Acting Presidents: 100 Years of Plays about the Presidency

by B. Altschuler

Overview

This book seeks to fill a major gap in the literature about fictional representations of presidents by studying more than 40 plays, written since 1900, which have had prominent productions on or off-Broadway or in another major city.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780230110175
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	01/19/2011
Series:	The Evolving American Presidency
Edition description:	2010
Pages:	193
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

BRUCE ALTSCHULER is Professor of Political Science at SUNY Oswego, USA.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Poster 1 ix

Poster 2 x

Introduction xi

1 Plays about Abraham Lincoln 1

2 Other Heroic Presidents 35

3 The President as Anti-Hero 61

4 Fictional Presidents 103

5 Musical Presidents 119

Conclusions 155

Appendix: Plays Discussed in This Book 159

Notes 163

Index 189

Editorial Reviews

"If you are interested in the theater, in presidents, and in American culture, you ll be fascinated by this masterly treatment of plays about American presidents. Altschuler covers drama, musicals, satires, and every other genre, and unearths little known gems as well as analyzing Broadway and off-Broadway hits. After reading Altschuler, you ll be well equipped to understand how plays about presidents illuminate our politics, and if you are interested in specific presidents, especially Lincoln, FDR, LBJ, and Nixon, you ll gain new insights from the plays that Altschuler has collected. This is a pathbreaking work of immense value to anyone who reads about or writes about the presidency." - Richard M. Pious, Adolph and Effie Ochs Professor of American Studies, Barnard College

SUNY Oswego's Campus Update review and interview with the author:

http://www.oswego.edu/news/index.php/campusupdate/story/stage_presidents

From the Publisher