According to theatrical legend, the shortest run in showbiz history was The Lady of Lyons in 1838. The curtain got stuck on the opening night, the audience went home and that was it.
Thus speaks The Times today but I can’t find confirmation of this incident anywhere. Is this a legend or does anyone have more details of this bizarre event?
Many thanks.
Bump.
Was opening night a dark and stormy one?
Come on, someone was going to say it anyway. Best to get it out of the way now.
Yo, Chez Guevara, I made a silent vow not to hop on the wagon after your bump, just to be in the train of followers. But after the ice has been broken by Johnny Q, I’ll add to the thread the notion that The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest has been one of the perennial joys of my internet experience. The homepage should fill in any gaps potential authors might need.
Even the Wikipedia page on Edward George Bulwer-Lytton himself is a treat to read. From that article, where the play’s title does not have a link to elsewhere, we can see:
I seem to recall that one of our Dopers has participated in, if not actually won, the BLFC. It may even be part of my Sunday to do a keyword search on Bulwer Lytton, just to see what else has been said on the subject.
I wish you great success with this thread!
It was Boyo Jim whose name I had trouble with as the BLFC writer. And here are the 16 threads (before the subject came up in our recent exchange) where Bulwer and Lytton appear in the same thread. Some more noteworthy than others, but at least the list is complete for those particular criteria.
Mmmmmm…Big, Moist, Chewy Cookies
Share your unselected Bulwer Lytton Submissions
Unethical drug dealers are killing Amy Winehouse!
Facilitated Communication rears its ugly head again
You have EXACTLY 3 MONTHS to be the worst you can be!
Lurker poll:Why don’t you post?
The Loathsome State of Best-Selling Autobiographies
Ever gotten a good grade on an assignment you did while high or drunk?
Has anyone actually read the “It was a dark and stormy night” book?
The anecdote is extremely unlikely to be true. [The Oxford Companion to American Theatre](The Oxford Companion to American Theatre) had this to say:
“The original American cast at New York’s Park Theatre in 1838 included Mrs. Richardson as Pauline, Edwin Forrest as Melnotte, and Peter Richings as Beauséant. No less than Charlotte Cushman was the Widow Melnotte. The work remained one of the most popular of all plays for the rest of the century. The list of important performers who acted in the play would include virtually every major serious actor and actress of the period.”
Although the fiction contest cited above has turned his name into a joke, he was a very successful writer in his time.
ETA: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-LadyofLyonsThe.html
Just so you know, according to the anecdote, it was a production of the play at the Shaftesbury Theatre on December 26, 1888.
So, how would we find out if The Lady of Lyons was performed at the Shaftesbury at the end of 1888?