George Freedley Memorial Award - Finalists, 2001-Present
The Freedley jurors found the following titles to be of particular stand-out note. They are listed here alphabetically by author.
2011
Milly S. Barranger. A Gambler’s Instinct: The Story of Broadway Producer Cheryl Crawford. Southern Illinois University Press, 2010.
Andrew Davis. America’s Longest Run: A History of the Walnut Street Theatre. Keystone, 2010.
Constance Valis Hill. Tap Dancing America. Oxford, 2010.
Felicity Nussbaum. Rival Queens: Actresses, Performance and the Eighteenth-Century British Theater. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010.
David Roberts. Thomas Betterton: The Greatest Actor of the Restoration Stage. Cambridge, 2010.
Gillian M. Rodger. Champagne Charlie and Pretty Jemima: Variety Theater in the Nineteenth Century. University of Illinois Press, 2010.
Sjeng Scheijen. Diaghilev: A Life. Oxford, 2010.
James Shapiro. (WINNER) Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? Simon & Schuster, 2010.
Stephen Sondheim. (SPECIAL JURY PRIZE) Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981). Knopf, 2010.
Larry Stempel. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. W.W. Norton, 2010.
2010
Christopher Bigsby. Arthur Miller. Harvard University Press, 2009.
Martin Butler. The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
John Koegel. Music in German Immigrant Theater: New York City 1840-1940. University of Rochester Press, 2009.
Heather S. Nathans. Slavery and Sentiment on the American Stage, 1787-1861: Lifting the Veil of Black. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
*Marc Robinson. (SPECIAL JURY PRIZE) The American Play: 1787-2000. Yale University Press, 2009.
Margaret Rogerson. The York Mysteries, 1951-2006. University of Toronto Press, 2009.
David Savran. Highbrow/Lowdown: Theater, Jazz, and the Making of the New Middle Class. University of Michigan Press, 2009.
Marlis Schweitzer. When Broadway Was the Runway: Theater, Fashion, and American Culture. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.
Tiffany Stern. Documents of Performance in Early Modern England. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
*Andrew McConnell Stott. (WINNER) The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi: Laughter, Madness and the Story of Britain’s Greatest Comedian. Canongate, 2009.
2009
*Jayna Brown. (WINNER) Babylon Girls: Black Women Performers and the Shaping of the Modern. Duke University Press, 2008.
Anne Varty. Children and Theatre in Victorian Britain. Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008.
Yael Zarhy-Levo. The Making of Theatrical Reputations: Studies from the Modern London Theatre. University of Iowa Press, 2008.
2008
Tim Carter. Oklahoma: The Making of an American Musical. Yale University Press, 2007.
Gabrielle H. Cody and Evert Sprinchorn, Editors. The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama. Columbia University Press, 2007.
Simon Goldhill. How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today. University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Jodi Kanter. Performing Loss: Rebuilding Community Through Theater and Writing. Southern Illinois University Press, 2007.
Kay Li. Bernard Shaw and China: Cross-Cultural Encounters. University Press of Florida, 2007.
*Felicia Hardison Londrè. (WINNER) The Enchanted Years of the Stage: Kansas City at the Crossroads of American Theater, 1870-1930. University of Missouri Press, 2007.
Benjamin McCarter. The Man Who Was Rip Van Winkle: Joseph Jefferson and Nineteenth-Century American Theatre. Yale University Press, 2007.
2007
Stephen Banfield. Jerome Kern. Yale University Press, 2006.
Jacky Bratton and Ann Featherstone. The Victorian Clown. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Daphne A. Brooks. Bodies in Dissent: Spectacular Performances of Race and Freedom, 1850-1910. Duke University Press, 2006.
*Patrick Carnegy. (SPECIAL JURY PRIZE) Wagner and the Art of Theatre. Yale University Press, 2006.
Louis Chude-Sokei. The Last "Darky": Bert Williams, Black-on-Black Minstrelsy, and the African Diaspora. Duke University Press, 2006.
Andrew B. Harris. The Performing Set: The Broadway Designs of William and Jean Eckart. University of North Texas Press, 2006.
Stefan Kanfer. Stardust Lost: The Triumph, Tragedy, and Mishugas of the Yiddish Theatre in America. Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.
Raymond Knapp. The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity. Princeton University Press, 2006.
*bruce d. mcclung. (SPECIAL JURY PRIZE) Lady in the Dark: Biography of a Musical. Oxford University Press, 2006.
Juliet McMains. Glamour Addiction: Inside the American Ballroom Dance Industry. Wesleyan University Press, 2006.
Kim Marra. Strange Duets: Impresarios and Actresses in the American Theatre, 1865-1914. University of Iowa Press, 2006.
