Ben-Hur (play)

{{Short description|Hippodrama by William W. Young}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox play |name = Ben-Hur |image = Ben Hur Broadway2.jpg |caption = 1899 poster from the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] premiere |director = [[Ben Teal]] |writer = [[William Young (playwright)|William W. Young]],<br />[[Lew Wallace]] |chorus = |characters = |setting = | premiere = {{Start date|1899|df=yes}} | place = [[Broadway Theatre (41st Street)]]<br />in New York, NY | orig_lang = | subject = | genre = [[Hippodrama]], [[Melodrama]] }}

'''''Ben-Hur''''' was an 1899 theatrical adaptation of the 1880 [[Lew Wallace]] novel ''[[Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ]]''. The story was dramatized by [[William Young (playwright)|William W. Young]] and produced by [[Klaw & Erlanger|Marc Klaw and A. L. Erlanger]]. The stage production was notable for its elaborate use of spectacle, including live horses for the famous [[chariot race]]. The [[hippodrama]] had six acts with [[incidental music]] written by American composer [[Edgar Stillman Kelley]]. The stage production opened at the [[Broadway Theatre (41st Street)|Broadway Theater]] in New York City on November 29, 1899, and became a hit [[Broadway theatre|Broadway show]]. Traveling versions of the production, including a national tour that ran for twenty-one years, played in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia. By the end of its run in April 1920, the play had been seen by more than twenty million people and earned over $10 million at the box office. There have been other stage adaptations of Wallace's novel, as well as several motion picture versions.

==History== After Wallace's novel was published in 1880, there was widespread demand for it to be adapted for the stage, but Wallace resisted for nearly twenty years, arguing that no one could accurately portray Christ on stage or recreate a realistic chariot race.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Ray E. Boomhower |title=The Sword and the Pen | location=Indianapolis | publisher=Indiana Historical Society Press |year=2005|pages=138–39 |isbn=0-87195-185-1}}</ref> Despite that resistance, smaller theatre companies adapted the novel for the stage.<ref>{{cite news |title="Ben Hur" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/425658922/ |access-date=19 February 2023 |issue=Wellington Daily Mail |date=Jan 7, 1893}}</ref> In 1899, following three months of negotiations, Wallace entered into agreement with theatrical producers [[Marc Klaw]] and [[A. L. Erlanger]] to adapt his novel into a stage production. Wallace would receive two thirds of the royalties from the production, while [[Harper (publisher)|Harper and Brothers]], the book's publisher, would receive one third.<ref name=Mors457>{{Cite book |author=Robert E. Morsberger and Katharine M. Morsberger |title=Lew Wallace: Militant Romantic |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill |page=[https://archive.org/details/lewwallacemilita00mors/page/457 457] |year=1980 |isbn=0-07-043305-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/lewwallacemilita00mors/page/457 }}</ref>

Playwright William Young wrote the stage adaptation, reducing it to six acts in thirteen scenes. The stage version closely followed the novel's plot and retained portions of its dialog.<ref>Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 458.</ref> Edgar Stillman Kelley composed the play's music, but it was its elaborate staging and special effects that created a life-sized visual presentation of Wallace's novel.<ref name=Mors459>Morsberbger and Morsberger, p. 459.</ref> Ernest Gros and the painter [[Ernest Albert]] designed the production's sets.<ref>{{cite book|title=Ben-Hur: The Original Blockbuster|author=Jon Solomon|year=2016|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|isbn=9781474407960|page=334}}</ref>

[[File:Edward Morgan and Corona Riccardo - Photoplay, January 1921.jpg|thumb|275px|left|Edward J. Morgan as Judah Ben-Hur and [[Corona Riccardo]] as Iras]]

The character of [[Judah Ben-Hur|Ben-Hur]] was initially cast with [[Walker Whiteside]], but he was replaced by Edward J. Morgan at the last minute.<ref name=Mors459/> [[William Farnum]] replaced Morgan after the show's first season.<ref name=Mors464>Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 464.</ref> [[William S. Hart]] played Messala.<ref name=Mors459/> Hart would go on to leading roles in silent films such as ''[[The Aryan]]'' (1916), and became a silent screen [[western films|cowboy]] hero. Farnum also appeared in several films, including ''[[The Spoilers (1914 film)|The Spoilers]]'' (1914).<ref name=Mors466>Morsberger and Morseberger, p. 466.</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=The Spoilers |publisher=[[Internet Movie Database]]| url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004630/ |access-date =23 October 2014}}</ref> The character of Christ was "represented as a 25,000-candlepower beam of light" and not portrayed by an actor.<ref name=Mors457/>

