Download or read book The Century of Musical Comedy and Revue written by Harry Stone and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Revue and proper musical comedy have provided some of the longest runs in the West End theatre. Yet both were killed stone dead by television. And both have virtually been forgotten even by theatre historians. The reason is largely because both forms depended on comedians making spontaneous jokes so that few working scripts have survived. Also the musical numbers were simple jolly tunes with no pretentions to light opera. Altogether they were so transient they have escaped serious study. Nor for that matter have the two forms of theatre previously been considered in tandem. Yet authors, composers and stars were constantly crossing. Then revue and musical comedy have unsuspected similarity in construction, the chorus and the topical wit which played an essential part in the comedy. These two theatrical genres in parallel held sway on the West End stage for all the last century. This book covers that century in full and interesting detail.
Download or read book American Musical Revue written by Gerald Martin Bordman and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1985 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Revues--Broadway musicals where plot was unimportant or nonexistent and the emphasis was on comedy skits, specialty numbers, catchy songs, and chorus lines of beautiful girls--flourished for half a century, from the 1890s to about 1950. This affectionate history chronicles the development of the form, and recaptures the delights, now largely gone, that revues offered. "Will be enjoyable to both scholar and theater afficionado alike."--Library Journal Deals with a series of Broadway musicals where plot was unimportant or nonexistent and the emphasis was on comedy skits, specialty vocal and dance numbers, catchy songs, and often chorus lines of beautiful girls.
Download or read book American Musical Theatre written by Gerald Martin Bordman and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 1033 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hailed as "absolutely the best reference book on its subject" by Newsweek, American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle covers more than 250 years of musical theatre in the United States, from a 1735 South Carolina production of Flora, or Hob in the Well to The Addams Family in 2010. Authors Gerald Bordman and Richard Norton write an engaging narrative blending history, critical analysis, and lively description to illustrate the transformation of American musical theatre through such incarnations as the ballad opera, revue, Golden Age musical, rock musical, Disney musical, and, with 2010's American Idiot, even the punk musical. The Chronicle is arranged chronologically and is fully indexed according to names of shows, songs, and people involved, for easy searching and browsing. Chapters range from the "Prologue," which traces the origins of American musical theater to 1866, through several "intermissions" (for instance, "Broadway's Response to the Swing Era, 1937-1942") and up to "Act Seven," the theatre of the twenty-first century. This last chapter covers the dramatic changes in musical theatre since the last edition published-whereas Fosse, a choreography-heavy revue, won the 1999 Tony for Best Musical, the 2008 award went to In the Heights, which combines hip-hop, rap, meringue and salsa unlike any musical before it. Other groundbreaking and/or box-office-breaking shows covered for the first time include Avenue Q, The Producers, Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys, Monty Python's Spamalot, Wicked, Hairspray, Urinetown the Musical, and Spring Awakening. Discussion of these shows incorporates plot synopses, names of principal players, descriptions of scenery and costumes, and critical reactions. In addition, short biographies interspersed throughout the text colorfully depict the creative minds that shaped the most influential musicals. Collectively, these elements create the most comprehensive, authoritative history of musical theatre in this country and make this an essential resource for students, scholars, performers, dramaturges, and musical enthusiasts.
Download or read book A Century of Musicals in Black and White written by Bernard L. Peterson Jr. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1993-10-25 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive reference book provides succinct information on almost thirteen hundred musical stage works written and produced from the 1870s to the 1990s involving contributions by black librettists, lyricists, composers, musicians, producers, or performers or containing thematic materials relevant to the black experience. Organized alphabetically, they include tent and outdoor shows, vaudeville, operas and operettas, comedies, farces, spectacles, revues, cabaret and nightclub shows, children's musicals, skits, one-act musicals, one-person shows, and even a musical without songs. In addition to the hundreds of shows independently created, produced, and performed by black writers and theatrical artists, it presents hundreds more representing a collaboration of black and white talents. An appendix organizes the shows chronologically and highlights those that were most significant in the history of the black American musical stage. An extensive bibliography and indexes of names, songs, and subjects complete the work.
