Lydia Thompson: Queen of Burlesque

This inaugural volume in theForgotten Stars of the Musical Theatreseries sets Lydia Thompson, queen of burlesque, under the spotlight. The series will attempt to resurrect theatre performers and writers who were famous in their era, yet who have since inexplicably faded from popular memory. Outlandish tales of Lydia's touring burlesque company, the "British Blondes," and such lurid episodes as her horsewhipping of a Chicago editor, a romance with a Russian Grand Duke and a lesbian attacker have left her with a reputation as a bawdy burlesquer, but Kurt Ganzl argues she was nothing of the kind. Through this biography, the reader will learn the whole and hitherto untold story of this fascinating, multi-dimensional musical-theatre star.

Kurt Ganzl has authored a number of books on the history of the musical theatre, including the standard reference work in the field, the three-volume The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre; Ganzl's Book of the Musical Theatre; Ganzl's Book of the Broadway Musical; the pictorial Song and Dance; and the textbook The Musical: A Concise History. He has also produced a survey of Musical Theatre on Record, a twenty-six -- hour radio series on the international history of the musical, as well as the story of the making of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical in The Complete Aspects of Love