Harold J. Kennedy authored and directed the play Reprise and also co-starred with Gloria Swanson. This was the second consecutive season that Kennedy wrote the opening night play and co-starred as well. The prior season, the play was Goodbye Ghost with June Allyson.
A letter dated July 9, 1967 to Whitfield Connor, written by someone on behalf of Gloria Swanson, concerned the accommodations for her stay in Denver while performing Reprise at Elitch Theatre. Among other things, the letter included the following comments:
I am sure Miss Swanson has talked to you regarding what kind of accommodations she will want – the most important item of course is a kitchen. Will you please arrange to have bottled water delivered for her use during the one week – what we have here in Chicago comes in two-quart decanters which are very convenient. Probably two cases, or 12 decanters, will be enough for the week.
Also we will have food shipped to Miss Swanson Theatre, so we would appreciate your taking care of this until Miss Swanson’s arrival.
In the files of the Theatre, a “to do” list noted to “get yellow page of Health Foods” and “shop for organic foods produce -carrots.”
Harold Kennedy described Gloria Swanson as a “perfectionist,” and stated:
When she sends the scenic designer explicit instructions that the mantel on the fireplace is to be four feet six and a quarter inches high, that is what she means. And it better not be six and one eighth. She will know in a second and if there is any discussion she’ll bring her tape measure out on the stage with her … She is a meticulous actress and she knows how to posture herself well and effectively … If she plans to lean an elbow on the mantel she wants it to be the exact angle that is flattering.
Who else but Harold Kennedy should know Gloria Swanson better. He participated in at least seventeen separate productions with her, with two of the plays written by him especially for her: one being A Goose for the Gander (which got to Broadway) and the other being Reprise.
In her autobiography, Gloria Swanson credits Harold Kennedy for her career in theater. She stated,
I had an absolute terror of the stage… and through the years I continued to turn down all comers who tried to lure me to Broadway. Even when I had no movie career left to jeopardize, I refused to go on the stage.
Then Harold Kennedy offered her a challenge, even though he knew she was petrified at the thought of acting on stage. He selected the George Kelly play Reflected Glory as being right for her and arranged to have it performed in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Harold Kennedy selected a cast and put me to work early learning lines because he sensed without my telling him what I feared most about those thousands of words … (On opening night) as I walked onstage, my heart was pumping so outrageously that I was sure it was visibly lifting me up and down off the ground. There was a thunderclap of applause that lasted a minute, and I blessed all the people of Poughkeepsie. Then I opened my mouth, and the words came out, all of them, in the right order, by the thousands.
In Denver, following the Wednesday and Saturday matinees, Miss Swanson remained on stage for a quiz session by the audience.
Understanding the wide interest in her youthful appearance and apparently unlimited energy, Miss Swanson has question-and-answer periods following her matinees when the audience may ask about her health, age, looks and physical regimen.
When asked about her age Miss Swanson rightfully admitted to being a youthful 68 years, but she pleasantly reminded people that Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote Over the Teacups at age 70, and Verdi wrote some of his greatest operas in his 80s. Years later, in 1975, during a visit with friends, a Denver Post article referred to her as the “Spirit of 76” noting:
Gloria Swanson is unhappy about a number of things – but having lived to 76 and “being still vertical while so many are horizontal’ is not one of them. “People expect a sugar limp old lady,” she says with a laugh that sets the red carnation she clutches into spinning circles in the air.
[Borrillo, Theodore A. Denver’s Historic Elitch Theatre: A nostalgic journey, 2012.]
Gloria Swanson’s Bio for her appearance in Reprise at the Elitch Theatre, was clearly written by Gloria herself. Her Bio reads as follows:
I was born in Chicago, Illinois, March 27th. (If you don’t know my age by now, I’m not going to tell you.) Christened Gloria May Josephine Swanson.
As a very little girl I had twelve lessons at the Art Institute. Left around the age of eight to live in Army posts in Key West, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, returning to Chicago every summer.
I visited the Essanay Studio, in Chicago, at the age of 14 1/2 and that started it! There were no casting bureaus in those days so they were only too happy to get anybody to stand in front of a camera. So, I was an extra one day — then bit parts — and finally I starred in a George Ade fable, Livra, Farina and the Meal Ticket, a title never to be forgotten.
At the age of 16 years and 11 months, I arrived with my mother in Hollywood, California, to get out of the unmentionable February weather of Chicago and as a stopover on the way to the Philippines where my father was then stationed.
I visited Keystone Comedies studio one afternoon — and that started it again! Co-starred with Bobby Vernon in eight or nine pictures, then went to Triangle where, through a fluke, I went into dramatic pictures (made eight or nine of them). And then I attached my wagon to Cecil De Mille’s star and up I went! Three wonderful years!!! Don’t Change Your Husband, For Better or Worse, the memorable Male and Female, Why Change Your Wife, Something to Think About, and lastly and unhappily The Affairs of Anatol.
This was followed by a five-year starring contract with Famous Players Lasky (now Paramount). Twenty pictures-the list is too long, but perhaps you’ll remember the first one because Elinor Glyn wrote it The Perfect Moment, and possibly you’ll remember some of my favorites — Zasa, Manhandled, The Humming Bird, Madame Sans Gene, (made in France).
After eight years on the Famous Players lots in California and New York (Astoria, Long Island), I made my own picture, The Loves of Sunya, (which opened Roxy’s Theatre in New York); next Sadie Thompson, and then my first talkie — The Trespasser, in which I sang Love, Your Magic Spell is Everywhere. It was followed by about six others and then I turned to the theatre-to learn to act in front of people.
Much has happened since then and tonight-the nicest of all were Sunset Boulevard on the screen and Twentieth Century on stage. For the rest of my autobiography, I’ll have to write you a book.
Thank you for so much. Gloria Swanson
Seasons at the Theatre
- 1967
HET Productions/Roles:
- 1967 – Reprise/Lila Lawrence
Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:
- Silent-era superstardom with Cecil B. DeMille — Became one of the most successful and highest-paid stars of the silent film era through DeMille vehicles including Male and Female (1919) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1925), and was among the first actresses to head her own production company.
- Academy Award nomination, Best Actress — Sadie Thompson (1929 ceremony, for 1927/28) — One of the first-ever Best Actress nominees at the inaugural Academy Awards.
- Academy Award nomination, Best Actress — The Trespasser — Her first sound film.
- Landmark role as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1950) — Regarded as one of the defining performances in American film, with the character and its lines (“I’m ready for my close-up”) entering popular culture; ranked among the greatest movie characters of all time.
- Academy Award nomination, Best Actress — Sunset Boulevard (1951 ceremony) — For her role as Norma Desmond, widely considered one of the most acclaimed comeback performances in film history.
- Golden Globe Award WIN, Best Actress – Drama — Sunset Boulevard (1951)
- National Board of Review Award WIN, Best Actress — Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Elitch Theatre Connections:
- Elitch Theatre alumni, Cecil B. DeMille, had a cameo in Swanson’s legendary film, Sunset Boulevard, in which she spoke the iconic line: “All right, Mr. DeMille. I’m ready for my close-up.”
- On television, Elitch Theatre alum, George Brent, guest starring in Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson.
- Twentieth Century on Broadway with José Ferrer in 1950.
- In Airport 1975, with Sid Caesar, Myrna Loy, and Martha Scott.
- Butterflies Are Free on Broadway opposite Dirk Benedict.
Wikipedia Link:
