The Emperor Norton Trust

TO HONOR THE LIFE + ADVANCE THE LEGACY OF JOSHUA ABRAHAM NORTON

RESEARCH • EDUCATION • ADVOCACY

Filtering by Tag: David Belasco

Emperor Norton Arrives on the Great White Way

The Emperor Norton character had only a few lines — but, the lines he had were good ones.

Both the character and the lines arrived on Broadway courtesy of one of the most influential theater collectives of the twentieth century.

Today, Lee Strasberg, Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan, Stella Adler and Sanford Meisner are household names to students of the American theater. Their legacy approach, “the Method,” and their legacy project, The Actors Studio — founded in 1947 — is known to millions.

But, in 1934, when these playwrights, directors and actors — and their Group Theatre — brought their play Gold Eagle Guy to Broadway, they were unknowns.

It appears that the Broadway production of Gold Eagle Guy marked the first time that Emperor Norton was portrayed on a Broadway stage.

The Emperor was played by Stella Adler’s brother, Luther Adler.

The fascinating story of this play — and of how the character of Emperor Norton gave voice to ideas expressed in the recently published Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley — is on the flip.

Includes archival Playbill images; an early cartoon by Al Hirschfeld; and a wonderful rare live-stage photograph of the Broadway production of Gold Eagle Guy, showing Luther Adler playing Emperor Norton.

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David Belasco: An Early "Emperor Norton" of the San Francisco Stage

The legendary theatrical producer, impresario, director and playwright David Belasco (1853–1931) made his name in New York City. But he cut his teeth on the San Francisco stage — initially as an actor. And, in the 1873 San Francisco performance that brought him his first critical notice, Belasco's character was a thinly veiled Emperor Norton. The Emperor, now in the 14th year of his reign, was very much alive and well in San Francisco.  

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