From films ranging from An American in Paris and Flying Down to Rio to such Broadway landmarks as Oklahoma and West Side Story and television hits such as Cinderella and High School Musical, the American musical has thrilled audiences around the world. Now, in The Oxford Companion to theAmerican Musical, readers have at last an engaging and authoritative reference to this highly popular genre--the only such book to cover stage, film, and television musicals in one volume. With more than two thousand entries, this book offers a wealth of information on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers, and much more. There are biographical entries on stars ranging from Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby to Mary Martin and Mae West as well as suchcontemporary show-stoppers as Nathan Lane, Savion Glover, and Kristin Chenowith; on composers ranging from Irving Berlin and George Gershwin to Richard Rodgers and Andrew Lloyd Webber; and on choreographers such as Bob Fosse, Tommy Tune, and Debbie Allen. The plays and films covered range frommodern hits such as Mamma Mia! and Moulin Rouge to timeless classics such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and Show Boat. Also, many musicals written specifically for television are included, and many entries follow a work (such as Babes in Toyland) as it moves across genres, from stage, to film, totelevision. The Companion also includes cross references, a comprehensive listing of recommended recordings, and a useful chronological listing of all the musicals described in the book. Whether you are curious about Singin in the Rain or Spamalot, The Wizard of Oz or Grease, this well-researched and entertaining resource is the first place to turn for reliable information on virtually every aspect of the American musical. "Enjoy as I did this wonderful book as you discover the place of the musical in history and its gift for the future." --Jonathan Pryce, Tony award-winning actor "How wonderful it is to have the entire history of the American musical theater, both on stage and on film, now available in one handy volume. Amazingly comprehensive and thoroughly researched, The Oxford Companion to the American Musical is a must for any theater professional or any theater fan." --Stephen Flaherty, Tony and Drama Desk award-winning composer "Everything you ever wanted to know about the American musical--at your fingertips. What could be better, or more useful?" --Marvin Hamlisch "Kudos to Thomas Hischak for The Oxford Companion to the American Musical. Resources such as these are extremely important, not only as historic and academic records, but for future generations of artists who need to understand the legacy they have inherited." --Carol Channing

The Broadway musical has greatly influenced both American and world culture. Shows such as Oklahoma and Annie Get Your Gun are as American as apple pie, while the long runs of imports such as Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Mis rables have broken records. Shows filled with rock and pop music such as Mamma Mia and Wicked enthrall audiences, and revivals of beloved shows play an important role in contemporary Broadway culture. Actors Ethel Merman, Yul Brynner, Julie Andrews, Bernadette Peters, and Audra McDonald; composers and lyricists Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Jeanine Tesori; and directors and choreographers George Abbott, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Tommy Tune, and Susan Stroman--to name only a few--have gained national and international recognition by way of the Broadway musical stage. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Broadway Musical contains a chronology, an introduction, an appendix, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on Broadway shows, composers, playwrights, directors, producers, designers, actors, and theatres. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Broadway musicals.

From legends like Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller to successful present-day playwrights like Neil LaBute, Tony Kushner, and David Mamet, some of the most important names in the history of theater are from the past 80 years. Contemporary American theater has produced some of the most memorable, beloved, and important plays in history, including Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire, Barefoot in the Park, Our Town, The Crucible, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Odd Couple. Historical Dictionary of Contemporary American Theater presents the plays and personages, movements and institutions, and cultural developments of the American stage from 1930 to 2010, a period of vast and almost continuous change. It covers the ever-changing history of the American theater with emphasis on major movements, persons, plays, and events. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 1,500 cross-referenced dictionary entries. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the history of American theater.

Hours of lost sleep with a tune running around one's head--and that voice. Whose is it, and from which Broadway production? Debates over a performer's repertoire devolving into acid arguments, blows traded, friendships torn asunder. Must the maddening question of exactly who sang just what continue? It cannot--and thanks to this book, it shall not. This massive compendium lists alphabetically every performer who sang on Broadway in the role of a named character, earning mention in the program of a musical or revue. Covering the period of 1866 to 1996, it is an invaluable guide to performances by the well known and the obscure, the career stage performers as well as the one-timers whose names never again graced a playbill. Performers' entries include date and place of birth, date of death, marital status, names of performing relatives or partners appearing in the book, and brief career highlights. Details of specific performances follow: the musical, the venue or venues at which it played, the character and the dates of portrayal, the title of the songs performed, the lyricists and composers of each song and more. Indexes, one of show and song titles, the other of composers and lyricists, allow for easy cross-referencing. A select bibliography is included.