C. W. Marshall. The Stagecraft and Performance of Roman Comedy. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Brenda Murphy. The Provincetown Players and the Culture of Modernity. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Ron Rosenbaum. The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups. Random House, 2006.
*Marvin Rosenberg. (WINNER) The Masks of Anthony and Cleopatra. University of Delaware Press, 2006.
Jessica Sternfeld. The Megamusical. Indiana University Press, 2006.
2006
Doris Alexander. Eugene O’Neill’s Last Plays: Separating Art from Autobiography. University of Georgia Press, 2005.
*Linda Ben-Zvi. (SPECIAL JURY PRIZE) Susan Glaspell: Her Life and Times. Oxford University Press, 2005.
Eileen Blumenthal. Puppetry: A World History. Harry N. Abrams, 2005.
Charlotte M. Canning. The Most American Thing in America: Circuit Chautauqua as Performance. University of Iowa Press, 2005.
Terry Coleman. Olivier. Henry Holt and Company, 2005.
Apana Bhargava Dharwadker. Theatres of Independence: Drama, Theory, and Urban Performance in India Since 1947. University of Iowa Press , 2005.
John Anthony Gilvey. Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical. St. Martin’s Press, 2005.
David Leopold. Irving Berlin’s Show Business: Broadway - Hollywood - America. Harry N. Abrams, 2005 (also a TLA Award Finalist).
Larry McMurtry. The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America. Simon & Schuster, 2005.
Sarah Meer. Uncle Tom Mania: Slavery, Minstrelsy, and Transatlantic Cultural in the 1850s. University of Georgia Press, 2005.
Craig Morrison. Theaters. W.W. Norton & Company, 2005.
Carol Ockman and Kenneth E. Silver. Sarah Bernhardt: The Art of High Drama. Yale University Press, 2005.
Richard Schickel. Elia Kazan: A Biography. HarperCollins, 2005.
James Shapiro. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599. HarperCollins, 2005.
*Kathryn Shevelow. (WINNER) Charlotte: Being a True Account of An Actress’s Flamboyant Adventures in Eighteenth-Century London’s Wild and Wicked Theatrical World. Henry Holt and Company, 2005.
Louis S. Warren. Buffalo Bill’s America: William Cody and the Wild West Show. Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
2005
Marjorie Barber. Shakespeare After All. Pantheon Books, 2004.
*Ken Bloom and Frank Vlastnik. (SPECIAL JURY PRIZE) Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time. Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 2004.
Thomas F. DeFrantz. Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey's Embodiment of African American Culture. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Ross W. Duffin. Shakespeare's Songbook. W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.
Penny Farfan. Women, Modernism, and Performance. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Arthur Gewirtz. Sidney Howard and Clare Eames: American Theater's Perfect Couple of the 1920s. McFarland, 2004.
Stephen Greenblatt. Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare. W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.
Deborah Jowitt. Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance. Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon. Broadway: The American Musical. Bulfinch Press, 2004.
Raymond Knapp. The American Musical and the Formation of National Identity. Princeton University Press, 2004.
Martha Schmoyer LoMonaco. Summer Stock!: An American Theatrical Phenomenon. Palgrave, 2004.
Roslyn Poignant. Professional Savages: Captive Lives and Western Spectacle. Yale University Press, 2004.
Carol Rocamora. Acts of Courage: Vaclav Havel's Life in the Theater. Smith and Kraus, 2004.
*Rachel Shteir. (WINNER) Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show. Oxford University Press , 2004.
Mona Z. Smith. Becoming Something: The Story of Canada Lee. Faber & Faber/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004.
2004
*Ted Chapin. (SPECIAL JURY PRIZE) Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical "Follies". Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
Martin Gottfried. Arthur Miller: His Life and Work. Da Capo Press, 2003.
Brenda Dixon Gottschild. The Black Dancing Body: A Geography from Coon to Cool. Palgrave, 2003.
Frank Hauser and Russell Reich. Notes on Directing: The Classic Guide to the Director's Craft. RCR Creative Press, 2003.
*Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch. (WINNER) A History of African American Theatre. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Mark Eden Horowitz. Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions. Scarecrow Press, 2003.
John Houchin. Censorship of the American Theatre in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Marvin McAllister. White People Do Not Know How to Behave at Entertainments Designed for Ladies and Gentlemen of Colour: William Brown's African and American Theater. University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
Stephen Orgel. Imagining Shakespeare. Palgrave, 2003.
Nancy Reynolds and Malcolm McCormick. No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century. Yale University Press, 2003.
Lisa Jo Sagolla. The Girl Who Fell Down: A Biography of Joan McCracken. Northeastern University Press, 2003.
