''Leah Kleschna'' is a drama in five acts by C.M.S. McLellan produced for the first time on Broadway by

Minnie Maddern Fiske Minnie Maddern Fiske (born Marie Augusta Davey; December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fig ...

Harrison Grey Fiske Harrison Grey Fiske (July 30, 1861 – September 2, 1942) was an American journalist, playwright and Broadway producer who fought against the monopoly of the Theatrical Syndicate, a management company that dominated American stage bookings ...

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 The Manhattan Theatre was located at 102 West 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, directly across from Greeley Square at Sixth Avenue and 33rd Street. The 1,100-seat theatre opened in 1875 as the Eagle Theatre, and was renamed the ...

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 Helen Gahagan Douglas (born Helen Mary Gahagan; November 25, 1900 – June 28, 1980) was an American actress and politician. Her career included success on Broadway, as a touring opera singer, and in Hollywood films. Her portrayal of the villain ...

as Leah. ''Leah Kleschna'' opened to positive reviews in London on May 2, 1905, at the New Theatre with

Lena Ashwell Lena Margaret Ashwell, Lady Simson ( Pocock; 28 September 1872 – 13 March 1957) was a British actress and theatre manager and producer, known as the first to organise large-scale entertainment for troops at the front, which she did during Wo ...

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. On December 10, 1913, the silent film ''

Leah Kleschna ''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 o ...

'' premiered with

Carlotta Nillson Carlotta Nillson (February 25, 1876 – December 30, 1951) was a Swedish-born American actress who appeared in at least ten Broadway productions over the first decade of the twentieth century. She was probably best remembered for her portray ...

playing Leah,

House Peters Robert House Peters Sr. (12 March 1880 – 7 December 1967) was a British-born American silent film actor, known to filmgoers of the era as "The Star of a Thousand Emotions". Biography Born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, Peters bega ...

as Sylvaine and Hale Clarendon as Kleschna. The picture was directed by

J. Searle Dawley James Searle Dawley (October 4, 1877 – March 30, 1949) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, stage actor, and playwright. Between 1907 and the mid-1920s, while working for Edison, Rex Motion Picture Company, Famous Player ...

and produced by the

Famous Players Film Company The Famous Players Film Company was a film company founded in 1912 by Adolph Zukor in partnership with the Frohman brothers, powerful New York City theatre impresario. History Discussions to form the company were held at The Lambs, a famous th ...

. A year or so later Nillson played Leah once again in a

Daniel Frohman Daniel Frohman (August 22, 1851 – December 26, 1940) was an American theatrical producer and manager, and an early film producer. Biography Frohman was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in Sandusky, Ohio. His parents were Henry (1826&nda ...

road production of the play.

Synopsis

*Act I: Kleschna's Lodgings in Paris. *Act II: Study in Paul Sylvaine's House at St. Cloud. *Act III: Same as Act II *Act IIII: Same as Act I *Act V: Lettuce field near

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

, Austria Leah Kleschna is the daughter of a manipulative master jewel thief who has raised her to follow in his footsteps. When Leah is confronted by Paul Sylvaine, the owner of the house her father had sent her to rob, she is persuaded to contemplate her life as a thief. Eventually Leah returns the jewels she stole, abandons her father and leaves Paris to work on the country farm she was raised on. The story comes to a happy conclusion when a few years later Sylvaine reunites with Leah and a romance ensues.

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

,'' December 13, 1904, wrote:

"Evidence of a popular success were not wanting at the Manhattan Theatre last evening when for the first time was seen a new play by C. M. S. McLellan, hitherto known to New York playgoers as "Hugh Morton," author of several comic opera books, among which the most notable perhaps was that of '' The Belle of New York'' which endured a large measure of success, both here and in London. On this occasion Mr. McLellan has made an excursion into a more serious type of drama. But it is only fair to state that such appeal as the play made last night was in large part due to the exceptional brilliant acting of at least five of its chief protagonists. One or two of the minor roles might have been better played, but making due allowance for the usual conditions of nervous exaggeration incident to a first night, it may be said with conviction that the acting of George Arliss, John Mason, Charles Cartwright, William B. Mack and the star herself, provided an ensemble such as is rarely excelled."

