Paper Thoughts

I’ve been brainstorming some possible paper topics, and I’m not sure if this will be appropriate/possible, but this is my favorite idea thus far. My very dear friend/roommate visited an old mansion that once belonged to Alva Belmont, a member of the Vanderbilt family; the house has since been turned into a museum. Alva Belmont was quite a pioneer of the age, living from 1853-1933. She was an enormous advocate for women’s rights. So much in fact that she wrote a libretto for an operetta entitled Melinda and Her Sisters, which was presented in 1916.

I’m not sure if this an appropriate topic because it is slightly after the Victorian era and deals with the women’s suffrage movement from an American perspective rather than English. I’m also having trouble finding an actual score, but I have found, online, the lyrics and story of the libretto. The music was also written by a female composer, Elsa Maxwell who was from London.

As far as the paper is concerned, I’m not quite sure where my focus will be. I thought if I can’t find the score, I could potentially find reviews of how the work was received. My other thought was to focus on the libretto and how it reflects the culture of the times. I haven’t done enough research on this to know how possible it will be, but I’d like to try and contact the museum and see what sorts of resources and guidance they have, as well as search for biographies and possibly a diary. Until I know for sure what kinds of resources are out there, this idea is still rather up in the air, if it is even an acceptable paper/project topic.

I was hoping for the presentation portion of the project to find a score and potentially perform a portion of the work. I don’t believe there are any copy rights for the work so I’m not sure if that means it will be easier to find it or not. But I know that my friend Katherine would totally be up for performing a portion of this opera with me since she was the one who brought it to my attention in the first place.