Renee M. Sentilles. Performing Menken: Adah Isaacs Menken and the Birth of American Celebrity. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Helen Sheehy. Eleonora Duse: A Biography. Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
Dominic Shellard. Kenneth Tynan: A Life. Yale University Press, 2003.
2003
Xiaomei Chen. Acting the Right Part: Political Theater and Popular Drama in Contemporary China. University of Hawaii Press, 2002.
Janet M. Davis. The Circus Age: Culture and Society Under the American Big Top. University of North Carolina Press, 2002.
Jody Enders. Death by Drama and Other Medieval Urban Legends. University of Chicago Press, 2002.
James F. Gaines (Editor). The Moliere Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002.
Paul Carter Harrison and others (Editors). Black Theater: Ritual Performance in the African Diaspora. Temple University Press, 2002.
Mimi Herbert with Nur S. Rahardjo. Voices of the Puppet Masters: The Wayang Golek Theater of Indonesia. University of Hawaii Press, 2002.
Foster Hirsch. Kurt Weill on Stage: From Berlin to Broadway. Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.
*David Kaufman. (WINNER) Ridiculous!: The Theatrical Life and Times of Charles Ludlam. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2002.
David Krasner. A Beautiful Pageant: African American Theater, Drama, and Performance in the Harlem Renaissance, 1910-1927. Palgrave, 2002.
Patricia McDonnell, Editor. On the Edge of Your Seat: Popular Theater and Film in Early Twentieth-Century American Art. Yale University Press, 2002.
Ira Nadel. Tom Stoppard: A Life. Palgrave, 2002.
*Dunbar H. Ogden. (HONORABLE MENTION) The Staging of Drama in the Medieval Church. University of Delaware Press/Associated University Presses, 2002.
2002
Steven Bach. Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart. Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.
Karin Barber. The Generation of Plays: Yoruba Popular Life in Theater. Indiana University Press, 2001.
Augusto Boal. Hamlet and the Baker's Son: My Life in Theatre and Politics. Routledge, 2001.
Victor Borovsky. A Triptych from the Russian Theatre: An Artistic Biography of the Komissarzhevsky Family. University of Iowa Press, 2001.
*Meredith Chilton. (WINNER) Harlequin Unmasked: The Commedia dell' Arte and Porcelain Sculpture. Yale University Press, 2001.
Lawrence M. Clopper. Drama, Play, and Game: English Festive Culture in the Medieval and Early Modern Period. University of Chicago Press, 2001.
Jim Davis and Victor Emeljanow. Reflecting the Audience: London Theatregoing,1840-1880. University of Iowa Press, 2001.
Mary C. Henderson. Mielziner: Master of Modern Stage Design. Watson-Guptill Publications, 2001.
*Ron Jenkins. (HONORABLE MENTION) Dario Fo & France Rame: Artful Laughter. Aperture, 2001.
Greg Lawrence. Dance with Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2001.
Woody Register. The Kid Coney Island: Fred Thompson and the Rise of American Amusements. Oxford University Press, 2001.
2001
Arthur Bloom. Joseph Jefferson: Dean of the American Theatre. Frederic C. Beil Publisher, 2000.
Thomas F. Connolly. George Jean Nathan and the Making of Modern American Drama Criticism. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press/Associated University Press, 2000.
*Tracy C. Davis. (WINNER) The Economics of the British Stage, 1800-1914. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
David Farneth with Elmar Juchem and Dave Stein. Kurt Weill: A Life in Pictures and Documents. Overlook Press, 2000.
Arthur and Barbara Gelb. O'Neill: Life with Monte Cristo. Applause Books, 2000.
Eve Golden. Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway. University Press of Kentucky, 2000.
Constance Valis Hill. Brotherhood in Rhythm: The Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers. Oxford University Press, 2000 (also a TLA Award Finalist).
Merlin Holland and Rupert-Hart Davis (Editors). The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde. Henry Holt, 2000.
Joy S. Kasson. Buffalo Bill's Wild West: Celebrity, Memory, and Popular History. Hill & Wang, 2000.
Annette Lust. From the Greek Mimes to Marcel Marceau and Beyond... Scarecrow Press, 2000.
Jane Moody. Illegitimate Theatre in London, 1770-1840. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Frank Rich. Ghost Light: A Memoir. Random House, 2000.
Virginia Scott. Moliere: A Theatrical Life. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
*Laurence Senelick. (HONORABLE MENTION) The Changing Room: Sex, Drag and Theatre. Routledge, 2000.
Mark Evan Swartz. Oz Before the Rainbow: L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard on Stage and Screen to 1939. Johns Hopkins University, 2000 (also a TLA Award HONORABLE MENTION).
Jeffrey Veidlinger. The Moscow State Yiddish Theater: Jewish Culture on the Soviet Stage. Indiana University Press, 2000.
Last updated: July 17, 2011