Customer Reviews

The Musical: A Look at the American Musical Theater

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is good introductory reading for high school students who are seriously interested in theater. A wonderful yet solid history of the American theater occupies the front half of the book, but historical threads are found throughout. There is an insightful chapter on Sondheim and his creative processes. The section entitled "Elements of Musical Theater" is at times tedious reading, but informative. Kislan's "Problems and Issues"(what's wrong with the present Broadway scene)is an eye-opener. Some drawbacks: Much has happened to the theater since this 1995 edition. I would love an updated third edition. Many of the musical examples mentioned are in every theater-lover's listening library, but a new edition should include an accompanying recording(or at the very least a CD and/or video guide). This would be particularly helpful with regard to very early 20th century musical theater. Also, there are many wonderful musicals, composers & lyricists, and librettists who are not even referenced(Loesser,{Guys & Dolls is mentioned}Comden/Green, Schwartz{Pippin's there, too} to name a few). Surely their contributions are significant. My students have enough savvy to catch these omissions. They'll want to know why. Still in all, this is a good textbook for our youth.

A plain vanilla introductory text suitable for students who find themselves taking a musical theater course to fill an elective. Because young people are less familiar with the history and art of musical drama than film, the highly accessible prose and tabloid formatting of this text would make it useful in a college as well as high school course. Readers who already count themselves as students of the theater, on the other hand, can not afford to miss Gerald Mast's comprehensive and savvy history, "Can't Help Singin'."

But most of us don't. I bought this book expecting a history of the musical, and there are some interesting chapters on historical antecedents of the modern musical. But when it hits the 20th century, it bogs down in technical details of interest only to aspiring professionals: how to write good lyrics, how to structure the plot, even what's wrong with the NY theater district. Deadly dull stuff. No discussion of great performers, no analyses of individual musicals, nothing.

I have used this book as the text for a high school course on the broadway musical and found it to be excellent. It is not overly technical but has a nice user friendly feel for the novice. The historical thread it establishes from Kern to Hammerstein to Sondheim is crucial to understanding where we are and how we got here. Obviously there are other important influences, but it is a fine text to focus a very broad topic on the seminal developers of the form. Michael P. Smith, Hamden Hall Country Day School

Richard Kislan shows care and concern in his research on the subject, and the facts he reports seem accurate. He is at his best on his chapters about the elements of musical theater, including the book, lyrics, the score, dance and design. Here he provides some nice insights, and the objective character of these topics compliments his writing skills. Unfortunately, his more subjective chapters on the history of the American musical reveal a turgid, laborious writing style that mitigates the effectiveness of his good research and organization of information. The paucity of information about musicals after 1980 (despite the 1995 revision) is an additional liability. The reasonable price of the book makes it still a good value despite the shortcomings.

When I was ordering this book I read a review which claimed that the book was really good, except for giving too many details about how creating lyrics, what good music in theater is and things like that.
Now that I've finished reading it, there's just a word which comes up to my mind: AMAZING!
The book is complete not only for telling us the History of the Musical Theater but also for making us aware of what elements constitute a good spectacle. Therefore, what some readers have considered a problem I absolutely consider very very very relevant extra information, mainly for those who study the Musical Theater for academic purposes, which is my case. I recommend the book!

A useful history of the American musical theatre form. Only gripe? It took 3 weeks to arrive, making the purchas completely unnecessary given the timetable for research I was bound to. I had presumed 2 weeks was ample lead time to receive the book. Alas, it was not to be. It sits on my shelf unused.

I did not read the book. I purchased as a gift. Recipient delighted with it. Arrived as advertised.