Product Description

Many of today's Broadway shows, from Rent to The Lion King, have become commercial hits, but do they have the cultural importance or the dramatic and musical artistry of such enduring productions as Oklahoma!, Show Boat, or Kiss Me, Kate?

Mark N. Grant traces the transformation of singing and melody, libretto and lyric writing, dance rhythms, sound design, and choreography and stage direction through three distinct eras: the formative period (1866-1927), the golden age (1927-1966), and the fall (1967 to the present). He explores how and why the unsophisticated genre of pre-1927 musical comedy evolved into the creative, innovative, and immensely popular theatre produced by the likes of Rodgers and Hammerstein and then steadily faded as a significant entertainment genre in American culture, giving rise to the "McMusicals" of today.

This provocative, sometimes irreverent work offers a refreshing perspective on the history of American musical theatre and provides strong views on restoring the genre to its former greatness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #702594 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 380 pages

From Booklist
Grant on the Broadway musical is a product of the scholarly love of thorough research and the journalistic ability to present information in a lively, readable manner. Grant aims to forge a theory of why, for a time in the mid-twentieth century, the Broadway musical was on the cutting edge of popular culture and why it no longer has that vigor and spirit. He systematically studies the many factors that influenced musicals: the rise of the microphone, changing tastes in music, the shift of creative power from writing teams to choreographer-directors. He has clearly thought long and hard about these topics but never gets bogged down in minutiae or strays into postmodern academic jargon. Anyone passingly familiar with American pop music will be able to follow, for example, his argument that much of the vigor of American show tunes resulted from the change in singing styles from those favored for operettas to those preferred by jazz and blues singers, which made lyrics more understandable and gave lyricists reason to polish their lines more carefully. Jack Helbig
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"In scholarly yet readable prose, studded with revealing examples, Grant treats changes in singing, lyrics, music, and dance, and the introduction of microphones and sound enhancement. Grant's documentation demonstrates a find command of the literature, and he furnishes an excellent bibliography. Essential."--Choice

"What makes Grant's book well worth reading is his thoughtful, multipronged analysis of the Golden Age musicals."--Current Musicology

"A serious, provocative dissection of tuners . . . a well researched, scholarly and opinionated book of regrets and hopes." --The Hour (Norwalk, CT)

"The most important and provocative book on musical theatre in more than a decade . . . a must-read for anyone who cares about Broadway musicals, a book that will be discussed for years to come." --John Kenrick, Musicals101.com

Review
"Ambitious, generally fascinating, and often provocative . . . an astounding addition to the literature on the American musical . . . I enthusiastically recommend this book to people who take musicals seriously." (Alan Gomberg, Talkin' Broadway )

Customer Reviews

The Fabulous Musical Invalid
An homage to the Golden Age of Broadway musicals (c. 1927-64), this analytical overview is musically astute and well-plumbed for detail, dissecting virtually every hit or should-have-been hit of the period. The pre-Golden Age is examined, too, with its froth and silliness exposed yet again. Contemporary composers and directors are skewered in contrast: the microphone destroyed singing, rock music killed the musical, librettos are dead, and no one can write lyrics any more except Sondheim. Though your hackles may rise at some points in the narrative (I do like SOME of Flaherty and Ahrens), there really are no substitutes for Gershwin, Weill, Porter, R&H, Bernstein and Larry Hart, right? Check out this passionate, professionally-crafted tome and share it with your Broadway-geek friends. Lively repartee will ensue!

Negative and nasty, with one exception
The Rise and Fall of the Broadway Musical is among the most critical books written about the subject. Mr. Grant picks apart almost every aspect of the genre, espeically the writers of today- Maury Yeston, Ahrens and Flaherty, even Stephen Sondheim! He finds fault with nearly every director of musicals- Fosse, Prince, Bennett, Tune, Champion (not Jerome Robbins though, thankfully) and really seems to dislike any musical that isn't Carousel or Gypsy.
How are the new writers and directors of today supposed to create new work for the musical theatre when they are harshly criticized by authors such as this one? While many new musicals and new authors of musicals are not particularly good, the ones Mr. Grant picks apart are not in this category. Nine by Maury Yeston is one of Broadway's best scores. Ahrens and Flaherty's Ragtime is a wonderful piece. And who in God's name could criticize Sondheim?
Mr. Grant does make one interesting point, that Hello, Dolly! killed the musical (You'll have to read the book to learn why). Because of that, I suggest reading this book. However, you can stop once you've read that part.

Excellent information & research, but author's contemptuous tone grates
"The Rise and Fall of the Broadway Musical" is largely what the title says: a detailing of the musical theatre's evolution into the so-called "golden age" of the 40's through the 60's, and subsequent descent into near-obsolesence and irrelevence. I am torn on this book, because the exhaustive and extensive research done by Grant provides a fascinating look at the form, from forgotten composers of early operettas in the late 19th-early 20th century to little-known facts and analysis of the most popular theatre composers of the golden age. In particular, his discussion and insights into the musical influences of composers is surprising and in some cases even shocking, such as Leonard Bernstein "borrowing" some of his WEST SIDE STORY melodies from earlier operetta, or the possibility that prolific orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett may have been the true unheralded genius behind shaping the primitive work of Berlin, Rodgers, Kern, etc. into memorable tunes.

On the other hand, I frequently found Grant's attitude towards contemporary shows ("contemporary" meaning every show post-1966, according to his definition) and his air of elitism annoying and borderline insufferable. His analysis from a musical standpoint of how the "classic Broadway sound" naturally reveals character and emotions better than the "rock beat" driving many newer shows is interesting, but ultimately fails to really prove his point. In other sections, Grant flies through the "modern" era of Broadway after an obsessively detailed account of an aspect of pre-1966 shows, dismissing all shows as inferior and banal and lumping them all into one category. This, in my opinion, is his largest shortcoming--how does Jason Robert Brown's PARADE (1998) fit into the same category as Andrew Lloyd Webber's SUNSET BOULEVARD (1995), or Ahrens & Flaherty's MY FAVORITE YEAR (1993) with Adam Guettel's FLOYD COLLINS (1999)? To his credit, he does attempt a few specific critcisms of certain shows and songs at certain points, such as a musical analysis/comparison of a classic showtune with a contemporary one, but again, ultimately his point is obtuse and not readily apparent (not to mention very difficult to follow if the reader has no musical training).

I wanted to give this book 5 stars, but had to knock it down to 4 because of the author's unfortunate generalizations of contemporary Broadway and general air of contempt. I disagree with many of Grant's opinions, but he has definitely made me think, and in spite of his tone it is almost certain that any fan of Broadway musicals who reads "The Rise and Fall..." will come away with a new appreciation for the art form.