From the first stage production of The Wizard of Oz in 1902, to the classic MGM film (1939), to the musicals The Wiz (1975) and Wicked (2003), L. Frank Baum's children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) has served as the basis for some of the most popular musicals on stage and screen. In this book, musical theater scholar Ryan Bunch draws on his personal experience as an Oz fan to explore how a story that has been hailed as "the American fairy tale" serves as a guide for thinking about the art form of the American musical and how both reveal American identity to be a utopian performance. Show by show, Bunch highlights the forms and conventions of each musical work as practiced in its time and context-such as the turn-of-the-century extravaganza, the classical Hollywood film musical, the Black Broadway musical of the 1970s, and the twenty-first-century mega-musical. He then shows how the journey of each show teaches participants and audiences something about how to act American within contested frameworks of race, gender, sexuality, age, and embodiment. Bunch also explores home theatricals, make-believe play, school musicals, Oz-themed environments, and community events as sites where the performance of the American fairy tale brings home and utopia into contact through the conventions of the musical. Using close readings of the various Oz shows, personal reflections, and interviews with fans, audiences, and performers, Bunch demonstrates how adapted Oz musicals imply both inclusions and exclusions in the performance of an American utopia.

18 solos, including the theme music "Charlie Brown All Stars."

Showtime brings the history of Broadway musicals to life in a narrative as engaging as the subject itself. Beginning with the scandalous Astor Place Opera House riot of 1849, Larry Stempel traces the growth of musicals from minstrel shows and burlesques, through the golden age of Show Boat and Oklahoma , to such groundbreaking works as Company and Rent. Stempel describes the Broadway stage with vivid accounts of the performers drawn to it, and detailed portraits of the creators who wrote the music, lyrics, and stories for its shows, both beloved and less well known. But Stempel travels outside the theater doors as well, to illuminate the wider world of musical theater as a living genre shaped by the forces of American history and culture. He reveals not only how musicals entertain their audiences but also how they serve as barometers of social concerns and bearers of cultural values. Showtime is the culmination of decades of painstaking research on a genre whose forms have changed over the course of two centuries. In covering the expansive subject before him, Stempel combines original research including a kaleidoscope of primary sources and archival holdings with deft and insightful analysis. The result is nothing short of the most comprehensive, authoritative history of the Broadway musical yet published."

Musical Theater: An Appreciation, Second Edition offers a history of musical theater from its operating origins to the Broadway shows of today, combined with an in-depth study of the musical styles that paralleled changes on stage. Alyson McLamore teaches readers how to listen to both the words and the music of the stage musical, enabling them to understand how all the components of a show interact to create a compelling experience for audiences. This second edition has been updated with new chapters covering recent developments in the twenty-first century, while insights from recent scholarship on musical theater have been incorporated throughout the text. The musical examples discussed in the text now include detailed listening guides, while a new companion website includes plot summaries and links to audio of the musical examples. From Don Giovanni to Hamilton, Musical Theater: An Appreciation both explores the history of musical theater and develops a deep appreciation of the musical elements at the heart of this unique art form.

Twenty-First Century Musicals stakes a place for the musical in today's cinematic landscape, taking a look at leading contemporary shows from their stage origins to their big-screen adaptations. Each chapter offers a new perspective on a single musical, challenging populist narratives and exploring underlying narratives and sub-texts in depth. Themes of national identity; race, class and gender; the 'voice' and 'singing live' on film; authenticity; camp sensibilities; and the celebration of failure are addressed in a series of questions including: How does the film adaptation provide a different viewing experience from the stage version? What themes are highlighted in the film adaptation? What does the new casting bring to the work? Do camera angles dictate a different reading from the stage version? What is lost/gained in the process of adaptation to film? Re-interpreting the contemporary film musical as a compelling art form, Twenty-First Century Musicals is a must-read for any student or scholar keen to broaden their understanding of musical performance.

