Description

The Playgoer, 1949: El Capitan Theatre, Ken Murray's "Blackouts of 1949", Seventh Year. [John F. Huber Publishing], 1949. Paper covers, 45 pp ; 22 cm. In acceptable+ condition. Black-and-white pictorial paper covers with blue border at the bottom. Front cover has 1" triangular chip to the top corner and several small nicks and tears and creasing along edges. Light overall scuffing, aging, and soiling to covers as well. Binding tight (staple bound). Interior lightly aged with one page showing a few numbers in ink at the top margin; otherwise clean and unmarked. Souvenir theatre program for the long-running Hollywood revue Ken Murray's "Blackouts of 1949," in its seventh year at the El Capitan Theatre, listing the full cast (including Marie Wilson, Harris & Shore, Peg Leg Bates, Owen McGiveney, Nick Lucas, Shelton Brooks, Jack Mulhall, and others) and the sequence of acts. Feature articles include "Individuality Keynotes Ski-Styles" by Lee Averill; "The Old Op'ry House: Notes on a Life and Time Not Yet Forgotten" by Douglas Crane; and a Playgoer Spotlight on ceramic artist Sascha Brastoff. Illustrated with numerous black-and-white photographs and period advertisements (Chesterfield, I.W. Harper, Barker Bros., J.W. Robinson Co., C.W. Stockwell Co., Ho Sai Gai Restaurant, Gordon's Satyr Book Shop, and more). Historical note: The El Capitan Theatre opened in 1926 as Hollywood's first legitimate playhouse, hosting over 120 stage productions before converting to a movie palace in 1941 (premiering Citizen Kane). By 1949 it remained a major entertainment venue for variety revues like Murray's Blackouts.