Winthrop Ames
Encyclopedia
Winthrop Ames was an American
theatre director and producer
, playwright
and screenwriter
.
For three decades at the beginning of the 20th century, Ames was an important force on Broadway
, whose repertoire included directing and producing Shakespeare and classic plays, new plays, and revivals of Gilbert and Sullivan
operetta
s.
, Massachusetts
to Cathrine Hobart and Oakes Angier Ames, members of a wealthy manufacturing family. Ames studied art and architecture at Harvard University
. He worked in the publishing business before turning to a career in the theatre. In 1911, Ames married Lucy (Fuller) Cabot in London, and the couple had two daughters named Catherine and Joan.
. In 1908, he was appointed managing director of the New Theatre
in New York, at Central Park West
and 62nd Street, where Lee Shubert
was the business manager. The New Theatre was the largest playhouse in New York City at that time, and Ames began to produce ambitious productions, mostly of Shakespeare and other classics. In November 1908, the theatre opened with an opulent production of Antony and Cleopatra
starring Julia Marlowe
and E. H. Sothern
. The theatre was a financial failure and closed after only two seasons.
In 1912, bucking the tide of Broadway commercialism, Ames used his own money to build the Little Theatre
at 240 West 44th Street with the express idea of putting on experimental dramas and to give an opportunity to new playwrights. This theatre had 300 seats and was, at the time, the smallest legitimate theatre in New York. One of the plays he presented in October of the first year of operation was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
, which he billed as the "First play written entirely for the enjoyment of children." Ames wrote the play under the pseudonym "Jessie Graham White" from the stories of the Brothers Grimm
. The play received favorable reviews. He also built the Booth Theatre
on West 45th Street in 1913 and managed both the Little Theatre and the Booth until 1930.
Ames's most notable Broadway productions included an adaptation of Prunella
(1913), The Philanderer
(1913), A Pair of Silk Stockings (1914), and Pierrot the Prodigal (1916). During World War I
, Ames organized the Over There Theatre League, which arranged for actors to travel to Europe to entertain troops.
(1921), The Truth About Blayds (1922), Will Shakespeare (1923), Beggar on Horseback
(1924), Minick (1924), Old English (1924), White Wings (1926), Escape (1927), The Merchant of Venice
(1928) and Mrs. Moonlight (1930).
By the 1920s, after the extraordinary success of the Gilbert and Sullivan
works in America at the end of the nineteenth century, the popularity of Gilbert and Sullivan had waned. Ames revived interest in these comic opera
s with lavish and lively seasons of Iolanthe
, The Pirates of Penzance
and The Mikado
from 1926 to 1929. Ames directed the productions himself at the Booth Theatre, which received critical praise. These paved the way for American tours by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
in the 1930s. TIME
magazine wrote of Ames' production of Iolanthe: "It is generally agreed that in this entertainment he has done the best job of any producer attempting one of the famous series in our time. The only anxiety now is that he may be distracted before he has revived everyone of the operas in an equally felicitous vein.... The show is now accepted as incomparably the finest musical preparation of its type in town, and probably in the world.
In the 1920s, Ames began leasing his theatres to other producers, and he produced his last Broadway play in 1930. In 1931, as he wound down his business affairs with age and poor health, he sold the Little Theatre building to The New York Times
. In 1959, the theatre was converted back to a theatre and was briefly renamed in 1964 as the "Winthrop Ames Theatre", and in 1983 it was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre
. In 1932, Ames left New York to retire to North Easton, but there he helped to found the Cambridge
School of Drama. In 1929, he was elected a trustee of Harvard and in 1936 became vice president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
In addition to writing his children's adaptation of Snow White in 1913, Ames was commissioned by the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation to write the screenplay for their 1916 motion pictures Oliver Twist and Snow White
. He also translated The Merchant of Paris from the French in 1930 and wrote other plays.
