Tuesday, June 28, 2011

New Titles in Feminist Performance

In the category of shameless self-promotion, let me call your attention to two forthcoming titles, one by my partner, Stacy Wolf (or "Feminist Spectator 2") and the other a collection of performances by Peggy Shaw, which I edited for the University of Michigan Press.


Stacy's book, Changed for Good:  A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical, can be found on the Oxford University Press web site or on Amazon.


The book is a terrific feminist engagement with musicals from the Golden Age to the present, written for a trade and academic audience in readable prose with keen insights.  Stacy is particularly good on the difference between how a musical's book might position its female characters (that is, in often derogatory ways) and how a female star's power in performance often works against her disempowerment by the text.

A Menopausal Gentleman:  The Performances of Peggy Shaw, for which I was honored to write the introduction and to edit, is available for pre-order on Amazon.  It can also be ordered at the Michigan web site.  The book collects Shaw's You're Just Like Your Father; Menopausal Gentleman; To My Chagrin; and Must:  The Inside Story, on which Peggy collaborated with the UK-based Clod Ensemble.  It also includes interstitial pieces from Peggy's work with Split Britches and her own introduction.

At the ATHE conference at the Palmer House in Chicago this August, Peggy and Lois Weaver will perform their two-hander Lost Lounge and we'll celebrate the publication of Stacy's book and Peggy's collection.

Enjoy both books and join us for the celebration if you're at the conference.

The Feminist Spectator