Ten Chimneys Foundation on Facebook

eNews Sign Up

Darling, we’d love to give you the inside scoop on what’s going on at Ten Chimneys. Sign up for our email updates today and receive an e-coupon for $5.00 off Full Estate Tour admission(s).

Ten Chimneys Foundation's email list is strictly permission based - we do not sell or rent your email address.

Mission

Ten Chimneys Foundation’s Mission

  • Preserve and Share the buildings, furnishings, collections, and grounds of a national treasure – Ten Chimneys, the estate created by Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.
  • Serve as a continuing resource and powerful inspiration for theatre, the arts, and the art of living.
  • Offer public programs consistent with the Lunts’ varied interests and core values, while maintaining the integrity and intimacy of this extraordinary estate.

Ten Chimneys is a National Historic Landmark, a “Save America’s Treasures” project site, and is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. Ten Chimneys is owned by the non-profit 501(C)3 organization Ten Chimneys Foundation, Inc.

Ten Chimneys and The Milwaukee Rep Present “Idiot’s Delight”

May 05, 2009

On Monday, May 4th, The Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Interns and Ten Chimneys Foundation presented Idiot’s Delight as part of our collaborative public program, PLAY READINGS AT TEN CHIMNEYS. Idiot’s Delight served as the final Play Reading for this talented 2008-2009 class of Interns. Ten Chimneys wishes them all a warm farewell as they venture into their new endeavors. We know we will most certainly be hearing their names in the theatre world for years to come.

PLAY READINGS AT TEN CHIMNEYS takes audiences back to the “Golden Age of Radio” as the Rep interns recreate the plays made famous by “the Golden Couple of Broadway,” Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Do watch our web site as details for our 2009-2010 season will be posted soon.

About “Idiot’s Delight”
By the end of 1936 and after 300 Broadway performances, Idiot’s Delight had become one of the most acclaimed Theatre Guild productions ever. In fact, the public had taken to Robert E. Sherwood’s Idiot’s Delight so unreservedly that the Lunts chose to forego their usual months-long summer vacation at Ten Chimneys and opted instead to keep the production running, minus two weeks off in July, until touring began in 1937. Life was good . . . until Omaha.

Dan Butler, Omaha’s mayor, had proclaimed that Idiot’s Delight “was not fit to be seen by the citizens of [this] community” and insisted that the play would not be performed unless its language was altered. Mayor Butler’s objection was twofold: first, the play made reference to Harry Van (Alfred’s character) and Irene (Lynn’s character) spending the night together years before; second the hotel in which they had spent the night was the Governor Bryan Hotel . . . in Omaha. Mayor Butler argued vehemently that “Omaha was not the sort of town that would permit unmarried couples to spend a night together” and even more offensive, the use of the name Governor Bryan Hotel was “a slur on the reputation of the great Nebraska politician, Governor Charles Bryan.” If the Lunts wanted to bring Idiot’s Delight to Omaha they would have to make 16 cuts to the text. On this, the mayor was firm.

The Lunts were completely taken aback. Initially Alfred thought of acquiescing to the mayor’s demands, mostly so Idiot’s Delight could be seen. His knee-jerk reaction dissipated quickly, however, after Alfred contacted Alexander Woollcott, who was furious that Alfred was even considering altering one word of Sherwood’s work. Lynn was equally incensed, and quickly placed a call to an acquaintance she thought could offer some advice: Felix Frankfurter, Supreme Court Justice. To be fair, some had objected to Idiot’s Delight because of its pacifist theme, but no one had ever suggested the play be banned because of its “immoral” content. What the mayor was doing was censorship, and in the end, the Lunts would have none of it. They announced that the production “would be canceled and the citizens of Omaha could blame their mayor for having deprived them of seeing this Pulitzer Prize-winning play.” Stunned by the Lunts’ move, and, quite frankly by the community outrage over his decision, Mayor Butler “had a change of heart” and announced that the play could proceed after all.

On May 19, 1937, Idiot’s Delight opened in Omaha to a sold-out house without a single cut in its text. “’It was the most strange performance,’ Lynn said later. ‘Every time it came to [any reference to the Governor Bryan Hotel] the audience just stood up and roared.’”

Top of Page

Public Programs News