Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (play)
{{Short description|1926 play by Anita Loos and John Emerson}}
Gentleman Prefer Blondes is a 1926 play by Anita Loos and John Emerson, based upon Loos' 1925 international best-selling novel of the same name.
History
{{multiple image
|perrow = 2
|total_width = 300
|align = right
|image1 = June Walker - Feb 1920 Shadowland.jpg
|alt1 = A photograph of actress June Walker in profile with long auburn hair.
|width1 = 150
|link1 = June Walker
|image2 = Ednahibbard.jpg
|alt2 = A photograph of actress Edna Hibbard in a black hat and black dress.
|width2 = 150
|link2 = Edna Hibbard
|footer = June Walker (left) portrayed Lorelei and Edna Hibbard (right) portrayed Dorothy in the 1926 play.
}}
In 1925 Loos published the novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Intimate Diary of a Professional Lady, a comic novel. By the end of the year, there was discussion that the novel would be made into a play.{{cite news|title=Theatre Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/127117274/ |newspaper=Daily News |date=December 26, 1925 |pages=18 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 26, 2023}}{{cite news|title=Theatrical Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/127117972/ |newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |date=November 17, 1925 |pages=18 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 26, 2023}} The play was produced by Edgar Selwyn.{{cite news|title=Theatre Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/127118096/ |newspaper=Daily News |date=November 27, 1925 |pages=40 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 26, 2023}} The play premiered in Detroit on April 28, 1926, at the Shubert-Detroit.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/detroit-free-press-gentlemen-prefer-blo/158287234/|title='Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' Gets World Premiere Next Week|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=April 11, 1926}} It opened in Chicago on May 2, 1926, at the Selwyn Theatre, and was received positively by the Chicago Tribune.{{cite news|title=Theater: "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/127176295/ |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=May 3, 1926 |pages=27 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 27, 2023}} The play opened on Broadway at the Selwyn Theatre,{{cite news|title=This Week's Openings |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/127118158/ |newspaper=Daily News |date=September 26, 1926 |pages=D15 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 26, 2023}} on Tuesday, September 26, 1926, closing at Times Square Theatre.{{cite web | url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/gentlemen-prefer-blondes-10131 | publisher=Internet Broadway Database | title=Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: About This Production | accessdate=June 26, 2023 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405204744/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/gentlemen-prefer-blondes-10131 | archivedate=April 5, 2023}}
Cast
- Katherine Brook as Miss Chapman
- Grace Burgess as Lulu
- Grace Cornell as Ann Spoffard
- Roy Gorham as William Gwynn
- Grace Hampton as Lady Beekman
- William T. Hays as Old Spoffard
- Edna Hibbard as Dorothy Shaw
- Bruce Huntley as H. Gilbertson Montrose
- G.P. Huntley as Sir Francis Beekman
- Mrs. Jacques Martin as Mrs. Spoffard
- Frank Morgan as Henry Spoffard
- Edwina Prue as Dickie
- Vivian Purcell as Connie
- Ruth Raymonde as Gloria Atwell
- Georges Romain as Robert Broussard
- Adrian Rosely as Louis Broussard
- Arthur S. Ross as Gus Eisman
- Harold Thomas as Harry
- June Walker as Lorelei Lee
- Daniel Wolf as Leon
Reception
The Daily News gave the play a positive review, although they felt it didn't perform as well as they expected.{{cite news|title=Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; "Woman Disputed War Drama |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/127175807/ |newspaper=Daily News |date=September 29, 1926 |pages=32 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 26, 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite news|title=Without Offense to the Moralists |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/127277595/ |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=May 7, 1926 |pages=8 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 28, 2023}}
- {{cite news|title=June Walker Tells Why Gentlemen Prefer Blondes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/127277853/ |newspaper=Brooklyn Daily Times |date=October 31, 1926 |pages=1B |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 28, 2023}}
- {{cite news|title=Decorative Evening Types Glisten at Play Premiere |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/127278087/ |newspaper=The Buffalo News |date=October 11, 1926 |pages=27 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 28, 2023}}