Winthrop Ames papers

1908-1931

Theatrical manager, producer, director and writer, Winthrop Ames was born on November 25, 1870 into a wealthy and socially prominent family in North Easton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard and began a career in publishing because of his family's strong opposition to a career in theater. In 1904, however, he traveled to Europe to study the "new stagecraft" and on his return became joint manager of the Castle Square Theatre in Boston with Loren F. Deland. This led to his appointment in 1908 as managing director of the New Theatre, the largest playhouse in New York City at Central Park West and 62nd St., with Lee Shubert as the business manager and John Corbin as the literary advisor. Founded by millionaires, the New Theatre was to be a repertory theater presenting the best in classical and modern drama free of commercial pressures. Shakespeare was to be the primary offering; the theatre opened in November 1908 with a lavish production of Antony and Cleopatrastarring Julia Marlowe and E. H. Sothern. However, due to its unwieldy size and financial failure, the theater was closed by its founders after a mere two seasons.

The New Theatre reopened as the Century, but Ames had moved on to open the Little Theatre on West 44th St. in March 1912. At 300 seats, it was the smallest playhouse in New York City. In 1913, he opened the Booth Theatre on West 45th St. with the Shuberts and managed both theaters into the 1930s. Ames had many successes as a producer including Shaw's The Philanderer(1913), The Beggar on Horseback(1924) by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly, and revivals of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas at the Booth, 1926-1929. He was also the director of his plays, demanding high standards for all aspects of each production.

Respected in the theater world, Ames served on various committees. During World War I he organized the Over There Theatre League which sent actors to Europe to entertain the troops. He retired from theatrical management in 1932 because of poor health, returning to North Easton, but continued to be involved in theatrical affairs helping to found the Cambridge (Mass.) School of Drama. He was elected a Harvard trustee in 1929 and vice president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1936. He also translated The Merchant of Paris from the French (1930) and wrote an adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1913) under the name Jessie Braham White.

Ames married Lucy (Fuller) Cabot in London on September 28, 1911; they had two daughters: Catherine and Joan. He died of pneumonia on November 3, 1937 in Boston, Mass. and was buried in North Easton.