The Widow Jones

The Widow Jones is a musical comedy created by the writer John J. McNally as a star vehicle for the actress and singer May Irwin. The musical used song material in "Negro dialect" by a variety of songwriters. Premiering at the Boston Museum theatre and backed by the Boston producers Rich & Harris, the play toured in cities through the United States in 1895-1896; including two separate runs at Broadway's Bijou Theatre. The work is best remembered today for its Act 1 kiss scene which was re-created by Irwin with her co-star John C. Rice as a short film in Thomas Edison's The Kiss in 1896.