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A revolution in three acts : the radical vaudeville of Bert Williams, Eva Tanguay, and Julian Eltinge / David Hajdu and John Carey [illustrator].

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Columbia University Press, [2021]Description: viii, 166 pages : chiefly black & white illustrations ; 29 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780231191821
  • 0231191820
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Summary: "An African American who performed in blackface to challenge racial stereotypes; a woman whose song, "I Don't Care," became emblematic of the modern "New Woman"; and a female impersonator whose act was created to uphold the traditional values of American femininity. These stories are at the center of David Hajdu's new work of graphic nonfiction, which recounts the lives and careers of Bert Williams, Eva Tanguay, and Julian Eltinge, three of the most popular and influential vaudeville performers at the turn of the twentieth century. Hajdu's history reveals how popular American entertainment as we know it first took form in vaudeville, and the ways these three artists challenged conceptions of race, gender, and what it meant to be an American during a pivotal time in the nation's history. Hajdu and the artist John Carey intertwine the stories of Williams, Eltinge, and Tanguay with sections that focus on subjects relating to their lives and careers, such as the histories of minstrelsy or gender-bending in American theater. The book tells how the West Indian Bert Williams found a balance in his act that at once played to and challenged ideas of Blackness in American life. Eva Tanguay, who was known as "The Queen of Vaudeville," embodied a fiercely radical challenge to the prevailing conceptions of female propriety. Julian Eltinge, to whom Tanguay was briefly "engaged," created a precise impersonation of the dainty, graceful proper woman, while maintaining an offstage persona of hypermasculinity. Hajdu and Carey conclude the book by examining how these artists influenced the acts and personas of later performers ranging from Elvis Presley to Prince to Nikki Minaj"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Graphic Novel New 792.7028 H154 Available 33111010576318
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Winner - 2022 Deems Taylor / Virgil Thomson Book Awards in Pop from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers

Bert Williams--a Black man forced to perform in blackface who challenged the stereotypes of minstrelsy. Eva Tanguay--an entertainer with the signature song "I Don't Care" who flouted the rules of propriety to redefine womanhood for the modern age. Julian Eltinge--a female impersonator who entranced and unnerved audiences by embodying the feminine ideal Tanguay rejected. At the turn of the twentieth century, they became three of the most provocative and popular performers in vaudeville, the form in which American mass entertainment first took shape.

A Revolution in Three Acts explores how these vaudeville stars defied the standards of their time to change how their audiences thought about what it meant to be American, to be Black, to be a woman or a man. The writer David Hajdu and the artist John Carey collaborate in this work of graphic nonfiction, crafting powerful portrayals of Williams, Tanguay, and Eltinge to show how they transformed American culture. Hand-drawn images give vivid visual form to the lives and work of the book's subjects and their world.

This book is at once a deft telling of three intricately entwined stories, a lush evocation of a performance milieu with unabashed entertainment value, and an eye-opening account of a key moment in American cultural history with striking parallels to present-day questions of race, gender, and sexual identity.

Includes bibliographical references.

"An African American who performed in blackface to challenge racial stereotypes; a woman whose song, "I Don't Care," became emblematic of the modern "New Woman"; and a female impersonator whose act was created to uphold the traditional values of American femininity. These stories are at the center of David Hajdu's new work of graphic nonfiction, which recounts the lives and careers of Bert Williams, Eva Tanguay, and Julian Eltinge, three of the most popular and influential vaudeville performers at the turn of the twentieth century. Hajdu's history reveals how popular American entertainment as we know it first took form in vaudeville, and the ways these three artists challenged conceptions of race, gender, and what it meant to be an American during a pivotal time in the nation's history. Hajdu and the artist John Carey intertwine the stories of Williams, Eltinge, and Tanguay with sections that focus on subjects relating to their lives and careers, such as the histories of minstrelsy or gender-bending in American theater. The book tells how the West Indian Bert Williams found a balance in his act that at once played to and challenged ideas of Blackness in American life. Eva Tanguay, who was known as "The Queen of Vaudeville," embodied a fiercely radical challenge to the prevailing conceptions of female propriety. Julian Eltinge, to whom Tanguay was briefly "engaged," created a precise impersonation of the dainty, graceful proper woman, while maintaining an offstage persona of hypermasculinity. Hajdu and Carey conclude the book by examining how these artists influenced the acts and personas of later performers ranging from Elvis Presley to Prince to Nikki Minaj"-- Provided by publisher.

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