Orson Welles theatre credits

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Orson Welles at the Mercury Theatre (1938) Welles-American-1938.jpg
Orson Welles at the Mercury Theatre (1938)

This is a comprehensive listing of the theatre work of Orson Welles.

Contents

There isn't one person, I suppose, in a million, who knows that I was ever in the theatre.

Orson Welles to friend and mentor Roger Hill, July 21, 1983 [1] :143

1918

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
July 10 Madame Butterfly Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, libretto
Giacomo Puccini, score
Trouble Chicago Opera Ravinia Opera House Cleofonte Campanini [lower-alpha 1] [1] :58 [3] :326
1918 Samson and Delilah Ferdinand Lemaire, libretto
Camille Saint-Saëns, score
walk-onChicago Opera [lower-alpha 2] [3] :326

1925

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
1925 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson, novella)
Orson Welles, adaptation
Dr. Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde Camp Indianola Governor Nelson State Park Orson Welles [lower-alpha 3] [3] :326
1925 A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens, novella
Orson Welles, adaptation
ScroogeWashington School, Madison, WisconsinOrson Welles [3] :326 [5]

1926

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
1926Nativity play Mary Todd Seminary for Boys Todd Seminary for BoysRoger Hill [lower-alpha 4] [2] :12 [3] :326
1926The Servant in the House Charles Rann Kennedy Jesus Todd Seminary for BoysTodd Seminary for BoysRoger Hill [2] :12
1926Dust of the Road Judas Iscariot Todd Seminary for BoysTodd Seminary for BoysRoger Hill [2] :12

1927

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
May 27It Won't Be Long NowRoger Hill, libretto
Carl Hendrickson, music
Jim Bailey Todd Troupers Durand Art Institute Roger Hill [lower-alpha 5] [1] :135,275–276

1928

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
May 5Finesse the QueenRoger Hill, libretto
Carl Hendrickson, music
William J. SpurnsTodd Seminary for BoysLindo Theatre, Freeport, Illinois Roger Hill [lower-alpha 6] [1] :135 [7] [8] :49–50 [9]

1929

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
1929 Julius Caesar William Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Mark Antony
Cassius
Todd TroupersTodd Seminary for BoysOrson Welles [lower-alpha 7] [3] :327

1930

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
1930 Androcles and the Lion George Bernard Shaw, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
FeroviousTodd TroupersTodd Seminary for BoysOrson Welles [lower-alpha 8] [3] :327

1931

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
1931Winter of Our DiscontentWilliam Shakespeare, plays
Orson Welles, adaptation
Richard IIITodd TroupersTodd School for BoysOrson Welles [lower-alpha 9] [lower-alpha 10] [lower-alpha 11] [3] :327 [10]
October 13–31 Jew Süss Lion Feuchtwanger, novel
Ashley Dukes, adaptation
Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg Dublin Gate Theatre Company Gate Theatre, Dublin Hilton Edwards [lower-alpha 12] [lower-alpha 13] [lower-alpha 14] [lower-alpha 15] [3] :327
November 3–14The Dead Ride FastDavid SearsRalph BentleyDublin Gate Theatre CompanyGate Theatre, DublinHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 16] [3] :328
November 20–
December 5
The ArchdupePercy Robinson Marshal François Bazaine
Mexican Colonel
Dublin Gate Theatre CompanyGate Theatre, DublinHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 17] [3] :328 [17] :105
December 6The Circle W. Somerset Maugham Lord Porteous Abbey Theatre, Dublin [lower-alpha 18] [3] :329 [17] :105
December 26–
January 9, 1932
Mogu of the Desert Padraic Colum Chosroes, King of PersiaDublin Gate Theatre CompanyGate Theatre, DublinHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 19] [lower-alpha 20] [3] :328 [19]
December 27 Alice in Wonderland USA Lewis Carroll, novel
William Sherwood, adaptation
Peacock PlayersPeacock Theatre, Dublin [lower-alpha 21] [lower-alpha 22] [lower-alpha 23] [lower-alpha 24] [3] :329 [17] :102 [22] :75
1931 The Lady from the Sea Henrik Ibsen DublinOrson Welles [3] :329 [22] :75
1931 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov Dublin [lower-alpha 25] [22] :75
1931–32 Hay Fever Noël Coward DublinOrson Welles [3] :329
1931–32 Mr. Wu Harry M. Vernon and Harold Owen Mr. WuDublinOrson Welles [3] :329
1931–32The Only WayFrederick Longbridge and Freeman WillsDublinOrson Welles [3] :329
1931–32 Peer Gynt Henrik Ibsen Peer GyntDublin [3] :329
1931–32 The Father August Strindberg Acting roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 The Rivals Richard Brinsley Sheridan Acting roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 The Emperor Jones Eugene O'Neill Acting roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 La locandiera Carlo Goldoni Acting roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 The Play's the Thing P. G. Wodehouse and Ferenc Molnár Acting roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 Man and Superman George Bernard ShawActing roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32Grumpy Horace Hodges and T. Wrigley PercivalActing roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 The Makropulos Affair Karel Čapek Acting roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 The Dover Road A. A. Milne Acting roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 Volpone Ben Jonson Acting roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 Rope Patrick Hamilton Ronald KentleyDublin [3] :329
1931–32 Richard III William ShakespeareActing roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 Macbeth William ShakespeareActing roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 Timon of Athens William ShakespeareActing roleDublin [3] :329
1931–32 King John William ShakespeareActing roleDublin [3] :329

1932

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
January 12–26Death Takes a HolidayAlberto Casella, play
Walter Ferris, adaptation
Baron LambertoDublin Gate Theatre Company Gate Theatre, DublinHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 26] [3] :328
February 2–13 Hamlet William ShakespeareThe Ghost
Fortinbras
Dublin Gate Theatre CompanyGate Theatre, DublinHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 27] [lower-alpha 28] [3] :328
1932 Dr. Knock Jules Romains Peacock PlayersPeacock Theatre, Dublin [lower-alpha 29] [3] :329 [17] :106
1932 The Chinese Bungalow Marion Osmond and James Corbetacting roleDublinOrson Welles [lower-alpha 30] [8] :337
February 16 - 27The All AloneHenry B O'HanlonThe Dublin Repertory TheatrePeacock Theatre, DublinWilliam Sherwood [lower-alpha 31] [lower-alpha 32] [lower-alpha 33] [17] :106 [24] [25] [26]

1933

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
May Twelfth Night William ShakespeareTodd TroupersTodd School for BoysRoger Hill and Orson Welles [lower-alpha 34] [lower-alpha 35] [lower-alpha 36] [3] :330
JulyTwelfth NightWilliam ShakespeareTodd TroupersChicago Drama Festival, A Century of Progress Exposition, English VillageRoger Hill and Orson Welles [lower-alpha 37] [lower-alpha 38] [lower-alpha 39] [3] :330 [28]
November 29–
June 20, 1934
Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare Mercutio
Chorus
Katharine Cornell repertory companyNational tour beginning at the Erlanger Theatre in Buffalo, New York, Cornell's hometown Guthrie McClintic [lower-alpha 40] [lower-alpha 41] [lower-alpha 42] [lower-alpha 43] [29]
December 2–
June 20, 1934
The Barretts of Wimpole Street Rudolf Besier Octavius Moulton-BarrettKatharine Cornell repertory companyNational tour beginning at the Erlanger Theatre in Buffalo, New YorkGuthrie McClintic [lower-alpha 44] [lower-alpha 45] [3] :330 [29]
December–
June 20, 1934
Candida George Bernard ShawEugene MarchbanksKatharine Cornell repertory companyNational tourGuthrie McClintic [lower-alpha 46] [3] :331

