Hugh Wilson

This is a rare four-page advertising herald (flyer) promoting the two-week, Post-Broadway engagement of the DOROTHY and DU BOSE HEYWARD Folk Play “PORGY” at the Hollis Street Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts beginning October 21st, 1929. (The play opened October 10th, 1927 at the Guild Theatre in New York City and ran for 367 performances before going on the road.) ….. Best known today as the basis of the DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin masterwork “PORGY and BESS”, the play starred FRANK WILSON as “Porgy”, EVELYN ELLIS as “Crown’s Bess”, PERCY VERWAYNE as “Sporting Life” and JACK CARTER as “Crown”. Others in the cast included GEORGETTE HARVEY (also a member of the Original Broadway Cast of “Porgy and Bess”), WESLEY HILL, DOROTHY PAUL, RICHARD HUEY, ELLA MADISON, ROSE MacCLENDON, LLOYD GRAY, PETER CLARK, MARIE YOUNG, HAYES PRYOR, STANLEY de WOLFE, HUGH RENNIE, EDWARD HARTFORD, LEIGH WHIPPER, WALLACE HILL, A. B. COMATHIERE, G. EDWARD BROWN, EDWARD FIELDING, GARRETT MINTURN and the Residents of Catfish Row ….. CREDITS: Book by DOROTHY and DU BOSE HEYWARD; Sets designed by CLEON THROCKMORTON; Directed by ROUBEN MAMOULIAN; Produced by THE THEATRE GUILD ….. DETAILS: Advertising handbills and heralds were distributed or inserted into the playbills of other productions to help generate ticket sales for upcoming shows and events. This four page herald measures 5″ X 6 3/4″ inches and includes wonderful graphics on the cover, production credits and excerpts from a number of reviews on the inside pages and promotional text on the backside. The cast and production credits have been copied from the playbill ….. CONDITION: With the exception of a light crease across the middle, this rare flyer 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.