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{{Short description|New York City theatrical society}}
{{for|the Scottish producers|Theatre Guild Glasgow}}
[[Image:TheatreGuildLogo.jpg|right]]
[[Image:TheatreGuildLogo.jpg|right]]
[[File:TheatreGuild.jpg|thumb|Directors of the Theatre Guild in 1923. Left to right: [[Lawrence Langner]], [[Philip Moeller]], [[Theresa Helburn]], [[Maurice Wertheim]], [[Helen Westley]] and [[Lee Simonson]].]]
{{refimprove|date=February 2008}}
The '''Theatre Guild''' is a [[theatre|theatrical]] society founded in [[New York City]] in 1918 by [[Lawrence Langner]], [[Philip Moeller]], [[Helen Westley]]<ref>Cody, Gabrielle and Sprinchorn, Evert ''The Columbia encyclopedia of modern drama, Volume 2'' Columbia University Press p.1341</ref> and [[Theresa Helburn]]. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the [[Washington Square Players]].<ref>"A Pictorial History of the Theatre Guild" by Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall. Introd. by Brooks Atkinson. Crown Publishers. 1969</ref>
The '''Theatre Guild''' is a [[theatre|theatrical]] society founded in New York City in 1918 by [[Lawrence Langner]], [[Philip Moeller]], [[Helen Westley]]<ref>Cody, Gabrielle and Sprinchorn, Evert. ''The Columbia encyclopedia of modern drama, Volume 2'', Columbia University Press, p. 1341</ref> and [[Theresa Helburn]]. Langner's wife, [[Armina Marshall]], then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the [[Washington Square Players]].<ref>''A Pictorial History of the Theatre Guild'' by Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall. Introd. by Brooks Atkinson. Crown Publishers. 1969</ref>


==History==
⚫
Its original purpose was to produce non-commercial works by [[United States|American]] and foreign [[playwrights]]. It differed from other theaters at the time in that its board of directors shared the responsibility of choosing plays, management, and production.<ref>"Vintage Years Of The Theatre Guild, 1928-1939" by Roy S. Waldau. Case Western Reserve University Press. 1972</ref> The Theatre Guild contributed greatly to the success of [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] from the 1920s throughout the 1970s.


⚫
Its original purpose was to produce non-commercial works by [[United States|American]] and foreign [[playwrights]]. It differed from other theaters at the time in that its board of directors shared the responsibility of choosing plays, management, and production.<ref>''Vintage Years Of The Theatre Guild, 1928-1939'' by Roy S. Waldau. Case Western Reserve University Press. 1972</ref> The Theatre Guild contributed greatly to the success of [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] from the 1920s throughout the 1970s.
⚫
The Guild has produced a total of 228 plays on Broadway, including 18 by [[George Bernard Shaw]] and seven by [[Eugene O'Neill]]. Other major playwrights introduced to theatre-going Americans include [[Robert Sherwood]], [[Maxwell Anderson]], [[Sidney Howard]], [[William Saroyan]], and [[Philip Barry]]. In the field of [[musical theatre]], the Guild has promoted works by [[Richard Rodgers]], teamed with both [[Lorenz Hart]] and [[Oscar Hammerstein II]], [[George Gershwin|George]] and [[Ira Gershwin]], [[Jule Styne]], and [[Meredith Willson]], all of which have become classics.Under President [[John F. Kennedy]], the Guild was engaged to assemble a US theatre company, headed by Helen Hayes, to tour the capitals of [[Europe]] and [[South America]] with works by [[Tennessee Williams]], [[Thornton Wilder]], and [[William Gibson (playwright)|William Gibson]].<ref>"The Oxford Companion to American Theatre." Oxford University Press. 2004</ref>


⚫
The Guild has produced a total of 228 plays on Broadway, including 18 by [[George Bernard Shaw]] and seven by [[Eugene O'Neill]]. Other major playwrights introduced to theatre-going Americans include [[Robert E. Sherwood]], [[Maxwell Anderson]], [[Sidney Howard]], [[William Saroyan]], and [[Philip Barry]]. In the field of [[musical theatre]], the Guild has promoted works by [[Richard Rodgers]], teamed with both [[Lorenz Hart]] and [[Oscar Hammerstein II]], [[George Gershwin|George]] and [[Ira Gershwin]], [[Jule Styne]], and [[Meredith Willson]], all of which have become classics.
⚫
In 1968, the Guild became involved in the travel field by taking 25 of its subscribers to European capitals to see plays. In 1975, it instituted its Theatre At Sea program with a 17-day cruise aboard the [[SS Rotterdam|Rotterdam]] with Hayes and [[Cyril Ritchard]]. Since then they have hosted more than thirty cruises, each with seven or eight performers. Among them have been [[Alan Arkin]], [[Zoe Caldwell]], [[Anne Jackson]], [[Cherry Jones]], [[Richard Kiley]], [[Eartha Kitt]], [[Patricia Neal]], [[Lynn Redgrave]], [[Gena Rowlands]], [[Jean Stapleton]], [[Eli Wallach]], and [[Lee Roy Reams]], who now serves as the program's resident director.

