''The Heart of Maryland'' was a theatrical play written, produced and directed by

David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of m ...

. The four-act melodrama set in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

opened at the

Herald Square Theatre The Herald Square Theatre was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, New York City, built in 1883 and closed in 1914. The site is now a highrise designed by H. Craig Severance. History The Park Theatre opened in 1883 (also known as the New Park The ...

in New York on October 22, 1895 and ran for 240 performances.

Mrs. Leslie Carter Caroline Louise Dudley (June 10, 1857 – November 13, 1937) was an American silent film and stage actress who found fame on Broadway through collaborations with impresario David Belasco. She was a strikingly beautiful and vivacious performer ...

originated the role of Maryland Calvert and

Maurice Barrymore Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe (21 September 1849 – 25 March 1905), known professionally by his stage name Maurice Barrymore, was an Indian-born British stage actor. He is the patriarch of the Barrymore acting family, father of John, Li ...

originated the role of Col. Alan Kendrick.

William Furst William Wallace Furst (March 25, 1852 – July 11, 1917) was an American composer of musical theatre pieces and a music director, best remembered for supplying incidental music to theatrical productions on Broadway. Biography Furst was born i ...

composed the play's incidental music. The play toured throughout the United States for several years, and was made into a silent film by the same title in 1927. Silent versions also appeared in

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

, with Mrs. Carter in her original role, and in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

. Belasco said that the play was inspired in part by the poem '' Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight'' by

Rose Hartwick Thorpe Rose Hartwick Thorpe (July 18, 1850 – July 19, 1939) was an American poet and writer, remembered largely for the narrative poem, '' Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight'' (1867), which gained national popularity. It was translated into nearly every lan ...

. As he recalled, "The picture of that swaying young figure hanging heroically to the clapper of an old church bell lived in my memory for a quarter of a century. When the time came that I needed a play to exploit the love and heroism of a woman I wrote a play around that picture. It furnished me the idea for 'The Heart of Maryland'."Marra, Kim. ''Strange Duets: Impresarios and Actresses in the American Theatre, 1865–1914''. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2006: 195. ''The Best Plays of 1894-1899'' featured ''The Heart of Maryland'' as the most notable play of the 1895-1896 season.

Footnotes

Bibliography

*Chapman, John and Garrison P. Sherwood, eds., ''The Best Plays of 1894-1899'', New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1955. Plays by David Belasco Broadway plays 1895 plays American plays adapted into films American Civil War fiction {{1890s-play-stub