"Recommended."--Choice "May Irwin: Singing, Shouting, and the Shadow of Minstrelsy [is] a 10+."--Thousand Islands Life Magazine "Well-written and thoroughly researched. . . . In exploring the means by which Irwin maintained her place in American popular entertainment, Ammen also connects to continuing research into the history of minstrelsy in popular culture."--Journal of American Drama and Theatre "This is a valuable biographical study that assesses May Irwin's contributions to comedy while also forging a path that avoided some of the grotesque and low comic traditions associated with female characters. Ammen reassesses Irwin's work in vaudeville and musical comedy, discussing her in relation to both race and gender, and this is a welcome and much needed work on a remarkable comedienne."--Gillian M. Rodger, author of Champagne Charlie and Pretty Jemima: Variety Theater in the Nineteenth Century "Lovingly rendered and well researched without being simplistic or missing the larger cultural and political context in which May Irwin lived and produced."--Andrew L. Erdman, author of Queen of Vaudeville: The Story of Eva Tanguay
