Academy Theatre

*Academy Theatre*
Academy Theatre
Genre	Drama
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Curtis Canfield
Original release
Release	July 25 –; September 12, 1949

Academy Theatre is a drama anthology series that aired on NBC in 1949. It ran for eight weeks as the summer replacement for Chevrolet on Broadway.^[1]

Format

The series utilized a different cast each week who appeared in short works by established playwrights. The plays were broadcast live in 30-minute segments on Monday nights.

Selected episodes

Play Title	Playwright	Original airdate	Cast
The Stolen Prince	Dan Totheroh	August 1, 1949	Shirley Dale, Ian MacDonald
Drums of Oude	Austin Strong	August 8, 1949	Richard Newton
In the Shadow of the Glen	J.M. Synge	August 15, 1949	Anne Jackson
Summer Comes to the Diamond O	Robert Finch	August 29, 1949	Jack Davis
Aria da Capo	Edna St. Vincent Millay	September 5, 1949	Michael Higgins

Development

In April 1949, Charles R. Denny, NBC Executive Vice-President and a graduate of Amherst College, arranged for a production of Julius Caesar to be broadcast to 14 cities nationwide. The play was performed by the Amherst College Masquers and directed by F. Curtis Canfield, a professor at Amherst and Director of Amherst's Kirby Theatre. The broadcast marked the first time that an entire play by Shakespeare aired on television.^[2]

During the following summer, Canfield (who would later become the first Dean of the Yale School of Drama), again collaborated with NBC to bring a series of one-act plays to the network. Academy Theatre was the result.^[3]

During a sabbatical as an NBC producer, Canfield convinced the network to create Masterpiece Playhouse, one-hour productions of seven classic plays including Hedda Gabler, Uncle Vanya, and Othello. Broadcast in 1950, each play was produced for the "heavy-budget" sum of $10,000.^[4]

References

^ Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
^ Shakespeare at Amherst Retrieved 2011-05-03.
^ Canfield papers Retrieved 2011-05-03.
^ Noble experiment. (September 4, 1950). Time Magazine. Retrieved 2011-05-03.

External links

Academy Theatre at IMDb

This article relating to a drama television series in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.

[2] Shakespeare at Amherst Retrieved 2011-05-03.

[3] Canfield papers Retrieved 2011-05-03.

[4] Noble experiment. (September 4, 1950). Time Magazine. Retrieved 2011-05-03.

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