Jews, Whiteness, and the Broadway Musical

Jewish Americans served as the  main creators behind  the growth of the Broadway  musical in the U.S., but  what does the Broadway  musical have to  say about issues of race, especially the racial identities of its Jewish creators? In this talk, we'll look at four musicals: Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Annie Get Your Gun, and  West Side Story to see how  the  musical art  form engaged with the concept of race in different time periods, looking particularly at the question of  white racial identity and the ways in which musicals themselves  helped Jews assimilate into the white mainst ream .

 

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

7:30 PM, Lehigh University, Roemmele Global Commons, Williams Hall, Building 31.
On  street parking or Zoellner  Arts Center.
Book signing to follow.

 

For more information contact: The Office of Interdisciplinary Programs, 610-758-3996 I incasip@lehigh.edu

 

Co-sponsors: American Studies Program and the Association for Jewish Studies Distinguished Lectureship Program