I didn't know Esther well. She was a friend of friends. After she passed away, there was a box filled with snapshots she'd taken. Many were recognizable theatre celebs of long ago. Other photos were of her and others. Some photos had inscriptions on the reverse, which I've noted. Others had nothing. This box was destined for the trash bin. I saved it.


14 September 2009

Billie Bernice, "Shubert B & G Together" Sept. 1940

The answer to this one was under my nose all the time. This is Billie Bernice, Esther's other swoon, who played Wynnsome Dancing Girl, "Down Mexico Way" Girl and Other girl in "Boys & Girls Together". (You'll find a Xmas card from Bernice {to Esther} as well as clippings as you scroll down.)  I don't know where these were snapped, NYC or Boston though as you can see, "George Washington Slept Here" is playing at the Plymouth. Might there have been a Plymouth Theatre in Boston?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The show is probably "Boys and Girls Together," a musical that opened in New York in October, 1940, and might certainly have played a Boston tryout. The star was Jane Pickens, who is, I think, pictured in the next photo, in the middle.

Spatch said...

There was indeed a Plymouth Theatre in Boston. It was located on Stuart Street, just around the corner from the Majestic.

The theatre was bought by Ben Sack, the local cinema mogul at the time, and renamed The Gary (after Ben's son, or so I heard.) It was torn down in the early 80s, and the Rock Bottom / California Pizza Kitchen block is there today.

Spatch said...

(Er, Sack bought the theater in the 60s.)

normadesmond said...

thanks spatch! i remember the name "the gary", but was too young to have been hanging in that part of town, though i was in "the sack cheri theatre" once.