theatre experience in a time when the proscenium arch and the
grand drape still controlled the detached, stilted, and
formal atmosphere Of the depression era. The premiere
production naturally retained traces Of the fourth wall sense
Of Objectivity and restraint common to the theatre of the
times. But the play also surprised and warmed its audiences
with its novel attempt to be personal. Quintero's 1959
production, staged in the intimate space of an Off-Broadway
cabaret, expanded on that personal quality during the final
year in a decade given to post-war sentiment and romance.
Schneider's 1981 production presented in the festival-like
atmosphere of the Guthrie Theatre's thrust stage projected

a casual informality free from a restrained sense Of
austerity; a quality perhaps not uncharacteristic of its
times. Scholars ten years hence will speak to this point more
objectively. The three productions varied markedly in their
unique visual presentation of the play. Harris created a
rehearsal-like stage environment Of stark simplicity and
sharp definition Of space by his exacting placement of set
pieces and lighting was minimal. On the other hand, while

the situation of a repertory season limited the use Of creative

 

1Harold Clurman, ed., Famous American Plays o: the 1930:§.
(New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc.) 1959. p. 14.

136

lighting in Schneider's Guthrie production, he did call for
greater detail and historical authenticity in the execution
of this set pieces.

The film departed from the legitimate theatre approach
to presenting opp Town for a number Of reasons. Not the least
of which was the tenor Of the times in a world on the brink
Of World War II. However, the most significant departure
from the legitimate theatre production, aside from the changed
ending, was the naturalistic environment so much a part of
film aesthetics of photographic realism. Sam Wood's production
however did attempt to retain the presentational theatrical
nature of the original by calling attention to itself as a
motion picture entertainment consciously aware of its self
and its audience.

While a case might be Offered suggesting a kinship Of
similarities between film and television, the differences are
great enough to separate the two modes categorically. Film
uses one camera employing many takes and edited later into the
finished product. Television then used three or more cameras
with the director editing his production simultaneously as
he selected the pictures he felt best captured the intention
of his interpretation and approach to the play. A further

distinctive difference between the two modes is that film

137

production budgets and time allotments usually surpass any

such considerations allowed television programming. Also film
scripts are presented as one uninterrupted unit without time
limits. Commercial television programs are controlled by rigid
time restrictions and broken up to provide for the sponsor
advertisements so essential to the economic survival Of the
medium.

Of the two television broadcasts presented in this
study, Mann's 1955 musical seems the most unique, yet in spite
of its nature, form, and content, easy comparison to Schaefer's
1977 Bell System special becomes allusive, if not obtuse.
Mann's showcase was a ninety-minute adaptation of BEE Town
with songs and dances interpolated. What remained of Wilder's
original script was merely its basic story line. Schaefer's
production intended to be the most complete rendering Of
Wilder's play ever produced. Comparisons Of these presentations
must necessarily begin with a consideration Of the differences
and similarities in televising the two productions. Mann's
musical was broadcast live. He used semi-realistic cut—out
scrim settings with authentic looking set pieces. He attempted
to enhance the romantic mood Of his musical through a dramatic

use of high contrast lighting. He also maintained a relatively

138

stationary and straight-on use of the camera Often relying

on Close-up shots to establish a more intimate presentation

Of the play. Schaefer's Bell System broadcast was pre-recorded
on video-tape. His production concept approached the assimi-
lation of on£_Town into a natural vehicle for the television
mode with the Stage Manager becoming an "anchorman” character;
one who as a matter of Course converses directly and personally
with the home-viewing audience. However, the idea Of making
the Stage Manager into something more than a narrator was used
in the film version which suggested that he was the town
druggist. In Mann's production, the story-telling minstrel
image of the Stage Manager seemed to evoke a sense Of the Close
and personal relationship between the popular entertainer and
his audience. Technically, Schaefer created a painted outline
of Grover's Corners on the bare studio floor as a visual
reference point to complement his complex camera work Of
contrasting long shots and Close-ups intended tO emphasive what
he felt was Wilder's theme on the vastness of the universe
against the simplicity Of the human experience. For all its
uniqueness of camera positioning, Schaefer's production remains
the most complete presentation Of QEE Town ever filmed or

televised.

139

When examining these productions of own Town from a
larger perspective, certain general conclusions seem apparent:
1. In spite Of QE£.ZQEE'S seeming but perhaps
deceptive simplicity, directors have continued rather
insistently to impose their own particular imprint on the
play, which points to Wilder's belief in the nature Of the
theatre as an art of collaborators. The implication here
seems to suggest two possibilities: 1) that the play's
Openness encourages directorial license; or, 2) that such
openness has proffered QE£.29EE.With perhaps the additional
reputation as the most misinterpreted American play.
2. Consequently, there seems to have developed
three basic directorial approaches to staging 92E Town:
a. Austere and detached Objectivity as in
the Harris proscenium theatre production and
the Schaefer television "anchorman" presenta-
tion;
b. Romantic and sentimental reverie as in
Wood's naturalistic film, Mann's musical
adaptation, and Quintero's intimate Off—
Broadway revival;
c. Casual caricature focusing on farce as

in Schneider's regional thrust staging and

140

reported by Isabel Wilder as the approach
increasingly taken over the years.2
3. The technical realization of creating the

visual presentation of 92E Town appears to run the gamut from
the stark and barren theatricality of Harris' production to the
naturalistic realism of Wood's film. Lighting is Often considered.
the key technical element used to establish locale and mood
as in both Harris' staging and Mann's musical. Set pieces are
anywhere from rehearsal furniture selected at random as in
Quintero's revival to the detailed antiques carefully chosen
for their authenticity and visual appeal as in Wood's film,
Mann's musical, Schneider's production, and Schaefer's
television broadcast. The use and number of realistic or
imaginary properties, sound effects, and the degree of
technical attention given to both Of these elements differs
with each production. Only the costuming seems to have main-
tained any sense of consistency in all productions covered in
this study through a stylistic approach to suggested
historical realism.

4. The major distinction separating the three

production modes seems to be in the degree Of personal

 

2Interview with Isabel Wilder. September 19, 1981.

141

relationship that can be created between actor and audience.
The legitimate theatre, Of course, accomplishes this best
because Of the immediate presence Of living, breathing,
touchable human beings. While Wood's film attempted to
project a self-conscious awareness of its own mode, the motion
picture screen with its larger than life two-dimensional
reality succeeds least of all in creating an atmosphere in
which actor and audience commune in the same physical and
psychological space. Television manages by the very nature
Of its easy and personal access and its smaller screen to
affect a more intimate relationship with its audience than
does film. However, even though the latter two modes have
attempted tO be as intimate and personal as their respective
mediums will allow, theatre still retains the energetic
presence Of living human beings sharing a common experience
so vital to the presentation of pop Town.

5. A significant element which appears to
influence and pervade each presentation is the specific modes'
sense Of space, or aesthetic distance, as the actor and
audience are brought as Close together as the medium and the

times will allow.

142

6. The progression of time itself has affected
the various stagings of pop Town through the ever-present and
changing social values Of restraint and response.

7. While published critical response has
certainly reflected the spirit of the times, an overview Of
such professional criticism varies in its expectations and
standards according to the production mode in question.
Critical response to legitimate theatre presentations seems
to be more comprehensive and inclusive Of all production
elements. Film criticism seems to consider fewer elements of
the total production while focusing primarily on the performer
and the impact of the work as a whole. Television criticism,
though still undeveloped as a unique journalistic genre of
its own, gives much attention to comparing the calibre of
the program to the current standard Of television entertainment
fare.

Finally, in whatever mode the play has been produced
and by whatever directing approach it has been staged, Thornton
Wilder's QE£,EQEE remains an enduring and endearing master-
piece Of American dramatic literature which audiences continue
to support with common familiarity and fondness not unlike

the patrons of the theatre in Ancient Greece. Wilder's play

143

maintains its vast and popular appeal because Of its seeming
simplicity, its familiarity in dramatic irony, the personal
relationship it establishes with its audience, and because
Of its beneficent view Of death; a view held by every major
religion in the world. The universal appeal Of the play has
continued to attract producers, directors, actors and audience
members beginning with its premiere production in 1938. For
since that time, Thornton Wilder's classic paen to the simple
truths Of human endeavor, onr_Town, has recreated for each
successive generation not what happened or what they thought
happened, but what they hoped happened.

With the intent and purpose of this study concluded,
it seems appropriate to imply suggestions for further research

in areas relative to the present subject.

