Polly of the Circus (1907 play)

Last updated

Polly of the Circus
A scene from "Polly of the Circus" (SAYRE 12078).jpg
Mabel Taliaferro in the play (publicity photo)
Written by Margaret Mayo
Date premieredDecember 23, 1907
Place premiered Liberty Theatre
Original languageEnglish
SubjectAfter a circus performer is injured, she falls in love with the local pastor
Genre drama
SettingIn a small mid-western town at a parsonage and a circus

Polly of the Circus was a 1907 Broadway play by Margaret Mayo which starred Mabel Taliaferro and was produced by Taliaferro's husband, Frederic Thompson. [1] A circus girl/minister love story known for its drama and its spectacle staging, the cast also included Edith Taliaferro, Herbert Ayling, Joseph Brennan, Mattie Ferguson, John Findlay, Guy Nichols, Ida St. Leon and Malcolm Williams.

Contents

Plot

Polly, a star bareback rider in a circus, is injured during a performance. The circus leaves town and she is left behind to convalescence at a local minister's house. During her 11-month stay they fall in love but the disapproval of the town folk causes Polly to rejoin the circus. A month later the circus comes back to town and the minister goes to it in search of Polly. This third act of the play recreates an actual circus on stage, complete with animals, during which the lovers reunite. The final star lit tableau scene has the lovers together watching lights of the circus wagons as they disappear over the hills. [2] [3]

Settings

Action takes place in a small mid-western town. [4]

Act I
Act II
Act II

Production

Margaret Mayo wrote Polly of the Circus as a novel and adapted it into three act play (her first) for the stage. [5] It was brought to the stage by amusement entrepreneur and showman Frederic Thompson, who previously had been the creator of many world's fair attractions as well as Coney Island's Luna Park and the New York Hippodrome. Thompson had married stage actress Mabel Taliaferro the previous year and produced Polly of the Circus as star vehicle for her. [6] [7] The sets and elaborate spectacles seen on stage were designed by Thompson and built at his Luna Park workshops. [8]

In performance

The play opened in New York on December 23, 1907 at the Liberty Theatre at 242 West 42nd Street and was a success, running for 160 performances until May 1908. After that it went on the road and was duplicated into several productions. During its run "Polly" was not only played by Mabel Taliaferro, but also by her sister Edith Taliaferro, and by Fay Wallace. [9]

Film adaptations

In 1917 silent film version of Polly of the Circus was produced by Samuel Goldwyn starring Mae Marsh. Marion Davies and Clark Gable starred in a 1932 version of Polly of the Circus directed by Alfred Santell for MGM.

Related Research Articles

Topsy (elephant) Elephant electrocuted in 1903

Topsy was a female Asian elephant who was electrocuted at Coney Island, New York, in January 1903. Born in Southeast Asia around 1875, Topsy was secretly brought into the United States soon thereafter and added to the herd of performing elephants at the Forepaugh Circus, who fraudulently advertised her as the first elephant born in America. During her 25 years at Forepaugh, Topsy gained a reputation as a "bad" elephant and, after killing a spectator in 1902, was sold to Coney Island's Sea Lion Park. When Sea Lion was leased out at the end of the 1902 season and replaced by Luna Park, Topsy was involved in several well-publicized incidents, attributed to the actions of either her drunken handler or the park's new publicity-hungry owners, Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy.

Dreamland (Coney Island, 1904) Former amusement park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York

Dreamland was an amusement park at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, which operated from 1904 to 1911. It was the last of the three original large parks built on Coney Island, along with Steeplechase Park and Luna Park.

Luna Park (Coney Island, 1903) Former amusement park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York

Luna Park was an amusement park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. Luna Park was located on a site bounded by Surf Avenue to the south, West 8th Street to the east, Neptune Avenue to the north, and West 12th Street to the west. Luna Park opened in 1903 and operated until 1944.

Luna Park Name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks

Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are considered as small-scale attraction parks, easily accessed, potentially addressed to the permanent or temporary residential market, and located in the suburbs or even near the town center. Luna parks mainly offer classic funfair attractions, newer features and catering services.

Edith Taliaferro American actress (1894–1958)

Edith Taliaferro was an American stage and film actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was active on the stage until 1935 and had roles in three silent films. She is best known for portraying the role of Rebecca in the 1910 stage production of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

Mabel Taliaferro American actress (1887–1979)

Mabel Taliaferro was an American stage and silent-screen actress, known as "the Sweetheart of American Movies."

New York Hippodrome

The Hippodrome Theatre also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the world's largest theatre by its builders and had a seating capacity of 5,300, with a 100x200ft (30x61m) stage. The theatre had state-of-the-art theatrical technology, including a rising glass water tank.

