GEST, MORRIS

(1881-1942)

Born in Vilna, Russia, Morris Gest immigrated to Boston as a child. He began his theatrical career producing plays there in 1903. By 1905, he had formed a successful New York production partnership withF. Ray Comstock. Spectacles likeThe Story of the Rosary(1914) andThe Wanderer(1917) characterized their years at the Manhattan Opera House (1914-1920) and the Century Theatre (1917-1919). They presented Jerome Kern's musicalLeave It to Jane(1917) at the Century. However, their crowning efforts were foreignattractions, including the long-running British musicalChu Chin Chow(1917), Nikita Baileff'sChauve Sourisrevue (1922), an acclaimed New York season oftheMoscow Art Theatre(1923), Italian actressEleonoraDuse's triumphant 1923-1924 tour (which ended abruptly when she died in Pittsburgh), and Max Reinhardt 's production ofThe Miracle(1924). The GestComstock partnership ended in 1928, but Gest continued producing until his death, including American tours by Reinhardt's leading actor, Aleksandër Moisiu, and theFreiburg Passion Play, as well as theAl JolsonmusicalThe Wonder Bar(1931).

See alsoforeign plays adapted to the american stage.