Francis Wilson (actor)
Encyclopedia
Francis Wilson was an American
actor, born in Philadelphia.
show, but by 1878 was playing at the Chestnut Street Theatre
, Philadelphia, and the next year appeared in M'liss with Annie Pixley
. After several years in regular comedy
, he took up some comic opera
, appearing with the McCaull Comic Opera Company
and making a great success in Erminie
(1886). In 1889, leaving New York's Casino Theatre
, he made his appearance as a star in The Oolah. Plays in which he starred subsequently include: The Lion Tamer (1891); The Little Corporal (1898); The Bachelor's Baby (1909), written by himself. He was the author of Joseph Jefferson
: Reminiscences of a Fellow Player (1906), The Eugene Field
I Knew (1898), and several plays of which The Bachelor's Baby was the most successful.
for several years. In 1935, the first president of Actors Equity, Francis Wilson, a winter resident in Clearwater, convinced a friend, Mary Bok, to contribute $5,000 for the construction of a permanent home for the Clearwater Players.
Mrs. Bok agreed to the contribution on the condition that the Theatre would be named after Francis Wilson, who at that time was the premier actor of the New York stage. The bronze plaque of Mary Bok over the fireplace in the lobby is the only thanks she would accept.
The City of Clearwater leased the land the theatre currently sits on for a term of 99 years for the rental sum of $1.00 per year, and the theatre was built in 1936.
Francis Wilson Playhouse makes traditional theater available to the community and builds and enhances the community's cultural image by offering a season of eight main stage productions typically including 4 musicals and 4 plays. The theater also includes Family Theater with original scripts geard twords families and children between the ages of 4 and 10, as well as a concert seires with theams ranging from broadwayy flops and broadway composers to holidays (i.e. love songs from broadway for a valentines concert). About 14,000 people a year see shows in the 182-seat theater. Auditions are open to the community and volunteers are welcome in all areas of theater production. From June 8–18, 2006, the theater staged an original musical about the life of Francis Wilson entitled "Francis Wilson the Musical (The Man and His Theatre)", in which the book, music, and lyrics were written By Gil Perlroth. James Grenelle was the director, and Mark Jelks was the musical director. The role of Francis Wilson was performed by Rick Kistner. (Young Francis Wilson was portrayed by Scott Hamilton). The show begins with the Ghost of the elder Wilson visiting the playhouse which bears his name and flashes back to his participation with the Actor's Strike of 1919, his estrangement and eventual reunion with close friend George M. Cohan, his family life in New York and his assistance in obtaining the funding for the original theater building.
You can view the website of the theater for information on the current season, auditions and any other inqueries.
Dalton Hamilton portrayed Jeff Wilson in Francis Wilson - The Musical
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor, born in Philadelphia.
Career
He began his career in a minstrelHaverly's United Mastodon Minstrels
Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels was a blackface minstrel troupe created in 1877, when J. H. Haverly merged four of the companies he owned and managed.- Promotion :...
show, but by 1878 was playing at the Chestnut Street Theatre
Chestnut Street Theatre
The Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the first theater in the United States built by entrepreneurs solely as a venue for paying audiences.-The New Theatre :...
, Philadelphia, and the next year appeared in M'liss with Annie Pixley
Annie Pixley
Annie Pixley was an American stage actress. A native New Yorker, she grew up in California. She made her debut performing comic opera and, according to her New York Times obituary, was well known for her work on stage....
. After several years in regular comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, he took up some comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
, appearing with the McCaull Comic Opera Company
McCaull Comic Opera Company
McCaull Comic Opera Company, sometimes called the McCaull Opera Comique Company, was founded by Colonel John A. McCaull in 1880. The company produced operetta, comic opera and musical theatre in New York City and on tour in the eastern and midwestern U.S. and Canada until McCaull's death in 1894...
and making a great success in Erminie
Erminie
Erminie is a comic opera in two acts composed by Edward Jakobowski with a libretto by Claxson Bellamy and Harry Paulton, based loosely on Charles Selby's 1834 Robert Macaire...
(1886). In 1889, leaving New York's Casino Theatre
Casino Theatre
The Casino Theatre was a Broadway theatre from 1882 to 1930 in New York City. It was located at 1404 Broadway, at W. 39th Street. It originally seated approximately 875 people, but after a fire in 1903 and rebuilding in 1905, it seated 1,300...
, he made his appearance as a star in The Oolah. Plays in which he starred subsequently include: The Lion Tamer (1891); The Little Corporal (1898); The Bachelor's Baby (1909), written by himself. He was the author of Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson, commonly known as Joe Jefferson , was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous of all American comedians....
: Reminiscences of a Fellow Player (1906), The Eugene Field
Eugene Field
Eugene Field, Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays.-Biography:...
I Knew (1898), and several plays of which The Bachelor's Baby was the most successful.
Francis Wilson Playhouse
Francis Wilson Playhouse is the successor to the Clearwater Players, organized in 1930 as a community theatre which presented productions in ad-hoc venues around Clearwater, FloridaClearwater, Florida
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, US, nearly due west of Tampa and northwest of St. Petersburg. In the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and in the east lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 108,787. It is the county seat of...
for several years. In 1935, the first president of Actors Equity, Francis Wilson, a winter resident in Clearwater, convinced a friend, Mary Bok, to contribute $5,000 for the construction of a permanent home for the Clearwater Players.
Mrs. Bok agreed to the contribution on the condition that the Theatre would be named after Francis Wilson, who at that time was the premier actor of the New York stage. The bronze plaque of Mary Bok over the fireplace in the lobby is the only thanks she would accept.
The City of Clearwater leased the land the theatre currently sits on for a term of 99 years for the rental sum of $1.00 per year, and the theatre was built in 1936.
Francis Wilson Playhouse makes traditional theater available to the community and builds and enhances the community's cultural image by offering a season of eight main stage productions typically including 4 musicals and 4 plays. The theater also includes Family Theater with original scripts geard twords families and children between the ages of 4 and 10, as well as a concert seires with theams ranging from broadwayy flops and broadway composers to holidays (i.e. love songs from broadway for a valentines concert). About 14,000 people a year see shows in the 182-seat theater. Auditions are open to the community and volunteers are welcome in all areas of theater production. From June 8–18, 2006, the theater staged an original musical about the life of Francis Wilson entitled "Francis Wilson the Musical (The Man and His Theatre)", in which the book, music, and lyrics were written By Gil Perlroth. James Grenelle was the director, and Mark Jelks was the musical director. The role of Francis Wilson was performed by Rick Kistner. (Young Francis Wilson was portrayed by Scott Hamilton). The show begins with the Ghost of the elder Wilson visiting the playhouse which bears his name and flashes back to his participation with the Actor's Strike of 1919, his estrangement and eventual reunion with close friend George M. Cohan, his family life in New York and his assistance in obtaining the funding for the original theater building.
You can view the website of the theater for information on the current season, auditions and any other inqueries.
Sources
- Clapp and Edgett, Players of the Present (New York, 1901)
- Kenrick, John. (2003) Who's Who in Musicals: Addendum 2003. Accessed 17 March 2007.
- FrancisWilsonPlayhouse.org
Dalton Hamilton portrayed Jeff Wilson in Francis Wilson - The Musical