Greasepaint Puritan : Boston to 42nd Street in the queer backstage novels of Bradford Ropes / Maya Cantu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cantu, Maya, 1982- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ropes, Bradford--Criticism and interpretation.

Ropes, Bradford.

Ropes, Bradford. 42nd Street.

Gay men in literature.

Gay men and musicals.

Screenwriters--United States--Biography.

Screenwriters.

Actors--United States--Biography.

Actors.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 306 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, 2024.

Summary:

Greasepaint Puritan details the life and work of Bradford Ropes, author of the bawdy 1932 novel 42nd Street, on which the classic film and its stage adaptation are based. Each of Ropes's long-forgotten novels was inspired by his own experiences as a performer, and focused on the lives of gay men in show business, offering rare glimpses into backstage Broadway. But why did Ropes's body of work, and consequently his biographical footsteps, disappear into such obscurity? Greasepaint Puritan aims to find out and reclaim his story. Descended from Mayflower Pilgrims, Ropes rebelled against the "Proper Bostonian" life, in a career that touched upon the Jazz Age, American vaudeville, and theater censorship. We follow Ropes's successful career as both a performer and the author of the trilogy of backstage novels: 42nd Street, Stage Mother, and Go Into Your Dance. Populated by scheming stage mothers, precocious stage children, grandiose bit players, and tart-tongued chorines, these novels centered on the lives and relationships of gay men on Broadway during the Jazz Age and Prohibition era. Rigorously researched, Greasepaint Puritan chronicles Ropes's career as a successful screenwriter in 1930s and '40s Hollywood, where he continued to be a part of a dynamic gay subculture within the movie industry before returning to obscurity in the 1950s. His legacy lives on in the Hollywood and Broadway incarnations of 42nd Street--but Greasepaint Puritan restores the "forgotten melody" of the man who first envisioned its colorful characters.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Interlude

Chapter 1. Peering Back at "Proper Boston"

Chapter 2. Drag Reveals and "Strange Interludes"

Chapter 3. "This Is Not a Book to Give to a Maiden Aunt"

Chapter 4. "Light Hearted and Damned"

Chapter 5. "Your Blood Responds More Eagerly to the Lure of the Theatre"

Chapter 6. Bringing Back Bradford Ropes

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-306) and index.

Description based on information from the publisher.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780472221431

0472221434

OCLC:

1418996838