From Assassins to West Side Story PDF Download

Author: Scott Miller
Publisher: Drama
ISBN: 9780435086992
Category : Musicals
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
In this smart and practical guide, Scott Miller looks at twenty musicals from a director's point of view.

Author: Scott Miller
Publisher: Drama
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
This is a book for all fans of musical theatre, and a must for directors and actors.

Author: Paul Laird
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135696780
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
Beginning with an introductory essay on his achievements, it continues with annotations on Bernstein's voluminous writings, performances, educational work, and major secondary sources.

Author: Scott Miller
Publisher: UPNE
ISBN: 1555537618
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
An endlessly entertaining and informative look at how musicals have both reflected and adapted to America's changing mores

Author: Scott Miller
Publisher: Heinemann Drama
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
The author pulls back the curtain on some of the greatest, most important American musicals, taking you on a tour of the milestones in the history of musical theatre. These are musicals that broke all the old rules and created new ones, and changed the way we looked at musical theatre forever: the savage political satire of The Cradle Will Rock in 1937; the surprisingly dark sexuality of Pal Joey in 1940; the profound innovations of Oklahoma! in 1943; the absurdist social satire of Anyone Can Whistle in 1964; the convention-shattering experiment that was Hair in 1967; the intimacy and emotional power of Jacques Brel in 1968; the provocative honesty of the gay-themed Ballad of Little Mikey in 1994; the abstract sophistication of the jazz/pop/R&B-flavored Songs for a New World in 1995; the emotional immensity of the "anti-spectacle" Floyd Collins in 1995; the overwhelming influence of the 1996 rock musical Rent. Offering insightful, provocative opinions on character, plot, musical and textual themes, lyrics, subtext, motivation, backstory, and historical context, the author reveals new details about what makes each one of these musicals great.

Author: Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People Theatre Archives (University of Guelph)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Vocal music
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description

Author: Scott Miller
Publisher: Heinemann Drama
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
"Strike Up the Band focuses not only on what happened on stage but also on how it happened and why it matters to us today. It's a different kind of history that explores the famous and, especially, the not-so famous productions to discover the lineage that paved the way to contemporary musicals. Digging into 150 shows, Miller offers a forward-looking perspective on treasures from each era--such as Anything Goes, West Side Story, Hair, and Rent--while also looking at fascinating, genre-busting, and often short-lived productions, including Bat Boy, Rocky Horror Show, Promenade, and The Capeman, to see how even obscure or commercially unsuccessful musicals defined and advanced the form. Moving decade by decade, Miller offers insight and inside information about the artistic approaches various composers, lyricists, bookwriters, and directors have taken, how those approaches have changed over time, and what social and historical forces continue to shape musical theatre today. He provides a strong sense of what groups have historically controlled the industry and how other groups' hard work and vision continue to change the musical theatre landscape for the better. In fact, Strike Up the Band opens a new and vitally important discussion of the roles played in the musical's history by people of color, by gays and lesbians, by people with disabilities, and by women. It frames musical theatre as an important, irreplaceable piece of American history and demonstrates how it reflects the social and political conditions of its time--and how it changes them." -- Publisher's description.

Author: Joanne Gordon
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 0786748249
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
The musical theatre of Stephen Sondheim probes deeply into the most disturbing issues of contemporary life. By challenging his audience with intricate music, biting wit, and profound themes, he flouts the traditional wisdom of the musical theatre. Tracing Sondheim's career from his initial success as lyricist for "West Side Story" and "Gypsy" to his most recent work - "Into the Woods" and "Assassins" - Joanne Gordon emphasizes not only the disturbing content of Sondheim's work, but his innovative use of form. In shows such as "A Little Night Music", "Sweeney Todd", and "Sunday in the Park with George", Sondheim's music and lyrics are inextricably woven into the fabric of the entire work.

Author: Raymond Knapp
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691186200
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
The American musical has achieved and maintained relevance to more people in America than any other performance-based art. This thoughtful history of the genre, intended for readers of all stripes, offers probing discussions of how American musicals, especially through their musical numbers, advance themes related to American national identity. Written by a musicologist and supported by a wealth of illustrative audio examples (on the book's website), the book examines key historical antecedents to the musical, including the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, nineteenth and early twentieth-century American burlesque and vaudeville, Tin Pan Alley, and other song types. It then proceeds thematically, focusing primarily on fifteen mainstream shows from the twentieth century, with discussions of such notable productions as Show Boat (1927), Porgy and Bess (1935), Oklahoma! (1943), West Side Story (1957), Hair (1967), Pacific Overtures (1976), and Assassins (1991). The shows are grouped according to their treatment of themes that include defining America, mythologies, counter-mythologies, race and ethnicity, dealing with World War II, and exoticism. Each chapter concludes with a brief consideration of available scholarship on related subjects; an extensive appendix provides information on each show discussed, including plot summaries and song lists, and a listing of important films, videos, audio recordings, published scores, and libretti associated with each musical.

Author: Nicholas Mosley
Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
ISBN: 9781564781529
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
As one of the characters in "Assassins" says, "Tolstoy was right, you can't beat the Gods. It's the small things - the warp and woof - that make up the pattern. And how much influence do we have over the small? Now that's a theme for a modern writer." And Nicholas Mosley is this writer. Part political thriller and part love story, "Assassins" explores the "small things" that give shape and meaning to the "big events."