Princeton Triangle Club
The Princeton Triangle Club is an American theater troupe at Princeton University, located in Princeton, New Jersey.
Founded in 1891, it is one of the oldest collegiate theater troupes in the United States. Triangle
premieres an original student-written musical every year, and then takes that show on a national tour. The club is known for its signature kickline; historically performed by the men of the ensemble in drag, the kickline has recently been performed by a co-ed cast.
The troupe presents several shows throughout the year, beginning in September with the Frosh Week Show. In the autumn, it premieres the year's new Triangle Show, an original student-written musical comedy, professionally directed and choreographed and performed in McCarter Theatre; this Triangle Show goes on a national tour in January. In the spring, the club showcases the new writers' material in a smaller campus venue. And during Princeton Reunions after the end of the spring semester, the year's Triangle Show plays its final performances at McCarter.
The club's notable alumni include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Booth Tarkington, Russel Wright, Joshua Logan, Brooks Bowman, Jimmy Stewart, Charles Arnt, José Ferrer, Wayne Rogers, Clark Gesner, Jeff Moss, David E. Kelley, Nicholas Hammond, Zachary Pincus-Roth, and Brooke Shields.
Image:McCarter Theater auditorium from balcony Princeton.JPG|thumb|McCarter Theatre, before the Triangle Show.
Image:McCarter Theatre Triangle Club kickline Princeton.jpg|thumb|"Heist Almighty". The male ensemble approaches the traditional kickline number.
History
The history of the Princeton Triangle Club reflects many major social, cultural, economic, political, literary and theatrical trends in the United States during the late 19th and 20th centuries. For most of its history, the club has produced student writing performed by students. Productions are known for blending topical humor with collegiate irreverence; the kickline has become standard.Beginnings
The tradition started with a production by a group called the Princeton College Dramatic Association in 1883. In keeping with the practice of all-male institutions at the time, women's roles were played by men. Entr'acte music, provided by the Instrumental or Banjo Clubs, were often popular dance tunes or excerpts from operas. The early theatricals were fundraisers for financially struggling athletic associations.In 1891, the Dramatic Association joined forces with the University Glee Club to present Po-ca-hon-tas, the first show in the Triangle tradition of musicals written and produced by students. The reworked John Brougham play was performed both on campus and in Trenton. But the faculty vetoed a proposed New York performance.
Over the years, students and administrators would often be at odds over theatrical activities. Nevertheless, the association visited Trenton once again the following year with Katharine, a Shakespearean spoof marking the first appearance of Booth Tarkington in the Triangle records.
The 1893 production, The Honorable Julius Caesar, was again a reworking of Shakespeare. Tarkington, a senior and president of the Dramatic Association, was both co-author of the book and acted in the role of Cassius. The show was repeated the following year with several significant changes. Most importantly, the Princeton University Dramatic Association had been renamed the Triangle Club of Princeton.
Early growth
Financial problems caused club members to curtail expenses in 1895. Neither the February production, Who's Who, nor the May offering, Snowball, were written by students, and both had relatively small casts. The following year the club turned to a recent graduate, Post Wheeler '91, in hopes that his magic touch as co-author of The Honorable Julius Caesar could be repeated, and they were pleased with the result.The Mummy was also notable as the first production in Triangle's new home, the Casino, located on the lower campus near the present-day McCarter Theatre site. Yet another innovation was attempted in 1897. A Tiger Lily, the first Triangle show to be based on Princeton student life, was part of a double bill with Lend Me Five Shillings, a British farce. Since neither show was a great success, the club returned to the tried and true in 1898 with a revival of Po-ca-hon-tas.
The Privateer, presented in 1899, was originally entitled The Captain's Kidd Sister, but the name was changed because the University of Pennsylvania's Mask and Wig Club had already produced a show about Captain Kidd. The "Privateer March" was the first commercially published Triangle song.
Traditions begin
In 1901, with The King of Pomeru, Triangle ventured for the first time to New York, and the next year the club ventured as far as Pittsburgh. After the 1901 New York performance, Franklin B. Morse proposed a meeting to organize Triangle alumni, who he believed could help promote the club, build its reputation, arrange the annual tour, collect materials and memorabilia, and generally socialize among themselves. In June of that year, thirty-seven alumni met in Princeton, and the Triangle Board of Trustees was established.After 1900, the Triangle became increasingly established. Printed copies of the scripts began appearing. Performing off campus and on became the norm, which led faculty to vett texts and performances were vetted before the students left campus with their show. Jenny Davidson Hibben, the wife of Princeton President John Grier Hibben, cut off-color passages or topics she considered morally inappropriate. She was a practicing Presbyterian.
In 1907, the first kickline was performed. It was part of The Mummy Monarch, but soon became a standard element of Triangle shows.
