October 26, 1942: "Getting Ready for All-Soldier Show Opening" was the caption in the Inquirer. Two servicemen/stagehands prepare for Irving Berlin's patriotic show This is the Army at the Mastbaum Theatre.
Below, while in town to appear at the opening night of the show, Irving Berlin visits the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia's Independence Hall, where a group of new local volunteers had just been sworn in to military service.
Below, some more photos from the Inquirer, these showing some of the cast of Pal Joey as it was about to have its World Premiere at the Forrest Theatre in December of 1940 (the Inky really liked to share alluring photos of actresses in its "Amusements" section in those days):
Above, June Havoc and Gene Kelly in Pal Joey (photos from the collection of the New York Public Library).
February 23, 1942: Orson Welles, Richard Wright and Canada Lee confer during rehearsals for Native Son at the Walnut Street Theatre.
In April of 1946, as we mention in the episode, the tryout run of Annie Get Your Gun came unexpectedly to Philadelphia before opening on Broadway. Although the Sunday editions of the papers were "frozen," the show's producers did manage to slip a quick notice into the Friday papers on April 26th that tickets would be on sale at the box office. This was a promise that turned out not to actually be the case, as enterprising reporters for the Philadelphia Record discovered.
Though this ticket scandal was widely covered in the populist and pro-Democratic party Record, its rival across Broad Street, the Inquirer, barely covered it. (The Inky's pro-Republican and pro-business mindset in those days did not make it likely that it would criticize the Shuberts, after all.) And our old friend Linton Martin - a close buddy of Lawrence Shubert Lawrence - was not going to play up the embarrassing narrative. Martin did, however, give the show a glowing review on May 1, 1946:
Selected Bibliography:
Books
Davis, Andrew, America's Longest Run: A History of the Walnut Street Theatre, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010, pp. 238-244.
Hirsch, Foster, The Boys From Syracuse: The Shuberts' Theatrical Empire. Southern Illinois University Press, 1998, pp. 199-216
Stagg, Jerry, The Brothers Shubert, Random House, 1968, pp. 342-257.
Tinkcom, Margaret, "Depression and War, 1929-1946," in Philadelphia: A 300-Year History, Russel F. Weigley, ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 1982, pp. 601-648.
Newspapers:
"Theatre and Wedding Break Quiet of the Lenten Season," by Jane Wister. Philadelphia Inquirer, March 15, 1939.
"Lay That Pistol Down," in Delaware County Daily Times, April 30, 1946, p. 6.
