Biography
Edward Everett Rice was born 21 December 1847 in Brighton, Massachusetts to Edmund Rice and Martha A. (Fletcher) Rice. Rice married Clara E. Rich, daughter of Isaac E. Rich, in 1869 and they had a daughter Carrie B. Rice (b. 1870) and sons, Aubrey L. Rice (b. 1876) and Anthony D. Rice (b. 1876).
Rice was one of the creators of Evangeline, along with John Cheever Goodwin. Evangeline was an extravaganza and burlesque show that became, in 1874, the first American production billed as musical comedy. Rice composed more than eighteen productions that appeared on Broadway, and created many productions, including Summer Nights, that toured the country. He also introduced popular performers Pauline Hall, Lillian Russell, and Fay Templeton, and in 1898, he booked Clorindy, or The Origin of the Cake Walk by Will Marion Cook and Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the earliest musicals by African Americans and the first to appear on Broadway at the prestigious Casino Theatre. Rice's biggest hit was 1894's Adonis, which starred Henry Dixey, one of the most popular performers of the era. He produced the "burlesque extravaganza" musical 1492 Up To Date in 1893 in New York City. Rice's final Broadway production was a 1904 revival of the British musical Mr. Wix of Wickham, with new songs by Jerome Kern. He died 16 November 1924 in New York City.
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