Broadway: The American Musical, and: The Rise and Fall of the Broadway Musical, and: Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time (review)

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-194
Author(s):  
Laurie Schmeling
Keyword(s):  
Broadway Musical ◽  
Broadway Musicals

scholarly journals ‘Everybody’s Free to Fail’

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Browne
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Golden Age ◽  
National Theatre ◽  
Broadway Musical ◽  
Broadway Musicals

This chapter explores the ways in which the British model of subsidizing arts-related activities has encouraged theatres to programme ambitiously and afforded directors the freedom to adopt a fresh, innovative, and often daring approach to their work for the stage. Whilst staging a revival of a Broadway musical classic may seem far from daring, the case studies in this chapter elucidate the ways in which subsidy has allowed directors to address this material in a radical fashion. Exploring two very different theatrical venues reveals methods of programming: whilst the National Theatre chooses to present well-loved golden age Broadway musicals, the Donmar Warehouse focuses on intimate chamber musicals, rarely staged or revived in Britain. This chapter analyses how these musicals have been cast, staged, and received and, in doing so, highlights the manner in which directors have reimagined the Broadway musical for British audiences.

scholarly journals Marcel Prawy und das erste Broadway-Musical im Österreich der Nachkriegszeit

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renate Koch
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Us Army ◽  
Broadway Musical ◽  
The Us ◽  
Broadway Musicals ◽  
One Year

Marcel Prawy, born in Vienna, graduated in law. In 1936, the couple Kiepura/Eggerth engaged him as private assistant. Two years later Jan Kiepura helped him to emigrate to New York. In 1943, after his employment ended, Prawy joined the US Army. Finally he returned as an elite soldier to Vienna and began his pioneering work for ‘Broadway Musicals’. In 1955, he was appointed dramaturge at the ‘Wiener Volksoper’. One year later in February, Kiss Me, Kate was performed in two Austrian theatres. The Viennese version was produced by Prawy himself and staged by Heinz Rosen. In Graz André Diehl directed the orchestration by conductor Rudolf Bibl on the basis of a piano score. Prawy relied on a mixture of Austrian theatre luminaries and American actors. In the Volksoper 183 performances took place – Graz had only 16. The reviews for the Viennese premiere reaffirmed the cheers. The criticism of the Graz production did not receive the same attention as Prawy’s production did.

Balanchine and Kirstein's American Enterprise

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Steichen
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Musical Theater ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Hollywood Cinema ◽  
George Balanchine ◽  
Broadway Musical ◽  
Broadway Musicals

George Balanchine is today one of the most celebrated figures in twentieth-century ballet and is closely identified with the two institutions he helped found in collaboration with Lincoln Kirstein: the School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet. During the early years of their efforts in the 1930s, Balanchine and Kirstein’s enterprise underwent numerous changes and transformations. The complexity of their endeavors has been misrepresented in many existing accounts of their lives and careers, in part because their activities have not been assessed as a whole. This book chronicles Balanchine’s and Kirstein’s work between 1933 and 1940 in the spheres of ballet, opera, Broadway musicals, and Hollywood cinema. This new account shows the ways in which their collective and individual efforts influenced and affected one another and ultimately shaped the character of the institutions they would eventually found. The work of the short-lived organizations the American Ballet (1935–38) and Ballet Caravan (1936–40) brought together dozens of dancers and collaborators, and the activity of these companies was closely related to work of the School of American Ballet as well as Balanchine’s projects in Broadway musical theater and film.

scholarly journals 21st-Century Broadway Musicals and the ‘Best Musical’ Tony Award: Trends and Impact

Arts ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Matthew Hodge
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Profound Impact ◽  
Run Length ◽  
Ticket Sales ◽  
Broadway Musical ◽  
Broadway Musicals

