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OverviewFull Product DetailsAuthor: Ethan MorddenPublisher: Oxford University Press Inc Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc Dimensions: Width: 16.00cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 23.10cm Weight: 0.544kg ISBN: 9780195117103ISBN 10: 0195117107 Pages: 272 Publication Date: 28 January 1999 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: To order  Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us. Table of ContentsReviewsThe story of a pivotal 10 years in American musical theater, limned by one of its most skillful historians. The second volume in a decade-by-decade history of the Broadway musical by the prolific film historian and novelist Mordden (The Venice Adriana, 1998, etc.), this account makes an excellent companion to its immediate predecessor, Make Believe: The Broadway Musical in the 1920s (not reviewed). Given the general silliness of the '20s musical, especially when placed alongside the works of a decade dominated by Rodgers and Hammerstein and such other major voices as Bernstein, Loesser, and Sondheim, the juxtaposition may seem odd. Yet it's precisely because the music has traveled so far in so little time that Mordden's analysis in the new book compels and satisfies our craving. The 1950s represents the fourth decade of [the genre's] golden age, and also the last. As Mordden ruefully notes in his concluding chapter, rock music would arrive shortly to displace Broadway as the primary source of the common coin of American popular music. But until then, the Broadway musical enjoyed a glorious ascendancy, buoyed by the freedom hurled into the form by Rodgers and Hammerstein, whose pervasive influence runs through both the book and the decade. As a result, the '50s was a period when no one knew what the rules were any more and theatrical creators were able to experiment with darker materials, adapting such unlikely sources as Scan O'Casey (Juno) and Homer (The Golden Apple). The results weren't always sparkling, but Mordden grasps why the great ones worked and the lesser ones didn't. His analysis is always intelligent and well put, although the tone of Roses is a bit less flashy than his very best writing. A must for any fan or student of musical theater. (Kirkus Reviews) Author InformationEthan Mordden is a recognized authority on the American musical, and the author of Broadway Babies and Make Believe: The Broadway Musical in the 1920s, both published by Oxford. He lives in Manhattan. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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