American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle [Hardcover]

Gerald Bordman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 1992 | ISBN-10: 0195072421 | ISBN-13: 978-0195072426 | Edition: 2

Gerald Bordman's American Musical Theatre has become a landmark book since its publication in 1978. It chronicles American musicals, show by show and season by season, and offers a running commentary and assessment as well as providing the basic facts about each production. This updated edition includes the new shows that have opened on Broadway since the original publication. Also included are over a hundred musicals that were turn-of-the-century, cheap-priced touring shows which never played Broadway, but were the training ground for many theatre greats.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Bordman's exhaustive chronology traces the musical from its origins through the 1989-90 season, providing a delightful mix of history, criticism, and theatrical lore. This second edition revises and updates the first ( LJ 10/1/78) and expanded (Oxford Univ. Pr., 1986) editions, most notably in its appendix which covers early popular musical shows and farce-comedies that were not part of mainstream Broadway. Bordman is one of our best critical historians of musical theater, and this very readable work is still the last word on the subject. A required purchase for libraries with either the first edition or no edition at all; those with the expanded version might get by until the next edition.
- Eric W. Johnson, Teikyo Post Univ. Lib., Waterbury, Ct.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Surely one of the most thorough treatments of the subject to be produced."--RBB/Booklist

"There has never been a better book on the subject; it will be referred to again and again by theatregoers and scholars....An extraordinary work."--West Coast Review of Books

"THE reference book for the American musical theatre....A remarkable achievement."--Musical Opinion

"Fun to read...his book must have been a labor of love. Happily, Mr. Bordman's love is reflected in the joy...with which this book has been written."--The New York Times

"A chronicle of unapproached detail, sweep and relish. In Bordman our musical theater has found a fresh and affectionate chronicler."--The Washington Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 832 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (May 28, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195072421
• ISBN-13: 978-0195072426
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.1 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,086,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Paragraph description on EVERY show, June 21, 2004

By 

T. Sparfeld (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Musical Theater: A Chronicle (Hardcover)

I just finished reading all 821 pages of this book (no pictures), and am very proud of myself for having done so.

This reference book chronicles Musical Theatre in America, show-by-show, starting in 1757 (!) and reaching all the way to 2000. Paragraphs are given for each show and can be found in chronological order of their opening nights. Revivals are also discussed on their opening nights.

Despite the repetitive setup of the book's information, Bordman is able for the most part to write entertaining yet dense descriptions of the show's plot, hit songs, message, and overall run. Although he spends more time on Musical Theatre's great hits (the biggest hits get a full page or two), some of Bordman's best writing moments come during his descriptions of some of Broadway's awful flops.

Other reviewers of this book criticize that Bordman has less to say about musicals since 1960. I find this also to be true in some respects. In Bordman's defense, this is in part due to the decline in Broadway's quality in the 1970s and 80s. Bordman clearly comes from the camp of critics who feel that The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Cats, while popular, are not as artistically relevant as Oklahoma! and Show Boat. Bordman is also no fanatic of Sondheim, as well, although he recognizes his lyric-writing genius. For these reasons, the book gets four stars.

Having read the entire book, however, I must say that I know a lot more about American Musical Theatre than I did before, and probably know more by reading this book than by reading any other. For libraries this book is a MUST have. It's not cheap, but neither is any other 900-page hardcover book. If you are looking for the ultimate reference on American Musical Theatre, this is it.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A major disappointment, April 16, 2003

By 

I. Sondel "I. Sondel - lover of the arts" (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Musical Theater: A Chronicle (Hardcover)

If you love musical theatre works from 1866 thru 1960 - this is the book for you. Exhaustively researched. However, if you never ended the affair, and love Sondheim, Coleman, Fosse, Kander & Ebb, Champion, Lapine, Tune, Bennett, McNally, Herman, Hamlisch, Patinkin, Peters and LuPone - well, this probably ISN'T the book for you. The first 100 years are wonderfully detailed. Six paragraphs on "Show Boat" alone. Great. However, the author seems to have lost interest in his subject matter. The greatest shows of the past forty years are lucky to get a single paragraph. The last sections of the book feel passionless and rushed, the reportage at best perfunctory. It's too bad that someone like Ethan Mordan couldn't revisit and revise these decades. $ - wow! Listen, buy a used copy of the first edition (it goes up to 1978), than look for some of Mordan's books or Ken Mendelbaum's "Not Since Carrie."

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Opinion overrides facts in this less-than-essential tome, July 20, 2005

By 

Mark Andrew Lawrence "Theatre Reviewer" (Toronto) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Musical Theater: A Chronicle (Hardcover)

In a reference book covering virtually every musical to open on Broadway through the 1989 season, Bordman provides opening dates and theatres for each show.

Unfortunately, Bordman comes across as stuffy old professor who doesn't much like his subject matter. He feels the Broadway musical reached its peak with ROSE MARIE (1924), has little use for the advances in book writing made by Oscar Hammerstein, and has a major dislike of Stephen Sondheim. He downplays the major advances in musical theatre made in the 1970s by Hal Prince, Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett, and others. He also takes an annoying condescending approach to most serious musicals preferring the fun and frivolity of the operettas and musical comedies of the 1920s. Of course the author is entitled to his opinion, but the book would be more useful if he delved more deeply into the reasons why this type of entertainment has changed, instead of just bemoaning the changes.

While it is somewhat useful to have the key data in one volume, the stuffiness or the writing, the lack of insight and the fact that the book is now 15 years out-of-date render it less than essential.