MINT ORIGINAL CIRCA-1942 PROGRAM FOR ABIE’S IRISH ROSE

Description

This is a mint, original souvenir program for a wartime stage production of
Anne
Nichols
’ classic interfaith tale, “Abie’s Irish Rose.” There is no date – copyright or otherwise – listed anywhere in the program. But it can be dated to sometime between 1942 and 1944. That’s because “Abie’s Irish Rose” also appeared on NBC radio during World War II, running from 1942 to 1944, and this stage-production program features two pages promoting the “new” radio version of the show. Also, one program article on the history of “Abie’s Irish Rose” said it was written and first produced in 1922, “twenty years ago,” which makes a strong case for the year of this stage production being 1942. The program, curiously, also never mentions in what theater this performance was staged, although the context of some of the text suggests it was in
New York City
, probably Broadway. In space provided on the first page, the original buyer of the program – which cost 25 cents – didn’t bother to write the date, theater and names of people in his/her party. This show was produced by the respected
Frank
McCoy
and starred
Henry
Nichols
as Abie Levy and
Louise
Snyder
as
Rosemary
Murphy
, the story’s young marrieds. Other performers, all veterans of the stage, were
Eddie
Pascal
,
Berta
Walden
, Stapleton
Kent
,
Robert
Leonard
,
Liam
Dunn
and
Herbert
Duffy
. There apparently were some cast changes for this production, as four of the eight cast bios are typed on paper and pasted over the program’s printed descriptions (a common practice even today). The back of the program is overlaid with a blank green sheet pasted to the cover. Not sure why, but my guess is that, with wartime shortages, parts of the program may have been recycled and there was something on the back cover that wasn’t relevant to this show. Hence the failure to print the name of the theater, date, etc., because a generic program could be cheaper to produce than those for specific theaters. Just my guess. The program also appears to have been published with just one staple – another hint of wartime printing economies. The program includes a photo and brief review of the playwright,
Anne
Nichols
, as well as a short biography of the producer,
Frank
McCoy
. The section promoting the radio version of Abie’s Irish Rose features many photos of the radio cast. The program is in excellent condition with no missing pages and only one almost imperceptible quarter-inch tear on one page near the staple. There is some very minor scuffing on the spine, but it doesn’t really detract from the overall quality of this rare artifact of theater history. Free shipping only to U.S. Lower 48.