Musical Theatre

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Contents: 1 A very good place to start: The beginning, up to the eighteenth century; 2 Early musical theatre in America, 1735-1865; 3 First stirrings, 1866-1902; 4 The turn of the century, 1900-07: A new era of great American songwriters begins; 5 The Princess and the great revues, 1907-20; 6 The Jazz Age, 1920-29: A period of great songwriters; 7 A double whammy, 1929-39: The Great Depression and talking movies threaten the Broadway musical; 8 A bright golden haze, 1939-45: The American musical comes of age; 9 The Golden Age, 1945-64: An era of great musical dramatists; 10 The search for relevancy, 1964-70; 11 New directions, 1970-82; 12 Joint ventures and mega-musicals, 1982-93: British rule; 13 The corporate musical, 1993-2001; 14 The new millennium, 2001-14

Contains over 4,000 entries with production and performance information, characters, and plot summaries. Does not include information about opera, pantomime, revue, dance shows, or musical film and television. Covers works in France, Austria, Germany, England, and America. Lacks an index. Discographies are brief.

Facts on over 1,800 songs from over 500 musicals from 1886 through 1994. Gives information on the song's author, original performers, and dates and history of recording. Brief glossary of theatre music terms. Bibliography.

- Volumes 1 & 2 "focus on 4,863 shows from Broadway musicals to regional productions, from television musicals to ice shows, from nightclub scores to foreign shows by American writers, and many others. Each entry...contains not only more commonly known information -- such as the name and type of show, the cast list, composer, librettist, lyricist, director, producer, and choreographer -- but also lesser-known facts. In addition, each entry contains a complete list of all the songs in the show -- including those that were cut or written but not performed."
- Volumes 3 & 4, subtitled The Complete Companion to Tin Pan Alley Song, explore "the work of major pop songwriters from 'Tin Pan Alley' not included either in a Broadway show or film from the period 1880 to today. This carefully researched encyclopedia covers 125 composers with hundreds of entries on each."

Covers songs, both published and unpublished, from 1891 through 1983. Title listing with name of composer and lyricist, plus name and date of the show in which the song appeared. Index of composers, lyricists, and authors; alphabetical list of shows; chronology of shows.

Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception & Performance Data of More Than 1,800 Shows

"The gorgeous illustrations in this season-by-season chronology of every musical comedy, operetta, comic opera, burlesque, and revue performed on a major New York City stage from 1851 through May 2001 might be enticement enough to acquire this set. Entries for more than 3,000 plays include details such as the full cast, crew, production staff, venues, number of performances, creative personnel, and songs, which are listed as they occur within acts when this information is known. Three indexes cover song titles, show names, and names of principal players and famous chorus members. Leaving appraisal and plot summaries to other classic references, these volumes are the most in-depth documentary source on the New York musical stage available, with a chapter that carries the timeline for selected plays back to 1750."

"With this expanded and updated third edition, theatre-lovers can possess, in one volume, a comprehensive survey of American musical theatre, from (probably) the first musical performed on American soil - the 1735 South Carolina production of "Flora, or Hob in the Well" - right up to the 1999-2000 Broadway season. Spanning more than 250 years and covering a wide spectrum of musical entertainments - musical comedy, revues, opera bouffe, operetta, and others - this new edition extends its reach to include productions typically overlooked in works of this kind. Bordman incorporates into this edition entries on numerous non-Broadway musicals - productions from Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and elsewhere - that often were the training ground for many theatre greats, as well as entries on one-man and one-woman shows of recent decades. And in addition to providing show-by-show and season-by-season commentary and assessment, Bordman offers authoritative summaries of the general artistic trends and developments of each season, allowing readers to gain a larger perspective on the history of musical theatre. Song, show, and people indexes, along with the chronological format, enhance the book's accessibility and make it easy to search for individual performances."

4th edition with updated coverage through 2010

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With more than two thousand entries, this book offers a wealth of information on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers, and much more. There are biographical entries on stars ranging from Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby to Mary Martin and Mae West as well as such contemporary show-stoppers as Nathan Lane, Savion Glover, and Kristin Chenowith; on composers ranging from Irving Berlin and George Gershwin to Richard Rodgers and Andrew Lloyd Webber; and on choreographers such as Bob Fosse, Tommy Tune, and Debbie Allen. The plays and films covered range from modern hits such as Mamma Mia! and Moulin Rouge to timeless classics such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and Show Boat. Also, many musicals written specifically for television are included, and many entries follow a work (such as Babes in Toyland) as it moves across genres, from stage, to film, to television. The Companion also includes cross references, a comprehensive listing of recommended recordings, and a useful chronological listing of all the musicals described in the book.