Harry B. Smith: Dean of American Librettists (Forgotten Stars of the Musical Theater) (Hardcover)

~ Jo Franceschina (Author)
Key Phrases: touring repertoire, tryout tour, interpolated song, New York, Dramatic Mirror, Victor Herbert (more...)

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Product Description

Harry B. Smith was the most prolific writer of librettos for the American musical theatre in history with nearly half of his 300 works actually opening in New York City. In addition, Smith was instrumental in adapting and popularizing foreign musicals in America, enabling a significant influence of writing and composing styles on American shows. He worked with every major composer in American between 1880 and 1920, and consequently this examination of his work and process is highly instructive of the history of the American musical.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (June 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415938627
• ISBN-13: 978-0415938624
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,103,236 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent biography of an important forgotten figure, July 12, 2007

By	Michael Garber "PhD, scholar of songs" (South Salem, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Harry B. Smith was perhaps the most prolific lyricist and scriptwriter in the early American musical theatre. This biography of him is fun to read and exhaustive in its research. It is part of a series of books on these early neglected figures, all of which do not have footnotes. As a scholar, I thought I would find that frustrating, but the author very clearly indicates his sources in the text, and this procedure suffices perfectly adequately for most purposes. To learn about the man behind early operetta hits, from "Gypsy Love Song" (from The Fortune Teller) to "Yours Is My Heart Alone" (from an adaptation of Lehar's The Land of Smiles), is a great pleasure. Smith also wrote the scripts for many early musical comedies, such as Irving Berlin's Watch Your Step.