Brass Diva

The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman

Caryl Flinn

$57.95

Paperback

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English

California Uni Pr Trade
25 February 2009

Theatre Studies; Musicals; Individual composers & musicians, bands & groups; Biography: arts & entertainment

Broadway star Ethel Merman's voice was a mesmerizing force and her vitality was legendary, yet the popular perception of La Merm as the irrepressible wonder falls far short of all that she was and all that she meant to Americans over so many decades. This marvelously detailed biography is the first to tell the full story of how the stenographer from Queens, New York, became the queen of the Broadway musical in its golden age. Mining official and unofficial sources, including interviews with Merman's family and her personal scrapbooks, Caryl Flinn unearths new details of Merman's life and finds that behind the high-octane personality was a remarkably pragmatic woman who never lost sight of her roots.

Brass Diva takes us from Merman's working-class beginnings through the extraordinary career that was launched in 1930 when, playing a secondary role in a Gershwin Brothers' show, she became an overnight sensation singing ""I Got Rhythm."" From there, we follow Merman's hits on Broadway, her uneven successes in Hollywood, and her afterlife as a beloved camp icon. This definitive work on the phenomenon that was Ethel Merman is also the first to thoroughly explore her robust influence on American popular culture.

By: Caryl Flinn
Imprint: California Uni Pr Trade
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 33mm
Weight: 726g
ISBN: 9780520260221
ISBN 10: 0520260228
Pages: 560
Publication Date: 25 February 2009
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Caryl Flinn lives and works in Tucson, where she is a Professor at the University of Arizona. She is the author of The New German Cinema: Music, History and the Matter of Style (UC Press), Strains of Utopia, and Music and Cinema (co-edited with James Buhler and David Neumeyer).

Reviews for Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman

This well-written and psychologically astute portrait will satisfy musical theater fans and anyone who loves a snappy comeback. --The Advocate Masterfully analyzes Merman's work on stage, screen and TV with a sophisticated eye for detail that will delight theater buffs. --Publishers Weekly