The New York Concert Saloon: The Devil's Own Nights

by Brooks McNamara

Overview

A concert saloon is an establishment offering various kinds of entertainment, including alcohol, with some also providing gambling and prostitution. Brooks McNamara explores the concert saloon in New York from the Civil War to the early years of the twentieth century. He focuses on the theatrical aspects of the concert saloon and examines the sources of saloon shows, changes in direction during the century, performing spaces and equipment, and employees and patrons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521036993
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/28/2007
Series:	Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama , #14
Pages:	172
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.47(d)

About the Author

Brooks McNamara is Professor of Performance Studies, Emeritus, in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and Director, Emeritus of the Shubert Archive. He is a specialist in the history of popular entertainment and has published widely in the area including The American Playhouse in the Eighteenth Century and in, among others, American Popular Entertainments, as editor.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; Foreword; Preface; Acknowledgements; Prologue: sources of the concert saloon and its shows; 1. Where the devil's work is done: New York City concert saloons during the Civil War era; 2. Changes in direction: the concert saloon after the war; 3. Concert-saloon acts; 4. Concert saloons: spaces and equipment; 5. Employees and patrons of the concert saloon; 6. Related forms; Epilogue; Appendices; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...a convincing interpretation of performance history. [McNamara] has nudged the field of performance studies to consider the interdependence of entertainment and economics in ways that have compelling implications for American history...makes a welcome addition to popular culture and theatre history fields alike." Jane Barnette, Bowling Green State University, Theatre Journal

"This well-researched volume in the valuable Cambridge series explores concert saloons, a form of theatrical entertainment that flourished in drinking establishments in the second half of 19th century in New York City.... Recommended." Choice

From the Publisher