iGreasepaint Puritani details the life and work of Bradford Ropes, author of the bawdy 1932 novel i42nd Streeti, on which the classic film and its stage adaptation are based. Each of Ropes's long-forgotten novels was inspired by his own experiences as a performer, and focused on the lives of gay men in show business, offering rare glimpses into backstage Broadway. But why did Ropes's body of work, and consequently his biographical footsteps, disappear into such obscurity piGreasepaint Puritani aims to find out and reclaim his story. Descended from Mayflower Pilgrims, Ropes rebelled against the Proper Bostonian life, in a career that touched upon the Jazz Age, American vaudeville, and theater censorship. We follow Ropes's successful career as both a performer and the author of the trilogy of backstage novels i42nd Streeti, iStage Motheri, and iGo Into Your Dancei. Populated by scheming stage mothers, precocious stage children, grandiose bit players, and tart-tongued chorines, these nove