Introduction / Paul Fryer -- A “Vilely Stupid” Play: The Success of The Passing of the Third Floor Back / Hannah Unwin -- Mr. Blue Beard: A Show So Spectacular / Danny Devlin -- “Can a playwright ask for better material?” Bringing Trilby to the Stage / Helice Koffler -- “A British tar is a soaring soul”: Framing the Process of H.M.S. Pinafore Through the Diaries and Correspondence of Gilbert and Sullivan / Scott M. Hayes -- The Shaughraun by Dion Boucicault / Nesta Jones -- The Sweet Smell of Success: Florodora as Victorian Megamusical / Ben Macpherson -- From Best Seller to Box Office Sensation: The Phenomenon of Mrs. Henry Wood’s East Lynne / Amy Lehman -- The Faust of Henry Irving: A “Dazzling Emptiness”? / Stephen A. Schrum -- L’Enfant Prodigue: A Prodigious Production / Tony Lidington -- What Price Success? The Blessing and the Curse of Monte Cristo / Cecilia J. Pang -- Princess of the Pearl Island at the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton, 1866–7, in the Context of ­Nineteenth-Century London Pantomimes / Deborah Jeffries -- From Matinée to Long Run, from “Dearest” to Ibsen: The Revelatory Success of The Real Little Lord Fauntleroy (1888–1891) / Heather Jeanne Violanti -- Uncle Tom’s Cabin: A Cry for Freedom / Kathy Dacre -- The Klaw and Erlanger Ben-Hur: The Definitive Victorian Blockbuster / Howard Miller

""This edited collection of essays details a wide-ranging selection of some of the most sensationally successful theatre productions of the long Victorian era, the real "blockbusters" of the age. Ranging from the world of operetta and music hall to spectacular drama and sensational melodrama, the productions included provide the reader with definitive proof that the phenomenon of the "smash hit" show is not restricted to modern Broadway. This is a world that encompassed the ground-breaking stage technology of Ben Hur, the wide political impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin and the sheer creative originality of L'Enfant Prodigue. Supporting the "star" system, productions featured some of the greatest names of the period - Sir Henry Irving, Sir Johnston Forbes Robertson, James O'Neill and Dion Boucicault. This was the very dawning of a new media age, which saw many of the productions transfer to the new world of silent cinema for the very first time"-- Provided by publisher." -- Baksida.