Implications for Further Study,

 

While this study proposes to be the first Of its kind
to examine the specific production history of the singular most
Often produced American play and since the general body of
literature devoted to Wilder and his work is small when
compared to the attention given other major American dramatists,

the Opportunities for further research in areas related to

144

QE£.32EE seem Open to a variety Of scholarly endeavors. The
following subjects are therefore Offered here as implications
for further study as suggested by the findings Of this
particular investigation:

1. Other productions: There is certainly a vast store

 

Of information to be gleaned and analyzed from the many produc-
tions of QEE Town not covered by this study. The other profes-
sional legitimate theatre productions staged in this country
listed in Appendix A of this dissertation suggest further
study. Then there also exists an untold number Of amateur

or semi-professional theatre productions which by the bold or
novel approach to the play seem worthy Of academic investigation.
During the civil rights era of the sixties, productions of

pop Town attempted to relate to the social issues of the times.
On both coasts of this country the play was produced for and
with black inner-City patrons. During 1976 in Massachusetts

a production was staged giving focus to the feminist movement
by having the role Of the Stage Manager played by actress
Geraldine Fitzgerald--the first known woman to ever play the
part. Wilder himself played the role on several occasions and
an examination Of his performances might shed additional light

on the intent Of the artist. In 1981 the Wooster Group, as

145

evolved from Richard Schechner's Performance Group, produced

a media montage approach to dramatic presentation in which

they directly incorporated their own bold and "exotic features
of conceptual performance theatre"3 with the theme and substance
of pop Town. Also, productions of 92E Town, presented in a
variety Of languages, have been staged in theatres around the
world and a study Of these presentations could Offer inter-
national insights intO a comprehensive understanding of the
play. In 1945 Russian Soviets banned performances Of on£_Town
in Berlin because Of the play's alleged "defeatist" theme.
During that same year Raymond Massey toured a successful U.S.O.
production of the play to GI's stationed at United States Army
camps in Europe and the following year a professional company
presented BEE Town to a non-receptive London audience in
war-torn England. Since then Wilder's play has been performed
on nearly every Continent of the globe to mixed critical
response. The separate international productions of QE£.IQEE
Offer many research Opportunities and, of course, Schneider's

1973 State tour Of Russia mentioned earlier in this study is

 

3William COCO. "Route 1.3 g (The Last Act),"
Theatre Journal. May, 1982. p. 249.

 

 

4

Uncatalogued newspaper clipping from the Our Town
file at the New York Public Library's Billy Rose Theatre
Collection.

146

worthy of further analysis. Those television presentations

not covered by this dissertation but listed in its appendix,

as well as the two major radio broadcasts Of 92E Town are yet
unexplored. The radio productions were aired in 1948 and

1950, starring Dorothy McGuire and Elizabeth Taylor respectively'
in the pivotal role of Emily Webb.

2. Literapy influences: Comments by politicians,

 

critics and Wilder himself imply the possibility of Chekovian
influences in the writing Of on£_Town. The two men share

the distinction of being widely read in two different modes

Of literature. However, both writers also seem to be more
consistently acclaimed for their prose fiction. Chekov's
mastery of the short story form approaches unparalleled

skill and control of character and situation as he captures
like none of his contemporaries the vitality of the Russian
spirit. Wilder, too, has been acknowledged for his economy

Of prose style and his story-telling skill. His early novellas,
while not American in locale, reflect a poignancy Of character
and grand scheme situation reminiscent of the stories told by
Chekov. Wilder's later novels evoke the essence of several
short stories linked together by the common thread of a single

Character Of situation--an idea Chekov considered but never

147

completed. Certainly the prose works of both men exceed their
output Of dramatic literature; each with only three major plays.
As writers they are criticized, in comparison, for their
shortcomings in drama. As dramatists their writing eludes
directors for its ambiguous nature as farce or melodrama.
Their plays are Often considered skeletal, incomplete, other-
worldly. Stylistically they are given to such descriptions
because Of the impressionistic intent and content Of their
themes--the illusions of happiness held by their despairing
Characters; a theme which is best presented in the misty
outlines and muted colors suggested in the painting Of a

Manet or Monet. Also the work of contemporary dramatists

such as Tom Stoppard and Ted Tally Offers possibilities for
further comparative study on the dramatic theme Of man's
illusion of hope and happiness. StOppard's works Of the
sixties, as in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and §2E2£

A Free Man, deal thematically with the questions of free will

 

versus predestination and whether life's meaning is to be
answered in death rather than life, not unlike the themes and
questions addressed by Wilder—-particularly in QEE Town.

Ted Tally, a dramatist on the horizon Of the eighties, might

also provide provocative subject matter for further research

148

into comparative drama studies. From his "sombre tribute to

5 I I I I I I
moral courage" in Terra Nova to his satirical invective

 

against venality in Coming Attractions--both played with a

 

most overt sense of theatricality, Tally seems to be exploring
the bold terrain Of diverse playwrighting styles fatefully
travelled by Wilder.

3. Wilder's stagecraft and other technical Considera—
tions: The influences Of European theatre practices, particu-
larly those Of Max Reinhardt, which Wilder Observed firsthand
during the twenties indicate the possibility of further
research Opportunities. Reinhardt's affection for intimate
theatre spaces is evidenced in his first stage, The Kleines
Theatre, and later in his Kammerspiele. Unfortunately, his
work in these intimate theatres has tOO Often been upstaged
by the attention given his more grandiose productions staged
at the Grosses Schauspielhaus. There seems to be a connection
worth further consideration between Wilder's deployment of
the proscenium arch and Olver Sayler's commentary, published
in 1924, on Reinhardt's "Dramatic Value Of Space".

Looking at a framed stage is somewhat similar

to looking through a telescope or microscope. On

lifting your head, you are back in the world Of

reality. In the arena, the spectator himself
undergoes a transformation; he becomes an actor.

 

5Time. December 15, 1980, p. 86.

149

The drama has broken through the wall that

separated it from real, everyday life; it has

stepped right into the center and radiates a

magnetic power Of attraction that draws everything

toward it.

It is perhaps this magnetic point that explains the mystique,
magic, and holding power of Wilder's dramatic writings. It
also gives further explanation to Wilderks satisfaction with
Quintero's 1959 revival of QE£.IQEE- The issue here suggests
a sort Of Brechtian ideal Of keeping the production from
becoming bogged down in nineteenth century realism, but
creating rather a sense Of actuality to which each audience
member/actor can bring his own personal resonances to the
theatre experience. Academic examination into any Of these
areas would help to establish a more pervasive understanding
of the genesis behind the stagecraft concepts Wilder introduced
in his early sketchbook plays and so uniquely realized in
2112-21212-

Another area of technical consideration for further
study is suggested by the coincidence of Reinhardt's student
Harry Horner being commissioned to design the film production
of Wilder's play. The implication here seems to Offer the

possibility Of an investigation into the interspersement of

New York tO Hollywood designer-director relationships and the

 

6
Oliver M. Sayler. Max Reinhardt and His Theatre.
(New York: Brentano's, 1924) p. 151.

150

varying demands made by each Of the production modes on that
working relationship.

4. Biographical Studies: While a few theatre

 

personalities such as Wilder, Harris and Schaefer have received
some academic attention, many of the individuals involved in a
major way, not only with productions of QB£.EQEE but also with
the theatre itself, have been overlooked in scholarship.
Wilder and his work have been the subject of several critical
and biographical commentaries. Aside from Harris' two auto-
biographical recollections published in 1963 and 1981, his
career has been reviewed in one Ph.D. dissertation written
in 1979. George Schaefer received similar academic treatment
in a 1964 dissertation. Quintero outlined his career in an
autobiographical memoir published in 1974. However, there
remains many interesting and intriguing personalities whose
lives and careers did much to influence productions Of QEE
Town as they also affected the growth and development Of the
entertainment world thus deserving Of academic investigation.
The following list suggests only a few possibilities for
biographical studies:

a. Raymond Sovey, premiere production technical
director

b. Helene Pons, premiere production costume

designer

151

C. Edward Goodnow, premiere production stage
manager

d. Jose Quintero, Off-Broadway revival director

e. Theodore Mann, Off-Broadway revival producer

f. Alan Schneider, regional theatre director

9. $01 Lesser, film producer

h. Sam Wood, film director

i. Frank Craven, stage and screen actor

j. Fred Coe, pioneer television producer

k. Delbert Mann, television and film director

1. Otis Riggs, television designer.

With the examination completed, the conclusions reached,
and the implications suggested, any study in the subjective
realm of the theatre is naturally limited by the time in which
the investigation took place and the writer's powers Of
observation, synthesis and recapitulation. But in spite of
its literary obtuseness, the affecting endurance of Thornton
Wilder's Q 5 Town seems destined to remain a vital and meaning-
ful portrait Of this country's myth-like heritage, making
Wilder's "little masterpiece" as close to our national play,
or "as Close as any play has come thus far".7 Future

generations Of Americans appear to be assured Of frequent

 

7
Goldstone. op. cit., p. 138.

152

trips to Grover's Corners, through the several production
modes presented in this study, for a simple lOOk at what

they hope might have happened and what their faith tells them
will happen. From the boldness of reaching out beyond the
proscenium arch in Harris' 1938 production to the novel media
montage multiple reality of the Schechner inspired Wooster
Group's 1981 treatment, Thornton Wilder's an_Town stands up
against its many detractors as it continues to challenge
producers, directors and audience members with its unique

invitation to Open and creative theatrical collaboration.

