35:, first using the name Woodland Garden Plays and later The Playbarn. The newlywed Cheneys helped Wilcox put on one-act plays in her backyard barn, and in the summer of 1923 someone requested that the group perform in another town. Wilcox chose not to go, but the Cheneys accepted, and the Jitney Players were born. The travels did not stop with that other town but "proceeded from village to village". The newly formed company used the Talcott Bradley House in Madison as headquarters.
30:
The Jitney
Players were begun by Horace B. Cheney Jr., He and his wife, Alice, "planned the formation of a troupe of strolling players", and he developed plans for traveling via automobiles. The idea grew out of his wife's theatrical experience before they married. Alice B. Keating (her maiden name)
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It is difficult to believe that is mounted entirely on a stage the main portion of which is a Ford truck. . . . Heavy drapes or hangings form a considerable part. When period furniture is needed, cardboard cut-outs are used to fit around the chairs, tables, and so on. It is, of course, impractical
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Initially the
Players traveled through Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, often performing in "many spots that perchance never otherwise see a local dramatic presentation of any sort". Summer productions were performed using scenery custom-built for the company's truck. In
55:
During the
Players' first 11 years, the troupe traveled as far north as Canada and as far south as Mexico. Each summer one or more vehicles left Madison carrying a stage, performers, stagehands, costumes, lights, props and scenery. Ahead lay "a summer-long tour of one-night stands". By 1929, the
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to carry around a variety of heavy furniture. The Jitney
Players carry a portable lighting system. Side flaps afford dressing rooms at the right and left of the stage. The players live in tents, and living quarters and theater can be set up or struck in very short order.
206:
houses records of the Jitney
Players in its Billy Rose Theatre Division. Papers in the collection "mostly document the Jitney Players' theatrical performances through photographs, scrapbooks, clippings, correspondence and playbills".
56:
transportation had grown from a single truck to three trucks "with six or seven automobiles stringing along behind". The equipment was set up on whatever space was available, including tennis courts and athletic fields.
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While traveling, the actors doubled as stagehands, doing work such as setting up scenery and lights. Actresses handled wardrobe-mistress-type duties, such as pressing clothes and sewing as needed.
47:, on September 1, 1934. Alice Keating Cheney, president of the group, signed the petition, which listed $ 142 in assets and $ 48,016 in liabilities, including wages due to actors.
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said in 1938, "We get the newly married daughter's bed, or the son's bed while he's in Europe, and then a good cup of coffee from a kind mother".
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The first tour, in New
England in 1923, included students from Yale and Harvard, "erecting the stage, setting the scenes and sleeping in tents."
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The company's first winter tour was in 1928–29. By 1939, the tour had grown to a total of 8,000 miles with the group performing in 20 states.
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winter weather plays were staged in heated halls of schools and colleges. The troupe's first venture into New York City was in 1928, at the
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456:"Ethel Barrymore Colt to head the Jitney Players at New Hope; presentation tomorrow will be 'Diplomacy,'; on one-night stands"
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By 1929 transported equipment included 300 folding chairs, which often were too few for the audience.
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Horace Cheney was the group's initial manager. His son, Bushnell Cheney, succeeded him as manager.
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395:"The Jitney Players: Strolling Troubadours of Modern Times, With a Ford Truck for Their Stage"
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Members of the troupe sometimes stayed with citizens where they were performing.
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was the name of a traveling
American acting company that was formed in 1923.
264:"On the road with Madison's summer theater pioneers - the Jitney Players"
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and
Constance Wilcox put on plays during summers in Wilcox's yard in
486:"Ethel Barrymore Colt And Her Players Present Revue Here"
735:
The New York Public
Library: Archives and Manuscripts
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Notable actors who performed with the group included:
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The
Players filed a petition in bankruptcy court in
707:. New York, Brooklyn. November 18, 1939. p. 19
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in 1928 described the Players' truck-mounted stage:
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522:. Vermont, Woodstock. August 24, 1939. p. 1
16:Traveling American acting company formed in 1923
612:"Ethel Barrymore Colt Heads Fine Cast Tomorrow"
582:"Ethel Barrymore Colt Has Lead in Hershey Show"
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677:. July 9, 1939. p. Section 1 - Page 5
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262:Gundersen, Bob (September 2, 2016).
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341:. September 2, 1934. p. N 2
421:"A Stage Set on a Jitney Truck"
492:. October 29, 1939. p. 13
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618:. November 9, 1938. p. 4
313:. March 17, 1929. p. X 2
306:"Who are the Jitney Players?"
374:. March 15, 1929. p. 21
559:. June 15, 1928. p. 30
238:. March 2, 1930. p. 26
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588:. July 12, 1940. p. 7
462:. July 22, 1938. pp.
393:Ellis, Jane (April 1925).
367:"Jitney Players risk city"
552:"Jitney Players in opera"
460:The Bristol Daily Courier
731:"Jitney Players records"
586:Elizabethtown Chronicle
490:Lexington Herald-Leader
204:New York Public Library
163:Seven Keys to Baldpate
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701:"At Brooklyn Academy"
671:"Ethel Colt on Stage"
642:"Notes, Jul. 9, 1923"
616:The Columbus Telegram
425:The Emerson Quarterly
334:"Jitney players fail"
231:"Horace B. Cheney Jr"
191:A Trip to Scarborough
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72:The Emerson Quarterly
431:(2): 9. January 1928
274:on November 26, 2022
135:Creatures of Impulse
114:Selected productions
88:Ethel Barrymore Colt
45:Madison, Connecticut
33:Madison, Connecticut
65:Cherry Lane Theatre
557:The New York Times
372:The New York Times
339:The New York Times
311:The New York Times
236:The New York Times
675:The Baltimore Sun
401:. pp. 42, 66
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648:. July 9, 1923
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745:November 27,
743:. Retrieved
734:
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715:– via
711:November 27,
709:. Retrieved
704:
695:
685:– via
681:November 27,
679:. Retrieved
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652:November 27,
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622:November 26,
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592:November 28,
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526:November 27,
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496:November 28,
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278:November 26,
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272:the original
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177:The Sorcerer
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108:Anne Seymour
104:King Donovan
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70:An item in
705:The Tablet
268:CT Insider
211:References
149:The Duenna
39:Bankruptcy
142:Diplomacy
51:Logistics
761:Category
739:Archived
198:Papers
26:Origin
747:2022
713:2022
683:2022
654:2022
646:Time
624:2022
594:2022
565:2022
528:2022
498:2022
437:2022
429:VIII
407:2022
380:2022
347:2022
319:2022
280:2022
244:2022
202:The
106:and
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