Book cover for Quality Street: A Comedy by J. M. Barrie

Quality Street: A Comedy

2023 Released
1-2 Hours
Audiobook Unavailable
Double 9 BooksISBN 9789357480031

Prior to his more well-known work, Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie wrote a play in four acts called Quality Street. Two sisters in the narrative open a school "for aristocratic children." In 1901, the first Broadway production debuted, and it barely ran for 64 performances. The musical was then performed in London, where it ran for 459 performances and became a success. Up until World War II, it was regularly renewed. The drama was adapted for the screen twice; in the first, in 1927, Marion Davies starred, and in the second, in 1937, Katharine Hepburn did. Christopher Hassall and Harry Parr Davies' adaptation for musical theater, Dear Miss Phoebe, debuted in 1950. Quality Street chocolates and caramels were named after the play since it was so well-liked, and the confectionery's initial advertising and packaging featured playgoers. Hicks and Terriss' cul-de-sac was renamed "Quality Street" when they relocated to a new house, The Old Forge in Merstham, Surrey. The play had its world premiere on October 11, 1901, at the Valentine Theatre in Toledo, Ohio. It was produced by Charles Frohman and starred Maude Adams, but it only lasted for 64 moderately successful performances.

J. M. Barrie

J. M. Barrie was born in 1860. Fascinated by stories of his mother's life, he was determined to write and worked on the Nottingham Journal after graduating from Edinburgh University. In 1885 he successfully sold the Auld Licht Idylls, which were based on his mother's tales. By the time Peter Pan opened on the London stage in 1904, Barrie had written more than thirty novels and plays, such as Quality Street and The Admirable Crichton. He was created a baronet in 1913, awarded the Order of Merit in 1922 and died in 1937.

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