Ben Teal

Benjamin Moses Teal (January 19, 1857 – April 20, 1917) was an American actor, theater director, and playwright. He directed over 30 plays on Broadway between 1897 and 1916, and was widely known for his strict, often brusque stage direction. Born in Eugene, Oregon, Teal spent his formative years in San Francisco, where he began performing as a child actor in theatrical productions.

Ben Teal
Teal in 1910
Born(1857-01-19)January 19, 1857
Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
DiedApril 20, 1917(1917-04-20) (aged 59)
New York City, U.S.
Resting placeWoodlawn Cemetery
OccupationActor, theater director
Spouse(s)
Mary Blackburn
​
(m. 1887)​
Elinor Gilman
​
​
(m. 1906; his death 1917)​

As an adult, Teal began his career as a stage director in San Francisco before relocating to New York City in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Among his directorial credits include the original Broadway production of Ben-Hur (1899), in which he staged the play's elaborate chariot race sequence onstage.

Life and career

Teal was born January 19, 1857 in Eugene, Oregon.[1][lower-alpha 1] He spent his early life in San Francisco, and made his first stage appearance at four or five years old.[3] As an adult, Teal began his career as a stage director in California, before relocating to New York City in the latter part of the century.[3]

He married Mary Blackburn, a native of Sacramento, California, in New York City on June 27, 1887.[4] He later remarried to Portland, Oregon native Elinor Toomey Gilman in Boston, Massachusetts on October 9, 1906.[5]

Teal gained notoriety for his directing of the original Broadway production of Ben-Hur (1899–1900), in which he successfully arranged an elaborate chariot race sequence on stage.[6] He staged over thirty plays on Broadway between 1897 and 1916.[7] Teal was known for his brusque stage direction and interaction with cast members, though he was noted for being "without peer in his ability to move large numbers of extras around onstage."[8] Writer Edward Jewett Luce noted in 1910: "Ben Teal—the very mention of whose name suggest stage management with a vengeance—is known all over the world as the strictest, yet the most conscientious of stage directors."[9]

Death

Teal died in a New York City sanitarium of an unspecified disease on April 20, 1917.[10] He is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.[11]

Stage credits
Year Title Location Notes Ref.
1887 Clito Baldwin Theatre, San Francisco [12]
1899 A Reign of Error Victoria Theater [7]
1899 In Gay Paree Casino Theatre [7]
1899–1900 Ben-Hur Broadway Theatre [7]
1900 Chris and the Wonderful Lamp Victoria Theater [7]
1900–1901 The Rogers Brothers in Central Park Victoria Theatre; Grand Opera House [7]
1900 Foxy Quiller (In Corsica) Broadway Theatre [7]
1900 Star and Garter Victoria Theater [7]
1900–1901 Sweet Nell of Old Drury Knickerbocker Theatre [7]
1901 The Rogers Brothers in Washington Knickerbocker Theatre [7]
1901–1902 The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast Broadway Theatre [7]
1902 The Rogers Brothers in Harvard Knickerbocker Theatre [7]
1904 Whoop-Dee-Doo Weber and Fields' Music Hall; New Amsterdam Theatre [7]
1904 An English Daisy Casino Theatre [7]
1905–1906 The Rollicking Girl Herald Square Theatre; New York Theatre [7]
1905 The Catch of the Season Daly's Theatre [7]
1906 The Mountain Climber Criterion Theatre [7]
1906 The American Lord Hudson Theatre [7]
1906 The Little Father of the Wilderness / The Mountain Climber Criterion Theatre [7]
1906–1907 The Little Cherub Criterion Theatre; Grand Opera House [7]
1906–1907 The Rich Mr. Hoggenheimer Wallack's Theatre [7]
1907 The Rogers Brothers in Panama Broadway Theatre; Liberty Theater [7]
1907–1908 The Hoyden Knickerbocker Theatre; Wallack's Theatre; Grand Opera House [7]
1908 Fluffy Ruffles Criterion Theatre [7]
1910 The Old Town The Globe Theatre [7]
1910 A Skylark New York Theatre [7]
1912 The Man from Cook's New Amsterdam Theatre [7]
1913–1914 Adele Longacre Theatre; Harris Theatre [7]
1913–1914 Iole Longacre Theatre Also wrote book and lyrics [7]
1914 The Midnight Girl 44th Street Theatre [7]
1914 The Red Canary Lyric Theatre [7]
1915 The Girl Who Smiles Lyric Theatre; Longacre Theatre [7]
1916 Broadway and Buttermilk Maxine Elliott's Theatre [7]

Notes
  1. A childhood photograph of Teal in the Oregon Historical Society's Cartes-de-Visite collection has the inscription: "Ben Teal, son of Joseph Teal, in his boyhood. Born in Eugene, Jan. 19, 1857."[2]

References
  1. Luce 1910, p. 167.
  2. "Teal, Ben". Oregon Historical Society. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020.
  3. "Ben Teal, Famous Stage Manager, Dead". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. April 20, 1917. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940" (February 10, 2018). Ben Teal and Mary Blackburn, 27 Jun 1887; citing Marriage, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York City Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,571,005.
  5. "Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915" (May 25, 2018). Ben Teal and Elinor M Toomey Gilman, 9 Oct 1906; citing Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2,315,298.
  6. "Death of Man Who Staged Chariot Race in "Ben-Hur"". The Leavenworth Times. Leavenworth, Kansas. April 24, 1917. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Ben Teal". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020.
  8. Wilmeth & Bigsby 1998, p. 524.
  9. Luce 1910, p. 166.
  10. "Broadway Mourns Dave Montgomery". The Sandusky Star-Journal. Sandusky, Ohio. April 21, 1917. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949" (February 10, 2018). Benjamin Teal, 20 Apr 1917; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,322,407.
  12. "Baldwin Theatre advertisement". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. September 25, 1887. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.

Sources
  • Luce, Edward Jewett (1910). "IX: In the Amusement World". The Mechanics Lien Law of New Jersey. Soney and Sage. pp. 164–188.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Wilmeth, Don B.; Bigsby, Christopher, eds. (1998). The Cambridge History of American Theatre. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-65179-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Further reading
  • Shelton, Lewis E. (2005). "Ben Teal and the Authoritarian Perspective of Directing". Ideas of Theatre: The Five Directorial Perspectives of the American Stage. Bethesda, Maryland: Academica Press. ISBN 978-1-933-14604-1.
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