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Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical
 
 
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Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical [Paperback]

Ethan Mordden (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Book Description

0195054253 978-0195054255 June 23, 1988
Vividly recreating the unique pleasure of experiencing a song-and-dance show, Broadway Babies spotlights the men and women who made a difference in the development of American musical comedy. Mordden's account features such show people as Florenz Ziegfeld, Harold Prince, Bert Lahr, Gwen Verdon, Angela Lansbury, Victor Herbert, Liza Minnelli, and Stephen Sondheim, and such musicals as Sally, Oh Kay!, Anything Goes, Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Follies, Chicago, and countless others.
While theatrical historians traditionally have emphasized the role of the authors of musicals, Mordden also examines the personal styles of the directors, choreographers, and producers, in order to demonstrate not only what the musical became but what it was. The volume includes an extensive discography--the first of its kind--which offers a virtually self-contained history of recorded show music.

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Customers buy this book with The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen: The Last Twenty-Five Years of the Broadway Musical $25.22

Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical + The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen: The Last Twenty-Five Years of the Broadway Musical


Editorial Reviews

Review

"A spirited and vivid account of the evolution of musical theater in America."--San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

"Mordden's judgment is good, his information is solid, but it's the fun he has in conveying his debate that's winning....He entertains, he instructs, he's theatre-wise....What better credentials for a worthy historian of the Broadway musical?"--John Lahr, The Literary Review

"These pages contain knowing analyses and showbiz wisdom...[and are] rich in detail....The main dinosaur tracks of American comedy theater have been astutely traced by Broadway Babies."--Variety

"[A] lively and knowledgeable assessment."--Backstage

"A punchy, enthusiastic buff's book."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

"This lively, thought-provoking history chronicles the musical's rise from the turn-of-the-century extravaganza....a nice piece of work."--Publishers Weekly

"The best book yet written on the American musical."--Times Literary Supplement

"A particularly insightful analyst of music, Mordden writes about musical styles with much technical skill....The book focuses upon the creative artists who were dominant in each era of the musical's history....a fresh and worthwhile approach."--Theatre Journal

"Probably the freshest, most original thinker discoursing on popular arts today....[Mordden's] facts are almost always indisputable...and his perceptions are compelling."--Theatre Studies

About the Author


Ethan Mordden has taught at Yale University and is the author of eighteen books, including The American Theatre, A Guide to Orchestral Music, Opera in the Twentieth Century, and A Guide to Opera Recording.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 23, 1988)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0195054253
  • ISBN-13: 978-0195054255
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #685,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential!, November 1, 2009
This review is from: Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical (Paperback)
If I could only have one book on the American musical this would be it. Mordden goes into much more detail in his decade by decade books on the genre, but his major themes, brash perceptions, and constant wit are laid out with style and precision in this volume, which takes the musical to the time of Sweeney Todd.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hit tune, dat man, sical comedy, dream ballet, charm songs, musical play, star comic
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Broadway Babies, Show Boat, New York, The Girls, Bloomer Girl, The Desert Song, The New Style of Score, Marilyn Miller, Act Two, Man River, Victor Herbert, Eddie Cantor, Cotton Blossom, South Pacific, Gertrude Lawrence, Naughty Marietta, West Side Story, Can't Help, Cole Porter, Florenz Ziegfeld, The Top Banana, Anything Goes, The State of the Art, Good News, Peter Pan
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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