Theatre Register

Edward Matthews

Shows · Edward Matthews

ActorOn stage 19341952

Edward Matthews was an American baritone who created the role of Jake in the original production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (1935) and recorded it with the original cast.

On stage 6 productions, 18 years

1934 Four Saints in Three Acts 44th Street Theatre · Original · directed by Maurice Grosser 48 perf.
1935 Porgy and Bess Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by Rouben Mamoulian 124 perf.
1942 Porgy and Bess Majestic Theatre · Revival · directed by Robert Ross 286 perf.
1943 Porgy and Bess 44th Street Theatre · Revival · directed by Robert Ross 24 perf.
1944 Porgy and Bess City Center · Revival · directed by Robert Ross 64 perf.
1952 Four Saints in Three Acts Broadway Theatre · Revival · directed by Virgil Thomson 15 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

Warren Coleman 4 productions
Henry Davis 4 productions
Georgette Harvey 4 productions
Todd Duncan 3 productions
Sadie Mcgill 3 productions
Robert Tucker 3 productions
John Diggs 3 productions
Harriet Jackson 3 productions
Etta Moten 3 productions
Charles Colman 3 productions
Avon Long 3 productions
Zelda Shelton 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 7 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature3 passages

  • Original cast (1940–1942) : Todd Duncan, Anne Brown, Edward Matthews, Eva Jessye Choir, Alexander Smallens (conductor). Decca DL 9024; reissued on MCA 2035. Fourteen selections. *ebooks/Block, Geoffrey/Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block.txt
  • Cast: Todd Duncan, Anne Brown, Warren Coleman, John W. Bubbles, Abbie Mitchell, Ruby Elzy, Georgette Harvey, Edward Matthews, Helen Dowdy, J. Rosamond Johnsonebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • (Sportin’ Life), Ruby Elzy (Serena), Warren Coleman (Crown), Abbie Mitchell (Clara), Edward Matthews (Jake), Georgette Harvey (Maria), J. Rosamond Johnson (Frazier), Helen Dowdy (Lily), Ford L. Buck (Mingo), and the Eva Jessye Choir.theatre-pdfs/The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin - Gershwin, Ira, 1896-1983.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Birth or death year. Neither is on the record.
  • Any portrait. 1,626 of 7,139 people have one, so this is the usual case rather than the exception.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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