The Guild's 1930 production of ''[[Roar, China!]]'' was [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]'s first play with a majority Asian cast.<ref name=":Gao">{{Cite book |last=Gao |first=Yunxiang |title=Arise, Africa! Roar, China! Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century |date=2021 |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |isbn=9781469664606 |location=Chapel Hill, NC}}</ref>{{Rp|page=237}}

[[Warren Caro]] served as the organization's executive director from 1946 through 1967.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/02/obituaries/warren-caro-87-theater-executive.html|title=Warren Caro, 87, Theater Executive|date=January 2, 1995|page=43|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Under President [[John F. Kennedy]], the Guild was engaged to assemble a U.S. theatre company, headed by [[Helen Hayes]], to tour the capitals of [[Europe]] and [[South America]] with works by [[Tennessee Williams]], [[Thornton Wilder]], and [[William Gibson (playwright)|William Gibson]].<ref>''The Oxford Companion to American Theatre''. Oxford University Press. 2004</ref>

⚫
In 1968, the Guild became involved in the travel field by taking 25 of its subscribers to European capitals to see plays. In 1975, it instituted its Theatre At Sea program with a 17-day cruise aboard the [[SS Rotterdam|''Rotterdam'']] with Hayes and [[Cyril Ritchard]]. Since then they have hosted more than thirty cruises, each with seven or eight performers. Among them have been [[Alan Arkin]], [[Zoe Caldwell]], [[Anne Jackson]], [[Cherry Jones]], [[Richard Kiley]], [[Eartha Kitt]], [[Patricia Neal]], [[Lynn Redgrave]], [[Gena Rowlands]], [[Jean Stapleton]], [[Eli Wallach]], and [[Lee Roy Reams]], who served as the program's resident director.

The last Broadway play produced by The Theatre Guild was ''[[State Fair (musical)|State Fair]]'' in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|title= Theatre Guild records|url=http://archives.nypl.org/the/22321|access-date=2021-06-02}}</ref>


==Notable productions==
==Notable productions==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*1920: ''[[Heartbreak House]]''
*1920: ''[[Heartbreak House]]''
*1921: ''[[Liliom]]''
*1922: ''[[R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)]]''
*1922: ''[[R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)]]''
*1922: ''[[He Who Gets Slapped]]''
*1923: ''[[Saint Joan (play)|Saint Joan]]''
*1923: ''[[Saint Joan (play)|Saint Joan]]''
*1925: ''[[Processional (play)|Processional]]''
*1925: ''[[Processional (play)|Processional]]''
*1927: ''[[Porgy (play)|Porgy]]''
*1928: ''[[Strange Interlude]]''
*1928: ''[[Strange Interlude]]''
*1930: [[Roar, China!]]
*1931: ''[[Mourning Becomes Electra]]''
*1931: ''[[Mourning Becomes Electra]]''
*1933: ''[[Ah, Wilderness!]]''
*1933: ''[[Ah, Wilderness!]]''
*1935: ''[[Porgy and Bess]]''
*1935: ''[[Porgy and Bess]]''
*1936: ''[[Idiot's Delight]]''
*1936: ''[[The Masque of Kings (play)|The Masque of Kings]]''; ''[[Idiot's Delight (play)|Idiot's Delight]]''
*1939: ''[[The Philadelphia Story (play)|The Philadelphia Story]]''; ''[[The Time of Your Life]]''
*1939: ''[[The Philadelphia Story (play)|The Philadelphia Story]]''; ''[[The Time of Your Life]]''
*1943: ''[[Oklahoma!]]''
*1943: ''[[Oklahoma!]]''
*1943: ''[[Othello#20th century|Othello]]''
*1944: ''Jacobowsky and the Colonel''
*1944: ''Jacobowsky and the Colonel''
*1945: ''[[Carousel (musical)|Carousel]]''
*1945: ''[[Carousel (musical)|Carousel]]''
Line 26: Line 42:
*1947: ''[[The Winslow Boy]]''
*1947: ''[[The Winslow Boy]]''
*1950: ''[[Come Back, Little Sheba (play)|Come Back, Little Sheba]]''
*1950: ''[[Come Back, Little Sheba (play)|Come Back, Little Sheba]]''
*1953: ''[[Picnic (play)|Picnic]]''; ''[[The Trip to Bountiful]]''
*1953: ''[[Picnic (play)|Picnic]]''; ''[[The Trip to Bountiful (play)|The Trip to Bountiful]]''
*1955: ''[[The Matchmaker]]''
*1955: ''[[The Matchmaker]]''
*1956: ''[[Bells Are Ringing (musical)|Bells Are Ringing]]''
*1956: ''[[Bells Are Ringing (musical)|Bells Are Ringing]]''
*1958: ''[[Sunrise at Campobello]]''
*1958: ''[[Sunrise at Campobello (play)|Sunrise at Campobello]]''
*1960: ''[[The Unsinkable Molly Brown (musical)|The Unsinkable Molly Brown]]''
*1960: ''[[The Unsinkable Molly Brown (musical)|The Unsinkable Molly Brown]]''
*1965: ''[[The Royal Hunt of the Sun]]''
*1965: ''[[The Royal Hunt of the Sun]]''
*1974: ''[[Absurd Person Singular]]''
*1974: ''[[Absurd Person Singular]]''
{{div col end}}


