Research Paper on:
Still Photo from the Early Comedy Mulligan's Guard March

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
photographs become invaluable for truly comprehending the time period. The valuable nature of such photographs takes on an even more potent position when we are talking about stage productions where,  for the most part, we can only read about the productions through historical examination. With that in mind the following paper examines a picture of Edward (Ned) Harrigan and Tony  Hart in "Mulligans Guard March" which is one of the first known musical comedies. The picture is from anywhere between the years 1879 and 1884. Mulligans Guard March  Without any understanding of what this production is about, we can look at the picture and see that the two men, portrayed by Harrrigan and Hart, are slovenly and clearly  not up to par with the stature and dress of a guard. Their clothes are wrinkled, with one wearing clothes that are obviously too small. In addition, their stance and  their attention level seemed to be less than that which would be desired from guards. In short, these men do not appear to be very good guards! This offers us  a simple foundation for understanding that the production is clearly a comedy. When we delve deeper, and examine the story or the production itself, we see that these two men  in the picture clearly represent the intended slovenly guards. First of all we note that the two men, Harrigan and Hart, "met the mid-1870s, when both were touring the Midwest.  Harrigan was a variety comic who had made his name in the variety melodeons of San Francisco, and Hart was a stage-struck reform school escapee with a rare gift for  stage comedy" (Kenrick (1)). Hart was also loved for his ability to impersonate women incredibly well. "Harts drag performances were so accurate that some questioned his sexual orientation, and his