The Dramatic Moment Of Fate The Life Of Sherlock Holmes In The Theatre

Sherlock Holmes has been a beloved character from his first story, and his mystique endures to the modern age in print, on screen - but he has had a long life in the theatre as well. Where did it begin? What are the themes, stories, and characterizations that make his stage presence unique and just as enduring? Follow his trail on the stage as author Alexandra Kitty curates his fascinating theatrical world throughout the decades: from unlikely Off-Broadway musicals to lauded slapstick comedies, to more traditional and gripping portrayals of his iconic stories and new incarnations. How does the world’s greatest detective fare in the theatre? The results are always shocking, but never disappointing.

Examines both academic and popular assessments of Conan Doyle's work, giving pride of place to the Holmes stories and their adaptations, and also attending to the wide range of his published work. Twenty-first-century readers, television viewers, and moviegoers know Arthur Conan Doyle as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, the world's most recognizable fictional detective. Holmes's enduring popularity has kept Conan Doyle in the public eye. However, Holmes has taken on a life of his own, generating a steady stream of critical commentary, while Conan Doyle's other works are slighted or ignored. Yet the Holmes stories make up only a small portion of Conan Doyle's published work, which includes mainstream and historical fiction; history; drama; medical, spiritualist, and political tracts; and even essays on photography. When Doyle published - whatever the subject - his contemporaries took note. Yet, outside of the fiction featuring Sherlock Holmes, until recently relatively little has been done to analyze the reception Conan Doyle's work received during his lifetime and since his death. This book examines both academic and popular assessments of Conan Doyle's work, giving pride of place to the Holmes stories and their many adaptations for print, visual, and online media, but attending to his other contributions to turn-of-the-twentieth-century culture as well. The availability of periodicals and newspapers online makes it possible to develop an assessment of Conan Doyle's (and Sherlock Holmes's) reputation among a wider readership and viewership, thus allowing for development of a broader and more accurate portrait of Doyle's place in literary and cultural history.

Imagine the scene, 221b baker street, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are in their rooms, Holmes is smoking his pipe staring at the ceiling, "Watson he cries, What do you know about Vanderbilt? Make a long arm and look in that wonderful book 'The Curious Book of Sherlock Holmes Characters', a truly remarkable work, packed will information about every character we have encountered in our 56 short stories and 4 novellas. This writer has even included that carbuncle eating goose and that lazy dog that did nothing." Watson stretched out his arm and picked it up from the coffee table, "I like to keep it handy, it looks so nice on this table, giving the whole room an air of sophistication. In addition it's so large and thick, it would stop an air rifle bullet at a thousand yards. Only the other day I looked up Captain Calhoun and Messrs. Biddle, Hayward and Moffat and found that there was a link between these individuals." Holmes thought a moment, and said "What links Miss Hunter, Miss Smith, Miss Westbury and Miss De Merville?", "Too easy" cried Watson. "What about this Holmes, get those braincells working, Which Canon story has 4 totally unrelated people with the same surname (last name), I can give you a clue, one was a policeman, one was an alias, one was a teen and one was an official. " "And this book lists them all?" asked Holmes, "Yes, there are over one thousand characters in it and of course, we both get a special mention, and it's illustrated throughout" "Sidney Paget again, I suppose?" "Oh no, not just him, but artists like Frederic Dorr Steele of Collier's fame, Ernest Flammarion, F. H. Townsend, Josef Friedrich, Paul Thiriat, Richard Gutschmidt, Arthur Twidle et al. It's a must have for anyone seriously into Us." Mike Foy's mammoth book includes all the characters (animals included) from the Sherlock Holmes canon, with as many illustrations as possible. It's one of the largest compilations of its kind and an excellent reference resource for Sherlock Holmes fans.

This original play with musical underscoring about the world's most famous detective during his youthful years of collaboration with Dr. Watson is firmly grounded in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters. It is a fascinating mystery, an enchanting romance and a wonderful comedy. Winner of the Audio Publishers Association's National Audie Award for its dramatic presentation as an audio book. Originally produced by the New York State Theatre Institute.

The classic Victorian melodrama. All the intrigue and suspense of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective stories comes to life in this classic theatrical adaptation. Originally produced on Broadway in 1899, Sherlock Holmes battles his archenemy Moriarty while he tries to defeat a notorious blackmail plot. Hailed by the press at the time as "thrilling," the play was an enormous success here and abroad. Playwright William Gillette is credited with giving Holmes his trademark curved pipe and his deerstalker cap as well as inventing the line "Elementary, my dear Watson.

Sherlock Holmes takes to the stage in four entertaining play scripts written between 1899 and 1921 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Gillette. Even though Sherlock Holmes had fallen to his supposed death at the culmination of 'The Final Problem' in December 1893, it proved very difficult to keep the great detective down as this collection of theatrical play scripts proves. Presented are: SHERLOCK HOLMES - A DRAMA IN FOUR ACTS (1899, by William Gillette and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle); THE PAINFUL PREDICAMENT OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1905, attributed to William Gillette); THE SPECKLED BAND - AN ADVENTURE OF MISTER SHERLOCK HOLMES (1910, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) and THE CROWN DIAMOND - AN EVENING WITH SHERLOCK HOLMES (1921, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). This collection also contains an introduction written by Paul Stuart Hayes, the author of REQUIEM FOR SHERLOCK HOLMES, which sets the scene for Sherlock Holmes' stage debut and focuses on each of the four productions presented in this volume.