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dissertations related to my topic of social issues begins with Donald Egan Whittaker III’s “Subversive Aspects of American Musical Theatre.” He presents the issue of Other with a focus on sympathetic leading characters based on ethnicity (Jews), sexuality, and race that undermines the hegemonic norm. James M. Dowd’s “Musicals Often Demonstrate the Cultural Aspects of the Periods in Which They Were Written” focuses on the decades of the 1920s, 1940s, and 1970s through George and Ira Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Oklahoma!, and Stephen Sondheim’s Company. 21 Lari Dianne Young’s “A Historical View of Twentieth-Century American Society as Witnessed Through Musical Theatre: 1927-Present (Twentieth Century)” is closest to my approach as she parallels musicals with their contemporary socio-historical trends, but her work focuses on productions after Show Boat. 22 Dissertations about gender stereotypes and transgressive identity roles are repre- sented by Bruce Steven Kirle’s “Cultural Collaborations: Re-historicizing the American Musical,” which is a compelling investigation of musical theatre history through performance and reception in a non-linear chronology of cultural and social context. 23 Another example is Abigail Feder-Kane’s “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better . . . .” She describes the “play” in performances of female characters as subversive role models in direct opposition to the prescribed libretto. However, her parameter of musicals from 1930-1950 deals with later gender issues that are colored by World War II. A similar project is an early work by Elaine Small Klein, “The Development of the Leading 21 (M.A. thesis, The American University, 1991). 22 (Ph.D. diss., Texas Tech University, 1994). 23 (Ph.D. diss., City University of New York, 2002). 11
Feminine Character in Selected Librettos of American Musicals from 1900 to 1960.” This is an excellent study of female roles and character development, including an insightful discussion of Magnolia from Show Boat, but she also specifically focuses on gender identity issues surrounding World War II. A select group of dissertations also approach this topic from the opposite direction of gender and performance practice. An early study of Show Boat character development is William von Wenger’s “Analysis of the Development of the Character Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat.” 24 Isobel Bartz explored the relationship of gendered performance to theatrical conventions and stereotypes in “The Origins of the Trouser Role in Opera.” 25 But her topic explores the cross-dressing roles of women and castrati rather than traditional female stereotypes. A recent dissertation by Mary Anne Long, “‘All Our Girls are Men’: The Haresfoot Club and the Original College Musical,” 26 addresses the same era of social upheaval in gender role expectations, but its concern is the acceptance of female impersonation as a viable resolution to the “crisis of masculinity” of the 1910s and early 1920s. In studying these selections, along with many more, I found some similarities to this project, but none that refers specifically to a working model of character development based on gender performance, or to an analysis of the female characters found in Show Boat. So this dissertation will provide a unique approach to performance practice in musical theatre. An embodied gender perspective for the performance of musical 24 (M.A. thesis, California State University at Long Beach, 1977). 25 (D.M.A. diss., The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2002). 26 (Ph.D. diss., The University of Wisconsin at Madison, 2004). 12
Page 1 and 2: LEWIS, ANNE, D.M.A. An Examination
Page 3 and 4: APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS iv Page ACKNOWLED
Page 7 and 8: for research, this paper will explo
Page 9 and 10: MacDonald, labeled musical theatre
Page 11 and 12: The musicals that have entered the
Page 13 and 14: and individually as handwriting.”
Page 15: Methodology The base of research fo
Page 19 and 20: from the 1920s, they are timeless i
Page 21 and 22: e helpful to recognize the specific
Page 23 and 24: as a Cinderella-type heiress who ma
Page 25 and 26: Vereen described the “blackface c
Page 27 and 28: Casino Theatre in Manhattan. The re
Page 29 and 30: functional sets, and an eleven-piec
Page 31 and 32: The History of the Musical, Show Bo
Page 33 and 34: amount of instrumental music, the d
Page 35 and 36: Ferber’s novel begins with the na
Page 37 and 38: Act II begins four years later as G
Page 39 and 40: CHAPTER III SOCIETAL STEREOTYPES OF
Page 41 and 42: communion.” 5 This bias continued
Page 43 and 44: children, however, did allow mother
Page 45 and 46: unhealthy, sub-human environments.
Page 47 and 48: dominated by masculine traits in ap
Page 49 and 50: magazines, including Ladies Home Jo
Page 51 and 52: Nineteenth Century Stereotypes of W
Page 53 and 54: usiness. She was responsible for th
Page 55 and 56: gender) inequality forced them inst
Page 57 and 58: The 1920s was the Jazz Age, a time
Page 59 and 60: CHAPTER IV THEATRICAL STEREOTYPES O
Page 61 and 62: peoples . . . to save us from our o
Page 63 and 64: separate seating arrangements). The
Page 65 and 66: Feminine Aesthetic in Theatre Any a
Page 67 and 68:
gossip columns. 17 Exploitation on
Page 69 and 70:
means to economic or career advance
Page 71 and 72:
Florenz Ziegfeld, reportedly, was q
Page 73 and 74:
in a subservient role as a domestic
Page 75 and 76:
looked, Magnolia decided, as if the
Page 77 and 78:
When he holds me close, Close as we
Page 79 and 80:
In the novel, Parthy Ann is a three
Page 81 and 82:
opens her handbag and takes out a p
Page 83 and 84:
“hero”) and the piano player (t
Page 85 and 86:
the nineteenth century’s gender r
Page 87 and 88:
of that time. Performance practice
Page 89 and 90:
possibilities for manipulation and
Page 91 and 92:
order while the musical number repr
Page 93 and 94:
“Finding in that sound all the ki
Page 95 and 96:
often distorts vibrant voices, rend
Page 97 and 98:
elationships with other characters
Page 99 and 100:
Finally, the process includes a mus
Page 101 and 102:
any other theater music heard up to
Page 103 and 104:
een presented in previous chapters,
Page 105 and 106:
“Though the cold and brutal fact
Page 107 and 108:
[Bridge]: When he goes away dat’s
Page 109 and 110:
angelically while caught in the act
Page 111 and 112:
The song appears twice more as a pl
Page 113 and 114:
CHAPTER VI CURTAIN CALL The musical
Page 115 and 116:
theatre performance practice. They
Page 117 and 118:
BIBLIOGRAPHY General Sources Burkho
Page 119 and 120:
Long, Mary Anne. “‘All Our Girl
Page 121 and 122:
Kerber, Linda K., and Jane Sherron
Page 123 and 124:
Levine, Lawrence W. The Opening of
Page 125 and 126:
Song Title: Show Title: Lyricist: C
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