Changed for Good
A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical
Published on 28. July 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-19-537824-5 (ISBN)
Description
From Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls" to Nina in "In the Heights" and Elphaba in "Wicked," female characters in Broadway musicals have belted and crooned their way into the American psyche. In this lively book, Stacy Wolf illuminates the women of American musical theatre - performers, creators, and characters -- from the start of the cold war to the present day, creating a new, feminist history of the genre. Moving from decade to decade, Wolf first highlights the assumptions that circulated about gender and sexuality at the time. She then looks at the leading musicals to stress the key aspects of the plays as they relate to women, and often finds overlooked moments of empowerment for female audience members. The musicals discussed here are among the most beloved in the canon--"West Side Story," "Cabaret," "A Chorus Line," "Phantom of the Opera," and many others--with special emphasis on the blockbuster "Wicked." Along the way, Wolf demonstrates how the musical since the mid-1940s has actually been dominated by women--women onstage, women in the wings, and women offstage as spectators and fans.
Reviews / Votes
I found Stacy Wolf's book fascinating and surprising. It not only gave me a fresh perspective on the history of musical theatre, it revealed things to me about my own show I didn't know were there. * Stephen Schwartz * This book is absolutely brilliant on many levels. Wolf manages, in one stroke, to place the musical's feminine fan base-long recognized but rarely valued-on the same critical plane that its gay male fan base has long occupied. This book truly defies gravity! * Raymond Knapp, Professor of Musicology, UCLA, and author of The American Musical and the Formation of National Identity and The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity * This beautifully written - and desperately needed - feminist history of the Broadway musical is filled with exciting insights, humor, and great affection for the American musical. It's an important and interesting book, one I will read again and again. * Elizabeth L. Wollman, Assistant Professor of Music, Baruch College, The City University of New York, and author of The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, from "Hair" to "Hedwig" * A valuable work with a strong and captivating feminist point of view. Scholars and serious fans of theater as well as those concerned with women's issues and studies will especially enjoy its detail-filled and imaginative perspective. * Library Journal * Carefully researched, elegantly written, and methodologically innovative...A rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable book that should appeal to a broad range of readers, especially those interested in the intertwined histories of gender, sexuality, and popular entertainment. * The Journal of American History *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
30 photographs
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
488 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-537824-5 (9780195378245)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/2011
1st Edition
Oxford University Press Inc
€155.40
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
07/2011
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€24.99
Available for download
E-Book
07/2011
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€24.99
Available for download
Person
Stacy Wolf is Associate Professor of Theater and Director of the Princeton Atelier, Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University.
Content
Introduction: Gender, Genre, and Musical Theatre
Chapter One: 1950s Musicals and Queer Female Duets
Chapter Two: The Single Woman and the Active Female Body in 1960s Musicals
Chapter Three: The Ensemble as Queer "Family"
Chapter Four: Women in the 1980s Megamusicals, Humming the Scenery
Chapter Five: Musicals in the 1990s-2000s: Female Protagonists, First and Last Numbers, and the Intersectional Performance of Race and Gender
Chapter Six: Queer Conventions in the Broadway Musical Wicked
Epilogue: Wicked Divas, Musical Theatre, and Internet Girl Fans
Endnotes
Chapter One: 1950s Musicals and Queer Female Duets
Chapter Two: The Single Woman and the Active Female Body in 1960s Musicals
Chapter Three: The Ensemble as Queer "Family"
Chapter Four: Women in the 1980s Megamusicals, Humming the Scenery
Chapter Five: Musicals in the 1990s-2000s: Female Protagonists, First and Last Numbers, and the Intersectional Performance of Race and Gender
Chapter Six: Queer Conventions in the Broadway Musical Wicked
Epilogue: Wicked Divas, Musical Theatre, and Internet Girl Fans
Endnotes