The resulting production of ''Ben-Hur'' opened at the [[Broadway Theatre (41st Street)|Broadway Theater]] in New York City on November 29, 1899. It ran for 194 performances in its first season, before closing on May 10, 1900. Critics of the three-hour-and-twenty-nine-minute performance gave it mixed reviews; however, the audience, many of whom were first-time theatergoers, packed the house. ''Ben-Hur'' became a hit show, selling 25,000 tickets per week.<ref name=Mors464/><ref name=Boom140-1>Boomhower, pp. 140–41.</ref><ref name=Solomon68>{{cite journal | author=Jon Solomon | title =Fugutive Sources, ''Ben-Hur'', and the Popular Art "Property" | journal =RBM | volume =9 | issue =1 | page =68 | publisher =Association of College and Research Libraries | location =Chicago | date =2008 }}</ref> The play reopened in New York City on September 3, 1900, and ran for eighteen non-consecutive years on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]].<ref name=ibdb> {{cite web |title=Ben Hur|url=http://ibdb.com/show.php?id=1942|publisher=[[Internet Broadway Database]]|access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref> The play's twenty-one-year national tour included large venues in cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Baltimore. International versions of the show played in London, England, and in Sydney and [[Melbourne]], Australia. When the play finally closed in April 1920, it had been seen by more than twenty million people and earned over $10 million at the box office.<ref name=Boom140-1/><ref>Morsberger and Morsberger, pp. 464–66.</ref><ref name="Guardian"/><ref name=Humanities>{{cite journal | author =Amy Lifson | title =Ben-Hur | journal =Humanities | volume =30 | issue =6 | publisher =National Endowment for the Humanities | location =Washington, D.C. | date =2009 | url =http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2009-11/BenHur.html | access-date =2010-09-11 | archive-date =2015-10-15 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20151015220552/http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2009/novemberdecember/feature/ben-hur | url-status =dead }}</ref>

Fans included [[William Jennings Bryan]], who claimed it was "the greatest play on stage when measured by its religious tone and moral effect".<ref name=swansburg>{{cite web| author=John Swansburg |title= The Passion of Lew Wallace |publisher=The Slate Group |date=26 March 2013| url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/history/2013/03/ben_hur_and_lew_wallace_how_the_scapegoat_of_shiloh_became_one_of_the_best.html|access-date =1 October 2014}}</ref> Its popularity is credited with introducing stage shows to a new audience, "many of them devout churchgoers who'd previously been suspicious of the stage".<ref name=swansburg/> Adaptations of other novels with biblical settings followed ''Ben-Hur'' to the stage. These included ''Quo Vadis'' in 1901 and ''Judith of Bethulia'' in 1904.<ref>Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 465.</ref>

==Spectacle== The key spectacle of the 1899 show recreated the novel's chariot race with live horses and real chariots running on treadmills against a rotating backdrop.<ref name=Boom140-1/><ref name="Guardian">{{cite web|author=Samantha Ellis |url= https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/oct/08/theatre |title=Ben-Hur, London, 1902 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=8 October 2003 |access-date=27 May 2010}}</ref> When Wallace saw the elaborate stage sets, he exclaimed, "My God. Did I set all of this in motion?"<ref name=Boom140-1/><ref name=swansburg/>

[[File:Esther, Simonides, Ben Hur, and Amrah in a scene from "Ben Hur" (SAYRE 12703) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Esther, Simonides, Ben Hur, and Amrah in a 1903 scene]] When the play was produced for the London stage, it used four chariots, as opposed to two in the U.S.<ref name=Mors466/> In 1902, ''[[The Era (newspaper)|The Era]]''{{'}}s drama critic detailed how it was achieved with "four great cradles, {{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|14|ft|m|abbr=on}} wide" that are moved "back and front on railways". The horses galloped full-pelt towards the audience, secured with steel cable traces as they ran on treadmills. The horses also drove the movement of a vast [[cyclorama]] backdrop that revolved in the opposite direction to create an illusion of rapid speed. Electric rubber rollers spun the chariot wheels, while fans created clouds of dust. A critic for ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'' described it as "a marvel of stage-illusion" that was "memorable beyond all else". ''[[The Sketch]]''{{'}}s critic called it "thrilling and realistic ... enough to make the fortune of any play" and noted that "the stage, which has to bear 30 tons' weight of chariots and horses, besides huge crowds, has had to be expressly strengthened and shored up".<ref name=Guardian />

