Posted on 04/14/2009 2:22:18 PM PDT by Borges
Was the play that ended Lincoln's life any good?
It's the hoariest sick joke in America: "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" By now it isn't even a joke; it's become a familiar way to complain that undue attention is being given to some frivolous aspect of an otherwise grim and urgent matter. But we've had a century and a half to ponder the awful tragedy of Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater and its effect on the post-Civil War Reconstruction, the presidency, and the American character. Surely that interval is sufficiently decent that we may now ask, in earnest: What sort of aesthetic experience occupied the Great Emancipator's final hours?
A pretty terrible one. Lincoln biographer David Herbert Donald calls Our American Cousin a "creaky farce," which may be too generous. Its British author, Tom Taylor, would later become editor of Punch, but there's very little evidence in Our American Cousin that he had a sense of humor, and by the early 20th century Taylor would be widely excoriated as a hack. Even Joseph Jefferson, who originated the title role, admitted the play "possessed but little literary merit." In its day, however, Our American Cousin was an enormous hit, having lasted five consecutive months (a very long run in those days) when first presented in New York.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
Wow, I had to search to find any reference at all to Lincoln on April 14 and the 144th anniversary of his death.
Yes, it’s that time again: Hell Week! This week in history, the death of Lincoln, the death of FDR, the sinking of the Titanic, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Tax Day...and capping off the week, Hitler’s birthday.
Did I miss anything?
Handel died 250 years ago today as well.
You forgot Clemenza’s birthday, which I share with Der Fuhrer.
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Gods |
I guess none of the people interviewed has ever heard of "Cats". ;') |
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Our American Cousin by Tom Taylor - Project Gutenberg
Wow, you and Hilter are same age.
[flips open the old joke archive]
What’s the difference between an onion and the screenplay for “Cats”?
Everybody cries when you chop up an onion.
Only in North Minehead.
April 12, 1861, Civil War started by firing on Ft. Sumter.
April 12, 1945 FDR dies (some considered that a disaster).
April 12, 1961 Gagarin Orbits the Earth, disastrous for isolationists.
A;pril 12, 1945 Lucius Cornelius Sulla born, disaster for FR.
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