1934

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
July 12–22 Trilby George du Maurier Svengali Todd School for Boys Woodstock Opera House Orson Welles [lower-alpha 47] [lower-alpha 48] [lower-alpha 49] [1] :165 [2] :58 [32] :76
July 26–
August 5
HamletWilliam Shakespeare Claudius
Ghost of Hamlet's Father
Todd School for BoysWoodstock Opera HouseHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 50] [lower-alpha 51] [1] :165 [2] :62 [32] :74 [34]
August 9–19Tsar Paul Dmitry Merezhkovsky Count Pahlen Todd School for BoysWoodstock Opera HouseHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 52] [1] :165 [2] :62 [3] :331
August 22–25 The Drunkard William H. SmithCameo appearanceTodd School for BoysWoodstock Opera House Charles O'Neal [lower-alpha 53] [lower-alpha 54] [3] :331 [20] :49
December 3–9Romeo and JulietWilliam Shakespeare Tybalt
Chorus
Katharine Cornell repertory companyCass Theatre, Detroit, Michigan Guthrie McClintic [lower-alpha 55] [lower-alpha 56] [lower-alpha 57] [lower-alpha 58] [37] :7
December 10–11Romeo and JulietWilliam ShakespeareTybalt
Chorus
Katharine Cornell repertory company Hanna Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio Guthrie McClintic [lower-alpha 59] [39] [40]
December 14–15Romeo and JulietWilliam ShakespeareTybalt
Chorus
Katharine Cornell repertory company Nixon Theatre, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Guthrie McClintic [lower-alpha 60] [41] [42]
December 20–
February 23, 1935
Romeo and JulietWilliam ShakespeareTybalt
Chorus
Katharine Cornell repertory company Martin Beck Theatre, New York CityGuthrie McClintic [lower-alpha 61] [lower-alpha 62] [lower-alpha 63] [lower-alpha 64] [43] :144–151 [45] [46]

1935

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
March 14–16 Panic Archibald MacLeish McGaffertyPhoenix Theatre Imperial Theatre, New York CityJames Light [lower-alpha 65] [lower-alpha 66] [lower-alpha 67] [lower-alpha 68] [43] :159

1936

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
April 12MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre Project Lafayette Theatre, Harlem, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 69] [43] :198
April 14 –
June 20
Macbeth William Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre ProjectLafayette Theatre, Harlem, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 70] [lower-alpha 71] [3] :333
July 6–18MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre Project Adelphi Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 72] [lower-alpha 73] [lower-alpha 74] [3] :333 [49]
July 21–25MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre ProjectPark Theatre, Bridgeport, Connecticut [51] Orson Welles [lower-alpha 75] [49]
July 28 –
August 1
MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre ProjectHartford, ConnecticutOrson Welles [lower-alpha 76] [49]
August 6 – ?MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre ProjectExhibit Theatre, Dallas, TexasOrson Welles [lower-alpha 77] [49] [52]
August 13–23MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre Project Amphitheater, Texas Centennial Exposition, Dallas, Texas Orson Welles [lower-alpha 78] [lower-alpha 79] [lower-alpha 80] [56]
August 25–29MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre ProjectKeith's Theatre, Indianapolis, IndianaOrson Welles [lower-alpha 81] [lower-alpha 82] [58]
September 1–13MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre ProjectGreat Northern Theater, Chicago, IllinoisOrson Welles [lower-alpha 83] [3] :333 [59]
September 1936MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre ProjectDetroit, MichiganOrson Welles [lower-alpha 84]
September 1936MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre ProjectCleveland, OhioOrson Welles [lower-alpha 85]
September 23–25MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre ProjectCivic University, Syracuse, New YorkOrson Welles [lower-alpha 86] [60]
September 26 –
December 5
Horse Eats Hat Eugène Labiche and Marc-Michel, play
Orson Welles and Edwin Denby, adaptation
MugglethorpFederal Theatre Project Maxine Elliott's Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 87] [lower-alpha 88]
October 6–17MacbethWilliam Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Federal Theatre Project Majestic Theatre, Brooklyn, New YorkOrson Welles [lower-alpha 89] [55] :393 [62]
October 23 –
November 1
Ten Million Ghosts Sidney Kingsley André PequotSt. James Theatre, New York CitySidney Kingsley [lower-alpha 90] [63]

1937

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
January 8 –
May 29
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus Christopher Marlowe Faustus Federal Theatre ProjectMaxine Elliott Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 91] [64]
April 21–23 The Second Hurricane Edwin Denby, libretto
Aaron Copland, score
Henry Street Settlement Music School Henry Street Settlement Playhouse, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 92] [lower-alpha 93]
June 16 – July 1 The Cradle Will Rock Marc Blitzstein Federal Theatre Project Venice Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 94] [lower-alpha 95]
SummerThe Cradle Will RockMarc BlitzsteinFederal Theatre ProjectTour of steel districts of Pennsylvania and OhioOrson Welles [lower-alpha 96] [3] :338
November 11 – May 28, 1938 Caesar William Shakespeare, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Marcus Brutus Mercury Theatre Mercury Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 97] [lower-alpha 98] [lower-alpha 99] [43] :324 [65]
December 5–19The Cradle Will RockMarc BlitzsteinMercury TheatreMercury Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 100] [lower-alpha 101] [43] :325 [66]
December 25The Shoemaker's HolidayThomas DekkerMercury TheatreMercury Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 102] [lower-alpha 103] [67] :50–51

1938

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
January 1 –
April 28
The Shoemaker's Holiday Thomas Dekker Mercury TheatreMercury Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 104] [3] :341
January 3 –
April 2
The Cradle Will RockMarc BlitzsteinMercury Theatre Windsor Theatre and Mercury Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 105] [lower-alpha 106]
April 29 –
June 11
Heartbreak House George Bernard ShawCaptain ShotoverMercury TheatreMercury Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 107]
August 16–29 Too Much Johnson William Gillette, play
Orson Welles, adaptation
Mercury Theatre Stony Creek Theatre, Stony Creek, Connecticut Orson Welles [lower-alpha 108] [lower-alpha 109] [lower-alpha 110] [lower-alpha 111] [22] :50–51,152–153
November 2–19 Danton's Death Georg Büchner Louis Antoine de Saint-Just Mercury TheatreMercury Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 112] [lower-alpha 113] [72]

1939

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
February 27 – March Five Kings (Part One) William Shakespeare, dialogue
Orson Welles, adaptation
Sir John Falstaff Mercury Theatre Colonial Theatre, BostonOrson Welles [lower-alpha 114] [lower-alpha 115] [lower-alpha 116] [lower-alpha 117] [lower-alpha 118] [3] :350
March 13 – ?Five Kings (Part One)William Shakespeare, dialogue
Orson Welles, adaptation
Sir John FalstaffMercury Theatre National Theatre, Washington, D.C.Orson Welles [lower-alpha 119] [lower-alpha 120] [3] :351
March 20–25Five Kings (Part One)William Shakespeare, dialogue
Orson Welles, adaptation
Sir John FalstaffMercury Theatre Chestnut Street Opera House, PhiladelphiaOrson Welles [lower-alpha 121] [lower-alpha 122] [43] :428
July–August The Green Goddess William Archer RajahMercury TheatreRKO Vaudeville Theatre circuit (tour)Orson Welles [lower-alpha 123]

1941

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
March 24 – June 28 Native Son Paul Green and Richard Wright Mercury Theatre St. James Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 124] [lower-alpha 125] [lower-alpha 126] [75]

1942

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
October 23 –
January 2, 1943
Native SonPaul Green and Richard WrightMercury Theatre Majestic Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 127] [76]

1943

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
August 3 –
September 9
The Mercury Wonder Show Orson Welles and others"Orson the Magnificent"Mercury TheatreCahuenga Tent, Cahuenga Boulevard, HollywoodOrson Welles [lower-alpha 128] [lower-alpha 129] [lower-alpha 130]
September 1943 – 1944The Mercury Wonder ShowOrson Welles and others"Orson the Magnificent"Mercury TheatreNationwide tour of army basesOrson Welles [lower-alpha 131]

