Gays on Broadway - Book by Ethan Mordden

For those who are interested, Chapter 4 and 5 of Ryan Donovan's Broadway Bodies (also Oxford University Press) complement this nicely

MrsSallyAdams said: "I just finishedGays on Broadway,Ethan Mordden's latest book. Each chapter is devoted to the LGBQ themed plays of a particular decade. He maintains the gossipy, opinionated pleasures of his musical theater history books. I missed some of the great hits. I'd have loved to have heard his thoughts onTake Me OutorA Strange Loop.But I also enjoyed learning about the plays of Mae West and forgotten artists like Julian Eltinge and Eva Le Gallienne. I love how it dives into different decades of LGBTQ plays, and I'd also be interested in learning more about Mae West's plays. Speaking of reading, I recently had to write an essay for this book in college and found some interesting tools. I was looking for a good resource and at EduBirdie they answered quite quickly and helped me a lot. This made the process much easier. But back to the book: Take Me Out and A Strange Loop are such big deals, it's a wonder they haven't been mentioned. I'd love to hear Morden's thoughts on them too!

Has anyone else here read this?

New Book GAYS ON BROADWAY By Ethan Mordden Out Now (broadwayworld.com)"

Just started it! Love how it highlights forgotten LGBTQ+ artists like Eltinge. Really insightful so far!

Updated On: 10/14/24 at 10:34 AM

joevitus said: "To say I'm over Ethan Mordden is putting it mildly. I did skim through this one in B&N some time back, and didn't find itinteresting enough to pursue further."

His books have been disappointing for a while now--going at least as far back to his slim Opinionated Guide on Sondheim. I know he offers that caveat--and a handful of interesting thoughts (a nice defence of Do I Hear a Waltz?, some good comparisons of Passion between it, the original novel and the film) but for the most part it was lacking, and filled with errors, like it had been tossed out over drinks on the beach (the Into the Woods chapter amounted to basically "Well it's good, isn't it?)

After that I gave his history of Chicago book a try, but for a book devoted to the history of the musical the fact that he didn't discuss any of the out of town cut songs, the back and forth between the cakewalk sung Me and My Baby and the danced Strut (Strut replaced Baby out of town, then was back in briefly for Liza, then out, but back in for the revival) etc... it just all seemed like a missed opportunity.

So I wondered if there was actually any fresh insight here