A Night at the Opera: Performance, Theatricality, and Identity In
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.
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