Wedding Bells (play) explained

Wedding Bells
Genre:	Comedy
Subject:	Divorce
Premiere:	Broadway
Place:	Harris Theatre
Orig Lang:	English

Wedding Bells is a 1919 comedic play which played on Broadway.

The play was written by Salisbury Field and staged by Edgar Selwyn, and opened on Broadway on November 12, 1919 at the Harris Theatre. It played through April 1, 1920, for a total of 168 performances. Prior to opening in New York, initial performances occurred in Washington, D.C.^[1]

Wallace Eddinger and Margaret Lawrence played the lead roles.^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

The play received generally positive reviews, and Burns Mantle included the play on his list of best plays of the season.^{[7] [8]}

It was adapted into a silent film released in 1921 featuring Constance Talmadge.^[9]

It also was staged in London, and subsequent to a touring production after closing on Broadway,^[10] other productions of the play in the United States were mounted into the 1930s.^{[11] [12]} Aside from appearing in editions of Burns Mantle's best play lists, the play has subsequently received little attention.

Original Broadway Cast

• Percy Ames as Spencer Wells
• Maud Andrew as Hooper
• George Burton as Fuzisaki
• Wallace Eddinger as Reginald Carter
• Jessie F. Glendinning as Marcia Hunter
• John Harwood as Jackson
• Margaret Lawrence as Rosalie^[13]
• Mrs. Jacques Martin as Mrs. Hunter

Notes and References

1. (7 May 1919). Selwyns Start Rehearsals of 'Wedding Bells,' New Comedy on Old Theme, p. 11, col. 5
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=5UI5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA367 Mr. Hornblow Goes to the Play (review)
3. http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=d&d=NYC19191119.2.138# "Wedding Bells" Tinkle at the Harris for a Long Time
4. (13 November 1919). Triumph for Margaret Laurence and Wallace Eddington in "Wedding Bells", New York Tribune
5. (13 November 1919). Divorce is Bared In 'Wedding Bells', The Sun (New York), p. 9, col. 1.
6. Woollcott, Alexander (13 November 1919). (The Play (review), The New York Times
7. https://books.google.com/books?id=pBNeHkGkhrEC&pg=PA304 Classical Hollywood Comedy
8. Mantle, Burns, Ed. The Best Plays of 1919-1920, pp. 185-214 (1920)
9. (15 August 1921). The Screen, The New York Times
10. (9 August 1920). "Wedding Bells" at the Cort, Chicago Daily Tribune
11. (9 February 1935). Little Theatre Group To Stage 'Wedding Bells', Evening Independent
12. (21 February 1928). Wedding Bells Play Is Liked, Miami News
13. https://books.google.com/books?id=qyk_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA480 Who's who in the Theatre