TY - SER
KW - jailbreaks
KW - Jack Biddle (1872-1902)
KW - Ed Biddle (1876-1902)
KW - Kate Soffel (1867-1909)
KW - jail wardens
KW - Peter Soffel (1864-1936)
AU - Louis Lesser
AU - George S. Challis
AB - A failed Biddle boys stage play based on Kate Soffel, the jail warden’s wife who aided the Biddles’ escape. The play was intended to exploit Soffel’s notoriety after her release from prison, with original props such as the sleigh the Biddles used during their infamous 1902 jailbreak.
C1 - 1901-2
C2 - unpublished
C3 - Western Pennsylvania
C4 - Women’s; Biographical; Detective; Thriller; Romance
LA - English
M3 - Playscript
N1 - Newspaper accounts suggest that, for legal reasons, the play’s final draft did not directly reference the Biddles and switched the setting to the American West. Although set to open in Connellsville, Fayette County on January 23, 1904, the play was blocked by local authorities. Kate Soffel's manager, Louis Lesser, was fined $200 “contempt of the moral and decent sentiment of the community.”
N2 - A failed Biddle boys stage play based on Kate Soffel, the jail warden’s wife who aided the Biddles’ escape. The play was intended to exploit Soffel’s notoriety after her release from prison, with original props such as the sleigh the Biddles used during their infamous 1902 jailbreak.
PY - 1904
RN - Louis Lesser promoted variety shows and boxing matches. Newspapers described him as Kate Soffel's manager. George S. Challis managed the Colonial Theater in Connellsville, Fayette County.
TI - A Daring Woman: A Melodrama in Three Acts
ER -