Downsizing
is a good thing – especially when a friend downsizes some goodies my way!
Such
was the happy case recently when playwright/composer Mark Friedman gifted me with
a nicely framed poster from John Wood’s legendary turn as Sherlock Holmes in the iconic
William Gillette play on Broadway in the mid-1970s. Mark attended the play and
bought the poster, which now resides on the wall of my Sherlock Holmes library.
The Royal
Shakespeare Company’s
I
love the way the poster hyped the melodramatic aspects of the play – which is,
after all, a melodrama. It noted the presence of:
GENUINE LONDON FOG • TRAP DOORS
SECRET PASSAGES • GAS CHAMBERS
HIDDEN ELEVATORS • A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS
MYSTERIOUS KNOCKINGS
A DASTARLY ASSORTMENT OF VILLAINS
A PLOT TO TOPPLE KINGDOMS
AN UNBELIEVABLE ENDING
Yes,
the ending is unbelievable to most Sherlockians – the most unbelievable part of
the whole play, to me.
“Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel,” which has been performed by 15 companies- Any chance I can get a list of those 15 performances, or any more information at all about them for my A-Z Index of Sherlock Holmes Performers, Dan? By the way I attended that play 5 times when I was a teenager. Thanks howardostrom@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI have asked Mark. I'll let you know.
ReplyDelete