Starring Madame Modjeska On Tour in Poland and America [Hardcover]

In 1876, Poland's leading actress, Helena Modrzejewska, accompanied by family and friends, emigrated to southern California to establish a utopian commune that soon failed. Within a year Modrzejewska made her debut in the title role of Adrienne Lecouvreur at San Francisco's California Theatre. She changed her name to Modjeska and quickly became a leading star on the American stage, where she reigned for the next 30 years. During this time, she established herself as America's most esteemed Shakespearean actress, playing opposite such celebrated actors as Edwin Booth and Maurice Barrymore. Starring Madame Modjeska traces Modjeska's fabulous life and career from her illegitimate birth in Krakow, to her successive reinventions of herself as a star in both Poland and America, and finally to her enduring legacy.

Winner, 2012 Heldt PrizeWinner, 2013 ASEEES Kulczycki Book PrizeWinner, 2014 Halecki Award

Beth Holmgren is Professor of Slavic and Eurasian Studies and Theater Studies at Duke University. She is author of Women's Works in Stalin's Time (IUP, 1993), editor (with Helena Goscilo) of Poles Apart: Women in Modern Polish Culture and Russia Women Culture (IUP, 1996), and translator and editor (with Helena Goscilo) of The Keys to Happiness by Anastasya Verbitskaya (IUP, 1999).

A fine piece of scholarship on Helena Modjeska, a major figure in American theatre in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. . . . The breadth of Holmgrens research is impressive, as is the creativity of her approach. . . . I loved the book and learned a great deal from it.Starring Madame Modjeska . . . makes an important contribution to our understanding of Western theatre history. Scholars as well as theatre enthusiasts will surely benefit from this well-organized and meticulously researched study of a true international star of the nineteenth century.Winner, 2012 Heldt PrizeHonorable Mention, 2012 American Society for Theatre Research Barnard Hewitt AwardWinner, 2013 Kulczyl3