ORSON WELLES One Night Lecture "THE THEATER OF TOMORROW" 1938 Cleveland Program

Description

This is a rare program from the Sunday evening, December 11th, 1938 appearance of ORSON WELLES presenting a lecture on "THE THEATER OF TOMORROW" at Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio. The lecture was made possible through funds provided by the Women's City Club of Cleveland ..... Biography: ORSON WELLES (
May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985
) was gifted in many arts (magic, piano, painting) as a child. When his mother died (he was seven), he traveled the world with his father. When his father died (he was fifteen), he became the ward of Chicago's Dr. Maurice Bernstein. In 1931, he graduated from the Todd School in Woodstock, Illinois; he turned down college offers for a sketching tour of Ireland. He tried unsuccessfully to enter the London and Broadway stages, traveling some more in Morocco and Spain. Recommendations from Thornton Wilder and Alexander Woollcott got him into Katharine Cornell's road company, with which he made his New York debut in 1934 as "Tybalt" in William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". The same year, he married, directed his first short, and appeared on radio for the first time. He began working with John Houseman and formed the Mercury Theatre with him in 1937. In 1938, they produced "The Mercury Theatre on the Air", famous for its broadcast version of "The War of the Worlds" (intended as a Halloween prank). His first film to be seen by the public was "Citizen Kane" (1941), a commercial failure losing RKO 0,000, but regarded by many as the best film ever made. Many of his next films were commercial failures and he exiled himself to Europe in 1948. In 1956, he directed "Touch of Evil" (1958); it failed in the United States, but won a prize at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. In 1975, in spite of all his box-office failures, he received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1984, the Directors Guild of America awarded him its highest honor, the D. W. Griffth Award. His reputation as a filmmaker has climed steadily ever since. (Reprinted in part from the IMDb website) ..... DETAILS: The four page program measures 7" X 9 1/4" inches and includes a brief bio and list of patrons and committee members, but no photos ..... CONDITION: With the exception of a fold across the middle and creasing along the outside edge, this rare playbill is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard
.
Pay me securely with any major credit card through PayPal!