E. L. BLANCHARD | The Lady Actress

Oct 9, 202312 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Polkamania, and “The Serious Family” - Part I

PART ONE - SERIOUSLY CLASSIC The spring of 1852 was one of the saddest, most challenging times of Anna Cora Mowatt’s life. Her husband,...

Aug 4, 202313 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Anne Blake - Part I

PART I: INTRIGUING, BUT LESS THAN GROUND-BREAKING Originally posted on March 6, 2023 [A recording of this play is available at Librivox]...

Jul 28, 202320 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Pauline at the Marylebone

Part XIII: LOVE Originally published August 30, 2021 [This is a continuation of my multi-part series of entries examining Anna Cora...

Jul 28, 202318 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and The Lady at the Olympic

Part XII: IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY GHOSTWRITER… Originally published August 23, 2021 [This is a continuation of my multi-part series of...

Jul 23, 202310 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Juanna, and the London Critics

Originally posted on March 29, 2021 Last week I began a survey of reviews of G.H. Lewes “Noble Heart” in its London première at the...

Jul 22, 202310 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Noble Heart, and the London Critics

Originally published March 22, 2021 In the winter of 1850, G. H. Lewes was a noted, if controversial, member of London’s intelligentsia....

Jul 4, 202314 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and the London Critics

Originally Posted Oct. 12, 2020 Actors say, “I never read reviews.” This declaration is almost never literally true. What they actually...

Jul 3, 202311 min read

Mr. Watts and the Extortionists

Originally posted Sept. 21, 2020 When I said that Walter Watts had a relatively good reputation for London theatrical manager of the...