Changed for Good: A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical

This is essential reading for anyone interested in musical theatre, popular culture, and feminist and queer studies. Stacy Wolf combines a theatre critic's eye with a musicologist's ear to create a book that is at once insightful, provocative, and marvelously entertaining.There is much to appreciate in this book, beginning with the fresh lens through which Wolf examines familiar and less familiar works of the American musical. The first five chapters explore notable musicals, applying a feminist reading while situating and scrutinizing the musicals within their historical context. There are fascinating connections accompanied by exceedingly smart (and accessible) analysis throughout, and one can almost hear Adelaide of Guys and Dolls, Anita of West Side Story, Charity Hope Valentine of Sweet Charity, and Cassie of A Chorus Line joining together to make a new and beautiful music. Most importantly, these chapters create a compelling case for the importance of the American musical as an essential component in theatre history and cultural studies.The final two chapters focus almost entirely on Wicked. Even non-fans of the musical will leave with a deeper understanding of the show's impact in the first decade of the 21st Century. In particular, Wolf offers an ethnography of Wicked fansites and online chat boards, and she forcefully shows the effects of the Internet global media on musical marketing and consumption.On a personal note, this book made me nostalgic for my own discovery of My Fair Lady, a cast recording my parents had long since stopped playing, and the blissful, yet solitary hours I spent listening to the record on our old HiFi. I can only imagine the pleasure of knowing that there were kids as passionate as I about Broadway shows (even if I didn't actually see one until I was well past puberty) and how this online community might share our musical theatre fantasies. I can only guess that I, too, would have been changed for good.James F. Wilson

Though I really enjoyed this book, I, too, was disturbed by the errors - not just in spelling but in facts as well. For instance, the book states that none of the performers from "Les Miserables" or "Phantom Of The Opera" were nominated for Tony Awards to support its argument that actors in "megamusicals" are basically interchangeable. However, a simple search on Wikipedia would have revealed that not only were performers from these shows nominated for Tony Awards, but four of these performers (Francess Rufelle and Michael Maguire from "Les Ms" and Michael Crawford and Judy Kaye from "Phantom") actually won Tony's for their performances. For a book so carefully researched, how did such blatant errors make it to publication? Either shoddy copyediting is to blame, or the author is so eager to prove her arguments she ignores facts. She makes another mistake when she states that Oprah Winfrey won the Oscar for her performance in "The Color Purple." This is also wrong but not nearly as egregious since she doesn't use the incorrect information to support one of her questionable arguments. However, even with its factual errors, this book is still an enjoyable read.

I am currently working on an MFA in Choreography and utilized this book as my chosen reading for a Body Politics course. I found the content provided compelling cases for thought, and a great overview of the history of feminism in the Broadway Musical. I will say, while she chooses great musicals to use as her case examples for each chapter....there are many others left out that may present a differing conclusion. Overall, I would recommend this book and found it to be helpful in my course of study.

This was a textbook for my freshman seminar. It was alright, definitely interesting, but at some point around the introduction they make the argument that Glinda and Elphaba from Wicked are secretly lesbians. While I am a lesbian, I think this is false, and was very annoyed that I had to read it.

Reading this book helped me see the familiar with fresh eyes. Each decade of musical theater mirrors its times with or without that intention, and the role of women has changed dramatically over these last several years. WICKED seems a kind of capstone to that and was my reason for getting the book. It did not disappoint

I bought this book for my mom, but I didn't realize it has no pictures. I'm not looking for a picture book per se, but I think the analysis is a bit lost without visuals. Also, the writing is so dense that it's kind of hard to read. The writing is rather thesis-y.

This book puts up a lot of different glances and angles of the shows. Although difficult to read at points, it really makes you think.

This is a highly informative and authoritative brilliantly written history of women on Broadway. The best text I have found.

A really interesting read

Helped me with my dissertation. Really good source