APPENDIX A

OUR TOWN CHRONOLOGY

January 22,

January 25,

February 4,

May 23,

1940

January 10,

1938

1938

1938

1944

September 29, 1946

June 6,

1948

Appendix A

Our Town Chronology

First out-Of-town try-out presented at
the McCarter Theatre on the Princeton
University campus in Princeton, New
Jersey; produced and directed by Jed
Harris

Second out-Of-town try-out presented
at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston,
Massachusetts

Broadway premiere Opening at the Henry
Miller Theatre then moving to the
Morosco Theatre for the remainder of
the run; starring Frank Craven and
Martha Scott

United Artists film release produced by
Sol Lesser; directed by Sam Wood; first
shown at Lowe's Motion Picture Theatre
in Boston, Massachusetts; starring Frank
Craven, Martha Scott, William Holden,
Thomas Mitchell

Limited-run engagement revival presented
at New York's City Center; produced and
directed by Jed Harris; starring Marc
Connelly, Martha Scott, Montgomery Clift

CBS radio broadcast on "Theatre Guild on
the Air" starring Thornton Wilder and
Dorothy McGuire

First television broadcast on NBC-TV
"Theatre Guild on the Air"; produced by
Fred Coe; starring Raymond Massey, Jane
Seymour, E. G. Marshall, Helen Carew

154

March 12, 1950

April 17, 1950

December 1, 1950

September 19, 1955

March 21, 1959

November 13, 1959

November 27, 1969

December 15, 1972

155

CBS radio broadcast on "Theatre Guild
on the Air", starring Walter Huston and
Elizabeth Taylor

NBC-TV presentation of "Robert Montgomery
Presents"; starring Burgess Meredith and
Jean Gillespie

ABC-TV presentation of "Pulitzer Prize
Playhouse"; starring Edward Arnold and
Elizabeth Patterson

NBC-TV presentation of "Producer's
Showcase"; musical version; produced by
Fred Coe; directed by Delbert Mann;
starring Frank Sinatra, Eva Marie Saint,
Paul Newman

Off-Broadway revival presented at the
Circle-in-the-Square Theatre; directed
by Jose Quintero; starring John Beal,
Jane McArthur, Clinton Kimbrough

NBC-TV presentation Of "David Susskind
Presents" ("The Art Carney Show");
directed by Jose Quintero; starring
Art Carney, Kathleen Widdoes, Clinton
Kimbrough

Limited-run Broadway revival at the ANTA
Theatre; produced by Martha Scott and
Alfred De Liagre; directed by Donald
Driver; starring Henry Fonda, Elizabeth
Hartman, Harvey Evans, Ed Begley, Mildred
Natwick, Margaret Hamilton, John Beal

Regional theatre presentation at the Arena
Stage in Washington, D.C.; also toured to
Russia; directed by Alan Schneider; scenery
by Ming Cho Lee; starring Robert Prosky,
Dianne Wiest, Gary Bayer

June 10,

May 30,

July 11,

1975

1977

1981

156

Regional theatre presentation at the
American Shakespeare Festival for its
Bicentennial program at Stratford,
Connecticut; directed by Michael Kahn;
starring Fred Gwynne, Kate Mulgrew,
Eileen Heckart, Geraldine Fitzgerald

NBC-TV presentation of "The Bell System
Salutes"; directed by George Schaefer;
starring Hal Holbrook, Glynnis O'Connor,
Robby Benson, Ned Beatty, Barbara Bel
Geddes, Ronny Cox, Sada Thompson, John
Houseman

Regional theatre presentation at the
Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota;
directed by Alan Schneider; starring
Ken Ruta, Keliher Walsh, Boyd Gaines

APPENDIX B

Production Staff

Appendix B

Production Staff

The Henry Miller Theatre
Jed Harris

presents
OUR TOWN
by
Thornton Wilder
Technical Direction Costumes by
Raymond Sovey Helene Pons
Cast

Stage Manager........................Frank Craven

Dr. Gibbs....... .................. ...Jay Fassett

Joe Crowell.. ................ . ....... Raymond Roe
Howie Newsome... .................. ...Tom Fadden

Mrs. Gibbs...........................Evelyn Varden
Mrs. Webb...... ...... . ..... ..........Helen Carew
George Gibbs....... .............. ....John Craven
Rebecca Gibbs ..................... ...Marilyn Erskine

Wally Webb...........................Charles Wiley, Jr.
Emily Webb...........................Martha Scott

Professor Willard... ....... . ..... ....Arthur Allen

Mr. Webb...... ..... . ......... .. ..... .Thomas W. Ross
Woman in the Balcony.. ............... Carrie Weller
Man in the Auditorium................Walter 0. Hill
Lady in the Box........ ........... ...Aline McDermott
Simon Stimson...... ............... ...Philip Coolidge
Mrs. Soames....... ............... ....Doro Merande
Constable Warren.....................E. Irving Locke
Si Crowell............. .............. Billy Redfield
Baseball Players..... ............. ...William Roehrick

Thomas Coley
Sam Craig............................Francis G. Cleveland
Joe Stoddard.........................William Wadsworth
Assistant Stage Managers ........... ..Thomas Morgan

Alfred Ryder

158

159

People Of the Town: Carrie Weller, Alice Donaldson, Walter
0. Hill, Arthur Allen, Charles Melledy, Katherine Raht,
Mary Elizabeth Forbes, Dorothy Nolan, Jean Platt, Barbara
Brown, Alida Stanley, Barbara Burton, Lynn Swann, Dorothy
Ryan, Shirley Osborn, Emily Boileau, Ann Weston, Leon Rose,
John Irving Finn, Van Shem, Charles Walters, William Short,
Frank Howell, Max Beck, James Malaidy, Bernice Silver,
Charles Wildey, Sr., Willard Cary.

Premiere February 4, 1938; Closed Morosco Theatre
November 19, 1938. 336 Performances

160

Circle-in-the-Square

Leigh Connell Theodore Mann Jose Quintero
presents

Thornton Wilder's
OUR TOWN

Directed by
Jose Quintero

Lighting by Costumes by

David Hays Patricia Zipprodt
Cast

Stage Manager ............ . ......... ..John Beal

Mrs. Gibbs..... ................... ...Helen Harrelson

Mrs. Webb........ ............... .....Marjorie Nelson

Joe Crowell. ................. . ...... .Taugh O'Faillon

Doctor Gibbs....... ................ ..Dana Elcar

Howie Newsome.. ............... .......Richard Dysart

Wally Webb...........................Michael Pollard

Emily Webb......... ........ ..........Jane McArthur

George Gibbs....... ........... .......Clinton Kimbrough

Rebecca Gibbs...... ............... ...Aina Niemela

Professor Willard....................Charles Althoff

Mr. Webb.................. .......... .Daniel Keyes

First Woman in Audience..............Julia Follansbee

Artistic Lady in Audience...... ..... .Mary Louise Wilson

Indignant Man in Audience ......... ...John Dodson

Mrs. Soames................ ....... ...Martha Greenhouse

Simon Stimpson.......... ...... .......Harrison Dowd

Assistant Stage Managers.............GeorgeSegal
Harvey G. Knox
Constable Warren.... ......... .. ...... Robert Charles
Si Crowell........ ..... ..... ...... ...Taugh O'Faillon
Baseba-l Players.....................George Segal
Harvey G. Knox

First Dead Woman........ ........ .....Ju1ia Follansbee
Second Dead Woman......... ......... ..Mary Louise Wilson
First Dead Man........ ....... ........John Dodson

Second Dead Man... ................. ..George Segal
Farmer McCarthy.... .......... ........Gerald Richards

Joe StOddardOOOIOOI...IOIOIIIOOIIIOOOROIand WOOd
Sam Craig........... ............... ..Michael Reilly

161

Townspeople: James Carruthers, Robert Charles, John Dodson,
Harvey G. Know, Michael Reilly, Pat Reed Scott, Marcia
Stillman, Mary Louise Wilson

Opened March 23, 1959; Closed February 21, 1961.

162
The Guthrie Theatre
presents

OUR TOWN

by
Thornton Wilder

Directed by
Alan Schneider

Scenic Designer Lighting Designer Costume Designer
Karl Eigsti Richard Riddell Marjorie Slaiman
Cast
Stage Manager......... ............ ...Ken Ruta
Assistant Stage Managers.............Steven Fagerberg

Paul Laakso
Laurence Overmire
Eliot Ross
Mrs. Gibbs...........................Peggy Schoditsch
Mrs. Webb............................Catherine Burns
Dr. Gibbs............................John Lewin-
Joe Crowell..........................Adam Redfield
Howie Newsome........................Richard Hilger
George Gibbs.........................Boyd Gaines
Wally Webb...........................Paul Reighard
Emily Webb...........................Keliher Walsh
Professor Willard....................Roy Brocksmith
Mr. Webb.............................William Newman
Woman in the Balcony.................Katherine Cortez
Man in the Auditorium................Peter Thoemke
Lady in the Box......................Carol Rosenfeld
Simon Stimson........................Peter McRObbie
Mrs. Soames..........................Mim Solberg
Constable Warren.....................Oliver Cliff
Si Crowell...........................Adam Redfield
Baseball Players.....................Paul Laakso
Laurence Overmire
Eliot Ross
Sam Craig.................... ..... ...RObert Nadir
Joe Stoddard.........................John E. Straub
Dead Woman...........................Katherine Cortez
lst Dead Man.........................Peter Thoemke
2nd Dead Man.........................J. Patrick Martin

163

Townspeople: Becka Dalton, Steven Fagerberg, Bruce McLean,
Nancy Moyer, Joyce Paul, Eliot Ross, Hayden Saunier, Warren
Scheueman, Eileen Reagan

Opened July 11, 1981; Closed September 18, 1981.