A composer of enormous musical innovation and influence, Marc Blitzstein remains one of the most versatile and fascinating figures in the history of American music, his creative works running the gamut from Broadway musicals and film scores to concert and chamber pieces. As an open homosexual and a prominent leftist, Blitzstein constantly pushed the boundaries of acceptability in mid-century America in both his music and his life. Award-winning music historian Howard Pollack's new biography is the first to put Blitzstein's music on equal footing with his politics, theatrical innovation, and other aspects of the composer's life. Pollack covers Blitzstein's life in full, from his childhood in Philadelphia to his violent death in Martinique at age 58. The author describes how this student of contemporary luminaries Arnold Schoenberg and Nadia Boulanger became swept up in the stormy political atmosphere of the 1920s and 1930s and throughout his career walked the fine line between his formal training and his populist principles in his composition. Indeed, Blitzstein developed a unique sound that drew on everything contemporary, from the high modernism of Schoenberg to swing and jazz. Pollack captures the astonishing breadth of Blitzstein's musical language-?from politically scandalous Broadway musicals like The Cradle Will Rock and No for an Answer, to the patriotic Airborne Symphony, to lesser known early pieces, film scores, and chamber works. A fearless artist, Blitzstein translated Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera during the heyday of McCarthyism and the red scare, and, with Leonard Bernstein and Lotte Lenya, turned it into an off-Broadway sensation. Beautifully written, drawing on new interviews with friends and family of the composer, and making extensive use of new archival and secondary sources, Marc Blitzstein presents the most complete biography of this quintessentially American composer.

Come along backstage and peek inside the spectacular and sometimes scandalous world of musical theatre. See the world's most-loved musical productions come to life in this lavishly illustrated book! This show-stopping reference book includes: - A chronological structure that makes the book work as a history of musicals - Includes a 20-page reference section with key details on over 100 additional musicals - Neat timelines summarise the plot, characters, and songs for 20 top musicals From The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music to Mamma Mia and Les Miserables, fall in love all over again with the songs, stories, characters, creators, and legendary stars from every era of musical theatre. Take a journey through the years and immerse yourself in the behind-the-scenes world of musical theatre! From the dance halls and vaudeville to the silver screen and sensational Broadway shows, this go-to musical guide has all the glitter and glamour of the West End. It's Showtime! Delve into profiles of successful creators such as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Packed with profiles of musical icons and fun infographics that summarise the plot, characters and songs, Musicals: The Definitive Visual Guide is the perfect way to embrace your inner "theatre geek". With a foreword by Elaine Paige, this updated edition gives greater coverage on the smash-hit Hamilton and includes mention of new and popular stage and movie musicals. It's a must-have or the ultimate gift for musical theatre fans. Complete the Series: If you enjoyed this illustrated celebration of musicals, look out for more titles in this series from DK. Uncover the most mesmerising moments in ballet history in Ballet: The Definitive Illustrated Story.

Sondheim in Our Time and His offers a wide-ranging historical investigation of the landmark works and extraordinary career of Stephen Sondheim, a career which has spanned much of the history of American musical theater. Each author uncovers those aspects of biography, collaborative process, and contemporary context that impacted the creation and reception of Sondheim's musicals. In addition, several authors explore in detail how Sondheim's shows have been dramatically revised and adapted over time. Multiple chapters invite the reader to rethink Sondheim's works from a distinctly contemporary critical perspective and to consider how these musicals are being reenvisioned today. Through chapters focused on individual musicals, and others that explore a specific topic as manifested throughout his entire career, plus an afterword by Kristen Anderson-Lopez; by digging deep into the archives and focusing intently on his scores; from interviews with performers, directors, and bookwriters, and close study of live and recorded productions-volume editor W. Anthony Sheppard brings together Sondheim's past with the present, thriving existence of his musicals.

"Wonderful"-The New York Times. "Provocative, opinionated, and never dull"-Down Beat. "A singular book."-Studs Terkel. When it was first published, Alec Wilder's American Popular Song quickly became a classic and today it remains essential reading for countless musicians, lovers of American Song, and fans of Alec Wilder. Now, in a 50th anniversary edition, popular music scholar Robert Rawlins brings the book fully up-to-date for the 21st century. Whereas previous editions featured only piano scores, the format has been changed to lead sheet notation with lyrics, making it accessible to a wider readership. Rawlins has also added more than sixty music examples to help complete the chapter on Irving Berlin. One of the most fascinating features of the original edition was Wilder's inventive use of language, often revealing his strong and sometimes irreverent opinions. Wilder's prose remains relatively unaltered, but footnotes have been provided that clarify, elucidate, and even correct. Moreover, a new chapter has been added, discussing fifty-three songs by numerous composers that Wilder might have well included but was not able to. Songs by Ann Ronnell, Fats Waller, Jule Styne and many others are capped off with an examination of ten of Wilder's own songs.

