Our American Cousin premieres, October 15, 1858
Laura Keene is not only one of the country’s most famous actresses but is also the first woman in America to manage her own career and to purchase a theater. For $1,000 she bought the world rights to Our American Cousin, a three-act farce written by English playwright Tom Taylor. It became the first blockbuster play in American history. It was performed in Chicago on the same night in May 1860 that Abraham Lincoln was confirmed as the Republican nominee for the presidency. Keene is giving her thousandth performance in the play the night Lincoln is shot.