Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.93 (654 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0415922860 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 352 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-04-29 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Along the way, Steyn memorably tweaks Andrew Lloyd Weber (a classic example of imperial overstretch), Stephen Sondheim and others. Taking the pulse of the Great White Way as a theater critic, he finds that Broadway shows have become amorphous creatures, products of the shifting interests of agglomerations of co-producers, fund-raisers, theater owners and provincial tour bookers. From Publishers Weekly Is Broadway musical theater in terminal decline, fed intravenously from London, in headlong retreat to operetta certainties, emotional platitudes and vapidly luxuriant tunes? Almost, but not quite, suggests Steyn in this delightful, irreverent romp through seven decades of American musical theater from Show Boat to Miss Saigon. With encyclopedi
Mark Steyn's Broadway Babies Say Goodnight is 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. 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.. 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. 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. Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, Gypsy, and more
liked it so much bought it twice One of my two favorite books. I read this when it first came out, misplaced it and repurchased for my library. I wish he would up date it. Steyn breezy style and interesting anecdotes make this just great. I am reading "The Secret Life of Broadway Musicals" now. Both give great insight.. Best review of Broadway in years The Great White Way is in trouble. It's condition is terminal but not serious, as the Russians say. Whatever you think of the causes for that, you will enjoy this book, if you love theatre. Mr. Steyn provides an excellent, if short history of Broadway, interspersed with lively criticism of the 'state of the stage'. Sondheim, in particular, receives some cutting thrusts. Reading it, I alternatively wanted to shout in . A history of Broadway as told by one who love's it This is one of those gem of a books that come along every once in a while. After the first reading I started all over again. The writing is that good. The book is laid out like a Broadway show, dividing itself into a two act play with scenes. In Act I, Mr. Steyn traces the evolution of the musical from its beginnings in Vienna through its importation to the America by European trained musicians to its eventual takeov