WHY MERMAN MATTERS

A brief introduction by Klea Blackhurst

Until recently, whenever I was asked the proverbial “who influenced you most as a singer,” I could never arrive at an elemental response. The question always caught me by surprise, so I’d furrow my brow and start to name singers I truly enjoy and deeply respect: Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney, Freddie Mercury, Donny Osmond. But as the opportunities for this question began increasing, I knew I needed to define what felt indefinable. I was ready to pinpoint who was instrumental in actually forming my view of a song; my love of certain sounds. “Why doesn’t the answer just pop into my head? Why don’t I know this,” I thought. Then it came to me. I realized I couldn’t point to the singer because it wasn’t the singer - it was the song.

The Ethel Merman Playbill Project

This series takes a look at American Musical Theatre history through the lens of Ethel Merman’s Playbill Biographies. From 1930 in Girl Crazy to 1970’s Hello, Dolly!, it’s a breezy and fun look at what we were buying and wearing, where we were dancing and dining - not to mention the growing credits of a young typist from Astoria, as she becomes the First Lady of the American Musical.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MERMAN'S CAREER BY CLICKING ONE OF THE DECADES BELOW