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On October 31st, 1912, Winthrop Ames's production of the famous Grimm's story "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" opened at the New York Little Theatre (Now the Helen Hayes Theatre). Billed as the "first play written entirely for the enjoyment of children", the script was penned by Ames under the name Jesse Braham White. To bring the princess with "skin as white as snow" to life, Ames cast a talented young Broadway star in the role...Miss Marguerite Clark. Having already performed in "Babes in Toyland" (1903) and "The Pied Piper" (1908), Miss Clark was no stranger to the fairytale genre. Standing under five feet tall, with a sweet singing voice and a flair for comedy, Marguerite Clark was the toast of New York's theatre world. |
Picture of Marguerite Clark, as featured in the original theatre program. |
Snow White (Marguerite Clark) greets the One Eyed Pieman...the Wicked Queen in disquise. |
Snow White (Marguerite Clark) and her Ladies in Waiting. |
Full page photo spread from the December 1912 edition of Theatre Magazine. Click on image to see full size version. |
"Imagine one of the prettiest fairy tales illustrated by Maxfield Parrish, Boutet de Monvel, or Edmund DuLac, and you will have a faint conception of what this little production is like..." |
Snow White (Marguerite Clark) dances with the "little brown bird", while the dwarfs are away at the mine. Click on image for full size version. |
Queen Brangomar (Eliane Inescort) greets Prince Florimond (Donald Gallaher), as Sir Dandiprat (Frank McCormick) and Snow White's Ladies in Waiting look on. |
The Seven Dwarfs discover Snow White (Marguerite Clark) sleeping in their beds. |
Queen Brangomar (Elaine Inescort) buys a poison from Witch Hex (Ada Boshell). |
Marguerite Clark wrote of her stage success with Snow White fondly. In later years, she said "...I realized for the first time the difficulties of playing a child's part when the cast is composed of children. In this play, in which the maids-in-waiting and the dwarfs, with whom I constantly play, are real children, some very amusing things happen. Although the play was one which appealed to nearly every age from six to sixty, the audience was, for the most part, a very young one, and rarely a week would pass that some child, more familiar with the fairy-tale than others, would not caution me, in a loud voice, not to touch the poisoned apple, or let the old witch in the door; and one little lad nearly upset the scene, when the dwarfs find Snow White apparently dead, by trying to break this shocking news concerning the body under the table as soon as the dwarfs entered the door. And, of course, being the only grown-up it was my duty to remain dead and hold the scene together at the same time." |
Reviews for the show were favorable. The New York Times wrote "Imagine one of the prettiest fairy tales illustrated by Maxfield Parrish, Boutet de Monvel, or Edmund Dulac, and you will have a faint conception of what this little production is like...Of course, Marguerite Clark in the title part has more to do than anyone else and she is charming. Perfectly child-like in appearance, she played as simply as a child and was thoroughly successful in imparting the right sentiment...The maids of honor were all real little girls and many of the dwarfs were children too." |
The Original 1912 cast was as follows: Princess Snow White.....Marguerite Clark Queen Brangomar.....Elaine Inescort Maids of Honor to Snow White Rosalys.....Madeline Fairbanks Amelotte.....Harriett Ingalls Ermengarde.....Jeannette Dix Guinivere.....Dorothy Preyer Christabel.....Marion Fairbanks Astolaine.....Madelaine Chieffo Ursula.....Alison Coe Lynette.....Phyllis Anderson Sir Dandiprat Bombas, the Court Chamberlain....Frank McCormack Berthold, the Huntsman.....Arthur Barry Prince Florimond of Calydon.....Donald Gallaher Pages to the Prince Valentine.....Peter Miller Vivian.....Royal Herring The Seven Dwarfs Blick.....Edward See Flick.....Harry Burnham Glick.....Marie Cullen Snick.....Emmet Hampton Plick....Charles Everett Whick....John Davis Quee....Dorothy Farrier Witch Hex.....Ada Boshell Witch Hex's Cats Long Tail.....William Grey Short Tail.....Patrick Driscoll Lack Tail.....Arthur Simpson |
Madelaine and Marion Fairbanks |
Donald Gallaher |
Elaine Inescort |
Cover from the opening night program. |
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Marguerite Clark |
The Little Theatre circa 1912 |