'... love creates something that was not there before.' - Hedwig John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask's Hedwig and the Angry Inch opened on Valentine's Day,1998, in New York City, and ever since, it and its genderqueer heroine have captivated audiences around the world. As the first musical to feature a genderqueer protagonist as its lead, the show has had an extraordinary life on film, Broadway and in the music field. A glam rock musical with a complex relationship to issues related to art, eroticism and matters of identity formation, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a darkly exuberant fairy tale about a child that discovers she is one of a kind, but also potentially among her own kind, if she dares travel past borders that confine and try to stabilise her being and identity. Caridad Svich examines this exhilarating work through the lenses of visual and vocal rock 'n' roll performance, the history of the American musical, and its positioning within LGBTIQ+ theatre.

One of the darker epochs of American history were the years commonly thought of, although misnamed, the McCarthy-Era, where motion picture and television artists, most notably actors and writers were unable to work as they found themselves on "the blacklist." There was, however, a place to go and create and keep your name: theatre.We begin at the turn of the 20th Century when theatre consisted primarily of melodramas, pot-boilers, and drawing room comedies save for the occasional Shakespearean play brought across the ocean by an English company looking for new lands to conquer, The reader is introduced to the Theatre Guild which births the Group Theatre. It looks at the short life and death of the Federal Theatre Project, and the investigations of the motion picture and television industries by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). The role the three major performing arts unions played is vital to this story, leading into investigating Broadway and the theatre artists who continue to make work in spite of it all. This book opens the window on an art form that brought light into the darkness, and ends as a simple love letter to theatre and those who create it.

So, You're the New Musical Director! is aimed at the person who has music training but little or no experience with musical theatre, the high school choral director with a degree in music education, or the actor participating in community theatre productions. It details the duties involved in directing a Broadway musical, including overseeing singer and orchestra rehearsals and conducting the musical itself. The chapters follow the actual progression of a musical from a discussion of the production team's responsibilities to the final bow. Filled with photos, illustrations, and examples, So, You're the New Musical Director! is a comprehensive guide that no one involved in musical theatre should be without.

One legacy of the 1960s sexual revolution was the "adult" musical of the 1970s. Adult musicals distinguished themselves from other types of musicals in their reliance on strong sexual content, frequent nudity, and simulated sexual activity. Cheap to produce, adult musicals proliferated in New York's theatres at a time when the city was teetering toward bankruptcy and tourism was sharply declining. Influenced by the overwhelming success in 1968 of "Hair"-the first Broadway musical to feature nudity-as well as by a series of legal rulings about the nature of obscenity, adult musicals became faddish in part because they allowed theatre producers to attract audiences at a time of economic crisis while simultaneously slashing budgets typically allotted for scenery, props and, of course, costumes. Typically structured like old-fashioned revues, with thematically interconnected songs and skits, adult musicals like "Stag Movie," "Let My People Come," "The Faggot," and the long-running "Oh! Calcutta!" were reviled by theatre critics, who tended to dismiss them as either going too far in the direction of hard-core pornography or, conversely, of not being erotic enough. But critics, who could typically close a show with a single scathing review, were no match for the public appetite for sex and even the shows that got the worst reviews usually made money. Adult musicals disappeared almost entirely by the early 1980s, as the city's economy improved and the country grew more socio-politically conservative, and they have since been dismissed by writers and critics as a silly fad befitting a silly decade. Author Elizabeth Wollman finds a much richer story in adult musicals, illustrating how they both drew from and reflected aspects of American culture at a particularly tumultuous time: the country's rapidly changing sexual mores, the women's and gay liberation movements, New York City's socioeconomic status, and contemporary debates on the relationship between art and obscenity. She argues that because of their middlebrow appeal and their concentration in a city that experienced the 1970s in especially turbulent ways, adult musicals represent aspects of 1970s American culture at their messiest and most confused, and thus, perhaps, at their most honest.

