A Problem Like Maria

by Wolf, Stacy

• ISBN13: 9780472097722
• ISBN10: 0472097725
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Michigan Pr

Summary

Subverting assumptions that American musical theater is steeped in nostalgia, cheap sentiment, misogyny, and homophobia, this book shows how musicals of the 1950s and early 1960s celebrated strong women characters who defied the era's gender expectations.A Problem Like Mariareexamines the roles, careers, and performances of four of musical theater's greatest stars-Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Julie Andrews, and Barbra Streisand-through a lesbian feminist lens. Focusing on both star persona and performance, Stacy Wolf argues that each of her subjects deftly crafted characters (both on and offstage) whose defiance of the norms of mid-twentiethcentury femininity had immediate appeal to spectators on the ideological and sexual margins, yet could still play in Peoria. Chapter by chapter, the book analyzes the stars' best-known and best-loved roles, including Martin as Nellie inSouth Pacific,Merman as Momma Rose inGypsyAndrews as Eliza inMy Fair Ladyand Guinevere inCamelot,and Streisand as Fanny Brice inFunny Girl.The final chapter scrutinizes the Broadway and film versions ofThe Sound of Music,illuminating its place in the hearts of lesbian spectators and the "delicious queerness" of Andrews's troublesome nun. As the first feminist and lesbian study of the American Broadway musical,A Problem Like Mariais a groundbreaking contribution to feminist studies, queer studies, and American studies and a delight for fans of musical theater. Stacy Wolf is Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance, University of Texas, Austin.

Table of Contents

List of Performances Cited	xix
Introduction	1	(44)
Mary Martin	45	(44)
Ethel Merman	89	(42)
Julie Andrews	131	(42)
Barbra Streisand	173	(30)
The Sound of Music	203	(32)
Afterword	235	(4)
Notes	239	(36)
Index	275