(July 25, 1853 - May 14, 1931)
David Belasco began his theatrical career by doing menial backstage jobs in San Fransisco, working his way up to be an actor and stage manager, then - after working with and learning from Dion Boucicault, the author of the melodrama The Octoroon - establishing his career as a prolific playwright, director, and, by 1895, a successful Broadway producer. Of the over 100 plays Belasco wrote, directed, and produced on Broadway, many were melodramas and star vehicles with little lasting value. His most famous, however, are Madame Butterfly and The Girl of the Golden West, the two plays he wrote which were adapted into operas by Giacomo Puccini.
Belasco's more remarkable contributions to the theatre came in the field of design and technology. As Ibsen and Strindberg were gaining prominence as realistic playwrights, Belasco took this naturalism to the extreme, reproducing detailed, operational apartments, a Child's restaurant, and a laundromat on stage - or sometimes going so far as to buy an actual room and place it on stage, one wall removed, as his set. Walter Prichard Eaton described his technique as such: "What Mr. Belasco has done has been to write pieces for the play-house, not criticisms of life . . . he has bent his mind to devise them with all possible air of probability and with all possible fidelity of pictorial setting. Especially in the latter respect he has succeeded as no other man of our time has." 1 While some of his innovations, such as what might be called "scent design" (infusing the theatre with appropriate scents sent through the ventilation system, or produced on stage by cooking food and making coffee), were short-lived, Belasco's lighting design was more influential. Especially in his own theatres, Belasco experimented with new lighting technology, and was one of the first directors to use realistic lighting and follow spots instead of footlights; he also pioneered the use of silk screens and color gels to create realistic sunsets and mood-appropriate colored lighting. 2 The still-operational Belasco theatre was built in 1906 to his specifications, and included an impressive machine shop and fly system to allow for his innovations and experimentation.
1. American Theatre Guide
2. Encyclopedia of World Biography
Resources
"Belasco, David." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 8 July 2008. www.bookrags.com/biography/david-belasco/.
Belasco, David. The Theatre Through Its Stage Door. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1919.
In his autobiography, Belasco discusses his ideas about theatre and design.
"David Belasco." American Theatre Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. 8 July 2008. www.answers.com.
"David Belasco." Answers.com. 8 July 2008. www.answers.com.
This collection of encyclopedia-type entries on Belasco includes an annotated description of several of his plays, as provided by The Chronology of American Literature.
"David Belasco." Wikipedia. 8 July 2008. www.wikipedia.org.
Timberlake, Craig. The Bishop of Broadway: The Life and Work of David Belasco. New York: Library Publishers, 1954.
This extensive biography aims to be an objective assessment of Belasco's work.