On May 24, 1923, Moore County native Lula Vollmer’s play “Sun-up” premiered on Broadway. Her first and most successful drama, “Sun-Up” depicted people of the southern mountain region. She donated her royalties of more than $40,000 to help educate them.
Born in 1898 and educated at what later became Asheville College, Vollmer went to New York after graduation in 1918 to try to sell the play. Although she worked for the Theatre Guild as a box-office clerk, the Guild joined other producers in rejecting “Sun-Up” until it was produced at the Provincetown Theater.
Subsequently it was performed in Chicago, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Budapest.
In 1925, “Sun-Up” was published in book form. Between 1923 and 1946, Vollmer wrote many other plays, among them “The Shame Woman,” “The Dunce Boy,” “Trigger” and “Sentinels,” although none had the commercial success of her first.
Except for Paul Green, Vollmer had more plays produced in New York than any other North Carolina dramatist. Grant Wood, famous for his painting American Gothic, was scene designer for one of her early works.
Vollmer also wrote a variety of radio serials and in later years wrote short stories for the Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s Magazine and other magazines.
She died in 1955.
Other related resources:
- North Carolina Art Trails
- Resources for exploring performing arts from the N.C. Arts Council
Image from State Library of North Carolina.