"No Legs, No Jokes, No Chance"

Author: Sheldon Patinkin

Publisher: Northwestern University Press

Published: 2008-05-20

Total Pages: 601

ISBN-13: 0810119943

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Traces the American musical from its rich beginnings in European opera. This book talks about the infancy of the musical - the revues, operettas, and early musical comedies, as well as the groundbreaking shows like "Oklahoma!" and "Show Boat", with references to how history, literature, fashion, popular music and movies influenced musical theater.

Musical Theater

Musical Theater PDF

Author: Alyson McLamore

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-09-16

Total Pages: 1058

ISBN-13: 1317346335

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For Surveys of Musical Theater, Music Appreciation courses and Popular Culture Surveys. This unique historical survey illustrates the interaction of multiple artistic and dramatic considerations with an overview of the development of numerous popular musical theater genres. This introduction provides more than a history of musical theater, it studies the music within the shows to provide an understanding of the contributions of musical theater composers as clearly as the artistry of musical theater lyricists and librettists. The familiarity of the musical helps students understand how music functions in a song and a show, while giving them the vocabulary to discuss their perceptions.

Underfoot In Show Business

Underfoot In Show Business PDF

Author: Helene Hanff

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2015-11-06

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 1786256185

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In her spirited, witty and vastly entertaining memoir, Helene Hanff recalls her ingenuous attempts to crash Broadway in the early forties as one of “the other 999.” Naive, nearsighted, frequently penniless but hopelessly stagestruck, she found her life governed by Flanagan’s Law: “No matter what happens to you, it’s unexpected.” Therefore, as a prize-winning Theatre Guild protégée with a brilliant future, Helene naturally found that all the producers who were going to produce her plays didn’t, and all the agents who were going to sell her plays couldn’t. Together with her best friend Maxine, an aspiring actress consigned to playing the comedy-ingénue in plays that regularly folded after five performances, she cultivated the “delicate, illegal art of getting everything for nothing”—from free seats to every Broadway show and neighborhood movie and borrowed outfits from Saks to voice lessons for Maxine and Greek lessons for Helene. To keep body and soul together until Broadway fame arrived, they devised an economic survival system that embraced such unlikely jobs as taking street-corner. Reviews — “Miss Hanff, having a good memory and a lively sense of humor, has composed a theater sketch that is realistic as well as hilarious....One of the most amusing recent theater books about the Broadway theater.”—Brooks Atkinson “A delightful book by an irrepressible author....What really lifts the book to a high level of entertainment is the sparkling humor. To describe the incidents wouldn’t do justice to the book’s charm which comes from the style of writing and Miss Hanff’s boundless optimism.”—Library Journal “A gay and entertaining book which also has substance.”—Boston Herald “Hilarious and highly successful. If you need cheering up, this is it. Here’s hoping Miss Hanff finds more failures to write books about.”—Columbus Dispatch

A Fine Romance

A Fine Romance PDF

Author: David Lehman

Publisher: Schocken

Published: 2009-10-06

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0805242716

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In A Fine Romance, David Lehman looks at the formation of the American songbook—the timeless numbers that became jazz standards, iconic love songs, and sound tracks to famous movies—and explores the extraordinary fact that this songbook was written almost exclusively by Jews. An acclaimed poet, editor, and cultural critic, David Lehman hears America singing—with a Yiddish accent. He guides us through America in the golden age of song, when “Embraceable You,” “White Christmas,” “Easter Parade,” “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” “My Romance,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “Stormy Weather,” and countless others became nothing less than the American sound track. The stories behind these songs, the shows from which many of them came, and the shows from which many of them came, and the composers and lyricists who wrote them give voice to a specifically American saga of love, longing, assimilation, and transformation. Lehman’s analytical skills, wit, and exuberance infuse this book with an energy and a tone like no other: at once sharply observant, personally searching, and attuned to the songs that all of us love. He helps us understand how natural it should be that Wizard of Oz composer Harold Arlen was the son of a cantor who incorporated “Over the Rainbow” into his Sabbath liturgy, and why Cole Porter—the rare non-Jew in this pantheon of musicians who wrote these classic songs shaped America even as America was shaping them. (Part of the Jewish Encounter series)

