POPPY
1923
Poppy is a musical in three acts by Dorothy Donnelly with music by Stephen Jones and Arthur Samuels with musical contributions by John Egan. It was produced by Philip Goodman and staged by Donnelly and Julian Alfred, starring Madge Kennedy as Poppy McGargle and featuring W.C. Fields as her adopted father, Professor McGargle.
The musical introduced songs such as "Two Make a Home", "On Our Honeymoon", "What Do You Do Sunday, Mary?" and "Alibi Baby".
The musical takes place in Greenmeadow, Connecticut in 1874. Professor Eustice McGargle, a juggler and hustler who runs a traveling circus, adopts an orphan, Poppy. He teaches her to be a con artist. When the circus passes through a small town, Poppy meets a wealthy local boy, William. McGargle learns that Princess Vronski Mameluke Pasha Tubbs has a long-lost daughter, and he tries to pass Poppy off as the heiress. In the end she turns out to be the true heir and marries William.
"What a gorgeous day! What effulgent sunshine! Effulgent sunshine, yes. 'Twas a day of this sort, the McGillicuddy brothers murdered their mother with an axe!" ~ W.C. FIELDS as PROFESSOR MCGARGLE
One of W.C. Fields’s first paying jobs as an entertainer was in 1893 when he worked as a juggler at Fortescue’s Pier in Atlantic City. When business was slow, Fields would pretend to be drowning in the ocean and had to be fake rescued. His bosses believed that his near-drowning and dramatic rescue would draw a crowd of customers.
Poppy opened in Atlantic City at Nixon’s Apollo Theatre on August 13, 1923. The week of August 20th, Poppy played a split week in Long Branch and Asbury Park. Just prior to Broadway, it played a week in Newark NJ.
“Our idea of a way to waste what we consider the most charming farceur on the American stage is to cast Miss Madge Kennedy in musical comedy. "Poppy" by any other name at the Main Street would be Just as soporific, so far as Miss Kennedy is concerned.” ~ ASBURY PARK PRESS
While performing in Poppy, Madge Kennedy was also seen on cinema screens in The Purple Highway. The film was based on a 1921 play, although Kennedy did not star in it on Broadway.
Poppy opened on Broadway at the Apollo Theatre (223 West 42nd Street) on September 3, 1923.
About the Venue: Built in 1910 as the Bryant as 42nd Street's first motion picture and vaudeville house. In 1920, the Selwyn brothers rebuilt it as a legit house, the Apollo. From November 1934 to 1937, burlesque was produced, until the Brandt chain took over. By 1938, it was a popular art and foreign movie house. 1979 to 1983 marked a brief return to legit theatre as the ‘New’ Apollo. Later, it held rock concerts. Architectural elements from the building were incorporated into the Ford Center in 1998.
"’Poppy’ is clean and refreshing by comparison with much of the degenerate stuff which nowadays passes for legitimate amusement in our lighter musical shows.” ~ METCALFE, WALL STREET JOURNAL
“Madge Kennedy Is the Babe Ruth of the stage, after a manner of speaking.” ~ JAMES W. DEAN
During Thanksgiving week, Sunday NY Daily News columnist Sally Joy Brown ran a contest for young people to win tickets to see Poppy, including a backstage visit with Madge Kennedy.
The event was so successful, Brown ran a second contest.
During the run of the play, Kennedy mentored drama students at Columbia University. They had voted her their favorite actress on Broadway.
The controversy had caused David Belasco to re-write and re-stage several of his plays to address the NY Attorney General’s concerns.
At the end of 1923, yet another Madge Kennedy film opened: Three Miles Out.
On May 31st, Kennedy played her final performance as Poppy. The title role was assumed by chorus member Victoria White.
With Kennedy’s departure, Fields was elevated to star status, billed above the title. Telegrams of congratulation to Mr. Fields were read from the stage of the Apollo theatre by Will Rogers, who abandoned his "Follies" rehearsals across the street to act as master of ceremonies. With characteristically witty comments, Mr. Rogers read congratulatory messages from Fred Stone, Eddie Cantor. Leon Erroll, Harold Lloyd, Al Jolson, Walter Catlett, Oscar Shaw, Raymond Hitchcock, Buster Keaton, Lee Shubert, Jerome Kern, and several others. Mr. Fields was greeted with a storm of applause when he stepped forward to acknowledge the felicitations.
Poppy ran 346 performances closing on June 28, 1924. The New York run was followed by a touring production.
In 1924 there was a London production of Poppy at the Gaiety Theatre.
There were two film version, both of which starred Fields as Eustice P. McGargle. The first was Sally of the Sawdust (1925), a silent movie directed by D.W. Griffith and co-starring Carol Dempster as Sally. Griffith had good reason not to use the name or title "Poppy" for this movie. A movie titled Poppy with a character by that name had come out in 1917.
Atlantic City audiences saw Sally on September 7, 1925 at the Strand Theatre on the Boardwalk.
The second was Poppy (1936), directed by A. Edward Sutherland. Fields was ill during the 1936 production, and a fairly obvious double was used in several scenes requiring physical exertion.
The film opened in Atlantic City at the Warner Theatre on the Boardwalk on June 21, 1936. The Warner (later re-named the Warren) was just seven blocks away from Nixon’s Apollo, where the play began in 1923.
"And if we should ever separate, my little plum, I want to give you just one bit of fatherly advice: 'Never give a sucker an even break!'" ~ W.C. FIELDS as PROFESSOR MCGARGLE.
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Unick Servicing
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Impeccable Dream
At Impeccable Dream, we're passionate about unraveling the mysteries of the dream world. Join us on a journey of discovery as we explore the nature, function, and profound meanings of dreams, providing you with valuable insights and knowledge along the way.
Address: 66 Greenmeadow Lane Bedford, New Hampshire 03110
Zipcode: 3110 Website: https://impeccabledream.top/
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