Hanlon Brothers

This book helps you in restoring a lost legacy. The Hanlons - a family of six brothers from Manchester, England - were one of the world's premiere performing troupes in the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, yet their legacy has been mostly forgotten. Mark Cosdon carefully documents the careers of this talented family and enumerates their many contributions to modern popular entertainment. As young men, the Hanlons stunned audiences all over the world with their daring acrobatic feats. After a tragic accident severely injured one brother (and indirectly led to his suicide in a manner achievable only by someone with considerable acrobatic talents), they moved into the safer arena of spectacle pantomime, where they became the rage of Parisian popular theatre. They achieved fame with their uproariously funny and technically astonishing production of ""Le Voyage en Suisse"". After settling permanently in the northeastern United States, they developed two more full-length pantomimes, ""Fantasma"" and ""Superba"". The three shows toured for more than thirty years, a testament to their popularity and to the Hanlons' impressive business acumen. The book's illustrations - including sketches of their performances, studio photographs of the Hanlons, and posters for all three of their major pantomimes - are essential to the understanding of their work. This thorough and engrossing account of the Hanlons' lives and careers is painstakingly researched yet accessible and engaging.

Mark Cosdon is an associate professor of theatre and performance studies at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. His articles on theatre history and popular performance have appeared in a number of journals, including Theatre History Studies, Journal of American Drama and Theatre, and Asian Theatre Journal.