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David Belasco#Selected plays

{{Short description|American theatrical figure (1853–1931)}}

{{About|the stage producer born in 1853|his uncle, whose birth name was David Belasco|David James (actor, born 1839)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}

{{Infobox person

| name = David J. Belasco

| image = David Belasco, stage producer (SAYRE 11635).jpg

| caption = Belasco in 1909

| birth_date = {{birth date|1853|07|25}}

| birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1931|05|14|1853|07|25}}

| death_place = New York City, U.S.

| occupation = Theatrical producer, director, playwright

| yearsactive = 1873 to 1930

| spouse = {{marriage|Cecilia Loverich|1873|1926|end=her death}}

| known_for = Belasco Theatre; pioneer of modern stage lighting and stage effects; stage naturalism

| credits = Madame Butterfly

| signature = Signature of David Belasco.png

}}

David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story Madame Butterfly for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of many actors, including James O'Neill, Mary Pickford, Lenore Ulric, and Barbara Stanwyck. Belasco pioneered many innovative new forms of stage lighting and special effects in order to create realism and naturalism.Osnes, Beth, and Gill, Sam. Acting: An International Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO (2001) p. 34Marker, Lise-Lone, David Belasco: Naturalism in the American Theater, Princeton Univ. Press (1975)

Early years

David Belasco was born in 1853 in San Francisco, California, the son of Abraham H. Belasco (1830–1911) and Reyna Belasco (née Nunes, 1830–1899), Sephardic Jews who had immigrated to the United States from London's Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community during the California gold rush.{{rp|13}}{{Cite web |title=David Belasco |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/david-belasco |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820071847/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/david-belasco |archive-date=August 20, 2023 |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}} He began working as a youth in a San Francisco theater doing a variety of routine jobs, such as call boy, script copier, or as an extra in small parts.{{rp|14}} He received his first experience as a stage manager while on the road. He said, "We used to play in any place we could hire or get into{{mdash}}a hall, a big dining room, an empty barn; any place that would take us."{{rp|14}}

From late 1873 to early 1874, he worked as an actor, director, and secretary at Piper's Opera House in Virginia City, Nevada, where he found "more reckless women and desperadoes to the square foot…than anywhere else in the world". His developmental years as a supporting player in Virginia City colored his thoughts and eventually helped him to conceive realistic stage settings.Eichin, Carolyn Grattan, From San Francisco Eastward: Victorian Theater in the American West, (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2020), 181 He said that while working there, seeing "people die under such peculiar circumstances" made him

"all the more particular in regard to the psychology of dying on the stage. I think I was one of the first to bring naturalness to bear in death scenes, and my varied Virginia City experiences did much to help me toward this. Later I was to go deeper into such studies."
His recollections of that time were published in Hearst's Magazine in 1914.Belasco, David. Gala Days of Piper's Opera House and the California Theater. 1914. Sparks, NV: Falcon Hill Press, 1991: v–vi, 18, 42

By March 1874, he was back at work in San Francisco, eventually managing Thomas Maguire's Baldwin Theater. When Maguire lost the theater in 1882, Belasco relocated to the East Coast, bringing his practical western experiences with him. The West allowed him to develop his talents as not only a performer, but in progressive production design and execution.Eichin, Carolyn Grattan. (2020), From San Francisco Eastward, pp.180-182

A gifted playwright, Belasco went to New York City in 1882. He worked as stage manager for the Madison Square Theatre (starting with Young Mrs. Winthrop), and then the old Lyceum Theatre, while also writing original plays. By 1895, he was so successful that he was considered America's most distinguished playwright and producer.

Career

File:David Belasco 1873.jpg

During his long creative career, stretching between 1884 and 1930, Belasco either wrote, directed, or produced more than 100 Broadway plays, including Hearts of Oak, The Heart of Maryland, and Du Barry, making him the most powerful personality on the New York City theater scene. He also helped establish careers for dozens of notable stage performers, many of whom went on to work in films.

Among them were Leslie Carter, dubbed "The American Sarah Bernhardt," whose association with Belasco skyrocketed her to theatrical fame after her roles in Zaza (1898) and Madame Du Barry (1901). Ina Claire's lead in Polly with a Past (1917) and The Gold Diggers (1919) similarly propelled her career. Belasco wrote a lead part for 18-year-old Maude Adams in his new play Men and Women (1890), which ran for 200 performances.

