The Queer Encyclopedia of Music, Dance, and Musical Theater (Glbtq Encyclopedia)

Aficionados of music, dance, opera, and musical theater will relish this new volume by the scholars of GLBTQ featuring over 200 articles showcasing composers, singers, musicians, dancers, and choreographers across eras and styles. Read about Hildegard of Bingen, whose Symphonia expressed both spiritual and physical desire for the Virgin Mary, and George Frideric Handel, who not only created roles for castrati but was behind the Venetian opera's preoccupation with gender ambiguity. Discover Alban Berg’s Lulu, opera’s first openly lesbian character. And don’t forget Kiss Me Kate, the hit 1948 Broadway musical: written by Cole Porter, married, though openly gay; produced by a gay man; directed by John C. Wilson, Noël Coward's ex-lover; and featuring Harold Lang, who had affairs with Leonard Bernstein and Gore Vidal. No single volume has ever achieved the breadth of this scholarly, yet eminently readable compendium, which includes: overviews of genres, such as opera, ballet, cabaret, modern dance, rock, disco, and hip-hop; discussions of topics like glam rock, music videos, and AIDS activism; and fascinating biographical entries on hundreds of figures such as Peter Tchaikovsky, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Diaghilev, Bessie Smith, Aaron Copland, Stephen Sondheim, Alvin Ailey, Rufus Wainwright, and Ani DiFranco. Aficionados of music, dance, opera, and musical theater will relish this volume featuring over 200 articles showcasing composers, singers, musicians, dancers, and choreographers across eras and styles. Read about Hildegard of Bingen, whose Symphonia expressed both spiritual and physical desire for the Virgin Mary, and George Frideric Handel, who not only created roles for castrati but was behind the Venetian opera's preoccupations with gender ambiguity. Discover Alban Berg's Lulu, opera's first openly lesbian character. And don't forget Kiss Me Kate, the hit 1948 Broadway musical: written by Cole Porter, married though openly gay; directed by John C. Wilson, Noël Coward's ex-lover; and featuring Harold Lang, who had affairs with Leonard Bernstein and Gore Vidal. No single volume has ever achieved the breadth of this scholarly yet eminently readable compendium. It includes overviews of genres as well as fascinating biographical entries on hundreds of figures such as Peter Tchaikovsky, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Diaghilev, Bessie Smith, Aaron Copland, Stephen Sondheim, Alvin Ailey, Rufus Wainwright, and Ani DiFranco. What did Alvin Ailey's mother do when she first saw him in stage makeup? Why did George Frideric Handel censor his unpublished pastoral cantatas in the 1730s? How many degrees separate Gore Vidal from Cole Porter's 1948 Broadway musical, Kiss Me Kate? Find the answers-and much, much more-in The Queer Encyclopedia of Music, Dance, and Musical Theater. Drawn from the fascinating online encyclopedia of queer arts and culture, which the Advocate dubbed the "Encyclopedia Britanniqueer"-this compendium of all things queer and beautiful features over 200 articles on composers, choreographers, singers, musicians, and dancers across eras and styles. Perfect for settling arguments or for a serene hour by a sunny window, this is the kind of reference book you can't tear yourself away from, with authoritative overviews on genres and gay-themed works and biographical entries on figures like Jerome Robbins, Noel Coward, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Diaghilev, Bessie Smith, Stephen Sondheim, Rufus Wainwright, and Ani DiFranco. Encyclopedia showcasing the contribution of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer people to music, dance, and musical theater Claude J. Summers, Editor. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.