The Widow Jones
Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox Musical The Widow Jones is a musical comedy created by the writer John J. McNally as a star vehicle for the actress and singer May Irwin.[1] The musical used song material in "Negro dialect" by a variety of songwriters.[2][1] Premiering at the Boston Museum theatre and backed by the Boston producers Rich & Harris, the play toured in cities through the United States in 1895-1896; including two separate runs at Broadway's Bijou Theatre. The work is best remembered today for its Act 1 kiss scene which was re-created by Irwin with her co-star John C. Rice as a short film in Thomas Edison's The Kiss in 1896.
Plot
Irwin portrays Beatrice Byke an un-married "fat-fair-and-forty" woman who has run away to Maine and assumed the false identity of a widow going by the surname Jones in order to avoid her many ardent suitors.[2][1] Over the course of the play she is forced to pay the bills of her false husband, a man who allegedly died from drowning, only to eventually come face to face with the supposedly drowned man.[1]
Performances and Edison film
The Widow Jones premiered at the Boston Museum on September 2, 1895, and then went on tour for performances in cities throughout the United States.[2] Part of this tour included performances at Broadway's Bijou Theatre where it began its run on September 16, 1895.[1] The production left New York City to perform on tour, but ultimately returned for more performances at the Bijou Theatre beginning on March 16, 1896.[3] On April 21, 1896 at the Bijou Theatre the show's producer's, Rich & Harris of Boston, presented Irwin with a custom made silver perfume bottle and a plaque to celebrate the production's 300th performance given during the production's run (not all on Broadway, but collectively).[4]
Thomas Edison hired the play's stars, May Irwin and John Rice, to recreate the kiss seen in act 1 of the play for the 1896 short film, The Kiss, made in Edison's Kinetoscope process. The film was acquired by the Film Library of the Museum of Modern Art in 1935.[5]
Songs
- "His Legs Are Assorted Sizes" (music by Geo. H. Wilder, lyrics by Lawrence J. Sheehan)
- "I Love My Honey Yes I Do" (music and lyrics by Will C. Carleton)[6]
- "The New Bully" (music and lyrics by Charles E. Trevathan)[2]
- "I Want Yer Ma, Honey"[2]
Notes
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External links
- Template:Ibdb show
- The Kiss - the Edison film on The Library of Congress' YouTube channel.