1946

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
April 1–2 The Airborne Symphony Marc BlitzsteinSpeakerNew York City Symphony Orchestra New York City Center, New York Leonard Bernstein [lower-alpha 132] [lower-alpha 133] [lower-alpha 134] [lower-alpha 135] [79]
April 28–May 4 Around the World Jules Verne, novel
Orson Welles, adaptation
Cole Porter, music
Inspector Dick Fix
Japanese magician
Mercury Theatre Boston Opera House, BostonOrson Welles [lower-alpha 136] [lower-alpha 137]
May 7–11Around the WorldJules Verne, novel
Orson Welles, adaptation
Cole Porter, music
Inspector Dick Fix
Japanese magician
Mercury Theatre Shubert Theatre, New HavenOrson Welles [lower-alpha 138]
May 31 –
August 1
Around the WorldJules Verne, novel
Orson Welles, adaptation
Cole Porter, music
Inspector Dick Fix
Japanese magician
Mercury TheatreAdelphi Theatre, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 139] [80]

1947

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
May 28–31 Macbeth William ShakespeareMacbethMercury Production, Utah Centennial Festival Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah, Salt Lake City Orson Welles [lower-alpha 140] [lower-alpha 141] [lower-alpha 142] [lower-alpha 143] [3] :401

1950

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
June 15 – July The Blessed and the Damned Orson WellesVarious (Lobster)
Faustus (Time Runs…)
Théâtre Édouard VII, ParisOrson Welles [lower-alpha 144]
August 7 – AugustAn Evening With Orson WellesOrson Welles
Oscar Wilde
Faustus (Time Runs…)
Algernon (Earnest)
Altjakobstheater am Zoo, FrankfurtHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 145]
August 15 – AugustAn Evening With Orson WellesOrson Welles
Oscar Wilde
Faustus (Time Runs…)
Algernon (Earnest)
HamburgHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 146]
August 21 – AugustAn Evening With Orson WellesOrson Welles
Oscar Wilde
Faustus (Time Runs…)
Algernon (Earnest)
MunichHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 147]

1951

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
October 1–7 Othello William Shakespeare Othello Theatre Royal, NewcastleOrson Welles [lower-alpha 148] [lower-alpha 149]
October 18 –
December 15
OthelloWilliam ShakespeareOthello St James's Theatre, LondonOrson Welles [lower-alpha 150]
NovemberMidnight MatineeOrson WellesHimself Coliseum Theatre, LondonOrson Welles [lower-alpha 151]

1953

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
September 7 –
October
The Lady in the Ice Orson Welles, libretto
Jean-Michel Damase, score
Ballet de Paris Stoll Theatre, LondonOrson Welles [lower-alpha 152]
October Une femme dans la glace Orson Welles, libretto
Jean-Michel Damase, score
Ballet de ParisParisOrson Welles [lower-alpha 153]

1955

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
June 16 – July 9 Moby Dick—Rehearsed Herman Melville, novel
Orson Welles, play
An Actor-Manager
Father Mapple
Captain Ahab
Duke of York's Theatre, LondonOrson Welles [lower-alpha 154] [lower-alpha 155]

1956

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
January 12–29 King Lear William Shakespeare King Lear New York City Center Theater Company Lincoln Center Theater, New York CityOrson Welles [lower-alpha 156] [lower-alpha 157]
February 22 –
March 13
Variety actOrson WellesHimself Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas Orson Welles [lower-alpha 158] [lower-alpha 159] [85]

1960

DateTitleAuthorRoleCompanyTheatreDirectorNotesReferences
February 13–18 Chimes at Midnight William Shakespeare, dialogue
Orson Welles, adaptation
Sir John Falstaff Gate Theatre Company Grand Opera House, BelfastHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 160] [lower-alpha 161] [3] :427
March 1 – MarchChimes at MidnightWilliam Shakespeare, dialogue
Orson Welles, adaptation
Sir John FalstaffGate Theatre Company Gaiety Theatre, DublinHilton Edwards [lower-alpha 162] [lower-alpha 163]
April 28 –
June 7
Rhinoceros Eugène Ionesco English Stage Company Royal Court Theatre, LondonOrson Welles [lower-alpha 164] [lower-alpha 165]
June 8 –
July 30
RhinocerosEugène IonescoEnglish Stage Company Strand Theatre, LondonOrson Welles [lower-alpha 166]

