Böcker av Paul Fryer

This edited collection of essays details a wide-ranging selection of some of the most sensationally successful theatre productions of the long Victorian era, the real "blockbusters" of the age. Ranging from the world of operetta and music hall to spectacular drama and sensational melodrama, the productions included provide the reader with definitive proof that the phenomenon of the "smash hit" show is not restricted to modern Broadway. This is a world that encompassed the ground-breaking stage technology of Ben Hur, the wide political impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin and the sheer creative originality of L'Enfant Prodigue. Supporting the "star" system, productions featured some of the greatest names of the period - Sir Henry Irving, Sir Johnston Forbes Robertson, James O'Neill and Dion Boucicault. This was the very dawning of a new media age, which saw many of the productions transfer to the new world of silent cinema for the very first time

Explores the many and varied ways in which composers have been depicted on the cinema screen. Beginning with some of the very earliest silent films examples, these essays range in subject from the 12th century abbess, Hildegard of Bingen, through the great classical and romantic eras of Verdi, Wagner, Berlioz and Strauss, up to the 20th century, and Elgar, Delius, Gershwin and Blitzstein.

Film technology in the early 20th century opened up a new world for the motion picture industry. Opera, relying on melodramatic storylines and pantomime acting, was an ideal subject for early silents. This book examines the relationship between the established operatic stars of the late 19th century and the newly developing motion picture industry.