Candle Light

By Candle-light* aka Wrong Number by Siegfried Geyer
Southampton†, England
Adapted by P. G. Wodehouse
Rôle: Josef with Gertrude Lawrence
8/26/1929 - c. 9/2/1929

Gertrude Lawrence traveled to London on August 1st aboard the RMS Aquitania to rehearse for the play which would open there in Southampton for try-outs for one week on August 26th and then the entire production traveled together back to New York aboard the RMS Majestic on September 4th, arriving in New York on September 10th. The show was scheduled to begin out-of-town tryouts in Philadelphia on September 16th but due to labor strikes in Philadelphia instead opened in Washington, D. C. and one week later moved to Baltimore. The play's title was changed to Candle Light.

*OCLC WorldCat Entry By Candle Light
*OCLC WorldCat Entry By Candle Light
ref: Eforgan, pp. 75, 76 and Theatre and Film Work Index
ref: Howard, L. R., pp. 159, 161
ref: Howard, R., Plays Index • Shows title as Candlelight and role as Joseph
†Theatres and Halls in Southampton
†Theatres and Halls in Portsmouth, England

Candle-Light* by Siegfried Geyer
Empire Theatre††, New York
Adapted by P. G. Wodehouse
Rôle: Josef with Gertrude Lawrence
(Left the rôle October 21st to play Peter Standish in Berkeley Square)
Total Performances: 128
9/30/1929 - c. 1/1930

"A comedy which relates how Prince Rudolf's valet falls in love with a pretty voice over the telephone, invites his charmer to his master's first floor apartment, and then, naturally, puts off his livery and becomes a Prince—all this is related with an arid, wiry wit that is capital entertainment. Particularly when Prince Rudolf returns unexpectedly in person and sardonically accepts the situation by donning his valet's livery—particularly then are the lines neatly turned and the situations nicely groomed in the acting. Your sympathies are very much with the ambitious valet who confesses that his previous love affairs have been confined to 'cooks and maids, with the possibility of a governess at Christmas.'"

*OCLC WorldCat Entry By Candle Light
*OCLC WorldCat Entry By Candle Light
ref: Eforgan, pp. 75, 76 and Theatre and Film Work Index
ref: Howard, L. R., pp. 165, 166
ref: Howard, R., Plays Index
ref: IBDb.com Leslie Howard Page
ref: IBDb.com Candle Light
ref: Inafferrabile Leslie Howard, Theatre - Candle Light • Includes company and cast information, short synopsis, reviews and photos
ref: Miscellaneous Notices
ref: Brooklyn Daily Eagle Review A. Pollock • "The Theater" 10/01/1929
ref: Brooklyn Daily Eagle Review A. Pollock • "Plays and Things" 10/06/1929
ref: Brooklyn Daily Eagle About Gertrude Lawrence 10/27/1929
ref: Denton Journal About Gertrude Lawrence and the history of the play 09/21/1929
ref: Detroit Free Press Review 10/13/1929
ref: Enquirer, Cincinnati Review F. F. Schrader 10/13/1929
ref: Havre Daily News Review D. Seymour • "In New York Theaters" 10/12/1929
ref: Indianapolis Sunday Star Review 10/20/1929
ref: New York Times • "In the Tryout Places" 09/22/1929
ref: New York Times Review J. B. Atkinson • "The Play" 10/01/1929
ref: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Review D. Mulhern 10/01/1929
ref: Pittsburgh Press Review P. Hammond • "The Theater" 11/17/1929
ref: Newspaper Art in PDF
ref: Museum of the City of New York Candle Light Photo Collection
ref: Program in PDF • After Leslie Howard had left the show
††Empire Theatre, 1430 Broadway (40th & 41st), New York, NY

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Rita Vale as Liserl in Candle Light]

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Robert English as Baron Von Rischenheim and Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Reginald Owen as Prince Rudolf Haseldorf-Schlobitten and Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Reginald Owen as Prince Rudolf Haseldorf-Schlobitten, Gertrude Lawrence as Marie and Betty Schuster
as Baroness Von Rischenheim in Candle Light]

[Leslie Howard with Robert English as Baron Von Rischenheim,
Reginald Owen as Prince Rudolf Haseldorf-Schlobitten and
Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Rita Vale as Liserl in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Robert English as Baron Von Rischenheim and Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Reginald Owen as Prince Rudolf Haseldorf-Schlobitten and Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Reginald Owen as Prince Rudolf Haseldorf-Schlobitten, Gertrude Lawrence as Marie and Betty Schuster
as Baroness Von Rischenheim in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Leslie Howard with Robert English as Baron Von Rischenheim,
Reginald Owen as Prince Rudolf Haseldorf-Schlobitten and
Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Gertrude Lawrence as Marie in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Robert English as Baron Von Rischenheim in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Reginald Owen as Prince Rudolf Haseldorf-Schlobitten and
Gertrude Lawrence in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[Reginald Owen as Prince Rudolf Haseldorf-Schlobitten in Candle Light]
Museum of the City of New York

[The Set]

[Leslie Howard as Josef with Gertrude Lawrence as Marie and
Reginald Owen as Prince Rudolf Haseldorf-Schlobitten in Candle Light]

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