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Overview

This critical introduction to British musical theatre since 1950 is the first book to discuss its post-war developments from the perspective of British - as opposed to American - popular culture. The genre is situated within the historical context of post-war British society in order to explore the range of forms through which significant sociocultural moments are represented.

Introductory chapters analyse the way British musicals have responded to social change, the forms of popular theatre and music from which they have developed and their originality in elaborating new narrative strategies since the seventies. A key feature of the book is its close readings of twelve key works, from Salad Days (1954) and Oliver! (1960) to global smash hits such as Les Misérables (1985) and The Phantom of the Opera (1986) and beyond, including the latest critical and box-office success Matilda (2011). Also analysed are British favourites (Blood Brothers, 1983), cult shows (The Rocky Horror Show, 1975) and musicals with a pre-existing fan-base, such as Mamma Mia! (1999).

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781472584366
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 09/08/2016
Series: Critical Companions
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Robert Gordon is Professor of Theatre and Performance at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK and Director of the Pinter Research Centre in Performance and Creative Writing. He has published books on Stoppard and Harold Pinter, on modern acting theories and edited The Oxford Handbook of Sondheim Studies; he is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical.
Olaf Jubin is Reader in Media Studies and Musical Theatre at Regent's University London, UK, and a Visiting Lecturer on the M.A. in Musical Theatre at Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK. He has written and co-edited several books on musical theatre and the mass media and is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical.
Millie Taylor is Professor of Musical Theatre at the University of Winchester, UK. She worked as a freelance musical director and, for almost twenty years, toured Britain and Europe with a variety of musicals including West Side Story, Rocky Horror Show, Little Shop of Horrors and Sweeney Todd. Her publications include Singing for Musicals: A Practical Guide (2008), Musical Theatre, Realism and Entertainment (2012), and with Dominic Symonds the edited collection Gestures of Music Theatre: The Performativity of Song and Dance (2014).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Introduction
Part I: Musicals and Social Change (Robert Gordon)
1.1 British Theatre and Society after the Second World War
1.2 Innovation and Nostalgia: Camp in the Post-War British Musical
Case Study 1: Salad Days
1.3 Rock and Roll and the Theatre Revolution
1.4 The Play with Music: Political Theatre and Working-Class Culture
Case Study 2: Blood Brothers
1.5 The Impact of Oliver!
1.6 After Jesus Christ Superstar: Globalization and Cultural Specificity
Case Study 3: Billy Elliot
1.7 Global and Local: The Family Musical
Case Study 4: Matilda – The Musical

Part II: British Popular Culture and Musical Theatre (Millie Taylor)
2.1 Nostalgia in Character and Dramatic Form
Case Study 5: Oh What a Lovely War!
2.2 Reflecting Multiculturalism
Case Study 6: Bombay Dreams
2.3 Changing Signification in Popular Music
Case Study 7: Oliver!
Case Study 8: The Rocky Horror Show
Conclusion to Part Two

Part III: Narrative and Story-Telling in the British Musical since 1970 (Olaf Jubin)
Preamble
Introduction
3.1 Concept Recordings: When What You See is What You Have Heard
Case Study 9: Jesus Christ Superstar
3.2 Sung-Through Shows: When the Spoken Word is Shunned
3.3 Stage Adaptations of Novels: When the Written Word Becomes Theatrical Action
Case Study 10: Les Misérables
Case Study 11: The Phantom of the Opera
3.4 Original Stories: When the Content is Unknown
3.5 Jukebox Musicals: When You Know All the Songs
Case Study 12: Mamma Mia!
3.6 Stage Adaptation of Films: When the Cinematic Becomes the Theatrical

Conclusion
Timeline
Notes
Selective Bibliography
Discography
Filmography
Index

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