Arms and the girls: Tthe powerful weapon that is women writing women for the musical stage

Dorothy Fields was a Broadway lyricist and librettist, whose career spanned from the mid-1920s until her death in the mid-1970s. For much of the Golden Age of the American musical, Fields was one of the only women writing for the Broadway theatre. As such, her voice is distinct in many ways. The project of this article is to determine that voice and, in so doing, to establish her unique contribution to the canon of musical theatre. Illustrating Fields’ enigmatic voice is the primary intent of this article. A secondary purpose, to be addressed later, is examining the extent to which women today are following in her footsteps.