Notes

  1. Visiting soprano Claudia Muzio asked Beatrice Welles if three-year-old Orson could play the part of her illegitimate son, and Beatrice agreed. "The greatest soprano I ever heard was Claudia Muzio," said Welles. "I love the opera; it's my favorite form of theatre and always has been." Welles played child roles in the Chicago Opera Company until he became so heavy that singers complained about lifting him. [2] :5
  2. Frank Brady: "His opera career ended when tenor Giovanni Martinelli indignantly refused to hoist him in a performance of Samson and Delilah." [2] :5
  3. Lowell Frautschi, Welles's camp counselor, described this as "a one-man show in which Orson acted out Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, making the transformation from one character to the other, altering his facial expressions, voice, and movements in a truly amazing way. I told Mr. [Frederick G.] Mueller about it and suggested we save it for the last night of camp when a large number of parents would be present for a sort of commencement exercise to mark the close of the camp season. Young Orson played to a packed hall and was a stunning success." [4]
  4. Welles entered the Todd Seminary for Boys September 15, 1926. [1] :3
  5. In spring 1927 Welles became a member of the Todd Troupers, a touring company that performed at regional schools, in suburban Chicago movie houses and at the Goodman Theatre. This touring performance of Todd's 1927 musical comedy was one of two in which Welles appeared. Welles was director of productions at the school for three years, producing eight to ten plays annually. These included Molière's The Physician in Spite of Himself , Dr. Faustus , "and an innovative Everyman staged with ladders and platforms" (Frank Brady). [2] :12
  6. In this touring performance of Todd's 1928 musical comedy, Welles appeared as a detective modeled after William J. Burns. Welles joined the ensemble in the finale, and he was featured in the number, "Everyone Loves a Fellow Who Is Smiling". Joseph McBride wrote that "when Welles felt in a particularly festive mood, or wanted to cheer up his sluggish actors, he would burst into a favorite song. It came from Finesse the Queen … Hearing him warble the tune in a tone of innocent sincerity took the listener back to Welles's semi-mythological youth:
    Everyone loves the follow who is smiling,
    He brightens the day and lightens the way for you —
    He's always making other people happy
    Looking rosy when you're feeling awful blue.
    " [6] :174
  7. The New Yorker : "This was the Todd School's entry in the annual Drama League contest for high schools and little-theatre groups around Chicago. It didn't get the prize; the judges explained that, meritorious as the production was, the two lads who played Cassius and Mark Antony were both too mature to be bona-fide students. This was a severe disappointment to Welles, who had cast himself in these two leading roles to make sure that they were played exactly right." [10]
  8. Cast: Edgerton Paul (Androcles), Robert Crane (The Emperor), Hascy Tarbox (Metellus), others [1] :242
  9. Roger Hill: "He produced student plays in our own theatre nearly every weekend. And his senior project, Five Kings, played to the public as well as a Todd commencement audience." [11] :117
  10. Richard France: "In 1930, a year before his graduation, Welles created an appropriately titled version of two of the chronicle plays for an unofficial weekly publication. This was done expeditiously with crayon markings in a handy edition of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. … Winter of Our Discontent is not merely an important artifact; it is the paradigm for all of his future adaptations of Shakespeare, whether for radio, film, or the stage. His editing showed an almost preternatural familiarity and sureness in reshaping Shakespeare into productions which for all intents and purposes were entirely his own." [12] :5
  11. The New Yorker: "His last big job before he graduated from Todd was a mélange of Shakespeare's historical plays—edited and directed by Orson Welles, starring Orson Welles. This was the germ of the Five Kings chronicle play to be presented by the Mercury this autumn to the Theatre Guild subscribers." [10]
  12. Welles's professional stage debut [1] :37
  13. Exaggerating his age and stage experience to the Gate Theatre's managers, Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, Welles secured membership in the company at age 16, and soon replaced the actor playing this leading role. [1] :37
  14. The New York Times : "The Gate Theatre, for the first time since it took up quarters in its present home, is turning people away from its performances of Jew Süss … magnificently produced by Hilton Edwards, who also plays the title role. His is a most difficult part because for more than half the play it is second to that of the Duke Karl Alexander, and when Jew Süss's great moment comes it is too late as the play belongs to the Duke. This is particularly true in the case of the Gate production, in which the Duke is played by a young American actor, 18 years old, whose performance is amazingly fine. … Dublin is eager to see him in other roles." [13]
  15. Cast: Coralie Carmichael (Marie Auguste, the Duchess), Edward Levy (General Remchingen), William Sherwood (Councillor Weissensee), Meriel Moore (Magdalen), Hilton Edwards (Josef Süss Oppenheimer), Betty Chancellor (Naomi), Joseph Levison (Leader of Jewish Delegation), others [14]
  16. The New York Times reviewed the premiere of "a weird drama which grips from the very start and at times develops situations which are well nigh terrifying in their tensions and power … I have never seen on any stage a more true-to-life portrait than that of the wealthy self-made American millionaire who, away from his field of activity, gives himself up with complete abandon to the enjoyment of the hour. Played by Orson Wells [sic], the young American actor, Ralph Bentley came to life in most convincing fashion." [15]
  17. Reviewing this premiere of a new play about ill-fated Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, The New York Times wrote that "Orson Welles, the young American actor, scored heavily as General Bazaine in the earlier scenes and, again, as the Republican Mexican Colonel in charge of the final arrangements." [16]
  18. Welles's only performance at the Abbey Theatre, in an independent production on its stage presented during the Abbey company's U.S. tour [18] :59
  19. The New York Times called this premiere "pure Arabian Nights entertainment and it is extremely appropriate to the holiday season. The story is that of a beggar who, with his daughter and a tame mouse, strays in from the desert and joins the Persian camp. The daughter marries the king while Mogu is raised to exalted rank. Years pass, power wearies and the wanderer, his daughter and second wife both dead, returns alone to the desert. … A series of beautifully colorful stage pictures." [19]
  20. Cast: Hilton Edwards (Mogu), Betty Chancellor, others [3] :328
  21. Twenty-two settings designed by Orson Welles [17] :102
  22. "I am quite rushed these days [just before Christmas, 1931] as I am designing and superintending the construction and painting of scenery—all of the scenery—in the Peacock, an art-theaterish stock company quite distinct from the Gate. As the bill is changed weekly, and my regular acting and publicity work for the Gate goes on all the same and all the time, I am kept in a perpetual state of sweaty bliss!" (Orson Welles, undated letter to Roger Hill) [20] :36
  23. "While in Dublin, OW does a few productions of his own … and acts in several productions" (Jonathan Rosenbaum) [3] :329
  24. "He played forty roles that season at the Gate Theater, directed and designed sets at the famed Peacock Theater, made an occasional guest appearance at the Abbey." (Radio Guide) [21]
  25. Set designer only [3] :329
  26. The Irish Independent credits Welles with "an excellent impersonation". [20] :35
  27. Cast: Micheál MacLiammóir (Hamlet), Hilton Edwards (Claudius), others
  28. Denied the role of Othello, Welles resigns from the Gate in March. [2] :35
  29. Set design only
  30. Midnight benefit [8] :337
  31. Set design only
  32. Welles travels to London, where he is unable to obtain a work permit. [3] :330
  33. On March 9, Welles boards the RMS Olympic at Southampton, and arrives in New York March 15. On March 18, a Chicago Tribune headline reads, "Chicago Schoolboy Who Won Place on Dublin Stage Returns". [23]
  34. Welles was invited by Roger Hill to join the Todd faculty. [11] :117
  35. Welles co-directed this production using the edited version of the play that would appear in the book he wrote with Hill, Everybody's Shakespeare (1934). Welles designed the costumes and conceived and created the set—a 12-foot-high book with hand-painted pages that turned as scenes changed. Welles filmed most of a dress rehearsal—his very first film [2] :44
