00_FM 7/26/04 9:51 AM Page iii MUSIC HALL & MODERNITY The Late-Victorian Discovery of Popular Culture Barry J. Faulk OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS ATHENS 00_FM 7/26/04 9:51 AM Page iv Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio  ©  by Barry J. Faulk Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper ƒ ™               Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Faulk, Barry J. Music hall and modernity : the late-Victorian discovery of popular culture / Barry J. Faulk. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN --- (cloth : alk. paper) . English literature—th century—History and criticism. .Music­ halls (Variety-theaters, cabarets, etc.) in literature. . Music-halls (Variety-theaters, cabarets, etc.)—England—London—History—th century. . English literature—England—London—History and criti­ cism. . Performing arts—England—London—History—th century. . Popular culture—England—London—History—th century. . London (England)—Intellectual life—th century. . London (England)—In literature. . Performing arts in literature. . Popular culture in literature. I. Title. PR.MF  .'—dc  00_FM 7/26/04 9:51 AM Page v To Moscovia and Richard 00_FM 7/26/04 9:51 AM Page vi 00_FM 7/26/04 9:51 AM Page vii Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction: The Popular Not the Public  1 Music Hall: The Middle Class Makes a Subculture  2 Camp Expertise: Arthur Symons, Music Hall, and the Defense of Theory  3 Spies and Experts: Laura Ormiston Chant among Late-Victorian Professionals  4 Tales of the Culture Industry: Professional Women, Mimic Men, and Victorian Music Hall  5 “Spectacular” Bodies: Tableaux Vivants at the Palace Theatre  Conclusion: Cyrene at the Alhambra  Notes  Bibliography  Index  00_FM 7/26/04 9:51 AM Page viii 00_FM 7/26/04 9:51 AM Page ix Illustrations Fig.  Title page of Percy Fitzgerald, Music-Hall Land ()  Fig.  “The Sisters Wriggles” (from Fitzgerald)  Fig.  “Mrs. Prowlina Pry” (from Punch, )  Fig.  “‘The Empire’—The Decline and Fall” (from Sketch, )  Fig.  “Seen in the Mirror” (from Music Hall and Theatre Review, )  Fig.  “Behind the Scenes at the ‘Empire’” (from Sketch, )  00_FM 7/26/04 9:51 AM Page x 00_FM 7/26/04 9:51 AM Page xi Acknowledgments It is a great pleasure to acknowledge those who supported me in the process of writing this book, and who made it possible for me to complete it. I am indebted to Patrick Scott for introducing me to the study of Victorian popular culture, and to James Hipp and Marc Demarest for their support and friendship. This project began in earnest at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I was fortunate enough to have world-class mentors: Amanda Ander­ son, Michael Bérubé, Peter Garrett, and Dale Kramer. At that time, cultural studies had emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the American academy. This book is tied to that moment: it owes a great deal to the work of the visiting scholars I was fortunate enough to witness during my time at Illinois. I am indebted to Peter Garrett, Lawrence Grossberg, Cary Nelson, and Paula Treichler for promot­ ing cultural studies research at the University of Illinois through the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory. I was also lucky in hav­ ing generous, brilliant, and caring peers: these are too numerous to mention, but the members of my dissertation writing group— Stacy Alaimo, Rick Canning, Brady Harrison, Lauren Onkey— deserve special mention for all they taught me. Robert Steltman generously shared his expertise in popular culture with me. Michael Thurston furnished me with a model of the engaged scholar: I learned a lot from him, and still do. I encountered David Chinitz’s work on T. S. Eliot and popular culture at this point in my career; I am grateful that he remains a careful, insightful reader of my