164
Sol Lesser
presents
OUR TOWN
A United Artists release

Screenplay by
Thornton Wilder, Frank Craven, and Harry Chandlee

Directed by Production Designed by Costumes
Sam Wood William Cameron Menzies Edward Lambert

Associate Designer Cinematographer Music
Harry Horner Bert Glennon, ASC Aaron Copeland

Cast

The Narrator, Mr. Morgan ............ .Frank Craven

George Gibbs.........................William Holden

Emily Webb...... ...... ..... ....... ...Martha Scott

Mrs. Gibbs....... ...... . .......... ...Fay Bainter

Mrs. Webb....... ................... ..Beaulah Bondi

Dr. Gibbs....... ..... ................Thomas Mitchell

Editor Webb... ........ .. .......... ...Guy Kibbee

Howie Newsome.............. ..... .....Stuart Erwin

Mrs. Soames.... ........... . ..... .....Doro Merande

Rebecca Biggs..... ...... .............Ruth Toby

Wally Webb........ ................ ...Douglas Gardiner

Professor Willard...... ..... .........Arthur Willett

The Constable........................Spencer Charters
Joe Crowell..........................Tim Davis

Si Crowell..... ..... . ............ ....Dix Davis

Simon Stimson........................Phillip Wood

Dr. Ferguson.........................Charles Trowbridge

Opened Loew's Theatre; Boston, March 23, 1940.

165

NBC-TV

Fred Coe "Producer's Showcase" Ford Motor Company
presents and RCA
OUR TOWN

Directed by
Delbert Mann

Written for Television by
David Shaw

Set Designer Lighting Costumes
Otis Riggs Al Scartlett Bob Campbell
Composer Lyricist Conductor Choreographer

James Van Heusen Sammy Cahn Nelson Riddle Valerie Bettis

Cast

Stage Manager.... ............... .....Frank Sinatra

Emily Webb......... ..... . ........ ....Eva Marie Saint

George Gibbs................. ..... ...Paul Newman

Mr. Webb.... ......... ... .......... ...Paul Hartman

Mrs. Webb......... ..... . ........ .....Peg Hillias

Dr. Gibbs.... ..... ... .............. ..Ernest Truex

Mrs. Gibbs...........................Sylvia Field

Wally Webb............ ............ ...David Saber

Rebecca Gibbs........................Shelley Fabares

Mrs. Soames.... ............... .......CarOl Veazie

Joe Crowell............ ..... .........Anthony Sedes

Mrs. Slocum.... ............... .......Charlott Knight

Mr. McCarthy...... ......... . ..... ...Harvey B. Dunn

Broadcast September 19, 1955.

166

NBC-TV

Saul Jaffee "Bell System Special" Bell Telephone Company'
presents

OUR TOWN

Directed by
George Schaefer

Technical Direction
0. Tamburri

Design Costumes Lighting Sound
Roy Christopher Noel Taylor John Freschi Bill Brownell
Cast
Stage Manager ...................... ..Hal Holbrook
Dr. Gibbs...... ................... ...Ned Beatty
Mrs. Gibbs.... ...... .................Barbara Bel Geddes
George Gibbs..... ................. ...Robby Benson
Mr. Webb...... ........ . .......... ....Ronny Cox
Emily Webb... ............. . ....... ...Glynnis O'Connor
Mrs. Gibbs...........................Sada Thompson
Mrs. Soames..... ................... ..Charlotte Rae
Howie Newsome....... ....... ..........William Lanteau
Simon Stimson........................David Cryer
Constable Warren.......... ....... ....Don Beddoe
Joe Stoddard.............. ...... .....Ford Rainey

Sam Craig............................Charles Cyphers
Rebecca Gibbs........................E1izabeth Cheshire
Joe Crowell, Jr....... ........ .......Allen Price

Si Crowell......... .............. ....Michael Sharrett
Wally Webb...........................Scott Atlas

Broadcast May 30, 1977.

APPENDIX C

Biographical Sketches

168

Appendix C

Biographical Sketches

This biographical list Of names, while not all-inclusiana
nor complete, attempts to sketch the lives Of those individuals;
who made significant contributions tO the major productions
of opp Town explored in this study. The list is arranged
in alphabetical order and does not include actors. Certain
omissions appear; the result Of a lack of information gleaned

from the major biographical reference sources.

VALERIE BETTIS, Choreographer 1955 television musical adapta-
tion:

Born in Houston, Texas, Miss Bettis was educated at the
University Of Texas. She later studied ballet with Hanya HOlHl
in New York City, subsequently making her stage debut there
in 1937 with the Hanya Holm Dance Company. She toured with her
own company and choreographed not only for the concert stage
but also for film and television. Bettis choreographed the
"Dance of the Seven Veils" for the film, Salome. She also
worked as dancer and choreographer for her own CBS-TV series

Valerie Bettis Dancers and a number of other television

 

broadcasts. Miss Bettis has won several awards for her work
in dance and choreography. She died of a heart attack in

October, 1982, in New York City.

169

SAMMY CAHN, lyricist 1955 television musical adaptation:

Born June 18, 1913, in New York City, Mr. Cahn was
educated at Seward High School. He began his musical theatre
career as a violinist in a vaudeville orchestra. In 1940 he
moved to Hollywood tO write songs for films, subsequently
winning the Oscar four times for his work. During 1947 Cahn

created the lyrics for his first Broadway show, High Button

 

 

gnooo. Mr. Cahn published his autobiography, T Should Care,
in 1974.
FRED COE, producer 1955 television musical adaptation:

Born December 23, 1914, in Alligator, Mississippi,
Mr. Coe was educated at Peabody College and Yale University
School of Drama. His early experience in the theatre began
at 12 years of age when he wrote the class play. Six years
later he directed for the Nashville, Tennessee Community
Theatre. Shortly thereafter he became director Of the Town
Theatre, Columbia, South Carolina. Coe joined the staff of
NBC-TV in 1945 as production manager where he was soon promoted
to producer. In this position he produced over 500 television

productions in such series as the Philco Television Playhouse,

 

The Goodyear Playhouse, Producer's Showcase, and Mister Peepers.

 

 

He remained with NBC until 1957 when he moved to CBS as

executive producer. During this time he also continued tO

170

work in the legitimate theatre. In 1953 he co-produced his

first Broadway play, The Trip £2 Bountiful, subsequently

 

producing a series Of New York successes: Two for the Seesaw,

 

 

The Miracle Worker, Teahouse on the August Moon, and All the

 

 

Way Home--and A Thousand Clowns, which he also directed. He

 

Often worked in film as producer and director. For his work
at all levels, Mr. Coe received many awards. He died April 29,

1979, in Los Angeles, California.

AARON COPELAND, composer 1940 film:

Born November 14, 1900, in Brooklyn, New York, Mr.
Copeland studied with private tutors in the United States and
Europe. He holds honorary degrees from several universities.
Copeland has served as chairman Of the Harvard University and
Berkshire Music Center, guest conducted a number Of symphonies,
and written several books on musicology. In addition to his
other musical credits, he has scored many motion pictures:

The City, on Mice and Men, Our Town, and The Heiress, for which

 

 

 

he received the 1949 Oscar.

KARL EIGSTI, scene designer 1981 Guthrie Theatre production:
Born September 19, 1938, in Goshen, Indiana, Mr. Eigsti

was educated at Indiana, American, and Bristol Universities.

171

Since 1969 he has served as scenic designer to well over 200
Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theatre productions, many
Of which have been for the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

He has also worked as art director to television films.
Eigsti is currently visiting associate professor of drama at

the State University of New York at Purchase.

BERT GLENNON, conematographer 1940 film:

Born May 19, 1895, in Anaconda, Montana, Mr. Glennon
was educated at Stanford University. While still a student
at Stanford he worked as an assistant cameraman for Keystone
and was eventually promoted to director Of photography in 1920.
For a time (1928-1932) he worked without much success as a
director. Glennon worked with many Of the giants Of the film
industry: DeMille, Von Sternberg, Lubitsch, and Ford. Glennon
filmed the original versions Of The Ten Commandments, All Qpiet

on the Western Front, and Stagecoach. He also worked in

 

 

television filming such series broadcasts as 11 Sunset Strip

 

and Hawaiian Eye. Mr. Glennon died June 30, 1967, in Sherman

 

Oaks, California.

JED HARRIS, producer and director 1937 Broadway premiere:
Born Jacob Horowitz February 25, 1900, in Vienna,

Austria, emigrated soon thereafter with his parents to Newark,

172

New Jersey. After graduating from high school in 1916, he
attended Yale University for three years dropping out before
the end of his junior year. He travelled around the country
taking on a variety of jobs. After working for a time as a
theatrical press agent he decided he could produce and direct
better than any of the people for whom he had been working.

He produced his first show, Weak Sisters, in 1925 and within

 

the next three years he followed with four Of his greatest
successes: Broadway, Coquette, The Royal Family and The Front
Page. Other shows to his credit, besides Our Town, are the

Broadway premieres of The Heiress and The Crucible. He also

 

 

worked in films. Harris' career covered thirty-two years Of
thirty productions. He wrote two books of memoirs: Watchman,

What of the Night and Dance on the High Wire. Mr. Harris died

 

 

in New York City on November 15, 1979.

DAVID HAYS, lighting designer, 1959 Circle-in-the-Square
revival:

Born June 2, 1930, in New York City, Mr. Hays was
educated at Harvard, Yale, and Boston Universities. He served
his design apprenticeship at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge,
Massachusetts from 1949 to 1952. Then in 1952 he received a

Fulbright Scholarship to study at London's Old Vic. His design

173

work has since taken Mr. Hays across this country and Often

to Japan. He has taught stage design at New York, Columbia,
and Boston Universities, and Connecticut College. Hays also
serves as the founder and General Director Of the O'Neill

Theatre Center's National Theatre Of the Deaf.

