Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now
"An eccentric, funny, shrewd book . . . absorbing and amusing reading."\ --The New York Times Book Review\ The glorious tradition of the Broadway musical from Irving Berlin to Jerome Kern and Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim. And then . . . Cats and Les Miz. Mark Steyn's Broadway Babies Say Goodnight is a sharp-eyed view of the whole span of Broadway musical history, seven decades of brilliant achievements the best of which are among the finest works American artists have made....
Search in google:
"An eccentric, funny, shrewd book . . . absorbing and amusing reading." --The New York Times Book Review The glorious tradition of the Broadway musical from Irving Berlin to Jerome Kern and Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim. And then . . . Cats and Les Miz. Mark Steyn's Broadway Babies Say Goodnight is a sharp-eyed view of the whole span of Broadway musical history, seven decades of brilliant achievements the best of which are among the finest works American artists have made. Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, Gypsy, and more. In an energetic blend of musical history, analysis, and backstage chat, Mark Steyn shows us the genius behind the 'simple' musical, and asks hard questions about the British invasion of Broadway and the future of the form. In this delicious book he gives us geniuses and monsters, hits and atomic bombs, and the wonderful stories that prove show business is a business which -- as the song goes --there's no business like. New York Times Book Review - Robert Gottlieb Until recently there has been only a small shelf of good books on the subject....Now we have a new eccentric, funny, shrewd and somewhat dismaying book....a dangerously flawed book, yet one that, for anyone intrested in the musical, is absorbing and amusing reading.
Overture: The Fix3Act One11iThe Op'nin'13iiThe Show22iiiThe Music29ivThe Lyrics45vThe Book62viThe Jews74viiThe Cues88viiiThe Take-home Tune104ixThe Property117xThe Genius128Intermission: The Real World149Act Two161iThe Brits163iiThe Line178iiiThe Fags196ivThe Rock213vThe Jokes228viThe Star241viiThe Flops254viiiThe Depilators262ixThe Maximalist273xThe Future287Exit Music: The Survivor307Acknowledgements319Bibliography324Index326
\ Robert GottliebUntil recently there has been only a small shelf of good books on the subject....Now we have a new eccentric, funny, shrewd and somewhat dismaying book....a dangerously flawed book, yet one that, for anyone intrested in the musical, is absorbing and amusing reading. \ —New York Times Book Review\ \ \ \ \ Steven DrukmanMark Steyn has written a somewhat scabrous book about Broadway musicals. Charting the twisted road of the genre's history, Steyn leaves no turn unstoned, touching on every unlikely permulation from Abba to Zorba....At last, a book of theater criticism with real teeth; it may rankle, but it never bores.\ — OUT Magazine\ \ \ Publishers Weekly\ - Publisher's Weekly\ Is Broadway musical theater in terminal decline, fed intravenously from London, in headlong retreat to operetta certainties, emotional platitudes and vapidly luxuriant tunes? Almost, but not quite, suggests Steyn in this delightful, irreverent romp through seven decades of American musical theater from Show Boat to Miss Saigon. Taking the pulse of the Great White Way as a theater critic, he finds that Broadway shows have become amorphous creatures, products of the shifting interests of agglomerations of co-producers, fund-raisers, theater owners and provincial tour bookers. His breezy yet substantial surveya spontaneous mix of vibrant history, juicy gossip, plot and song analysis and pungent criticismloses its fizz about halfway through, yet it is filled with gimlet insights into the craft and business of musicals and valuable close-ups of old-timers (Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein, novelist/lyricist P.G. Wodehouse, the Gershwins, Damn Yankees creator George Abbott, etc.) as well as more recent figures (such as producer David Merrick and choreographer/directors Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett). Separate in-depth chapters cover the massive creative contributions of Jews and gays to the Broadway musical; other chapters offer a scathing look at British musicals and skewer rock musicals from Hair to Rent. Along the way, Steyn memorably tweaks Andrew Lloyd Weber (a classic example of imperial overstretch), Stephen Sondheim and others. With encyclopedic knowledge and unabashed passion for the best of Broadway, Steyn explains how an art form has embedded itself into our cultural vocabulary. (May)\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalSteyn, theater critic for the Wall Street Journal, has written a loosely focused set of chapters on various aspects of the musical--music, lyrics, book, procedures--and on the influence Jews, gays, and the British have had on the form. The best musicals (of which Gypsy, 1959, is his pick for all-time greatest) are like three-piece suits, in which book, lyrics, and music blend as an ensemble. The "invasion" of the British shows of Andrew Lloyd-Webber (Cats, etc.), the "age of the technomusical spectacle," and the increasingly self-referential nature of many recent shows have led to the "death of theatrical culture and its metaphorical power." Although his thesis is too simplistic and his argument poorly constructed, Steyn's extensive knowledge of the musical's history and his provocative commentary will be enjoyed by many musical theater buffs. Recommended for public and graduate-level academic libraries with strong performing arts collections.--Robert W. Melton, Univ. of Kansas Libs., Lawrence Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ BooknewsColumnist and theatre critic combines musical history, analysis, and backstage chat to explore the seven decades of the Broadway musical tradition. He discusses the British invasion of Broadway, the future of the form, geniuses and monsters, hits and bombs, and stories about the business. He includes no illustrations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\ \ \ \ \ Donald Lyons...Steyn attempts an autopsy of the genre. Peppered with puns, wisecracks, anecdotes, and interviews, the book does not pretend to be a history; it's a series of freeze-frame slides taken from a spy satellite.\ — National Review\ \ \ \ \ Robert GottliebUntil recently there has been only a small shelf of good books on the subject....Now we have a new eccentric, funny, shrewd and somewhat dismaying book....a dangerously flawed book, yet one that, for anyone intrested in the musical, is absorbing and amusing reading.\ — The New York Times Book Review\ \ \ \ \ David M. BurnsMark Steyn is passionate about the glorious tradition of the musical theater, and he shows us that something has gone seriously wrong...This book is full of puns and backstage anecdotes. Mr. Steyn knows the history of Broadway (and West End) musicals, and he makes us care that the current crop lacks conviction and craft. He excoriates meretricious gimmicks, and he makes us yearn for shows that are authentic and belivable because they are rooted in human experience.\ — The Wall Street Journal\ \
