Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America - by Sarah Schulman
Schulman, a lesbian activist and 1997 winner of the Stonewall Award, joined ACT UP in 1987. Shortly thereafter, she completed her fourth novel, People in Trouble (NAL Dutton, 1991), which featured a group of East Village artists struggling with homelessness and AIDS and was based on her personal experiences. After attending a performance of Rent in February 1996 and writing a review of it, Schulman realized that the storyline of this mega-hit was, in fact, taken directly from her novel. Stagestruck is an engrossing narrative of Schulman's mainly futile struggle to gain recognition and legal restitution for the use of her material, but more than that is an expose of how mainstream theater has twisted gay and lesbian culture and themes such as AIDS to make it more palatable to mass audiences. Schulman also provides a look at some off-Broadway plays and performance pieces by gay and lesbian artists that give a much more authentic depiction of gay life and issues. As the struggle continues for gays and lesbians to gain acceptance and to see themselves portrayed accurately in literature and drama, Schulman clearly comes out a winner with Stagestruck. Highly recommended. [For another facet of Schulman's talent, see a review of her most recent novel on p. 134.?Ed.]?Howard E. Miller, M.L.S., St. Loui.
