Keywords
Theatre, Music, Musical Theatre, Women's Studies, Middle-Aged Female Characters, "Baby", Socio-Economic Influences, Types/Stereotypes, Arlene MacNalley, Aunt Eller, Dolly Levi
Abstract
Not Quite the Ingenue: The Development of the Middle-Aged Female Character in Musical Theatre is an exploration of the influences which have defined the function of middle-aged female characters within the musical theatre genre. This author was cast in the role of Arlene MacNalley, a forty-three year old woman, in the University of Central Florida's fall 2006 production of the musical Baby. Preparation for performance of this thesis role required identification of the traits and factors which would be vital for a realistic and relevant portrayal of Arlene. This document provides the reader with a working definition of middle age. It also furnishes a sampling of types, or stereotypes, of middle age female characters in musicals. The major thrust of the document emphasizes researching and understanding the importance of key socio-economic events' influence on the creation, direction, or depiction of middle-aged female characters. Three distinct characters are used to develop this theory, Aunt Eller in Oklahoma!, Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! and Arlene MacNalley in Baby. Further analysis within the thesis details essential differences between the original version of Arlene and the updated 2006 version of Arlene portrayed in the University of Central Florida's production of Baby. Conclusions drawn from the research, performance and writing processes indicate an increasing significance for the middle age female character as the genre of musical theatre continues to develop.
Notes
If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu
Graduation Date
2007
Semester
Summer
Advisor
Chicurel, Steven
Degree
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)
College
College of Arts and Humanities
Department
Theatre
Degree Program
Theatre
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0001714
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0001714
Language
English
Release Date
July 2008
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Masters Thesis (Open Access)
STARS Citation
Snyder, Tara, "Not Quite The Ingenue: The Development Of The Middle-aged Female Character In Musical Theatre" (2007). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3360.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/3360