Read An Actor's Tale - Books Library

An Actor's Tale

Amy E. Hughes

4.9/5 (25464 ratings)

Description:Harry Watkins was no one special. During a career that spanned four decades, this nineteenth-century actor yearned for fame but merely skirted the edges of it. He performed alongside the brightest stars, wrote scores of plays, and toured the United States and England, but he never became a household name. Inspired by this average performer’s life and labor, An Actor’s Tale offers an alternative history of nineteenth-century theater, focusing on the daily rhythms and routines of theatrical life rather than the celebrated people, plays, and exceptional events that tend to dominate histories of US theater and performance. In the process, Hughes asks uncomfortable questions about the existence, predominance, and erasure of White male mediocrity in US culture, both in the past and present. When historians focus only on performers and plays with artistic “merit,” what communities, perspectives, and cultural trends remain invisible? How did men like Watkins advance themselves professionally, despite their mediocrity? Why did men like Watkins embrace and perpetuate myths like the American Dream, the “self-made man,” and meritocracy, and how have these ideals shaped casting, producing, and celebrity worship in today’s US entertainment industry? Ultimately, Hughes reveals how this actor’s tale illuminates the widespread tendency to ignore, deny, and forgive White male mediocrity in US culture, and how a deeper understanding of people like Watkins can transform our understanding of the past—and our understanding of ourselves.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with An Actor's Tale. To get started finding An Actor's Tale, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Pages: 247

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Release: 2025

ISBN: Z9VZAAAAcAAJ

Description: Harry Watkins was no one special. During a career that spanned four decades, this nineteenth-century actor yearned for fame but merely skirted the edges of it. He performed alongside the brightest stars, wrote scores of plays, and toured the United States and England, but he never became a household name. Inspired by this average performer’s life and labor, An Actor’s Tale offers an alternative history of nineteenth-century theater, focusing on the daily rhythms and routines of theatrical life rather than the celebrated people, plays, and exceptional events that tend to dominate histories of US theater and performance. In the process, Hughes asks uncomfortable questions about the existence, predominance, and erasure of White male mediocrity in US culture, both in the past and present. When historians focus only on performers and plays with artistic “merit,” what communities, perspectives, and cultural trends remain invisible? How did men like Watkins advance themselves professionally, despite their mediocrity? Why did men like Watkins embrace and perpetuate myths like the American Dream, the “self-made man,” and meritocracy, and how have these ideals shaped casting, producing, and celebrity worship in today’s US entertainment industry? Ultimately, Hughes reveals how this actor’s tale illuminates the widespread tendency to ignore, deny, and forgive White male mediocrity in US culture, and how a deeper understanding of people like Watkins can transform our understanding of the past—and our understanding of ourselves.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with An Actor's Tale. To get started finding An Actor's Tale, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Special Offer | $0.00

Special Offer! | $0.00

An Actor's Tale

An Actor's Tale

More Books

Spectacles of Reform: Theater and Activism in Nineteenth-Century America by Amy E. Hughes (2012-12-17)

Spectacles of Reform: Theater and Activism in Nineteenth-Century America by Amy E. Hughes (2012-12-17)

Spectacles of Reform: Theater and Activism in Nineteenth-Century America by Amy E. Hughes (2014-05-14)

Spectacles of Reform: Theater and Activism in Nineteenth-Century America by Amy E. Hughes (2014-05-14)

A Player and a Gentleman: The Diary of Harry Watkins, Nineteenth-Century U.S. American Actor

A Player and a Gentleman: The Diary of Harry Watkins, Nineteenth-Century U.S. American Actor

Spectacles of Reform: Theater and Activism in Nineteenth-Century America

Spectacles of Reform: Theater and Activism in Nineteenth-Century America

Theatre Research Resources in New York City: A Complete Guide to Over 100 Libraries and Special Collections in New York City

Theatre Research Resources in New York City: A Complete Guide to Over 100 Libraries and Special Collections in New York City

Spectacles of Reform: Theater and Activism in Nineteenth-Century America by Hughes, Amy E. (2014) Paperback

Spectacles of Reform: Theater and Activism in Nineteenth-Century America by Hughes, Amy E. (2014) Paperback

Food and Theatre on the World Stage (Routledge Advances in Theatre and Performance Studies) (2015-06-29)

Food and Theatre on the World Stage (Routledge Advances in Theatre and Performance Studies) (2015-06-29)

Vertigo Quarterly CMYK

Vertigo Quarterly CMYK

The Civil Rights Reader: American Literature from Jim Crow to Reconciliation

The Civil Rights Reader: American Literature from Jim Crow to Reconciliation