# Edward Bulwer Lytton's 'The Lady of Lyons' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edward-bulwer-lyttons-the-lady-of-lyons/443095 "2008-03-28T20:06:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edward-bulwer-lyttons-the-lady-of-lyons/443095/1 "2008-03-28T20:06:35Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edward-bulwer-lyttons-the-lady-of-lyons/443095/2 "2009-03-28T20:06:58Z")
Bump. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edward-bulwer-lyttons-the-lady-of-lyons/443095/3 "2009-03-29T11:17:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edward-bulwer-lyttons-the-lady-of-lyons/443095/4 "2009-03-29T13:25:02Z")
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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulwer-Lytton_Fiction_Contest) has been one of the perennial joys of my internet experience. The [homepage](http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/) should fill in any gaps potential authors might need. Even the Wikipedia page on [Edward George Bulwer-Lytton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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: > [@](#): > > Several of his novels were made into operas, one of which (Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen, by Richard Wagner) eventually became considerably more famous than the novel on which it was based. Leonora by William Henry Fry, the first opera composed in the United States of America, is from Lord Lytton’s novel The Lady of Lyons. 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! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edward-bulwer-lyttons-the-lady-of-lyons/443095/5 "2009-03-29T14:12:18Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > 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. 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](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=480313&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Share your unselected Bulwer Lytton Submissions](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=478471&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Unethical drug dealers are killing Amy Winehouse!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=473121&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Facilitated Communication rears its ugly head again](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=463679&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [User titles?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=460175&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [You have EXACTLY 3 MONTHS to be the worst you can be!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=451602&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Lurker poll:Why don’t you post?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=449076&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Custom title under user name](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=448898&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [The Loathsome State of Best-Selling Autobiographies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445483&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Ever gotten a good grade on an assignment you did while high or drunk?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=442243&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [B-L Contest. Did our guy win?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=430953&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Has anyone actually read the “It was a dark and stormy night” book?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=394507&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Books at Work](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264511&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Bad Writing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264311&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Holmes and Friends](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=174998&highlight=bulwer+lytton) [Writing that has made you groan](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=88307&highlight=bulwer+lytton) ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edward-bulwer-lyttons-the-lady-of-lyons/443095/6 "2009-03-29T18:47:40Z")
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](http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-LadyofLyonsThe.html) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edward-bulwer-lyttons-the-lady-of-lyons/443095/7 "2009-03-29T19:17:13Z")
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?