Description
Collector’s Note – Why This Issue Matters
This Theatre Mart edition of The Playgoer documents one of the longest-running and most distinctive theatrical attractions in Los Angeles history. Its decorative cover presents a deliberately exaggerated melodramatic tableau involving a threatening villain, a distressed woman, and a formally dressed male figure. The design immediately communicates the emotional extremes, recognizable character types, and playful theatricality associated with The Drunkard. Printed wording on the cover identifies the production as being in its twenty-second year at the Theatre Mart. That dating evidence is important because the program has been cataloged as a 1950 item even though its contents include The Wayward Way, a musical adaptation first introduced several years later. Based on the production chronology, the surviving program most likely dates from approximately 1954 or 1955 rather than 1950. The absence of a clearly printed day or month prevents a more precise date from being assigned without additional internal evidence. It should therefore be cataloged as a mid-1950s Theatre Mart program with the earlier listing date retained only as part of its previous sales history.
The original work behind these productions was The Drunkard; or, The Fallen Saved, a nineteenth-century temperance melodrama generally credited to W. H. Smith. Preston Shobe and Galt Bell revived the play at Los Angeles’s Theatre Mart on July 6, 1933. Their staging transformed a moral drama about alcohol, temptation, suffering, and redemption into a highly social audience-participation event. Patrons were encouraged to hiss the villain, cheer the hero, respond openly to the action, and enjoy refreshments while watching a play that condemned excessive drinking. Songs, comedy, vaudeville-style entertainment, and an after-show olio became important parts of the evening. The unusual mixture of parody, nostalgia, communal participation, and old-fashioned melodrama attracted repeat visitors and members of the Hollywood community. What might otherwise have been a brief revival became a Los Angeles institution that continued until October 1959. This program preserves the production during its mature period, when its traditions and audience rituals had already been established for more than two decades.
The program also records the Theatre Mart’s attempt to reinterpret its famous attraction for contemporary musical audiences through The Wayward Way. The interior title page describes it as the celebrated musical adaptation of The Drunkard and credits music to Lorne Huycke, lyrics to Bill Howe, and staging to Dan Eckley. Mildred Ilse is named as the presenter, confirming that “Mildred Isle” in the supplied title is a spelling error rather than the name of an author or performer. The original spoken version of The Drunkard remained part of the schedule on certain designated evenings instead of being completely replaced by the musical. This arrangement allowed longtime patrons to revisit the familiar melodrama while other audiences encountered its plot through newly written songs and musical staging. The program consequently documents adaptation, preservation, and theatrical reinvention within the same venue. It also provides evidence of mid-century Los Angeles entertainment beyond the motion-picture studios most commonly associated with the city. Related printed artifacts from the nominal year assigned to the listing can be viewed through the 1950 magazine and periodical archive, although this particular program should carry a catalog note explaining its likely later date.
About the Publication
The Playgoer was a theatre-program publication distributed at reserved-seat venues in Southern California. The photographed title page describes it as “The Magazine in the Theatre” and states that it had been established in 1910. Unlike a general-interest news or entertainment magazine, each edition was connected with the production and venue where it was distributed. Programs could provide the title of the attraction, production credits, cast information, performance notes, theatre policies, advertising, and other material intended for patrons attending the show. This edition identifies the venue as the Theatre Mart and lists an address of 600 North Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles. It names Mildred Ilse as presenter and distinguishes between the musical The Wayward Way and the original spoken version of The Drunkard. The page announces an 8:30 curtain and emphasizes that performances would begin promptly. It also states that babies in arms were not admitted, reflecting a venue-specific audience policy. A humorous notice explains that carriages could be ordered for eleven o’clock, extending the mock-period atmosphere beyond the staged melodrama. Table prices are listed separately for the main floor and balcony, with different Saturday rates. The printed prices are described as including taxes and refreshments, showing that food and drink remained integrated into the Theatre Mart experience. A fire notice at the bottom directs patrons to identify the nearest exit and remain seated if an air-raid alarm or other disturbance occurred, preserving an additional detail of mid-century public-safety culture.
