Book British Theater, Bettymania and Birth of Celebrity Culture, Jeffrey Kahan

Bettymania and the Birth of Celebrity Culture, British Theater, by Jeffrey Kahan. Lehigh University Press, 2010. Hard cover, no just jacket, approximately 6 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches, 226 pages, indexed, bibliographical notes. Pre-owned, good condition, no handwriting, no markings, no tears, normal use, light cover wear/soiling. "In 1804, a kind of madness descended upon Britain. A thirteen-year-old boy, William-Henry West Betty, arrived and, in a seeming instant, took Ireland, Scotland, and England by storm. Crowds were so intent upon securing tickets for Betty's performances that officers were called out to stop rioters in the streets. Like the groupies who would a century and a half later mob Elvis or The Beatles, fans raved and regularly fainted when near the divine Master Betty. The Caledonian Mercury reported that on Betty's first London appearance, the screams of the females were very distressing, and several fainted away. The Morning Chronicle reported that during a performance of Betty's Romeo, nearly thirty persons were pulled from the pit, in fainting fits."