Other stars whose careers he helped launch included Jeanne Eagels, who would later achieve immortality as Sadie Thompson in Rain (1923), which played for 340 performances.Botto, Louis; Viagas, Robert. [https://archive.org/details/atthistheatre10000bott At this Theatre: 100 Years of Broadway Shows, Stories and Stars], Hal Leonard Corp. (2002) p. 28 Belasco discovered and managed the careers of Lenore Ulric"Lenore Ulric, Broadway Star of Belasco Era, Is Dead at 78", The New York Times, December 31, 1970 and David Warfield, both of whom became major stars on Broadway. He launched the career of Barbara Stanwyck, and was responsible for changing her name.

Belasco is perhaps most famous for two works that were adapted as highly popular operas. He adapted the short story Madame Butterfly as a play with the same name. He also wrote the play The Girl of the Golden West. Both of these works were adapted as operas by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (Madama Butterfly 1904—twice, after revision) and La fanciulla del West (1910).

In other adaptations, more than forty motion pictures have been made from the many plays that Belasco wrote.

{{quote box|align=right|width=25em|quote=To me, David Belasco was like the King of England, Julius Caesar and Napoleon rolled into one.|source=Mary PickfordWilson, Victoria. A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940, Simon and Schuster (2013) ebook}}

Many prominent performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries sought the opportunity to work with Belasco; among them were D. W. Griffith, Helen Hayes, Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford and Cecil B. DeMille. DeMille's father had been close friends with Belasco. After DeMille graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he began his stage career under Belasco's guidance.Wallace, David. Lost Hollywood, Macmillan (2001) p. 21 DeMille's later methods of handling actors, using dramatic lighting and directing films, were modeled after Belasco's staging techniques.

Pickford appeared in his plays The Warrens of Virginia at the first Belasco Theatre in 1907 and A Good Little Devil in 1913. The two remained in touch after Pickford began working in Hollywood; Belasco appeared with her in the 1914 film adaptation of A Good Little Devil. He is credited as giving Pickford her stage name as well. He also worked with Lionel Barrymore, who starred in his play Laugh, Clown, Laugh opposite Lucille Kahn, whose Broadway career Belasco launched. Belasco was a member of The Lambs from 1893 to 1931.

Marriage

David Belasco was married to Cecilia Loverich for over fifty years. They had two daughters, Reina (who later married producer Morris Gest) and Augusta.

Death

Belasco died on May 14, 1931, at the age of 77 in Manhattan.{{cite news |title=David Belasco Dies. Dean Of Theatre, 76, Had Long Been Ill. Stage Genius Who Is Dead At 76 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/05/15/archives/david-belasco-dies-dean-of-theatre-76-had-long-been-ill-stage.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 15, 1931 }} His funeral was held at Central Synagogue, Manhattan.{{cite web | title=Throng at Funeral of David Belasco; Edwin Milton Royle and Rev. Dr. Jonah B. Wise Eulogize Famous Producer | website=The New York Times | date=May 18, 1931 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/05/18/archives/throng-at-funeral-of-david-belasco-edwin-milton-royle-and-rev-dr.html | access-date=April 25, 2024}} He was interred in the Linden Hill Jewish Cemetery on Metropolitan Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens.{{cite news |title=Actors Eulogize Belasco. At Meeting of Jewish Guild Frohman Recalls Early Days |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/05/20/archives/actors-eulogize-belasco-at-meeting-of-jewish-guild-frohman-recalls.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 20, 1931 }}

Influence on American theatre

{{more citations needed section|date=March 2023}}

Image:Belasco's The Heart of Maryland.jpg with Maurice Barrymore and Mrs. Leslie Carter]]

Belasco demanded a natural acting style, and to complement that, he developed stage settings with authentic lighting effects to enhance his plays. His productions inspired several generations of theatre lighting designers.{{rp|29}}

Belasco's contributions to modern stage and lighting techniques were originally not appreciated as much as those of his European counterparts, such as André Antoine and Constantin Stanislavski. But today he is regarded as "one of the first significant directorial figures in the history of the American theatre," writes theatre historian Lise-Lone Marker.{{rp|xi}}

