2015/07/29 by Rosalind Kerr · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Theater, Performance, and Music History #Theatre and Performance Studies #Musicology and Musical Analysis #Monster #Opera #Art #Blueprint #Clothing #Visual arts #Aesthetics #Sociology #Art history #Media studies #Law #Political science
paper · doi:10.1179/0075163415z.000000000110
openalex publication_date 2015/07/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
This article borrows the title of Lady Gaga’s second album, The Fame Monster (2009), to look at the costs of being a celebrity, which she explores in her music videos and in her ‘first-ever pop electro opera’, The Monster Ball Tour (2009–11). Showing the extreme ways in which Lady Gaga mass-markets herself offers a striking blueprint of the mechanisms required to make a star today, and surprisingly sheds light on similar strategies employed by Isabella Andreini as the reigning prima donna of the Gelosi company (1576–1604). Although the commercial theatre was still establishing itself and marketing techniques were limited, Andreini’s celebrity was also tied to consciously promoting herself. Since celebrities have special that allow them to represent identity constructions in society, examining Andreini’s career trajectory using contemporary categories sharpens our understanding of her unique but elusive voice. Gaga’s and Andreini’s fame-making processes are compared as they: promote their authenticity, transcend conventional gender roles, support female empowerment, and transform their audiences.