Albert Herman Woods (born Aladore Herman; January 3, 1870 – April 24, 1951) was an American theatrical producer. He produced over 140 plays on Broadway, including some of the most successful shows of the period, sometimes under the name of the production company Al Woods Ltd. Woods built the Eltinge Theatre on Broadway, named for one of his most successful and profitable stars, the female impersonator Julian Eltinge.
Early life
Woods was born in Budapest, Hungary to a Jewish family, but his family brought him to the United States as an infant. He grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. As a child he would skip school to go to theatrical shows, where he developed the goal of becoming a producer himself.
Career
Woods formed an early partnership with Sam H. Harris and Paddy Sullivan, running tour companies of popular melodramas, starting with The Bowery After Dark. His first Broadway production was The Evil That Men Do in 1903. His work on Broadway escalated after the popularity of the touring melodramas declined. Woods had a stable of favorite playwrights, most notably Owen Davis, who he worked with for several years on melodramas such as Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model. When Woods turned to producing regular Broadway shows, he focused on bedroom farces, starting with The Girl from Rector's in 1909.
During a trip to Europe in 1911 he bought the US rights to the world's first full-color feature film, The Miracle. which eventually premiered in New York 1913. Also in 1911 he starting building the Eltinge Theatre on 42nd Street, named after his star, Julian Eltinge. By May 1911 a run of The Fascinating Widow starring Eltinge at the Boston Theatre was expected to have receipts of $500,000 by the time it finished.
From c1912 he took over the leases of a large number of Berlin theatres including what became the Ufa-Palast am Zoo, to put on 'Kino-Vaudeville' shows (a mix of variety acts imported from the US interspersed with silent films). He was also involved with the American millionaire Joe Goldsoll in the building of the German capital's first free-standing purpose-built cinema, the Ufa-Pavillon am Nollendorfplatz."
When he became successful, Woods continued to emphasize his humble roots and was known for his folksy manner with everyone. He greeted patrons at the Eltinge as "sweetheart". Upon being introduced to King George V, Woods addressed the monarch (who was older than him) as "kid" and took the opportunity to promote one of his productions, declaring it to be "a regular show".
Woods was at his peak in the 1920s, producing such hits as Ladies' Night (1920), The Demi-Virgin (1921), The Green Hat (1925), The Shanghai Gesture (1926) (filmed in 1941), and The Trial of Mary Dugan (1927). However, he lost most of his fortune in the early 1930s and never fully recovered. In the 1930s his only major hits were Five Star Final (1930) and Night of January 16th (1935). When Woods staged the Sheldon Davis comedy Try and Get It in August 1943, critics expressed hope that it would revive his flagging career, but it closed in less than a week. It was his final production.
Later life
Although Woods continued to read scripts and attempt to generate interest, he was unable to stage any productions after 1943. He died on April 24, 1951, in his residence at the Hotel Beacon in New York. The once wealthy former producer ended his life bankrupt.
Censorship battles
Woods produced a number of bedroom farces, which critics and local authorities often saw as pushing the boundaries of propriety. In several instances Woods encountered legal troubles as a result.
The Girl from Rector's
In 1909, Woods staged The Girl from Rector's, Paul M. Potter's adaptation of Loute, a French farce by Pierre Veber. The plot portrays several couples in a tangle of adulterous affairs, and the play was considered indecent by many critics. Prior to opening on Broadway, preview performances were scheduled in Trenton, New Jersey. After the first matinee, a group of 25 local clergy complained to Trenton police the play was immoral. The police shut the play down and did not permit any further performances.
The Girl with the Whooping Cough
thumb|right|alt=Color poster with three images of a woman posing. Text around the images reads "A.H. Woods presents Valeska Suratt in the swift, smart and saucy play, The Girl with the Whooping Cough, the latest Parisian sensation by Stanislaus Stange".|Woods was forced to close his production of [[The Girl with the Whooping Cough.]]
In April 1910, Woods began a production of The Girl with the Whooping Cough, an adaptation of a French farce that features a woman who spreads whooping cough by kissing numerous men. At the urging New York Mayor William Jay Gaynor, the New York City Police Commissioner attempted to suppress the play due to its risqué content. The commissioner contacted the theater's management company and threatened that if the play was not stopped, he would refuse to renew the theater's operating license. Woods got an injunction from the New York Supreme Court that prevented the authorities from interfering with the show directly, but it did not compel them to renew the license for the theater. Left with no home for his production, Woods was forced to shut it down.
