The Girl of the Golden West is a theatrical play written, produced and directed by David Belasco, set in the California Gold Rush. The four-act melodrama opened at the old Belasco Theatre in New York on November 14, 1905 and ran for 224 performances. Blanche Bates originated the role of The Girl, Robert C. Hilliard played Dick Johnson, and Frank Keenan played Jack Rance. Bates was joined by Charles Millward and Cuyler Hastings for two-week Broadway runs in 1907 and 1908. William Furst composed the play's incidental music. The play toured throughout the US for several years.
The play has been adapted numerous times, most notably as the 1910 opera La fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini. It was also made into four films, all titled The Girl of the Golden West, in 1915, 1923, 1930 and 1938. In 1911, Belasco wrote a novel based on the play.
Characters
The Girl (Minnie)
Jack Rance, gambler and Sheriff
Dick Johnson, a stranger
Sonora Slim
Trinidad Joe
Nick, bartender at The Polka
The Sidney Duck, a faro-dealer
Jim Larkens
Handsome Charlie
Happy Halliday
Deputy Sheriff
Ashby, a Wells-Fargo agent
José Castro, member of Ramerrez's band
Rider of the Pony Express
Jack Wallace, a traveling camp minstrel
Bucking Billy, from Watson's
The Lookout
A Faro-dealer
The Boy from the Ridge
Joe, Concertina Player
Citizens of the Camp and Boys of the Ridge
Wowkle, the fox, Billy Jackrabbit's squaw