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Lady Romeo : the radical and revolutionary life of Charlotte Cushman, America's first celebrity / Tana Wojczuk.

by Wojczuk, Tana, author.

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New York : Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2020.

Cushman, Charlotte, 1816-1876.

Actors -- United States -- Biography.

Actresses -- United States -- Biography.

Lesbian actresses -- United States -- Biography.

Theater -- Biography.

9781501199523 (hardcover) :

1501199528 (hardcover)

viii, 226 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

First Avid Reader Press hardcover edition.

The first disaster -- Quest -- Transformation -- The star of the bowery -- American genius -- Gypsy queen -- Descent into Five Points -- First love -- Enemies abroad -- Lady Romeo -- The greatest American actress -- Rome -- The coming storm -- Civil wars -- Villa Cushman -- Contrary winds.

For fans of Book of Ages and American Eve, this illuminating and enthralling biography of 19th-century queer actress Charlotte Cushman portrays her radical lifestyle that riveted New York City and made headlines across America. . . From the very beginning, she was a radical. At age nineteen, Charlotte Cushman, America's beloved actress and the country's first true celebrity, left her life, and countless suitors, behind to make it as a Shakespearean actress. After revolutionizing the role of Lady Macbeth in front of many adoring fans, she went on the road, performing in cities across a dividing America and building her fame. She was everywhere. And yet, her name has faded in the shadows of history. . . Now, for the first time in decades, Cushman's story comes to full and brilliant life in this definitive, exhilarating, and enlightening biography of the 19th-century icon. With rarely seen letters, Wojczuk reconstructs the formative years of Cushman's life, set against the excitement and drama of New York City in the 1800s, featuring a cast of luminaries and revolutionaries that changed the cultural landscape of America forever. . . A vivid portrait of an astonishing and uniquely American life, Lady Romeo reveals one of the most remarkable women in United States history, and restores her to the center stage where she belongs.

Her Hamlet, Romeo, Lady Macbeth, and Nancy Sykes from Oliver Twist became canon. She acted alongside Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, and visited frequently with the Great Emancipator himself, who was a devoted Shakespeare fan and admirer of Cushman's work. Her wife immortalized her in the angel at the top of Central Park's Bethesda Fountain; she created one of the first bohemian artists' colonies abroad, and lived publicly as a queer woman. Yet Charlotte Cushman's name has faded into the shadows. Wojczuk reconstructs the formative years of Cushman's life, reveals one of the most remarkable forgotten figures in our history and restores her to center stage, where she belongs. -- adapted from jacket

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