Winthrop Ames facts for kids
Winthrop Ames (born November 25, 1870 – died November 3, 1937) was an important American theatre director and producer. He also wrote plays and screenplays. For about 30 years in the early 1900s, Ames was a big name on Broadway. He directed and produced many types of shows. These included plays by William Shakespeare, classic plays, and new plays. He also brought back popular Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas.
Contents
Winthrop Ames's Life Story
Winthrop Ames was born in North Easton, Massachusetts. His family was very wealthy and owned a manufacturing business. Ames studied art and architecture at Harvard University. Before working in theatre, he was in the publishing business. In 1911, Ames married Lucy (Fuller) Cabot in London. They had two daughters named Catherine and Joan.
Early Theatre Work
In 1904, Ames traveled around Europe. He studied how 60 different opera and theatre companies were managed. When he came back to America, he became the manager of the Castle Square Theatre in Boston.
In 1908, he became the managing director of the New Theatre in New York. This theatre was the biggest playhouse in New York City at that time. It opened in November 1909 with a grand show called Antony and Cleopatra. Ames put on many big productions there. These included plays by Shakespeare and other classic works. The New Theatre did not make enough money and closed after only two seasons.
In 1912, Ames used his own money to build the Little Theatre. It was located on West 44th Street in New York. He wanted this theatre to show new and experimental plays. It was the smallest theatre in New York at the time, with only 300 seats.
A Play for Children
One special play he showed there was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He called it the "First play written entirely for the enjoyment of children." Ames wrote this play himself. He used the name "Jessie Graham White" and based it on the stories by the Brothers Grimm. The play was very popular and got good reviews.
Ames also built the Booth Theatre in 1913. He managed both the Little Theatre and the Booth Theatre until 1930.
Later Theatre Successes
Ames produced many famous Broadway shows. Some of these included Prunella (1913) and The Green Goddess (1921). After World War I, Ames started directing most of the Broadway shows he produced.
Bringing Back Gilbert and Sullivan
By the 1920s, the popularity of Gilbert and Sullivan operas had decreased in the U.S. Ames helped bring them back to life. He put on grand and lively shows of Iolanthe, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado. These shows ran from 1926 to 1929 at the Booth Theatre. Ames directed them himself, and critics loved them. He also toured these operas across the United States. His work helped pave the way for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to tour America later.
Time magazine praised Ames's production of Iolanthe. They said it was the best production of its kind.
Final Years and Legacy
In the 1920s, Ames began to lease his theatres to other producers. He produced his last Broadway play in 1930. In 1931, he sold the Little Theatre building. This was because he was getting older and had poor health. In 1959, the theatre became a theatre again. It was briefly called the "Winthrop Ames Theatre" in 1964. In 1983, it was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre.
In 1932, Ames left New York and retired to North Easton. There, he helped start the Cambridge School of Drama. He was elected a trustee of Harvard in 1929. In 1936, he became vice president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
Besides writing his Snow White play, Ames also wrote screenplays. He wrote the screenplays for the 1916 movies Oliver Twist and Snow White. He also translated other plays.
Winthrop Ames died in Boston in 1937 from pneumonia. He was almost 67 years old. He was buried in North Easton. Like other famous Broadway producers, Ames's picture was drawn by Alex Gard. This drawing is on the wall of Sardi's restaurant in New York City. The drawing is now part of the New York Public Library collection.
In 1981, Winthrop Ames was added to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
See also
In Spanish: Winthrop Ames para niños