Download or read book Musical Comedy in America written by Cecil A. Smith and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-28 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1987. This is the second edition with an additional foreword. The purpose of this book—the first to recount the history of the popular musical stage on Broadway and its intersecting streets—is to tell what the various entertainments were like, how they looked and sounded, who was in them, and why they made people laugh or cry. The values employed in the book are changeable and inconsistent. Sometimes an affable smile is bestowed upon a musical comedy, burlesque, or revue that was really very bad. Sometimes a harsh verdict is brought in against an entertainment that received widespread approval and praise.
Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to the Musical written by William A. Everett and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-09-21 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An expanded and updated edition of this acclaimed, wide-ranging survey of musical theatre in New York, London, and elsewhere.
Download or read book On the Twentieth Century written by Betty Comden and published by Samuel French Trade. This book was released on 1980 with total page 101 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Simplified Revised Version Musical comedy Book and Lyrics by Adolph Green and Betty Comden Music by Cy Coleman Based on a play by Ben Hecht and Charles McArthur and also a play by Bruce Milholland 17 Principal roles, plus chorus (doubling possible) Whether performed with elaborate scenery or on a simple scale, this brilliantly comic musical appeals to audiences everywhere. As in the classic original, the story concerns the efforts of a flamboyant theatrical impresario Oscar Jaffe to persuade glamorous film star (and former amour) Lily Garland to appear in his next production while outwitting rival producers, creditors and religious nut Letitcia Primrose. And all this before the 20th Century Ltd. reaches NYC "Spectacular, funny and elegant...civilized wit and wild humor."-The New York Times "A perfect musical...A gorgeous show "-New York Post "A rare delight: a musical that tells a story and does so with delicious wit. A hilarious American sequel to My Fair Lady."-Hartford Courant
Download or read book The Musical written by William Everett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011-06-02 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The musical, whether on stage or screen, is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable musical genres, yet one of the most perplexing. What are its defining features? How does it negotiate multiple socio-cultural-economic spaces? Is it a popular tradition? Is it a commercial enterprise? Is it a sophisticated cultural product and signifier? This research guide includes more than 1,400 annotated entries related to the genre as it appears on stage and screen. It includes reference works, monographs, articles, anthologies, and websites related to the musical. Separate sections are devoted to sub-genres (such as operetta and megamusical), non-English language musical genres in the U.S., traditions outside the U.S., individual shows, creators, performers, and performance. The second edition reflects the notable increase in musical theater scholarship since 2000. In addition to printed materials, it includes multimedia and electronic resources.
Download or read book Changing Forms in Musical Comedy in the Twentieth Century written by Jack Harlan Yocum and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Musical Comedy in America written by Cecil A. Smith and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-28 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1987. This is the second edition with an additional foreword. The purpose of this book—the first to recount the history of the popular musical stage on Broadway and its intersecting streets—is to tell what the various entertainments were like, how they looked and sounded, who was in them, and why they made people laugh or cry. The values employed in the book are changeable and inconsistent. Sometimes an affable smile is bestowed upon a musical comedy, burlesque, or revue that was really very bad. Sometimes a harsh verdict is brought in against an entertainment that received widespread approval and praise.
Download or read book Musical Comedy in America written by Cecil Michener Smith and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1981 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1987. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Download or read book The American Musical written by Peter Riddle and published by Oakville, Ont. : Mosaic Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the origins of music theatre from its 18th century European roots through its transformation in 19th century America, and its relation to American popular forms of entertainment as the minstrel show, burlesque and the revue. The flowering of the true musical comedy is documented, as represented by the Princess Musical of Jerome Kern and P G Wodehouse, which then gave birth to the first enduring masterpieces of American music drama -- Kern and Hammerstein's 'Show Boat'. Includes section on Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the development of music theatre through the sixties and beyond.
