Hardcover. North Hollywood CA, National Association of Theatre Owners, 1st, 1993, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 256 pages, color and b&w illustrations. Lavish and marvelous pictorial on movie theatres and how movies were presented including the publicity and all the hoopla that surrounded the movie going experience from the first nickelodeons to the majestic movie palaces and all the wonderful small neighborhood theatres. Loaded with 100's of b&w photos publicity material and more with many color photos.
Hardcover. London, Dent / Everyman's Library, reprint, 1976, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn blue dust jacket with fading to spine. 302 pages. The author was an actor, dramatist and theatrical manager and gives an account of the British stage in the first half of the Eighteenth century. First published in 1740. Clean copy.
Hardcover. New Haven CT, Yale University Press, 1st, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR on the front fly leaf. "During its first two centuries, opera was dominated by sopranos. There were male sopranos, or castrati, whose supercharged voices (female vocal cords powered by male lungs) were capable of feats of vocalism that are hard to imagine today. And there were female sopranos, or prime donne, whose long battle for social acceptance and top billing was crowned in the early nineteenth century when the castrati disappeared from the opera stage and left them supreme.", "Whether they were male or female, these singers wre amazing vertuosi, perhaps the greatest singers there have ever been - "angels." Unfortunately, some of them (and often the most famous) were also capable of behaving extremely badly, both on and off stage - "monsters." This book tells their colorful stories." Clean copy.
Hardcover. New York, Century Co., 1st, 1890, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 501 pages. Hardcover. AUTHORS SIGNED INSCRIPTION PASTED ON TITLE PAGE. 3/4 Leather marbled sections, raised bands on spine. Gilt titles and highlights. Marbled endpapers. Gilt top edge. Light rubbing to cover edges. Clean, tight copy.
Softcover. NY, Skyhorse, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 361 pages, b&w illustrations. Burlesque was one of America's most popular forms of live entertainment in the first half of the 20th century. Gaudy, bawdy, and spectacular, the shows entertained thousands of paying customers every night of the week. And yet the legacy of burlesque is often vilified and misunderstood, left out of the history books.By telling the intimate and surprising stories from its golden age through the women (and men!) who lived it, Behind the Burly Q reveals the true story of burlesque, even as it experiences a new renaissance. Lovingly interviewed by burlesque enthusiast Leslie Zemeckis who produced the hit documentary of the same name, are former musicians, strippers, novelty acts, club owners, authors, and historians--assembled here for the first time ever to tell you just what really happened in a burlesque show. From Jack Ruby and Robert Kennedy to Abbott and Costello--burlesque touched every corner of American life. The sexy shows often poked fun at the upper classes, at sex, and at what people were willing to do in the pursuit of sex. Sadly, many of the performers have since passed away, making this their last, and often only interview. Behind the Burly Q is the definitive history of burlesque during its heyday and an invaluable oral history of an American art form. Funny, shocking, unbelievable, and heartbreaking, their stories will touch your hearts. We invite you to peek behind the curtain at the burly show.
Hardcover. Boston, Bulfinch Press, 1st, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 470 pages, illustrated with over 500 color and b&w images including posters, programs, maps and other archival material. Like new in publisher's shrinkwrap.
Hardcover. Detroit MI, Wayne State University Press, 1st, 1978, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, 263 pages, b&w illustrations. The author traces the origins of humor to primitive drama, folk ritual, and carnival play. from antiquity to the era of Laurel and Hardy. Light making to about 16 pages.
Softcover. Syracuse, NY, Willis N Bugbee Co, 1st, 1932, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 16 pages. Softcover booklet. Green paper wrappers with softened edges. Light soil to paper wrappers. tight copy. Lightly faded on rear.
Hardcover. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1st, 2015, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 392 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Very clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to edges of dust jacket. Black and white illustrations throughout. Tight copy.
Softcover. Milano, Longanesi & Co., 1st, 1979, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 94 pages. Text in Italian. Light edgewear to wrappers, faint foxing to edges and end papers.
Hardcover. Boston, Little Brown , 1st, 1966, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, 319 pages, b&w photos. In a bright, unclipped dust jacket with a couple closed tears, mild soil.
Hardcover. NY, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1st, 1896, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, green cloth stamped in gilt and black, 399 pages. Forty-one chapters, each on a different actor, with a portrait of each. Each of the mini-biographies was written by a different writer or critic. The editors include such actors as John Drew, Edwin Booth, Rose Coughlan, James O'Neill, Edward Harrigan, Joseph Jefferson. Very good copy of the first edition. The book has brighttop edge gilt. Previous owner's bookplate, inscription on front endpapers.
Hardcover. University of Chicago Press, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 418 pages. In this lively work, Beatrice K. Otto takes us on a journey around the world in search of one of the most colorful characters in history--the court jester. Though not always clad in cap and bells, these witty, quirky characters crop up everywhere, from the courts of ancient China and the Mogul emperors of India to those of medieval Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. With a wealth of anecdotes, jokes, quotations, epigraphs, and illustrations (including flip art), Otto brings to light little-known jesters, highlighting their humanizing influence on people with power and position and placing otherwise remote historical figures in a more idiosyncratic, intimate light.Most of the work on the court jester has concentrated on Europe; Otto draws on previously untranslated classical Chinese writings and other sources to correct this bias and also looks at jesters in literature, mythology, and drama. Written with wit and humor, Fools Are Everywhere is the most comprehensive look at these roguish characters who risked their necks not only to mock and entertain but also to fulfill a deep and widespread human and social need. Clean copy.
Hardcover. New York, Stringer & Townsend, 1st, 1851, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, red cloth with gilt lettering, 226 pages. Previous owners bookplate on inside front cover. Some pages show minor foxing. Light rubbing to corners and at top and base of spine. Clean, unmarked text.
Hardcover. Jefferson NC, McFarland Publishing, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, red cloth with white lettering, no dust jacket issued. A biography of the sole manager of Laura Keene's Theatre in New York City and one of the most influential members of the 19th century theatre community. Her career and her personal life...includes b&w photos, and an appendix of theatres, companies, plays and roles.
Hardcover. NY, Henry Holt, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover. 249 pages. Black and red striped dust jacket with light edgewear. A clean, tight copy.
Hardcover. London, George Routledge and Sons, 1st, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in maroon cloth with bright gilt lettering on spine. 439 pages + 8 pages of publisher's ads in rear.
Hardcover. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, First Edition, 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 464 pages. Hardcover. Ivory & light grey cloth boards with gilt titles to spine. Black & white illustrations throughout. Bright dust jacket with ligh wrinkles. Clean, unmarked copy.
Hardcover. Ann Arbor, MI, Ardis, 1st English, 1981, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, 565 pages. B/w illustrations throughout. Gilt title on spine. Decorated endpapers. Dust Jacket shows some wear due to age: yellowing, fraying and chipping to edges of front, spine and back, but still in tact. Cover boards clean, covered in teal fabric and in good shape. Pages clean, edges slightly yellowed. From the front flap: "...a landmark work in Russian theater scholarship, this study reveals Meyerhold in the context of his time, as seen by friends and enemies, actors and critics, and analyzes the development of his remarkable career as Russia's most celebrated and influential experimental director."
Hardcover. US, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 176 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. Light edgewear to dust jacket, else a clean, tight copy. Roy Kemp's previously unpublished burlesque portfolio presents thirty-nine dancers performing in authentic clubs and backstage settings in 1950s New York. This nostalgic collection includes nearly 250 never-before-seen black and white and color photographs of well-known dancers, including Tempest Storm, Liz O'Leyar, Murine, Rita Gable, and Princess Domay, as well as other sultry performers, quite famous in their heyday. Kemp's talents as a photojournalist provide a fresh perspective on the lives of burlesque performers in this golden era. An artist as well as an investigator, Kemp created striptease photo montages and composed biographies for several dancers, giving the reader an intimate feel for the campy burlesque culture. This time capsule depicts live performances and peeps into club dressing rooms, and offers unedited material from pin-up photo sessions. It is a must-have for aspiring dancers, aficionados, or any modern-day guy or gal who appreciates the style and grit of this fabulous art form.
Hardcover. NY, Zone Books, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. An examination of the ultimate power opera grants to singing: the reversal of death. In Operatic Afterlives, Michal Grover-Friedlander examines the implications of opera's founding myth-the story of Orpheus and Eurydice: Orpheus's attempt to revive the dead Eurydice with the power of singing. Grover-Friedlander examines instances in which opera portrays an existence beyond death, a revival of the dead, or a simultaneous presence of life and death. These portrayals-in operas by Puccini and other composers and performances by Maria Callas-are made possible, she argues, by the unique treatment of voice in the operas in question: the occurrence of a breach in which singing itself takes on an afterlife in the face of the singer's death. Clean copy, 252 pages.