HARRY HORNER, Associate Designer 1940 film:

Born July 24, 1910, in Halic, Czechoslovakia, Mr.
Horner studied at the University of Vienna. While at the
University studying architecture he met Max Reinhardt and
became an actor for the great Austrian stage director. In

1935 when Reinhardt brought his pageant The Eternal Road to

 

the United States, Horner came along as his assistant and
remained in this country to become a New York scenic designer.
In 1940 he took on his first film design assignment as assistant

to William Cameron Menzies. The film was Our Town. He

 

continued in film design working on such productions as

The Little Foxeserhe Heiress and The Hustler; winning Oscars

 

 

for his art direction Of the last two mentioned.

SOL LESSER, Producer 1940 film:
Born February 17, 1890, in Spokane, Washington, Mr.
Lesser began his career in films as a young boy selling ice

cream cones at his father's nicklelodean in San Francisco.

174

At seventeen he became a film distributor and in 1916 bought
a partnership in a cinema Chain. During the next ten years
Lesser not only managed a chain of movie houses but he also

began to produce films. Among his successes were Oliver Twist

 

which introduced Jackie Coogan as a child-star and broke box

office records. Lesser's 1943 film Stage Door Canteen was so

 

profitable that he was able tO donate $1.5 million of the
proceeds to the American Theatre Wing. Most Of his films were
serials, low-budget westerns, and Tarzan pictures. Between
1938 and 1959 he produced nineteen Tarzan films starring

Johnny Weissmuller. In 1951 Lesser was awarded an Oscar for
his documentary Kon-Tiki and in 1960 he received the Motion
Picture Academy Of Arts and Sciences Jean Hersholt Humanitarian
Award for his long term support Of theatrical and film industry
causes. He was innovative in introducing the out-Of-town
"sneak preview" to get audience reaction to film before it was
given general distribution. Lesser also introduced the idea

of clearly designated film ratings as early as 1951. In his
later years he taught cinematography at the University of
Southern California and at the age Of 86 he earned a master's
degree in film education from that same university. Mr. Lesser

died in Hollywood, California on September 20, 1981.

175

DELBERT MANN, director 1955 television musical adaptation:

Born January 30, 1920, in Lawrence, Kansas, Mr. Mann
was educated at Vanderbilt and Yale Universities. In 1949
he joined NBC-TV becoming a director on the Philco Playhouse
and other broadcast series. Mann has since continued to direct
productions for television. In 1980 he directed the made—for
television version of All Quiet on the Western Front. He has
also directed a number of films including Chayefsky's Annoy
which won Mann an Oscar for his direction. Other notable
films directed by Mann are Bachelor Party, Separate Tables,

The Dark on the Top oi the Stairs. His most recent work is his

 

direction of the Walt Disney production of Night Crossing

released in 1982.

THEODORE MANN, co-producer 1959 Circle-in-the-Square revival:
Born Theodore Goldman May 13, 1924, in Brooklyn, New
York, Mr. Mann was educated at Columbia, New York University,
and Brooklyn Law School. His first theatrical experience was
during the summer of 1950 when he produced ATToo in Wonderland
for the Maverick Players, of which Jose Quintero was also a
:member, at the Woodstock Summer Theatre in upper New York.

In the fall Of that year he moved with the small group Of

dedi

then

The
as i

the

WILI

Menz

EXpe
York
Mary

1939

176

dedicated theatre people to Greenwich Village calling
themselves the Loft Players. Mann was instrumental in locating
a permanent home for the group which finally became known as
The Circle in the Square Theatre. He has since functioned

as its producer and artistic director and Often assuming

the direction of individual shows as well.

WILLIAM CAMERON MENZIES, production designer 1940 film:

Born July 29, 1896, in New Haven, Connecticut, Mr.
Menzies was educated at Yale, the Students' League in New York,
and studied for a while in Scotland. Menzies began his career
in art as an illustrator of children's books. His first design
experience in film was with the Famous Players Studio in New
York. He then moved to Hollywood and soon began to work for
Mary Pickford, Samuel Goldwyn, and David O. Selznick. In
1939 Selznick assigned Menzies the title and responsibility
Of Production Designer for the now classic film, Gone With

the Wind. It was the first time anyone was to have such

 

artistic control over the entire film. Menzies won the first
Academy Award Oscar for his art direction Of The Dove and The
Tempest in 1927. In 1939 he received a special Oscar for his

achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic.

177

mood in Gone With the Wind. Other film credits to Menzies'

 

name include: The Thief oT Bagdad, The Taming op the Shrew,

 

 

 

 

and For Whom the Bell Tolls. Mr. Menzies died March 6, 1957,

 

in Hollywood, California.

HELENE PONS, costume designer for the 1940 film:

Born Helene Weinnscheff in Tiflis, Russia, Mrs. Pons
designed costumes for over a hundred shows both in the
legitimate theatre and films. She also served as President
of the Helene Pons Studio in New York City which executed her
own designs as well as those of other leading costume designers.

Her first Broadway commission was in 1927 for The Ivory Door

 

presented at the Charles Hopkins Theatre. She first worked

with Raymond Sovey in 1930 on The Second Little Show at the

 

Royale Theatre. As a costume designer Mrs. Pons was also a

member of United Scenic Artists.

JOSE QUINTERO, director 1959 Circle-in-the-Square revival:
Born October 24, 1924, in Panama City, Panama, Mr.

Quintero was educated at Los Angeles City College, the Univer-

sity Of Southern California and the Goodman Theatre School

in Chicago. Then in 1950 Mr. Quintero directed plays with a

small group of friends who together created the Maverick

178

Players at the Woodstock, New York, Summer Theatre. After the
summer the group moved to Greenwich Village under the name of
The Loft Players; subsequently becoming known as the Circle-
in-the-Square Theatre. Quintero's first play at the Circle

was a revival Of Dark o: the Moon. However, it was his

 

revival Of Summer and Smoke that brought critical acclaim

 

to both him and his theatre group. In 1956 he directed The

Iceman Cometh. This successful production and several others

 

by O'Neill created for Quintero the reputation Of the leading
interpreter of America's leading playwright. In 1960 Quintero
left the Circle to assume other directing assignments in film,
television and on Broadway. In 1974 he received the Antoinette

Perry Award for his direction of O'Neill's Moon for the

 

Misbegotten.

 

RICHARD RIDDELL, lighting designer 1981 Guthrie production:
Mr. Riddell has served as lighting designer on many Of

Alan Schneider's productions: Waiting for Godot, The All

 

American Quiz Show Scandal, and A Wilder Evening. In fact,

 

 

Riddell currently works as a teacher and head Of the design
program at the University Of California at San Diego, where

Schneider also works. Mr. Riddell has designed lighting for

179

the Neterlands Opera in Amsterdam, the Oregon Shakespeare
Festival, and he designed the setting Of Krapp's Last Tape

performed at the Akademie der Kuenste in West Berlin.

NELSON RIDDLE, conductor the 1955 television musical adaptaticul:
Born June 1, 1921, in Oradell, New Jersey, Mr. Riddle

studied piano and trombone. Early in his professional career

he played with such band leaders as Tommy Dorsey and Charlie

Spivak. Later he formed his own bank. In 1947 he became the

musical arranger and conductor for NBC radio with an easy

transition into television work for the same company. During

the fifties and sixties he wrote and conducted much Of the

music for the NBC network series programming. Mr. Riddle also

worked as arranger and conductor for many Hollywood films:

Pal Joey, Camelot and How E2 Succeed Without RealTy Trying.

 

GEORGE SCHAEFER, producer and director 1977 Bell System TV
Special:

Born December 16, 1920, in Wallingford, Connecticut,
.Mr. Schaefer was educated at Lafayette College and Yale
University. He directed his first play at 17 in 1937 for an
Oak Park, Illinois community theatre group. While assigned tO

the Army Special Services in Hawaii, he directed over fifty

180

productions. He served as executive producer and artistic
director Of New York's City Center from 1946 to 1952. He
co-produced the award—winning Broadway production Of Teahouse

oT the August Moon. He has produced and directed a number Of

 

touring productions both in this country and England. Starting
in 1954 Schaefer began to direct and produce for television.
He has won eight Emmys, several directing awards and has

served as President of the Director's Guild Of America.

ALAN SCHNEIDER, director 1981 Guthrie Theatre production:

Born Abram Leopoldovich Schneider December 12, 1917,
in Kharkov, Russia, he emigrated to the United States with his
parents in 1923. He was educated at the Maryland Institute Of
Arts, John Hopkins University, the University Of Wisconsin,
and Cornell. Schneider taught on the speech and drama faculty
at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. from 1941 to 1952.
While there he also served the U. S. war effort and occasionally
worked in the New York theatre. On July 11, 1944, he made his

acting debut in Storm Operation at the Belasco Theatre. In

 

1948 he studied with Lee Strasberg and directed his first
Broadway show, A Long Wey From Home. The next year he received
a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to study theatre in

Europe. He began his long affiliation with Washington, D.C.‘s

181

Arena Stage in 1951 assuming a variety of directorial
responsibilities until 1963. During the interim he also
remained an active Broadway and regional theatre director.

