Criminal The Hiss
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Mar 15, 2024 Explore the chaotic night at Astra Place Opera House during William Macready's Macbeth performance, the theatrical rivalry between Forrest and Macready, the intense competition fueled by media bias, and the repercussions of a regretful incident and high-profile divorce.
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Opening Night Violence
- William Charles Macready faced groans, hisses, and thrown rotten eggs during an opening-night Macbeth in New York in May 1849.
- Seats and objects were tossed until the curtain fell and the musicians fled, forcing Macready to escape to his hotel.
Theater As A Class Signal
- The Astra Place Opera House enforced elite rules like gloves and barring unaccompanied women to create a controlled, upper-class audience environment.
- That curated atmosphere heightened class divisions and made theater a symbol of social status in mid-1800s New York.
Forrest's Muscular Populism
- Edwin Forrest cultivated a muscular, populist stage persona and was embraced by working-class audiences as a self-made American hero.
- Reviews focused on his physicality and he built a brand of natural, passionate acting that contrasted with British elocution.