(Applause Books). This updated edition of one of the best-selling and comprehensive Broadway reference books, first published in 1985, has been expanded to include many of the most important and memorable productions of the American musical theater, including revivals. Chronologically arranged beginning with The Black Crook in 1866, the seventh edition adds new entries and photos on numerous musicals from recent years, including American Idiot , Billy Elliot: The Musical , Hair (revival), Memphis , Next to Normal , Rock of Ages , The Addams Family , West Side Story (revival), and Fela! Broadway Musicals, Show by Show features a wealth of statistics and inside information, plus critical reception, cast lists, pithy commentary about each show, and numerous detailed indexes that no Broadway fan will want to be without.

Gerald Bordman's American Musical Theatre has become a landmark book since its original publication in 1978. In this third edition, he offers authoritative summaries on the general artistic trends and developments for each season on musical comedy, operetta, revues, and the one-man andone-woman shows from the first musical to the 1999/2000 season. With detailed show, song, and people indexes, Bordman provides a running commentary and assessment as well as providing the basic facts about each production.

The American musical is a paradox. On stage or screen, musicals at once hold a dominant and a contested place in the worlds of entertainment, art, and scholarship. Born from a melange of performance forms that included opera and operetta, vaudeville and burlesque, minstrelsy and jazz, musicalshave always sought to amuse more than instruct, and to make money more than make political change. In spite of their unapologetic commercialism, though, musicals have achieved supreme artistry and have influenced culture as much as if not more than any other art form in America, includingavant-garde and high art on the one hand, and the full range of popular and commercial art on the other. Reflecting, refracting, and shaping U.S. culture since the early twentieth century, musicals converse with shifting dynamics of gender and sexuality, ethnicity and race, and the very question ofwhat it means to be American and to be human. The chapters gathered in this book, Volume I of the reissued Oxford Handbook, explore the American musical from both the outside and the inside. This first volume concentrates in particular on large-scale, more philosophical issues of relevance to the genre, considering issues of historicalsituations and formal procedure as they bear on the narratives we make concerning productions and performers, artists and audiences, commerce and context. The first four essays discuss ways of defining histories and texts, and apprehending the formal choices of singers and dancers; the second groupof four take up the subtle challenges of the genre's signal transformations out of minstrelsy and Tin Pan Alley to "integration" and beyond.

Published in 1980, Blacks in Blackface was the first and most extensive book up to that time to deal exclusively with every aspect of all-African American musical comedies performed on the stage between 1900 and 1940. An invaluable resource for scholars and historians focused on African American culture, this new edition features significantly revised, expanded, and new material. In Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows, Henry T. Sampson provides an unprecedented wealth of information on legitimate musical comedies, including show synopses, casts, songs, and production credits. Sampson also recounts the struggles of African American performers and producers to overcome the racial prejudice of white show owners, music publishers, theatre managers, and booking agents to achieve adequate financial compensation for their talents and managerial expertise. Black producers and artists competed with white managers who were producing all-Black shows and also with some white entertainers who were performing Black-developed music and dances, often in blackface. The chapters in this volume include: -An overview of African American musical shows from the end of the Civil War through the golden years of the 1920s and '30s -New and expanded biographical sketches of performers -Detailed information about the first producers and owners of Black minstrel and musical comedy shows -Origins and backgrounds of several famous Black theatres -Profiles of African American entrepreneurs and businessmen who provided financial resources to build and own many of the Black theatres where these shows were performed -A chronicle of booking agencies and organized Black theatrical circuits, music publishing houses, and phonograph recording businesses -Critical commentary from African American newspapers and show business publications -More than 500 hundred rare photographs A comprehensive volume that covers all aspects of Black musical shows performed in theatres, nightclubs, circuses, and medicine shows, this edition of Blacks in Blackface can be used as a reference for serious scholars and researchers of Black show business in the United States before 1940. More than double the size of the previous edition, this useful resource will also appeal to the casual reader who is interested in learning more about early Black entertainment.

