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Bat, The
Bat, The (1920), a mystery drama by Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood. [Morosco Theatre, 867 perf.] The elderly spinster Cornelia Van Gorder ( Effie Ellsler) rents the summer home of a banker who reportedly has been killed, but who, it turns out, may have absconded after hiding stolen funds in the house. When a number of people are said to be after the money, Cornelia hires a detective to solve the mystery. But only after she and her guests are beset by sundry frightening occurrences, even murder, is it discovered that the detective is not the man he seems to be. The Wagenhals and Kemper–produced thriller was based on Rinehart's story “The Circular Staircase.” For many contemporary playgoers, May Vokes's comic performance as the easily terrified maid was the high point of the evening. When the play closed it was the second‐longest‐running show in Broadway history. Long popular in stock and amateur theatres, the play was revived in 1953 with Lucile Watson as Cornelia and Zasu Pitts as the maid. Curiously, when Alexander Woollcott reviewed the original production for the Tomes, a production he found “thoroughly interesting,” he suggested even then that Watson would have made the ideal Cornelia.
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Cite this article
Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Bat, The." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Bat, The." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-BatThe.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Bat, The." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-BatThe.html |
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Bat, The
Bat, The ( Strauss). See Fledermaus, Die.
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Cite this article
MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Bat, The." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Bat, The." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-BatThe.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Bat, The." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-BatThe.html |
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