Ames died of pneumonia in 1937 in Boston
three weeks before his 67th birthday and was buried in North Easton. Like other influential Broadway theater producers, Ames's likeness was captured in caricature by Alex Gard
for the wall of Sardi's
, the New York City
theater district restaurant. The picture is now part of the collection of the New York Public Library
.
Winthrop Ames was inducted, posthumously, into the American Theatre Hall of Fame
in 1981.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre director and producer
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
For three decades at the beginning of the 20th century, Ames was an important force on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, whose repertoire included directing and producing Shakespeare and classic plays, new plays, and revivals of Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s.
Biography
Ames was born in North EastonEaston, Massachusetts
Easton is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 23,112 at the 2010 census.Easton is governed by an elected committee of selectmen and a town administrator.- History :...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
to Cathrine Hobart and Oakes Angier Ames, members of a wealthy manufacturing family. Ames studied art and architecture at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He worked in the publishing business before turning to a career in the theatre. In 1911, Ames married Lucy (Fuller) Cabot in London, and the couple had two daughters named Catherine and Joan.
Early career
In 1904, Ames toured Europe to study the management techniques of sixty opera and theatre companies. Upon his return to America, he became manager of Boston's Castle Square TheatreCastle Square Theatre
The Castle Square Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, was located on Tremont Street in the South End.-Further reading:* : containing portraits and sketches of the principal singers and a record of the casts of characters of the various operas produced together with a short story of each. Boston:...
. In 1908, he was appointed managing director of the New Theatre
Park Theatre (Manhattan)
The Park Theatre, originally known as the New Theatre, was a playhouse in New York City, located at 21, 23, and 25 Park Row, about east of Ann Street and backing Theatre Alley. The location, at the north end of the city, overlooked the park that would soon house City Hall...
in New York, at Central Park West
Central Park West
Central Park West is an avenue that runs north-south in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in the United States....
and 62nd Street, where Lee Shubert
Lee Shubert
Levi "Lee" Shubert was a Polish-born American theatre owner/operator and producer and the oldest of seven siblings of the theatrical Shubert family....
was the business manager. The New Theatre was the largest playhouse in New York City at that time, and Ames began to produce ambitious productions, mostly of Shakespeare and other classics. In November 1908, the theatre opened with an opulent production of Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
starring Julia Marlowe
Julia Marlowe
Julia Marlowe was an English-born American actress known for her interpretations of William Shakespeare.-Life and career:...
and E. H. Sothern
E. H. Sothern
Edward Hugh Sothern was an American actor who specialized in dashing, romantic leading roles and particularly in Shakespeare roles.-Biography:...
. The theatre was a financial failure and closed after only two seasons.
In 1912, bucking the tide of Broadway commercialism, Ames used his own money to build the Little Theatre
Helen Hayes Theatre
Helen Hayes Theatre with 597 seats is the smallest Broadway theatre and is located at 240 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan....
at 240 West 44th Street with the express idea of putting on experimental dramas and to give an opportunity to new playwrights. This theatre had 300 seats and was, at the time, the smallest legitimate theatre in New York. One of the plays he presented in October of the first year of operation was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1912 play)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a Broadway play that debuted at the Little Theatre on West 44th Street, New York City, on October 31, 1912...
, which he billed as the "First play written entirely for the enjoyment of children." Ames wrote the play under the pseudonym "Jessie Graham White" from the stories of the Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
. The play received favorable reviews. He also built the Booth Theatre
Booth Theatre
The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 222 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York City.Architect Henry B. Herts designed the Booth and its companion Shubert Theatre as a back-to-back pair sharing a Venetian Renaissance-style façade...
on West 45th Street in 1913 and managed both the Little Theatre and the Booth until 1930.
Ames's most notable Broadway productions included an adaptation of Prunella
Prunella (fairy tale)
Prunella is an Italian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it The Grey Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 310, the Maiden in the Tower.A version of the tale also appears in A Book of Witches, by Ruth Manning-Sanders....
(1913), The Philanderer
The Philanderer
The Philanderer is a play by George Bernard Shaw.It was written in 1893 but the strict British Censorship laws at the time meant that it was not produced on stage until 1902....
