Stella Holt

Stella Holt
Born November 26, 1899[1][2]
New York, New York
Died August 28, 1967
New York, New York
Residence New York City
Alma mater Cornell University
Occupation Off-Broadway Producer
Years active 1952-1967

Stella Holt (November 26, 1899 – August 28, 1967) was an American theater producer who served as the managing director of the off-Broadway Greenwich Mews Theater in New York City for 15 years. Holt lost her sight at age 17, but said that she found her blindness "no real handicap." Holt was known for being one of the first producers in New York to use racially integrated casts.[3]

Career

Holt graduated from Cornell University and initially found employment as a social worker before becoming frustrated by her inability to create meaningful change on behalf of her clients. She shifted her focus to putting on art exhibitions, and said "I found, if any, that my talent lay in organizing."[3]

In 1952, she became managing director of the Greenwich Mews Theater and produced Monday's Heroes, a play written by Lester Pine and featuring a young Zina Bethune in her first acting role.[4]

Holt produced 38 plays at the Greenwich Mews Theater over the course of her tenure there, including plays by Padraic Colum, René Marqués, and Sean O'Casey. She was skeptical of the over-reliance on spectacle in other productions of the time, and professed her desire to "follow the project of the author in a straightforward way."

Playwright Tennessee Williams praised her production of his Orpheus Descending, which he preferred over the film adaptation and previous Broadway production.[3]

Holt selected plays to produce by going through submissions with her partner Frances Drucker (died March 6, 1970, aged 69), a former high school teacher with whom she had a 20-year relationship.[5] Her preference was for "plays of serious content, poetic quality".[3]

In 1965, the Cuban-born director Gilberto Zaldívar joined Holt as an associate producer at the Greenwich Mews, becoming co-producer with Drucker after Holt's death.[6]

Holt produced Langston Hughes's play Simply Heavenly in 1957, with a budget of $4,200 and a cast of 17 actors including Mel Stewart and Claudia McNeil.[7] It transferred to Broadway after 44 performances.[8]

Holt was a co-producer on Hughes's Jerico-Jim Crow in 1964, and in 1965 she brought his Prodigal Son to the Greenwich Mews under the direction of Vinnette Carroll.[8] Prodigal Son drew large crowds in New York, and buoyed by this success Holt put together a European tour. The touring production was plagued by financial issues, including late payment of the touring company. Holt was largely blamed for these problems, and according to playwright Isaiah Sheffer, "some of her business practices were, to put it mildly, highly questionable ... I saw enough hanky-panky and cutting of corners to wonder about her ethics."[9]

Holt had several other collaborations with leading Black writers of the time, including Loften Mitchell, William Branch, and Alice Childress.[9]

Holt's use of interracial casting was seen as "experimental" at the time, and the Greenwich Mews theater was one of the few white theaters producing shows with integrated casts. Actors Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, and Gilbert Price were among those whose work she supported.[7]

Death

Holt died on August 28, 1967 at age 50 of a heart attack at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City.[3]

References

  1. ↑ U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
  2. ↑ New York State, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1917-1967
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "STELLA HOLT DIES; BLIND PRODUCER; Greenwich Mews Managing Director for 15 Years". Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  4. ↑ Hevesi, Dennis (2012-02-17). "Zina Bethune, Actress and Dancer, Dies at 67". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  5. ↑ Times, Special To the New York (1970-03-07). "FRANCES DRUCKER, THEATER PRODUCER". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  6. ↑ Roche, Elisa De la (1995). Teatro Hispano! (in Spanish). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780815319863.
  7. 1 2 Hill, Errol G.; Hatch, James V. (2003-07-17). A History of African American Theatre. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521624435.
  8. 1 2 Dietz, Dan (2012-11-21). Off Broadway Musicals, 1910–2007: Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception and Performance Data of More Than 1,800 Shows. McFarland. ISBN 9780786457311.
  9. 1 2 Rampersad, Arnold (2002-01-10). The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume II: 1914-1967, I Dream a World. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 9780195146431.
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