Pauline Chase - Postcard, 1912
Title
Pauline Chase - Postcard, 1912
Date
12 February 1912
Description
Promotional postcard of Pauline Chase, starring in 1912 touring production of Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.
What's the story?
Pauline Chase starred as the title role in Charles Frohman’s production of Peter Pan at the Theatre Royal from 12 to 17 February 1912.
Pauline Chase (1885-1962) was an American-born actress who in 1906 became the third person to play Peter Pan in annual London productions of the play after Nina Boucicault (1904) and Cissie Loftus (1905).
Chase had played the First Twin in these earlier productions, but between 1906 and 1914 she starred each year as Peter, in the West End and on the primary regional tour, which followed on directly from the London run. This tour came to Nottingham for the first time in 1910, and continued to do so for several years afterwards, with Chase in the title role.
Although J.M. Barrie often praised Boucicault, as the first actress to play the role, he had a clear preference for Chase and her version of The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up. She was extremely popular with audiences, as well, and in 1909 a selection of correspondence sent to the actress from fans of her work, Peter Pan’s Postbag, was published.
Biographical text on Pauline Chase courtesy of Lucie Sutherland, Assistant Professor in Drama, University of Nottingham and author of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, published by Routledge, 2018
Please see link below for a show specific postcard for this 1912 Peter Pan tour and an image of Chase in the role.
This postcard forms part of a large scrapbook collection donated to the Theatre Royal archive by Diane Meadwell from Sandiacre. Her great grandfather was Bernard Hill, the former landlord of The Sun Inn on Parliament Street and who later became the Stage Door Keeper at the Theatre Royal. Bernard’s daughter Edith also worked at the Theatre Royal as an usherette.
Whilst in his stage door job, Bernard collected a large number of postcards of the numerous artists who performed at the venue, many of which he got them to autograph, as well as writing the date and if necessary the show on the reverse, making the future archivist’s job that little bit easier. We have then been able to cross-reference this information with the list of Theatre Royal shows being compiled by volunteer researcher Lynn Whitley.
We are grateful to Diane for sharing her family memories with us and for donating such a valuable resource to the archive.
Pauline Chase (1885-1962) was an American-born actress who in 1906 became the third person to play Peter Pan in annual London productions of the play after Nina Boucicault (1904) and Cissie Loftus (1905).
Chase had played the First Twin in these earlier productions, but between 1906 and 1914 she starred each year as Peter, in the West End and on the primary regional tour, which followed on directly from the London run. This tour came to Nottingham for the first time in 1910, and continued to do so for several years afterwards, with Chase in the title role.
Although J.M. Barrie often praised Boucicault, as the first actress to play the role, he had a clear preference for Chase and her version of The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up. She was extremely popular with audiences, as well, and in 1909 a selection of correspondence sent to the actress from fans of her work, Peter Pan’s Postbag, was published.
Biographical text on Pauline Chase courtesy of Lucie Sutherland, Assistant Professor in Drama, University of Nottingham and author of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, published by Routledge, 2018
Please see link below for a show specific postcard for this 1912 Peter Pan tour and an image of Chase in the role.
This postcard forms part of a large scrapbook collection donated to the Theatre Royal archive by Diane Meadwell from Sandiacre. Her great grandfather was Bernard Hill, the former landlord of The Sun Inn on Parliament Street and who later became the Stage Door Keeper at the Theatre Royal. Bernard’s daughter Edith also worked at the Theatre Royal as an usherette.
Whilst in his stage door job, Bernard collected a large number of postcards of the numerous artists who performed at the venue, many of which he got them to autograph, as well as writing the date and if necessary the show on the reverse, making the future archivist’s job that little bit easier. We have then been able to cross-reference this information with the list of Theatre Royal shows being compiled by volunteer researcher Lynn Whitley.
We are grateful to Diane for sharing her family memories with us and for donating such a valuable resource to the archive.
Type
Postcard
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researchers: David Longford / Lynn Whitley
