Overview

The Golden Age of American Musical Theatre: 1943-1965 provides synopses, cast and production credits, song titles, and other pertinent information for over 180 musicals from Oklahoma! to On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. Concentrating on a 22-year span, this book lists both commercial successes and flops of the Golden Age-when the musicals presented on Broadway showcased timeless, memorable tunes, sophisticated comedy, and the genius of creative artists like Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, George Abbott, Moss Hart, Angela Lansbury, Robert Preston, and many others. After an introduction and an overview of the history of Broadway, Naden offers a chronological timeline of the Golden Age musicals in America. She then presents details, in succeeding chapters, about the shows, the stars (on and off stage), the theatres, and the awards, beginning with an alphabetical listing of shows. Each show entry supplies the title, opening date, theatre, number of performances, primary cast and crew, and a plot synopsis, as well as other interesting data about the show, such as the awards won. Additional details about well-known actors, singers, composers, lyricists, directors, and choreographers of the period are provided, including birth and death dates, birth cities, born names, a brief biography, and award nominations and wins. Finishing with a bibliography and an index, this book is beneficial to anyone wanting to know more about one of the richest periods in Broadway history.

Full Product Details

9780810877337

Table of Contents

Reviews

Naden, known primarily for her children's books, here surveys the Golden Age of musical theater, but breaks no new ground. Following a short historical overview, the book catalogs 180 musicals of the period, with each entry listing opening night data, length of run, production credits, original cast and character names, plot synopses (one paragraph each), song lists, and Tony Awards and nominations, along with one-sentence comments. Most of this information can be gleaned from standard theater reference books and the Internet Broadway Database http: //www.ibdb.com/ (CH, Jul'06, 43-6440). Naden also includes single-paragraph biographies of Broadway notables, brief entries on Golden Age theaters and awards, and a list of songs and their associated musicals. For a quick guide to Golden Age information, Naden will do, but researchers must also refer to Gerald Bordman and Richard Norton's American Musical Theatre (4th ed., 2010), Thomas Hischak's Broadway Plays and Musicals (CH, Jun'10, 47-

Author Information

Corinne J. Naden is a former U.S. Navy journalist and an author and editor of more than 100 books, including Romeo and Juliet (2009), Political Campaigns (2008), Characters in Young Adult Literature (1997), and Health Care: A Right or a Privilege? (Controversy!) (2009).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available