While the 1906 season was to be a prosperous one, it was to be remembered mostly because of the appearance of Sarah Bernhardt and Douglas Fairbanks.
[Borrillo, T. A. (2012). Denver’s historic Elitch Theatre: A nostalgic journey (a history of its times). Colorado. p. 45.]
Many of the early plays presented at Elitch Theatre were eventually turned into silent films, such as the the 1903 play, Cousin Kate, that was presented as part of the 1906 season. Sadly it is not uncommon that those early silent films are now considered ‘lost’ — there are no known surviving copies.
The 1921 film of Cousin Kate, based on the play by Hubert Henry Davies, has been lost to time. However, as far as the early years of the play, we know it was presented on the Broadway stage and Ethel Barrymore made the role of Kate Curtis her own and was identified with it for many years. Alice Joyce stared in this film version.
Theatre Staff:
- Mrs. Mary Elitch Long, Proprietor
- Walter Clarke Bellows, Director
Resident Company:
- May Buckley
- Katherine Field
- Olive Oliver
- Olive Wyndham
- Julia Blanc
- Mabel Pennock
- Adelaide Byrd
- George C. Boniface, Jr.
- Harry Stubbs
- Edward Mackay
- Geoffrey Stein
- J. H. Gilmour
- Douglas Fairbanks
- W. Haywood Mitchell
- Charles Brokate
- Harry Willard
- H. S. Mack
- Thaddeus Shine
- Preston Kendall
- Charles Mylott.
Productions:
- Special Performances, May 24:
- Matinee, La Sorcière, by Victorien Sardou featuring Mme. Sarah Bernhardt and company.
- Evening, La Dame aux Camelias. by Alexandre Dumas, fils, featuring Mme. Sarah Bernhardt and company.
- Week of May 26: Cousin Kate, by Hubert Henry Davies.
- Week of June 3: The Other Girl, by Augustus Thomas.
- Week of June 10: Old Heidelberg, by William MeyerFoster.
- Week of June 17: The Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
- Week of June 24: Mrs. Leffingwell’s Boots, by Augustus Thomas.
- Week of July 1: Secret Service, by William Gillette (Sunday through Wednesday); A Japanese Nightingale, featuring May Buckley (Thursday through Saturday).
- Week of July 8: The Crisis, by Winston Churchill, featuring Maude Fealy. Janet Beecher was in the supporting cast.
- Week of July 15: The Little Minister, by J. M. Barrie, featuring Maude Fealy
- Week of July 22: Sherlock Holmes, by william Gillette, featuring J. H. Gilmour, with Master Ernest Truex as Billy and Douglas Fairbanks as Alf Bassick
- Week of July 29: If I Were King, by Justin Huntly McCarthy, featuring Jane Oaker. In the supporting cast were Douglas Fairbanks, Ernest Truex, Janet Beecher, and Spring Byington.
- Week of Aug. 5: The Stubbornness of Geraldine, by Clyde Fitch, featuring Jane Oaker.
- Week of Aug. 12: Old Heidelberg (Sunday through Wednesday), featuring Jane Caker and Edward Mackay: If I Were King (Thursday through Saturday), featuring Jane Oaker and Edward Mackay.
- Week of Aug. 19: The Pit, by Channing Pollock, featuring Jane Oaker and Hale Ham
- Week of Aug. 26: The Pride of Jennico, by Abby Sage Richardson and Grace L. Furniss, featuring Jane Oaker, William J. Kelly, J. H. Gilmour, and Hale Hamilton.
- Week of Sept. 2: Zaza, by David Belasco, featuring Jane Oaker and William J. Kelly
