Miss Minnette Goes to Broadway and Back

If you’ve been to a Broadway show in New York City, you likely admired the opulent grandeur of the theatre, reminiscent of the early 1900s. Ornate moldings and gilded plaster carvings cover every available surface. The proscenium arch is typically highlighted with gold leaf-covered motifs reflecting the building’s architectural style—rococo, art deco, or beaux-arts.

The proscenium arch, ceiling, and box seats adjacent
to the stage of the Lyceum Theatre are typical of the
detailed design features of early-1900s Broadway
theatres that have been preserved or restored.

Then, when the production began, if you’re like me, you sat open-mouthed as you became immersed in the story and in awe of the performers’ talent.

A number of years ago, I came across these photos and a brief story about a Broadway actress from a tiny town in western Kentucky, which piqued my curiosity. She was born Minnie Vogel and went to New York City about 1909, where she used the stage name Minnette. According to an article in Between the Rivers magazine, she starred in the Broadway play Ray’s Down the Pike Co. Her family believed she may have written the play herself, but no one seems to know how she made the 900-plus mile trip at the age of 18 from Star Lime Works to the big city.

The story intrigued me because Minnette shared little information about her time in New York once she returned home. No records exist of an actress of her name or a play by that title on Broadway (although there was an actress named Minnette Barrett, who performed on Broadway from 1907 to 1953). This raised questions of what happened while this small-town girl was in New York City, and my speculations became the basis for my short story, “All That Glitters,” although I chose the 1930s for my setting.

As part of my research, I found five prominent theaters that were built between 1901 and 1913, when Minnette left the city, and are still in use today:

• The New Amsterdam Theatre: opened in 1903 with A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Home of the Ziegfeld Follies from 1913-1927, and is one of a few operating under its original name.

• The Lyceum Theatre: opened in 1903 with a production of The Proud Prince. Oldest continually operating as a legitimate theater space in New York City. Retained its original name throughout its history.

• The Palace Theatre: opened in 1913 with Miss Civilization. During the height of the Vaudeville era, the Palace was considered the most desirable venue by Vaudevillian performers.

• The Schubert Theatre: opened in 1913 with Easy Come, Easy Go. Connected by a private road to its sister theatre, the Booth.

• The Booth Theater: opened in 1913 with a production of The Great Adventure. Named after the famed actor Edwin Booth, brother of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth.

The mysterious Miss Minnette had a “successful” career, as described by her pastor, but “it did not prove for her good.” Nevertheless, before her death she wrote, “Praise to God I die happy, although I know not the hour my Lord cometh. Do not cry, but just be glad. God bless you all. Meet me in heaven.”

Minnette was no doubt one of many performers whose short-term fame faded into obscurity.

Next month, I’ll share about other historic Broadway theaters and how the area became known as the Great White Way.

Sources

Between the Rivers magazine, Issue 22, 2011, Grand Rivers, KY

www.broadwayworld.com

www.spotlightonbroadway.com

IBDB | The Official Source For Broadway Information

Multi-award-winning author Marie Wells Coutu finds beauty in surprising places, like undiscovered treasures, old houses, and gnarly trees. All three books in her Mended Vessels series, contemporary stories based on the lives of biblical women, have won awards in multiple contests. She is currently working on historical romances set in her native western Kentucky in the 1930s and ‘40s. An unpublished novel, Shifting Currents, placed second in the inspirational category of the nationally recognized Maggie Awards. Learn more at www.MarieWellsCoutu.com.

Her historical short story, “All That Glistens,” was included in the 2023 Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction collection and is now available free when you sign up for Marie's newsletter here. In her newsletter, she shares about her writing, historical tidbits, recommended books, and sometimes recipes.

Theater Prohibition

Blogger: Amber Schamel

Most of us are very familiar with the chapter of United States history known as Prohibition. However, there was a prohibition of something other than alcohol back in the early days of our nation.

Believe it or not, Theater, as well as other forms of expensive entertainment, was banned in certain parts of the colonies during the late 1700's. Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts had formal laws banning the practice for more than ten years. Why? This goes back to a religious debate in post-revolution America.

“...why ain’t cards and dice the devil’s device, and the play-house the shop where the devil hangs out the vanities of the world upon the tenter-hooks of temptation?” 

~Excerpt from The Contrast play (1787) by Royall Tyler

Painting of the first theater in America - Williamsburg, VA
(Public Domain)

Theater was popular in England, especially in London; however in the Colonies the influence of the Awakening caused many to question the morality of the art.

The first to introduce theater to the Colonies was a duo of brothers from England, William and Lewis Hallam. In 1752, they brought a repertoire of European plays to Williamsburg. However they encountered strong religious opposition, and ended up closing the venture. 

"to indulge a taste for playgoing means nothing more or less than the loss of that most valuable treasure: the immortal soul." ~Timothy Dwight IV in his Essay on Stage

Whether for or against Theater, both sides appealed to the morality of the art. Some that argued in favor of the theater insisted that the United States was a moral nation, and like moral nations that had gone before, it deserved the right to express itself through art...independent from England and its plays. Those opposed argued that the decline of morality in the nation would only be accelerated by immoral plays.

Playbill from 1778

"The debate over theatre focused on the imagined power of theatre as an institution, rather than on the ability of certain plays to corrupt or uplift. Additionally, the debate did not divide between any social classes or political groups, showing that although economic and political events influenced the nature of the discussions, it was an ideological contest that transcended class, race, gender, and political boundaries. It was about the role government should take in shaping society’s amusements, and about what should be considered advantageous and detrimental to society."

~Meredith Bartron, Gettysburg College

The Continental Congress initially sided against the theater, and influenced several of the states to ban such entertainments: Massachusetts in 1750, Pennsylvania in 1759, and Rhode Island in 1761.

These laws were not repealed until 1789-1793, and history is unclear on the basis for the repeals. Judging by the petitions, pamphlets and newspaper articles arguing for or against theater during the Revolutionary era, the main arguments were morally based. However some historians think that the repeal of the laws was an economical decision.

Whether or not the government should censor public entertainment is still an issue today, but thankfully, it has not resulted in a complete ban of such arts as plays, movies or literature. 

*****

Amber Schamel is the author of Dawn of Liberty, and the two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction. She writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. Her passions for travel, history, books and her Savior results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado as a very happy newlywed. Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at www.AmberSchamel.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!

 

History of American Musical Theater

At our school, a cast of excited middle and high school students are in full swing of rehearsals for this year’s musical, a junior version of the classic Singin’ in the Rain. I have always loved musical theater, and my sister is actually directing this year’s production, so I thought it would be fun to take a peek at the historical development of this art form.

Early Years

Lithographic poster for early American production of H.M.S. Pinafore,
By A.S. Seer's Print - Library of Congress, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

While the use of music and movement in theater dates back to ancient Greek plays, what we currently view as musical theater had its earliest glimmerings in the 18^th century, when English “ballad operas” became popular in America. Most musical stage shows in the 19^th century were some combination of vaudeville, burlesque, or minstrel shows. However, in the late 1800s, British composers Gilbert and Sullivan elevated the art form to new artistic and family-friendly heights with their highly successful comic operettas like The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, and HMS Pinafore, which remain popular even today.

Original Broadway cast of Show Boat, White Studio, photographer -
Theatre Magazine, Vol. 49, No. 2, February 1928 (p. 58), Public Domain

1900s to 1930s

The early twentieth century saw new developments in uniquely American musical theater, especially through the works of George M. Cohan. Many musicals of the 1910s through the 30s were heavy on elaborate staging and dance routines and light on plot, but in 1927, the musical Show Boat, by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, formed a turning point. For the first time, the songs served the plot of the story rather than the other way around, and deep themes such as racial injustice and marital trouble were explored through thoughtfully developed characters. Light, escapist musicals rose to popularity again through the Great Depression, and the advent of “talking pictures” affected live theater attendance also, but Show Boat had laid the groundwork for big advancements in American musicals.

The Golden Age: 1940s – 1960s

From the 1943-44 production of Oklahoma! Public Domain.

In March 1943, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! opened on Broadway and changed musical theater forever. For the first time, music, dance, character, and story were fully integrated into a seamless whole. The curtain lifted not on scantily clad chorus girls but rather on an older woman churning butter and a cowboy singing an early morning ballad. Like Show Boat, Oklahoma! dealt with some heavier themes, including pornography addiction and attempted murder, and the choreography by Agnes de Mille broke significant ground by using dance to express emotion and tell the story.

Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence in The King and I
www.oreieeu.com.br, Public Domain.

Oklahoma! was followed by multiple Rodgers and Hammerstein hits using the same principles of strong storytelling, developed characters, integrated dance and song, and thoughtful social themes: The King and I, Carousel, South Pacific, and most famous of all, The Sound of Music. All these shows were made into successful motion pictures and continue to enjoy stage revivals today, from community theater to Broadway.

Other composers joined this “Golden Age” as well, with such beloved and enduring musicals as Lerner and Lowe’s My Fair Lady and Bock, Harnick, and Stein’s Fiddler on the Roof. In 1957, Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story bravely took on racial tension and gang violence in a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet and also brought new and innovative composer Stephen Sondheim on the scene.

Modern Musicals

Les Miserables, by Otterbein University Theatre & Dance, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0

From the late 1960s on, “rock musicals” such as Godspell and Hair took the stage, though more traditional forms saw some decline. In the 1980s, however, musical theater saw a new revival through the soaring popularity of such European “mega-musicals” as Les Misérables and Phantom of the Opera. Disney also found grand success through adapting several animated films for the Broadway and London stage: Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and most triumphant of all, The Lion King.

Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton in the musical Hamilton.
Photo by Steve Jurvetson
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/25945250053/, CC BY 2.0 

In 2015, the new musical Hamilton debuted on Broadway and broke ground with its innovative transference of contemporary rap and the American Revolution into musical theater, generating new waves of interest among young people in both musicals and American history.

While musicals may not be as popular as they once were, relevant new shows like the ethnically diverse Hamilton and the socially conscious Dear Evan Hansen, which focuses on bullying, indicate musical theater does seem to be on the rise. The growing number of new movie musicals speaks to this, such as the hugely successful films La La Land and The Greatest Showman.

Across the years, we continue to respond to these stories told in song and dance that capture our human hearts in a way few mediums can.

What about you? Are there any classic old musicals that you love? Which piece of musical theater history did you find most interesting? Please comment and share!

Kiersti Giron holds a life-long passion for history and historical fiction. She loves to write stories that show the intersection of past and present, explore relationships that bridge cultural divides, and probe the healing Jesus can bring out of brokenness. Kiersti has been published in several magazines, won the 2013 ACFW Genesis Award - Historical for her manuscript Beneath a Turquoise Sky, and is currently a 2018 Genesis Finalist. An English teacher and member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Kiersti loves learning and growing with other writers penning God's story into theirs, as well as blogging at www.kierstigiron.com. She lives in California with her wonderful husband, Anthony, and their two kitties.