American musical theatre : a chronicle /

Bordman, Gerald Martin, 1931-2011

American musical theatre : a chronicle / Gerald Bordman. - Expanded edition - New York : Oxford University Press, 1986. - viii, 787 pages ; 24 cm.

Includes index.

Chapter 1-Prologue: Origins to 1866
Chapter 2-Act One: Early successes
Scene One: Opera Bouffe and Native elements, 1866-1878
Scene Two: H.M.S. Pinafore and the Great Transformation, 1878-1892
Chapter 3-Intermission: Further British Influences and New Stirrings, 1892-1902
Chapter 4-Act Two: The Emergence of American Talent, 1902-1907
Chapter 5-Intermission: Viennese Operetta and the American Retreat, 1907-1914
Act Three: the Birth of the Modern Musical, 1914-1921
Intermission: The Cinderella Era, 1921-1924
At Four: The Golden Age of the American Musical, 1924-1937
Scene One: Songwriters' Shows as Pure Entertainment, 1924-1929
Scene Two: Depression and "Talkies"
Broadway's Answer, 1929-1937
Intermission: Broadway's Response to the Swing Era
Chapter 10- Act Five: The American Musical as a Conscious Art Form
Scene One: Americana amid a New Seriousness, 1942-1951
Scene Two: Increasing Problems
Lowering Standards, 1951-1965
Epilogue: Exhaustion and the Search for New Directions, 1965-1985
Appendix I
Appendix II
Index-Shows and Sources
Songs
People

Beginning with an introductory chapter on our lyric stage before 1866, Bordman covers every musical that has ever opened on Broadway, offering a plot synopsis and a description of the physical production of each. In addition, the book contains numerous biographies of actors, song writers, librettists, and producers

0195040457 (pbk. : alk. paper) 9780195040456 (pbk. : alk. paper)

86008385


Musicals--History and criticism.--United States
Musicales --Historia y crítica

ML 1711 / B729a 1986

782.8/1/0973