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category|Theatre Guild}}
* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=20920 Internet Broadway Database listing]
*{{IBDB name|20920|Theatre Guild}}
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590271/Theatre-Guild]
*[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590271/Theatre-Guild Encyclopædia Britannica entry]
*[http://www.brynmawr.edu/Library/speccoll/guides/helburn/index.shtml Finding Aid to the Theresa Helburn Theatre Guild Collection, Bryn Mawr College]
*[http://archives.nypl.org/the/22321 Theatre Guild records, 1949-1952], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
*[http://archives.nypl.org/the/21816 Theatre Guild technical drawings and other production materials, circa 1925-1953], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
*[http://archives.nypl.org/the/21815 Sara Greenspan Theatre Guild files, 1925-1969], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
*[[hdl:10079/fa/beinecke.theatreguild|Theatre Guild Archive]]., Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

{{Special Tony Award}}

<!--
* * * * * * * Please do not add Category:Tony Award winners which is for competitive Tony Award recipients. The Special Tony Award is a non-competitive honor that is bestowed not won.
--->


[[Category:Theatre companies in New York]]
[[Category:Broadway theatre]]
[[Category:Broadway]]
[[Category:Guilds in the United States]]
[[Category:Special Tony Award recipients]]
[[Category:Defunct theatre companies in New York City]]

Latest revision as of 01:34, 6 August 2024

For the Scottish producers, see Theatre Guild Glasgow.
Directors of the Theatre Guild in 1923. Left to right: Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Theresa Helburn, Maurice Wertheim, Helen Westley and Lee Simonson.

The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley[1] and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the Washington Square Players.[2]

History

[edit]

Its original purpose was to produce non-commercial works by American and foreign playwrights. It differed from other theaters at the time in that its board of directors shared the responsibility of choosing plays, management, and production.[3] The Theatre Guild contributed greatly to the success of Broadway from the 1920s throughout the 1970s.

The Guild has produced a total of 228 plays on Broadway, including 18 by George Bernard Shaw and seven by Eugene O'Neill. Other major playwrights introduced to theatre-going Americans include Robert E. Sherwood, Maxwell Anderson, Sidney Howard, William Saroyan, and Philip Barry. In the field of musical theatre, the Guild has promoted works by Richard Rodgers, teamed with both Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II, George and Ira Gershwin, Jule Styne, and Meredith Willson, all of which have become classics.

The Guild's 1930 production of Roar, China! was Broadway's first play with a majority Asian cast.[4]: 237 

Warren Caro served as the organization's executive director from 1946 through 1967.[5] Under President John F. Kennedy, the Guild was engaged to assemble a U.S. theatre company, headed by Helen Hayes, to tour the capitals of Europe and South America with works by Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder, and William Gibson.[6]

In 1968, the Guild became involved in the travel field by taking 25 of its subscribers to European capitals to see plays. In 1975, it instituted its Theatre At Sea program with a 17-day cruise aboard the Rotterdam with Hayes and Cyril Ritchard. Since then they have hosted more than thirty cruises, each with seven or eight performers. Among them have been Alan Arkin, Zoe Caldwell, Anne Jackson, Cherry Jones, Richard Kiley, Eartha Kitt, Patricia Neal, Lynn Redgrave, Gena Rowlands, Jean Stapleton, Eli Wallach, and Lee Roy Reams, who served as the program's resident director.

The last Broadway play produced by The Theatre Guild was State Fair in 1996.[7]

Notable productions

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Cody, Gabrielle and Sprinchorn, Evert. The Columbia encyclopedia of modern drama, Volume 2, Columbia University Press, p. 1341
  2. ^ A Pictorial History of the Theatre Guild by Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall. Introd. by Brooks Atkinson. Crown Publishers. 1969
  3. ^ Vintage Years Of The Theatre Guild, 1928-1939 by Roy S. Waldau. Case Western Reserve University Press. 1972
  4. ^ Gao, Yunxiang (2021). Arise, Africa! Roar, China! Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9781469664606.
  5. ^ "Warren Caro, 87, Theater Executive". The New York Times. January 2, 1995. p. 43.
  6. ^ The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2004
  7. ^ "Theatre Guild records". Retrieved 2021-06-02.
[edit]
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