Augustin+Daly

=Augustin Daly= (July 20, 1838 – June 7, 1899) was an [|American] theatrical manager and [|playwright] active both in the U.S. and UK. // Augustin Daly //

Daly was born in [|Plymouth, North Carolina] and educated at [|Norfolk, Va.] and in the public schools of [|New York City]. He was dramatic critic for several [|New York] papers from 1859, and he adapted or wrote a number of plays, //Under the Gaslight// (1867) being his first success. In 1869 he was the manager of the [|Fifth Avenue Theatre], and in 1879 he built and opened Daly's Theatre in [|New York], and, in 1893, [|Daly's Theatre] in [|London].

__ Notable works __ //**Under the Gaslight**// (1867) is an example of Daly's mixture of realism and melodrama, seen in the authenticity of his depiction of real locations and in his use of social commentary.[|[2]] The play is famous for introducing the cliched "thrill" device of having the villain tie someone to the railroad tracks—only in this case, it was the hero who was lashed to the tracks, and the heroine who ultimately saved him.[|[3]] //**A Flash of Lightning**// (1868), like //Under the Gaslight//, is pure melodrama, with water and fire spectacles providing action scenes and special effects for its eager audiences.[|[2]] //**Horizon**// (1871) is an adaptation of a [|Bret Harte] story about the westward expansion of the States; it is an example of the popularity of western drama, coupled with Daly's interest in realism of the [|local color] variety, although it remains melodramatic.[|[2]] //**Divorce**// (1871) and //**Pique**// (1875), both adaptations of British novels, demonstrate Daly's attempts to create social comedy, although the plays remain somewhat melodramatic.[|[2]]

=__** References **__=
 * =Daly, Joseph Francis. [|//The Life of Augustin Daly//]. Macmillan, 1917.=
 * //Autograph letters signed from [|Miriam Coles Harris] to Augustin Daly// (1885) [|[1]]
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/PD-icon.svg/12px-PD-icon.svg.png width="12" height="12" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PD-icon.svg"]] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the [|public domain]: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). //[|Encyclopædia Britannica]// (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.
 * 1) **[|^]** [|Amazon.com]
 * 2) ^ [|//**a**//] [|//**b**//] [|//**c**//] [|//**d**//] Walter J. Meserve, //An Outline History of American Drama//, 2nd ed., 1994.
 * 3) **[|^]** [|//Under the Gaslight//]
 * 4) []