With an introductory chapter discussing the very earliest productions--The Beggar's Opera (1750), The Archers (1796), Tom and Jerry (1823), and The Bohemian Girl (1844)--A Chronology of American Musical Theater offers in-depth coverage of Broadway musicals from 1850-2001. The book's entries span more than 5,000 shows, including not only "book musicals" but also revivals, revues, burlesques, operettas, farce comedies, comic operas, ice skating shows, rock operas, and other musical spectacles that appeared on Broadway stages. Drawing on primary documents--playbills, newspaper reviews, advertisements, and articles--Richard C. Norton has assembled a wealth of information in an easy-to-use format. All productions appear in chronological order by season in the first two volumes and are indexed alphabetically in volume three, allowing readers to quickly locate shows by either date or title, with variant titles also included. Entries contain the full cast, including chorus and dance ensemble (when known), composers, lyricists, book writers, choreographers, set designers, costumers, lighting designers, directors, and producers, followed by details of acts and scenes, and a comprehensive list of songs, sketches, dances, and specialties. The opening paragraph of each entry also contains information which does not appear in programs, such as opening and closing dates, change of venue, return engagements, and number of performances. In addition to the title index, complete song and principal performer indexes are also included, as well as a selected index of personal names of creators and secondary performers. No other resource--print or electronic--offers as many musicals as the Chronology of American Musical Theater. For anyone wishing to trace the history of a Broadway musical, or to research any aspect of this vital popular art, this three-volume set is the best, and in many instances, the only place to start.

Broadway's top orchestrators - Robert Russell Bennett, Don Walker, Philip J. Lang, Jonathan Tunick - are names well known to musical theatre fans, but few people understand precisely what the orchestrator does. The Sound of Broadway Music is the first book ever written about these unsung stars of the Broadway musical whose work is so vital to each show's success. The book examines the careers of Broadway's major orchestrators and follows the song as it travels from the composer's piano to the orchestra pit. Steven Suskin has meticulously tracked down thousands of original orchestral scores, piecing together enigmatic notes and notations with long-forgotten documents and current interviews with dozens of composers, producers, conductors and arrangers. The information is separated into three main parts: a biographical section which gives a sense of the life and world of twelve major theatre orchestrators, as well as incorporating briefer sections on another thirty arrangers and conductors; a lively discussion of the art of orchestration, written for musical theatre enthusiasts (including those who do not read music); a biographical section which gives a sense of the life and world of twelve major theatre orchestrators, as well as incorporating briefer sections on another thirty arrangers and conductors; and an impressive show-by-show listing of more than seven hundred musicals, in many cases including a song-by-song listing of precisely who orchestrated what along with relevant comments from people involved with the productions. Stocked with intriguing facts and juicy anecdotes, many of which have never before appeared in print, The Sound of Broadway Music brings fascinating and often surprising new insight into the world of musical theatre.

Suskin's book was underwritten by the Library of Congress.

This is an an assemblage of first-night reviews from a variety of theatre critics, including Brooks Atkinson and Walter Kerr, on shows such as Brigadoon, Peter Pan and West Side Story. Over 300 musicals are described, and credits are provided for each. Each show's initial critical reception is gauged, and the financial profits or losses calculated.

A compilation of excerpts from reviews of over two hundred productions, including Annie, Barnum, Cabaret, Evita, Godspell, A little night music, Pippin, Sugar babies, and Zorba.

It has been said that the New York Times theatre critics can make or break a show. Over the last century its six leading critics; Brooks Atkinson, Howard Taubman, Clive Barnes, Walter Kerr, Frank Rich, and Ben Brantley, have offered the most authoritative and influential commentary on musical theatre and documented our love affair with the Broadway musical. This extensive compendium includes the original reviews from the 150 most important musicals, selected by chief theatre critic Ben Brantley and accompanied by archival photographs from the productions and select feature coverage. Organized chronologically, the book begins in the early 1900s, when Gilbert and Sullivan and the Zeigfield Follies laid the groundwork for the flowering of the musical. Traveling into the golden age of theatre, we see divas rise on the stage; Ethel Merman, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, as well as legendary directors, lyricists, and choreographers; Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Bob Fosse and Sondheim and Prince, to name a few. Iconic shows that have seen celebrated revivals will include expanded sections to track the show's evolution over time, as in the seminal role of Rose in Gypsy, which has been played by such luminaries as Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peter and Patti Lupone. New York Times critic Ben Brantley gives context to the treasure trove of reviews through a thoughtful introduction and essays that guide the reader through each decade, along with some commentary on seminal shows.

Based on extensive interviews, this illustrated text recounts the lives and music of ragtime pianist-composer Eubie Blake and his partner for 57 years, singer, lyricist and bandleader Noble Sissle.

A revelatory portrait of the creative partnership that transformed musical theater and provided the soundtrack to the American Century They stand at the apex of the great age of songwriting, the creators of the classic Broadway musicalsOklahoma!,Carousel, South Pacific,The King and I, andThe Sound of Music, whose songs have never lost their popularity or emotional power. Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had written dozens of Broadway shows, but together they pioneered a new art form: the serious musical play. Their songs and dance numbers served to advance the drama and reveal character, a sharp break from the past and the template on which all future musicals would be built. Though different in personality and often emotionally distant from each other, Rodgers and Hammerstein presented an unbroken front to the world and forged much more than a songwriting team; their partnership was also one of the most profitable and powerful entertainment businesses of their era. They were cultural powerhouses whose work came to define postwar America on stage, screen, television, and radio. But they also had their failures and flops, and more than once they feared they had lost their touch. Todd S. Purdum's portrait of these two men, their creative process, and their groundbreaking innovations will captivate lovers of musical theater, lovers of the classic American songbook, and young lovers wherever they are. He shows that what Rodgers and Hammerstein wrought was truly something wonderful.

A biography equal to the outsized personality of one of Broadways best-loved stars From her breakout rendition of George Gershwins I Got Rhythm in 1930 to her triumphant performance as "Gypsy"s Mama Rose in 1959, Ethel Merman defined Broadway stardom for two generations of music lovers. Mermans singing voicebrassy, penetrating, and undeniably Americanhas transcended genre and era to become a cultural icon. As an entertainer she burned with unstoppable energy. Offstage she was the original diva, a woman who knew what she wanted and brooked no interference. Her spats and frequently off-color zingers have become part of theater lore. In this entertaining and authoritative biography, Brian Kellow traces Mermans life from her childhood in Queens, New York, through her three decades at the peak of Broadway celebrity. In an era dominated by outsized personalities and egos, none was more vibrant and powerful than Mermans, yet beneath the tough-dame image was an enormously vulnerable and often lonely woman. Kellows book, which includes recollections from more than 120 of Mermans friends, colleagues, and family members, stands as the definitive biography and an affectionate portrait of an unforgettable star. Fans of Broadway history and of the great Ethel Merman will find Kellows biography an irresistible read.

We all know Julie Andrews from The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins, but few people know the story of her road to fame. In this memoir, Julie Andrews&   takes us from her early years with an aspiring Vaudeville mom and a loving dad, to her parents divorce and mother 's remarriage to a difficult stepfather. Julie has kept diaries her whole life, so every anecdote in her memoir is very fresh and immediate.&   There are incredible scenes of the London Blitz during WWII; at age nine, she was the only kid on the street who was able to identify the sound of the German bombers, and it was her job to warn the whole neighborhood when they were coming. Julie 's mother was in musical theater with her stepdad, and Julie spent her entire youth traveling to&   venues all over the country. She performed for the Queen at age 12, and by the time she was a young teen, she was supporting her entire family because her stepdad was an alcoholic.&   A few of her roles were more glamorous during this time, but she was always the performer with holes in her socks because she never had any money. At age 19, Julie tried out for the role in The Boyfriend, which was opening on Broadway in New York. She got the part and flew here, was a smash in the play, and then starred in My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison. The book carries through her role in Camelot with Richard Burton, at age 20, after which her daughter was born. There are great anecdotes about the actors and actresses of her day; her voice is humorous, warm, and lively; and this is just an incredible memoir. There are tons of never-before-seen photos, too.

The Street Where I Live is at once an intimate biography of three great shows--My Fair Lady, Gigi, and Camelot--and a candid account of the life and times of Alan J. Lerner, one of America's most acclaimed and popular lyricists. Large-hearted, humorous, and often poignant in its reverence for a celebrated era in the American theater, this is the story of what Lerner calls "the sundown of wit, eccentricity, and glamour." Try as he might to keep himself out of these pages, Lerner reveals himself to be a man of great talent, laughter, and love. Along the way, we meet a sensational supporting cast: Moss Hart, Fritz Loewe, Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Cecil Beaton, Louis Jourdan, and Maurice Chevalier, to name a few. They are seen in moments of triumph and disaster, but all are professionals at the creation of theater. And the creation of theater is the matrix of this wonderful book. Included are the complete lyrics to My Fair Lady, Gigi, and Camelot.

Published to coincide with his seventieth birthday, UNMASKED is a candid memoir by the legendary composer of some of the most recognized musicals in history: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard and School of Rock among others. In UNMASKED, Andrew Lloyd Webber narrates the first four decades of his life which began in London's South Kensington in 1948. His parents were musicians - his father a composer and his mother a piano teacher of a decidedly bohemian persuasion. His other eccentric relatives include a grandmother who was a founding member of the Christian Communist Party and zany Auntie Vi, who wrote the first gay cookbook and would prove a strong influence on her talented nephew. He began creating musical theatre while a pupil at Westminster School, and after a brief tenure at Oxford University pursued the career that would make him a musical legend. The book culminates in the opening night of The Phantom of the Opera in 1985, which has gone on to become the greatest musical of all time.