Wilde in New York

(CUE POINTS BELOW) Although Wilde is mostly associated with London at his zenith as a playwright, New York City also deserves a special place in his history. It was in New York, in fact, that his first two plays—Vera and The Duchess of Padua—had their world-premiere performances. During his yearlong tour of the United States in 1882, when he was a little-known poet associated with the comic character Bunthorne in Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera Patience, he sojourned in New York several times, establishing important social and artistic connections. Prompting newspaper stories wherever he went, he returned to Europe a genuine celebrity. MATTHEW STURGIS, author of the recent major biography Oscar Wilde: A Life, is the voice of Oscar Wilde. JOHN COOPER, author of the vast website Oscar Wilde in America, hosts Part Three, giving us a sample of his celebrated Wilde Walking Tour of New York. ERIK RYDING, an award-winning author and for years a professor of English literature, is the principal narrator. Other Voices SAM TSOUTSOUVAS and DEBORAH BESHAW-FARRELL with JONATHAN FLUCK Music by Rodrigo Espina, Étienne Goepp, Christina Kay, Howard Lew, Randall Love, Rebecca Pechefsky, Erik Ryding, Mitchell Vines, John Taylor Ward, Melanie Williams For John Cooper’s Wilde Walking Tour: Videographer: Erik Ryding Audio assistant: Dennis Cembalo Copyright © 2024 by Quill Classics | Erik Ryding 00:00 Introduction 02:04 PART ONE: The 1882 Lecture Tour 02:57 Aestheticism and Patience 11:37 Arrival in New York 20:52 The English Renaissance lecture 39:04 Lillie Langtry in New York 46:58 Hungry Joe 52:06 PART TWO: Oscar's First Plays 54:29 Vera 1:04:06 Meeting with Thomas Edison 1:07:25 Guido Ferranti (The Duchess of Padua) 1:17:27 PART THREE: John Cooper's Wilde Walking Tour