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The Queer Encyclopedia of Music, Dance, and Musical Theater
Aficionados of music, dance, opera, and musical theater will relish this new volume by the scholars of GLBTQ featuring over 200 articles showcasing composers, singers, musicians, dancers, and choreographers across eras and styles.
Read about Hildegard of Bingen, whose Symphonia expressed both spiritual and physical desire for the Virgin Mary, and George Frideric Handel, who not only created roles for castrati but was behind the Venetian opera's preoccupation with gender ambiguity. Discover Alban Berg’s Lulu, opera’s first openly lesbian character. And don’t forget Kiss Me Kate, the hit 1948 Broadway written by Cole Porter, married, though openly gay; produced by a gay man; directed by John C. Wilson, Noël Coward's ex-lover; and featuring Harold Lang, who had affairs with Leonard Bernstein and Gore Vidal.
No single volume has ever achieved the breadth of this scholarly, yet eminently readable compendium, which overviews of genres, such as opera, ballet, cabaret, modern dance, rock, disco, and hip-hop; discussions of topics like glam rock, music videos, and AIDS activism; and fascinating biographical entries on hundreds of figures such as Peter Tchaikovsky, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Diaghilev, Bessie Smith, Aaron Copland, Stephen Sondheim, Alvin Ailey, Rufus Wainwright, and Ani DiFranco.
Read about Hildegard of Bingen, whose Symphonia expressed both spiritual and physical desire for the Virgin Mary, and George Frideric Handel, who not only created roles for castrati but was behind the Venetian opera's preoccupation with gender ambiguity. Discover Alban Berg’s Lulu, opera’s first openly lesbian character. And don’t forget Kiss Me Kate, the hit 1948 Broadway written by Cole Porter, married, though openly gay; produced by a gay man; directed by John C. Wilson, Noël Coward's ex-lover; and featuring Harold Lang, who had affairs with Leonard Bernstein and Gore Vidal.
No single volume has ever achieved the breadth of this scholarly, yet eminently readable compendium, which overviews of genres, such as opera, ballet, cabaret, modern dance, rock, disco, and hip-hop; discussions of topics like glam rock, music videos, and AIDS activism; and fascinating biographical entries on hundreds of figures such as Peter Tchaikovsky, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Diaghilev, Bessie Smith, Aaron Copland, Stephen Sondheim, Alvin Ailey, Rufus Wainwright, and Ani DiFranco.
400 pages, Paperback
First published November 24, 2004
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February 24, 2014
Well, I technically haven't finished this book, but the Sir Francis Bacon quote at the top: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but cursorily; and some few to be read wholly and with diligence and attention..." led me to believe that I could read the section on musical theater for my curriculum unit project on marginalized musical theater artists and then move on, but...this is a great book. After reading several scholarly books, this one was a refreshing little taste today. Obviously, it's an encyclopedia and doesn't have one author, but...all of the article writers were top-notch and entertaining. I enjoyed my taste today so much that I will more than likely finish it wholly when I have more time to digest it.
The musical theater section is very thorough and will be precisely the taste I need to create my lecture. It covers such luminaries as Stephen Sondheim and Cole Porter, but it also introduced me to Lindsay Kemp (who trained David Bowie in the early years). I'm excited to introduce this element to my students, especially the ones who continuously ask for their history to be told in school because it's not in their history books.
I also enjoyed the quote in the introduction: "How does the homosexuality of an artist affect his or her work even when that work has nothing specifically to do with homosexuality? How does one decipher the "coding" of works in which the homosexual import is disguised? Is there such a thing as a gay sensibility? Are som musical genres more amenable to homoeroticism than others? Why have gay men been especially enthralled by ballet, opera, and musical theater? Why have folk music traditions been so important in the creation of women's music? Why is Judy Garland such an icon of gay men of a certain age? Why is drag performance so important a feature of gay male and (more recently) lesbian culture? Why have so few gay conductors been able to be open about their sexuality? These are some of the questions asked and variously answered in this book."
The musical theater section is very thorough and will be precisely the taste I need to create my lecture. It covers such luminaries as Stephen Sondheim and Cole Porter, but it also introduced me to Lindsay Kemp (who trained David Bowie in the early years). I'm excited to introduce this element to my students, especially the ones who continuously ask for their history to be told in school because it's not in their history books.
I also enjoyed the quote in the introduction: "How does the homosexuality of an artist affect his or her work even when that work has nothing specifically to do with homosexuality? How does one decipher the "coding" of works in which the homosexual import is disguised? Is there such a thing as a gay sensibility? Are som musical genres more amenable to homoeroticism than others? Why have gay men been especially enthralled by ballet, opera, and musical theater? Why have folk music traditions been so important in the creation of women's music? Why is Judy Garland such an icon of gay men of a certain age? Why is drag performance so important a feature of gay male and (more recently) lesbian culture? Why have so few gay conductors been able to be open about their sexuality? These are some of the questions asked and variously answered in this book."
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