A starry affair it is, too, with five legendary names from the stage at mid-century: Helen Hayes, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, Eva Le Gallienne and John Gielgud, all in roles that were associated with them.
About ANTA and this record
The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) is a non-profit theatre producer and training organization established by Congress in 1935.
ANTA sponsored touring companies to foreign counties in the 1940s and 1950s, owned the ANTA Theatre (now August Wilson) on Broadway, and helped establish the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center. It also once was the main membership organization for US regional theatre. Today its focus is the National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
In the late 40s, ANTA produced a number of fund-raising evenings in which stars of Broadway would appear in their best-known roles. This record is a spin-off of those evenings, and would be followed quickly by a second and final volume.
These sides originally were issued in a 78 set circa 1949, although the recordings themselves date from as early as 1947 (Victoria Regina). The LP is from 1950, and was in the catalog until at least 1960. As you can see above, my copy is autographed by all the principals; it may have belonged to someone associated with (or a donor to) ANTA.
The person who owned the record unfortunately did not keep the insert that came with it, so a few brief notes about the productions may be helpful.
Victoria Regina
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| Hayes as Victoria |
The Brown character heard on the record is John Brown, who was servant to Albert until the Prince's death. He then became a servant and confidant to Victoria until his own death in 1883. Brown is played by Ian Martin, an American actor of Scottish descent.
The download includes a PDF of the Playbill from the Broadway production, derived from images available here.
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| Gielgud as Richard II |
John Gielgud made a name for himself in the title role of Shakespeare's Richard II at the Old Vic Theatre in 1929. He also returned to the role in later years.
In the first scene on the record Gielgud is John of Gaunt, a role he would adopt later in his career. He is Richard in the second scene.
Years Ago and The Skin of Our Teeth
Years Ago, based on her childhood experiences by actor-author Ruth Gordon, was on Broadway in 1946-47, with her parents played by the husband and wife team of Fredric March and Florence Eldridge.
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| March and Eldridge in the scene on the LP from Years Ago |
In 1955, ANTA would revive the play with George Abbott and Helen Hayes.
Hedda Gabler
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| Le Gallienne as Hedda |
These well-recorded excerpts are all mightily impressive, although I have to say that the March-Eldridge team is let down by their comparatively slight material. I imagine the scene from Years Ago worked well on the stage, but on record it is evanescent. And while The Skin of Our Teeth may have won a Pulitzer Prize, today it seems dated and even a little odd.
Hope you enjoy this; my infrequent posts of spoken word material are always popular, perhaps surprisingly so. My apologies to Jack Gardner for taking so long to get to this.
