Mrs. McThing, A Play…
New York: Oxford University Press, 1949. Item #05881
Inscribed by Helen Hayes, Who Created the Title Role on Broadway
Mary Chase’s Mrs. McThing - From the Author of Harvey
CHASE, Mary. Mrs. McThing. A Play. New York: Oxford University Press, 1949.
First edition. Small octavo (8 x 5 3/8 inches; 204 x 137 mm.). [1]-126 pp. With four photographic illustrations from the original Broadway production.
Publisher’s gray cloth, spine lettered in black. In the original printed dust jacket. Small stain to upper edge of rear panel of jacket, otherwise a near fine copy.
Inscribed by Helen Hayes on the front free endpaper:
“To Geoffrey Lardner / best wishes / Helen Hayes.”
An excellent association copy of Mary Chase’s fantasy comedy, inscribed by Helen Hayes, who originated the title role of Mrs. McThing in the original Broadway production.
Following the phenomenal success of Harvey, Mary Chase returned to the realm of comic fantasy with Mrs. McThing, a whimsical mixture of fairy tale, witchcraft, mistaken identity, and social satire. At the center of the story is the formidable Mrs. Howard V. Larue III and her young son Howay, whose encounter with the mysterious Mrs. McThing precipitates a series of magical transformations and comic complications.
The play opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theater on February 20, 1952, with Helen Hayes starring as Mrs. Larue, a performance which became one of the memorable stage roles of her extraordinary career. The production was directed by Antoinette Perry - the actress, director, and producer for whom the Tony Awards were named - and enjoyed a successful Broadway run.
The present copy is therefore particularly appealing: Hayes has inscribed a first edition of the published play in which she would create its leading role, giving the volume a direct connection between text and performance.
Helen Hayes (1900-1993), celebrated as the “First Lady of the American Theater,” enjoyed one of the longest and most distinguished careers in American theatrical history. Beginning professionally as a child actress, she became one of Broadway’s preeminent dramatic performers, particularly celebrated for her portrayal of Queen Victoria in Victoria Regina. Her career eventually spanned some eight decades across stage, film, radio, and television.
Hayes was also one of the very small number of performers to achieve the so-called EGOT, winning Emmy, Grammy, Academy, and Tony Awards. She won Academy Awards for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) and Airport (1970), while her numerous theatrical honors confirmed her unique position in twentieth-century American theater.
Mary Chase (1906-1981) was an American journalist, playwright, and novelist whose enduring reputation rests principally upon her Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy Harvey (1944), the story of the genial Elwood P. Dowd and his invisible six-foot rabbit companion. The enormously successful play was adapted into the celebrated 1950 film starring James Stewart. Mrs. McThing continued Chase’s characteristic blending of the everyday and the fantastical and provided Helen Hayes with one of her notable postwar Broadway vehicles.
A particularly appropriate association copy, linking Mary Chase’s published play with the legendary actress who created its leading role on the Broadway stage.
Price: $350.00