Ladies' Night (play)
Ladies' Night | |
---|---|
Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre | |
Original language | English |
Genre | Farce |
Ladies' Night (sometimes marketed as Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath) is a three-act play originally written by
with the final curtain falling in June 1921. It was revived on Broadway in adapted forms in 1945 and 1950.Plot
Jimmy Walters is a married man who avoids many social events because of his strong reaction to women who wear modern fashions that expose their bodies. His wife, Dulcy, is annoyed by his behavior. Their friends – the couples Alicia and Fred, and Mimi and Cort – make fun of him. Fred and Cort believe they can cure his anxieties by taking him to a
The second act begins with the group of men dressed in
Cast
The characters and cast from the Broadway production are given below:[4]
Character | Broadway cast |
---|---|
Helen Barnes | Tillie |
John Cumberland | Jimmy Walters |
Eleanor Dawn | Miss Murphy |
Vincent Dennie | Bob Stanhope |
Edward Douglas | Cort Craymer |
Nellie Filmore | Lollie |
Claiborne Foster | Dulcy Walters |
Evelyn Gosnell | Mimi Tarlton |
Pearl Jardinere | Mrs. Green |
Grace Kaber | Josie |
Allyn King | Alicia Bonner |
Eda Ann Luke | Babette |
Julia Ralph | A Policewoman |
Mrs. Stuart Robson | Mrs. Shultz |
Adele Rolland | Suzon |
Charles Ruggles
|
Fred Bonner |
Fred Sutton | A Fireman |
Judith Vosselli | Rhoda Begova |
Reception
The Broadway production received negative reviews from many critics.[5] In a review for The New York Times, Alexander Woollcott called the play "a somewhat laborious farce" that the manager and playwrights intended to explore "how far they can go without being arrested".[6] In Theatre Magazine, Arthur Hornblow called the play "hackneyed" and not worthy of the authors' talents.[7] A review in The Forum said the material "often approaches the obscene. However, it is ridiculously funny, and one cannot help but laugh."[8]
Adaptations
Edward F. Cline directed the 1928 silent film Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath based on the play.
A version of the play revised by Cyrus Wood was staged under the title Good Night Ladies on Broadway, where it opened at the
An adaption entitled Ladies' Night at the Turkish Bath was produced by George W. Brandt in 1950. The play was shortened to under an hour and presented five times a day before showings of the unrelated adventure film
Notes
- Turkish bath.[3]
References
- ^ The New Plays-The New York Times; August 8, 1920, p. 70
- ^ Sharrar 1998, p. 135.
- ^ Latham 2000, p. 180.
- ^ a b "Ladies' Night – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB".
- ^ Bordman 1995, p. 129.
- ^ Woollcott 1920, p. 10.
- ^ Hornblow 1920, p. 186.
- ^ The Forum, July 1920, p. 232
- ^ Leiter 1992, p. 237.
- ^ Leiter 1992, p. 238.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Ladies Night in a Turkish Bath – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB".
- Newspapers.com.
Works cited
- Bordman, Gerald (1995). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1914–1930. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509078-0.
- Hornblow, Arthur (October 1920). "Mr. Hornblow Goes to the Play". Theatre Magazine. pp. 185–186.
- Latham, Angela J. (2000). Posing a Threat: Flappers, Chorus Girls, and Other Brazen Performers of the American 1920s. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6401-X.
- Leiter, Samuel L. (1992). The Encyclopedia of the New York Stage, 1940-1950. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-27510-6.
- Sharrar, Jack F. (1998) [1989]. Avery Hopwood: His Life and Plays. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-10963-4.
- Woollcott, Alexander (August 10, 1920). "The Play: Turkish Bath Humors". The New York Times. p. 10.