Budding fame and higher standards
By 1910, the tour had extended as far west as Chicago and St. Louis; elaborate social functions were becoming part of the annual trek. With Once in a Hundred Years, Triangle moved its tour to the Christmas season, again traveling as far west as St. Louis. The following year, President Wilson and the First Lady attended The Pursuit of Priscilla’s Washington matinee performance; the First Family then hosted a reception for Triangle at the White House.The Evil Eye had a distinguished pair of neophyte authors: Edmund Wilson wrote the book, and F. Scott Fitzgerald was responsible for the lyrics. Although he was never a cast member in a Triangle production, Fitzgerald wrote three shows for the club between 1914 and 1917.
The club had been criticized in previous years by drama professor Donald Clive Stuart who asserted, on the front page of the Princeton University newspaper, that the plays were "too burlesque" and lacked novelty, especially when compared to theatrical culture at other Ivy League schools.
During 1917–18, a four-man Triangle troupe toured Europe to entertain the soldiers stationed there for World War I. After the year hiatus, the club became active again with a revival of The Honorable Julius Caesar.
The first post-war tour occurred when The Isle of Surprise was taken on the road during Christmas break of 1919. The Christmas tour reached as far as Nashville, Tennessee, in 1922; the club presented a musical comedy called Espanola at Nashville's Orpheum Theater.
In the spring of 1922, Triangle staged George Bernard Shaw's The Devil's Disciple. This production marked a milepost in the club's history, for its three female roles were actually played by women. Sets for this production were designed and painted by Russel Wright during his freshman year, marking one of the few times that a freshman was ever allowed to join Triangle.
Professionalization and emerging stars
During the early 1920s, New York performances began to be booked at the Metropolitan Opera House, although initially there was some concern whether they could fill such a large theatre and whether the men's voices would be strong enough.Late in 1923, there were negotiations concerning a possible radio broadcast, and in the same year Triangle's music publisher, J. Church Co., corresponded with the Victor Talking Machine Company about a trial recording. But the major event during this decade was the planning and construction of McCarter Theatre for the Triangle Club. The completed theatre opened on February 21, 1930, with a performance of The Golden Dog. McCarter replaced the long-controversial Casino, which burned on January 8, 1924.
Here began the Golden Period for which the Triangle Club became famous, in terms of its eventual contribution of outstanding talent to the Broadway theatre and Hollywood. Within a few years the club would send forth into these professional realms Erik Barnouw '29; C. Norris Houghton, Joshua Logan, and Myron McCormick, all Class of 1931; James Stewart '32; José Ferrer '33; and Nick Foran '34.
The 1935 show, Stags at Bay, featured "East of the Sun ", written by Brooks Bowman, which would become the most popular and longest-lasting national hit ever to come out of the Triangle Club. Recorded by Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong, among many others, "East of the Sun" still provides the club with royalties. Other songs from the same show, by Bowman, included "Love and Dime" and "Will Love Find a Way?"
Difficulties in the Depression years
With The Tiger Smiles, Triangle writers returned to a Princeton town-and-gown setting for the first time since When Congress Came to Princeton. The production was well received, but the club was already beginning to feel the effects of the Great Depression.In October 1930, the Program Manager reported, "Due to the financial depression, the business of getting ads is a rather difficult one just now." By the following year, economic conditions had begun to affect the tour. South Orange reported poor ticket sales, and the local alumni chairman was concerned with keeping down the cost of stagehands; in Pittsburgh, a poor house and lack of entertainment were attributed to the weak stock market.
When It's the Valet was ready to tour, local alumni groups were either unwilling to sponsor a show or unable to guarantee an adequate sum to cover expenses, let alone show a profit. The club's Graduate Board sought aid from alumni in underwriting the show, but individual contributions were equally difficult to come by.
Throughout the mid-1930s, Triangle continued to tour in spite of the Depression, but there were rumblings of discontent from both the Graduate Board of the club and the university administration. In a 1934 meeting with President Dodds, the board indicated concern about the financial condition of McCarter Theatre; Triangle profits were insufficient to keep McCarter operating in the black, a situation that would become increasingly serious as the decade wore on.
President Dodds had also heard alumni criticism about poor acting and an apparent lack of coaching in connection with the latest show. Yet he remained confident that Triangle could play an important role on campus. Later that year, Club Manager Stryker Warren received a stern letter from Dean of the College Christian Gauss. Gauss had considered canceling the Christmas tour, first because of financial considerations, and then because of alumni criticism about excessive drinking.
Another change in tradition came during the 1941-42 academic year, when Triangle produced Ask Me Another, its first show in revue format. Then, at a board meeting in September 1943, Graduate Treasurer B. Franklin Bunn announced that there would be no Triangle Club activities for the duration of the war. The university assumed control of McCarter Theatre during this period, and the building was leased by the military for trainees' use on campus.