The First Year (play) explained

The First Year
Premiere:October 20, 1920 (Broadway)
Orig Lang:English

The First Year is a 1920 American comedic play written by Frank Craven, and produced by John Golden and directed by Winchell Smith on Broadway.[1] It was a hit on Broadway, running for 729 performances.

Background

The three-act play, which centers on the first year of married life, ran on Broadway at the Little Theatre for 729 performances from Wednesday, October 20, 1920 through June 17, 1922.(21 October 1922). The First Year Is Joyous, The New York Times[2] [3] [4] [5] (Prior to opening on Broadway, a warm-up performance was put on at the Apollo Theater in Atlantic City, New Jersey on October 7, 1920.[6] [7] [8])

It was the biggest Broadway show of the season, and when it finally closed, it was the third-longest run in Broadway history to that time.[9] It received positive reviews upon its release.[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] Mantle, Burns. The Best Plays of 1920-21, pp. 63-97 (1921) Critic Alexander Woollcott even called it "one of the best, if not the best [comedy], ever written by an American."[14]

After closing in New York, the company went on tour.[4] [15]

A London production was mounted in 1926-27, which opened at the Apollo Theatre on November 26, 1926, and moved to the Prince of Wales Theatre on March 27, 1927, with a total run of 180 performances.[16]

The Equity Library Theatre staged a revival in New York in 1947.[17]

Film adaptations

It was adapted to films of the same name in 1926 and 1932.

Original Broadway cast

Notes and References

  1. [Harriette Underhill|Underhill, Harriette]
  2. (18 June 1922). Advertisement, New York Herald (advertisement for 722-729th performances)
  3. (7 June 1922). "The First Year" Closing, New York Clipper
  4. (21 June 1922). "The First Year" Closes, New York Clipper
  5. Fisher, James and Felicia Hardison Londre. Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Modernism, p. 237 (2d ed. 2018)
  6. (8 October 1920). The Stage Door, New-York Tribune, p. 8, col. 3.
  7. (10 October 1920). New Productions Open Out of Town, Ready for Showing on Broadway, New-York Tribune, p. 11, col. 1.
  8. (11 October 1920). The Stage Door, p. 6, col. 3 (the prior day's Tribune said no New York debut date had yet been set; today, an October 20 opening at the Little Theatre is reported)
  9. Bordman, Gerald and Thomas S. Hischak. The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre, pp. 228-29 (3d ed. 2004)
  10. (21 October 1920). "The First Year" Equals "Lightnin'" In Dramatic Value, New-York Tribune, p. 8 col. 3
  11. (21 October 1920). "The First Year" Gives Its Audience Night of Laughter, New York Herald, p. 11, col. 6.
  12. [Heywood Broun|Broun, Heywood]
  13. [Heywood Broun|Broun, Heywood]
  14. [Alexander Woollcott|Woollcott, Alexander]
  15. Hickman, Walter D. (7 August 1923). Newlyweds Have Matrimonial Measles, Indianapolis Times
  16. Wearing, J.P. The London Stage 1920-1929, p. 480 (2d ed. 2014)
  17. https://books.google.com/books?id=QAwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT46 Library Theater

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