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could well speak for himself. One spelling conundrum of my own deserves comment: the word “theatre” is spelled with the “re” ending only for names of buildings or companies which, in that time, were so spelled. Otherwise, I have adopted the current American spelling, “theater.” Lines quoted from Durang’s Memoir are cited with the page number in parentheses directly after the quote; all other quotes and references are cited in notes. Quotations from newspaper advertisements have been altered in one way: the all-capitalization format of some words has been changed so that only the first letter of that word is capitalized, except in block quotes, because the all-capital format proved difficult to read.
Chapters concerned with theatrical seasons in which Durang performed are not necessarily a full record of those seasons. Rather, my intention was to offer a substantial overview of each season and of the kinds of works to which Durang was exposed and in which he performed. Documentation is not entirely comprehensive for every season, and in the interests of moving the story forward, it proved inadvisable to list every step Durang or his family took on the boards. Appendices help fill in some gaps: Appendix A is a chronology of Durang’s professional life, and might prove a useful reference while reading Durang’s story. Appendix B contains every work, genre, and date of first performance that I could locate for Durang’s repertory. Authors of works, when known, are usually given as last names only, following the first mention of that work in the text and again in Appendix B. I generally refer to John Durang as “Durang,” but when several family members are under discussion, I use first names only to distinguish the characters.
I have come to know Durang through his Memoir. Like so many biographers, I feel that I have befriended my subject, despite the generations that separate us. I like the man enormously and wish I could have met him; perhaps, in writing his story, I have.