The prettiest girl on stage is a man
Subtitle: race and gender benders in American vaudeville
By: Kathleen B. Casey
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: The University of Tennessee Press
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Knoxville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 210
ISBN-13: 9781621901655
Subjects: Vaudeville; Female impersonators; Blackface entertainers; Entertainers; Gender expression; Racism
Description: "From the 1890s through the 1920s, vaudeville reigned as one of the most popular entertainment forms in urban America. Through drama, humor, and satire, it invited its socially, economically, and ethnically diverse audiences to turn a self-conscious eye upon themselves and their culture, which was being rapidly transformed by such forces as immigration, racial discord, and new conceptions of gender roles. It was no coincidence that acts featuring cross-dressing performers and racial impersonators were among vaudeville's biggest attractions. In this lively and enlightening study, Kathleen B. Casey explores the ways in which the gender- and race-bending spectacles of vaudeville dramatized the economic, technological, social, and cultural upheaval that gripped the United States in the early twentieth century"--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-197) and index.
Table of contents: title: Acknowledgments; title: Introduction: "the people's art" in the modern world; title: Sex, savagery, and the woman who made vaudeville famous; title: "Making a woman of himself" : Julian Eltinge and the hyperwhite lady; title: "She is what she aint" : Lillyn Brown and the meaning of black male impersonation; title: "The Jewish girl with a colored voice" : Sophie Tucker and the sound and shape of transgression; title: Epilogue; title: Notes; title: Bibliography; title: Index.