Connecting to and Persuading Audiences through Musical Theatre: Burkean Identification in 'Pins and Needles'

• In Event: U.S. American Civic Cultures and Ideals

Abstract

This paper examines Harold Rome’s hit 1937 musical "Pins and Needles" through the lens of Burkean identification. Through rhetorical analysis of "Pins and Needles’" music, I argue the musical creates identification between the union workers who performed it and the audience who watched it. I suggest that this is done through the expression of four common themes, two of which connect to Cheney’s (1983) ways that organizations create identification with their employees.

Author

• Valerie Schrader, Ohio University