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Margaret Webster : a life in the theater / Milly S. Barranger.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Barranger, Milly S.
- Series:
- Triangulations
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Webster, Margaret, 1905-1972.
- Webster, Margaret.
- Theatrical producers and directors--United States--Biography.
- Theatrical producers and directors.
- United States.
- Lesbians--United States--Biography.
- Lesbians.
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Electronic books.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (xviii, 367 pages) : illustrations.
- Place of Publication:
- Ann Arbor, Mich. : University of Michigan Press, 2004.
- System Details:
- text file
- Summary:
- Margaret Webster: A Life in the Theater is an engrossing backstage account of the life of pioneering director Margaret Webster (1905-72). This is the first book-length biography of Webster, a groundbreaking stage and opera director whose career challenged not only stage tradition but also mainstream attitudes toward professional women. Often credited with first having brought Shakespeare to Broadway, and renowned for her bold casting of an African American (Paul Robeson) in the role of Othello, Webster was a creative force in modern American and British theater.
- Her story reveals the independent-minded artist undeterred by stage tradition and unmindful of rules about a woman's place in the professional theater. In addition to providing fascinating glimpses into Webster's personal and family life, Margaret Webster: A Life in the Theater also offers a who's-who list of the biggest names in New York and London theater of the time, as well as Hollywood: John Gielgud, Noel Coward, George Bernard Shaw, Uta Hagen, Sybil Thorndike, Eva LeGallienne, and John Barrymore, among others, all of whom crossed paths with Webster. Capping Webster's amazing story is her investigation by Senator Joseph McCarthy and HUAC, which left her unable to work for a year, and from which she never fully recovered.
- Contents:
- Act 1 1905-1936
- Chapter 1 An Itinerant Childhood 7
- Chapter 2 Serious Beginnings 27
- Chapter 3 The Old Vic and the West End 44
- Act 2 1937-1949
- Chapter 4 Broadway Nights 63
- Chapter 5 Giants and Pygmies 85
- Chapter 6 Battle of Angels 108
- Chapter 7 The Making of Othello 131
- Chapter 8 The American Repertory Theatre 155
- Act 3 1950-1972
- Chapter 9 Life at the Opera 191
- Chapter 10 McCarthy 223
- Chapter 11 Unfinished Business 257
- Chapter 12 Losing Battles 282.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 337-341) and index.
- Description based on information from the publisher.
- ISBN:
- 9780472026036
- Publisher Number:
- 10.3998/mpub.17570
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license.
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