Academy Theatre | |
---|---|
Genre | Drama |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | F. Curtis Canfield |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | July 25 – September 12, 1949 |
Academy Theatre is an American drama anthology television series that aired on NBC from July 25, 1949, to September 12, 1949. [1] It ran for eight weeks as the summer replacement for Chevrolet on Broadway . [2]
The series utilized a different cast each week who appeared in short works by established playwrights. The plays were broadcast live from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday nights. [2]
Title | Playwright | Original airdate | Cast |
---|---|---|---|
The Stolen Prince | Dan Totheroh | August 1, 1949 | Shirley Dale, Ian MacDonald |
Drums of Oude | Austin Strong | August 8, 1949 | Richard Newton, Emily Lawrence, Peter Pagan [3] |
In the Shadow of the Glen | J.M. Synge | August 15, 1949 | Anne Jackson, Barry McCullen, Peter Wynn, Paul Anderson [4] |
Summer Comes to the Diamond O | Robert Finch | August 29, 1949 | Jack Davis |
Aria da Capo | Edna St. Vincent Millay | September 5, 1949 | Michael Higgins |
In April 1949, Charles R. Denny, NBC executive vice-president and a graduate of Amherst College, arranged for a production of Julius Caesar to be broadcast to 14 cities nationwide. The play was performed by the Amherst College Masquers and directed by F. Curtis Canfield, a professor at Amherst and director of Amherst's Kirby Theatre. The broadcast marked the first time that an entire play by Shakespeare aired on television. [5]
During the following summer, Canfield (who would later become the first dean of the Yale School of Drama), again collaborated with NBC to bring a series of one-act plays to the network. Academy Theatre was the result. [6]
During a sabbatical as an NBC producer, Canfield convinced the network to create Masterpiece Playhouse, one-hour productions of seven classic plays including Hedda Gabler , Uncle Vanya , and Othello . Broadcast in 1950, each play was produced for the "heavy-budget" sum of $10,000. [7]
Canfield was the producer, and Mark Hawley was the director. [8]
After two episodes of the show had been broadcast, a reviewer wrote in The New York Times that broadcasting of Academy Theatre "is certainly a move by which both the industry and the audience will be served." [8] Adams commended the initial presentation, The Stolen Prince, despite pointing out its flaws, because "many viewers in the television audience might now have some conception of Chinese drama". [8] Adams said that the second episode, Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers, "had a refreshing charm seldom achieved by a television production." [8]
A review of "The Drums of Oude" in the trade publication Variety described the episode as "pretty academic", adding, "There was hardly a trace of real emotion or suspense in this drama ...". [9] The review placed most of the blame on "an uninspiring script" laden with stereotypes. [9] Additionally, the review concluded, "... the staging was inept and the cast phony and stiff." [9]
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