Hard Times: The Adult Musical in 1970s New York City - Hardcover

Wollman, Elizabeth L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199747482 ISBN 13: 9780199747481

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2012

Synopsis

In Hard Times, musical theater historian Elizabeth L. Wollman takes readers on a fascinating tour of the adult musical scene of New York City's rampant 1970s.

After the success of Hair in 1968, the low-budget adult musical proliferated. The most famous was the long-running "Oh! Calcutta!", but countless more made it to stage: "Stag Movie," "Let My People Come," "The Faggot," and others. Structured like old-fashioned revues, with thematically interconnected songs and skits, they received little respect from critics, who either condemned them for going too far in the direction of hard-core pornography, or for not being erotic enough. The public thought otherwise, flooding the theaters and pouring cash into box-office tills. Wollman shows that adult musicals represented far more than a silly fad from a silly decade: they reflected experimentation with newfound sexual freedom, not to mention the rise of the women's and gay liberation movements. She examines the impact of the Stonewall riots on gay musicals; how feminism was reflected on stage; and how "porno chic" and hard-core porn influenced performances. Even the most middlebrow efforts brought into focus the debate between art and obscenity, and angst over New York City's socioeconomic status. By the early 1980s, as the city's economy recovered and society grew conservative, these musicals disappeared-an indicator of a larger transformation.

Wollman reasserts the significance of this humble (if hardly modest) art form. Adult musicals, she shows, represented aspects of American culture at their messiest and most confused-and thus at their most honest.

About this title

About the Author:

Elizabeth L. Wollman is Associate Professor of Music at Baruch College in New York City, and author of The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, from Hair to Hedwig.

Review:

"A brilliantly insightful and nuanced account of a musical theatre subgenre known only by its reputation, Hard Times is paradigm-shifting. Whether or not you were in New York City in the 1970s, Wollman brings these shows to life, taking you on a fascinating, thoroughly engaging, and surprisingly funny and moving journey." --Stacy Wolf, author of Changed for Good: A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical and Professor of Theater, Princeton University

"Wollman is a superb storyteller, weaving strands into so many other stories that you wonder how they ever made sense without hers. Like all good storytellers, she brings out the laughter and the pathos, with both in abundance. And she's a first-rate scholar-although, as befits her topic, she wears those robes lightly." --Raymond Knapp, Professor of Musicology, UCLA, author of The American Musical and the Formation of National Identity and The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity, and co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of the American Musical

"A good read and well-researched. It was fun for me to see my show in the context of others. Let My People Come still plays and evolves." --Earl Wilson Jr., composer and lyricist

"Elizabeth Wollman has surveyed the field and put it all in perspective in Hard Times...Wollman's book boasts its own 'companion website' and the text of the book is replete with icons directing the reader to photos and audio clips giving her narrative additional color - visual and aural." --DC Theatre Scene

"[A] lovingly crafted, well-written volume...A scholarly work on an overlooked subject, and a delightful read for anyone already steeped in Broadway history." --Choice

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0199747482
• ISBN 13: 9780199747481
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288