For centuries, Arthurian legend has captured imaginations throughout Europe and the Americas with its tales of Camelot, romance, and chivalry. The ever-shifting, age-old tale of King Arthur and his world is one which depends on retellings for its endurance in the cultural imagination. Using adaptation theory as a framework, From Camelot to Spamalot foregrounds the role of music in selected Arthurian adaptations, examining six stage and film musicals. The book considers how musical versions in twentieth and twenty-first century popular culture interpret the legend of King Arthur, contending that music guides the audience to understand this well-known tale and its characters in new and unexpected ways. All of the productions considered include an overtly modern perspective on the legend, intruding and even commenting on the tale of King Arthur. Shifting from an idealistic utopia to a silly place, the myriad notions of Camelot offer a look at the importance of myth in American popular culture. Author Megan Woller's approach, rooted in the literary theory of scholars like Linda Hutcheon, highlights the intertextual connections between chosen works and Arthurian legend. In so doing, From Camelot to Spamalot intersects with and provides a timely contribution to several different fields of study, from adaptation studies and musical theater studies to film studies and Arthurian studies.

In recent years there has been a remarkable resurgence in the success of film musicals. Since the turn of the millennium, films such as Chicago (2002) and Phantom of the Opera (2004) have restated the close connections between the stage and screen. This edited collection will look at the breadth and diversity of recent film musicals, including adaptations from the stage such as Mamma Mia! (2008), Tim Burton's Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Rock of Ages (2012). This collection will also look at films that owe less of a direct debt to stage musicals, such as Julie Taymor's Across the Universe (2007) and Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (2000).

This is finally, an authorized libretto to this modern day classic! "Rent" won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score for Jonathan Larson. The story of Mark, Roger, Maureen, Tom Collins, Angel, Mimi, JoAnne, and their friends on the Lower East Side of New York City will live on, along with the affirmation that there is 'no day but today.' This title includes 16 color photographs of productions of "Rent" from around the world, plus an introduction ("Rent Is Real") by Victoria Leacock Hoffman.

Hamilton opened on Broadway in 2015 and quickly became one of the hottest tickets the industry has ever seen. Lin-Manuel Miranda - who wrote the book, lyrics, and music, and created the title role - adapted the show from Ron Chernow's biography Alexander Hamilton. Although it seems an unlikely source for a Broadway musical, Miranda found a liminal space where the life that Hamilton led and the issues that he confronted came alive more than two centuries later while also commenting on contemporary life in the United States and how we view our nation's history. With a score largely based on rap and drawing on other aspects of hip-hop culture, and staged with actors of color playing the white Founding Fathers, Hamilton has much to say about race in the United States today and in our past, but at the same time it leaves important things insufficiently explained, such as the role of women and people of color in Hamilton's time. Dueling Grounds: Revolution and Revelation in the Musical Hamilton is a volume that combines the work of theater scholars and practitioners, musicologists, and scholars in such fields as ethnomusicology, history, gender studies, and economics in a multi-faceted approach to the show's varied uses of liminality, looking at its creation, casting philosophy, dance and movement, costuming, staging, direction, lyrics, music, marketing, and how aspects of race, gender, and class fit into the show and its production. Demonstrating that there is much to celebrate, as well as challenging issues to confront concerning Hamilton, Dueling Grounds is an uncompromising look at one of the most important musicals of the century.

The Gondoliers was Gilbert and Sullivan's last great success. In this opera, Gilbert returns to the subject of class distinctions and it's background connected with Venice and Venetian life.

Richard Dyer's In the Space of a Song takes an in-depth look at the use of songs in film. Songs take up space and time in film and the way they do so indicates a great deal about the songs themselves, the nature of the feelings they present, and who is allowed to present feelings how, when and where. In the Space of a Song explores this perception through a range of examples, from classic MGM musicals to blaxploitation cinema, with the career of Lena Horne providing a turning point in the cultural dynamics of the feeling. Chapters include: The Perfection of Meet Me in St. Louis A Star Is Born and the Construction of Authenticity 'I Seem to Find the Happiness I Seek': Heterosexuality and Dance in the Musical The Space of Happiness in the Musical Singing Prettily: Lena Horne in Hollywood Is Car Wash a Musical? Music and Presence in Blaxploitation Cinema In the Space of a Song is ideal for both scholars and students of film studies.

