Night Hostess is a 1928 play in three acts written by Philip Dunning. Its author called it a Dramatic comedy, but most contemporary reviewers said it was a melodrama. It has a large cast, fast pacing, and one setting. The main storyline concerns a crooked nightclub manager who is robbing customers and cheating the owner, complicated by two murders and a romantic triangle.
Produced by John Golden and staged by Winchell Smith, it starred Norman Foster, Ruth Lyons, Averell Harris, Maurice Freeman, and Gail DeHart. After tryouts in Atlantic City and Minneapolis-St. Paul during July and August, it ran on Broadway from September through December 1928. Night Hostess drew unfavorable comparisons from critics with the author's earlier Broadway.
Katharine Hepburn made her Broadway debut in Night Hostess, playing a bit part as one of the "Other Hostesses". She was billed under her own name (spelled as "Katherine") for the tryout in Minneapolis, but according to IBDb took the stage name of "Katherine Burns" for the Broadway run.
Characters
Lead
- Rags Conway is 23, ex-vaudeville piano player, wears snazzy clothes.
- Buddy Miles is a hostess at Little Casino, young, beautiful, fresh and natural.
- Chris Miller is early 40's, handsome, well-groomed, manager of the Little Casino.
- Ben Fischer is Jewish, middle-aged, left arm paralyzed, owner of the Little Casino.
- Julia Barnes is an ex-chorus girl, still young and pretty but unhappy and worn-out.
Supporting
- Tish is the peephole doorman for the Little Casino.
- Tom Hayes is a detective, married to Julia Barnes.
- Hardware Herman is a thug who works for Chris.
- Hennessy is a hoodlum, employed by Chris to roll chumps.
- Peggy is a snappy chorus girl, a skillful gambler.
- Joe is the bartender and bouncer for Little Casino.
Featured
- Frank Wardell is a regular customer at Little Casino.
- Dot is avid nightclub hostess, anxious to increase her take on chump gaming losses.
- Rita is a nightclub hostess.
- First Chump is a tourist from Chattanooga, taken to the gaming room by Dot.
- Second Chump is also from Chattanooga, also one of Dot's marks.
- Cyril Keane called Duke, is a rival hoodlum to Chris Miller.
Bit players and Walk-ons
- Dr. Andrews, Mr. Allen, Other Hostesses, Musicians, Croupiers, Winners, Losers, and Hoodlums
Synopsis
Chris Miller, manager of the Little Casino nightclub has been cheating the proprietor, Ben Fischer, for some time. Miller's girlfriend Julia, and his henchmen Hardware Herman and Hennessy have been setting up "chumps" for rolling after a big win. Miller is getting interested in hostess Buddy Miles, who also sings for the customers a ditty called Everybody's Buddy. One night a rolling goes wrong, and the chump is murdered, with Julia leaving her cigarette case behind in the apartment. Meanwhile, Ben Fischer has been getting suspicious about the club's income dip when it is busy every night. He sends for Rags Conway, a vaudeville performer, to be his secret informant in the club. Rags and Buddy have had a relationship going, but Miller has gotten Buddy's attention by promising her a part in a Chicago stage show in which he has an interest.
Julia, whose substance abuse has led her to a near breakdown, becomes jealous of Buddy, and threatens to spill about the murder. Miller kills her and stuffs her body in a trunk. Tom Hayes, assigned to investigate the killing, recognizes the cigarette case as belonging to his estranged wife, Julia. He questions Miller about her whereabouts, but gets no satisfaction. Miller, panicking, has some hoodlums shift the trunk with Julia's body several times. This draws the attention of Conway and Hayes, who finally are able to find the trunk. Miller sends for some hoodlums to take out Conway and Hayes, but the doorman Tish won't pass them thru into the club. Pursued by Hayes, Miller meets his literal downfall courtesy of an open elevator shaft.
Original production
Background
Philip Dunning's 1926 play Broadway had been a success, for which George Abbott received much credit for rewriting and directing. However, Dunning went solo on the writing for Night Hostess. A reporter at the second tryout said Dunning made note of audience reactions to specific lines and adjusted the dialogue.
Producer John Golden managed an empire of touring stage and vaudeville companies. He advertised his productions extensively, and rather than trot out his players for the press, he cultivated journalists by giving personal interviews. He had a long-standing partnership with playwright-director Winchell Smith.
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|Kay Carlin
|Nov 05, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Chris Miller
|Averell Harris
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Ben Fischer
|Maurice Freeman
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Julia Barnes
|Gail DeHart
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Tish
|Porter Hall
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Tom Hayes
|Charles Laite
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Hardware Herman
|John L. Kearney
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Hennessy
|Francis O'Relley
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Peggy
|Louise Kirtland
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|rowspan=2|Joe
|Norvell Keedwell
|Jul 23, 1928 - Jul 28, 1928
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|Henry Lawrence
|Aug 26, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Frank Wardell
|Harold Woolf
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Dot
|Lilian Lyndon
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Rita
|Jane Allyn
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|First Chump
|J. S. Boatsman
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Second Chump
|Chester De Whirst
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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|Cyril Keane
|Graham Velsey
|Jul 23, 1928 - Dec 29, 1928
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Tryouts
The play was first presented at the Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City for a one-week run beginning July 23, 1928. The local reviewer gave the storyline and identified some cast members, but limited their opinions to general praise for the production. Bainbridge agreed to pay for the round-trip cost of transporting the company from Atlantic City to Minneapolis, where the play would open at his Metropolitan Theatre on August 26, 1928. This same reviewer praised Averell Harris as the villain, and Norman Foster as "the juvenile lead", but thought "a stronger feminine lead" would help. labelled Night Hostess as a "farrago", and said "It might well be the end of the Broadway formula in low-life melodrama".