Key Highlights Inside
- The most important internal page identifies Mildred Ilse as the presenter rather than “Mildred Isle.” It credits Lorne Huycke with the music for The Wayward Way, Bill Howe with the lyrics, and Dan Eckley with the staging. These printed credits provide the strongest surviving evidence for identifying the production represented by the program.
- The Wayward Way is described as a musical adaptation of The Drunkard. Its central story retained the older melodrama’s conflict involving love, alcohol, villainous temptation, personal ruin, and eventual redemption while presenting that material through newly composed songs. The program does not supply a complete cast list or musical-number sequence in the photographed pages, so those details remain unconfirmed for this particular performance.
- The Drunkard is advertised in its original spoken version on certain specified evenings. The Theatre Mart production had been presented in Los Angeles since 1933 and had developed a recognizable tradition of audience cheering, hissing, singing, refreshments, and after-show entertainment. Its popularity transformed a nineteenth-century temperance drama into a long-running work of participatory theatrical nostalgia.
- Mildred Ilse played an important production role during the later history of the Theatre Mart attraction. The program’s wording presents her as the individual responsible for offering both the musical adaptation and the continuing spoken production. It should not be described as a play written “by Mildred Isle,” because neither that spelling nor that authorship is supported by the printed evidence.
- The venue information records practical details of an evening at the Theatre Mart, including the 8:30 curtain, table seating, balcony prices, refreshments, and an anticipated eleven-o’clock departure. The notice that babies in arms were not admitted and the instructions concerning fire and air-raid alarms reflect the operational policies of the period. These details make the program useful for studying audience experience as well as the dramatic production itself.
- The ornate cover uses scrollwork and a posed scene of peril to imitate the visual language of Victorian melodrama. Its “22nd Year” wording helps establish that the program cannot securely be dated to 1950, particularly because the musical adaptation was introduced after that year. Without a dated cast page, advertisement, ticket stub, or other internal reference, the most responsible attribution is approximately 1954–1955.
Condition & Rarity
The supplied description characterizes this Theatre Mart program as being in Good overall condition. Minor age-related wear is reported across the item. Creases are specifically identified on the front cover and are visible in the listing photographs. The ornate dark cover can make folds, edge rubbing, and surface abrasions particularly noticeable under direct light. The pictured program is represented as the exact example associated with the listing rather than a generic image of another copy. Its photographs should therefore serve as the primary evidence for judging the cover, corners, spine, binding, and visible interior pages. No complete written assessment has been provided concerning tears, detached pages, writing, stains, missing advertisements, clipping, tape repairs, or restoration. Those characteristics should remain unconfirmed unless they can be established through further photographs or physical inspection. The photographed interior page appears readable and preserves the principal production and venue information. A plastic protective covering is reported to accompany the program and may help reduce exposure to dust and unnecessary handling. That covering is a later storage accessory rather than an original component distributed by the Theatre Mart. Historical interest is best based on the long-running production, Mildred Ilse credit, musical-adaptation information, venue details, likely mid-1950s date, completeness, and observable physical condition rather than on an unsupported claim of exceptional rarity.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
Related theatre programs can be studied as records of productions that may otherwise survive only through newspaper advertisements, reviews, photographs, and personal recollections. Programs from The Drunkard can reveal changes in cast members, musical entertainment, pricing, venue policies, cover design, and production management across its twenty-six-year Los Angeles run. Examples produced before 1953 document the spoken melodrama before The Wayward Way was added to the repertory. Later programs may distinguish the evenings assigned to the musical from those reserved for the original version. Cast pages can also help trace performers who worked at the Theatre Mart before or alongside careers in motion pictures, radio, television, vaudeville, and other live entertainment. Advertisements provide a separate record of nearby restaurants, hotels, transportation services, consumer products, and Los Angeles nightlife. Comparing programs may help establish a more exact date for this example through telephone numbers, admission prices, production personnel, or advertisements tied to identifiable events. The supplied 1950 publication archive offers broader context for printed entertainment and popular culture at the beginning of the decade. However, the internal evidence preserved here indicates that this Theatre Mart edition was probably issued several years after 1950. Its value as a historical document lies in the way it preserves a uniquely Los Angeles combination of Victorian melodrama, musical adaptation, audience participation, refreshments, comedy, and theatrical tradition.
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