| Hazel Kirke | |
|---|---|
 Poster for Hazel Kirke, circa 1881 | |
| Written by | Steele MacKaye |
| Date premiered | February 4, 1880 |
| Place premiered | Madison Square Theatre, New York City |
| Original language | English |
Hazel Kirke is a play in four acts written by American actor and dramatist Steele MacKaye.
The play was written between 1878 and 1879 in the town of Dublin, New Hampshire. [1] MacKaye meant it to be expressly for New York City's Madison Square Theatre, which MacKaye had recently renovated and completely remodeled. Originally titled An Iron Will, the play toured Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington until renovations on the Madison Square Theatre were complete. It premiered there on February 4, 1880, and the original production became immensely successful; it starred actress Effie Ellsler in the title role and ran for 486 consecutive performances, the record of its time. [2] before closing May 31, 1881.
Because MacKaye revolutionized the concept of multiple companies performing the same production simultaneously, by 1883 the play had been performed more than two thousand times.
By the mid-1910s the play had been produced in England, Australia, Japan, and elsewhere. [1] In 1916 it was adapted into a film starring Pearl White and produced at the Whartons Studio in Ithaca, New York. [3]
In 1987, a revamped version of Hazel Kirke by Mark Houston which added a musical score debuted at the Lake George Opera Festival. The New York Times called the result "like watching a B movie; its kitschy charm wears thin after a short while." [4]
Henry Louis Reginald De Koven was an American music critic and prolific composer, particularly of comic operas.
Percy MacKaye (1875–1956) was an American dramatist and poet.
James Morrison Steele MacKaye was an American playwright, actor, theater manager and inventor. Having acted, written, directed and produced numerous and popular plays and theatrical spectaculars of the day, he became one of the most famous actors and theater producers of his generation.
Melanie Jane Hill is a British actress, known for playing Hazel Redfern in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1985–1986), Aveline in Bread (1986–1991), Rita Dolan in Kay Mellor drama Playing the Field (1998–2002), Maggie Budgen in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road (2012–2015), Julie Travers in BBC One drama series The Syndicate (2015), Cathy Matthews in ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2015–2022) and Siobhan MacKenzie in Casualty (2024).
Dreamgirls is a 2006 American musical drama film written and directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name, Dreamgirls is a film à clef, a work of fiction taking strong inspiration from the history of the Motown record label and its superstar act, The Supremes. The story follows the history and evolution of American R&B music during the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of a Detroit girl group known as "The Dreams" and their manipulative record executive.
Up Pops the Devil is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy drama film directed by A. Edward Sutherland. The screenplay concerns an advertising man who quits his job to become a novelist, upsetting his wife and straining their marriage. The film was released by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay is based on a 3-act play of the same name written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich; the play ran on Broadway for 148 performances from September 1930 to January 1931 at the Theatre Masque.
Hazel is a primarily female given name meaning "hazel", from the name of the tree or the color. It is derived from the Old English hæsel. It became a popular name in English-speaking countries during the 19th century, along with other names of plants or trees used for girls.
James Nelson Barker was an American soldier, playwright and politician. He rose to the rank of major in the Army during the War of 1812, wrote ten plays, and was mayor of Philadelphia.
Opera Saratoga is a professional opera company based in Saratoga Springs, New York. It performs an annual summer festival of three fully staged operas and operettas.
Francis Cullinan is an American stage director of opera, musical theater, dramas, comedies and cabaret shows.
The Madison Square Theatre was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, on the south side of 24th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway. It was built in 1863, operated as a theater from 1865 to 1908, and demolished in 1908 to make way for an office building. The Madison Square Theatre was the scene of important developments in stage technology, theatre design, and theatrical tour management. For about half its history it had other names including the Fifth Avenue Theatre, Daly's Fifth Avenue Theatre, Hoyt's Madison Square Theatre, and Hoyt's Theatre.
The Miller's Daughter is a 1905 American silent film produced by Edison Manufacturing Company. Edison employees Wallace McCutcheon and Edwin S. Porter are generally credited as directors. The film is based on the melodrama Hazel Kirke by Steele MacKaye.
John A. Ellsler was an American actor, theatre manager and acting instructor who helped make Cleveland, Ohio one of the more important theatre towns in post Civil War America. Ellsler was instrumental in starting the careers of several well known actors of that period including his daughter's, and had once been a friend and business partner of the assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
Euphemia"Effie" Ellsler was an American actress of stage and screen whose career had its beginnings when she was a child and lasted well into the 1930s. She was best remembered over her early career for playing the title role in Steele MacKaye's hit play Hazel Kirke, and as the self-sacrificing Bessie Barton in Frank Harver's Woman Against Woman. Ellsler remained active during her later years appearing between 1901 and 1936 in at least six Broadway productions and twenty-two motion pictures.
Anna Laura Fish, better known by the stage name Laura Don, was an American actress, stage manager, playwright and artist who died from tuberculosis while still in her early thirties. She wrote the play A Daughter of the Nile, that found its greatest success after her death, and was the mother of the writer Glen MacDonough.
Jacob J. Rosenthal, also known as J.J. Rosenthal or Jake Rosenthal, was a theater manager best known for managing Cohan & Harris' Bronx Opera House. He was married to actress Kathryn Osterman with whom he had a son, the comedian Jack Osterman. He died July 12, 1923.
The Rajah; or Wyncot's Ward is a play by William Young which debuted at the Madison Square Theatre in New York on June 5, 1883.
Hold That Girl is a 1934 American comedy film directed by Hamilton MacFadden and written by Dudley Nichols and Lamar Trotti. The film stars James Dunn, Claire Trevor, Alan Edwards, Gertrude Michael, John Davidson and Robert McWade. The film was released on March 24, 1934, by Fox Film Corporation.
The Hard-Boiled Canary is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Andrew L. Stone and written by Robert Lively and Andrew L. Stone. It was later reissued as There's Magic in Music.
Hazel MacKaye was an American theater professional and advocate of women's suffrage. She is best known for helping present a series of pageants in support of women's suffrage.