Musical Comedy in America: From The Black Crook to South Pacific, From The King & I to Sweeney Todd

By Glenn Litton, Cecil A. Smith, Cecil A. Smith

Book Overview

First Published in 1987. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0878305645
• ISBN13: 9780878305643
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.9" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

A great starting point for the Broadway lover's library

The United States has four great contributions to the arts: jazz, the movies, rock and roll, and the Broadway musical. No other country could have created the musical comedy. Its musical vocabulary comes from the fusion of European song forms, African-American harmony and rhythm, and Jewish irony and wit. This book is comprehensive enough to be a reference work, but it lends itself just as well to dropping in for a quick visit every now and then. Remember, though, that books like this all suffer from their authors' prejudices. Maybe not prejudices, but passions. There are some shows they have seen in person and then love (or hate) for the rest of their lives. The trick is in comparing those shows fairly to ones they have only read about. Honesty is the only answer is matters of passion.