In 1956 he directed the American premieres of Samuel Beckett's
Waiting for Godot and Endgame. His personal association with
Beckett, initiated by Thornton Wilder, brought about his
working relationship with Edward Albee in 1960. Schneider
directed the first production Of Albee's The American Dream.
Two years later both men won accolades at the Antoinette

Perry Awards celebration for their joint efforts on WAoLo
Afraid oT‘Virginia Woolf? Schneider's Broadway reputation
brought him an appointment as Director Of the Theatre Center
at the Juilliard School from 1976-9. He is currently Professor
Of Drama at the University Of California at San Diego and

continues to direct for various regional theatre companies.

.MARJORIE SLAIMAN, costume designer 1981 Guthrie Theatre

production:

Educated at New York's School of Industrial Art, Ms.
Slainmn.has been resident costume designer at the Arena Stage,
Washington, D.C. since 1974. She has also designed productions

for Broadway and other regional theatres. Her costumes have

toured Russia and China.

182

RAYMOND SOVEY, technical director 1938 Broadway premiere:

Born 1897 in Torrington, Connecticut, Mr. Sovey
studied at Columbia University. He taught art at the Maryland
Institute in Baltimore. After serving as an Army machine
gunman in World War I, he entered the field Of scenic design
with pageants presented by the Methodist Episcopal Board of
Foreign Missions. One Of his most elaborate productions for

them entitled The Wayfarer, was staged at Madison Square Garden"

 

His first experience on the Broadway stage was as an actor

in the 1919 production of The Burgomaster 9E Stilemonde at the

 

Bilmont Theatre. His first costume design assignment for

Broadway was in 1920 for George Washington. In 1935 he was

 

hailed by the critics for his design of the Black Mesa Bar-B-Que:

setting of Robert Sherwood's The Petrified Forest. From then

 

he took a variety Of design projects in scenery, costumes,

and lighting, working with such theatre artists as Robert
Edmond Jones and JO Meilziner. However, Mr. Sovey is best
known for his work on an_Town. He died June 25, 1966, leaving

no immediate relatives.

NOEL TAYLOR, costumer designer 1977 Bell System television
special:
Born January 17, 1917, in Youngstown, Ohio, Mr. Taylor

was educated in Paris, France. He began his costume design

183

efforts during 1947 and has since worked on Broadway, London
and in film and television. He has designed costumes for such

Broadway shows as Auntie Mame and Teahouse on the August Moon

 

and for the film Rhinocerous.

 

JAMES VAN HEUSEN, composer 1955 television musical adaptation:
Born Edward Chester Babcock January 26, 1913, in
Syracuse, New York, Mr. Van Heusen was educated at Cazenovia
Seminary and Syracuse University. His first professional
musical composition "Harlem Hospitality" was performed in the

Cotton Club Revue presented in Harlem, New York City, in 1933.

 

He first began writing scores for films in 1940 with EQXE.EEY.
Neighbor. Q n Town marked his first experience in television.
Mr. Van Heusen has won a number Of awards for his musical
scoring; his first of four Oscars came for "Swinging on a Star".
He also won television's Emmy award for his song, "Love and

Marriage" from the Our Town score.

THORNTON WILDER, playwright Of an_Town:

Born April 17, 1897, in Madison, Wisconsin, Mr. Wilder
was educated at Oberlin College, Yale and Princeton Universities.
As a young child Wilder moved with his parents to mainland
China and then to Berkeley, California, where he graduated

from high school in 1915. He served with both the U. S. Army

184

Coast Artillery and the USAAF Intelligence Corps. After a
year's study at the American University in Rome, he became an
instructor and house master at Lawrenceville Academy in New
Jersey. His earliest published writing is a collection of
brief dramatic sketches entitled "The Angel Who Troubled the
Waters". His first work to achieve serious attention was his

novel The Bridge oT San Luis Rey which was awarded the 1928

 

 

Pulitzer Price. With his new success, Wilder resigned his
post at Lawrenceville to devote more time to his career as a
writer. One Of his fortunate professional writing assignments

came from Edith Isaacs, editor Of Theatre Arts magazine, who

 

asked him to do a series reflecting his impressions of
productions he would be seeing while travelling throughout
Europe. The series was called "Playgoing Nights". Its
significance to Wilder's future is that it helped introduce
him to many of the important New York theatre people. Wilder
continued supplementing his writing career with occasional
university guest lectureships and intermittent stage appearances
in his plays. He has become this country's most celebrated
writer, having received three Pulitzer Prizes, the Gold Medal
for Fiction, the Peace Prize Of the German Publishers and
Book Dealers, and many other awards. Mr. Wilder died on

December 12, 1975, in Hamden, Connecticut.

185

SAMUEL WOOD, director 1940 film:

Born July 10, 1884, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
Mr. Wood travelled to Nevada in 1900 lured by the excitement
Of the gold rush. Four years later he moved further west to
Los Angeles where he became a successful real estate broker.
He invested a great deal of his profits in the burgeoning
motion picture business. His money and dapper appearance
soon got him bit parts in the films Of the Famous Players
Studio where until 1916 he played "heavy" roles. For two
years he served as Cecil B. De Mille's assistant and in 1916
he began to direct full time. He worked for Paramount Studios,
MGM and then in 1939 he went free lance. Some Of his film
successes, other than Q 5 Town, were Good-bye, Mr. Chips,

Kitty Foyle, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. David O. Selznick

 

asked him to fill in as director of Gone With the Wind during
the illness Of the film's regular director, Victor Fleming.

Mr. Wood died September 22, 1949, in Hollywood, California.

PATRICIA ZIPPRODT, costume designer 1959 Circle-in-the-Square
production:

Born February 25, 1925, in Evanston, Illinois, Ms.
Zipprodt was educated at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, and
the Fashion Institute Of Technology in New York. Her first

designs for New York were the costumes for The Potting Shed,

186

at the Bijou, February 29, 1957. She has worked both on and
Off Broadway and in regional theatres as well. Her designs

have been executed for the legitimate theatre, ballet, Opera
and film. Ms. Zipprodt won the Antoinette Perry Award twice;

for Fiddler on the Roof in 1965 and Cabaret in 1967.

 

APPENDIX D

PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPHS

PLEASE NOTE:

Copyrighted materials in this document
have not been filmed at the request of
the author. They are available for
consultation, however. in the author’s
university library.

These consist of pages:

All Production Photographs in Appendix D.

 

 

 

 

 

 

University
Mic rofilms

International
300 N Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106 (313) 761-4700

188

The classic drugstore scene from Act II
with Frank Craven as the Stage Manager,
Martha Scott as Emily Webb, and John Craven
(Frank Craven's son) as George Gibbs;
photographs Of the 1938 Broadway premiere
by Vandamm.

 

190

The wedding scene from Act II with Evelyn
Varden as Mrs. Gibbs, John Craven as George
Gibbs, Frank Craven as the Stage Manager/
Minister, Thomas W. Ross as Mr. Webb, and
Martha Scott as Emily Webb; from the 1938
Broadway premiere.

 

192

The graveyard scene from Act III with Frank
Craven as the Stage Manager, Philip Coolidge

as Simon Stimson, Evelyn Varden as Mrs. Gibbs,
Martha Scott as Emily Webb, John Craven as
George Gibbs; the little boy upstage is Charles
Wiley, Jr. as Wally Webb; from the 1938
production.

 

 

194

Thornton Wilder as the Stage Manager in
his two-week 1938 Broadway performance during
Frank Craven's absence.

 

196

Studio setting for 1940 United Artists

film with technicians in the foreground;

Fay Bainter, left on steps, as Mrs. Gibbs,
Martha Scott as Emily Webb, William Holden
as George Gibbs, Ruth Toby as Rebecca Gibbs,
Douglas Gardiner as Wally Webb, and Beulah
Bondi at right as Mrs. Webb.

 

198

The homework scene from Act I with William
Holden as George Gibbs and Martha Scott as
Emily Webb; from 1940 film.

a.
;a

- r

,.s&o;"“"'i"
. _ .

 

,«u v;

as

.». Wm .
Jtu‘h'lflfl“ "

 

200

The wedding scene from Act II with Edward
Arnold as the Stage Manager, Charles Dingle
as George Gibbs, and Elizabeth Patterson as
Emily Webb; from the 1950 ABC-TV "Pulitzer
Prize Playhouse" series broadcast.

 

202

The graveyard scene from Act III with

Elizabeth Patterson as Emily Webb; actor
playing Dr. Gibbs as well as other actors
is not known; from 1959 ABC-TV broadcast.

.... fl. Va

.. . t. CK.) 5.4

o.__
M
w

 

204

Studio rehearsal with Eva Marie Saint and

Paul Newman on steps; man at right is director
Delbert Mann; man at left is not known; from
1955 NBC-TV musical version for "Producer's
Showcase".

,g r x. \. '_.
*4!

r; ...." ' , I)
u, in“,

 

 

206

The breakfast scene from Act I with Shelley

Fabares as Rebecca Gibbs and Paul Newman as

George Gibbs; from the 1955 NBC-TV technical
production.

a a «e..
“mawrm.mw .

acme.»

 

208

The scolding scene from Act II with Eva
Marie Saint as Emily Webb and Paul Newman
as George Gibbs; from 1955 NBC-TV broadcast.

 

 

210

This publicity photography taken on the stage
of the Circle-in-the-Square Theatre for its
1959 production suggests the intimate playing
space; John Beal played the Stage Manager.

 

212

Henry Fonda as the Stage Manager in the
limited-run 1969 Broadway revival.

