Drag: a history of female impersonation on the stage, Roger Baker, Triton Books; distributed by Macdonald & Co., 1968, , 256 pages. DOWNLOAD HERE Noel Coward A Biography, Philip Hoare, May 22, 1998, Biography & Autobiography, 605 pages. To several generations, actor, playwright, songwriter, and filmmaker, NoГ«l Coward (1899-1973) was the very personification of wit, glamour, and elegance. His biographer, Philip .... Camp Queer Aesthetics and the Performing Subject : a Reader, Fabio Cleto, 1999, Performing Arts, 523 pages. The complete guide to c& an anthology of the best writing on its history and current theory in cultural studies and lesbian and gay studies. Bette Davis A Tribute 1908-1989, Roger Baker, May 1, 1990, , 64 pages. Volatile Bodies Toward a Corporeal Feminism, Elizabeth A. Grosz, 1994, Social Science, 250 pages. Book on feminist theory.. Drag! male and female impersonators on stage, screen, and television : an illustrated world history, F. 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Men have been dressing as women on stage for hundreds of years, dating back to the thirteenth century when the Church forbade the appearance of female actors but condoned that of men and boys disguised as the opposite sex. Forms of travestism can be traced back to the dawn of theatre and are found in all corners of the world, notably in China and Japan. In recent years, of course, drag has witnessed a dramatic and widespread revival. Newsday recently observed, People are talking about all those fabulous heterosexual film idols who now can't seem to wait to get tarted up in drag and do their screen bits as fishnet queens. Drawing on a cinematic tradition popularized by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot, Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie) and Robin Williams (Mrs. Doubtfire) have each delighted mainstream audiences with their portrayals of women. Even former drag queens have experience newfound fame; witness the recent popularity of the late Divine, renowned for her oddly compelling appearances in underground John Waters films. Listing examples of female impersonators in recent entertainment is no difficult task: Tootsie; Mrs. Doubtfire; The Crying Game or television's Bosom Buddies. Think of Boy George, David Bowie, RuPaul. Anyone who believes these often flamboyant and controversial characters are a recent manifestation would be well-advised to read late British writer Baker's fun, informative and revealing historical tour. Having emerged from church pageants, the theater was (like the church itself) dominated by men. Men got the female parts for centuries, including original portrayals of Shakespeare's Juliet, Lady Macbeth, Cleopatra, Desdemona. When actresses came into their own during the Restoration era, the man in drag moved to burlesque?where they tended to remain. Although almost entirely about female impersonation, there is a some mention of opera's trouser roles (Cherubino, Octavian, etc.). Likewise, the focus is Western, despite a chapter on Japanese and Chinese female impersonators. Baker spices his text with a gentle, appealing cynicism. (Talking about the corrupting influence of Elizabethan theaters, he notes, "Presumably countless grandmothers were hastily buried on the afternoons when Tamburlaine the Great or Macbeth were being played.") Baker's voice is a strong one, making Drag a quiet, funny and superbly documented study that should appeal to a variety of readers. Photos. British gay journalist Baker had finished two-thirds of this book, a much-needed updating of a 1968 original, when he suddenly died in November 1993 of complications of emphysema and Beijing flu. Two colleagues completed it, which is both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because Baker's work is exceptionally well researched and written in an absorbing, authoritative manner that makes the book hard to put down; a curse because Peter Burton and Richard Smith, though clearly knowledgeable and capable journalists, can't equal Baker's vigor. The last third of the book pales by comparison with the first 200 pages. Still, it certainly would have been a loss if this mostly finely written history of female impersonation had never seen the light of day, especially since, for the first time in centuries, it is possible to discuss issues of cross-dressing and gender bending free of the kind of religious moralizing (and related moralistic psychologizing) that used to make clear-eyed discussion of them impossible. Jack Helbig --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. This book, written mostly by Roger Baker and finished up by Peter Burton & Richard Smith, is determinedly British, and heavy on the 'dame' tradition, especially the 'panto dame.' Its chapter titles--"Enter Pursued by Laughter," "Hollywood and Bust," "Frock Tactics"--give an accurate indication of its sense of humor and its emphasis on working theater drag (for example, the economic success of post-war soldiers-in-drag troupes like Forces in Petticoats). Dance is treated only slightly, and th...more This book, written mostly by Roger Baker and finished up by Peter Burton & Richard Smith, is determinedly British, and heavy on the 'dame' tradition, especially the 'panto dame.' Its chapter titles--"Enter Pursued by Laughter," "Hollywood and Bust," "Frock Tactics"--give an accurate indication of its sense of humor and its emphasis on working theater drag (for example, the economic success of post-war soldiers-in-drag troupes like Forces in Petticoats). Dance is treated only slightly, and the chapter on "Onnagata & Tan" is a brief detour from what is essentially an amused, somewhat gossipy history of British theater drag from Shakespeare to Dame Edna.(less) This early passage sets the style of Roger Baker's book, which is solemn without being authoritative, in the style of a People investi- gator. The connection between Kings Road plumage and drag, between increasing sexual ambivalence and a flood of female impersona- tors, has been explored recently at length if not in depth. Mr Baker's- book does not pro- vide a suitable premise for a more serious study. I doubt if such an exercise would be worth while. Drag is a frivolity—apart from being hard work for the performer. I have always marvelled at the way in which Danny La Rue • is able to assume the responsibilities of lead- ing man and leading lady as well as principal comedian and impresario; but even if the artist must take the form seriously, 'it seems to me a pity that the audience should be encouraged to do so. Mr Baker makes one good point. It is often said that Danny La Rue has made female im- personation respectable. Mr Baker points out that all he has done is to make himself respect- able. Too many of his colleagues' recall Casanova's encounter with a castrato singer,' 'The impudent creature, looking ffitedfy at me', • told me that if I liked him he would prove that I was right or I was wrong.' However, since Mr Baker has very little to say which is worth saying, he !night 'perhaps have done his homework and provided an authoritative list of drag acts in a 'book which purports to be a history of the art.''It is only necessary to look at his chapter bn American drag to see the way he has skimped the task. Not a mention of George-"Honey 'BoV' Evans; or Harry le Clair, 'The Sarah 'Bernhardt. of Vaudeville,' who weighed 'over 150 pounds;'Of 'Miss Smith' and Arico whb were 'top ballerinas and also men% of Charlie Harris who 'did an eccentric wornan% of Hat,ry Ley- bourne who 'did a pianolOgue and 'changed dresses very fast'; of J. C. Mack-L-the German housewife; of the Male Melba and the Male Patti; of Alvora and The Great Richards, lady toe-dancers to a man; of Thora and Lydia Dreams . 'fine ventrilOquists';'of Havania who did quick changes; of Bothwell Brown There is no prudent reminder to budding Queens of Travesty that Bert Savoy was struck dead by lightning while walking at Long Beach : no mention of the inventiveness of Ray Monde who came on as a woman, took off his wig at the end of his act to show he was a man and then, for an encore, took off another wig to show long hair just like a woman's. No comment on Fagg and White, not even on the name of the act; or of the Mosconi Brothers who started their dancing careers with Charley partnering his brother Louis in a waltz. No account of the publicity stunt with which Julian Eltinge is reputed to have started his career. He is said to have arranged to walk into a rough bar on the corner of Forty-Second Street and Ninth Avenue, taken exception to a remark about female impersonators being `nances' . and cleaned the place out. As one of his contem- poraries remarked, people were so used to female impersonators scratching that the idea of one of them hitting made the front page.