Fine & Dandy: The Life and Work of Kay Swift

By Vicki Ohl

Book Overview

The first biography of a composer who broke the gender barrier on Broadway

Kay Swift (1897-1993) was one of the few women composers active on Broadway in the first half of the twentieth century. Best known as George Gershwin's assistant, musical adviser, and intimate friend, Swift was in fact an accomplished musician herself, a pianist and composer whose Fine and Dandy (1930) was the first complete Broadway musical written by a woman. This fascinating book--the first biography of Swift--discusses her music and her extraordinary life.

Vicki Ohl describes Swift's work for musical theater, the ballet, Radio City Music Hall's Rockettes, and commercial shows. She also tells how Swift served as director of light music for the 1939 World's Fair, eloped with a cowboy from the rodeo at the fair, and abandoned her native New York for Oregon, later fashioning her experiences into an autobiographical novel, Who Could Ask for Anything More? Informed by rich material, including Swift's unpublished memoirs and extensive interviews with her family members and friends, this book captures the essence and spirit of a remarkable woman.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300102615
• ISBN13: 9780300102611
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

A Full-Length Biography At Last

George Gershwin counted among his friends many gifted and remarkable people. Musical greats such as Berlin, Kern, Rodgers and Ravel inspired him and were inspired by him. One woman touched his life and contributed to his success, perhaps as no other could, giving no thought to whether she would ever receive the credit she deserved. Now, eleven years after her passing, she has.The life of Kay Swift is for the first time revealed in a wonderfully comprehensive biography. Vicki Ohl has drawn upon many sources, including Swift's unpublished memoirs. This is the story of a woman who in addition to being Gershwin's assistant, confidante, and lover was a woman of enormous achievement in her own right.Fine and Dandy introduces us to Kay Swift as no Gershwin biography ever has. She was a star pupil of the Institute of Musical Art (later renamed The Juilliard School), a versatile songwriter and composer, the first woman to write the entire score of a Broadway musical, and a woman whose pianistic skills, musical memory, and drive to reach new heights lasted well into her eighties and beyond.Ms. Ohl has taken care to acquaint us with Kay Swift's personal life, touching upon her adventures, her deep disappointments, tragic losses, her wit, humor, compassion, optimism, and determination to persevere.Fine and Dandy will be a lasting contribution to musical libraries and personal libraries everywhere. My indebtedness to Ms. Ohl's years of meticulous research is beyond expression.