Part III - Seriously Merry (A full cast recording of "The Serious Family" is available at Librivox) In 1849, comedian-turned-playwright...

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

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

PART III: ANNA CORA STRIKES GOLD AS MARTHA Originally posted Nov. 21, 2022 Martha Gibbs, the pure-hearted heroine of J. Maddison Morton’s...

PART II: GLITTERING IN ENGLAND Originally posted Nov. 7, 2022 [A full cast recording of this play is available atLibrivox ] “All that...

PART I: JOHN MADDISON MORTON AND HIS OTHER PLAY Originally posted Oct. 24, 2022 In any well-rounded streaming service that delivers...

THE GHOSTLY LEGEND OF ISABELLA AND COLONEL AXTELL Originally posted Oct. 3, 2022 For the first five years of her marriage, Anna Cora...

Originally posted September 19, 2022 When I inaugurated this blog in the fall of 2019, I envisioned that one semi-regular source of...

PART IV: THE PUSHBACK Originally posted September 5, 2022 I know that I’ve been building to the negative reaction to Anna Cora Mowatt’s...

PART III: PUBLICATION Originally posted August 22, 2022 Although January of 1856 is usually listed as the publication date of Mimic Life,...

PART II: THE PUSH Originally published August 8, 2022 [Given the response to my last entry, I am somewhat tempted to take a short...

PART II -- MOWATT, MEN, AND VILLANY Originally posted May 23, 2022 If you pick up a book about popular culture in the 19th century in the...

PART I: MOWATT'S WOMEN Originally posted May 9, 2022 A Master’s thesis is really a horrid sort of little document. In the Humanities,...

PART II: ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE Originally posted March 28, 2022 The Victorian opulence of Anna Cora Ogden Mowatt Ritchie’s name...

PART I: THE TIES THAT BIND Originally published March 14, 2022 Around this time last year, a well-meaning publishing company launched a...

PART VIII: WAKING REALITIES OF MOWATT'S "DREAMY" ION Originally posted Feb. 28, 2022 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna...

PART VI: ACTRESS VS. ACTRESS Originally posted Jan. 24, 2022 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora Mowatt’s experience...

PART V: LADY ION Originally posted Jan. 10, 2022 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora Mowatt’s experience playing the...

PART IV: THE U.S. GOES OUT OF ITS TREE FOR ELLEN Originally posted Dec. 29, 2021 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora...

PART III: THE GRAND EXPERIMENT BEGINS [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora Mowatt’s experience playing the lead role in...