Just one of the boys : female-to-male cross-dressing on the American variety stage / Gillian M. Rodger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rodger, Gillian M., author.

Series:

Music in American life

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Revues--United States--19th century--History and criticism.

Revues.

Male impersonators--United States--History--19th century.

Male impersonators.

History.

United States.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

242 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 2018.

Summary:

Female-to-male crossdressing became all the rage in the variety shows of nineteenth century America, and began as the domain of mature actresses who desired to extend their careers. These women engaged in the kinds of raucous comedy acts usually reserved for men. Over time, as younger women entered the specialty, the comedy became less pointed, and came to center on the celebration of male leisure and fashion. Gillian M. Rodger uses the development of male impersonation from 1820 to 1920 to illuminate the history of the variety show. Exploding notions of high- and lowbrow entertainment, Rodger looks at how both performers and forms consistently expanded upward toward respectable "and richer" audiences. At the same time, she illuminates a lost theatrical world where women made fun of middle class restrictions even as they bumped up against rules imposed in part by audiences. Onstage, the actresses' changing performance styles reflected gender construction in the working class and shifts in class affiliation by parts of the audiences. Rodger observes how restrictive standards of femininity increasingly bound male impersonators as new gender constructions allowed women greater access to public space while tolerating less independent behavior from them.

Contents:

Introduction

Female Hamlets and Romeos: cross-dressing actresses in nineteenth-century theater

The first generation of performers, 1868-1880: Annie Hindle and Ella Wesner

Increasing competition during the 1870s: Augusta Lamareaux and Blanche Selwyn

The second generation of performers: Maggie Weston and Minnie Hall

Ella Wesner and English male impersonation

Changing performance contexts and management styles in the 1880s

Male impersonation in the 1880s and 1890s: Annie Hindle and Ella Wesner

English male impersonation in America: changing aesthetics, changing performance style

Male impersonation in the new century.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Rodger, Gillian M. Just one of the boys.

ISBN:

9780252041518

0252041518

9780252083150

0252083156

OCLC:

983824435