A new musical set at the 1893 World’s Fair makes its world premiere at the Sacred Fools Theater Company of Los Angeles this fall. Deadly, written by Vanessa Claire Stewart, with music by Ryan Thomas Johnson, explores the chilling events of the “murder castle” operating near the grounds of the Columbian Exposition. The twin stories of the Fair and the serial killer, which were the subject of Erik Larson’s dramatic non-fiction book The Devil in the White City (2003), have [...]

Eric Larson’s fascinating best-seller The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (2003) introduced many to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. For better or for worse, his pairing of the story of building the World’s Fair in Jackson Park and the exploits of serial killer H. H. Holmes in nearby Englewood has made an enduring connection between the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and murder. [For the record: no known murders occurred [...]