Dans Mon Catalogue

Paperback, 320 pages

English language

Published July 7, 2011 by Oxford University Press.

ISBN:: 9780195378245

(2 reviews)

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. …

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.

3 editions

emmadilemma@ramblingreaders.org reviewed Changed for Good by Stacy Ellen Wolf

What it says on the tin

4 stars

"A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical" is exactly what you're getting here, and if you missed the reference, "Changed for Good" is a key song from the musical Wicked. Initially panned by critics as entertainment for screaming teenage girls, Wicked overcame the slights of the critic world - most of whom are basically the opposite demographic from teenage girls.

Ms. Wolf uses that arc of critical reception to illustrate musical theater's journey as a whole. A bit strident in places, with a couple of head-shaking moments that weren't so egregious that I remember them, Changed for Good is the only book I've come across to approach musical theater from the female POV.

emmadilemma reviewed Changed for Good by Stacy Ellen Wolf

What it says on the tin

4 stars

"A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical" is exactly what you're getting here, and if you missed the reference, "Changed for Good" is a key song from the musical Wicked. Initially panned by critics as entertainment for screaming teenage girls, Wicked overcame the slights of the critic world - most of whom are basically the opposite demographic from teenage girls.

Ms. Wolf uses that arc of critical reception to illustrate musical theater's journey as a whole. A bit strident in places, with a couple of head-shaking moments that weren't so egregious that I remember them, Changed for Good is the only book I've come across to approach musical theater from the female POV.

Subjects

History and criticism
Musicals
Women in the theater
Feminism and theater
History
Musicals, history and criticism

Lists

music / performing arts