Glance at New York, A

Glance at New York, A (1848), a “local drama” by Benjamin A. Baker. [Olympic Theatre, approx. 75 perf.] When George Parsells ( G. Clark), a “greenhorn” from the country, comes to New York to visit his cousin Harry Gordon ( G. J. Arnold), they embark on a tour of the city, often encountering the most unsavory con men. They also disguise themselves as women to enter a “ladies' bowling saloon.” Helping them out of their scrapes, and once or twice unwittingly getting them into trouble, is a handsome, rugged fireman, Mose ( Frank Chanfrau), one of the “B'hoys.” The William Mitchell production was one of the earliest, and certainly the most successful, of American plays using the tour‐of‐the‐city theme taken from Pierce Egan's Tom and Jerry; or, Life in London. It was performed in city after city, with the title and setting changed to reflect local pride and points of interest, and made frequent use of contemporary slang, until then a rarity in plays. The show boosted the career of Chanfrau, who played in numerous other sequels written around the character of Mose. A Glance at New York was revived Off Broadway in a mixed‐media production in 2003.