The American Musical Stage As a Site of Utopian Possibilities
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THE AMERICAN MUSICAL STAGE AS A SITE OF UTOPIAN POSSIBILITIES: SUBVERSIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF RACE AND GENDER IN VIOLET AND CAROLINE, OR CHANGE _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by BRETT D. JOHNSON Dr. Cheryl Black, Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2012 © Copyright by Brett D. Johnson 2012 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled THE AMERICAN MUSICAL STAGE AS A SITE OF UTOPIAN POSSIBILITIES: SUBVERSIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF RACE AND GENDER IN VIOLET AND CAROLINE, OR CHANGE presented by Brett D. Johnson, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. _________________________________________________________ Dr. Cheryl Black _________________________________________________________ Dr. Judith A. Sebesta _________________________________________________________ Dr. Heather Carver _________________________________________________________ Dr. Michael Budds ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my dissertation committee, Dr. Cheryl Black, Dr. Judith A. Sebesta, Dr. Heather Carver, and Dr. Michael Budds; my parents, Lewis and Cathy Johnson; my colleagues at the University of Missouri, including Mary Barile, Greg Foster, Sally Foster, and Julie Melnyk; my instructors, especially Dr. W. Douglas Powers; as well as Ben Friesen and Jeanine Tesori. I could not have completed this study without their guidance and generosity. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................ ii ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................iv Chapter 1. Introduction..........................................................................................................1 2. Bringing Violet to Light .....................................................................................25 3. Violet: When Hope is Subversive ......................................................................53 4. Creating Caroline…and Change........................................................................92 5. Caroline, or Change: Transforming a Shadow of a Life.................................116 6. Conclusion: Sites of Utopia .............................................................................167 APPENDICES 1. Scenes and Musical Numbers for Violet..........................................................192 2. Scenes and Musical Numbers for Caroline, or Change ..................................193 3. Interview with Jeanine Tesori ..........................................................................195 4. Interview with Brian Crawley..........................................................................202 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................208 VITA................................................................................................................................219 iii ABSTRACT When considering American musicals as social barometers that both reflect and shape the national zeitgeist, two major traditions have been identified: the mid-twentieth- century Golden Age model, which champions the mainstream ideology, and the “anti- musical,” or “counter-mythology,” which challenges the social and aesthetic status quo. The latter, which originated in West Side Story (1957) but proliferated in the musicals of Stephen Sondheim, often include outsider characters who challenge the hegemonic structures of racism, sexism, and middle-class privilege. This study draws upon a range of theories from theatre, history, musicology, sociology, critical race theory, feminist theory, religious studies, and cultural studies to investigate how two contemporary musicals – Violet (1997), an adaptation of Doris Betts’ short story “The Ugliest Pilgrim,” which tells the story of a disfigured Southern woman’s journey of spiritual healing, and Caroline, or Change (2003), an original musical about a middle-aged African American maid, emotionally scarred by racism and sexism, working for a Jewish family in Lake Charles, Louisiana, circa 1963 – function as social documents and in relation to these two traditions in American musical theatre. This study also examines how the works were created, with special attention to the relationship between convention and subversion within the creative process. The study concludes that both female protagonists challenge essentialist cultural representations of race and gender, and both musicals create a site of utopian possibilities within a dystopic social reality. iv Chapter 1 Introduction For nearly a century, musical theatre, as one of the few indigenous American art forms, has both reflected and shaped the national zeitgeist. In defining “musical theatre,” I rely on John Bush Jones’ concise yet inclusive definition – “book shows (musicals with a plot or story) and revues (anthologies of separate and usually unrelated songs, dance numbers, and comedy routines)”1 – as it allows the inclusion of works that employ a fragmentary, non-linear structure, such as some of the musicals of Stephen Sondheim. Furthermore, following standard usage in musical theatre historiography, I use “American” throughout to refer specifically to the United States, in full awareness that the term excludes Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America. Lyricist Sheldon Harnick suggests that because of their far-reaching influence, American musicals function as “social documents that tell us who we were and who we are – as individuals, as members of a community, as citizens of a nation.”2 Similarly, in Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater, Larry Stempel argues that “musicals provide one way of taking the pulse of American culture.”3 In The American Musical and the Formation of National Identity, Raymond Knapp goes a step further by suggesting that “the American musical has done more than merely interact with the local – that is, its 1 John Bush Jones, Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theatre (Lebanon, NH: Brandeis University Press, 2003), 2. 2 Ibid., x. 3 Larry Stempel, Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010), 13. 1 American – context. It has played a significant part in shaping that context, as well, by addressing both the ideals of America and its realities, and helping us deal with the frequent disparity between them.”4 In examining musicals as social barometers, two major traditions have been identified. The first, embodied by the mid-twentieth-century Golden Age musical, champions the mainstream ideology. The Golden Age of American musical theatre is generally considered to begin in 1943, with the premiere of Oklahoma!, and end in the 1960s or 1970s, with the advent of the rock musical. The term “Golden Age” may also signify a set of conventions related to the formally integrated, or “book,” musical, in which the elements of music, lyrics, libretto, dance, and stagecraft come together to tell a story. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II pioneered the integrated musical with Show Boat in 1927, but it was Rodgers and Hammerstein who popularized it during their seventeen-year partnership. The characteristics of a Golden Age musical typically include a heteronormative narrative that revolves around marriage, stock characters drawn from Roman comedy and commedia dell’arte, a substantial libretto, conventional song types, formal integration, a chorus that embodies the values of the community, and an optimistic message. Writing of Oklahoma!, the quintessential Golden Age musical, Ann Sears contends that “the book, lyrics, costumes and music … reflected currents in American art, music and popular culture that looked at American life past and present 4 Raymond Knapp, The American Musical and the Formation of National Identity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005), 284. 2 through a haze of romanticism and nostalgia.”5 Similarly, Sondheim opines that “most of all, it’s a very comfortable show, both for the cast and the Middle American audience.”6 The legacy of the Rodgers and Hammerstein-inspired Golden Age musical is far- reaching, perhaps partially because, as Stempel has suggested, their work was preserved in “media more durable than live performance,” including original cast recordings, published libretti, and motion pictures.7 Stacy Wolf has asserted that from the 1950s to 2000s, “virtually all Broadway musicals had to contend with the formidable legacy of Rodgers and Hammerstein” and that “their conventions have been internalized by musical theatre audiences.”8 That is, for nearly six decades, new musicals have been judged based upon how closely they follow Golden Age conventions of form and content. Examples of works in this tradition abound, including Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Brigadoon (1947), Kiss Me, Kate (1948), Guys and Dolls (1950), The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), My Fair Lady (1956), The Music Man (1957), Gypsy (1959), Bye Bye Birdie (1960), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961), Funny Girl (1964), Fiddler on