Though there have been many histories of the theater and
specifically the theatrical musical, none has done quite what
"Musical Theater and American Cultur"e achieves: it explores how
the musical emerged in the late-18th and 19th centuries as a
specifically American form of entertainment and went on to become a
powerful medium of popular and political collective expression,
articulating the tensions and reconciliations of everyday relations
between individuals and society. Intimately related to the forging
of social, cultural, and political American identities, the
musical--often dismissed as merely entertainment--is tied
inextricably to America's sense of itself as a New World, a land of
opportunity, and above all, the emblem of modern culture. Including
material on genres ranging from minstrel shows to melodrama to the
development of the contemporary book musical and the megamusical,
"Musical Theater and American Culture" delves into such important
shows as "Anything Goes," "West Side Story," "Evita," and "Rent";
it represents the first sustained analysis of this medium as a
social and political vehicle.
Authors David F. Walsh and Len Platt further consider how the
current condition of the musical, the emergence of specialist
musicals, revivals, and blockbuster musicals intended for a
globalized audience relate both aesthetically and culturally to
their Broadway progenitors. Tackling the much broader question of
what the fragmentation of this popular culture now indicates about
contemporary America, they forge a new and unique study sure to
appeal to both scholars of the theater and fans of its ongoing and
always -fascinating new forms.
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