BRINGING THEIR IRISH TRADITIONS AND FOLKLORE WITH THEM. MARY GRADUATED FROM WEST HIGH SCHOOL IN DENVER AT THE AGE OF
FIFTEEN...SHE ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER AND THE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER. AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 18 SHE GOT
A JOB AS A REPORTER FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, THE OLDEST NEWPAPER IN DENVER. A FELLOW REPORTER, ROBERT L. CHASE
AND MARY WERE MARRIED IN 1928. MARY RAISED THREE SONS WITH ROBERT, AND SHE QUIT THE PAPER TO BECOME A FREE LANCE WRITER.
SHE DIED IN 1981. SHE WAS 74.
SHE STARTED HER WORK ON THE PLAY "HARVEY" IN 1942. THE STORY GOES THAT HER INSPIRATION FOR THE PLAY CAME FIRST FROM A
DREAM SHE HAD ABOUT A PSYCHIATRIST BEING CHASED BY A BIG WHITE RABBIT, AND SHE RECALLED OLD FAMILY STORIES ABOUT POOKAS,
THOSE MISCHIEVOUS CHARACTERS IN IRISH FOLKLORE THAT ARE LIKE SPECTRES, WHO SHOW THEMSELVES ONLY TO PEOPLE WHO TRULY
BELIEVE IN THEM. (OTHER IRISH TRADITIONS SAY A POOKA WILL APPEAR TO WHOMEVER IT PLEASES...AND WREAKS MISCHIEF AT ITS OWN
CAPRICE.) MARY HERSELF ALSO SAID ANOTHER INSPIRATION FOR THE PLAY WAS HER NEIGHBOR, A WOMAN WHO HAD LOST HER ONLY SON
IN WW II. MARY HOPED THAT NOT ONLY FOR THIS GRIEVING WOMAN, BUT ALSO FOR A GRIEVING COUNTRY WHO WERE LOSING THOUSANDS
OF MEN TO THE WAR, SHE MIGHT BE ABLE TO WRITE A PLAY THAT WOULD BRING LAUGHTER, AND WITH IT, SOME COMFORT IN TROUBLE
TIMES.
SHE RE-WROTE THE PLAY MORE THAN 50 TIMES OVER THE COURSE OF TWO YEARS, AND WHEN BROCK PEMBERTON, THE NEW YORK
PRODUCER READ IT, HE ACCEPTED IT STRAIGHT AWAY. THE PLAY GOT SPARKLING REVIEWS WHEN IT OPENED ON BROADWAY ON
NOVEMBER 1ST, 1944. THE PLAY RAN FOUR AND A HALF YEARS ON BROADWAY, AND HAD 1,755 PERFORMANCES. TO THIS DAY IT IS A
FAVORITE IN REGIONAL AND COMMUNITY THEATRES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. MRS. CHASE WON THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR "HARVEY" AS THE
BEST PLAY OF THE 1944 -1945 SEASON.
IN 1947, UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL BOUGHT THE RIGHTS TO THE PLAY FOR $1,000,000, THE MOST MONEY EVER PAID FOR A SCRIPT UP TO
THAT TIME.
IN 1950, JIMMY STEWART STARRED IN THE FILM VERSION, AND JOSEPHINE HULL WHO PLAYED VETA SIMMONS, WON AN OSCAR FOR THE ROLE.
MARY COYLE CHASE WENT ON TO COMPLETE 7 MORE PLAYS AND NINE BOOKS, MOSTLY SATIRES OF AMERICAN LIFE. SOME OF THOSE
PLAYS WERE "BERNADINE", "THE DOG SITTERS", AND "MICKEY". "BERNADINE" WAS MADE INTO A MOVIE CALLED "MIDGIE PURVIS".
"MICKEY" was Mary Chase's play adaptation of her own 1958 novel LORETTA MASON POTTS, A WONDERFUL BOOK WHICH MANY WILL
REMEMBER FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. MICKEY WILL BE S.C.T.'s SPRING 2007 PRODUCTION COMING APRIL 13TH, 14TH, & 15TH.
AND HERE'S ANOTHER INTERESTING LITTLE NEWS ITEM --
IN LATER YEARS MARY TURNED TO WRITING CHILDREN'S LITERATURE EXCLUSIVELY, AND ALSO TO WRITING PLAYS FOR CHILDREN'S
THEATER. "MRS. MCTHING" WAS THE FIRST CHILDREN'S PLAY PROFESSIONALLY PRODUCED ON BROADWAY. A CHILDREN'S NOVEL SHE
WROTE RECEIVED THE DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER AWARD: THE BOOK WAS THE WICKED PIGEON LADIES IN THE GARDEN.
WE OWE A DEBT OF GRATITUDE TO A FINE AUTHOR AND PLAYWRIGHT WHO MANAGES IN HER WORKS TO SHOW US OUR FAULTS AND
FOIBLES, AND OUR TRIUMPHS AND VICTORIES, IN A HILARIOUS AND UPLIFTING WAY, REMINDING US OF THAT THING WE ALL SHARE: OUR FUNNY
AND FRAGILE HUMANITY.
PATRONS AND SUPPORTERS . . .
