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Limited to: Words in the TITLE "secret life of the American musical"
Author Viertel, Jack (Theatrical producer), author
Title The secret life of the American musical : how Broadway shows are built / Jack Viertel
Publ&date New York : Sarah Crichton Books, 2016
℗♭2016
Rating Rating
book jacket
LOCATION CALL NO. STATUS
 ADULT  792.6 Viertel    AVAILABLE

Details

Edition First edition
ISBN 9780374256920 hardcover
0374256926
9780374711252 electronic book
0374711259
Descript xvii, 312 pages ; 24 cm
Content Overture -- Curtain up, light the lights : opening numbers -- The wizard and I : the "I want" song -- If I loved you : conditional love songs -- Put on your Sunday clothes : the noise -- Bushwhacking 1 : second couples -- Bushwhacking 2 : villains -- Bushwhacking 3 : the multiplot, and how it thickens -- Adelaide's lament : stars -- Tevye's dream : tent poles -- La vie boha⁺ѓeme : curtain: act 1 -- Intermission -- Clambake : curtain up: act 2 -- Suddenly Seymour : the candy dish -- All er nothin' : beginning to pack -- The small house of Joseph Smith, the American Moses : the main event -- I thought you did it for me, momma : the next-to-last-scene -- You can't stop the beat : the end -- Curtain call : how Woodie Guthrie -- of all people -- changed Broadway musicals forever -- Listening to Broadway
Summary "Americans love musicals. Americans invented musicals. Americans perfected musicals. But what, exactly, is a musical? In [this book], Jack Viertel takes them apart, puts them back together, sings their praises, marvels at their unflagging inventiveness, and occasionally despairs over their more embarrassing shortcomings. In the process, he invites us to fall in love all over again by showing us how musicals happen, what makes them work, how they captivate audiences, and how one landmark show leads to the next"--Dust jacket flap
Note Includes index
Subject Musicals -- United States -- History and criticism
Musicals -- United States -- Analysis, appreciation