  36. Cast: Hascy Tarbox (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Joanne Hill (Viola) [1] :172
  37. Todd School for Boys received first prize from the Chicago Drama League after competition at the Century of Progress Exposition (July–August), 1933 Chicago World's Fair. [27]
  38. Richard France: "A short film excerpt from it is still in the Hills' possession. Unfortunately, Welles's original staging was not used, only his set. A small backdrop is completely covered with a bright stylized rendering of a London street." [20] :38
  39. Cast: Hascy Tarbox (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Joanne Hill (Viola)
  40. Orson Welles: "I was out on the road with Katharine Cornell for a whole year in the thirties … playing all over in theatres where no play had been for twenty, thirty, forty years. There we were, bringing really good actors and a repertoire of three plays …" [3] :6,77
  41. Frank Brady: "And what a tour it was! Eight months, 17,000 miles, and 225 performances from New York to San Francisco, crisscrossing the United States and ending at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on June 20, 1934." [2] :52
  42. Cast: Katharine Cornell (Juliet), Basil Rathbone (Romeo), George Macready (Paris), John Hoysradt, Brenda Forbes, others
  43. In repertory with The Barretts of Wimpole Street and Candida
  44. Cast: Katharine Cornell (Elizabeth Barrett), Basil Rathbone (Robert Browning), Margot Stevenson (Bella Hedley), Brenda Forbes (Wilson), George Macready, John Hoysradt, others
  45. In repertory with Candida and Romeo and Juliet
  46. Cast: Katharine Cornell (Candida), others; in repertory with The Barretts of Wimpole Street and Romeo and Juliet
  47. This production launched The Todd Theatre Festival, a six-week summer festival organized by Welles. [3] :331
  48. Welles's American debut as a professional theatre director [30]
  49. Cast: Louise Prussing (Trilby), Hilton Edwards (Taffy), Micheál MacLiammóir (Little Billee), Virginia Nicolson (Angele), William Vance (Zouzou) [31]
  50. Chicago Tribune : "Orson Welles doubles as the ghost and the king. He reads the magnificent speeches of the ghost with fine effect, and adds new touches of character to the king. I have never before seen the murderous and incestuous Claudius acted except as an obvious and perfunctory villain. Welles, the twenty-year-old master of character, puts into the role suggestions of an exceeding corrupt Roman emperor." [33]
  51. Cast: Micheál MacLiammóir (Hamlet), Hilton Edwards (Polonius), Louise Prussing (Gertrude), Constance Heron (Ophelia), Charles O'Neal (Horatio), Clifford Baer (Laertes), William Vance (Fortinbras) [33]
  52. Cast: Micheál MacLiammóir (Alexander), Constance Heron (Elizabeth), Hilton Edwards (Paul I), Robert Newman (Grand Duke), Richard Ogden (Lieutenant Marin), William Vance (General Talyzin), Charles O'Neal (Colonel Yashvil), William Mowrie (Colonel Argamakoff), Ralph O'Connor (General Bennigsen), William Yule (Baron Rosen), Louise Prussing (Princess Anna Gagarin) [35]
  53. Peter Noble: "Roger Hill and his wife Hortense … prevailed upon Welles to produce that old-time temperance melodrama, The Drunkard … It was a riotous success … Hilton and Michael adored it and later produced it triumphantly at the Gate." [18] :70
  54. Cast: William Vance (Lawyer Cribbs) [36]
  55. The first production of the new repertory season is a revised version of the play that toured 1933–34, choreographed by Martha Graham, with scenic design and costumes by Jo Mielziner and music by Paul Nordoff. [37] :7,9
  56. Virginia Welles Pringle: "Orson thought Brian Aherne was a terrible actor and very much resented losing Mercutio to him. He made Tybalt outstanding, however, and the changes of roles didn't hurt him at all. Aherne was absolutely necessary to Kit Cornell as Robert Browning in The Barretts of Wimpole Street and being something of a star, he wouldn't join the company unless he played Mercutio." [20] :53
  57. Cast: Katharine Cornell (Juliet), Basil Rathbone (Romeo), Brian Aherne (Mercutio), Edith Evans (Nurse), John Emery (Benvolio), George Macready (Paris), John Miltern (Montague), Moroni Olsen (Capulet), Charles Waldron (Friar Laurence), others [37] :7,9
  58. Pre-Broadway tour begins in Detroit followed by performances in Cleveland and Pittsburgh [38]
  59. Cast: Katharine Cornell (Juliet), Basil Rathbone (Romeo), Brian Aherne (Mercutio)
  60. Cast: Katharine Cornell (Juliet), Basil Rathbone (Romeo), Brian Aherne (Mercutio)
  61. Welles's Broadway debut
  62. John Houseman: "That glossy and successful evening was marked for me by one astonishing vision … the excitement of the two brief moments when the furious Tybalt appeared suddenly in that sunlit Verona square: death, in scarlet and black, in the form of a monstrous boy—flat-footed and graceless, yet swift and agile; soft as jelly one moment and uncoiled, the next, in a spring of such furious energy that, once released, it could be checked by no human intervention." [43] :144
  63. Cast: Katharine Cornell (Juliet), Basil Rathbone (Romeo), Brian Aherne (Mercutio), Edith Evans (Nurse), John Emery (Benvolio), George Macready (Paris), Brenda Forbes (Lady Montague), Moroni Olsen (Capulet), William Hopper (Ensemble), others [44]
  64. About three weeks after seeing the December 21 performance, producer John Houseman secretly went backstage to introduce himself to Welles and recruit him to star in his production of a new play, Panic .
  65. Co-produced by John Houseman, his first work with Welles: "And to his own part of the sexagenarian McGafferty, he brought us, as a free gift, the strength, the keen intelligence, the arrogance and the prodigious energy of his nineteen and a half years." [43] :156
  66. Set and lighting by Jo Mielziner, movement by Martha Graham
  67. Cast: Rose McClendon (An Old Woman), Russell Collins (A Man), Joanna Roos (A Girl), Bernard Zanville (A Young Man), Paula Trueman (A Woman), Karl Swenson (A Young Man), George Glass (Immelman), Zita Johann (Ione), Richard Whorf (Griggs); Walter Coy, others (Bankers); Abner Biberman, William Challee, Paul Genge, Wesley Addy, others (Unemployed); Virginia Welles, Osceola Archer, Beatrice Pons, Mary Tarcai, others (Chorus) [47]
  68. On March 22, Welles made his debut on the CBS Radio series The March of Time , performing a scene from Panic for a news report on the stage production. [2] :70–71
  69. A free preview draws 3,000 more people than can be seated
  70. The "Voodoo" Macbeth with an all-black cast, set on a mythical Caribbean island modeled upon 19th-century Haiti
  71. Cast: Jack Carter (Macbeth), Edna Thomas (Lady Macbeth), Canada Lee (Banquo), Maurice Ellis (Macduff), Marie Young (Lady Macduff), Eric Burroughs (Hecate), Service Bell (Duncan), Wardell Saunders (Malcolm), Frank David (Ross), Thomas Anderson (Lennox), Archie Savage (Siward), George Nixon (First Murderer), Kenneth Renwick (Second Murderer), Laurence Chenault (The Doctor), Al Watts (The Priest), Philandre Thomas (First Messenger), Herbert Glynn (Second Messenger), J. Lewis Johnson (The Porter), Larrie Lauria (Seyton), Charles Collins (A Lord), Lisle Grenidge (First Captain), Ollie Simmons (Second Captain), William Cumberbatch (First Chamberlain), Benny Tattnall (Second Chamberlain), Chauncey Worrell (First Court Attendant), George Thomas (Second Court Attendant), Sarah Turner (First Page Boy), Beryle Banfield (Second Page Boy), Alma Dickson (The Duchess), Virginia Girvin (The Nurse), Bertram Holmes (Young Macduff), Wanda Macy (Daughter to Macduff), Carl Crawford (Fleance), Wilhelmina Williams (First Witch), Josephine Williams (Second Witch), Zola King (Third Witch), Abdul (Witch Doctor) [48] :4–5
  72. Transfer of previous production
  73. Jack Carter completed only Act I of the July 15 performance and was replaced by understudy Thomas Anderson. [49]
  74. Beginning July 16, Maurice Ellis stars as Macbeth, with Charles Collins succeeding Ellis in the role of Macduff. [50]
  75. Touring version of previous production
  76. Touring version of previous production
  77. Touring version of previous production
  78. Touring version of previous production, presented in the band shell of the new open-air amphitheater that seated 5,000 [53]
  79. Integrated seating was a unique experience for theatergoers in Dallas. [54] :64
  80. Hallie Flanagan: "Dallas did see some excellent Federal Theatre productions. The Texas Centennial wanted Follow the Parade from Los Angeles, and the Negro Macbeth from New York." [55] :95
  81. Touring version of previous production
  82. Welles is sent to soothe inter-company quarrels that threaten the production; incognito, he performs the role of Macbeth at one performance when Ellis is ill. [57]
  83. Touring version of previous production
  84. Touring version of previous production
