• Source: Carry Nation (play)

      • Carry Nation is an historical play by Frank McGrath about the temperance leader Carrie Nation. It ran on Broadway and starred American film actress Esther Dale in the title role.


      Broadway run


      Carry Nation premiered in New York on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on October 29, 1932, and starred Esther Dale, who had been known principally as a singer up to that time. The show was produced by Dale’s husband, the writer and theater producer Arthur J. Beckhard, and was directed by stage actress Blanche Yurka. The show was playwright McGrath’s only Broadway play and closed after just 30 performances.
      Despite its being a flop, the show was notable for having launched the Broadway careers of supporting actress Mildred Natwick and the actors Jimmy Stewart, Myron McCormick and Josh Logan, who had known one another at Princeton University where the three men were members of the University Players theater company. At the time, they were rooming in New York with a fourth University Player alumnus, Henry Fonda. Logan also served as assistant director to Blanche Yurka in the production. The show had originated in summer stock, and some of the young players from the earlier staging were carried over into the New York production in small roles.
      Esther Dale received glowing reviews from the New York critics for her portrayal of Carry (sic). In addition to Dale, the featured performers included Leslie Adams, Donald Foster, Daisy Belmore, Byron McGrath, John Parrish, Ernest Pollock and Fannie Bell De Knight.


      Principal roles


      (in order of speech)

      Aunt Judy – Fannie Belle De Knight
      George Moore – John Parrish
      James Campbell – Myron McCormick
      Mary Campbell Moore – Gertrude Garstin
      Charles Gloyd – Byron McGrath
      Sam – Buddy De Loach
      Mrs. Gloyd – Frieda Altman
      Dr. Hull – Ernest Pollock
      Miss Sicat – Minna Adams
      David Nation – Leslie Adams
      Carry Nation – Esther Dale
      Mrs. Noble – Mildred Natwick
      Daniel Dent – Donald Foster
      Mrs. Cain – Daisy Belmore
      A Brute – Clarence E. Smith
      Mart Strong – Joshua Logan
      Constable Gano – James Stewart
      Mayor Washbrook – Arthur C. Morris
      O.L. Day – Charles E. Arnt
      A Salesperson – Kenneth Berry
      Kiowan Youths – Frank Thomas, Jr., Rufus Peabody, Drew Price
      Sporting Girls – Barbara O'Neil, Lillian Okun
      Senator – John F. Morrissey
      The Mayor of Kiowa – Alfred Dalrymple
      Mrs. Skoll – Nina Varesi
      Skoll – Luther Williams
      Jailor – Walter Eviston
      Landlord – Harry Bellaver
      Leader of the Vigilantes – Karl Swenson
      The Woman With a Whip – Roberta Hoskins
      The Woman With a Club – Bela Axman
      Louis Sauerberger – Frederick Kemp
      A Whiskey Drinker – Leslie Hunt
      Mrs. Klopp – Katherine Emery
      Miss Sheriff – Helen Huberth
      Mrs. McHenty – Mary Jeffery
      Chairman – Robert Allen


      Synopsis of scenes


      The story line of the play followed the chronology of the prohibitionist leader's life, beginning with her birth in 1846 in Kentucky to a zealously pious father, her marriage to a chronic drunk, a second marriage to a country preacher, her public campaign against Demon Rum and her infamous marches culminating in the axing of booze barrels. The story concluded with her final appearance before a Town Hall gathering in Tennessee in 1910.

      Scene 1: A farmhouse in Kentucky. November 25, 1846.
      Scene 2: In front of the Moore home in Missouri. April, 1857.
      Scene 3: A room in the home of Dr. Gloyd in Holden. Missouri, June, 1868.
      Scene 4: Same as preceding scene. December, 1877.
      Scene 5: Interior of the Christian Church in Medicine Lodge. Kansas, July, 1899.
      Scene 6: A room in the Nation home in Medicine Lodge. A few weeks later.
      Scene 7: The front room of Mart Strong’s saloon in Medicine Lodge. February, 1900.
      Scene 8: O.L. Day’s drug store in Medicine Lodge. February, 1900.
      Scene 9: A street in Kiowa, Kansas. August, 1900.
      Scene 10: The jail in Kiowa. Immediately after preceding scene.
      Scene 11: The jail. Three weeks later.
      Scene 12: A room in Stag’s Hotel, Enterprise, Kansas. That night.
      Scene 13: Louis Sauerberger’s saloon, Topeka, Kansas. The next day.
      Scene 14: A room in the home of Mrs. Klopp in Kansas City, Missouri. June, 1903.
      Scene 15: The Town Hall, Waterville, Tennessee. May, 1910.


      References

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