in the Broadway production of
Abraham Lincoln (1919) A rare depiction of events in the life of a U.S. President by a British playwright,
Abraham Lincoln was a great success in its day. The play covers events in Lincoln's Presidency from his election in 1860 to his assassination, but omits most of the events in his private life.
Abraham Lincoln was first produced in October 1918 at the
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, of which John Drinkwater was the artistic director.
Arnold Bennett and
Nigel Playfair acquired the play and its company for the suburban
Hammersmith Playhouse, where
Abraham Lincoln became a sensational success with London audiences. Irish actor William J. Rea starred. Produced by
William Harris Jr., the Broadway production of
Abraham Lincoln opened December 15, 1919, at the
Cort Theatre, and ran for 193 performances. Lester Lonergan directed a cast including the following: •
Leonard Mudie as Chronicler • Florence Johns as Susan, a Maid • Winifred Hanley as Mrs. Lincoln •
Frank McGlynn as Mr. Lincoln • Forrest Davis as William Tucker, a Merchant • Duncan Cherry as Elias Price, a Lay Preacher • Penwood Batkins as James MacIntosh, a Journalist • John S. O'Brien as William H. Seward, Secretary of State • Charles Fleming as Johnson White, Confederate Commissioner • William R. Randall as Caleb Jennings, Confederate Commissioner • Paul Byron as John Hay, Lincoln's Secretary • Frank E. Jamison as Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury • Herbert Curtis as Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, 1862 • Alfred Moore as Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy • William A. Norton as Burnet Hook, a Member of the Cabinet •
David Landau as Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, 1865 • J. Philip Jerome as Messenger • Mary Horne Morrison as Mrs. Goliath Blow •
Charles S. Gilpin as William Custis • Albert Phillips as General Ulysses S. Grant, Commander of the Federal Army • George Williams as Captain Mallins, Grant's aide-de-camp • Charles P. Bates as Dennis, an Orderly •
Raymond Hackett as William Scott, a Soldier • Frank Ginter as General Meade, Field Commander, Federal Forces • Thomas Irwin as Captain Stone, Meade's aide-de-camp •
James Durkin as General Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Confederate Army • J. Paul Jones as John Wilkes Booth ==Adaptations==