(1913), A Pair of Silk Stockings (1914), and Pierrot the Prodigal (1916). During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Ames organized the Over There Theatre League, which arranged for actors to travel to Europe to entertain troops.
Later years
After the war, Ames began to direct most of his Broadway shows, which included The Betrothal (1918), The Green GoddessThe Green Goddess (stage play)
The Green Goddess was a popular stage play of 1921 by William Archer.In the three years after its publication, the play toured in both America and England....
(1921), The Truth About Blayds (1922), Will Shakespeare (1923), Beggar on Horseback
Beggar on Horseback
Beggar on Horseback is a play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly.A parody of the expressionistic parables that were popular at the time, it rails against the perils of trading one's artistic talents for commercial gain. At its core is Neil McRae, a poor, young classical composer...
(1924), Minick (1924), Old English (1924), White Wings (1926), Escape (1927), The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
(1928) and Mrs. Moonlight (1930).
By the 1920s, after the extraordinary success of the Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
works in America at the end of the nineteenth century, the popularity of Gilbert and Sullivan had waned. Ames revived interest in these 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...
s with lavish and lively seasons of Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
, The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
and The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
from 1926 to 1929. Ames directed the productions himself at the Booth Theatre, which received critical praise. These paved the way for American tours by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
in the 1930s. TIME
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine wrote of Ames' production of Iolanthe: "It is generally agreed that in this entertainment he has done the best job of any producer attempting one of the famous series in our time. The only anxiety now is that he may be distracted before he has revived everyone of the operas in an equally felicitous vein.... The show is now accepted as incomparably the finest musical preparation of its type in town, and probably in the world.
In the 1920s, Ames began leasing his theatres to other producers, and he produced his last Broadway play in 1930. In 1931, as he wound down his business affairs with age and poor health, he sold the Little Theatre building to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. In 1959, the theatre was converted back to a theatre and was briefly renamed in 1964 as the "Winthrop Ames Theatre", and in 1983 it was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre
Helen Hayes Theatre
Helen Hayes Theatre with 597 seats is the smallest Broadway theatre and is located at 240 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan....
. In 1932, Ames left New York to retire to North Easton, but there he helped to found the Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
School of Drama. In 1929, he was elected a trustee of Harvard and in 1936 became vice president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
In addition to writing his children's adaptation of Snow White in 1913, Ames was commissioned by the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation to write the screenplay for their 1916 motion pictures Oliver Twist and Snow White
Snow White (1916 film)
Snow White is a 1916 American silent film made by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and produced by Adolph Zukor and Daniel Frohman. It was directed by J...
. He also translated The Merchant of Paris from the French in 1930 and wrote other plays.
Ames died of pneumonia in 1937 in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
three weeks before his 67th birthday and was buried in North Easton. Like other influential Broadway theater producers, Ames's likeness was captured in caricature by Alex Gard
Alex Gard
Alex Gard , born Alexey Kremkoff in Kazan, Russia, was a cartoonist. He contributed weekly drawings to the drama section of The New York Herald Tribune, and was hired to create caricatures of Broadway and other celebrities at Sardi's Restaurant in New York City.Restaurant owner, Vincent Sardi, and...
for the wall of Sardi's
Sardi's
Sardi's is a restaurant in New York City's theater district at 234 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Known for the hundreds of caricatures of show-business celebrities that adorn its walls, Sardi's opened at its current location on March 5, 1927....
, the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
theater district restaurant. The picture is now part of the collection of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
.
Winthrop Ames was inducted, posthumously, into the American Theatre Hall of Fame
American Theatre Hall of Fame
The American Theatre Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the Executive Committee. In an announcement at a luncheon meeting on March 1972, he said that the new Theater Hall of Fame would be located in the Uris Theatre . James M...
in 1981.
External links
- Links to postcards showing scenes from Ames' Gilbert and Sullivan productions at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive