- Hardcover: 428 pages
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (22 May 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0521862388
- ISBN-13: 978-0521862387
- Product Dimensions: 24.6 x 17.5 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
142,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #45 in Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Performing Arts > Musicals
- #65 in Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Musicals
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
'This is a work of considerable genius … intelligent, incisive, informed, yet immensely readable.' Sheridan Morley
'This well-structured, beautifully argued and thought provoking compendium proves itself to be an indispensable guide.' Classical Music
' … the companion is well written, effectively organized, readable, and visually attractive, punctuated by well-placed photographs and playbills. Footnotes are provided for each essay; the bibliography is extensive; and the index includes a full coverage of shows, songs, dances, lyricists and composers. Because of the updated chapters and the extensive new material included in the later edition, it is well worth having, even if the reader also has the earlier 2002 edition.' Studies in Musical 4
'This well-structured, beautifully argued and thought provoking compendium proves itself to be an indispensable guide.' Classical Music
' … the companion is well written, effectively organized, readable, and visually attractive, punctuated by well-placed photographs and playbills. Footnotes are provided for each essay; the bibliography is extensive; and the index includes a full coverage of shows, songs, dances, lyricists and composers. Because of the updated chapters and the extensive new material included in the later edition, it is well worth having, even if the reader also has the earlier 2002 edition.' Studies in Musical 4
Product Description
Tracing the development of the musical on both Broadway and in London's West End, this updated Companion continues to provide a broad and thorough overview of one of the liveliest and most popular forms of musical performance. Ordered chronologically, essays cover from the American musical of the nineteenth century through to the most recent productions, and the book also includes key information on singers, audience, critical reception, and traditions. All of the chapters from the first edition remain – several in substantially updated forms – and five completely new chapters have been added, covering: ethnic musicals in the United States; the European musical; Broadway musicals in revival and on television; the most recent shows; and a case study of the creation of the popular show Wicked based on interviews with its creators. The Companion also includes an extensive bibliography and photographs from key productions.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Companion first appeared in 2002. This is the 2009 reprint of the 2008 revised update. Over 350 pages reveal how the world of the musical has developed and continues to evolve. A scholarly, very detailed examination of the scene before 1900 leads in stages to modern times and the creation of "Wicked".
Here is a fascinating addition to the reference shelf with, throughout, so much to applaud. Looked at in perspective are the trailblazers of the art form: the composers, lyricists, choreographers, producers - not to mention the shows still held in such esteem.
Particularly inspiring is the closely reasoned tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein - they masters of the fully integrated musical, enhanced by "the invention of brilliantly singable poetry". This book has no place for the fashionable snide comments about Andrew Lloyd Webber, full recognition instead given to all he has achieved - he forever inventive, mention even made of his television quest for Maria.
This is a work to enlighten, to raise the spirits. (It may even send the reader to revisit recordings perhaps not fully appreciated the first time round - as I subsequently did with Sondheim's "Assassins".) Over the decades the genre has occasionally flagged and needed the kiss of life. The Companion is a tribute to all those who gave it. Yes, truly cause to celebrate.
Here is a fascinating addition to the reference shelf with, throughout, so much to applaud. Looked at in perspective are the trailblazers of the art form: the composers, lyricists, choreographers, producers - not to mention the shows still held in such esteem.
Particularly inspiring is the closely reasoned tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein - they masters of the fully integrated musical, enhanced by "the invention of brilliantly singable poetry". This book has no place for the fashionable snide comments about Andrew Lloyd Webber, full recognition instead given to all he has achieved - he forever inventive, mention even made of his television quest for Maria.
This is a work to enlighten, to raise the spirits. (It may even send the reader to revisit recordings perhaps not fully appreciated the first time round - as I subsequently did with Sondheim's "Assassins".) Over the decades the genre has occasionally flagged and needed the kiss of life. The Companion is a tribute to all those who gave it. Yes, truly cause to celebrate.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
An excellent introduction to a vast subject
24 Mar 2003
Format:Paperback
Although my shelves are loaded with histories of the Broadway musical, there is always room for one more. So I really looked forward to reading "The Cambridge Companion to The Musical" (Cambridge University Press, 2002). When I saw there were only 265 pages of text (not counting bibliography and index), I doubted that they could adequately cover the field. Soon I began to realize that the "field" included American and British musicals, film musicals and film versions of stage musicals, and even recordings; and I just settled down to enjoy what amounts to a series of essays covering all these fields, none of them adequately but all of them interestingly.
There are fourteen chapters by various writers, organized into three parts. The first deals with "Adaptations and transformations before 1940" and includes essays on the early days of the American musical theatre in general, then in New York, operetta on both sides of the Atlantic, the Afro-American as depicted on stage, and the American musicals of the 1920s and 1930s. Part II covers the years from 1940 to 1970 and discusses the British theatre, Rodgers and Hammerstein, their successors, and Weill and Bernstein. Part III picks up the story with a disproportionately long chapter on Sondheim, the fully integrated musical, the film musical, rock, and the megamusical--which brings us into the present century with a lot of questions yet to be answered by way of projection.
In short, there are plenty of ideas packed into this short book and each one can lead you in several directions if you wish to follow up this or that idea. There are one or two piddling errors, such as calling "Yip Yip Yaphank" an "all-sailor vaudeville"; but in general what is said here is trustworthy, the opinions (mostly positive) about certain works and composers are informed opinions, the organization is very good. The few pictures, however, are not very helpful.
Yes, I would recommend this highly for those who want to begin to understand the complex evolution of the musical play by way of enough examples to form a solid basis before going on to books that deal with each of these topics in more detailed and expanded way.
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