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Morris Gest (also Maurice Guest, March 15, 1875 – May 16, 1942) was an American theatrical producer of the early 20th century.
Moishe Gershnowitz was born near Vilna (then part of the Russian empire, now Lithuania), [1] : 81 the son of Leon and Elizabeth Gershonovitz. Through his mother he was a member of the middle-class Michliszanski clan which included his cousin, later renamed as Bernard Berenson, the art historian.
A couple were emigrating to Boston and agreed to take him with them in 1890. Later, he attracted the attention of Mr. Thompson, for whom he worked in the library of the United States District Court who saw to it that he went to school.
The theatre was the first job that came Gest's way and he gained experience in most of the skills involved in Boston's theatres. In 1901, he went to New York and worked for Oscar Hammerstein at the Manhattan Opera House [1] : 81–82 and was promoted to foreign representative. He also produced Broadway shows such as Morris Gest's "Midnight Whirl" (1919) with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Buddy DeSylva.
After some false starts in production by himself, he teamed up with F. Ray Comstock and in the 1920s made his reputation by the import of Russian productions from the post-Revolutionary regime. They first staged a faux-Oriental spectacle entitled Aphrodite, which ran for 148 performances in 1919-20. Despite contributions by Michel Fokine (choreography) and Léon Bakst (costumes), it “displayed a gorgeous exterior, but was hollow inside.” [2] In 1922 and 1923, Gest and Comstock presented Nikita Balieff's company "La Chauve-Souris". They also presented the Moscow Art Theatre directed by Konstantin Stanislavski which reigned over New York drama despite the handicap of Russian dialogue. In 1923, he organised the last U.S. tour of Eleanor Duse.
In 1924, he brought Max Reinhardt from Germany to stage The Miracle to which Gest brought his own talents in publicity and casting. These were well needed as the heavy costs of the sets, costumes, and cast of 175 could have meant financial disaster.
In 1929, he put on Broadway, a presentation of “The Passion Play”. [3]
The Great Depression and the parting from Comstock seem to have curbed his productions for five years but there was a last production, Lady Precious Stream in 1936. The same year marked the onset of a nervous breakdown. However he recovered sufficiently to be involved in the "Morris Gest's Little Miracle Town: with the world's greatest midget artistes". This was in connection with the 1939 New York World's Fair. [4]
All the participants were midgets that Gest had brought from Germany, and the entire project was seen as a tawdry freak show, a sad commentary on the life of the producer who, in the 1920s, had introduced America to European high art. [1] : 98
He died on May 16, 1942. His widow, Reina, the daughter of David Belasco, died in 1948.
Max Reinhardt was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avante garde stage productions, Reinhardt is regarded as one of the most prominent stage directors of the early 20th century.
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters and other tales by Sholem Aleichem. The story centers on Tevye, a milkman in the village of Anatevka, who attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon his family's lives. He must cope with the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters who wish to marry for love; their choices of husbands are successively less palatable for Tevye. An edict of the tsar eventually evicts the Jews from their village.
Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse, often known simply as Duse, was an Italian actress, rated by many as the greatest of her time. She performed in many countries, notably in the plays of Gabriele D'Annunzio and Henrik Ibsen. Duse achieved a unique power of conviction and verity on the stage through intense absorption in the character, "eliminating the self" as she put it, and letting the qualities emerge from within, not imposed through artifice.
Boris Thomashefsky, born Boruch-Aharon Thomashefsky, was a Ukrainian-born Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish theater.
Sara Adler was a Russian actress in Yiddish theater who made her career mainly in the United States. She was known as the "mother" or "duchess" of Yiddish theater.
Paul Calvin Vogt is an American actor and comedian, best known for his work as a cast member on the sketch comedy programs Mad TV, The Big Gay Sketch Show, and The Rerun Show.
Vera Zorina, born Eva Brigitta Hartwig, was a Norwegian ballerina, theatre and film actress, and choreographer. Today, she is chiefly remembered for her films choreographed by her then-husband George Balanchine. They include the Slaughter on Tenth Avenue sequence from On Your Toes, The Goldwyn Follies, I Was an Adventuress with Erich Von Stroheim and Peter Lorre, Louisiana Purchase with Bob Hope, and dancing to "That Old Black Magic" in Paramount Pictures' Star Spangled Rhythm.
