| Theatre historians could argue whether, as the title of
Harry Birdoff's 1947 book has it, Uncle Tom's
Cabin dramatized was The World's Greatest Hit, but no one would
dispute Birdoff's right to the title of the greatest collector of material
related to the long theatrical history of Stowe's story on stage. mention how many of his items are in archive, though that's only a portion of what remains in collection at HBS Center. Here, couple additional resources: his list, though not complete! mention that Downie's itinerary list 220 sites, mostly small towns in the northern plains and Canada, where the company performed the play at least 235 times between 17 March 1908 and about 23 December 1909 (the last of the itinerary's 16 pages is damaged, so we can't be certain when or where this tour came to a halt) -- and give link to page with Downie's flyer on it, which may be from that tour (Jan. 4 was a Monday in 1909) discuss Mason Bros script, based on prop and scene lists (4 acts, 15 scenes), identify Co. and House designations -- i.e. what scenery they carried on tour, vs. what drops they expected to find theaters equipped with, etc. |
