A Night at the Opera: Performance, Theatricality, and Identity In
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A NIGHT AT THE OPERA: PERFORMANCE, THEATRICALITY, AND IDENTITY IN THE MUSIC OF QUEEN A THESIS IN Musicology Presented to the Faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF MUSIC by GRACE KATE ODELL B.M., Furman University, 2016 Kansas City, Missouri 2016 ©2019 GRACE KATE ODELL ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2 A NIGHT AT THE OPERA: PERFORMANCE, THEATRICALITY, AND IDENTITY IN THE MUSIC OF QUEEN Grace Kate Odell, Candidate for the Master of Music Degree University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2016 ABSTRACT Many discussions of the rock band Queen (vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor, and bassist John Deacon) reference their theatricality, yet few analyze what makes Queen’s music and performances theatrical. Through examining Queen’s theatricality from different angles, this thesis shows the different layers of Queen’s performativity and its relationship to identity. After an introductory chapter that surveys the literature about Queen, the second chapter of the thesis analyzes the theatricality of Queen’s music from a stylistic basis. The chapter begins by addressing Queen’s camp theatricality through their use of music hall, iii operetta, and musical theatre styles. It then addresses their drama-based theatricality through their use of opera and film music styles. The third chapter analyzes Queen’s performance of gender and sexuality through their use of different genres. It first discusses Queen’s participation in the genre of glam rock, in which they performed a more feminine persona, but were still understood as heterosexual. Then it explores Queen’s disco and funk influenced music and Mercury’s “castro clone” image as simultaneously a more masculine and more homosexual performance. Finally the chapter analyzes the various rock genres Queen used throughout their career in order to perform heterosexual masculinity, including hard rock, stadium rock, and heavy metal. The fourth chapter focuses primarily on Mercury’s performance of ethnicity and nationality through his music. Taking into account his history as a first-generation Parsi Zanzibarian who immigrated to London, it first looks at his and Queen’s expressions of “Britishness” through the figure of the British pop dandy and their use of the British national anthem. Then it turns to discussing the influence of Mercury’s Persian and African heritage on select songs. Finally, it examines religion as it relates to cultural identity, specifically Mercury’s Zoroastrian heritage and the ways he used the aesthetics of heavy metal to articulate his place within that religion. The fifth chapter concludes the thesis by taking a holistic view of how all of these layers of performativity operated simultaneously, endowing Queen’s music with a deep and complex sense of theatricality. iv APPROVAL PAGE The faculty listed below, appointed by the Dean of the Conservatory of Music and Dance, have examined a thesis titled “A Night at the Opera: Performance, Theatricality, and Identity in the Music of Queen,” presented by Grace Kate Odell, candidate for the Master of Music degree, and certify that in their opinion it is worthy of acceptance. Supervisory Committee Andrew Granade, Ph.D., Committee Chair Conservatory of Music and Dance Sarah Tyrrell, Ph.D. Conservatory of Music and Dance Alison DeSimone, Ph.D. Conservatory of Music and Dance v CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ................................................................................................ vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 Review of the Literature ................................................................................. 6 Plan of the Thesis .......................................................................................... 15 2. MUSICAL THEATRICALITY ............................................................................. 17 Camp ............................................................................................................. 19 Drama ............................................................................................................ 44 Queen’s Masks .............................................................................................. 60 3. PERFORMING GENDER AND SEXUALITY .................................................. 63 Glam Rock .................................................................................................... 67 Disco and Funk ............................................................................................. 79 Rock .............................................................................................................. 89 Queen’s Characters ....................................................................................... 98 4. PERFORMING ETHNICITY AND NATIONALITY ...................................... 100 Performing Britishness................................................................................ 103 Performing Persianness and Zanzibarianness ............................................. 110 Performing Religion .................................................................................... 117 Queen’s Identity .......................................................................................... 125 5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 129 Layered Performances ................................................................................ 129 Innuendo ..................................................................................................... 134 APPENDIX ......................................................................................................................... 141 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................... 154 VITA ................................................................................................................................... 165 vi ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Bars 1-3 of “The Honeysuckle and The Bee.” .......................................................... 24 2. The beginning of the chorus in “The Honeysuckle and the Bee.” ........................... 26 3. Introduction of “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon.” ................................................... 28 4. Mm. 16-21 of “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon.” ................................................... 30 5. Mercury’s melody at 0:22 in “Seaside Rendezvous.” .............................................. 33 6. Adele’s melody at the beginning of “Mein Herr Marquis.” ..................................... 36 7. Chromatic bass line in mm. 3-5 of “Vesti la Giubba.” ............................................. 47 8. The piano reduction of the accompaniment in bars 5-8 of “Vesti la Giubba.” ......... 48 9. Chords from the chorus of “It’s A Hard Life.” ......................................................... 52 10. Descending bass line during the interlude of “It’s A Hard Life.” ............................ 53 11. The melody at the beginning of Highlander’s main theme. ..................................... 56 12. The various outfits of the child version of Mercury in the official music video for “The Miracle.” .......................................................................................... 64 13. The Sweet on “Top of the Pops” in 1972. ................................................................ 69 14. May’s silver necklace and flared sleeves in the official video for “Liar.” .............. 73 15. Mercury’s “drag” in the live video for “Another One Bites the Dust” filmed in Montreal in 1981. ..................................................................................... 85 16. Shot of the full band in the official video for “Body Language.” ............................ 86 17. Masculine stances and May’s Washburn RR11V in the official video for “Princes of the Universe.” ........................................................................................ 96 vii 18. Mercury during “God Save the Queen” at Wembley Stadium. ............................. 109 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to recognize the help of my wonderful advisor, Dr. Granade. In addition, I appreciate the advice and support of my committee members, Dr. DeSimone, and Dr. Tyrrell. I would also like to thank Mom, Dad, Hattie, Jared, Chris, Anna, Nick, Ashton, Tiffany, Laura, and Kristen for their suggestions and emotional support. Thanks also to Juan José Castaño-Marquez for his edits and suggestions. ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The official video for the British band Queen’s song “I Want to Break Free” features each band member in drag, parodying the female characters in the popular British soap opera Coronation Street. (For a list of Queen songs and pertinant information see the Appendix.) Lead singer Freddie Mercury wears fake breasts with slipping black bra straps, a leather mini-skirt, and big pink earrings; guitarist Brian May has curlers in his hair, a pink robe, and fluffy bunny slippers; drummer Roger Taylor wears bows in his hair, a flouncy skirt, and stockings; and bassist John Deacon has a flowered hat, pearl earrings,