Overview

In this anthology, Robert Lewis brings together primary sources on the history of early American theater and variety shows, the materials ranging from programs and advertising bills to contemporary commentary and the memoirs of performers. Although printed, these rare, inaccessible, and/or scattered sources achieve the ""archival."" Lewis's collection make them available not only to historians but also to their students in American-culture courses.

Full Product Details

Author:   Robert M. Lewis (Senior Lecturer in American History, Historical Studies)
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.60cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.590kg
ISBN:  

9780801887482

ISBN 10:   0801887488
Pages:   400
Publication Date:   26 November 2007
Recommended Age:   From 17
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

"Contents: Introduction: From Celebration to Show BusinessTHE DIME MUSEUM Early Museum Shows Selling and Seeing Curiosities Commentary Dog Days of the Museum MINSTRELSY Routines: Songs, Speeches, Dialogue, and Farce Commentary: Rise and Fall of ""Slave"" Creativity Reminiscences Musical Comedy: Harrigan's Mulligan Guard Confessions of an African American Minstrel THE CIRCUS The Circus Debated The Early Circus Big Business The Audience MELODRAMA A Plea for an American Drama Classic Melodrama Classic Melodrama's Audiences The Ten-Twenty-Thirty Melodramas""LEG SHOW"" BURLESQUE EXTRAVAGANZAS The Black Crook A Burlesque of Burlesque Reactions to the Controversy The Popular-Price CircuitTHE WILD WEST SHOW Origins Extracts from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Programs Exhibiting Indians SUMMER AMUSEMENT PARKS Journalists and the ""New"" Coney Showmen and the ""Amusement Business"" Popular Responses Two Critics of Coney's BanalityVAUDEVILLE Vaudeville Defined The Business Routines"

Reviews

Belongs in the collection of anyone who claims to be serious about the study of American popular entertainments. - John W. Frick, Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film

Author Information

Robert M. Lewis is a lecturer in American history at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

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