On the Broadway stages of the nineteen eighties, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily
Tomlin, Eric Bogosian, and John Leguizamo brought performance art to the
mainstream audiences in the United States. Their work problematized the
idea of what it meant to be masculine in this tumultuous time. The shows
advanced social critiques to their audience while also meeting the
expectations of the popular marketplace by incorporating
(re)presentational aesthetics. By evaluating and reconceiving the
constructed nature of the self in and by means of performance, the
performances advance a model for masculinities, as everyday actors,
might (re-)conceive of and construct their lives, identities, and
relationships. Through a critical interpretation incorporating the
lenses of Robert Connell, Victor Seidler and Arthur W. Frank's sociology
of the body, I conceptualize gender, in light of the social signs and
codes, roles, and identities, that the performers' bodies represent.
This book contributes to the growing literature and discourses concerned
with representations of the male body and masculinities, particularly in
live performance. In particular, this study offers an analysis of
performance art monologues presented to the mainstream audiences that
tend to frequent Broadway shows and that focus on diverse masculinities.