==Adaptations== There have been other stage adaptations since the initial production in 1899, including a London production staged in 2009 at the [[The O2|O2 arena]] featuring a live chariot race.<ref>{{cite web| author=Mark Espiner| title=Ben Hur Live Leaves Little to the Imagination| url= https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2009/sep/14/ben-hur-live|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=14 September 2009| access-date=10 October 2014}}</ref>

The book was also adapted for motion pictures in [[Ben Hur (1907 film)|1907]], [[Ben-Hur (1925 film)|1925]], [[Ben-Hur (1959 film)|1959]], [[Ben Hur (2003 film)|2003]], [[Ben-Hur (2016 film)|2016]], and as an American television miniseries in [[Ben Hur (miniseries)|2010]]. The [[Ben-Hur (1959 film)|1959 film adaptation]], starring [[Charlton Heston]] and featuring the famous chariot race, won a record eleven [[Academy Awards]]<ref name="Oscars1960">{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1960 |title=The 32nd Academy Awards (1960) Nominees and Winners |access-date=August 21, 2011|work=oscars.org| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110706094204/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/32nd-winners.html| archive-date= July 6, 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> and was the top-grossing film of 1960.<ref>{{cite book|author=Cobbett Steinberg|title=Film Facts|pages=[https://archive.org/details/filmfacts00cobb_mc3/page/17 17 and 23]|location=New York|publisher=Facts on File, Inc.|year=1980|isbn=0-87196-313-2|url=https://archive.org/details/filmfacts00cobb_mc3/page/17}}</ref>

{{wide image|Strobridge & Co. Lith.- Ben-Hur - Klaw & Erlanger's Stupendous Production.jpg|700px|A 1901 poster for a production at the Illinois Theater in Chicago}}

==References== '''Notes''' {{reflist}}

'''Bibliography''' * {{Cite book |last=Boomhower |first=Ray E. |title=The Sword and the Pen | location=Indianapolis | publisher=[[Indiana Historical Society]] Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-87195-185-1}} * {{cite news | last= Ellis |first=Samantha | title =Ben-Hur, London, 1902| newspaper =[[The Guardian]] | date = 8 October 2003| url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/oct/08/theatre | access-date =27 May 2010}} * {{cite news| last= Espiner |first=Mark | title =Ben Hur Live Leaves Little to the Imagination | newspaper =The Guardian| date =14 September 2009 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2009/sep/14/ben-hur-live | access-date =10 October 2014}} * {{cite journal | last =Lifson | first =Amy | title =Ben-Hur: The Book That Shook the World | journal =Humanities | volume =30 | issue =6 | publisher =[[National Endowment for the Humanities]] | location =Washington, D.C. | date =2009 | url =http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2009-11/BenHur.html | access-date =1 September 2010 | archive-date =15 October 2015 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20151015220552/http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2009/novemberdecember/feature/ben-hur | url-status =dead }} * {{Cite book |last=Morsberger |first=Robert E., and Katharine M. Morsberger |title=Lew Wallace: Militant Romantic |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill |year=1980 |isbn=0-07-043305-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/lewwallacemilita00mors }} * {{cite journal | last =Solomon | first =Jon | title =Fugutive Sources, ''Ben-Hur'', and the Popular Art "Property" | journal =RBM | volume =9 | issue =1 | pages =67–78 | publisher =Association of College and Research Libraries | location =Chicago | date =2008 | doi =10.5860/rbm.9.1.296 | doi-access =free }} * {{cite web| last= Swansburg|first=John|title= The Passion of Lew Wallace |publisher=The Slate Group |date= 26 March 2013| url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/history/2013/03/ben_hur_and_lew_wallace_how_the_scapegoat_of_shiloh_became_one_of_the_best.html|access-date =1 October 2014}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Ben-Hur (play)}} {{wikiquote}} * [https://edisoneffect.blogspot.com/2009/09/ben-hur-broadway-playthe-souvenir-book.html ''Ben Hur'' the Broadway play...the souvenir book] * {{IBDB show|1942|Ben-Hur}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Hur (Play)}} [[Category:1899 plays]] [[Category:American plays]] [[Category:Plays set in ancient Rome]] [[Category:Plays based on novels]] [[Category:Works based on Ben-Hur]]