Extravaganza King.

Extravaganza King.

Anne Alison Barnet

Northeastern University Press

360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115

www.nupress.neu.edu

1555536115 $28.95 1-800-666-2211

Extravaganza King: Robert Barnet And Boston Musical Theater by Anne Alison Barnet (writer, researcher, public speaker, and the great-grandaughter of Robert Barnet) is the biographical story of a remarkable man and which will bring him out of an undeserved obscurity by documenting his singular accomplishments and contributions to the history of American musical theatre. Robert Barnet (1853-1933) was a successful sugar merchant who wrote and directed incredibly popular musical theatricals for the First Corps of Cadets, a volunteer militia of young, upper-class Boston businessmen seeking money for an armory to use in defense against feared immigrant revolts or riots. In a tradition reminiscent of Shakespeare, men played all the roles, and Barnet himself was known to take upon the role of Queen Isabella of Spain in "1492", his most famous work. Black-and-white photographs, a wealth of information from scrapbooks and family memorabilia, extensive research and more follow Barnet's spectacular successes, and eventual enduring failures, when he moved in 1908 to New York City but was unable to adapt his talents to people's changing tastes in musical entertainment. A lively and fascinating true tale.