'' The Standard'': (Source: ''The New York Times''; May 3, 1905)

"It is a piece far out of the common, and holds out the promise that in Mr. McLellan a new power has arisen."

Daily Chronicle The 'Daily Chronicle' was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the '' Daily News'' to become the ''News Chronicle''. Foundation The ''Daily Chronicle'' was developed by Edward Lloyd out of a local newspap ...

'': (Source:''The New York Times,'' May 3, 1905)

"There hitherto were seven wonders of the world. The eighth is added ... that the author of ''The Belle of New York'' should be also the author of ''Leah Kleschna'', the strongest piece of sheer stagecraft we have known from any source for years."

Original cast

** New York/London *Leah Kleschna:

*Kleschna (a.k.a. Monsieur Garnier): Charles Cartwright/

Charles Warner Charles Lickfold Warner (10 October 1846 – 12 February 1909) was an English stage actor. He was born in Kensington. He first appeared in 1861 at a special performances of Richelieu before Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victor ...

*Paul Sylvaine: John B. Mason/Leonard Boyne *Sophie Chaponniere: Frances Welstead/

Betty Callish Betty Callish (August 24, 1886 – after 1941) was a Dutch-born actress, singer, and violinist who performed in Dutch, English, German, French and Italian. In 1941, as Roxo Betty Weingartner, she became a postulant of the Third Order Regular CSMV ...

*Schram: William B. Mack/William Devereux *General Berton: Edward Donnelley/J.G. Grahame *Raoul Berton:

George Arliss George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he ...

/Herbert Waring *Madame Berton: Cecilia Radclyffe/Mary Barton *Claire Berton: Emily Stevens/Daisy Markham *Valentin Favre:

Etienne Girardot Etienne Girardot (22 February 1856 – 10 November 1939) was a diminutive stage and film actor of Anglo-French parentage born in London, England. Biography The son of French painter Ernest Gustave Girardot, he studied at an art school, but le ...

/Bertram Steer *Herr Linden: Robert V. Ferguson/A.E. Drinkwater *Anton Pfaff: Charles Terry/W. Hubert *Johann: H. Chapman Ford/A.W. Bascomb *Reichmann:

Monroe Salisbury Monroe Salisbury (May 8, 1876 – August 7, 1935) was an American actor. He appeared on the stage for several years and then became an early film star. Salisbury was a matinee idol. He began his acting career on the stage in 1898, appearin ...

/Henry Williams *Baptiste: James Morley/Reginald Walter *Frieda:

Marie Fedor Marie Fedor was a stage actress from Boston, Massachusetts who performed in theater at the beginning of the 20th century. Fedor spent most of her early life in Paris, France with her mother. She developed both musical and artistic tastes there. ...

/Dora Gray *Charlotte: Mary Maddern/Mrs Stanislaus Calhaem

Musical adaptation

Composer

Harry Lawrence Freeman Harry Lawrence Freeman (October 9, 1869 – March 24, 1954) was an American neoromantic opera composer, conductor, impresario and teacher. He was the first African-American to write an opera (''Epthalia'', 1891) that was successfully produced. Fr ...

adapted ''Leah Kleschna'' into a

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on o ...

in three acts, composed in 1931. The score was never published, but manuscript copies exist at

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

and Columbia University's

Rare Book & Manuscript Library The Rare Book & Manuscript Library is principal repository for special collections of Columbia University. Located in New York City on the university's Morningside Heights campus, its collections span more than 4,000 years, from early Mesopotam ...

Sources

{{reflist

External links

* The full text of
Leah Kleschna
' at

HathiTrust Digital Library HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

1904 plays 1905 plays 1924 plays Plays set in France American plays adapted into films Plays adapted into operas