Hardcover. NY, Harry N Abrams, 1st, 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 160 pages, illustrated in b&w and color. Long before the movies were created, peepshows were appealing to a public eager for entertainment and enlightenment. The peepshowman and his box were a common sight on bustling city streets and quiet village greens. The book includes nearly 200 annotated images, many never before published.
Hardcover. New York, Pantheon, 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 1330 pages. Hardcover. Small red remainder mark on bottom edge. Light wear. Clean, tight copy.
Hardcover. College Station TX, Texas A & M University Press, 1st, 2000, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 174 pages, b&w photos. The show traveled in West Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Eastern Colorado from 1920 to 1945. Clean copy in a bright dust jacket.
Hardcover. Koln GR, Taschen, 1st, 2016, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, folio trade edition. With photographic gems of early circus performers, as well as original posters, lithographs, sideshow banners and engravings from the 16th to 19th centuries illustrating the worldwide roots of the circus, readers are transported to a world of thrill and skill, grit and glamor. Highlights include iconic circus photographs by Mathew Brady, Cornell Capa, Walker Evans, Weegee, and Lisette Model, and little-known circus images by Stanley Kubrick and Charles and Ray Eames. 670 pages.
Softcover. Notre Dame IN, Theatre Historical Society, 1st, 1986, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, stapled wrappers, 40 pages. Profusely illustrated in b&w. A visual history of the design and building of the Earle Theatre in Philadelphia. Some of the world's biggest stars performed there in it's heyday. Old price sticker on rear cover, otherwise clean, very good.
Hardcover. NY, Knopf, 1st, 1979, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, price-clipped dust jacket, 326 pages. Extensively illustrated in color and black and white. Clean copy. Margot Fonteyn shares her personal vision of the history of dance.
Hardcover. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1st, 1988, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 178 pages. The drama is the most social of the arts, depending upon physical space, audience, and social factors for its existence. It is no surprise, therefore, that the most successful criticism approaches theater the way Barber and Mullaney do: as historical artifact. Barber is the better known, having authored the classic Shakespeare's Festive Comedy (1959); the present volume is based on his papers and examines three early Elizabethan tragedies"Tamburlaine" and "Dr. Faustus" by Marlowe and "The Spanish Tragedy" by Kyd. Particularly interested in locating these plays in the unstable religious atmosphere of the late 16th century, Barber ably demonstrates his understanding of the social, historical, and economic factors that defined the era. Mullaney takes the novel approach of examining the theater in light of London topography; the title thus refers to the physical location of the playhouses as well as the social importance of the theater. Mullaney points out that the prejudice that forced the great theaters of the age to operate outside the city walls encouraged a drama that was radical and iconoclastichence its greatness. Mullaney's argument is fascinating and thought-provoking, convincingly presented. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1975, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 324 pages, color and black and white illustrations throughout. A masterly survey of the world's stages brings to the contemporary reader the entire panorama of the theatre, including its formative stages among primitive peoples and the richly stylized traditions of the East.
Hardcover. NY, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1975, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 324 pages, color and black and white illustrations throughout. A masterly survey of the world's stages brings to the contemporary reader the entire panorama of the theatre, including its formative stages among primitive peoples and the richly stylized traditions of the East.
Hardcover. NY, George H. Doran, 1st, 1915, Hardcover, black cloth covers with gilt title, top edge gilt. 523 pages, b&w photos. The author wrote this book to depict and commemorate "leading representatives of the Stage". He writes about: William Warren, laura Keene, Matilda Heron, Lester Wallack, James W. Wallace, Mark Smith, Edward Adams, Henry J. Montague; Edwin Booth, Augustin Daly, Henry Irving, Johnston Forbes-Robertson, Edward H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe. Index. Clean, bright copy.
Hardcover. NY, HarperCollins, 1st, 1999, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 48 pages illustrated in color by Aliki. With her characteristically sprightly words and pictures, Aliki brings Shakespeare's life, times, and legacy to life in this highly acclaimed information-packed treasury that is truly for readers of all ages. This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 6 to 8. It's a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children From Hamlet to Romeo and Juliet to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's celebrated works have touched people around the world. Aliki combines literature, history, biography, archaeology, and architecture in this richly detailed and meticulously researched introduction to Shakespeare's world-his life in Elizabethan times, the theater world, and the Globe, for which he wrote his plays. Then she brings history full circle to the present-day reconstruction of the Globe theater.