The Demi-Virgin
In 1921, Woods again encountered problems with New York City censors when he produced The Demi-Virgin, a sex comedy written by Avery Hopwood that featured risque dialog and a strip poker scene. On November 3, 1921, Woods and Hopwood were called to the chambers of William McAdoo, the Chief Magistrate of the New York City's magistrates' court, to respond to complaints about the play. Woods would not make any changes to address the complaints, so McAdoo held a formal hearing and ruled that the play was obscene, describing it as "coarsely indecent, flagrantly and suggestively immoral, impure in word and action." Woods was placed on bail, and the case was sent to the grand jury for an indictment on a misdemeanor charge of staging an obscene exhibition. The grand jury heard the case on December 23, 1921, but dismissed it that same day, even though it had heard only witnesses favoring the prosecution. As the obscenity case proceeded, the city's Commissioner of Licenses threatened to revoke the theater's operating license if the production continued, but a New York state appeals court ruled that he did not have the legal authority to revoke a theater license once it had been granted.
Although Woods won the legal proceedings and the play was a hit,
Broadway productions
Woods produced over 140 plays on Broadway.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ List of Broadway productions by Albert H. Woods
|-
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Author
! scope="col" | Theater
! scope="col" | Opened
! scope="col" | Closed
|-
! scope="row" |The Evil That Men Do
|Theodore Kremer
|American Theatre
|August 29, 1903
|Not known
|-
! scope="row" |The Errand Boy
|George Totten Smith (book);<br />Edward P. Moran (lyrics)
|Haverly's 14th Street Theatre
|October 31, 1904
|November 5, 1904
|-
! scope="row" |Tom, Dick and Harry
|Aaron Hoffman and Harry Williams
|Multiple
|September 25, 1905
|January 20, 1906
|-
! scope="row" |Chinatown Charlie
|Owen Davis
|American Theatre
|March 5, 1906
|Not known
|-
! scope="row" |The Gambler of the West
|Owen Davis
|American Theatre
|July 28, 1906
|Not known
|-
! scope="row" |A Marked Woman
|Owen Davis
|West End Theatre
|December 10, 1906
|Not known
|-
! scope="row" |Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model
|Owen Davis
|West End Theatre
|December 31, 1906
|Not known
|-
! scope="row" |The King and Queen of Gamblers
|Owen Davis
|American Theatre
|July 27, 1907
|Not known
|-
! scope="row" |A Race Across the Continent
|John Oliver
|Thalia Theatre
|July 27, 1907
|August 3, 1907
|-
! scope="row" |A Chorus Girl's Luck in New York
|Owen Davis
|Haverly's 14th Street Theatre
|August 3, 1907
|Not known
|-
! scope="row" |Convict 999
|John Oliver
|-
! scope="row" |His Bridal Night
|Lawrence Rising and Margaret Mayo
|Theatre Republic
|August 16, 1916
|October 21, 1916
|-
! scope="row" |The Guilty Man
|Charles Klein and Ruth Helen Davis
|Astor Theatre
|August 17, 1916
|October 1916
|-
! scope="row" |Mary's Ankle
|May Tully
|Bijou Theatre (August);<br />39th Street Theatre (October)
|August 6, 1917
|Not known
|-
! scope="row" |Business Before Pleasure
|Montague Glass and Jules Eckert Goodman
|Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre
|August 15, 1917
|June 1918
|-
! scope="row" |Eyes of Youth
|Charles Guernon and Max Marcin
|Maxine Elliott Theatre (August 1917 – July 1918);<br />39th Street Theatre (July–August 1918)
|August 22, 1917
|August 1918
|-
! scope="row" |The Scrap of Paper
|Owen Davis and Arthur Somers Roche
|Criterion Theatre
|September 17, 1917
|November 1917
|-
! scope="row" |On With the Dance
|Michael Morton
|Theatre Republic
|October 29, 1917
|December 1917
|-
! scope="row" |Parlor, Bedroom and Bath
|Charles William Bell and Mark Swan
|Theatre Republic
|December 24, 1917
|July 1918
|-
! scope="row" |An American Ace
|Lincoln J. Carter
|Casino Theatre
|April 2, 1918
|April 1918
|-
! scope="row" |Friendly Enemies
|Samuel Shipman and Aaron Hoffman
|Hudson Theatre
|July 22, 1918
|August 1919
|-
! scope="row" |Under Orders
|Berte Thomas
|Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre
|August 20, 1918
|January 1919
|-
! scope="row" |Why Worry?
