Dorothy Fields, An ‘Unsung Hero’ Of The Great American Songbook
The creation of The Great American Songbook reads like a boys’ club: Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter. But there’s one woman you’ll always see on the lists as part of this “club” is lyricist and librettist Dorothy Fields.
Between 1928 and 1973, Fields wrote some 400 songs including “The Way You Look Tonight” and “Big Spender.” As a librettist, she wrote the book for musicals like “Annie Get Your Gun.” So why is she not a household name like many of the greats she worked with? According to “City Lights” contributor Adam Koplan, her relative obscurity is not surprising:
“In some ways, sexism has been hard-baked into American theatre from its very beginnings.”
Adam Koplan and “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes took a step in remedying the notoriety of Dorothy Fields in a segment exploring her life, career and most famous books and lyrics.
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