Poster for Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall, 1961.
While our earliest divas were worshipped by adoring fans on stage, behind the scenes these performers were prevented from taking part in respectable society because they were seen as renegade and defiant. Despite these perceptions, early opera divas were enormously successful and used their wealth to gain independence unparalleled for women at the time.
While the opera prima donnas were the first to earn the diva moniker, Act I continues with an exploration of divas from the worlds of drama, dance, and film. These artistic outlets not only allowed female performers to find their voice in male-dominated industries, but their fame provided a platform for challenging social norms and advocating for causes they believe in.
In Victorian Drama Queens, we meet French actor Sarah Bernhardt who not only took on male theater roles, like Hamlet who she played in 1899, but also managed a theater that she named after herself until her death in 1923. One of the first modern performers to harness the cult of celebrity, Bernhardt created and defined her own image through costumes and artworks, including posters she commissioned by Czech Art Nouveau artist Alphones Mucha.
In Dancers and Showgirls, we dive into the story of American performer Josephine Baker who broke out of anonymity to become one of the world’s most famous showgirls. In the early twentieth century, dancers like Baker shed their constricting Victorian garments in favor of costumes that allowed more freedom of movement and self-expression.
As film became more popular and accessible to a wide audience, fans shared a closer connection to their divas. In From Stage to Screen, we see how this connection fueled a desire to know more about the divas and studios were all too happy to oblige their eager fans. Gossip magazines, interviews, and pin-ups gave intimate glimpses into the divas’ personal lives and increased box office sales. But their “personalities” were often manufactured by the studios themselves. Theda Bara, for example, was promoted variously as the daughter of an Arab sheikh or an Italian sculptor to play up her femme fatale persona, despite being born and raised in America.
In the final section of Act I we witness the birth of a new diva, one with supernova levels of star power. Hollywood Divas features beloved actresses from Hollywood’s Golden Age including Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland, among others. While divas of this era used their celebrity to advocate for women’s equality and visibility in the workplace, it also marks a shift in the way divas were perceived. The diva tag, once denoting divine worship, had now become code for trouble and another way to undermine the creative and artistic power of female performers. Yet, despite gaining the reputation of “difficult divas,” these women changed the cultural landscape through their art and advocacy.
Find your new favorite diva from our galaxy of stars this October at the Denver Art Museum.