|Montague Glass and Jules Eckert Goodman (book);<br />Blanche Merrill (lyrics), Leo Edwards (music)
|Harris Theatre
|August 23, 1918
|September 14, 1918
|-
! scope="row" |Where Poppies Bloom
|Roi Cooper Megrue
|Theatre Republic
|August 26, 1918
|November 1918
|-
! scope="row" |The Big Chance
|Grant Morris and Willard Mack
|48th Street Theatre
|October 28, 1918
|February 1919
|-
! scope="row" |Roads of Destiny
|Channing Pollock
|Theatre Republic
|November 27, 1918
|February 1919
|-
! scope="row" |The Woman in Room 13
|Samuel Shipman and Max Marcin
|Booth Theatre
|January 14, 1919
|June 1919
|-
! scope="row" |Up in Mabel's Room
|Wilson Collison and Otto Hauerbach
|Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre
|January 15, 1919
|August 1919
|-
! scope="row" |A Voice in the Dark
|Ralph E. Dyar
|Theatre Republic
|July 28, 1919
|November 1919
|-
! scope="row" |The Girl in the Limousine
|Wilson Collison and Avery Hopwood
|Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre
|October 6, 1919
|January 31, 1920
|-
! scope="row" |Too Many Husbands
|W. Somerset Maugham
|Booth Theatre
|October 8, 1919
|January 1920
|-
! scope="row" |His Honor: Abe Potash
|Montague Glass and Jules Eckert Goodman
|Bijou Theatre
|October 14, 1919
|April 1920
|-
! scope="row" |The Unknown Woman
|Marjorie Blaine and Willard Mack
|Maxine Elliott Theatre
|November 10, 1919
|January 1920
|-
! scope="row" |The Sign on the Door
|Channing Pollock
|Theatre Republic
|December 19, 1919
|May 1920
|-
! scope="row" |No More Blondes
|Otto Hauerbach
|Maxine Elliott Theatre
|January 7, 1920
|February 1920
|-
! scope="row" |Breakfast in Bed
|Georges Feydeau; adapted by Willard Mack and Howard Booth
|Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre
|February 3, 1920
|April 1920
|-
! scope="row" |The Blue Flame
|George V. Hobart and John Willard
|Shubert Theatre
|March 15, 1920
|April 1920
|-
! scope="row" |The Ouija Board
|Crane Wilbur
|Bijou Theatre
|March 29, 1920
|May 1920
|-
! scope="row" |Crooked Gamblers
|Samuel Shipman and Percival Wilde
|Hudson Theatre
|July 31, 1920
|October 1920
|-
! scope="row" |Ladies' Night
|Avery Hopwood and Charlton Andrews
|Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre
|August 9, 1920
|June 1921
|-
! scope="row" |The Lady of the Lamp
|Earl Carroll
|Theatre Republic
|August 17, 1920
|November 1920
|-
! scope="row" |Happy-Go-Lucky
|Ian Hay
|Booth Theatre
|August 24, 1920
|November 1920
|-
! scope="row" |The Unwritten Chapter
|Samuel Shipman and Victor Victor
|Astor Theatre
|October 11, 1920
|November 1920
|-
! scope="row" |The White Villa
|Edith Ellis
|Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre
|February 14, 1921
|March 1921
|-
! scope="row" |Getting Gertie's Garter
|Wilson Collison and Avery Hopwood
|Theatre Republic
|August 1, 1921
|November 1921
|-
! scope="row" |Back Pay
|Fannie Hurst
|Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre
|August 30, 1921
|November 1921
|-
! scope="row" |The Demi-Virgin
|Avery Hopwood
|Times Square Theatre
|October 18, 1921
|June 3, 1922
|-
! scope="row" |Abide With Me
|Clare Boothe Brokaw
|Ritz Theatre
|November 21, 1935
|December 1935
|-
! scope="row" |The Ragged Edge
|Mary Heathfield
|Fulton Theatre
|November 25, 1935
|December 1935
|-
! scope="row" |Arrest That Woman
|Maxine Alton
|National Theatre
|September 18, 1936
|September 1936
|-
! scope="row" |Censored
|Conrad Seiler and Max Marcin
|46th Street Theatre
|February 26, 1938
|March 1938
|-
! scope="row" |Nine Girls
|Wilfrid H. Pettitt
|Longacre Theatre
|January 13, 1943
|January 16, 1943
|-
! scope="row" |Try and Get It
|Sheldon Davis
|Cort Theater
|August 2, 1943
|August 7, 1943
|}