Alice Lewisohn

Alice Lewisohn Crowley
Born 1883
New York City
Died 1972
Zurich
Spouse(s) Herbert E. Crowley
Parent(s) Leonard Lewisohn
Relatives Irene Lewisohn, sister
Adolph Lewisohn, uncle

Alice Lewisohn (1883-1972) was the founder of the Neighborhood Playhouse with her sister Irene Lewisohn. Alice was also an actress.[1]

Biography

She was the daughter of Rosalie Jacobs and Leonard Lewisohn.[1][2][3] In 1905 she and her sister, Irene Lewisohn, began classes and club work at the Henry Street Settlement House in New York. They produced performances with both dance and drama. In 1915, they opened the Neighborhood Playhouse on the corner of Grand and Pitt Streets.[4] There they offered training in both dance and drama to children and teenagers. Irene was in charge of the dance training and production, with the assistance of Blanche Talmud. Alice Lewisohn was in charge of the dramatic arts.[5] In 1924 she married artist, cartoonist and designer Herbert E. Crowley.[6] She resided in Zurich, Switzerland for many years and was part of the Carl Jung inner circle,[7] along with Herbert E. Crowley.[8] The notion of a hermaphroditic God, drawn from Kabballah, was suggested to Jung by Alice Lewisohn, and commented on by Jung in a dream analysis seminar.[9] Jung urged Alice Lewisohn to flee Europe at the onset of World War II in a letter in which he suggested that suicide would be a better option than for her to be "sent to Poland."[10] In 1927 Lewisohn closed the Neighborhood Playhouse after a dozen years of success, including landmark productions such as 1925's The Dybbuk. After the Second World War, Lewisohn settled in Zurich with her husband.[11] She died in Zurich 1972 as Alice Lewisohn Crowley.[12][13]

Publications

Broadway

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Miss Alice Lewisohn is Now an Actress. Member of Well-Known Family on the Stage as Eleanora Leigh. She Denies That She Is Stage Struck, and Says Her Purpose Is to Educate Herself.". New York Times. November 14, 1906. Retrieved 2008-12-16. Eleanora Leigh, who plays the role of Phene in "Pippa Passes" at the Majestic Theatre, is Miss Alice Lewisohn, daughter of the late Leonard Lewisohn and sister of Jesse Lewisohn. In spite of exceptional efforts to conceal the fact, her identity was discovered yesterday afternoon, and when it became apparent that further denial was useless, Miss Lewisohn consented to give an account of the motives and incidents leading up to her first professional appearance.
  2. ↑ "He Succumbed to Pneumonia in London After a Three Days' Illness. Was Fifty-four Years Old." (PDF). New York Times. March 6, 1902. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  3. ↑ "Leonard Lewisohn Left $12,000,000" (PDF). New York Times. March 6, 1902. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  4. ↑ "Historical note". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2008-12-16. In 1914, the Lewisohns bought a lot on the corner of Grand and Pitt Streets and donated it to the Settlement as the site of a new theater that would provide better performance space and teaching facilities. The Neighborhood Playhouse opened in 1915, showing both motion pictures and theatrical performances.
  5. ↑ "Guide to the Neighborhood Playhouse. Scenarios, 1914-1931.". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2008-12-16. In 1905 Irene and Alice Lewisohn began classes and club work at the Henry Street Settlement House in New York. While at the Settlement House they also began to present performances featuring dance and drama. In 1915, the sisters opened the Neighborhood Playhouse on the corner of Grand and Pitt Streets, where they offered training in dance and drama to children and teens. Irene Lewisohn oversaw the dance training and production, with the assistance of Blanche Talmud, while Alice Lewisohn led the dramatic work.
  6. ↑ Angels in the American Theater: Patrons, Patronage, and Philanthropy edited by Robert A Schanke. SIU Press. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  7. ↑ The Life of the Neighborhood Playhouse on Grand Street By John P. Harrington. Syracuse Univ Pr (Sd). Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  8. ↑ "Dan Nadel brings the secret history of comics to Cinefamily on May 30". http://herocomplex.latimes.com. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  9. ↑ "Routes of Wholeness: Jungian and Post-Jungian Dialogues with the Western Esoteric Tree of Life Lloyd Kenton Keane A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies University of Essex, 2007 (pp. 89)". http://www.scribd.com. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  10. ↑ "Letter from Carl Jung to Alice Lewisohn Crowley suggesting Suicide". http://carljungdepthpsychology.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  11. ↑ "Broadway Photographs: Alice Lewisohn". broadway.cas.sc.edu. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  12. ↑ "Miss Alice Crowley Formed Playhouse". New York Times. January 12, 1972. Retrieved 2008-12-16. Mrs. Alice Lewisohn Crowley, a daughter of Leonard Lewisohn, who founded a major copper mining concern with his younger brother, Adolph, died in Zurich last ...
  13. ↑ "Alice Lewisohn Crowley". New York Times. January 7, 1972. The Board of Directors, Administrative Staff and Students of the Playhouse School of the Theatre, sadly mark; the passing of Alice Lewisohn Crowley, ...