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Clay M. Greene

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Clay Meredith Greene (March 12, 1850 – September 5, 1933) was an American playwright.[2]

Clay M. Greene
Born(1850-03-12)March 12, 1850
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedMay 9, 1933(1933-05-09) (aged 83)
San Francisco, California
OccupationPlaywright
SpouseAlice Randolph Wheeler (First) Laura Hewett Robinson (Second) [1]
Parent(s)William Greene (1812–1871)
Anne Fisk (1830–1901)
RelativesHarry Ashland Greene (brother)

Biography

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He was born on March 12, 1850, in San Francisco, California, to William Harrison Greene (1812–1871) and Anne Elizabeth Fisk (1830–1901). Some sources claim he was the "first American born in San Francsico";[3][2] although his obituary in The New York Times was careful to point out that he was born six months before the California Statehood Act.[2] He studied at Santa Clara University and was part of the graduating class of 1869.

Greene was the author of approximately eighty stage works which encompassed plays, opera libretti, and lyrics for musical theatre.[3] Many of his plays were first staged in San Francisco between the years 1874 and 1925.[4] Three of his successful plays were set during the California Gold Rush: M'liss (1878, based on a story by Bret Harte;[3] co-authored with A. Slason Thompson),[4] Chispa (1882, co-authored with A. Slason Thompson), and The Golden Giant.[4]

In the Spring of 1883 Greene collaborated with the Hanlon Brothers to create for them a new play; ultimately writing for them Pico; or , The legend of Castle Molfi. This work was reworked and eventually became the fairy pantomime Fantasma which had a long stage life in the Hanlon Brothers repertoire.[5] He wrote the libretto to the 1887 musical Our Jennie starring Jennie Yeamans which was staged on Broadway at the People's Theatre.[6] He was the lyricist to the 1889 musical Blue Beard, Jr. which he created with composers Fred J. Eustis, Richard Maddern, and John Joseph Braham Sr.[7] It premiered at the Grand Opera House, Chicago on June 11, 1889;[8] and then toured nationally,[9] including a stop on Broadway at Niblo's Garden in 1890.[10]

Greene wrote the libretto to the musical Peti, the Vagabond which starred Hubert Wilke in the title role and premiered at the California Theatre on Bush Street in San Francisco on August 25, 1890.[11] He collaborated with J. Cheever Goodwin on the libretto to the musical Africa which premiered in San Francisco in June 1893 prior to its Broadway run later that year at the Star Theatre.[12] This followed soon after by the musical The Maid of Plymouth; to which Greene based his libretto on the story of Plymouth Colony historical figures Priscilla Alden and Myles Standish. This work opened at the Broadway Theatre on January 15, 1894 and starred Margaret Reid as Priscilla and Eugene Cowles as Myles.[13]

With composer William Furst, Greeene adapted Victor Roger's 1892 operetta Les 28 jours de Clairette for the Broadway stage. He greatly modified the original French language libretto by Hippolyte Raymond and Antony Mars, and his English language version, entitled The Little Trooper (also known as Little Miss Trooper), was crafted as a starring vehicle for the actress Della Fox.[13] It opened at Broadway's Casino Theatre on August 30, 1894.[14] Greene's 1894 play Under the Polar Star was a murder mystery investigating the death of the leader of an expedition in the Arctic. It was adapted by David Belasco for an 1896 production on Broadway at the Academy of Music.[15]

Greene wrote the book to Ludwig Englander's musical In Gay Paree which ran at the Casino Theatre on Broadway in March-April 1899.[16] With the composer A. Baldwin Sloane he was the lyricist for the musical Aunt Hannah which premiered on Broadway at the Bijou Theatre where it opened on February 22, 1900.[17] The following month a second Broadway musical with a book by Greene, The Regatta Girl, was staged at Koster & Bial's Music Hall.[18]

Other plays he was known for included Struck Oil,[19] Little Trooper,[19] Forgiven (1886), A Man from the West (1900), and The Silver Slipper (1902).[3] He died on September 5, 1933, in San Francisco, California.[2]

Filmography as writer

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ "Clay Greene, Playwright, To Wed Wealthy Widow." Oakland (CA) Tribune, February 16, 1911, p. 2.
  2. ^ a b c d "CLAY M. GREENE, ACTOR, DIES IN WEST; Was First American Born in San Francisco -- Shepherd of the Lambs Here 11 Times". The New York Times. September 6, 1933. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  3. ^ a b c d Fisher & Londré 2009, p. 205.
  4. ^ a b c Gaer 1970, p. 60.
  5. ^ Cosdon 2010, p. 109.
  6. ^ Bordman & Norton 2010, p. 106.
  7. ^ Franceschina 2018, " Blue Beard, Jr.".
  8. ^ "CHICAGO'S NEW SPECTACLE.; "BLUEBEARD, JR.," AS PRESENTED BY MANAGER HENDERSON". The New York Times. June 13, 1889. p. 5.
  9. ^ "'Blue Beard, Jr.'". The Boston Globe. December 15, 1889. p. 10.
  10. ^ Gänzl 1994, p. 76.
  11. ^ Bordman & Norton 2010, pp. 119–120.
  12. ^ Bordman & Norton 2010, p. 147.
  13. ^ a b Bordman & Norton 2010, p. 148.
  14. ^ Sherwood & Chapman 1955, p. 85.
  15. ^ Lachman 2014, p. 173.
  16. ^ Bordman & Norton 2010, p. 191.
  17. ^ Dietz 2022, p. 9.
  18. ^ Bordman & Norton 2010, p. 197.
  19. ^ a b "Clay M. Greene Stricken Blind" (PDF). timesmachine.nytimes.com. March 17, 1918. Retrieved 2020-12-27.

Bibliography

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