Kalman A. Burnim

Bio: Kalman A. Burnim is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Performing arts & Political theatre. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 8 publications receiving 241 citations.

A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800.

Abstract: A major project begun in 1973 reaches its conclusion with the publication of volumes 15 and 16 of the "Biographical Dictionary, "a series considered "a reference work of the first order" by "Theatre and Performing Arts Collections."Among performers highlighted in these last volumes is Catherine Tofts, a gifted singer whose popular acclaim was captured in lines by Samuel Phillips: "How are we pleas d when beauteous Tofts appears, / To steal our Souls through our attentive Ears? / Ravish d we listen to th inchanting Song, / And catch the falling Accents from her Tongue." The first singer of English birth to master the form of Italian opera, Tofts frequently won leading roles over native Italian singers. Her salary 400to 500 a seasonwas one of the highest in the theatre. Her popularity declined, however, as her demands for payment increaseda situation captured in an epigram Alexander Pope may have penned: "So bright is thy beauty, so charming thy song, / As had drawn both the beasts and their Orpheus along;/" "But such is thy avarice, and such is thy pride, / That the beasts must have starved, and the poets have died."John Vanbrugh, whose play "The Relapse "is ranked as one of the best comedies of the Restoration period, became a subordinate crown architect under Sir Christopher Wren in 1702. In 1703, Vanbrugh began plans for the Queen s Theatre in the Haymarket, an enterprise endorsed by the Kit Cat Club (of which Vanbrugh was a member). Even though his lavish design was acoustically defective, restructuring helped correct the problem and the theatre eventually became the exclusive center for opera in London."

The London Theatre Cartel of the 1720s: British Library Additional Charters 9306 and 9308

Abstract: One of the basic facts of eighteenth-century London theatre history is the disinclination of the managers of the patent theatres to engage in serious competition of any sort following the Licensing Act of 1737. This preference for peaceful coexistence was not, in fact, a new development: a strong inclination toward a modus vivendi can be proven as early as 1720. The evidence is a pair of almost entirely neglected manuscript charters (contracts) preserved in the British Library. In both instances we find the managers of the two theatres attempting to restrict actor transfers. The first contract (dating from September 1720) was apparently never formally concluded, but the second (dated April 1722) was duly signed and sealed, and evidently remained in effect until about 1730. Taken together, the two charters shed considerable light on the accommodation eventually reached between the two companies after the reestablishment of competition in 1714, and they also give us lists of performers in 1720 and 1722 that add significantly to the company rosters in The London Stage.

Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre

Abstract: Introduction 1. Lessing and the Hamburgische Dramaturgie 2. Dramaturgy in nineteenth-century England 3. William Archer and Harley Granville Barker: constructions of the literary manager 4. Bertolt Brecht: the theory and practice of the dramaturg 5. Kenneth Tynan and the National Theatre 6. Dramaturgy and literary management in England today 7. Conclusion.

Grocers, Goldsmiths, and Drapers: Freemen and Apprentices in the Elizabethan Theater

Abstract: Integrating much new information from livery-company archives and Chancery depositions with material from well-known primary and secondary sources, David Kathman documents the important role played by livery companies in the economic development of the Elizabethan professional theater. In the process, he presents data on more than fifty actors and playwrights who were also freemen of livery companies such as the Grocers, Goldsmiths, Drapers, Vintners, Bricklayers, Mercers, Apothecaries, and Barber-Surgeons. The careers of John Heminges, William Perry, and John Rhodes are discussed in detail in order to illustrate different aspects of the apprenticeship system and its links to the London stage from Shakespeare's time to the Restoration, when boy-actors ceased to play female roles.