It's all in the book!

Thank you all for following along this seasons with our stories about the Tryout Town Era in Philadelphia theater history!

We close the episode with a reading from out upcoming book, also called Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia!

From the founding of The Walnut Street Theatre and the beginning of the American circus to the world premiere performance of Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, and from censorship and opposition to riots and deadly fires, this engaging collection of short, focused narratives introduces the reader to the often overlooked and frequently under-appreciated topic of the history of theater in Philadelphia.

The stories are populated by some of the many notable visitors to the city’s theaters, including Oscar Wilde, Edmund Kean, John Wilkes Booth, Sarah Bernhardt, Ayn Rand, Tennessee Williams, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Muhammad Ali, Paul Robeson and Joseph Papp; and the stories of heroes of local theater including Edwin Forrest, Pearl Bailey, Molly Picon, and Charles Fuller and Kevin Bacon. Also putting in appearances are the mostly forgotten, but no less fascinating Annie Kemp Bowler “the Original Stalacta,” May Manning Lillile the Quaker Cowgirl, and tennis champion William (“Big Bill”) Tilden.

All together, these lively and vivid stories—many of them little-known or previously unexplored—serve to form a larger narrative of the role that theater has played, and continues to play, in shaping and reflecting the texture of life in this unique and important American city.

You can order it via the website of our publisher, Brookline Books: 
https://www.brooklinebooks.com/9781955041379/adventures-in-theater-history-philadelphia/

Or, if you prefer, it's already available for orders on Amazon! Click here

Thanks for your support!

Peter