Gresham College:
The LGBT+ Showstopper: ‘I Am What I Am’

Composed by Jerry Herman of Hello, Dolly! fame, ‘I Am What I Am’ first appeared in the Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles (1983).

As well as gaining importance as a gay anthem during the AIDS crisis, the song has gone on to become a hit for several Black divas including Gloria Gaynor and Shirley Bassey.

This lecture will be given by Professor Dominic Broomfield-McHugh, Gresham* Visiting Professor of Film and Theatre Music.

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh is Gresham Visiting Professor of Film and Theatre Music. He is also Professor of Music at the University of Sheffield and is a graduate of King’s College London.

His scholarship focuses on the American musical on stage and screen, and he has published eight books including Loverly: The Life and Times of ‘My Fair Lady’ (OUP, 2012), The Letters of Cole Porter (Yale, 2019) and The Oxford Handbook of the Hollywood Musical (2022).

*Each year, Gresham College provides over one hundred free, academic lectures, across the Arts & Sciences, given by international experts and leading academics. Find out more.

Age Recommendation:

16+

Price:

Free

Access Information

Due to the age and Grade II listing of the building, there is no lift access to rooms above the ground floor.

All the ground-floor rooms are fully accessible by wheelchair. Main Hall (street access, step-free), Brockway Room (street access, step-free), Bertrand Russell Room (street access, shallow ramp), Hive Cafe (street access, step-free). There is also an accessible toilet on the ground floor opposite the Brockway Room.