Inquiry: David Savran: Highbrow/Lowdown: Theatre, Jazz and the Making of a New Middle Class.

In the America of the 1920s, a culture war raged about which arts were “highbrow” and which were “lowbrow”. The new “lively arts” of cinema, radio, comics, vaudeville and most of all jazz, were considered by many conservative critics as entertainments for the lower class masses, mechanically created and not worthy of consideration by high minded culture elites. Art critics like George Jean Nathan looked to the “legitimate” theatre and Eugene O’Neill to save American culture from those jungle rhythms. What actually happened was something the culture snobs never expected. Tonight on Inquiry, we speak with DAVID SAVRAN, Distinguished Professor of Theatre and Vera Roberts Chair in American Theatre CUNY Graduate Center. His new book HIGHBROW/LOWDOWN: THEATRE, JAZZ AND THE MAKING OF A NEW MIDDLE CLASS is an insightful analysis of race, class and culture in the Roaring 20s.