Abie's Irish Rose
Abie's Irish Rose is a three-act comedy directed by Anne Nichols . The play opened on Broadway in New York on May 23, 1922 , after having been performed in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Although judged rather derogatory by the critics, the drama developed into a box office hit; it ran there for more than five years and had 2,327 performances - the piece with the longest running time on Broadway to date. For Anne Nichols, who had produced the piece in New York, it remained a one-off, but extremely large commercial success - also called the “million dollar play” by the press at the time.
Apart from countless tour productions in the United States, there were two revivals on Broadway (1937 and 1954), two film adaptations (1928 and 1946) and a radio play series ( NBC 1942-1944). Films like the seven-part The Cohens and the Kellys series were also very successful a little later with similar content.
action
Solomon Levy is a wealthy Jewish New York merchant and widower. From his son he expects that he takes a orthodox daughter-in-law and that the future offspring is brought up according to tradition.
But Abie loves Rosemary, an Irish Catholic girl. The two got married as a Protestant. The father doesn't know anything about it. Abie introduces him to his wife as Rosie Murpheski, a Jew of Polish origin. The old man likes it, he decides to marry the young people and appoints the rabbi.
Patrick Murphy, Rosemary's father, is a good Catholic and also a widower. He travels to New York with a priest. He assumes that his daughter will marry an Irish Catholic.
He realizes the mistake when he enters the Levy's house. While the old gentlemen are now quarreling, the rabbi and priest get along perfectly - Abie and Rosemary are also married catholic to be on the safe side.
The fathers demand the separation of the young couple - that separates from the fathers.
More than a year must pass before the old, driven by curiosity, visit the young family. Rosemary gave birth to dizygoti twins - they were given grandparent names, Rebecca and Patrick.
After the grandfathers quarrel again, there is finally reconciliation.
literature
- Gerald Bordman: The Oxford Companion to American Theater. 3. Edition. Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-516986-7 .
- Don B. Wilmeth, Leonard Jacobs: The Cambridge Companion to American Theater. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-83538-1 .
- Julie E. Cohen, Lydia P. Loren, Ruth G. Okediji, Maureen A. O'Rourke: Copyright in a Global Information Economy. 2nd Edition. Aspen Publishers, 2006, ISBN 0-7355-5612-1 , Chapter 5: The Statutory Rights of Copyright Owners; B. The Reproduction Right; 1. Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp.
- Abie's Irish Rose. Review. In: The New York Times. May 24, 1922.