America's Oldest · Founded 1808

Historic Photo Gallery: 1941 to 1946

1941

Following the depression, it was a play about well-to-do family life on Park Avenue in the 1880s that had the most success on Broadway and on tour. Life with Father, starring Dorothy Gish (right) and her long-time lover Louis Calhern, played the Walnut for nearly three months in spring 1941. In order to avoid paying a large weekly percentage, producer Oscar Serlin bypassed the Shubert Organization in booking this production. His outspoken complaints about the Shuberts set in motion a federal investigation into them, which eventually resulted in anti-trust charges against them. (Photograph courtesy of the Theatre Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia.)

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