OUR MRS. MCCHESNEY

Charles Frohmanproduced this Edna Ferber andGeorge V. Hobartcollaboration, based on Ferber's short stories, which opened on 19 October 1915 at the Lyceum Theatre for 151 performances. With a cast led by Ethel Barrymore, the play focuses on a department store buyer, Emma McChesney, who impresses her boss by designing a boldly innovative line of women's clothing. She parlays her success into a job at the store for her feckless son, Jack, and a finishing school education for Jack's girlfriend, Veva, achorus girl. Jack is falsely accused of embezzlement and once Emma manages to clear his name, she makes a great success of a fashion show in which Veva models her dress designs. Barrymore also appeared in a popular 1918 motion picture version.