Praise for Shattered Applause: The Lives of Eva LeGallienne

• "This biography provides for both theatre and social historians an engrossing case study of the impact of sexual prejudice on the career of a major figure in the American theatre." (Suzanne Burgoyne in Theatre History Studies)

• "Excellent" (Tom Provenzano in Drama-Logue)

• "One of the best show business biographies in some time." (B'nai B'rith Life contributor Rick Talcove)

  Shattered Applause: The Lives of Eva LeGallienne. Chronicles LeGallienne's life, from her childhood admiration of famed actor Sarah Bernhardt to her influence in developing repertory theater in the United States. In the 1920s she founded the Civic Repertory Theater, where audiences could see classic drama by such artists as Shakespeare and Ibsen for the admission price of one dollar.

  Shattered Applause also delves into LeGallienne's personal life and shows that her lesbianism made her career significantly more difficult.

"Schanke ... has ... made a singular contribution to the history of the American theater." (Blaise Pascal noted in the Scandinavian-American Bulletin.)

His first book, Ibsen in America: A Century of Change, details the varying reactions critics in the United States have had to the plays of the Norwegian dramatist and poet Henrik Ibsen over the past century. The book includes discussions of many Ibsen performances and interviews with several actors who have played Ibsen's characters on stage. Schanke attempts to link the divergent critical reactions of different decades to events that have both taken place in and affected the United States.