Nora Kaye-Ross was an American prima-ballerina known for her ability to perform dramatic roles. Called the Duse of Dance after the acclaimed actress Eleonora Duse, she also worked in films as a choreographer and producer and performed on Broadway.
Das Mirakel is a black-and white silent German film made and released in 1912, directed by Mime Misu for the Berlin film production company Continental-Kunstfilm GmbH. It was based on Karl Vollmoeller's 1911 play, The Miracle. The film was originally advertised as The Miracle in Britain and the US, but after copyright litigation in both countries it was shown as Sister Beatrix and Sister Beatrice respectively. In Germany it was known as Das Marienwunder: eine alte Legende.
Dorothy Dalton was an American silent film actress and stage personality who worked her way from a stock company to a movie career. Beginning in 1910, Dalton was a player in stock companies in Chicago; Terre Haute, Indiana; and Holyoke, Massachusetts. She joined the Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation vaudeville circuits. By 1914 she was working in Hollywood.
The Miracle is a 1959 American historical drama film directed by Irving Rapper and starring Carroll Baker and Roger Moore. It is a remake of the 1912 hand-colored, black-and-white film The Miracle, which was in turn a production of the 1911 pantomime play, The Miracle, written by Karl Vollmöller and directed by Max Reinhardt.
The Miracle is a 1911 wordless play written by Karl Vollmöller, from which three movie versions were adapted. The play launched the career of the author's wife Maria Carmi, who went on to star in 25 silent films.
Lydia Yeamans Titus was an Australian-born American singer, dancer, comedienne, and actress who had a lengthy career in vaudeville and cinema. She was remembered on stage for her Baby-Talk act and a popular rendition of the English ballad, Sally in Our Alley. In appreciation, King Edward VII once presented Titus a gold bar pin with the opening notes of Sally in Our Alley etched in diamonds. In later life Titus became a pioneer in the medium of film appearing in at least 132 motion pictures between 1911 and 1930.
La Chauve-Souris was the name of a touring revue during the early 1900s. Originating in Moscow and then Paris, and directed by Nikita Balieff, the revue toured the United States, Europe, and South Africa. The show consisted of songs, dances, and sketches, most of which had been originally performed in Russia. The revue was enormously successful in the U.S., and one of its legacies is the popularization of the jaunty tune The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers by Leon Jessel.
Oh, Lady! Lady!! is a musical with music by Jerome Kern, a book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse and lyrics by Wodehouse. It was written for the Princess Theatre on Broadway, where it played in 1918 and ran for 219 performances. The story concerns an engaged young man, Bill, whose ex-fiancée arrives unexpectedly on his wedding day. Bill works to convince his old flame that he was not worthy to marry her, but his clumsy efforts do not make him look good to his new fiancée, whose mother already dislikes Bill. A couple of crooks cause further complications.
The Miracle (1912), is a British silent full-colour film, using a hand-coloured process similar to Pathéchrome. Produced by Joseph Menchen and directed by Michel Carré, it is among the first full-colour feature films to be made. It stars Maria Carmi, Ernst Matray, Florence Winston and Douglas Payne, and was filmed on location in Austria.
Nanette Comstock was an American actress whose career on stage spanned nearly 35 years. She appeared on both the New York and London stage and had shared the stage with many of the luminaries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
F. Ray Comstock was an American theatrical producer and theater operator. He pioneered the intimate musical comedy, staging several successful comedies at his Princess Theatre in Manhattan. He also produced spectacular musicals, variety shows and serious plays by authors such as Henrik Ibsen and Maxim Gorky.
Small Miracle is a 1934 play by Norman Krasna, presented on Broadway with Joseph Calleia in the featured role. Directed by George Abbott with a single setting designed by Boris Aronson, the three-act melodrama opened September 26, 1934, at the John Golden Theatre, New York. It continued at the 48th Street Theatre November 11, 1934 – January 5, 1935. On February 7, 1935, the play began a run at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, with Calleia, Joseph King and Robert Middlemass reprising their Broadway roles.
Jacob Ben-Ami was a noted Belarusian-born Jewish stage actor who performed equally well in Yiddish and English.