| Contents |
Overture. Introduction: setting the stage -- Act I: Before Rodgers and Hammerstein. Show Boat: in the beginning -- Anything Goes: Songs ten, book three -- Porgy and Bess: Broadway opera -- On Your Toes and Pal Joey: Dance gets into the act and "Sweet water from a foul well" -- The Cradle Will Rock: a labor musical for art's sake -- Lady in the Dark and One Touch of Venus: the Broadway stranger and his American dreams -- Act II: The Broadway musical after Oklahoma! -- Carousel: the invasion of the integrated musical -- Kiss me, Kate: the taming of Cole Porter -- Guys and Dolls and The Most Happy Fella: the greater Loesser -- My Fair Lady: from Pygmalion to Cinderella -- West Side Story: the very model of a major musical -- Happily ever after West Side Story with Sondheim -- Synopses -- |
| Contents |
Appendix A. Sources, published librettos, and vocal scores ; B. Long runs 1920s-1980s ; C. The forty longest-running book musicals on Broadway ; D. Show Boat. Broadway 1927 ; Principal changes in selected stage productions and films (1928-1994) ; Manuscript sources for Ravenal's entrance and meeting with Magnolia ; E. Anything Goes. Broadway 1934 ; Off-Broadway revival 1962 ; Lincoln Center revival 1987 ; F. Porgy and Bess. Songs, arias, and themes ; G. On Your Toes. Broadway 1936 and Broadway revival 1983 ; Pal Joey. Broadway 1940 and Broadway revival 1952 ; I. The Cradle Will Rock. Broadway 1937 ; J. Lady in the Dark. Broadway 1941 ; K. One Touch of Venus. Broadway 1943 ; L. Carousel. Broadway 1945 ; M. Kiss Me, Kate. Broadway 1948. Spewack libretto draft (May 28, 1948) ; N. Guys and Dolls. Broadway 1950 ; O. The Most Happy Fella. Broadway 1956 ; P. My Fair Lady. Broadway 1956 ; Q. West Side Story. Broadway 1957. Libretto drafts 1 (January 1956) and 2 (Spring 1956) ; R. Follies. Broadway 1971 and London revival 1987. |
| Abstract |
The classic musicals of Broadway can provide us with truly enchanted evenings. But while many of us can hum the music and even recount the plot from memory, we are often much less knowledgeable about how these great shows were put together. This book offers theatre lovers an illuminating behind-the-scenes tour of some of the best loved, most admired, and most enduring musicals of Broadways Golden Era. He provides a documentary history of fourteen musicals in all showing how each work took shape and revealing, at the same time, production by production, how the American musical evolved from the 1920s to the early 1960s, and beyond. The book's particular focus is on the music, offering a wealth of detail about how librettist, lyricist, composer, and director work together to shape the piece. Drawing on manuscript material such as musical sketches, autograph manuscripts, pre-production librettos and lyric drafts, Block blends this close attention to the nuances of musical composition and stagecraft with social commentary and backstage anecdotes. Opening night reviews and accounts of critical and popular response to subsequent revivals show how particular musicals have adapted to changing times and changing audiences, shedding light on why many of these innovative shows are still performed in high schools, colleges, and community theaters across the country, while others, languish in comparative obscurity. Includes a complete discography and plot synopses and song-by-song scenic outlines for each of the fourteen shows. |
| Bibliography note | Discography: pages 303-310. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 393-399) and index. |
| LCCN | 96053477 |
| ISBN | 0195107918 (acid-free paper) |
