THEATRICAL

Marie Dressler's Journey on the Stage

Before Hollywood

Long before becoming one of Hollywood's most celebrated actresses, Marie Dressler built an impressive career on the stage. Between 1892 and 1925, she appeared in numerous comic operas, musicals, comedies, burlesques, revues, and vaudeville productions that helped establish her reputation as a talented performer.

Major Stage Appearances (1892 – 1925) 

  • The Robber of the Rhine  (comic opera) opened NY May 28, 1892 

  • Princess Nicotine  (comic opera) opened NY November 20, 1893 

  • Giroflé-Girolfla  (comic opera) opened NY March 30, 1894 

  • Madeleine; Or, the Magic Kiss  (comic opera) opened NY February 25, 1895 

  • Little Robinson Crusoe  (operatic burlesque) opened Chicago June 21, 1895 

  • A Stag Party, or A Hero in Spite of Himself  (musical travesty) opened NY December 17,1895 

  • The Lady Slavey (musical) opened NY February 3, 1896; tours in 1898 and 1900 

  • The Rivals  (comedy) opened NY May 28, 1896 

  • Tess of the Vaudevilles  (burlesque/vaudeville) opened NY February 15, 1897 

  • Courted into Court  (musical farce) Cleveland early 1898 

  • Hotel Topsy Turvey  (vaudeville operetta) opened NY October 3, 1898 

  • The Man in the Moon (extravaganza) opened NY April 24, 1899 

  • Miss Prinnt  (farce-musical-comedy) opened NY December 25, 1900 

  • The King’s Carnival  (burlesque review) opened NY May 13, 1901 

  • The Hall of Fame (musical) opened NY February 3, 1902 

  • King High Ball (comic opera) opened NY September 6, 1902 

  • Sweet Kitty Swellairs  (burlesque/vaudeville) opened NY March 1, 1904 

  • Higgledy-Piggledy  (musical) opened NY August 20, 1904 

  • The College Widower  (burlesque) opened NY January 5, 1905 

  • Twiddle-Twaddle  (revue) opened NY January 1, 1906 

  • The Squaw Man’s Girl of the Golden West  (burlesque) opened NY February 26, 1906 

  • Oh! Mr. Belasco (vaudeville) opened NY December 31, 1906 

  • Vaudeville / Revue opened London, UK October 28, 1907 

  • Vaudeville  opened NY April 26, 1908 

A Career Built on the Stage

Before audiences knew Marie Dressler as a film star, they knew her as one of the theatre's great entertainers. Her stage career spanned more than thirty years, including comic opera, musicals, vaudeville, burlesque and comedy productions.