The musical as drama : a study of the principles and conventions behind musical shows from Kern to Sondheim

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Bibliographic Information

The musical as drama : a study of the principles and conventions behind musical shows from Kern to Sondheim

Scott McMillin

Princeton University Press, c2006

  • : hardcover
  • : [pbk.]

Available at  / 13 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-219) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: hardcover ISBN 9780691127309

Description

Derived from the colorful traditions of vaudeville, burlesque, revue, and operetta, the musical has blossomed into America's most popular form of theater. Scott McMillin has developed a fresh aesthetic theory of this underrated art form, exploring the musical as a type of drama deserving the kind of critical and theoretical regard given to Chekhov or opera. Until recently, the musical has been considered either an "integrated" form of theater or an inferior sibling of opera. McMillin demonstrates that neither of these views is accurate, and that the musical holds true to the disjunctive and irreverent forms of popular entertainment from which it arose a century ago.Critics and composers have long held the musical to the standards applied to opera, asserting that each piece should work together to create a seamless drama. But, McMillin argues that the musical is a different form of theater, requiring the suspension of the plot for song. The musical's success lies not in the smoothness of unity, but in the crackle of difference. While disparate, the dancing, music, dialogue, and songs combine to explore different aspects of the action and the characters. Discussing composers and writers such as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Leonard Bernstein, and Jerome Kern, "The Musical as Drama" describes the continuity of this distinctively American dramatic genre, from the shows of the 1920s and 1930s to the musicals of today.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii Preface ix CHAPTER ONE: Integration and Difference 1 CHAPTER TWO: The Book and the Numbers 31 CHAPTER THREE:Character and the Voice of the Musical 54 CHAPTER FOUR: The Ensemble Effect 78 CHAPTER FIVE: The Drama of Numbers 102 CHAPTER SIX: The Orchestra 126 CHAPTER SEVEN: Narration and Technology: Systems of Omniscience 149 CHAPTER EIGHT: What Kind of Drama Is This? 179 Bibliography 213 Index 221
Volume

: [pbk.] ISBN 9780691164625

Description

Derived from the colorful traditions of vaudeville, burlesque, revue, and operetta, the musical has blossomed into America's most popular form of theater. Scott McMillin has developed a fresh aesthetic theory of this underrated art form, exploring the musical as a type of drama deserving the kind of critical and theoretical regard given to Chekhov or opera. Until recently, the musical has been considered either an "integrated" form of theater or an inferior sibling of opera. McMillin demonstrates that neither of these views is accurate, and that the musical holds true to the disjunctive and irreverent forms of popular entertainment from which it arose a century ago. Critics and composers have long held the musical to the standards applied to opera, asserting that each piece should work together to create a seamless drama. But McMillin argues that the musical is a different form of theater, requiring the suspension of the plot for song. The musical's success lies not in the smoothness of unity, but in the crackle of difference. While disparate, the dancing, music, dialogue, and songs combine to explore different aspects of the action and the characters. Discussing composers and writers such as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Leonard Bernstein, and Jerome Kern, The Musical as Drama describes the continuity of this distinctively American dramatic genre, from the shows of the 1920s and 1930s to the musicals of today.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii Preface ix CHAPTER ONE: Integration and Difference 1 CHAPTER TWO: The Book and the Numbers 31 CHAPTER THREE:Character and the Voice of the Musical 54 CHAPTER FOUR: The Ensemble Effect 78 CHAPTER FIVE: The Drama of Numbers 102 CHAPTER SIX: The Orchestra 126 CHAPTER SEVEN: Narration and Technology: Systems of Omniscience 149 CHAPTER EIGHT: What Kind of Drama Is This? 179 Bibliography 213 Index 221

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