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 expanded and updated third edition of this acclaimed Companion provides an accessible, broadly based survey of one of the liveliest and most popular forms of musical performance. It ranges from the American musical of the nineteenth century to the most recent productions on Broadway, in London's West End, and many other venues, and includes key information on singers, audiences, critical reception, and traditions. Contributors approach the subject from a wide variety of perspectives, including historical concerns, artistic aspects, important trends, attention to various genres, the importance of stars, the influence of race, the various disciplines of theatrical production, the musical in varied media, and changes in technology. Chapters related to the contemporary musical have been updated, and two new chapters cover the television musical and the British musical since 1970. Carefully organised and highly readable, it will be welcomed by enthusiasts, students, and scholars alike.

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 Miserables 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.

This resource considers the Baroque cello's revival as part of the period instrument movement from the viewpoints of over forty cellists from three generations and four luthiers who have worked on period cellos. What emerges is a nuanced and detailed picture of the cello in the past and present and the varied instruments now played under the label "Baroque cello." Period instruments played with appropriate techniques have become a major presence in classical music in recent decades. For the cello, which changed substantially between the end of the sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries, it is challenging to describe specific traits for certain time periods, let alone how it was played in those periods. By chronicling the searches of over forty top cellists in England, Europe, and North America, the author goes far in revealing the great variety of forms that exist. This is the first study in which the revival of a single period instrument has been considered in such qualified detail and will be of great interest to musicologists, luthiers, and anyone interested in string history.

The Broadway musical has greatly influenced American (and world) culture. Such shows as Oklahoma and Annie Get Your Gun are as "American as apple pie," while the long runs of imports like Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables have broken records. Broadway has produced such cultural icons as Ethel Merman, Yul Brynner, and Julie Andrews, and composers and lyricists such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and many others have had their melodies sung on its stages. Visionaries like George Abbott, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Tommy Tune, and Susan Stroman have brought productions to life through their innovative direction and choreography. Since the latter part of the 19th century, the Broadway musical has remained one of the most popular genres in entertainment and its history is related in detail in The A to Z of the Broadway Musical. Through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and 900 dictionary entries on Broadway shows, playwrights, directors, producers, designers, and actors, this handy desk reference offers quick information on the many aspects of the Broadway musical.

West Side Story first became famous in Spain when the Robert Wise film opened there in 1962, the version remaining popular for decades. Brief international tours came to various cities in Spain in the 1980s, but their presence did not diminish memory of the film, which played a major influence on the country's first stage adaptation of the show in 1996. Directed by Ricard Reguant and produced in Barcelona by Focus, the production also toured. After another international tour played in three Spanish cities in summer 2009, the Madrid company SOM Produce mounted a rendition in 2018 directed and choreographed by Federico Barrios, the first Spanish stage version based on the original 1957 staging. This Element compares the adaptations of the 1996 and 2018 versions in detail, illuminating issues encountered when translating a musical for another culture.

The expanded and updated third edition of this acclaimed Companion provides an accessible, broadly based survey of one of the liveliest and most popular forms of musical performance. It ranges from the American musical of the nineteenth century to the most recent productions on Broadway, in London's West End, and many other venues, and includes key information on singers, audiences, critical reception, and traditions. Contributors approach the subject from a wide variety of perspectives, including historical concerns, artistic aspects, important trends, attention to various genres, the importance of stars, the influence of race, the various disciplines of theatrical production, the musical in varied media, and changes in technology. Chapters related to the contemporary musical have been updated, and two new chapters cover the television musical and the British musical since 1970. Carefully organised and highly readable, it will be welcomed by enthusiasts, students, and scholars alike.

As the composer/lyricist for Godspell, Pippin, Wicked, and other musicals, Stephen Schwartz has enjoyed one of the most significant careers in American musical theater for more than four decades. Schwartz has also achieved success on the big screen, contributing to such films as Enchanted, The Prince of Egypt, and Pocahontas. For his work, he has received six Tony nominations, three Grammys, and three Academy Awards. The Musical Theater of Stephen Schwartz: From Godspell to Wicked and Beyond is a detailed examination of Schwartz s various projects throughout his career. Musicologist Paul R. Laird discusses at length Schwartz s major shows and also considers his other ventures, such as the music and lyrics for animated features from Disney and Dreamworks. The book focuses on two major aspects of Schwartz s creations: the process of collaboration resulting in a project s completion and a descriptive analysis of his music and lyrics. Laird also describes each show s critical reception and its place in the larger history of musical theater. Based on extensive interviews with Schwartz and a number of his major collaborators, this book provides a rare look into the creation of the composer and lyricist s shows and films. The Musical Theater of Stephen Schwartz is intended for fans as well as students and professional researchers in music, theater, and the musical theater."

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.

As a prominent conductor, composer, commentator and music educator, pianist, and writer, Leonard Bernstein has inspired numerous scholarly contributions. Being a composer of both concert music and musical theater, his output encompassed many different facets: from small-scale instrumental character pieces to symphonies, musicals to operas, pop songs to art song cycles, as well as ballets, film music, and Mass, a work that does not fit any category. Historical Dictionary of Leonard Bernstein contains a chronology, an introduction, an appendix, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries encompassing people whom he befriended or worked with, institutions, orchestras, performance venues, cities, compositional methods, and compositions. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Leonard Bernstein.

Leonard Bernstein was one of twentieth-century music's most successful and recognizable figures. In a career spanning five decades he conducted many of the world's leading orchestras, and composed scores for landmark musicals such as Candide and West Side Story. Published to tie in with the 100th anniversary of Bernstein's birth, this engaging new biography provides a concise overview of the life and work of this prodigiously talented, fascinating and controversial musician. Drawing on over thirty years of study, leading scholar Paul R. Laird describes Bernstein's work as a conductor, composer, music educator and commentator, evaluating all his major compositions. Laird explores the impact of his complicated personal life on his professional work, including his homosexuality and many affairs with men, and his strong yet difficult marriage. The author also describes Bernstein's iron self-belief, which enabled him to negotiate risky and challenging musical situations that resulted in passionate, if sometimes mixed, reviews. Featuring original insights into Bernstein's life, including the author's interview with Bernstein in 1982, this is an ideal introduction to Bernstein's eclectic musical style, showing where it fits in the larger world of twentieth-century music.