Wonderland Amusement Park (Massachusetts)

The Wonderland Amusement Park operated from 1906 to 1910 in Revere, Massachusetts. Wonderland featured various state-of-the-art rides, attractions, and performers. Although some features remained constant through the life of the Park, most of the attractions changed from year to year. The park was served by the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad, known as the "Narrow Gauge". Today, the rail stop is named Wonderland, and is the northern terminus of the MBTA's Blue Line. The title of the 1998 film Next Stop Wonderland refers to this station.

<i>The Round-Up</i> (1920 film) 1920 film

The Round-Up is a 1920 American silent Western film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Wallace Beery. The movie was written by Edmund Day and Tom Forman, directed by George Melford, and based on Day's play that was a huge hit for Roscoe Arbuckle's older cousin Macklyn Arbuckle and Julia Dean on the Broadway stage in 1907. It was Macklyn in the play who created the famous phrase used in advertisements of the film, nobody loves a fat man.

<i>Polly of the Circus</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

Polly of the Circus is a 1932 American pre-Code MGM drama film directed by Alfred Santell and starring Marion Davies and Clark Gable.

Todd Robbins

Todd Robbins is an American magician, lecturer, actor, and author.

Luna Park, Scranton

Luna Park, an amusement park in Scranton, Pennsylvania, from 1906 to 1916, initially designed, built, and operated by two companies affiliated with amusement park pioneer Frederick Ingersoll, occupied a mostly western-facing 20-acre tract of land on Moosic Mountain along the eastern side of Roaring Brook gorge, opposite present-day Nay Aug Park. No historical marker commemorates the site of the park.

White City is the common name of dozens of amusement parks in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Inspired by the White City and Midway Plaisance sections of the World's Columbian Exhibition of 1893, the parks started gaining in popularity in the last few years of the 19th century. After the 1901 Pan-American Exposition inspired the first Luna Park in Coney Island, a frenzy in building amusement parks ensued in the first two decades of the 20th century.

Coney Island in popular culture Popular culture appearances of a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York

Coney Island has been featured in novels, films, television shows, cartoons, and theatrical plays.

<i>Polly of the Circus</i> (1917 film) 1917 film

Polly of the Circus is a 1917 American silent drama film notable as the first film produced by Samuel Goldwyn after founding his studio Goldwyn Pictures. This film starred Mae Marsh, usually an actress for D.W. Griffith, but now under contract to Goldwyn for a series of films. The film was based on the 1907 Broadway play Polly of the Circus by Margaret Mayo which starred Mabel Taliaferro. Presumably when MGM remade Polly of the Circus in 1932 with Marion Davies, they still owned the screen rights inherited from the 1924 merger by Marcus Loew of the Metro, Goldwyn, and Louis B. Mayer studios.This film marks the first appearance of Slats, the lion mascot of Goldwyn Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Prints and/or fragments were found in the Dawson Film Find in 1978.

The Three of Us is a lost 1914 silent film drama directed by John W. Noble, produced by B. A. Rolfe, and starring Mabel Taliaferro and Creighton Hale. It was based on a 1906 play The Three of Us by Rachel Crothers.

Ida St. Leon

Ida St. Leon was an Australian circus performer and actress.

Fort George Amusement Park Former amusement park in New York City

Fort George Amusement Park was a trolley park and amusement park that operated in the Washington Heights and Inwood neighborhoods of Upper Manhattan, New York City, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It occupied an area between 190th and 192nd Streets east of Amsterdam Avenue, within present-day Highbridge Park.

Frederic Thompson American architect

Frederic Williams Thompson was an American architect, engineer, inventor, and showman known for creating amusement rides and one of the first large amusement parks.

Elmer "Skip" Dundy

Elmer Scipio "Skip" Dundy Jr. was an American showman and promoter known for creating amusement rides and one of the first large amusement parks.

References

  1. Polly of the Circus as produced on Broadway at the Liberty Theater, December 23, 1907, 160 performances; IBDb.com
  2. The Bellman, Volume 10, 1911, page 122
  3. "At the Theaters: 'Polly of the Circus'". The Morning Oregonian . February 13, 1911. p. 4.
  4. Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 598: – “Polly of the Circus”
  5. Sandusky Star-Journal, Sandusky, Ohio, 28, 1907, page 8
  6. Woody Register, The Kid of Coney Island: Fred Thompson and the Rise of American Amusements, Oxford University Press - 2003, page 216
  7. "Fred Thompson Marries. Head of Thompson & Dundy Weds Miss Mabel Taliaferro". New York Times . December 1, 1906.
  8. Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 598: – “Polly of the Circus”
  9. Evening Star, Washington, D.C., December 13, 1908, page 27