The Widow Jones
Encyclopedia
The Widow Jones was an 1895 New York City
stage musical
comedy. Thomas Edison
hired the play's stars, May Irwin
and John Rice
, to recreate the kiss seen in act 1 of the play for the 1896 short film, The Kiss, made in Edison's Kinetoscope
process.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
stage musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
comedy. Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
hired the play's stars, May Irwin
May Irwin
May Irwin , was a Canadian actress, singer and star of vaudeville.-Early life and career:Born at Whitby, Ontario 1862 as Georgina May Campbell, her father, Robert E. Campbell of Whitby, Ontario, died when she was 13 years old and her stage-minded mother, Jane Draper, in need of money, encouraged...
and John Rice
John C. Rice
John C. Rice was an American born Broadway stage actor who is credited with performing the first onscreen kiss with May Irwin in 1896 for the Thomas Edison film company film The Kiss.-External links:...
, to recreate the kiss seen in act 1 of the play for the 1896 short film, The Kiss, made in Edison's Kinetoscope
Kinetoscope
The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. Though not a movie projector—it was designed for films to be viewed individually through the window of a cabinet housing its components—the Kinetoscope introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic...
process.
Songs
- His Legs Are Assorted Sizes (music by Geo. H. Wilder, lyrics by Lawrence J. Sheehan)
- I Love My Honey Yes I Do (music and lyrics by Will C. Carleton)
- The New Bully (music and lyrics by Joseph E. Howard)