By RAY KELLY
There is no anniversary celebration – no gathering of renowned authors or distinguished historians – planned this month in my hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Still, it’s a noteworthy time for me as an Orson Welles’ enthusiast. June 4-5 marks the 80th anniversary of Welles’ only performances in Springfield.
Frankly, I was unaware Welles had ever stepped foot into the birthplace of basketball until two years ago when I happened upon a playbill for sale on eBay.
The 19-year-old Welles was part of a successful national tour orchestrated by theater great Katharine Cornell and her husband, director Guthrie McClintic. Playwright Thornton Wilder, who had caught Welles on the Dublin stage, was instrumental in paving the way for his professional American debut.
Welles would perform with Cornell in three plays: The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Romeo and Juliet and Candida.
An unbylined story in The Springfield Republican announcing his part in the Depression-era tour appeared on October 1, 1933: Orson Welles Joins Cornell Repertory
“Katharine Cornell has engaged Orson Welles to act (as) Marchbanks in Bernard Shaw’s Candida; Mercutio in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Octavius Moulton-Barrett in Rudolf Besier’s The Barretts of Wimpole Street with her this winter. Welles, born in Kenosha, Wis., had much experience as an amateur actor before he decided to become a painter.”
The newspaper article, which appears to be nothing more than an unedited press release used as filler, detailed how the teenaged Welles was a painter in Ireland for six months before taking a role at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. Following his success there in Jew Suss, he returned to the U.S. where he had devoted his attention to writing text books for Todd Press. His performance as “Marchbanks will be the first part of his own age he has played.”
The seven-month tour began on November 29, 1933 in Buffalo and arrived at Springfield’s Court Square Theatre on June 4-5, 1934. Seats fetched between $1.10 and $2.75. (Tickets for lesser performances at the 1,800-seat Court Square Theatre during the early 1930s sold for 25 or 35 cents).
The Springfield performances were announced on May 20, 1934 with emphasis placed on Cornell’s first-ever visit to the city. Welles was mentioned in the listing of the 55-member cast and crew, which featured leading man Basil Rathbone.
For the Springfield visit, there were performances of The Barretts of Wimpole Street on Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon, as well as a staging of Candida on Tuesday night.
With three weeks left in the tour, Springfield was the last stop on the road for Candida. Romeo and Juliet had already been dropped from the lineup and the scenery shipped to New York.
Springfield Republican theater critic Louise Mace described Cornell’s performance in The Barretts of Wimpole Street as “inspired… dynamic and electric.” There was no mention of Welles – or even Rathbone for that matter.
A few months before the Springfield performance, Welles had irked the professional Cornell by missing the train and having to book a flight to catch up with the tour. There had been other moments when he tried her patience, but as the tour drew to a close there was no indication of anything other than professional behavior on his part.
Variety estimated 500,000 people had attended the 225 performances given between November 29, 1933 and June 24, 1934.
During the hiatus between the end of the tour and preparations for Romeo and Juliet on Broadway, Welles kept busy. He launched the Todd Theatre Festival in Woodstock, Illinois; filmed the silent 16mm short The Hearts of Age; and wed Virginia Nicolson.
Welles rejoined Cornell for Romeo and Juliet in New York in December. However, he was relegated to the role of Tybalt to make way for Cornell’s friend, respected British actor Brian Aherne.
The performances at the Martin Beck Theater marked Welles’ Broadway debut. In the audience was an impressed John Houseman and the seeds of the Mercury Theatre would soon be planted.
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