- Title
- Tremendous success and terrible failure: the Broadway shows of Edward Gorey
- Creator
- Gunn, Tony
- Relation
- Popular Entertainment Studies Vol. 8, Issue 2, p. 73-88
- Publisher
- University of Newcastle
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2017
- Description
- This article discusses the art and literature of Edward Gorey, focusing on his two Broadway shows that played concurrently in the late 1970s. The first, Dracula, was a tremendous success, running for over two years and 925 performances. The second, Gorey Stories, opened and closed on the same night for only one performance. This article submits that the reason for Dracula’s success and the failure of Gorey Stories is that Gorey’s visual aesthetic, while morbid and dark, is easily consumable by a mass audience especially when paired with show that provides a recognizable plot structure. Gorey’s narrative style, featured in Gorey Stories, is complex and can be unsettling, making the show a difficult sell for Broadway. Tony Gunn is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Theatre.
- Subject
- Edward Gorey; Dracula; Gorey Stories; Broadway; narrative structures; stage design; success; Popular Entertainment Studies
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1453563
- Identifier
- uon:44694
- Identifier
- ISSN:1837-9303
- Rights
- © 2017 The Author
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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Popular Entertainment Studies
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Publisher version (open access) | 802 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |