Kismet

Kismet (1911), a play in three acts by Edward Knoblauch. [Knickerbocker Theatre, 184 perf.] The wily Baghdad beggar and poet Hajj (Otis Skinner) is arrested on a minor infraction by the Wazir Mansur (Hamilton Revelle) who agrees to release him if he will kill the Caliph Abdullah (Fred Eric). Hajj's attempt fails and he is thrown in jail alongside his old enemy Sheik Jawan (Sheridan Block) whom he kills before escaping in the Sheik's clothing. Learning his daughter Marsinah (Rita Jolivet) has become a concubine in the Wazir's harem, he drowns the Wazir and frees Marsinah. The Caliph, who has disguised himself as a gardener to court Marsinah, now marries her. By law he must banish Hajj, which he does, but he looks the other way when Hajj simply returns to his old haunts to beg and write poetry again. Initially rejected by all the major Broadway producers, it was presented in New York by Charles Frohman, Klaw, and Erlanger only after its successful London premiere. The role of Hajj was generally considered Skinner's most popular. In 1953 a musical version with a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, and music based on Aleksandr Borodin themes, ran 583 performances at the Ziegfeld Theatre with Alfred Drake as Hajj and Richard Kiley as the Caliph. Notable songs: And This Is My Beloved; Baubles, Bangles and Beads; Stranger in Paradise; Night of My Nights. It has been revived several times, including an all‐black version in 1978 called Timbuktu. Edward KNOBLAUCH [later Anglicized to Knoblock] (1874–1945) was born in New York and educated at Harvard, but spent most of his professional career in England where he became a British subject in 1916. He began his career as an actor but soon switched to playwriting. While Kismet was his biggest hit, Knoblauch also found success with The Faun (1911) and Marie‐Odile (1915). Autobiography: Round the Room, 1939.

Kismet, visually spectacular show with a score based on the music of the Russian composer Alexander Borodin (1833–87). The writers George Forrest and Robert Wright created their own lyrics, having founded their musical on Edward Knoblock's Kismet of 1911. Kismet the musical opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre, New York in 1953, achieving a first run of over 500 performances. Its Arabian Nights setting follows the adventures of Hajj, a public poet who, in the space of an adventurous 24 hours, ascends from his lowly and disreputable position to a place of high influence with the Caliph in Baghdad.

— Tom Higgins