The Pianist as Cultural Icon: Contributions from American Popular Theater

FAIN: FT-51825-03

Ivan Raykoff
Whitman College (Walla Walla, WA 99362-2067)

This proposal covers the final segment of research for my book project "Dreams of Love: Mythologies of the 'Romantic' Pianist in 20th-Century Popular Culture." This interdisciplinary project examines the concert pianist as an iconic figure within a larger system of cultural meanings, linking music to aspects of gender, desire, and social relationship. While I've already completed my research on films and literature, I have not yet determined the influence of American popular theater on such representations. The theater collection of the New York Public Library will be my primary venue for completing this research, which investigates specific Broadway productions influential because of their popular success and/or Hollywood adaptation.