Background
Savage was born on March 21, 1859 at New Durham, New Hampshire, United States, the son of Capitan. M. Henry and Betsey T. (Woodhouse) Savage.
(This play by noted humorist George Ade was one of his gre...)
This play by noted humorist George Ade was one of his greatest successes. Produced by Henry W. Savage, it played for 222 performances on Broadway at Wallack's Theatre before going on tour. (Maclyn Arbuckle played the local politician Jim Hackler both on Broadway and on the road for four years.) It was also adapted to film in 1914 and 1935. A study of Ade's work published in 1964 concluded that The County Chairman had been "largely ignored in histories of American drama," despite being "the worthiest of Ade's plays." "George Ade: A Critical Study," by Lee Coyle, at p. 70 (1964). Illustrated with black and white photo showing scene from the play. 118 pages plus 2 pages of ads. Scarce.
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Savage was born on March 21, 1859 at New Durham, New Hampshire, United States, the son of Capitan. M. Henry and Betsey T. (Woodhouse) Savage.
Savage received the degree of A. B. at Harvard in 1880.
After studies Savage entered the real-estate business in Boston, in which he prospered for more than fifteen years. The turning point in his career came soon after he built the Castle Square Theatre in Boston in 1894. For a while, however, it did not prosper, and during the winter of 1895 the manager of a German company which was playing light operas there stole away on a boat for Europe, leaving his company stranded. The actors sought aid from Savage, and he decided to take over the company himself. Shortly afterwards he organized his own company to give light opera in English at moderate prices.
Thus began the Castle Square Opera Company, one of the most famous organizations of its kind that the American stage has known. It became a school for light opera stars, and whether in Boston or touring the country, as it did from coast to coast, it was everywhere exceedingly popular. It presented not only light opera, but began giving the more tuneful of the grand operas, such as The Bohemian Girl, Maritana, Martha, Faust, Romeo and Juliet, and Der Freischutz, all in English. Next, Savage daringly ventured upon Lohengrin, and Die Meistersinger in English.
In 1900 Savage's office was in New York; he had taken over the Studebaker Theatre in Chicago, and his operetta troupe was disintegrating into various organizations for the production of newly written musical comedies. Several of these, such as Tarantella (1899), King Dodo (1900), The Sultan of Sulu (1902), and The Prince of Pilsen (1903), were first seen at the Studebaker.
Meanwhile, from New York and Boston, he was launching The Yankee Consul (1903), Peggy from Paris (1903), Woodland (1904) and others. He also brought out George Ade's highly successful spoken comedies, The County Chairman (1903) and The College Widow (1904).
He did not have the greatest of opera stars, but his company was well balanced, had good voices, and won high praise from critics. In 1904 it gave Wagner's Parsifal for the first time in English, and received high acclaim. In 1906 it gave Puccini's Madame Butterfly its first American production, also in English; and in 1911 the same composer's The Girl of the Golden West.
He also introduced the Hungarian dramatist Ferenc Molnar to American audiences, presenting his play, The Devil, in 1908 with George Arliss in the leading role. Some others of his productions were Madame X, Along Came Ruth, Easy Dawson, The Sho-Gun, Excuse Me, Tom Jones, The Galloper, Cornered, The Little Damozel, Shavings, Mary Jane's Pa, Miss Patsy, Pom-Pom, Have a Heart, Little Boy Blue, The Love Cure, Sari, Head Over Heels, Lady Billy, and The Clinging Vine.
His list is notable for wholesomeness and high quality. His last production was Lass o' Laughter in 1925. He was long a director of the National Association of Theatrical Producing Managers, and was its president from 1907 to 1909.
Savage died in Boston on November 29, 1927.
Henry Wilson Savage was one of America's most successful producers for a quarter of a century, he had the most varied repertoire, embracing comedy both sung and spoken, grand opera, and an occasional serious drama. One of the cleverest strokes of Savage's career was his capture of the American rights to Franz Lehar's operetta, The Merry Widow, which scored the most enormous success in light-opera history. His other remarkable productions: Everywoman, Mr. Wu, Toot Toot, The Chocolate Soldier and others.
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
(This play by noted humorist George Ade was one of his gre...)
On October 24, 1889, Savage married Alice Louise Batcheler of Boston, and two children survived him.
