| Hassard Short | |
|---|---|
 Short in the 1905 Broadway play The Toast of the Town |
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| Born | Hubert Edward Hassard Short October 15, 1877 Edlington, Lincolnshire, UK |
| Died | October 9, 1956 (aged 78) Nice, France |
| Occupation | Stage director, set designer, lighting designer, actor |
| Years active | 1895–1953[1] |
| Domestic partner(s) | Billy Ladd |
Hubert Edward Hassard Short (1877–1956), usually known as Hassard Short, was a stage director, set designer and lighting designer in musical theatre[2] who directed over 50 Broadway and West End shows between 1920 and 1953.[3][4] He has been described by theatre historian Ken Bloom as "one of Broadway's greatest directors and lighting designers",[5] while John Kenrick has called him a "groundbreaking director and choreographer".[6]
He made many innovations in stage lighting and design, including the first permanent lighting bridge (Music Box Revue, 1921) and first the use of a revolving stage in a Broadway musical (The Band Wagon, 1931).[7][3]
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Short was born into the English landed gentry, the elder son of Edward Hassard Short and Geraldine Rachel Blagrave of Edlington, Lincolnshire.[8] He began his theatrical career as an actor in England in 1895 before moving to New York City in 1901, where he continued to appear on stage until 1919.[9] He also acted in five films between 1917 and 1921, the last being Woman's Place.[1]
Short decided to give up acting in favour of directing and stagecraft around 1920; a short piece in the New York Times in July that year announced "his intention of becoming a vaudeville impresario on a large scale", as well as his appointment by producer Joseph Weber as director of the operetta Honeydew.[10] In this production an electrician operated overhead spotlights above the stage from a bosun's chair, the first of Short's many innovations in stage lighting.[3]
His first major hits as a stage director came with the series of Music Box Revues from 1921–23, which showcased Irving Berlin's songs.[1] As well as innovative lighting he included mechanical effects such as moving stages and elevators, though these were not with universal approval: the critic Gilbert Seldes complained that "Hassard Short, confusing the dynamics of the theatre with mere hoisting power, moves everything that can be moved except the audience."[11]
Short adapted well to the more limited budgets of the 1930s by staging revues, including many collaborations with producer Max Gordon and choreographer Albertina Rasch.[4]. In Three's a Crowd (1930), he dispensed with footlights for the first time on the New York stage by attaching lights to the balcony railing.[12] He staged the groundbreaking 1931 revue The Band Wagon on double revolving turntables, allowing rapid scene changes.[6] His opulent staging of The Great Waltz (1934), financed by John D. Rockefeller, was an exception to the tightened purse-strings of the time and confounded many critics by becoming a hit in both New York and London.[2][6]
His wartime hits included Lady in the Dark (1941), Something for the Boys (1943) and Carmen Jones (1943). Short continued to work into his seventies: he staged a successful revival of Show Boat in 1948, and the last show he worked on was My Darlin' Aida, which opened in 1952.[2][4][9]
A homosexual in a relentlessly closeted era, Short enjoyed a long lasting relationship with Billy Ladd, a former chorus dancer.[2][13]
Among the more notable productions he staged are the following (original productions unless stated otherwise):[4]
| Title | Opened in |
|---|---|
| Music Box Revue | 1921 |
| Sunny | 1925 |
| The Band Wagon | 1931 |
| As Thousands Cheer | 1933 |
| The Great Waltz | 1934 |
| Jubilee | 1935 |
| Between the Devil | 1937 |
| The Hot Mikado | 1939 |
| Lady in the Dark | 1941 |
| Banjo Eyes | 1941 |
| Something for the Boys | 1943 |
| Carmen Jones | 1943 |
| Mexican Hayride | 1944 |
| Marinka | 1945 |
| Show Boat (revival) | 1946 |
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