Download or read book The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals written by Dan Dietz and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-07-15 with total page 663 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Broadway musicals of the 1900s saw the emergence of George M. Cohan and his quintessentially American musical comedies which featured contemporary American stories, ragtime-flavored songs, and a tongue-in-cheek approach to musical comedy conventions. But when the Austrian import The Merry Widow opened in 1907, waltz-driven operettas became all the rage. In The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals, Dan Dietz surveys every single book musical that opened during the decade. Each musical has its own entry which features the following: Plot summary Cast members Creative team Song lists Opening and closing dates Number of performances Critical commentary Film adaptations, recordings, and published scripts, when applicable Numerous appendixes include a chronology of book musicals by season; chronology of revues; chronology of revivals of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas; a selected discography; filmography; published scripts; Black musicals; long and short runs; and musicals based on comic strips. The most comprehensive reference work on Broadway musicals of the 1900s, this book is an invaluable and significant resource for all scholars, historians, and fans of Broadway musicals.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical written by Robert Gordon and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-11-21 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical provides a comprehensive academic survey of British musical theatre offering both a historical account of the musical's development from 1728 and a range of in-depth critical analyses of the unique forms and features of British musicals, which explore the aesthetic values and sociocultural meanings of a tradition that initially gave rise to the American musical and later challenged its modern pre-eminence. After a consideration of how John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) created a prototype for eighteenth-century ballad opera, the book focuses on the use of song in early nineteenth century theatre, followed by a sociocultural analysis of the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan; it then examines Edwardian and interwar musical comedies and revues as well as the impact of Rodgers and Hammerstein on the West End, before analysing the new forms of the postwar British musical from The Boy Friend (1953) to Oliver! (1960). One section of the book examines the contributions of key twentieth century figures including Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Joan Littlewood and producer Cameron Macintosh, while a number of essays discuss both mainstream and alternative musicals of the 1960s and 1970s and the influence of the pop industry on the creation of concept recordings such as Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) and Les Misérables (1980). There is a consideration of "jukebox" musicals such as Mamma Mia! (1999), while essays on overtly political shows such as Billy Elliot (2005) are complemented by those on experimental musicals like Jerry Springer: the Opera (2003) and London Road (2011) and on the burgeoning of Black and Asian British musicals in both the West End and subsidized venues. The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical demonstrates not only the unique qualities of British musical theatre but also the vitality and variety of British musicals today.
Download or read book The World of Musical Comedy written by Stanley Green and published by South Brunswick : A. S. Barnes. This book was released on 1974 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Acclaimed through three editions for its uniquely informative and entertaining style, this fourth edition of Stanley Green's World of Musical Comedy updates and enlarges the theatrical scope to includ"
Download or read book The Prom written by Saundra Mitchell and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-12-08 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the musical that inspired the Netflix film starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, Keegan-Michael Key, James Corden, Andrew Rannells, and Ariana DeBose! Emma Nolan and Alyssa Greene share the same goal: debut as a couple at their senior prom. Only a few things stand in their way—okay, maybe more than a few. For one, Alyssa hasn’t come out yet. It’s not that she doesn’t want to, but with a mother on the PTA who will stop at nothing to prevent same-sex couples from attending prom, it’s not a conversation she’s eager to have—with good reason. Before long, Mrs. Greene has the entire town backing her up, and it’s starting to look as though Emma and Alyssa won’t get their happily-ever-after. Then, out of the blue, two Broadway stars arrive on the scene to fight on the girls’ behalf (and get a little publicity along the way). But when their good intentions fall flat, it’s up to Emma and Alyssa to take matters into their own hands and show their small Indiana town—and the world—that love is love is love. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Based on the musical that inspired the Netflix film starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, Keegan-Michael Key, James Corden, Andrew Rannells, and Ariana DeBose! Emma Nolan and Alyssa Greene share the same goal: debut as a couple at their senior prom. Only a few things stand in their way—okay, maybe more than a few. For one, Alyssa hasn’t come out yet. It’s not that she doesn’t want to, but with a mother on the PTA who will stop at nothing to prevent same-sex couples from attending prom, it’s not a conversation she’s eager to have—with good reason. Before long, Mrs. Greene has the entire town backing her up, and it’s starting to look as though Emma and Alyssa won’t get their happily-ever-after. Then, out of the blue, two Broadway stars arrive on the scene to fight on the girls’ behalf (and get a little publicity along the way). But when their good intentions fall flat, it’s up to Emma and Alyssa to take matters into their own hands and show their small Indiana town—and the world—that love is love is love.
Download or read book The Billboard written by and published by . This book was released on 1928 with total page 1010 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
