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West End Broadway: The Golden Age of the American Musical in London
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West End Broadway: The Golden Age of the American Musical in London
376Hardcover
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Overview
West End Broadway is the first book to deal specifically with the 'Golden Age' of American musicals in London. Here is a history and a re-evaluation not only of the British productions of Broadway's most popular product butof the works themselves, beginning with a brief account of the origins of the genre and of the shows seen during World War II. The difficult conditions of war-torn Britain prepared the ground for changes that would come with peace. While Britain clung to tried formulas, a refreshing breeze was blowing in from the Atlantic, altering the nature of British theatre by sending New York's commercially successful musicals to the West End. The wider relevance ofthis history is underscored, as is the fact that these works effectively imported American social history into the culture of a Britain coping with the aftermath of conflict. In London, critical reaction to Broadway musicals was often strikingly different from that awarded in New York, and Broadway success could result in West End failure, while off-Broadway shows struggled to gain hold in Britain.
West End Broadway discusses every American musical seen in London between 1945 and 1972. As the final works of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin made way for a new wave of writers and composers, the arrival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! was celebrated as a breakthrough,heralding a period that included important works by Jule Styne, Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Robert Wright and George Forrest, Harold Rome, Frank Loesser, Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, and the first stirrings of the next generation in Stephen Sondheim.
Offering a unique panoramic essay on British theatre of the Golden Age, West End Broadway is an authoritative, challenging and diverting contribution to an understanding of aforgotten aspect of the Broadway musical.
ADRIAN WRIGHT is the author of Foreign Country: The Life of L.P. Hartley (1996), John Lehmann: A Pagan Adventure (1998), The Innumerable Dance: The Life and Work of William Alwyn (2008) and the novel Maroon (2010). His previous book, A Tanner's Worth of Tune (Boydell & Brewer, 2010), told the story of the post-war British musical. He lives in Norfolk, where he runs MustClose Saturday Records, a company dedicated to British musical theatre.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781843837916 |
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Publisher: | BOYDELL & BREWER INC |
Publication date: | 11/15/2012 |
Pages: | 376 |
Product dimensions: | 6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
List of illustrations vii
Preface and Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1939-45 The War Years 9
1946 Song of Norway 29
1947 Romany Love
Oklahoma!
Annie Get Your Gun
Finian's Rainbow 35
1948 Lute Song
High Button Shoes 53
1949 Brigadoon 57
1950 Carousel 65
1951 Kiss Me, Kate
South Pacific 70
1952 Call Me Madam
Love from Judy 79
1953 Paint Your Wagon
Guys and Dolls
The King and I
Wish You Were Here 87
1954 Pal Joey
Can-Can 97
1955 Wonderful Town
Kismet
The Pajama Game 102
1956 Plain and Fancy
The Threepenny Opera
Fanny 113
1957 The Crystal Heart
Damn Yankees
Bells Are Ringing 127
1958 Where's Charley?
My Fair Lady
Simply Heavenly
West Side Story
Cinderella 135
1959 Candide
The Love Doctor
Aladdin 148
1960 The Dancing Heiress
Flower Drum Song
The Most Happy Fella
Rose-Marie
Once Upon a Mattress 155
1961 The Music Man
The Sound of Music
Bye Bye Birdie
The Fantasticks
Do Re Mi 167
1962 Little Mary Sunshine
Sail Away
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Fiorello! 187
1963 Carnival
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
On the Town
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
The Boys from Syracuse
Pocahontas
No Strings 194
1964 All in Love
She Loves Me
Camelot
High Spirits
Little Me 209
1965 The Wayward Way
Hello, Dolly! 220
1966 Funny Girl 227
1967 110 in the Shade
Fiddler on the Roof
The Desert Song
Sweet Charity 233
1968 You're a Good Man
Charlie Brown
Cabaret
Man of La Mancha
I Do! I Do!
Cindy
Golden Boy
The Student Prince
Lady, Be Good!
Hair
Man with a Load of Mischief 241
1969 Your Own Thing
Mame
Belle Starr
Dames at Sea
Promises, Promises
Anything Goes 259
1970 1776
The Great Waltz 269
1971 Show Boat
Ambassador
Godspell 275
1972 Company
Gone with the Wind
I and Albert
Applause 279
Appendix: American Musicals in London, 1939-1972 288
Notes 322
Select Bibliography 336
Index of Musical Works 339
General Index 347