Image:David_Belasco_Monogram.jpg

He brought a new standard of naturalism to the American stage as the first to develop modern stage lighting, along with the use of colored lights, via motorized color changing wheels, to evoke mood and setting.{{rp|xi}} America's earliest stage lighting manufacturer, Kliegl Brothers, began by serving the specialized needs of producers and directors such as Belasco and Florenz Ziegfeld.{{rp|157}} With regard to these modern lighting effects, Belasco is best remembered for his production of Girl of the Golden West (1905), with the play opening to a spectacular sunset that lasted five minutes before any dialogue started.{{rp|29}}

Belasco became one of the first directors to eschew the use of traditional footlights in favor of lights concealed below floor level, thereby hidden from the audience. His lighting assistant, Louis Hartmann, realized Belasco's design ideas.{{rp|29}} He also used 'follow spots' to further create realism and often tailored his lighting configurations to complement the complexions and hair color of the actors.Cox, Jim. [https://books.google.com/books?id=RwVkMMLqMdkC Sold on Radio: Advertisers in the Golden Age of Broadcasting]. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2008; reprint 2013. {{ISBN|9780786433919}}.{{rp|135}} He ordered a specially made 1000-watt lamp developed just for his own productions. He was the only director to have one for the first two years after its introduction (1914–1915).{{rp|135}}

In his own theatres, the dressing rooms were equipped with lamps of several colors, allowing the performers to see how their makeup looked under different lighting conditions.

Belasco was said{{by whom|date=March 2023}} to put appropriate scents to set scenes in the ventilation systems of the theaters, while his sets were highly detailed and sometimes spilled out into the audience area. In one play, for instance, an operational laundromat was built onstage. The Governor's Lady had a reproduction of a Childs Restaurant kitchen, where actors cooked and prepared food during the play. File:Childs Restaurant Scene in The Governor’s Lady.jpg In his 1919 book The Theatre through Its Stage Door, Belasco relates the following incident:

When I produced The Easiest Way I found myself in a dilemma. I planned one of its scenes to be an exact counterpart of a little hall bedroom in a cheap theatrical boarding-house in New York. We tried to build the scene in my shops, but, somehow, we could not make it look shabby enough. So I went to the meanest theatrical lodging-house I could find in the Tenderloin district and bought the entire interior of one of its most dilapidated rooms—patched furniture, threadbare carpet, tarnished and broken gas fixtures, tumble-down cupboards, dingy doors and window-casings, and even the faded paper on the walls.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/theatrethroughit0000davi/page/76/mode/2up?q=cheap&view=theater |title=The Theatre through Its Stage Door |last=Belasco |first=David |date=1969 |publisher=Benjamin Blom |access-date=2 March 2023}}

Belasco's original scripts were often filled with long, specific descriptions of props and set dressings. He has not been noted for producing unusually naturalistic scenarios.

Belasco both embraced existing theatre technology and sought to expand on it. Both of Belasco's New York theatres were built on the cutting edge of their era's technology. When Belasco took over the Republic Theatre, he drilled a new basement level to accommodate his machinery. He had the Stuyvesant Theatre specially constructed with great amounts of flyspace, hydraulics systems and lighting rigs. The basement of the Stuyvesant contained a working machine shop, where Belasco and his team experimented with lighting and other special effects. Many of the innovations developed in the Belasco shop were sold to other producers.

F. Scott Fitzgerald refers to Belasco's reputation for realism in his novel The Great Gatsby (1925). A drunken visitor in the library of Gatsby's mansion exclaims in amazement that the books are genuine: "See!" he cried triumphantly. "It's a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella's a regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too—didn't cut the pages."F. Scott Fitzgerald, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uRVGCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT33 The Great Gatsby], 1925, chapter 3.

