Product Description

The way some histories portray the advent of musicals, you'd think the genre emerged fully formed with Show Boat. Yet in truth, it took root decades earlier. In Strike Up the Band Scott Miller tells the whole story of musicals, pulling back the curtain on the amazing innovation and adventurousness of the art form, revealing its political and social conscience, and chronicling its incredibly rapid evolution over the last century.

Strike Up the Band focuses not only on what happened on stage but also on how it happened and why it matters to us today. It's a different kind of history that explores the famous and, especially, the not-so famous productions to discover the lineage that paved the way to contemporary musicals. Digging into 150 shows, Miller offers a forward-looking perspective on treasures from each era - such as Anything Goes, West Side Story, Hair, and Rent - while also looking at fascinating, genre-busting, and often short-lived productions, including Bat Boy, Rocky Horror Show, Promenade, and The Capeman, to see how even obscure or commercially unsuccessful musicals defined and advanced the form.

Moving decade by decade, Miller offers insight and inside information about the artistic approaches various composers, lyricists, bookwriters, and directors have taken, how those approaches have changed over time, and what social and historical forces continue to shape musical theatre today. He provides a strong sense of what groups have historically controlled the industry and how other groups' hard work and vision continue to change the musical theatre landscape for the better. In fact, Strike Up the Band opens a new and vitally important discussion of the roles played in the musical's history by people of color, by gays and lesbians, by people with disabilities, and by women. It frames musical theatre as an important, irreplaceable piece of American history and demonstrates how it reflects the social and political conditions of its time - and how it changes them.

On Broadway or off, Strike Up the Band is as adventuresome, detailed, and thoughtful in tracing the story behind the musical as it is in celebrating the form's diversity, vigor, innovation, and promise. Join Scott Miller not only in commemorating great moments on stage, but in gaining a powerful understanding of what the musical was, what it is today, and what it is becoming.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32844 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
SCOTT MILLER is the founder and artistic director of New Line Theatre, an alternative musical theatre company in St. Louis. He holds a degree in music and musical theatre from Harvard University, and he has been writing, performing in, and directing musicals since 1981. He has written four books on musical theatre for Heinemann, including Let the Sun Shine In (2003), Rebels with Applause (2001), Deconstructing Harold Hill (2000), and From Assassins to West Side Story (1996).

Customer Reviews

Straightforward, succint, interesting, and relevent
I'm not going to wax poetic but this is the PERFECT textbook for my high school musical theatre class. It is written at a level that is accessible to students but doesn't pander. It is well researched and informative but still includes occasional editorial comments that remind us that the author is human and really does have a personality. I appreciate the fact that the book is relatively short and will not overwhelm someone who just picks it up and wants to travel chronologically through the history of the American musical. Obviously, Miller's book is not exhaustive and he admits this up front. He doesn't waste time talking about musicals that weren't socially or theatrically important or influential (The Sound of Music) but also touches on a few groundbreaking but relatively underrated shows like Little Johnny Jones. The best thing about this book is that Miller takes a decade like the 1940s (arguably one of the most rich and influential periods in musical theatre) and gives us the basics in fifteen pages. But he hits ALL the high points. That book is such a great jumping off point for so many great discussions because Miller really does a good job showing the *development* of musical theatre and its connectivity to their contemporaneous social and political conditions. Overall, this is just a refreshing and sophisticated rendering of musical theatre that doesn't get bogged down in trivialities or tangents. Miller keeps moving and consequently, keeps us looking forward. THANK YOU!

My ONLY two complaints... Miller considers Porgy and Bess an opera and therefore omits it entirely. Also, I wish there was a hardcover edition.... as a textbook, the paperbacks will not stand up well to the abuse of high school students :)

Awesome review!
Great turn-around time. Arrived quickly and in great condition. Would buy from them again!!

Thanks!!

Very clever and insightful distilled overview
This is a very clever and insightful distilled overview, and as a performer I appreciate his experience as a performer, director and producer all of which informs his deep academic research. He has a strong, unapologetic author's viewpoint which makes for more interesting reading.