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Authenticity is Everything
A Streetcar Named Desire Original East End Run November 1949 Dated Album Page Leigh & Olivier w Original Aldwych Theatre Playbill
Hi All,
Been looking for this for a VERY long time - something signed during the East End run of William's Streetcar, while Leigh was playing Blanche under her husband's direction. After more than 15 years looking around on and off I decided this would do as it is the only one I have seen. I have seen a few signed playbills but they are $$$. I have seen 2 signed photographs of her as Blanche - I was outbid on one ans the other appeared to be re-inked.
Yes, I know it is very light and fast (more than usual for her) but this happy collision of signatures, location, date and collectors notes really thrill me. The original playbill fills it out - those are not so easy to find w/o writing on them and w/o spending a good penny.
I am sure this sort of thing is not for everybody, but then - it's for me :) It was very hard getting the date, location and all - the quality of signature the had to be tertiary (and there was nothing else to work with). Of course, I prefer strong, bold sigs as you have seen but in this case I had to change my approach or come up empty handed. Perhaps, in another 15 years, I'll find a nicer one. It is "easy" to find a nice undated 1950's plain cut...this? Not so easy. Not the prettiest surely, but the "what, where & when" are covered well, and that seems the best I can do. I'd like to find a ticket (fat chance)! I hope you like it for what it is.
PS - The playbill has the middle pages loose - which is OK because they will provide a photo for this display as there are very few period images of her in this role onstage apart from the Angus McBean photos which are very expensive, signed or not.
Please click for full image:
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on
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LONDON SEES 'STREETCAR'; Reviews Shower Plaudits Upon Acting of Vivien Leigh
New York Times - LONDON, Thursday, Oct. 13 - "A Streetcar Named Desire" opened triumphantly at the Aldwych Theatre last night and the audience, some of which had queued for twenty-four hours for gallery seats, gave it a wild reception..."
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Thank you Joe, I did not know what you'd think! Your opinion matters to me :)
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Hi All,
I was stretching my mind trying to figure out how to get a period photo or print of Leigh in London. I saw the photos in the playbill and they won't work. I finally remembered the 1951 Signet book has 8 pages of b/w photos including the original production as well as the French and the Kazan film. This is the photo I will work into the display - taken by Angus McBean in 1949. It's good too because I don't want to overwhelm the whole thing and this is smaller than the playbill.
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I was just thinking, of all the color inks the collector could have chosen, it was very lucky they used red! ties in with the playbill nicely. Green would have been OK, emerald great, but black...bad for at least 2 reasons...
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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on
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Eric, you have a wonderful "collector's mind". I admire your methodology. What bothers me in today's world is the lost art of autograph collecting. The emphasis of value has overtaken the preservation of history. I wish people had more passion for the legends of the past.
I look forward into seeing what you come up with.
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Thank you so very much Joe. I appreciate it. I agree with what you say. But, still, to the right collector, this should do OK. But, I'll be keeping it :)
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Daniel, these signatures were clipped from a 1953 playbill for a one week pre-London engagement for the play "The Sleeping Prince". Very nice!
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Permalink Reply by Daniel S. on
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Thanks for this info, Joe. I guess its possible the rest of that playbill lies behind the matting. Sorry, didn’t intend to hijack Eric’s thread.
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Not at all Daniel, it was a pleasure to see both your signatures and Joe help you find out where they came from. That what this site is for :)
Does anyone thing adding the photo Angus McBean (cheap period decently printed b//w Signet pocket book photo - all that I can get) above, which is about the size of the playbill, maybe a bit smaller (1"), to the display will detract? I am thinking autographs in the middle. I saw the photos in the playbill and they won't do I think. Her appearance in London, as the photo above shows, was very different than the film 2 years later.
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Hi All,
The rest of the collection arrived. The b/w McBean photo from London (shown above) from the 1951 Signet paperback and the 1949 playbill as well. It did not occur to me until I saw the playbill but you can see rationing still going on. Very small (good because the album page, playbill and photo are all about the same size for framing), just 2 folded pages, very thin paper held together with a single staple. Also no date - just a generic print run unlike our playbills from the same period which are printed with "The Week of..." etc.. Fortunately, the playbill is not "new" looking at all (I used a stand in for the mock-up) but not ragged either and sits very well with the Leigh/Olivier page.
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