The author surveys the world of tomboys, comedians, and rebel nuns who broke the gender stereotype rules on 1950s Broadway, reexamining the careers, roles, and performances of Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Julie Andrews, and Barbara Streisand from the perspective of lesbian feminism. Simultaneous. Subverting assumptions that American musical theatre 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. List of Performances Cited
xix
Introductions
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
