The Widow Jones
Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox Musical The Widow Jones is a musical comedy created by the writer John J. McNally as a star vehicle for the actress and singer May Irwin.<ref name="Oxford">Template:Cite book</ref> The musical used song material in "Negro dialect" by a variety of songwriters.<ref name="nyt"/><ref name="Oxford"/> Premiering at the Boston Museum theatre and backed by the Boston producers Rich & Harris, the play toured in cities through the United States in 1895-1896; including two separate runs at Broadway's Bijou Theatre. The work is best remembered today for its Act 1 kiss scene which was re-created by Irwin with her co-star John C. Rice as a short film in Thomas Edison's The Kiss in 1896.
Plot
Irwin portrays Beatrice Byke an un-married "fat-fair-and-forty" woman who has run away to Maine and assumed the false identity of a widow going by the surname Jones in order to avoid her many ardent suitors.<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Oxford"/> Over the course of the play she is forced to pay the bills of her false husband, a man who allegedly died from drowning, only to eventually come face to face with the supposedly drowned man.<ref name="Oxford"/>
Performances and Edison film
The Widow Jones premiered at the Boston Museum on September 2, 1895, and then went on tour for performances in cities throughout the United States.<ref name="nyt"/> Part of this tour included performances at Broadway's Bijou Theatre where it began its run on September 16, 1895.<ref name="Oxford"/> The production left New York City to perform on tour, but ultimately returned for more performances at the Bijou Theatre beginning on March 16, 1896.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On April 21, 1896 at the Bijou Theatre the show's producer's, Rich & Harris of Boston, presented Irwin with a custom made silver perfume bottle and a plaque to celebrate the production's 300th performance given during the production's run (not all on Broadway, but collectively).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Thomas Edison hired the play's stars, May Irwin and John Rice, to recreate the kiss seen in act 1 of the play for the 1896 short film, The Kiss, made in Edison's Kinetoscope process. The film was acquired by the Film Library of the Museum of Modern Art in 1935.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Songs
- "His Legs Are Assorted Sizes" (music by Geo. H. Wilder, lyrics by Lawrence J. Sheehan)
- "I Love My Honey Yes I Do" (music and lyrics by Will C. Carleton)<ref>as indicated on cover of sheet music.</ref>
- "The New Bully" (music and lyrics by Charles E. Trevathan)<ref name="nyt"/>
- "I Want Yer Ma, Honey"<ref name="nyt"/>
Notes
External links
- Template:Ibdb show
- The Kiss - the Edison film on The Library of Congress' YouTube channel.