Self-portraits: John Durang on Stage in Early Philadelphia (Book Section)
Title: Self-portraits: John Durang on Stage in Early Philadelphia
Author: Lynn Matluck Brooks
Editor: Barbara Sparti and Judy Van Zile
Abstract: John Durang was the first American-born theater professional to make the stage his life. Durang was born on January 6, 1768, shortly after his parents’ emigration to Pennsylvania from the Alsace in France. Durang’s career as a theater professional unfolded primarily in Philadelphia, then America’s major city. His movement work encompassed the popular dances of theatrical interludes , ballets, pantomimes, and circus acts.
Remarkably for an actor of this period, Durang also wrote a Memoir, held at the York County Heritage Trust, and published in 1966. It includes Durang’s memories of his life and career, “day books” of his work as a manager in the latter part of his career, and – of most interest to us for this project – a set of 8 watercolors by Durang himself. Six of his illustrations are self-portraits in performance. The following is a list of the images he included of his dancing roles:
1. John Durang in character of the Dwarf Metamorphosed.
2. John Durang in character of a Hornpipe.
3. John Durang in character of the Dutch Fisherman.
4. John Durang in character of a Highland Fling — Ballet of Auld Robin Gray.
5. John Durang in character of Harlequin, Animation scene, in five positions.
6. John Durang in character of a Pas seul à Vestris.
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://www.olms.com/pcgi/a.cgi?ausgabe=index&T=1324670963358{haupt_olms_int=http://www.olms.com/artikel_15410.ahtml?T=1324670963358}
Primary URL Description: Georg Olms Verlag website
Access Model: Open access
Publisher: Georg Olms Verlag
Book Title: Imaging Dance Visual Representations of Dancers and Dancing
ISBN: 978-3-487-1454
John Durang: Man of the American Stage (Book)
Title: John Durang: Man of the American Stage
Author: Lynn Matluck Brooks
Abstract: In the memoirs of no other contemporary theater personality (i.e., William Dunlap, Edward Cape Everard, James Fennell, William Wood), has a figure quite like John Durang emerged. His eagerness in grasping opportunities, expanding his skills, shaping his career, and establishing a home are unique, not only in themselves, but also in his articulation of these enterprises. Looking at his life through the lens of American national development illuminates the role of the theater in this critical and ongoing process, while also revealing the forms and repertory that shaped this theater. Remarkably few significant biographies are available of American dance and theatrical figures whose lives preceded the twentieth century. A small handful of memoirs by actors of the period fill in a small part of this gap, but memoirs—like John Durang’s—need context and connections to be fully appreciated. The role of dance and theater in shaping the young United States is highlighted in this biography.
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://www.cambriapress.com/cambriapress.cfm?template=4&bid=478
Primary URL Description: Cambria Press website
Access Model: Open
Publisher: Cambria Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 978-1-60497-77
John Durang: Man of the American Stage (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: John Durang: Man of the American Stage
Abstract: The John Durang project resulted in a summer performance run at the Hole in the Wall Puppet Theatre in Lancaster, PA, of a script and show Lynn Brooks created with collaborator Rob Brock, Artistic Director of Hole in the Wall Puppet Theatre, which played three weekends in June 2004. In that show, Brooks and Brock acted, sang, danced, and did puppetry. The show later played for one weekend at Franklin & Marshall College
Author: Robert Brock
Author: Lynn Brooks
Date: 12/4/04
Location: Hole in the Wall Puppet Theatre, Lancaster, PA
Primary URL: http://www.holeinthewallpuppets.com/Hole_in_the_Wall_Puppet_Theatre/Home.html
Primary URL Description: Website for Hole in the Wall Puppet Theatre, including the John Durang Puppet Museum.
John Durang: Forming America on Stage (Web Resource)
Title: John Durang: Forming America on Stage
Author: Lynn Matluck Brooks
Abstract: Not only was John Durang the earliest American-born theatre professional, but he also established a theatrical dynasty that continues to this day. In the course of his lifetime, Durang exercised nearly every ability that the stage offered or demanded, from dancer to actor, scene painter to puppeteer, choreographer to dancing master, arranger to translator, clown to acrobat, musician to manager, and more. He performed with the eminent theatrical organizations of the day, including the Old American Company, Ricketts Circus, and the Chestnut St. Theatre. He toured the major theatrical towns of the northeast, and, with a troupe of his own, he pioneered theatrical presentations in rural Maryland and Pennsylvania as well as in Quebec, Canada. In the course of Durang’s life in the theatre, he participated in the transition of his homeland from colonial status to revolutionary upstart to newly established, independent nation. That course involved the shaping of a sense of being an American — a shaping played out on America’s theatrical stages.
Year: 2010
Primary URL: http://johndurang.yorkheritage.org/
Primary URL Description: This website covers the personal and professional biography of John Durang, information on the Philadelphia stage and beyond, a section on the role of movement and dance in theater of the period, and coverage of John Durang's work as a dancing master.