Theatres of Value - Buying and Selling Shakespeare in Nineteenth-Century New York City

Explores the value of Shakespeare for theatrical businesspeople and audiences in nineteenth-century New York City.
Theatres of Value explores the idea that buying and selling are performative acts and offers a paradigm for deeper study of these acts-"the dramaturgy of value." Modeling this multifaceted approach, the book explores six case studies to show how and why Shakespeare had value for nineteenth-century New Yorkers. In considering William Brown's African Theater, P. T. Barnum's American Museum and Lecture Hall, Fanny Kemble's American reading career, the Booth family brand, the memorial statue of Shakespeare in Central Park, and an 1888 benefit performance of Hamlet to theatrical impresario Lester Wallack, Theatres of Value traces a history of audience engagement with Shakespearean cultural capital and the myriad ways this engagement was leveraged by theatrical businesspeople.

About the author

Danielle Rosvally is Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. She is the coeditor (with Donovan Sherman) of Early Modern Liveness: Mediating Presence in Text, Stage and Screen.

Product details

• Authors: Danielle Rosvally
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 02.01.2025
• EAN: 9781438498331
• ISBN: 978-1-4384-9833-1
• No. of pages: 275
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 25 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; USA, Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / United States / 19th Century, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / History & Criticism, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Theatre Studies, Local History, United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, Northeastern & North Atlantic States, US Northeast: Mid-Atlantic States, History of Performing Arts