Green Grow the Lilacs (1931)

Green Grow the Lilacs was a play produced by the Guild Theatre that ran for 64 performances from January 26, 1931 through March 21, 1931. According to The Playbill Vault, the Guild Theatre first opened in 1925 at 245 West 52nd Street. It was renamed the Virginia Theatre in 1981 and the August Wilson Theatre in 2005.

The Pulitzer Prize-nominated play was written by Lynn Riggs, directed by Herbert Biberman, and featured a 26-year-old Franchot Tone in the role of Curly McClain. Green Grow the Lilacs was later the basis for Rodgers and Hammerstein's famous 1943 play, Oklahoma! According to Edward R. Halline's "Plays & Players" column in the November 11, 1951 edition of The Milwaukee Sentinel, the original 1931 play featured songs as well. The songs performed included "Hello, Girls, I Wish I Was Single Again", "Home on the Range", "Blood on the Saddle", "The Old Chisholm Trail", and "The Next Big River". You can browse the written play online at Google Books (some pages are omitted).

The New York Public Library's Billy Rose Theatre Division houses many photographs of the 1931 production. You can view the collection online in the NYPL's Digital Collections. I've included a handful of the photos here.

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Franchot Tone as Curly McClain (with the guitar) & Helen Westley as Aunt Eller Murphy." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3cd2-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Scene from the Green Grow the Lilacs starring Franchot Tone as Curly McClain & Helen Westley as Aunt Eller Murphy." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3cd6-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Franchot Tone as Curly McClain & Richard Hale as Jeeter Fry." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3ce1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Franchot Tone (Curley McClain) & June Walker (Laurey)." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3cfd-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Franchot Tone (Curley McClain) and Claire Woodbury (Aunt Eller)." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3d0d-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Franchot Tone as Curley McClain." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1931. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3d00-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

In researching this play, I discovered many 1950-1970s newspaper columnists who, when looking back at this play, found it strange that the "debonair Franchot Tone" was a cast member. This shouldn't be a shock to anyone, especially theatre columnists, because Franchot was active in the theatre for several years before he found Hollywood stardom. Throughout his life, Franchot maintained an active theatrical career, from his time at Cornell University up until the year of his death.