Blockbusters of Victorian Theater, 1850-1910

Paul Fryer is an academic, author, editor and researcher, based in Kent (UK). He has lectured and presented film screenings internationally and is a visiting professor at the Universities of Leeds, London South Bank and East London.

• Table of ContentsIntroductionPaul FryerA “Vilely Stupid” Play: The Success of The Passing of the Third Floor BackHannah UnwinMr. Blue Beard: A Show So SpectacularDanny Devlin“Can a playwright ask for better material?” Bringing Trilby to the StageHelice Koffler“A British tar is a soaring soul”: Framing the Process of H.M.S. Pinafore Through the Diaries and Correspondence of Gilbert and SullivanScott M. HayesThe Shaughraun by Dion Boucicault Nesta JonesThe Sweet Smell of Success: Florodora as Victorian MegamusicalBen MacphersonFrom Best Seller to Box Office Sensation: The Phenomenon of Mrs. Henry Wood’s East LynneAmy LehmanThe Faust of Henry Irving: A “Dazzling Emptiness”?Stephen A. SchrumL’Enfant Prodigue: A Prodigious ProductionTony LidingtonWhat Price Success? The Blessing and the Curse of Monte CristoCecilia J. PangPrincess of the Pearl Island at the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton, 1866–7, in the Context of ­Nineteenth-Century London PantomimesDeborah JeffriesFrom Matinée to Long Run, from “Dearest” to Ibsen: The Revelatory Success of The Real Little Lord Fauntleroy (1888–1891)Heather Jeanne ViolantiUncle Tom’s Cabin: A Cry for FreedomKathy DacreThe Klaw and Erlanger ­Ben-Hur: The Definitive Victorian BlockbusterHoward MillerAbout the ContributorsIndex