 

 

214

The drugstore scene from Act II with Gary
Bayer as George Gibbs, Robert Prosky as the
Stage Manager, and Dianne West as Emily Webb;

from the 1973 Washington, D. C. Arena Stage
production.

 

216

The wedding scene from Act II of the 1973
Arena Stage production which also toured to
Russia.

 

 

218

Publicity photograph showing the wedding

scene from Act II with Glynnis O'Connor as
Emily Webb, Hal Holbrook as the Stage Manager/
Minister, and Robby Benson as George Gibbs;
for the 1977 NBC-TV "Bell Telephone Salutes"
broadcast.

 

 

220

Hal Holbrook as the Stage Manager during the
graveyard scene; from the 1977 NBC-TV broadcast.

s;aq4

”..ll‘ ...

34»

o
, 4
.n'

I

 

222

The drugstore scene with Boyd Gaines as
George Gibbs and Keliher Walsh as Emily
Webb; from the 1981 Minneapolis Guthrie
Theatre production.

 

224

The wedding scene from the 1981 Guthrie
Theatre production.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Parrish, James Robert. Actor's Television Credits 1950-1972.
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. Actor's Television Credits. Supplement I.
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Price, Julia 8. The Off-Broadway Theatre. New York: The
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Prichard, Susan Perez. Film Costume: An Annotated Bibliography.
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Pride, LeO B. International Theatre Directory: A World
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Porter, T. E. Myth and Modern American Drama. Detroit, Michigan:
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233

Rigdon, Walter, ed. The Biographical Encyclopaedia and Who's
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Sardoul, Georges. Dictionary oT Film Makers. Berkeley,
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Sayler, Oliver M. Max Reinhardt and His Theatre. New York:
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Schuster, Mel. Motion Picture Performers. Metuchen, New Jersey:
The Scarecrow Press, 1971.

 

Shale, Richard, ed. Acadepy Awards. New York: Frederick
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Shulman, Arthur and Youman, Roger. How Sweet To Was. New
York: Shorecrest, Inc., 1966.

 

Silvers, W. D. Freud on Broadway. New York: Hermitage
House, 1955.

Simmons, Ernest J. Chekov. Chicago: The University Of
Chicago Press, 1962.

Simon, Linda. Thornton Wilder: His World. Garden City,
New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1979.

 

Simonson, Lee. The Stage To Set. New York: Harcourt, Brace
and Company, 1932.

 

Steinberg, Cobbett. Reel Facts: The Movie Book oT Records.
New York: Vintage Books, 1978.

 

 

Stresau, Hermann. Thornton Wilder. New York: Frederick Ungar
Publishing Company, 1971.

 

Thompson, David. A Biographical Dictionary oT Film. Second
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Vinson, James. Contemporary Dramatists. Second Edition.
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234

Vos, Nelvin. The Drama oT Comedy: Victim and Victor.
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Webster's New World Dictionary. Second College Edition.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980.

 

 

Wetzsteon, Ross, ed. The Obie Winners. Garden City, New York:
Doubleday and Company, 1980.

 

Wilder, Amos. Thornton Wilder and His Public. Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania: Fortress Press, 1980.

 

Wilder, Isabel. Mother and Four. New York: Coward—McCann, 1933.

 

Wilder, Thornton. American Characteristics and Other Essays.
New York: Harper and Row, 1979.

 

"Childhood". New York: Samuel French, 1960.

 

. Heaven's My Destination. New York: Harper,

 

 

1935.

. Our Town. Acting Edition. New York:
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. Our Town--A Play in Three Acts. New York:
Coward-McCann, Inc., 1938.

 

 

. The Alcestaid. New York: Harper and Row, 1977.

 

 

. The Angel That Troubled the Waters and Other
Plays. New York: Coward—McCann, 1928.

 

 

. The Bridge 2: San Luis Rey. New York:
A. and C. Boni, 1927.

 

 

 

. The Cabala. New York: A. and C. Boni, 1926.

 

 

. The Eighth Day. New York: Harper and Row,

 

 

1967.

. The Ides 2: March. New York: Harper, 1948.

 

235

. The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Playe

 

 

.Tn One-Act. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1931.

. The Woman 2E Andros. New York: A. and C.

 

 

Boni, 1930.

. Theophilus North. New York: Harper and

 

 

Row, 1973.

. Three Plays: Our Town, The Skin Of Our Teeth,

 

Willis,

 

 

 

The Matchmaker. New York: Harper and Row,—I957.

 

John. Theatre World Season 1969-1970. Volume 26.
New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1970.

 

Young, William C. Documents o: American Theatre History.

 

 

Volume 2. "Famous American Playhouses: 1900-1971".
Chicago: American Library Association, 1973.

Zeigler, Joseph Wesley. Regional Theatre. Minneapolis,

 

Minnesota: University Of Minnesota Press, 1973.

Newspepers

 

Volume numbers and page numbers are omitted from

newspaper Clippings and periodicals which are located in special
collections.

Boston Globe. January 26, 1938.

 

. January 39, 1938.

 

. May 24, 1940.

 

. September 27, 1955.

 

Chicago Herald Tribune. September 17, 1955. p. 23.

 

Christian Science Monitor. January 25, 1941.

 

. May 27, 1977.

 

Daily News. May 30, 1977.

 

236

Evening Star and Daily News. December 21, 1972. p. D1.

 

Drama-Logue. August 27-September 2, 1981.

 

Hollywood Reporter. May 22, 1977.

 

Honolulu Star Bulletin. November 4, 1933.

 

Los Angeles Examiner. September 23, 1949.

 

Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. May 30, 1977.

 

Los Angeles Times. "TV Times". May 29, 1977. p. 4.

 

. May 29, 1977.

 

. May 30, 1977.

 

Minneapolis Star Tribune. July 13, 1981. p. 73.

 

. August 16, 1981.

 

Morning Telegraph. March 25, 1959.

 

New Haven Register. January 5, 1969.

 

New York Herald. June 14, 1940.

 

New York Herald-Examiner. March 24, 1959.

 

New York Journal-American. February 5, 1938.

 

. March 24, 1959.

 

New York Post. February 5, 1938.

 

. June 14, 1940.

 

New York Times. March 3, 1918.

 

. March 23, 1929.

 

. January 23, 1938.

 

. February 5, 1938.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

237

February 13, 1938.

February 20, 1938.
September 24, 1939.

June 14, 1940. p. 25.
January 4, 1942. p. II, 4.
October 5, 1942. p. 14.
September 2, 1945.

November 28, 1948.

February 5, 1950.

April 11, 1950.

September 18, 1955. p. X, 13.
September 20, 1955.
September 22, 1955.
November 9, 1958. p. 18.
March 24, 1959.

March 25, 1959. p. 40.
April 5, 1959.

August 23, 1959.

September 6, 1959. p. II, 1.
November 14, 1959.
September 29, 1968.
November 10, 1968.

December 14, 1968.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

238

August 14, 1969.

October 29, 1969.

November 18, 1973. p. II, 1.
June 18, 1975.

July 6, 1975.

March 27, 1977.

May 29, 1977. p. 27.
December 11, 1977.

March 24, 1979.

New York World—Telegram. March 24, 1959.

 

San Diego'

3 Weekly. November 27, 1980.

 

San Francisco Examiner. June 1, 1967.

 

Variety.

January 23, 1938.

January 26, 1938. p. 58.
February 9, 1938.

May 10, 1940.

May 15, 1940.

September 21, 1955.
November 11, 1959.
November 18, 1959.
November 19, 1969.

June 1, 1977.

the village Voice. April 1, 1959.

 

239

Washington Post and Times Herald. July 22, 1950.

 

. March 16, 1957.

 

Periodicals

 

"Abiding Truths Of Our Town". Life. September 7, 1962.
pp. 52—67.

Adler, Henry. "Thornton Wilder's Theatre". Horizon. 1945,
XII. pp. 89-99.

American Magazine. August 21, 1945.

 

American Theatre Magazine. March, 1940.

 

Ballet, Arthur H. "In Our Living and In Our Dying". English
Journal. 1956, XLV. pp. 243-49.

Behrman, Samuel Nathanial. "Thornton Wilder: America's
Universal Man". Reader's Digest. May 19, 1974.
pp. 132-36.

 

Benchly, Robert. "Two at Once". New Yorker. February 12, 1938.
p. 26+.

 

Brown, John Mason. "Wilder: Our Town“. SaturdayReview oT
Literature. August 6, 1949. pp. 33-34.

 

 

Bryer, Jackson R. "Thornton Wilder and the Reviewers".
Papers oT the Bibliographical Society oT America.
Volume 58, First Quarter, 1964, LVIII. pp. 34-49.

 

"Cinema". Time. April 19, 1955. p. 106+.

COCO, William. "Route 1 and 9 (The Last Act)". Theatre
Journal. May, 1982. pp. 249-250.

Commonweal. May 31, 1963. pp. 282-83.

 

D'Ambrosio, Michael A. "Is Our Town Really Our Town?" English
Record. 1971. pp. 20-22.

240

"Dialogue on Film". American Film. February, 1977. pp. 33-48.

 

Frenz, Horst. "The Receiption of Thornton Wilder's Plays in
Germany". Modern Drama. September, 1960. pp. 123-27.

 

Fuller, Edmund. "Thornton Wilder: The Notation Of the Heart".
American Scholar. Spring, 1959. pp. 210-217.

 

Fulton, A. R. "Expressionism Twenty Years After". Sewanee
Review. 1944. pp. 393-413.

