Edmund Kean in New York and Boston: The 1820s. (Volumes I and II).
Item
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Title
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Edmund Kean in New York and Boston: The 1820s. (Volumes I and II).
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Identifier
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AAI8820855
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identifier
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8820855
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Creator
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De Zego, Frank.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Stanley A. Waren
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Date
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1988
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater
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Abstract
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The study attempts to provide a deeper understanding of the significance of Edmund Kean's engagements in New York and Boston during the 1820s, an important decade in nineteenth-century American theatre history. Although it mainly concerns Kean's appearances in New York and Boston, pertinent information is given about his performances in other cities, such as Philadelphia and Baltimore. In addition, there is a discussion of Kean's interim periods in England.;Kean's appearance in the United States represents one of the most exciting episodes in the history of nineteenth-century American theatre. The story of Kean in America is a record not only of the visit to the United States of a great actor, but, also, the story of America's growth towards cultural independence--a growth that shows a country, formerly a colony of England, asserting its own standards of morality, patriotism, and art.;Kean's engagement in the United States, especially in New York and Boston, produced many firsts in the American theatre. Besides the unveiling of Kean's romantic acting style (Kean provided the model for James Wallack and John Maywood who preceded him in 1818 and 1819 in New York), American audiences were exposed to the first sight of curtain calls. Never before had an American audience seen a Hamlet reappear after the final curtain to acknowledge the cheers of the audience. Never before had claques been formed in an American theatre to bolster the performance of an actor. Never before had box seats been auctioned for sale to meet the demands of overflowing audiences. Never before had tickets been resold to insure a profit for unscrupulous spectators. Never before had an actor been so eagerly expected. And never before had an actor so profoundly influenced the interpretation of Shakespeare. Finally, during Kean's engagements in New York and Boston in 1825, audiences witnessed the first riots ever at an American theatre, together with his villification publicly for moral indiscretions.;A corollary value of this study is that Kean's engagements provide invaluable information heretofore unavailable to a reader about this period in American theatre.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
