This biography tells the story of Alice May, a touring prima donna in the nineteenth century who travelled from England to Australia, New Zealand, India and the US, taking part in pioneering performances of the popular light operas of the day.
This wide-ranging guide introduces (or reintroduces) readers to movie musicals past and present, enabling them to experience the development of this uniquely American art form-and discover films they'll love.
Fascinating, never-before-published interviews with Broadway's leading men offer behind-the-scenes looks at the careers of some of the most beloved perfomers today.
As he did in the acclaimed Finishing the Hat, Sondheim richly annotates his lyrics with personal and theatre history, discussions of his collaborations, and exacting, charming dissections of his work - both the successes and the failures.
She said, "e;I became a singer because I couldn't get work as an actress,"e; but Barbra Streisand not only became both but revolutionized the two professions.
In this textbook for performers, the position of a Swing-an Understudy for the Ensemble-on Broadway is examined from every angle, showing just how vital Swings are to the success of any musical theatre production.
In this ground-breaking study, Paul Laird examines the process and effect of orchestration in West Side Story and Gypsy, two musicals that were among the most significant Broadway shows of the 1950s, and remain important in the modern repertory.
With their lavish costumes and sets, ebullient song and dance numbers, and iconic movie stars, the musicals that mgm produced in the 1940s seem today to epitomize camp.
From patriotic "e;God Bless America"e; to wistful "e;White Christmas,"e; Irving Berlin's songs have long accompanied Americans as they fall in love, go to war, and come home for the holidays.
A composer and lyricist of enormous innovation and influence, Marc Blitzstein remains one of the most versatile and fascinating figures in the history of American music, his creative output running the gamut from films scores and Broadway operas to art songs and chamber pieces.
The transition from silent to synchronized sound film was one of the most dramatic transformations in cinema's history, as it radically changed the technology, practices, and aesthetics of filmmaking within a few short years.
The Oxford Handbook of Sondheim Studies offers a series of cutting-edge essays on the most important and compelling topics in the growing field of Sondheim Studies.
Meredith Willson marched into the hearts of American music lovers with productions such as the "The Music Man" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," and unforgettable show tunes like "76 Trombones.
Winner of Best Writer at The Stage Debut Awards 2023 'The men with the Piano look up the narrow staircase of our little flat and they turn to Dad, light their fags, and say; We might have to take the windows out .
Orchestration in Musical Theatre offers an analytic and critical overview of the practice, execution, and effects of orchestration in musical theatre since the time that rock music became significant in the genre.
Winner of Best Writer at The Stage Debut Awards 2023 'The men with the Piano look up the narrow staircase of our little flat and they turn to Dad, light their fags, and say; We might have to take the windows out .
Orchestration in Musical Theatre offers an analytic and critical overview of the practice, execution, and effects of orchestration in musical theatre since the time that rock music became significant in the genre.
Carousel (1945), with music by Richard Rodgers and the book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, was their second collaboration following the surprising success of Oklahoma!
Carousel (1945), with music by Richard Rodgers and the book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, was their second collaboration following the surprising success of Oklahoma!
This is the first book about the theatre career of Fred and Adele Astaire, detailing their years in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in London, their impact culturally, and the essence of their partnership on and off the stage.
In 1975, the Broadway musical Chicago brought together a host of memes and myths - the gleefully subversive character of American musical comedy, the reckless glamour of the big-city newspaper, the mad decade of the 1920s, the work of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon (two of the greatest talents in the musical's history), and the Wild West gangsterville that was the city of Chicago itself.
This is the first book about the theatre career of Fred and Adele Astaire, detailing their years in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in London, their impact culturally, and the essence of their partnership on and off the stage.
When films like The Jazz Singer started to integrate synchronized music, in the late 1920s many ambitious songwriting pioneers of the Great White Way - George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart, among many others - were enticed westward by Hollywood studios' promises of national exposure and top dollar success.
In 1975, the Broadway musical Chicago brought together a host of memes and myths - the gleefully subversive character of American musical comedy, the reckless glamour of the big-city newspaper, the mad decade of the 1920s, the work of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon (two of the greatest talents in the musical's history), and the Wild West gangsterville that was the city of Chicago itself.
When films like The Jazz Singer started to integrate synchronized music, in the late 1920s many ambitious songwriting pioneers of the Great White Way - George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart, among many others - were enticed westward by Hollywood studios' promises of national exposure and top dollar success.
Shortlisted for the Theatre Book Prize; former prime minister John Major takes a remarkable journey into his own unconventional family past to tell the richly colourful story of the British music hall.
While on a safari in Africa, the story's main character realizes that zebras have become invisible to their main adversary, the lion, through the benefit of an evolutionary process that has produced their striped-skin pattern which for the lions is indiscernible from the surrounding tall grasses and bushes.
