Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now

by Steyn,Mark

• ISBN13: 9780415922869
• ISBN10: 0415922860
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781136685088
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-04-14
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE
• More Book Details

Summary

"An eccentric, funny, shrewd book . . . absorbing and amusing reading." --The New York Times Book Review The glorious tradition of the Broadway musical from Irving Berlin to Jerome Kern and Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim. And then . . . Cats and Les Miz. Mark Steyn'sBroadway Babies Say Goodnightis a sharp-eyed view of the whole span of Broadway musical history, seven decades of brilliant achievements the best of which are among the finest works American artists have made. Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, Gypsy, and more. In an energetic blend of musical history, analysis, and backstage chat, Mark Steyn shows us the genius behind the 'simple' musical, and asks hard questions about the British invasion of Broadway and the future of the form. In this delicious book he gives us geniuses and monsters, hits and atomic bombs, and the wonderful stories that prove show business is a business which -- as the song goes --there's no business like.

Author Biography

Mark Steyn is a columnist for Britain's Daily Telegraph and Canada's National Post. He is theatre critic of The New Criterion, North American correspondent of the Spectator, and also contributes to The Wall Street Journal and The American Spectator. He lives in New Hamphire and Quebec.

Table of Contents

Overture: The Fix	3	(8)
Act One	11	(150)
The Op'nin'	13	(9)
The Show	22	(7)
The Music	29	(16)
The Lyrics	45	(17)
The Book	62	(12)
The Jews	74	(14)
The Cues	88	(16)
The Take-home Tune	104	(13)
The Property	117	(11)
The Genius	128	(33)
Intermission: The Real World	149	(12)
Act Two	161	(158)
The Brits	163	(15)
The Line	178	(18)
The Fags	196	(17)
The Rock	213	(15)
The Jokes	228	(13)
The Star	241	(13)
The Flops	254	(8)
The Depilators	262	(11)
The Maximalist	273	(14)
The Future	287	(32)
Exit Music: The Survivor	307	(12)
Acknowledgements	319	(5)
Bibliography	324	(2)
Index	326