Event Listing - Theater, Literary Arts, Gay
Sat Mar 8

Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman


Website

Location
Date and Time
San Francisco Main Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102 map
cross street: Grove St.
district: Civic Center

Sat Mar 8 (4pm - 5pm)

Description
Caryl Flinn, University of Arizona Professor of Women's Studies and author the new biography Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman will discuss her book. This marvelously detailed biography tells the full story of how the stenographer from Queens, New York, became the queen of the Broadway musical in its golden age.

Brass Diva takes us from Merman's working class beginnings through the extraordinary career that was launched in 1930 when, playing a secondary role in a Gershwin Brother's show, she became an overnight sensation singing "I Got Rhythm". From there, we follow Merman's hits on Broadway, her uneven success in Hollywood and her afterlife as a beloved camp icon. Release of this new biography coincides with the centennial of Merman's birth in January 2008.