Download When Broadway Was the Runway: Theater, Fashion, and American Culture AudioBook Free
Determined by Choice journal as an Outstanding Academic Name for 2009 When Broadway Was the Runway explores the central and generally unacknowledged role of commercial Broadway theater in the delivery of modern American fashion and consumer culture. Long before Hollywood's red carpet spectacles, Broadway theater introduced American women to the latest styles. At the start of the 20th century, theater impresarios captured the creativity of these largely female customers by transforming the level into a glorious site of consumer spectacle. Movie theater historian Marlis Schweitzer examines how these impresarios presented the dresses actresses wore onstage, as well as the rings and hair styles they selected, as commodities that were available in nearby shops and salons. The Merry Widow Head wear, made for the hit operetta of the same name, sparked an international craze, and the dancer Irene Castle became a fashion superstar when she predicted the flapper look of the 1920s by practically a decade. Not merely were the latest styles onstage, but advertisements made an appearance throughout theaters, in programs, and on the curtains, while periodicals such as Vogue vied for the protection under the law to create theatrical halloween costume sketches and Harper's Bazar enticed visitors with photography spreads of actresses in couture. This mixture of spectatorship and utilization was an essential step in the formation of a mass market for consumer goods and the surge of the cult of superstar. Through historical examination and a large number of early photographs and illustrations, Schweitzer is designed a spotlight at the cultural and monetary convergence of the theater and fashion establishments in america. The e book is printed by University of Pennsylvania Press.
