Summer Stock!: An American Theatrical Phenomenon

by Martha Schmoyer LoMonaco, Monaco Marti Lo

Summer stock theater is an American invention. From Memorial Day to Labor Day each year, rustic playhouses open their doors to the words of Ibsen, Shakespeare, Neil Simon and a host of others and the performances of big stars and aspiring beginners. While not exactly as depicted in the MGM film Summer Stock, these theaters allowed "city folk" partaking of the country life to spend their evenings in the worthwhile pursuit of culture. Martha LoMonaco's Summer Stock is both a terrific history of the Straw Hat Circuit and a look at how American leisure was shaped in the early twentieth century by a group of savvy theater entrepreneurs.

293 pages, Hardcover

First published June 19, 2004