Gassner, John. The Forum. August, 1948. p. 90-92.

 

. "Our Town". One-Act Play Magazine. February,
1938. pp. 226-27.

 

 

 

Goldstone, Richard H. "An Interview with Thornton Wilder".
Paris Review. Winter, 1957. pp. 37-57.

 

Guthrie, Tyrone. "The World of Thornton Wilder". The New York

 

Times Magazine. November 27, 1955. p. VI, 26.

 

Hewes, Henry. "American Playwrights Self Appraised". Saturday
Review oT Literature. September 3, 1955. pp. 18-19.

 

 

"Corner's in the Square". Saturday Review oT
Literature. April 11, 1959. p. 35.

 

 

Hicks, Granville. "The Three Plays of Thornton Wilder, With
His Own Enlightening Preface". The New Leader.
October 21, 1957. p. 23.

 

Hidden, Norman. "A School Play". English. Autumn, 1963.
pp. 231-233.

Hobart, Sgt. John. "Grover's Corner's, Italy." Theatre Arts.
April, 1945. pp. 234-239.

Hoellering, Franz. "Films". Nation. June 22, 1940. pp.
763-764.

Isaacs, Edith J. R. "Thornton Wilder in Person". Theatre
Arts. January, 1943. pp. 21-30.

Kosak, Heinz. "Thornton Wilder: A Bibliography oT Criticism".
Twentieth Century Literature. July, 1963. pp. 93-100.

 

241

Lawson, Steve. "Jose, Jason, and Gene". Horizon. September,
1978. p. 79,

Levy, Alan. "The A* B** B*** Of Alan Schneider". New York
Times Magazine. October 20, 1963. pp. 27+.

 

Littell, Robert. "Plays by Thornton Wilder". Saturday Review
oT Literature. December 12, 1931. p. 366.

 

Malcolm, Donald. "Off-Broadway". New Yorker. April 11, 1959.
p. 80+.

 

Millstein, Gilbert. "Jose Quintero". Theatre Arts. May, 1960.
pp. 10-12.

 

"Movie Of the Week: Our Town". Life. May 27, 1940. pp. 53-56.

Mulyarchk, Alexander. "Thornton Wilder in the Soviet Union".
Soviet Literature. NO. 3, 1976. pp. 155-157.

 

Nation. April 30, 1955. p. 381.

National Observer. January 20, 1973.

 

New Republic. October 3, 1955. p. 23.

 

Oliver, Edith. "Off-Broadway". New Yorker. October 5, 1968.
p. 98.

 

"Our Town--From Stage to Screen". Theatre Arts. November, 1940.

 

Parmenter, Ross. "Novelist Into Playwright". Saturday Review
oT Literature. June 11, 1938. pp. 10-11.

 

Popov, Andrei. "Washington Theatre's Success in Moscow".
Soviet Literature. NO. 3, 1974. pp. 178-181.

"Prime Time School Television". Media and Methods. May/June,
1978. pp. 30-34.

 

Riggs, Otis. "Designing for T.V." Theatre Arts. February,
1951. pp. 52+.

 

Roeder, Bill. "Exit the Stage Manager". Newsweek.
December 22, 1975. p. 67.

242

Sawyer, Julian. "Wilder and Stein". Saturday Review oT_
Literature. April 17, 1943. p. 27.

 

Scott, Winfield Townley. "Our Town and the Golden Veil".
Virginia Quarterly Review. January, 1953. p. 103-117.

 

Shideles, Mary McDermott. "Life's Irony". Christian Century:
October 15, 1980. pp. 981-982.

Stephans, George D. "Our Town--Great American Tragedy?"
Modern Drama. Vol. I. 1959. pp. 258-264.

 

TTne. February 2, 1942. p. 54.
February 19, 1945. pp. 69-70.
. January 12, 1953. pp. 44-48.
. May 17, 1963. pp. 87-88.
. December 15, 1980. p. 86.
. July 27, 1981. pp. 74-75.

Trippett, Frank. "Small Town, U.S.A.: Growing and Groaning".
Time. September 1, 1980.

"TV Drama's Declaration of Independence". Theatre Arts.
October, 1954.

Vogue. September 1, 1955. p. 55.

"What Shall We Play?" Theatre Arts. February, 1941. pp.
146-152.

 

Wilder, Thornton. The Trumpet Shall Sound. Yale Literary
Magazine. Act One: October, 1919. pp. 9-26;
Act Two: November, 1919. pp. 78-92; Act Three:
December, 1919. pp. 128-146; Act Four: January,
1920. pp. 192-207.

Wixon, C. "Dramatic Techniques of Thornton Wilder and Bertolt
Brecht: A Study in Comparison". Modern Drama.
Summer, 1972. pp. 112-124.

243

Unpublished Materials and Other Sources
Arena Stage 1972-73. Our Town Playbill. 1972.

Beaver, Walter S. "A Critical Study Of the Apprenticeship
Plays Of Thornton Wilder and Their Relationship
to His Major Dramatic Works". (Unpublished Ph.D.
Dissertation. University of Southern California: 1966).

Billy Rose Theatre Collection. Performing Arts Research
Center. New York City Public Library.

Blank, Martin Joseph. "Thornton Wilder: A Study Of His
Dramatic and Theatrical Ideas, The Writing and
Productions Of His Plays, and the Critical Response
to Them". (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. New
York University: 1970). '

Borgers, Edward W. "A History of Dramatic Productions in
Princeton, New Jersey". (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation.
New York University: 1950).

Burroughs, Patricia Lynn. "The Theatrical Career Of Jed Harris
in New York, 1925-1956". (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation.
Louisiana State University: 1978).

Coley, Thomas. "Our Town Remembered". Unpublished manuscript.

Deihl, E. R. "George Schaefer and the Hallmark Hall Of Fame:
A Study of the Producer Of a Live Television Series".
(Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Ohio State University:
1964).

Gaines, Boyd. Interview with the author, August 22, 1981.

Goldstone, Richard H. Interview with the author, September 16,
1981.

. Letter to the author, August 27, 1981.

 

. Letter to the author, October 3, 1981.

 

. Letter to the author, December 16, 1981.

 

244

Guthrie Theatre Nineteenth Season. Season Playbill. 1981.
Johnson, Frank C. Letter to the author, September 1, 1971.
Langley, Mary Catherine. "A Study of Thornton Wilder's Use
Of Conventions in the Theatre". (Unpublished Master's
Thesis. University Of Southern California: 1947).
Littman, Mark Evan. "Theme and Structure in Thornton Wilder's
Drama". (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Northwestern
University, 1969).
Mann, Delbert. Interview with the author. September 19, 1981.

. Letter to the author, May 8, 1981.

 

. Letter to the author, June 2, 1981.

 

. Letter to the author, August 15, 1981.

 

. Letter tO the author, March 25, 1982.

 

. Letter to the author, June 20, 1982.

 

Mann, Ted. Telephone interview with the author, September 16,
1981.

Marshall, Betty. Letter to the author, September 15, 1981.

Massey, Raymond. Letter to the author, October 12, 1981.

Miller, Denise C. Letter to the author, October 13, 1976.

Morosco Theatre. Playbill. 1938. (Reproduction).

QE£.32!E- Director Delbert Mann. NBC "Producer's Showcase".
September 19, 1955. (Video-taped kinescope recording

in the possession Of Mr. Mann.)

. Director George Schaefer. NBC "Bell System Special".
May 30, 1977.

Program. Hollywood Press Review Of Our Town. May 9, 1940.
(Film and Theatre Collection: University of Southern
California, Los Angeles).

245

Redfield, Adam. Interview with the author, August 22, 1981.

"Remembrance Of Pappy". September 8, 1980. (Unpublished
commemorative program dedicated in tribute to Fred Coe.
Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Nashville, Tennessee).

Ruta, Ken. Interview with the author, August 22, 1981.

Schaefer, George. Letter to the author, May 20, 1981.

. Letter to the author, June 11, 1981.

 

. Letter tO the author, August 24, 1981.

 

Schneider, Alan. Interview with the author, September 20, 1981.

. Letter to the author, October 31, 1981.

 

. Director. Our Town. Guthrie Theatre,
Minneapolis, Minnesota. August 21, 1981.

 

 

Scott, A. C. Letter to the author. November 20, 1980.

Screenplay. Our Town. (Thornton Wilder Collection. Beinecke
Rare Books and Manuscripts Library. Yale University:
New Haven, Connecticut).

Shaw, Francis. Letter to the author, August 1, 1972.

Thurber, Gerrish. Letter to the author, April 30, 1971.

Wilder, Isabel. Telephone interview with the author, June 11,
1981.

. Interview with the author, September 14, 1981.

 

. Letter to the author, December 2, 1969.

 

. Letter to the author, December 1, 1970.

 

. Letter to the author, March 23, 1973.

 

. Letter to the author, May 26, 1981.

 

. Letter to the author, August 2, 1981.

 

246

. Letter to the author, October 9, 1981.

 

. Letter to the author, December 28, 1981.

 

. Letter to the author, June 23, 1982.

 

Thornton Wilder Collection. Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts
Library. Yale University: New Haven, Connecticut.

United Artists Our Town Publicity Pressbook. (Billy Rose
Theatre Collection. Performing Arts Research Centemu

New York City Public Library).

Wood, Sam. Director. Our Town. United Artists, 1940.