Alice Afire: The Many Stages of Alice Nielsen: A Life in Song-a star in Vaudeville, Musicals, Opera, and Concerts in the Golden Age of Live Theatre

Alice Afire: The Many Stages of Alice Nielsen A Life in Song-vaudeville, musicals, grand opera, and concerts in the golden age of live theatre Step into the luminous, untamed world of Alice Nielsen-America's forgotten prima donna who once lit up every stage from San Francisco to London, Broadway to Covent Garden. Born into obscurity, Alice carved a singular path through the explosive entertainment revolutions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was a vaudeville dream, a comic opera headliner, a grand opera sensation, and eventually a concert superstar in a time when women led no orchestras and rarely owned their careers. In Alice Afire, the spotlight is returned to this dazzling and determined woman who crossed genres, continents, and class lines. Whether charming Boston's elite or thrilling Chautauqua crowds, Nielsen's voice was both sublime and strategic-a key to freedom, fame, and artistic legacy. Drawing from rare recordings, forgotten press, and newly unearthed letters, this biography reveals not only a life of brilliance and betrayal, but also a behind-the-curtain view of the American stage when it was live, loud, and larger than life. If you love bold women, musical history, or the thrill of rediscovery, Alice Afire will sing to you.