1st Edition

In the Long Run A Cultural History of Broadway’s Hit Plays

By Jordan Schildcrout Copyright 2020
236 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

236 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

236 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

In the Long Run: A Cultural History of Broadway’s Hit Plays presents in-depth analysis of 15 plays that ran over 1,000 performances, examining what made each so popular in its time—and then, in many cases, fall into obscurity. Covering one hundred years of theatre history, it traces the long-running Broadway play as a distinct cultural phenomenon that rises and falls from 1918 to 2018.... Read more

Tables  Preface  Acknowledgments  Introduction  1. 1910s Lightnin’: The Triumph of the Little Guy  2. 1920s Abie’s Irish Rose: Popularity Crisis  3. 1930s Tobacco Road: Theatrical Degeneration  4. 1940s Part One: The War Years Life with Father: Living Through the War with Father; The Voice of the Turtle: All’s Fair in Love and War  Part Two: The Postwar Years Harvey: Rabbits, Rummies, and Respectability; Born Yesterday: Popularity and Political Action  5. 1950s The Seven Year Itch: The Girl Without a Name; The Teahouse of the August Moon: Broadway Faces East  6. 1960s Mary, Mary: Remarrying the Witty Woman; Barefoot in the Park: The Perpetual-Motion Machine  7. 1970s Gemini: Splitting the Difference; Deathtrap: The Hit List  8. 1980s Torch Song Trilogy: Pride and Prejudice; Brighton Beach Memoirs: The Last of the Red Hot Plays  Conclusion: 1990-2018  Index

Biography

Jordan Schildcrout is the author of the book Murder Most Queer, as well as articles on American theatre and culture published in Modern Drama, Theatre Journal, and The Journal of American Drama and Theatre. He is Associate Professor of Theatre & Performance at Purchase College, State University of New York, and also works as a dramaturg in New York City.

"High-brow scholars may sneer at the popular, but In the Long Run proves that the Broadway plays that run for ages can tell us more about America’s values, concerns, and challenges than the great works we tend to venerate. Engaging, witty, and erudite, Jordan Schildcrout is the perfect guide to a century of mega-hit plays and the culture that has loved them" -- Alisa Solomon, Columbia University, USA.