Recent Broadway theatre seasons consistently saw record-breaking numbers of admissions and grosses, with musicals’ ticket sales making up 78–89% of annual Broadway grosses. The annual Tony Awards continue to serve as an influential theatre industry establishment that helps define a Broadway musical as exceptional and worthy of audiences, especially the awarding of the ‘Best Musical’ category (which can statistically have a profound impact on a production’s longevity). This article offers comprehensive surveying and discussions of significant components of a musical’s initial Broadway success in the 21st century. All 82 musicals that were nominated for or won the ‘Best Musical’ Tony Award between the years 2000 and 2019 are assessed for their source material and original Broadway run length. Subsequent discussions center on diversity and genres of musicals recognized by the Tony Awards, followed by conclusions and predictions of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Broadway’s future and the influence of the ‘Best Musical’ Tony Award. The results of this study display observable patterns among the musicals surveyed, including screen (film/tv) being the most prominent source material and at least a 10–12 month run after the Tony Awards ceremonies for all ‘Best Musical’ winners.

scholarly journals Book Review: The Complete Book of 2000s Broadway Musicals

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
Tracy Carr
Keyword(s):  
Technical Information ◽  
Reference Source ◽  
Broadway Musical ◽  
Broadway Musicals

The Complete Book of 2000s Broadway Musicals is arranged by year and lists each Broadway musical chronologically. The introduction states that the purpose of the work is to “provide a convenient reference source that gives both technical information (such as cast and song lists) and commentary (including obscure details that personalize both familiar and forgotten musicals” (xi). As in Dietz’s other volumes in this series, the reader comes for the technical information, but stays for the commentary.

Oklahoma!

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Carter
Keyword(s):  
Musical Theater ◽  
Final Shape ◽  
Broadway Musical ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rodgers And Hammerstein ◽  
Theatre Guild

Oklahoma! premiered on Broadway on 31 March 1943 under the auspices of the Theatre Guild, and today it is performed more frequently than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. When this book was first published in 2007, it offered the first fully documented history of the making of the show based on archival materials, manuscripts, journalism, and other sources. The present revised edition draws still further on newly uncovered sources to provide an even clearer account of a work that many have claimed fundamentally changed Broadway musical theater. It is filled with rich and fascinating details about the play on which Oklahoma! was based (Lynn Riggs’s Green Grow the Lilacs); on what encouraged Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Guild to bring Rodgers and Hammerstein together for their first collaboration; on how Rouben Mamoulian and Agnes de Mille became the director and choreographer; on the drafts and revisions that led the show toward its final shape; and on the rehearsals and tryouts that brought it to fruition. It also examines the lofty aspirations and the mythmaking that surrounded Oklahoma! from its very inception, and demonstrates just what made it part of its times.

Dance of Death

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Winkler
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Heart Surgery ◽  
Open Heart Surgery ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Open Heart ◽  
Broadway Musical ◽  
Musical Comedy ◽  
Dance Of Death ◽  
Nonlinear Fashion

This chapter looks at Bob Fosse’s most ambitious film, the autobiographical All That Jazz. All That Jazz follows Joe Gideon, a director and choreographer very much like Fosse who is at a personal and professional crossroads as he prepares to direct a Broadway musical much like Chicago while simultaneously editing a film that looks a lot like Lenny. Following graphic footage of open-heart surgery and a series of metaphoric musical comedy turns by the women in his life, All That Jazz concludes with Gideon presiding over a combined funeral and wake for himself: a glamorous, high-energy floor show to end all floor shows. Here Fosse took the movie musical further than anyone had dared—not only in subject matter, but also in structure and pacing. Fosse tells this “putting on a show” musical in nonlinear fashion, with surprising juxtapositions, fragments, and time leaps.

History Has Its Eyes on You

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Maslon
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Pop Culture ◽  
Technological Advance ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Generational Change ◽  
Personal Preference ◽  
Broadway Musical ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Consumer Habits

A generational change at the beginning of the twenty-first century intersected with the technological advance of the Internet to provide a renaissance of Broadway music in popular culture. Downloading playlists allowed the home listener to become, in essence, his/her own record producer; length, narrative, performer were now all in the hands of the consumer’s personal preference. Following in the footsteps of Rent (as a favorite of a younger demographic), Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton emerged as the greatest pop culture/Broadway musical phenomenon of the twenty-first century; its cast album and cover recording shot up near the top of music’s pop charts. A rediscovery of the power of Broadway’s music to transform listening and consumer habits seems imminent with the addition of Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen to a devoted fan base—and beyond.

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