Relato

Relato — marelibri

Reinhardt, Max (director); Friedrich Freksa (story); Hans Flato (illus)Biblio.com

Sumurun A Wordless Play with Music

1912ref. 55371New York: Comstock & Gest Inc 1912. Softcover. vg to near fine. Small folio. 8 unpaginated double-sided leaves. Illustrated wrappers with gorgeous art-deco style orientalist pochoir images printed in hues of purple green orange and white. A now scarce and lavishly printed promotional publication announcing the upcoming run of Max Reinhardt's "Sumurun" a "wordless play in 9 scenes" at the Casino Theater in New York. The majority of the text is a scene by scene narration of the plot of the story written in prose text accompanied by photographic images of the corresponding scenes and characters. The introductory text discusses the significance of the work and the history of past stagings of the production to date. The final text page contains the lyrics to the "Song of Sumurun." Illustrated throughout in black and green with decorative geometric borders as well a title page a few initials and small vignettes all finely screen-printed. B/W photographic reproductions after staged studio photographs of characters and scenes from the production. Also included is a large photographic portrait of Max Reinhardt at the front as well as portraits of producer Winthrop Ames and composer Victor Hollaender at the the rear. Oddly no cast credits are listed here which may indicate that this was printed before the cast for the American production had been completely finalized. The striking art deco covers were designed by German graphic artist Hans Flato 1887-1950. By 1910 pioneering German theatrical director and producer Max Reinhardt had for many years been acclaimed for his avant-garde and expressionistic style. Based on a suggestion to create an oriental pantomime Reinhardt commissioned writer Friedrich Freksa 1882-1955 to shape a story for the show. Freksa created a narrative for the wordless pantomime based on some of the stories from the Arabian Nights. Composer and conductor Victor Hollaender 1866-1940 was charged with creating the music. The stage design costuming and effects were all in the hands of Reinhardt's frequent collaborator Ernst Stern 1876-1954. These men were all noted and acclaimed creative figures in their own right. Upon it's premiere on April 22nd 1910 at Reinhardt's Kammerspiele in Berlin the show was lauded. The success was such that the following month Reinhardt moved the production to his Deutsches Theater next door which could hold a larger audience. Critics and audiences at the time noted the novel and dramatic effects of Reinhardt's stripped down but expressive style in elevating the story and giving it a primal feel. His use of a runway stage - with his actors emerging from and disappearing into the audience - was said to make the storytelling more engrossing and break down barriers between the characters and the viewers. In June of that year Reinhardt released a filmed version his stage production in German cinemas. The following year in 1911 the stage show's success took it twice to London and to Vienna as well. In 1912 Broadway producer Winthrop Ames brought Sumurun to America and in doing so brought Reinhardt and his work to the United States for the very first time. Ames imported the original production from Berlin featuring the very same crew that had made the initial run such a success along with some of the original cast. Composer Victor Hollaender was brought over to conduct the music himself. The title role in the American production was performed by Camilla Eibenschütz 1884-1959 replacing Grete Wiesenthal from the original German production. The American premiere was held at New York's noted Casino Theater on January 16th 1912. It was the very first time that a runway stage had been used in a major American theatrical production. Although only initially planned for a limited engagement the production's success lead to a total of 62 performances in New York. Following this the American production moved to Chicago and then to Boston. This was later followed by a run of performances in Paris. In 1920 famed German director Ernst Lubitsch directed a originally conceived lavish film version of Sumurun with Jenny Hasselqvist in the title role released in America as "One Arabian Night." Wrappers with minor to light smudges creases and closed tears to the very edges with images unaffected. There is a slight chip at the bottom right corner of the front cover. Interior clean throughout with all images and text vibrant. Illustrated bookplate of previous owner pasted on the interior front cover. Wrappers in very good interior in near fine condition overall. Quite scarce. Protected in modern mylar. Alternate title: Mr. Winthrop Ames presents From the library of architect Guy Koepp 1896-1959 and Zahrah Koepp. Koepp is noted for his architectural designs in Carmel California. Bibliographic resources: "Max Reinhardt's Sumurun" Brigitte Kueppers. The Drama Review vol.24 no.1. p.75-84.; "Max Reinhardt and His Theatre" Oliver M. Sayler Ed. Brentano's Publishers New York 1924 ; Pantomime: The History and Metamorphosis of a Theatrical Ideology Karl Toepfer "Germanic Pantomime: Max Reinhardt: Pantomimic Grandeur" Vosuri Media San Francisco 2003. Comstock & Gest Inc unknown