- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (Jun 8 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0521680840
- ISBN-13: 978-0521680844
- Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 17.6 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 862 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #427,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"Superior to its predecessor in all respects, this volume should be acquired by those who own the first as well as by those who do not." --Choice
Book Description
Tracing the development of the musical on both Broadway and in London's West End, this updated Companion continues to provide a broad and thorough overview of one of the liveliest and most popular forms of musical performance. Ordered chronologically, essays cover from the American musical of the nineteenth century through to the most recent productions, and the book also includes key information on singers, audience, critical reception, and traditions. All of the chapters from the first edition remain - several in substantially updated forms - and five completely new chapters have been added, covering: ethnic musicals in the United States; the European musical; Broadway musicals in revival and on television; the most recent shows; and a case study of the creation of the popular show Wicked based on interviews with its creators. The Companion also includes an extensive bibliography and photographs from key productions.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
Most histories of American musical theatre give short shrift-at best-to the 'origin of the species', to use Edith Borroff's apt phrase. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Most histories of American musical theatre give short shrift-at best-to the 'origin of the species', to use Edith Borroff's apt phrase. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent introduction to a vast subject,
By
This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to the Musical (Paperback)
Although my shelves are loaded with histories of the Broadway musical, there is always room for one more. So I really looked forward to reading "The Cambridge Companion to The Musical" (Cambridge University Press, 2002). When I saw there were only 265 pages of text (not counting bibliography and index), I doubted that they could adequately cover the field. Soon I began to realize that the "field" included American and British musicals, film musicals and film versions of stage musicals, and even recordings; and I just settled down to enjoy what amounts to a series of essays covering all these fields, none of them adequately but all of them interestingly.There are fourteen chapters by various writers, organized into three parts. The first deals with "Adaptations and transformations before 1940" and includes essays on the early days of the American musical theatre in general, then in New York, operetta on both sides of the Atlantic, the Afro-American as depicted on stage, and the American musicals of the 1920s and 1930s. Part II covers the years from 1940 to 1970 and discusses the British theatre, Rodgers and Hammerstein, their successors, and Weill and Bernstein. Part III picks up the story with a disproportionately long chapter on Sondheim, the fully integrated musical, the film musical, rock, and the megamusical--which brings us into the present century with a lot of questions yet to be answered by way of projection. In short, there are plenty of ideas packed into this short book and each one can lead you in several directions if you wish to follow up this or that idea. There are one or two piddling errors, such as calling "Yip Yip Yaphank" an "all-sailor vaudeville"; but in general what is said here is trustworthy, the opinions (mostly positive) about certain works and composers are informed opinions, the organization is very good. The few pictures, however, are not very helpful. Yes, I would recommend this highly for those who want to begin to understand the complex evolution of the musical play by way of enough examples to form a solid basis before going on to books that deal with each of these topics in more detailed and expanded way.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent introduction to a vast subject,
By F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to the Musical (Paperback)
Although my shelves are loaded with histories of the Broadway musical, there is always room for one more. So I really looked forward to reading "The Cambridge Companion to The Musical" (Cambridge University Press, 2002). When I saw there were only 265 pages of text (not counting bibliography and index), I doubted that they could adequately cover the field. Soon I began to realize that the "field" included American and British musicals, film musicals and film versions of stage musicals, and even recordings; and I just settled down to enjoy what amounts to a series of essays covering all these fields, none of them adequately but all of them interestingly.There are fourteen chapters by various writers, organized into three parts. The first deals with "Adaptations and transformations before 1940" and includes essays on the early days of the American musical theatre in general, then in New York, operetta on both sides of the Atlantic, the Afro-American as depicted on stage, and the American musicals of the 1920s and 1930s. Part II covers the years from 1940 to 1970 and discusses the British theatre, Rodgers and Hammerstein, their successors, and Weill and Bernstein. Part III picks up the story with a disproportionately long chapter on Sondheim, the fully integrated musical, the film musical, rock, and the megamusical--which brings us into the present century with a lot of questions yet to be answered by way of projection. In short, there are plenty of ideas packed into this short book and each one can lead you in several directions if you wish to follow up this or that idea. There are one or two piddling errors, such as calling "Yip Yip Yaphank" an "all-sailor vaudeville"; but in general what is said here is trustworthy, the opinions (mostly positive) about certain works and composers are informed opinions, the organization is very good. The few pictures, however, are not very helpful. Yes, I would recommend this highly for those who want to begin to understand the complex evolution of the musical play by way of enough examples to form a solid basis before going on to books that deal with each of these topics in more detailed and expanded way. |
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theatre > Broadway & Musicals
- Books > Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres > Musicals
- Books > Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres > Popular
- Books > Entertainment > Music > Reference
- Books > Entertainment > Performing Arts > Theatre > Broadway & Musicals
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
