The Play-pictorial, 1905
Leah Kleschna is a drama in five acts by C.M.S. McLellan produced for the first time on Broadway by Minnie Maddern Fiske, Harrison Grey Fiske and the Manhattan Company with set design provided by Frank E. Gates and E. A. Morange.
The play opened under the direction of Mr. Fiske at the Manhattan Theatre on December 12, 1904, and had an original run of 131 performances. Leah Kleschna returned to Broadway at the same venue in September 1905 for an additional 24 performances and in 1924 for a short run at the Lyric Theatre with Helen Gahagan as Leah.[1]
Leah Kleschna opened to positive reviews in London on May 2, 1905, at the New Theatre with Lena Ashwell in the title role. The production by Charles Frohman's company resulted in the threat of legal action by Mrs. Fiske who claimed she had purchased the English rights to the play.[2][3]
On December 10, 1913, the silent film Leah Kleschna premiered with Carlotta Nillson playing Leah, House Peters as Sylvaine and Hale Clarendon as Kleschna. The picture was directed by J. Searle Dawley and produced by the Famous Players Film Company.[4] A year or so later Nillson played Leah once again in a Daniel Frohman road production of the play.[5]
- ^ Leah Kleschna profile, Internet Broadway Database]; accessed March 30, 2018.
- ^ The Play-pictorial: Volume 6 – 1905; pg. 56; 1905 via Free Google eBook
- ^ Leah Kleschna in London, The New York Times, May 3, 1905.
- ^ Leah Kleschna , imdb.com; accessed March 30, 2018.
- ^ Orpheum Theatre, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, February 12, 1915, col 1; pg. 4