Theatres

=New York=

New York's first Belasco Theatre was originally the Republic Theatre, located at 229 West 42nd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, in Manhattan's Theater District. Belasco took over the theater and remodeled it in 1902,{{cite news |date=January 15, 1902 |title=Mr. Belasco's New Theatre: He Will Take Charge of the Theatre Republic at the Close of This Season |page=2 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|571138427}}}} two years after it was constructed by Oscar Hammerstein.{{Cite news |date=September 28, 1900 |title=Dramatic and Musical; Mr. Hammerstein's New Theatre Republic Opened Last Night. James A. Herne's New Rustic Drama, "Sag Harbor" – "A Million Dollars" the New Spectacular Piece at the New York. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1900/09/28/archives/dramatic-and-musical-mr-hammersteins-new-theatre-republic-opened.html |access-date=September 20, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924232313/https://www.nytimes.com/1900/09/28/archives/dramatic-and-musical-mr-hammersteins-new-theatre-republic-opened.html |url-status=live }} Belasco gave up the theater in 1910, after which it was renamed the Republic.{{cite news |last=Schrader |first=Fred F. |date=September 25, 1910 |title=Producing Week in New York; Many Changes Are Announced: Producing Week in Gotham. |page=MT2 |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|144999004}}}} The theater then went through a tumultuous period as a burlesque venue,{{Cite news |date=January 29, 1931 |title=Republic to Become a Burlesque House; Former Home of 'Abie's Irish Rose,' Now Film Theatre, to Enter Upon New Policy Feb. 12. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/01/29/archives/republic-to-become-a-burlesque-house-former-home-of-abies-irish.html |access-date=September 21, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930233941/https://www.nytimes.com/1931/01/29/archives/republic-to-become-a-burlesque-house-former-home-of-abies-irish.html |url-status=live }} then a second-run and later pornographic movie theater.{{Cite magazine |last1=Coe |first1=Robert |last2=Stayton |first2=Richard |date=July 1994 |title=LETSMAKEADEAL |volume=11 |page=14 |id={{ProQuest|220578129}} |magazine=American Theatre |number=6}} It was rehabilitated and reopened as New Victory Theater in 1995.{{Cite news |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=December 11, 1995 |title=An Old Jewel of 42d Street Reopens, Seeking to Dazzle Families |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/11/theater/an-old-jewel-of-42d-street-reopens-seeking-to-dazzle-families.html |access-date=September 19, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324104928/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/11/theater/an-old-jewel-of-42d-street-reopens-seeking-to-dazzle-families.html |url-status=live }}

New York's second Belasco Theatre is located at 111 West 44th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, a few blocks from the original New York Belasco. This theater, originally Stuyvesant Theatre, was constructed in 1907{{Cite news |date=April 29, 1907 |title=Light Like Day in New Theatre; Electrics Screened Behind a Ground Glass Ceiling in the Stuyvesant |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1907/04/29/archives/light-like-day-in-new-theatre-electrics-screened-behind-a-ground.html |access-date=October 26, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026183619/https://www.nytimes.com/1907/04/29/archives/light-like-day-in-new-theatre-electrics-screened-behind-a-ground.html |url-status=live}} and renamed Belasco in 1910.{{Cite Broadway At This Theatre|pages=27–28}} The theater was built to Belasco's wishes, with Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork, and murals. Belasco's office and private apartment were also housed in the building.{{Cite report |date=November 4, 1987 |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1318.pdf |title=Belasco Theater Interior |page=14}} The Belasco is still in operation as a Broadway venue with much of the original decor intact.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/theater/29isherwood.html?pagewanted=all|title=Belasco Theater Is Burnished, and Back|first=Charles|last=Isherwood|website=The New York Times |date=August 24, 2010 |access-date=October 1, 2018}}

=Other cities=

Belasco Theatres also existed in several other cities.

In Los Angeles, the first Belasco Theatre was located at 337 S. Main Street. This theater, which hosted the Belasco Stock Company, opened in 1904 and was operated by David Belasco's brother, Frederick. The theater was renamed twice: as the Republic {{circa|1913}} and as the Follies {{circa|1919}}. The theater was used for burlesque in the 1940s, after which it fell into sharp decline. It was demolished in May 1974.{{cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/downtownlosangelestheatres/follies|title=Follies Theatre |work= Historic Los Angeles Theatres - Downtown}}{{cite web|url=http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2202|title=Follies Theatre|work=Cinema Treasures}}

The second Belasco Theater in Los Angeles is located at 1050 South Hill Street). This theatre, built by Morgan, Walls & Clements and opened in 1926, was managed by another of David's brothers: Edward. Many Hollywood stars with theatrical roots as well as Broadway stars visiting the West Coast appeared in this theatre.{{cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/downtownlosangelestheatres/belasco|title=Belasco Theatre |work= Historic Los Angeles Theatres - Downtown}} However, the theater declined after Edward's death in 1937 and closed in the early 1950s. The building was then used as a church for several decades,{{cite web|url=http://blogdowntown.com/2007/09/2854-historic-belasco-theater-awaits-its-next|title=Historic Belasco Theater Awaits Its Next Act|work=blogdowntown.com|access-date=February 7, 2015|archive-date=July 19, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719180614/http://blogdowntown.com/2007/09/2854-historic-belasco-theater-awaits-its-next|url-status=dead}} and underwent an extensive restoration from 2010 to 2011. It is currently in use as a nightclub and convention venue.{{cite web|url=http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/bringing-back-the-belasco/article_b4dfa8ea-6c73-5b68-aa9e-751d7884321e.html|title=Bringing Back the Belasco|work=Los Angeles Downtown News|date=August 6, 2010 }}

