Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Auteur(s) : Wollman, Elizabeth L. (1969-....)
Titre(s) : Hard times [Texte imprimé] : the adult musical in 1970s New York City / Elizabeth L. Wollman
Publication : New York : Oxford University Press, 2013
Description matérielle : 1 vol. (X-271 p.) : ill. ; 25 cm
Note(s) : Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-253) and index
In Hard Times, musical theater historian Elizabeth L. Wollman takes readers on a fascinating
tour of the adult musical scene of New York City's rampant 1970s. After the success
of Hair in 1968, the low-budget adult musical proliferated. The most famous was the
long-running "Oh! Calcutta!", but countless more made it to stage: "Stag Movie," "Let
My People Come," "The Faggot," and others. Structured like old-fashioned revues, with
thematically interconnected songs and skits, they received little respect from critics,
who either condemned them for going too far in the direction of hard-core pornography,
or for not being erotic enough. The public thought otherwise, flooding the theaters
and pouring cash into box-office tills. Wollman shows that adult musicals represented
far more than a silly fad from a silly decade: they reflected experimentation with
newfound sexual freedom, not to mention the rise of the women's and gay liberation
movements. She examines the impact of the Stonewall riots on gay musicals; how feminism
was reflected on stage; and how "porno chic" and hard-core porn influenced performances.
Even the most middlebrow efforts brought into focus the debate between art and obscenity,
and angst over New York City's socioeconomic status. By the early 1980s, as the city's
economy recovered and society grew conservative, these musicals disappeared-an indicator
of a larger transformation. Wollman reasserts the significance of this humble (if
hardly modest) art form. Adult musicals, she shows, represented aspects of American
culture at their messiest and most confused-and thus at their most honest. -- Book
jacket
Sujet(s) : Théâtre -- New York (N.Y., États-Unis) -- Histoire -- 20e siècle
Comédies musicales -- New York (N.Y., États-Unis) -- 20e siècle
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 9780199747481. - ISBN 0199747482
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb45653297q
Notice n° :
FRBNF45653297
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
Table des matières : Burlesque, Off Off Broadway, and the birth of the adult musical ; The birth of modern
gay theater and the subtext of Company ; The post-Stonewall (and post-Company) gay
musical ; The adult musical meets second-wave feminism : mod donna ; Not-so-angry
feminist musicals ; Obscenity, "porno chic", and let my people come ; Hell freezes
over : the hard-core musical on stage and screen ; Applying contemporary community
standards : is it obscene, or merely lewd? ; New York's financial crisis and the
adult musical on Broadway.