Songs take up space and time in films. Richard Dyer's In the Space of a Song takes off from this perception, arguing that the way songs take up space indicates a great deal about the songs themselves, the nature of the feelings they present, and who is allowed to present feelings how, when and where. In the Space of a Song explores this perception through a range of examples, from classic MGM musicals to blaxploitation cinema, with the career of Lena Horne providing a turning point in the cultural dynamics of the feeling. Chapters include: The perfection of Meet Me in St. Louis A Star Is Born and the construction of authenticity 'I seem to find the happiness I seek': Heterosexuality and dance in the musical The space of happiness in the musical Singing prettily: Lena Horne in Hollywood Is Car Wash a musical? Music and presence in blaxploitation cinema In the Space of a Song is ideal for both scholars and students of film studies.

Few people in recent memory have dedicated themselves as devotedly to the story of twentieth- century American music as Rob Kapilow, the composer, conductor, and host of the hit NPR music radio program, What Makes It Great? Now, in Listening for America, he turns his keen ear to the Great American Songbook, bringing many of our favorite classics to life through the songs and stories of eight of the twentieth century's most treasured American composers-Kern, Porter, Gershwin, Arlen, Berlin, Rodgers, Bernstein, and Sondheim. Hardly confi ning himself to celebrating what makes these catchy melodies so unforgettable, Kapilow delves deeply into how issues of race, immigration, sexuality, and appropriation intertwine in masterpieces like Show Boat and West Side Story. A book not just about musical theater but about America itself, Listening for America is equally for the devotee, the singer, the music student, or for anyone intrigued by how popular music has shaped the larger culture, and promises to be the ideal gift book for years to come.

(Easy Piano Vocal Selections). Nominated for a whopping 10 Tony Awards, Wicked is the Broadway smash of 2004 A prequel to the all-American classic The Wizard of Oz, this new musical is a character study of Elphaba and Glinda, school roommates who grow up to become the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch, respectively. 13 fantastic tunes: As Long as You're Mine * Dancing Through Life * Defying Gravity * For Good * I Couldn't Be Happier * I'm Not That Girl * No Good Deed * No One Mourns the Wicked * One Short Day * Popular * What Is This Feeling? * The Wizard and I * Wonderful.

This in-depth and original study examines 100 productions and analyses why George Abbott's name became synonymous with the 'golden age' of Broadway. What did Abbott contribute? How did he work? How did he innovate the industry? How did he survive so long? All of these inquiries, and more, lead to the most fundamental question of all: what exactly was the famous "Abbott touch"? For sixty years, George Abbott was a vital force in the American theatre. As an actor, playwright, director, librettist, play doctor, and producer, he laid his "touch" on approximately 100 New York productions, from The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees through to Once Upon a Mattress and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Spanning this incredible figure's work chronologically, each chapter of The Abbott Touch examines a period of creativity in his life, culminating in how he became the famous multi-hyphenate artist he is now celebrated as. Beginning with his early career in 1913 through to his work on the 1994 revival of Damn Yankees, this book analyses his key contributions to his primary works, all of which have relied on his genius. The first study of its kind, The Abbott Touch provides key insights into the working life of one of the 20th Century's most prolific theatre practitioners, as well as a vital history for theatre scholars and fans alike.

Issues of identity have always been central to the American musical in all its guises. Who appears in musicals, who or what they are meant to represent, and how, over time, those representations have been understood and interpreted, provide the very basis for our engagement with the genre. In this third volume of the reissued Oxford Handbook of the American Musical, chapters focus on race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, regional vs. national identity, and the cultural and class significance of the musical itself. As important as the question of who appears in musicals are the questions of who watches and listens to them, and of how specific cultures of reception attend differently to the musical. Chapters thus address cultural codes inherent to the genre, in particular those found in traditional school theater programs.

A bawdy, fast-paced, raunchy comedy musical from one of the world's most influential and innovative creators of musical theatre, loosely based on the plays of Plautus. Pseudolus, a simpering slave, is trying to win his own freedom by cooking up a romance for his master's son, Hero, with the pretty young virgin Philia. But there's a problem - not only is Philia owned by Marcus Lycus, an infamous courtesan dealer, but she's also already promised to swaggering soldier Miles Gloriosus... and neither of them are keen to give her up. Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with a book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, ran for three years on Broadway. The first British production, starring Frankie Howerd as the cowardly slave Pseudolus, ran almost as long and spawned the TV series Up Pompeii! A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum won the 1962 Tony Award for Best Musical.