Stage for a Nation: The National Theatre: 150 Years

BOOKS ABOUT THE NATIONAL THEATRE

New National Theatre Washington, DC - A Record Of Fifty Years
by Alexander Hunter and J. H. Polkinhorn
Illustrated by J. Ellsworth Clark
H. G. Polkinhorn & Son, Printer, Washington, DC
1885

A Great Curtain Falls
by George Atkinson and Victor Kiraly
Strand Press, New York 18, NY
Undated, but written after the closure in 1948

Stage for a Nation - The National Theatre - 150 Years
by Douglas Bennett Lee, Roger L. Meersman, Donn B. Murphy
Forward by Harry Teter, Jr.
Preface by Helen Hayes Published 1985
140 pages
Copiously illustrated
University Press of America, Lanham MD
1985

Review by Brad Hathaway, Potomac Stages, 5 January 2005

Sometimes you come across a book you didn't know had been written but it fills a need so well you feel you just have to share the good news. Here's a case in point. Back in 1985 this volume was prepared as the National Theatre approached its 150th anniversary (the first National Theatre in Washington opened, the book informs us, on the same day as the first session of the 24th Congress). Douglas Lee, a staff writer for National Geographic Magazine, joined with the University of Maryland's professor of theater, Roger Meersman, and Georgetown University's professor of theatre, Donn B. Murphy (who today is the President and Executive Director of The National), to compile a richly detailed and fascinatingly illustrated volume covering the history of the house. It is a treasure as it details not only the shows that have played The National but paints a portrait of the theater community in Washington and the development of theater in America.

Storyline: The Federal Government established its Capitol along the Potomac in 1800 when there wasn't a single theater in the future city of Washington. The first theater in the city was built in 1804, but by 1835, a new "National Theatre" was built in the block between Pennsylvania Avenue, 13th and E Streets where today's National still stands. Today's National, however, is the sixth building of that name on the site. The institution of National Theatre has survived destruction by fire, collapse and redevelopment, but today, theatergoers still go the The National Theatre with its address of 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

The authors provide a glimpse of what theatergoing must have been like in each era. In 1836, a night at the theater might have begun at 6:30 so it would be over by 10:00, offering a play followed by a musical farce, entertaining dances, magic or athletic demonstrations and, finally, a quick concluding comedy. But a specialty act might fill the bill such as Fanny Elssler, noted for "the loveliness of her undraped limbs" who played The National in 1840. Not all the early activities were theatrical, however. For James K. Polk's inauguration in 1845, the seats were removed from the theater so the hall could be used for a ball. In 1850 the big hit was Jenny Lind visiting under the auspices of P.T. Barnum, who presented her at the National only when his request to use the Capitol building for the show was denied. In 1905 the stage version of Ben Hur arrived at the National with a cast of 350 actors, and eight horses who raced on a treadmill.

One night in1865 President Lincoln had planned on taking his son Tad to the National to see Mazeppa, or the Wild Horse of Tarary but changed his mind and went, instead, to Ford's Theatre where John Wilkes Booth was waiting for him. Tad, on the other hand, elected to go to the National and wasn't present when his father was assassinated. (A part-owner of National telegrammed the manager with the news of the tragedy at Ford's saying "Thank God it wasn't ours." How crass!) The National's history as a segregated house is presented with a fascinating view of the struggles that led to its closure as a legitimate theater in 1948 to be converted to a movie house rather than admit blacks. The leading playwrights of the day agreed not to allow their works to be performed here, and Actors' Equity refused to let their members play here, because of the discrimination.

More than political and national history was made here between 13th and 14th Street. It was here on November 15, 1927 that the modern American musical was born as Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's Show Boat had its first performance (which ran so long, the first performance didn't end until November 16, at 12:40 am). It was here that West Side Story first played before a paying audience and it was here that A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum didn't seem to catch on until a new opening number was devised in a legendary piece of "show doctoring" by Jerome Robbins. With this much history to tell, it is a shame that the publisher could not have provided an index to make it easy to quickly check for details and stories.