  85. Touring version of previous production
  86. Three-day engagement concluding the 4,000-mile tour
  87. Farce based on the French play Un chapeau de paille d'Italie
  88. Cast: Joseph Cotten (Freddy), George Duthie (Entwhistle), Donald MacMillan (Uncle Adolphe), Dana Stephens (Queeper), Hiram Sherman (Bobbin), Sidney Smith (Grimshot, Lieutenant of Cavalry), Harry McKee (Joseph), France Bendtsen (Gustave, Viscount), Edgerton Paul (Augustus), Virginia Welles (Myrtle Mugglethorp), Paula Laurence (Agatha Entwhistle), Arlene Francis (Tillie), Sarah Burton (The Countess), Henriette Kaye (Daisy), Lucy Rodriguez (Clotilda), Bernard Savage (Corporal), Walter Burton (Butler), Steven Carter (First Footman), J. Headley (Second Footman), Enrico Cellini (Raguso), George Barter (Berkowitz), Bil Baird, Edwin Denby [61]
  89. Touring version of previous production
  90. Cast: Howard Solness (Foreman), Martin Gabel (Peter), Otto Hulett (Charlie Ryan), Barbara O'Neil (Madeleine), Joseph Singer (German Worker), Jan Ullrich (French Worker), George Coulouris (Zacharey), others
  91. Cast: Charles Peyton (the Pope), J. Headly (Cardinal of Lorraine), Bernard Savage (Valdes), Myron Paulson (Cornelius), Arthur Spencer (Wagner), William Hitch (First Scholar), Joseph Cotten (Second Scholar), Huntly Weston (Third Scholar), Harry McKee (Clown), Hiram Sherman (Robin), Wallace Acton (Ralph), George Smithfield (Vintner), George Duthie (Old Man), Edward Hemmer (First Friar), and Jack Carter (Mephisto)
  92. Premiere of new opera; there were just three performances of the Welles production
  93. Cast: Vivienne Block (Queenie), Estelle Levy (Gwen), Arthur Anderson (Gyp), Buddy Mangan (Lowrie), John Doepper (Butch), Harry Olive (Fat), Carl Crawford (Jeff), Clifford Mack (The Teacher), Joseph Cotten (Mr. MacLanahan), Charles Pettinger (Radio Operator)
  94. Musical. Additional, one-off performances were given during this time on a Sunday in an amusement park in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and at Uncasville, New York.
  95. Cast: Olive Stanton (Moll), George Fairchild (Gent, Gus Polock), Guido Alexander (Dick), Robert Farnsworth (Cop), Clifford Mack (Clerk), Bert Weston (Editor Daily), Hansford Wilson (President Prexy), Edward Fuller (Yasha), Warren Goddard (Dauber), Frank Marvel (Dr. Specialist), Edward Hemmer (Rev. Salvation), John Adair (Druggist), Will Geer (Mr. Mister), Peggy Coudray (Mrs. Mister), Hiram Sherman (Junior Mister, Prof. Skoot), Dulce Fox (Sister Mister), Josephine Heathman (Maid), Howard Bird (Steve), Geoffrey Powers (Bugs), Marian Grant Rudley (Sadie Polock), Howard da Silva (Larry Foreman), Leopold Badia (Prof. Mamie), George Smithfield (Prof. Trixie), Blanche Collins (Ella Hammer), Robert Hopkins (Reporter), Huntley Weston (Reporter), Jack Mealy (Reporter)
  96. Touring version of the earlier production
  97. First Mercury Theatre production, a modern staging of the Shakespeare play set amongst 1930s fascist dictators
  98. Cast: Joseph Holland (Julius Caesar), George Coulouris (Marcus Antonius), Joseph Cotten (Publius), Martin Gabel (Cassius), Hiram Sherman (Casca), John A. Willard (Trebonius), Grover Burgess (Ligarius), John Hoysradt (Decius Brutus), Stefan Schnabel (Matellus Cimber), Elliott Reid (Cinna), William Mowry (Flavius), William Alland (Marullus), George Duthie (Artemidorus), Norman Lloyd (Cinna, the poet), Arthur Anderson (Lucius), Evelyn Allen (Calpurnia, wife to Caesar), Muriel Brassler (Portia, wife to Brutus), John Berry (extra) [20] :186
  99. Moved to the larger National Theatre January 24, 1938 [3] :341
  100. First of the Mercury Theatre's experimental Worklight Theatre presentations offered on Sunday nights
  101. Revised oratorio version using the Caesar set, with a 12-person chorus on the second platform. Chairs were placed in two rows on the first raised platform, from which the cast descended to the apron to join Marc Blitzstein at the piano for their individual scenes.
  102. Surprise preview performance immediately following Caesar [43] :332
  103. Welles invited the audience to stay and watch the set changes. Actor Norman Lloyd called the performance "the wildest triumph imaginable. The show was a smash during its run—but never again did we have a performance like that one."
  104. Moved to the National Theatre January 26
  105. Revival of the 1937 musical [68]
  106. John Houseman: "So now during February and March, the Mercury had 124 actors performing in four shows in three theatres … within two blocks of each other on West 41st Street. We renamed it Mercury Street, and without permission from the city, put up temporary signs to that effect on the corners of 6th and 7th Avenues and Broadway." [43] :342
  107. Cast: Geraldine Fitzgerald (Ellie Dunn), Brenda Forbes (Nurse Guinness), Phyllis Joyce (Lady Utterword), Mady Christians (Hesione Hushabye), Erskine Sanford (Mazzini Dunn), Vincent Price (Hector Hushabye), John Hoysradt (Randall Utterword), Eustace Wyatt (The Burglar) [69]
  108. Sets by James Marcom, costumes by Leo van Witsen, lighting by Jean Rosenthal
  109. Motion picture sequences that were to provide exposition had to be abandoned due to the theater's lack of projection facilities, resulting in plot confusion that contributed to the play's failure.
  110. Bret Wood: "The multi-media concept was a throwback to the early age of cinema when vaudeville shows were punctuated by quick cinematic vignettes."
  111. Cast: Eustace Wyatt (Faddish), Edgar Barrier (Dathis), Anna Stafford [Virginia Welles] (Lenore Faddish), Guy Kingsley (MacIntosh), Joseph Cotten (Augustus Billings), Ruth Ford (Mrs. Billings), Mary Wickes (Mrs. Battison), George Duthie (Purser), Richard Wilson (Cabin Boy), Howard Smith (Johnson), Erskine Sanford (Frederic) [70]
  112. Cast: Anna Stafford [Virginia Welles] (Julie), Martin Gabel (Danton), Edgar Barrier (Camille Desmoulins), Evelyn Wahle (Lucile), Morgan Farley (Herault de Sechelles), William Mowry (Philippeau), Guy Kingsley (Lacroix), Ellen Andrews (A Lady), Vladimir Sokoloff (Robespierre), Arlene Francis (Marion), Ruth Ford (Rosalie), Rosemary Carver (Adelaide), Richard Wilson (Mercier), Eustace Wyatt (Fouquier), Joseph Cotten (Barrerre); William Alland, Edgerton Paul, Stanley Poss (Servants to Danton); Richard Baer, Ross Elliott (Convention Attendants)
  113. Songs by Marc Blitzstein: "Christine" sung by Joseph Cotten and Mary Wickes, and "Ode to Reason" sung by Adelyn Colla Negri [71]
  114. A Theatre Guild and Mercury Theatre presentation produced by John Houseman
  115. Original, five-hour version with two intermissions [3] :350
  116. John Houseman: "The first half of Five Kings, which included a fragment of Richard II , the two parts of Henry IV , and Henry V , was to be presented on its subscription series by the Guild … If successful it was to be followed by a second evening—all three parts of Henry VI and Richard III —to be rehearsed during the run of the first." [43] :416
  117. Music by Aaron Copland; sets by Jean Rosenthal—notably a revolving platform 30 feet in diameter "which kept circling like a lazy Susan without blackouts or visible sceneshifts in a great variety of forms throughout the play's thirty-two scenes" (John Houseman) [43] :417
  118. Cast: Robert Speaight (Chorus), Morris Ankrum (Henry IV), Burgess Meredith (Prince Hal, later Henry V), Richard Baer (Clarence), Guy Kingsley (Gloucester), John Emery (Hotspur), others [12] :174–175
  119. Welles had cut 40 minutes of the production's running time [43] :425
  120. Richard France: "No one was more insistent than Welles on presenting Five Kings in all its fulsomeness, and he did so in spite of the Theatre Guild's continuing demands that, if only in the interests of a conventional running time, the production be cut. His stage manager, Walter Ash, still blames the Guild for the demise of Five Kings." [12] :172
  121. Five Kings (Part One) did not make it to New York, and its failure meant that the planned Five Kings (Part Two) was never produced.
  122. Richard France: "Throughout the tour of Five Kings, Welles grappled with this seemingly impenetrable mountain of material. In his dispatch to the New York Herald-Tribune, columnist Herbert Drake suggests that, had Welles been given the extra week of uninterrupted rehearsal time that he had requested of the Guild, Five Kings might today be recognized as Welles's theatrical masterpiece." [12] :172
  123. Short 20-minute play, including a five-minute film segment, performed on tour
  124. Brooks Atkinson: "Out of Richard Wright's novel, Native Son , Mr. Wright and Paul Green have written a powerful drama. Orson Welles has staged it with imagination and force. Those are the first things to be said about the overwhelming play that opened at the St. James last evening. But they hardly convey the excitement of the first performance of a play that represents experience of life and conviction in thought and a production that represents a dynamic use of the stage. … In staging it Mr. Welles picks up the bravura style of the Mercury Theatre where he left it two or three seasons ago. In ten savory scenes, acted on different levels with a resourceful use of the stage, he runs through the narrative, giving motion to static scenes by flares of light and putting Native Son into its urban environment by a varied use of sound accompaniment. Mr. Welles is a dramatic showman; he likes big scenes, broad sweeps of color and vigorous contrasts in tempo. He likes theatre that tingles with life." [73]
  125. Cast: Canada Lee (Bigger Thomas), Evelyn Ellis (Hannah Thomas), Helen Martin (Vera Thomas), Lloyd Warren (Buddy Thomas), Jacqueline Ghant Andre (A Neighbour), Eileen Burns (Miss Emmett), J. Flashe Riley (Jack), Rena Mitchell (Clara), Rodester Timmons (G.H. Rankin), Wardell Saunders (Gus Mitchell), C.M. Bootsie Davis (Ernie Jones), Erskine Sanford (Mr. Dalton), Nell Harrison (Mrs. Dalton), Everett Sloane (Britten), Frances Bavier (Peggy), Anne Burr (Mary Dalton), Joseph Pevney (Jan Erlone), Philip Bourneuf as Buckley), Ray Collins (Paul Max), Paul Stewart (A Reporter), William Malone (Judge); John Berry, Stephen Roberts, George Zorn, Don Roberts (Newspaper Men) [73]
  126. Actual Stage Timing, Court Room Scene, from the Mercury Theatre Production of Native Son (1941). Orson Welles reads the role of defense attorney Paul Max. [74]
  127. Revival of 1941 production
  128. Variety show
  129. Cast: Joseph Cotten ("Jo-Jo the Great"), Agnes Moorehead ("Calliope Aggie"), others
  130. Rita Hayworth appeared as herself—and after Hayworth was forced out of the production by her studio contract, her part was filled by Marlene Dietrich.
  131. Variety show, previously mounted in Hollywood
  132. World premiere of a symphony that presents the history of human flight, narrated by Welles
  133. Commissioned in 1943 by the United States Army, officially dedicated to the Eighth Air Force
  134. Soloists Charles Holland, tenor, and Walter Scheff, baritone, with the male section of the Collegiate Chorale [77]
  135. Recorded in 1966 with Welles as narrator and Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic [78] :13–24
  136. Musical; preview of the below Broadway production
  137. Cast: Arthur Margetson (Phileas Fogg), Mary Healy (Mrs. Aouda), Julie Warren (Molly Muggins), Larry Laurence (Pat Passepartout), Victoria Cordova (Lola), Stefan Schnabel (Avery Jevity), Brainerd Duffield (Mr. Benjamin Cruett-Spew), Dorothy Bird (Meerahlah), Guy Spaull (Ralph Runcbile), Bernard Savage (Sir Charles Mandiboy)
  138. Musical; preview of the below Broadway production
  139. Musical. Despite relatively healthy ticket sales, the extravagance of the staging meant that the production lost a fortune.
  140. Six performances presented by the Utah Centennial Commission and University Theatre in cooperation with American National Theatre and Academy [81]
  141. Staged in preparation for the film version shot in June 1947, with the same principal cast
  142. Set design by Robert Shapiro, costumes by Ricki Grisman, executive director Richard Wilson, stage manager William Alland, production coordinator Emerson Crocker, executive secretary Michael Zimring
  143. Cast: Dan O'Herlihy (Macduff), Jeanette Nolan (Lady Macbeth), Roddy McDowall (Malcolm), Erskine Sanford (Duncan), Edgar Barrier (Banquo), Brainerd Duffield (First Witch, First Murderer), Sereta Jones (Second Witch), Virginia McGrew (Third Witch), Roy Gibson (Ross), John McIntire (Friar), Richard Crane and William Campbell (Messengers), Robert Russon (Fleance) Ross Ramsey (Porter), Keene Curtis (Seyton), Joseph Bywater (Lennox), William Alland (Second Murderer), Joyce Barlow (Lady Macduff), John Covey (Son to Macduff), Georgiana Lees (Daughter to Macduff, Gentlewoman), Ross Dalton (Doctor), John Nocolaysen (Old Siward), Arch Heugly (Young Siward) [22] :62–63
  144. Compilation of two one-act plays, each written by Welles: The Unthinking Lobster and Time Runs... Cast of The Unthinking Lobster included Marcel Archard, Georges Baume, Frédéric O'Brady and Maurice Bessy. Cast of Time Runs… included Eartha Kitt as Helen of Troy.
  145. Compilation of the one-act Orson Welles play The Unthinking Lobster, and a heavily abridged one-act condensation of the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest . The cast of The Unthinking Lobster were as above.
  146. Compilation of the one-act Orson Welles play The Unthinking Lobster, and a heavily abridged one-act condensation of the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest. The cast of The Unthinking Lobster were as above.
  147. Compilation of the one-act Orson Welles play The Unthinking Lobster, and a heavily abridged one-act condensation of the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest. The cast of The Unthinking Lobster were as above. On 30 August, Welles did film both segments (along with the final scene of Henry IV, Part 2 ) at the Geisengeige Studios outside Munich, but disposed of the footage after he was dissatisfied with the result.
  148. Preview of the West End run below
  149. Cast: Gudrun Ure (Desdemona), Peter Finch (Iago), Basil Lord (Roderigo), John Van Eyssen (Cassio), Keith Pyott (Brabantio), Aubrey Richards (The Duke), Edward Mulhare (Lodovico), Maxine Audley (Emilia), Michael Warre (Montano), Dianne Foster (Bianca), Edmund Purdom
  150. Cast as above. Notably, Winston Churchill attended this production as recalled in a later interview by Welles. [82]
  151. Late-night magic and variety act Welles did concurrently with the West End run of Othello
  152. Ballet with cast including Colette Marchand, Georges Reich and Joe Milan
  153. French version of the ballet The Lady in the Ice
  154. Minimalist production of a play about a group of 19th-century actors rehearsing a play of Moby Dick
  155. Cast: Gordon Jackson (A Young Actor/Ishmael), Christopher Lee )(A Stage Manager/Flask; replaced by Peter Sallis later in the run), Patrick McGoohan (A Serious Actor/Starbuck), Wensley Pithey (A Middle-Aged Actor/Stubb), Joan Plowright (A Young Actress/Pip), Kenneth Williams (A Very Serious Actor/Elijah and others), Joseph Chelton (A Manager/Tashtego), John Gray (An Assistant Stage Manager/Bo'sun), Jefferson Clifford (An Experienced Actor/Peleg)
  156. A New Mercury Theatre Production
  157. Cast: Robert Blackburn (King of France), Walter Mathews (Duke of Burgundy, Doctor), Sorrell Brooke (Duke of Albany), Thayer David (Duke of Cornwall), Roy Dean (Earl of Kent), Lester Rawlins (Earl of Gloucester), Robert Fletcher (Edgar), John Colicos (Edmund), Tom Clancy (Curan), Francis Carpenter (Oswald), Jack Aronson (Old Man, Gentleman to King Lear), Robert Burr (Servant to Cornwall, Captain to Edmund), Geraldine Fitzgerald (Goneril), Sylvia Short (Regan), Viveca Lindfors (Cordelia) [83]
  158. 25-minute one-person show, assisted by Kirk and Phyllis Kirkham [84] :316–323
  159. Magic show and Shakespearean readings from Julius Caesar, King Lear and The Merchant of Venice [3] :420
  160. Adapted from Henry IV, Part 1 , Henry IV, Part 2 , Henry V , Richard III and The Merry Wives of Windsor [3] :427
  161. Cast: Hilton Edwards (Narrator), [86] Reginald Jarman (Henry IV), Keith Baxter (Hal, Prince of Wales, later King Henry V), Peter Bartlett (Prince John of Lancaster; Peto), Stuart Nichol (Earl of Westmoreland), Terence Greenidge (Lord Chief Justice; Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland), Alan Mason (Gower), John Southarn (Page to Gower), Orson Welles (Sir John Falstaff), Shirley Cameron (Doll Tearsheet), Thelma Ruby (Mistress Quickly), Keith Marsh (Justice Robert Shallow), Aubrey Morris (Master Silence; Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester), Patrick Bedford (Ned Poins), Rory Macdermott (Pistol; Sheriff Fang; Chorus), Leonard Fenton (Bardolf), Henry Woolf (Nym), Lee Harris (Francis, a Drawer), Alexis Kanner (Harry Percy, known as Hotspur) [87]
  162. Transfer of the above production
  163. Welles's last performance as an actor in the theatre
  164. Welles's last stage production
  165. Cast: Monica Evans (Bessie), Laurence Olivier (Berenger), Duncan Macrae (John), Henry Woolf (A Grocer), Margery Caldicott (The Grocer's Wife), Hazel Hughes (A Lady with a Cat), Geoffrey Lumsden (A Logician), Michael Bates (An Old Gentleman), Will Stampe (A Publican), Joan Plowright (Daisy), Alan Webb (Duddard), Miles Malleson (Mr. Butterfly), Peter Sallis (Bottard), Gladys Henson (Mrs. Beef), Philip Anthony (A Fireman) [88]
  166. By the time the play had transferred to its new venue, Welles had ceased to be associated with the production, with its star Laurence Olivier having taken over as de facto director. However, the production's innovative set design remained Welles's. The cast remained as above, except with Maggie Smith taking over from Joan Plowright as Daisy, and Michael Gough taking over from Alan Webb as Duddard. [88]

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The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also released promptbooks and phonographic recordings of four Shakespeare works for use in schools.

<i>The Cradle Will Rock</i> Musical

The Cradle Will Rock is a 1937 play in music by Marc Blitzstein. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman. Set in Steeltown, U.S.A., the Brechtian allegory of corruption and corporate greed includes a panoply of social figures. It follows the efforts of Larry Foreman to unionize the town's workers and combat the powerful industrialist Mr. Mister, who controls the town's factory, press, church, and social organization. The piece is almost entirely sung-through, giving it many operatic qualities, although Blitzstein included popular song styles of the time.

<i>Too Much Johnson</i> (1938 film) 1938 film by Orson Welles

Too Much Johnson is a 1938 American silent comedy film written and directed by Orson Welles. An unfinished film component of a stage production, it was made three years before Welles directed Citizen Kane, but it was never publicly screened. It was shot to be integrated into Welles's Mercury Theatre stage presentation of William Gillette's 1894 comedy, but the film sequences could not be shown due to the absence of projection facilities at the venue, the Stony Creek Theatre in Connecticut. The resulting plot confusion reportedly contributed to the stage production's failure.

<i>Macbeth</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Orson Welles

Macbeth is a 1948 American historical drama directed by Orson Welles. A film adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name, it tells the story of the Scottish general who becomes the King of Scotland through treachery and murder. The film stars Welles in the lead role and Jeanette Nolan as Lady Macbeth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Fearon</span> English actor (active 1994–present)

Raymond Fearon is an English actor. He played garage mechanic Nathan Cooper on ITV's long-running soap opera Coronation Street and voiced the centaur Firenze in the Wizarding World film series Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada Lee</span> American boxer and actor (1907–1952)

Canada Lee was an American professional boxer and then an actor who pioneered roles for African Americans. After careers as a jockey, boxer and musician, he became an actor in the Federal Theatre Project, including the 1936 production of Macbeth adapted and directed by Orson Welles. Lee later starred in Welles's original Broadway production of Native Son (1941). A champion of civil rights in the 1930s and 1940s, Lee was blacklisted and died shortly before he was scheduled to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He advanced the African American tradition in theatre pioneered by such actors as Paul Robeson. Lee was the father of actor Carl Lee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shakespeare in performance</span> Performances of William Shakespeares plays

Thousands of performances of William Shakespeare's plays have been staged since the end of the 16th century. While Shakespeare was alive, many of his greatest plays were performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men and King's Men acting companies at the Globe and Blackfriars Theatres. Among the actors of these original performances were Richard Burbage, Richard Cowley, and William Kempe.

Voodoo <i>Macbeth</i> Production of Macbeth adapted and directed by Orson Welles

The Voodoo Macbeth is a common nickname for the Federal Theatre Project's 1936 New York production of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Orson Welles adapted and directed the production, moved the play's setting from Scotland to a fictional Caribbean island, recruited an entirely Black cast, and earned the nickname for his production from the Haitian vodou that fulfilled the role of Scottish witchcraft. A box office sensation, the production is regarded as a landmark theatrical event for several reasons: its innovative interpretation of the play, its success in promoting African-American theatre, and its role in securing the reputation of its 20-year-old director.

Classical Theatre Project is a professional theatre company based in Toronto, Ontario that creates innovative productions of classic plays for a new generation of theatre fans. The company was founded in 2001 and focuses on producing the works of William Shakespeare. Since its creation, the CTP has played to more than 500,000 audience members across Canada and the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Carter (actor)</span> American actor (1902–1967)

Jack Carter was an American actor. He is known for creating the role of Crown in the original Broadway production of Porgy (1927), and for starring in Orson Welles' stage productions, including Macbeth (1936) and Doctor Faustus (1937). He appeared in a few motion pictures in the 1930s and 1940s.

<i>Horse Eats Hat</i> 1936 farce play co-written and directed by Orson Welles

Horse Eats Hat is a 1936 farce play co-written and directed by Orson Welles and presented under the auspices of the Federal Theatre Project. It was Welles's second WPA production, after his highly successful Voodoo Macbeth. The script, by Edwin Denby and Welles, was an adaptation of the classic French farce The Italian Straw Hat by Eugène Marin Labiche and Marc-Michel.

<i>Native Son</i> (play) 1941 Broadway drama by Paul Green and Richard Wright

Native Son is a 1941 Broadway drama written by Paul Green and Richard Wright based on Wright's novel Native Son. It was produced by Orson Welles and John Houseman with Bern Bernard as associate producer and directed by Welles with scenic design by John Morcom. It ran for 114 performances from March 24, 1941 to June 28, 1941 at the St. James Theatre.

<i>Panic</i> (play) 1935 verse play by Archibald MacLeish

Panic is a 1935 verse play by Archibald MacLeish. A tragedy that is one of the author's least-known works, it was written during the sixth year of the Great Depression. The drama is set during the bank panic of 1933 and concerns the fall of the world's richest man, a banker named McGafferty. First presented March 14–16, 1935, at the Imperial Theatre in Manhattan, the production featured Orson Welles's first leading performance on the American stage. Panic was produced by John Houseman and Nathan Zatkin as the first project of their new Phoenix Theatre. Sets and lighting were designed by Jo Mielziner; Martha Graham directed the movements of the chorus.

The Comedy Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 110 West 41st Street in Manhattan that opened in 1909. It presented the first Broadway appearances of Katharine Cornell and Ruth Draper, as well as Eugene O'Neill's first Broadway play. Shuttered in the wake of the Depression, it reopened in 1937 as the Mercury Theatre — the venue for Orson Welles's groundbreaking adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and other productions for the Mercury Theatre repertory company. In 1939 it began presenting classic Yiddish theatre. The building was demolished in 1942.

<i>Caesar</i> (Mercury Theatre) 1937 stage play by Orson Welles

Caesar is the title of Orson Welles's innovative 1937 adaptation of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a modern-dress bare-stage production that evoked comparison to contemporary Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Considered Welles's highest achievement in the theatre, it premiered November 11, 1937, as the first production of the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented an acclaimed series of productions on Broadway through 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Holland (actor)</span> American stage actor (1910–1994)

Joseph Holland was an American actor of stage and screen who was principally known for his work in the theatre. Active on Broadway from 1935 through 1957, he was particularly admired for his performances in the plays of William Shakespeare. He was notably a founding member of John Houseman and Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre in 1937; performing the title role in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar for the first play mounted by that company. During that production he was seriously wounded by Welles, in the role of Brutus, who stabbed him in the chest and arm with a steel knife in the famous Act 3 Scene 1 betrayal. After a month of recovery, he returned to the production. Holland went on to create roles in original works by playwrights Maxwell Anderson, Lindsay and Crouse, Elsie Schauffler, and Robert E. Sherwood. He worked periodically on television as a guest actor from 1949 through 1961 on a variety of programs, and appeared in a minor supporting role in the 1958 film Rally Round the Flag, Boys!.

Grantham Coleman is an American actor. He studied drama at The Juilliard School, graduating in 2011.

References

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