The Audience Book of Theater Quotations: 3rd Edition

The Audience Book of Theater Quotations: 3rd Edition PDF

Author: Louis Phillips

Publisher: World Audience Inc

Published: 2017-03-10

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1544029667

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Now in its 3nd edition, we've expanded this book's size by a third with more great quotes! The Audience Book of Theater Quotations is a lifelong labor of love by Professor Phillips. If you have anything to do with the theater, buy this book. "I've been fortunate to spend many an afternoon with author Louis Phillips, sharing his insightful appreciation of movies, plays and poetry. Luck has come your way! Here you have it: Theatre treasures from A to Z. You pick the time (lots or little) and let Louis be your tour guide into this wondrous chronicle. "The Audience Book of Theatre Quotations" commemorates recitals both malicious and hilarious. You won't be able to resist prolonged applause and a standing ovation!" --Richard D. Pepperman; Film editor, teacher, and author of The Eye is Quicker Film Editing: Making a Good Film Better; Setting Up Your Scenes: The Inner Workings of Great Films; Film School: How to Watch DVDs and Learn Everything About Filmmaking "There are so many great quotes, it is a fascinating read." --William E. Cooper, Reader Views "... this book will inspire the inner theatre lover in us all." --Vianna Renaud, TCM Reviews “You read through The Audience Book of Theatre Quotes and it's like taking a trip through theatre-time superimposed on your own personal life-in-the-theatre time. Quotes from the likes of Dorothy Parker, Laurence Olivier, David Mamet, Hume Cronyn, Robert Benchley, Ben Hecht, Basil Rathbone and hundreds of others, always intriguing, mostly funny, sometimes filled with almost scriptural vision/insight. A book to be read slowly, maybe a page a day, either when you first get up or before you go to bed, letting the wisdom/humor either seep through your whole day, or ease you through your dreams.” –-Hugh Fox, professor, author of numerous books, poet, critic, playwright

Broadway Musicals

Broadway Musicals PDF

Author: David H. Lewis

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2002-09-23

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 0786412690

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Musicals have been a major part of American theater for many years, and nowhere have they been more loved and celebrated than Broadway, the theater capital of the world. The music of such composers as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Berlin, the Gershwin brothers, Lerner and Loewe, Steven Sondheim, and Andrew Lloyd Webber continues to run through people's minds, and such productions as South Pacific, Cats, My Fair Lady, The Phantom of the Opera, Guys and Dolls, Rent, and West Side Story remain at the top of Broadway's most popular productions. This book is a survey of Broadway musicals all through the 20th century, from the Tin Pan Alley-driven comedy works of the early part of the century, to the integrated musical plays that flourished in the heyday years of midcentury, and to the rock era, concept musicals, and the arrival of British mega-musicals late in the century. It also profiles some of the theater world's leading composers, writers, and directors, considers some of the most unforgettable and forgettable shows, illustrates the elusive fragility of the libretto, explains the compensating nature of production elements, and examines representative shows from every decade. An extensive discography offers a brief critique of more than 300 show cast albums.

Haunted by Home

Haunted by Home PDF

Author: Phyllis Cole Braunlich

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2002-11-01

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9780806135106

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Phyllis Cole Braunlich sketches the life story of Lynn Riggs (18991954), the playwright best known as the author of Green Grow the Lilacs, the play that formed the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! Today Riggs is recognized as one of the twentieth century’s most innovative playwrights. Santa Fe, Hollywood, New York, and Chapel Hill: these were the cities that Lynn Riggs, “father of the folk play,” called home, along with eastern Oklahoma, the scene of his memorable re-creations of Oklahoma Territory before statehood. Riggs traveled widely to make his living and his fame, and along the way he earned the friendship of many avant-garde writers and successful theatre people of his time. This biography is also a chronicle of literary and café society on both coasts and in New Mexico during the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s.

Hammersteins

Hammersteins PDF

Author: Oscar Andrew Hammerstein

Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal

Published: 2013-08-09

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 1603763392

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The remarkable, unprecedented biography of the Hammersteins, Broadway's greatest and most influential family, as told by Oscar Andrew Hammerstein The Hammersteins is the story of one of Broadway's most creative and productive families. It is a story that begins in 1864 when Oscar Hammerstein I emigrates to America, establishes himself as a successful cigar merchant and turns his attention to the business of music and theaters. He builds many theaters including New York's most majestic opera house. He turns Times Square (then Longacre Square) into the theater capital of the world. His sons, Willie and Arthur carry on the tradition and nurture such talents as Will Rogers, W.C. Fields, Al Jolson, Houdini, and Charlie Chaplin. Willie's son Oscar II becomes the most successful lyricist of all time, writing the story and words to the Broadway shows Showboat, Oklahoma, South Pacific, Carousel, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. The accomplishments of this family are monumental. Their tale is enchanting. Written by Oscar "Andy" Hammerstein (Oscar II's grandson), TheHammersteins presents a multi-layered portrait of the Hammerstein legacy, complete with personal and professional highlights, as well as the scandals and tragedies. The book also draws heavily upon the family archives, presenting a rich collection of photographs, theatre blueprints, letters, programs, patents, and more, much of which has never been seen before. The Hammersteins is at once a deeply personal story of an American family living the American dream and a celebration of musical theater in this country.

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