Shubert-Belasco Theatre, located at 717 Madison Place, across from the White House in Washington, D.C., was purchased by Belasco in September 1905. Originally built in 1895 as the Lafayette Square Opera House, the theater was razed in 1962 and replaced by the U.S. Court of Claims building.{{cite web |url=http://library.thinkquest.org/2813/white/east.html |title=White House Area - Sites on the East side of Lafayette Park |publisher=Library.thinkquest.org |access-date=January 24, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015040930/http://library.thinkquest.org/2813/white/east.html |archive-date=October 15, 2012 }}

Selected plays

Filmography

=Producer=

=Films about David Belasco=

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • Broadway Theatres: History and Architecture, William Alan Morrison, Dover Publications, 1999, {{ISBN|0-486-40244-4}}
  • Sunshine and Shadow: An Autobiography, Mary Pickford, Doubleday, 1955
  • The Shuberts Present: 100 Years of American Theater, Maryann Chach, Reagan Fletcher, Mark Evan Swartz, Sylvia Wang, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2001, {{ISBN|0-8109-0614-7}}
  • Theatre through Its Stage Door, David Belasco, New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1919, published Sept. 1919. Also Ayer Co. Publishing (reprint), 1919, {{ISBN|0-405-08261-4}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Gulden |first1=Leslie Sue |title=A stage full of trees and sky: Analyzing representations of nature on the New York Stage, 1905 – 2012 |date=May 2021 |publisher=Texas Tech University |url=https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/handle/2346/87506 |quote=Dissertation, Doctor of Philosophy, Theatre Arts}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Bisaha |first1=David |title=Developing the Modern Scene Design Process: Cognition and the New Stagecraft |date=17 June 2015 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh |url=http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/24855/ |language=en |quote=Dissertation, Doctor of Philosophy, Theatre Arts}}

External links

{{commons category|David Belasco}}

  • [http://www.jimsdeli.com/landmarks/42-51_w/belasco-theater.htm Belasco Theatre history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215203328/http://www.jimsdeli.com/landmarks/42-51_w/belasco-theater.htm |date=December 15, 2017 }}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20120722001058/http://www.newvictory.org/newvicMain.m New Victory Theater history]

;Works

  • {{Gutenberg author |id=6401| name=David Belasco}}
  • {{Internet Archive author |sname=David Belasco}}
  • {{Librivox author |id=9998}}

;Papers

  • [http://www.nypl.org/archives/4198 David Belasco papers, 1868-1967], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
  • [http://archives.nypl.org/the/22724 Stephen Schwartz collection of David Belasco materials, 1904-1965], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
  • [http://www.nypl.org/archives/xxxx The Belasco collection of incidental music and musicals] in the [http://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa/music-division Music Division] of [http://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]
  • [https://scua.uoregon.edu/repositories/2/resources/9518 Thomas Albert Curry, Sr. papers, 1918-1933] at the University of Oregon Libraries.

;Encyclopedias

  • {{Cite EB1922|wstitle=Belasco, David |short=x}}
  • https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Belasco
  • https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/theater-biographies/david-belasco
  • https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2799-belasco-david

;Data

  • {{IBDB name|id=4974|name=David Belasco}}
  • {{LCAuth|n50006483|David Belasco|153|}}
  • https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095456449

{{The Girl of the Golden West}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belasco, David}}

Category:1853 births

Category:1931 deaths

Category:American theatre managers and producers

Category:American theatre directors

Category:19th-century American dramatists and playwrights

Category:American impresarios

Category:American entertainment industry businesspeople

Category:Writers from San Francisco

Category:19th-century Sephardi Jews

Category:19th-century American Sephardic Jews

Category:20th-century American Sephardic Jews

Category:Jewish American dramatists and playwrights

Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights

Category:American male dramatists and playwrights

Category:20th-century American male writers