- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA; New Ed edition (26 Feb 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195167309
- ISBN-13: 978-0195167306
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 17.3 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 413,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.50
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.50, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
|
There is a newer edition of this item:
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Suffused with enthusiasm, decency, and common sense, Block is a nimble and exacting maestro [He] accomplishes the essential task of all good criticism: he enables us to see the musicals with a greater depth than we could likely manage on our own, and, by fortifying us with his insights, encourages a return to the shows for another look."-- Foster Hirsch, Kurt Weill Newsletter
"I can't think of another book, on any subject, in which the author shows such firm control over his materials, in this case scholarly as well as journalistic writing on the Broadway musical, reviews of shows, correspondence, the music itself, and archival materials of various sorts relating to the early stages of creation. Enchanted Evenings is fascinating, original, compelling."--Charles Hamm, Professor Emeritus of Music, Dartmouth College, and author of Irving Berlin: 1907-1914
"Enchanted Evenings contributes substantially to the intellectual history of the American musical theater. And those who rea
Product Description
The classic musicals of Broadway can provide us with truly enchanted evenings. But while many of us can hum the music and even recount the plot from memory, we are often much less knowledgeable about how these great shows were put together. What was the inspiration for Rodgers and Harts Pal Joey, or Rodgers and Hammersteins Carousel? Why is Marias impassioned final speech in West Side Story spoken, rather than sung? Now, in Enchanted Evenings, Geoffrey Block offers theatre lovers an illuminating behind-the- scenes tour of some of the best loved, most admired, and most enduring musicals of Broadways Golden Era. Readers will find insightful studies of such all-time favorites as Show Boat, Anything Goes, Porgy and Bess, Carousel, Kiss Me, Kate, Guys and Dolls, The Most Happy Fella, My Fair Lady, and West Side Story. Block provides a documentary history of fourteen musicals in all--plus an epilogue exploring the plays of Stephen Sondheim--showing how each work took shape and revealing, at the same time, production by production, how the American musical evolved from the 1920s to the early 1960s, and beyond. The book's particular focus is on the music, offering a wealth of detail about how librettist, lyricist, composer, and director work together to shape the piece. Drawing on manuscript material such as musical sketches, autograph manuscripts, pre-production librettos and lyric drafts, Block reveals the winding route the works took to get to their final form. Block blends this close attention to the nuances of musical composition and stagecraft with trenchant social commentary and lively backstage anecdotes. Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Kurt Weill, Frank Loesser, Leonard Bernstein, Sondheim, and other luminaries emerge as hardworking craftsmen under enormous pressure to sell tickets without compromising their dramatic vision and integrity. Opening night reviews and accounts of critical and popular response to subsequent revivals show how particular musicals have adapted to changing times and changing audiences, shedding light on why many of these innovative shows are still performed in high schools, colleges, and community theaters across the country, while others, such as Weills One Touch of Venus or Marc Blitzsteins The Cradle Will Rock, languish in comparative obscurity. Packed with information, including a complete discography and plot synopses and song-by-song scenic outlines for each of the fourteen shows, Enchanted Evenings is an essential reference as well as a riveting history. It will deepen readersappreciation and enjoyment of these beloved musicals even as it delights both the seasoned theater goer and the neophyte encountering the magic of Broadway for the first time.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
The central subjects in this book are fourteen "book" musicals that premiered on Broadway between the late 1920s and the late 1950s, beginning with Show Boat (1927) and ending with West Side Story (1957). Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
The central subjects in this book are fourteen "book" musicals that premiered on Broadway between the late 1920s and the late 1950s, beginning with Show Boat (1927) and ending with West Side Story (1957). Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Enchanted Evenings is a thrilling and informative insight into the history of the American Musicals of 1927 to the present day. This is a book clearly worthy of anyone interested in this field, not only as a way to research the Development of Broadway over the past 75 years, but also to harness and obtain a true sense of why todays musicals are what they are.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I can't start to describe how useful this book was during my a-levels and i highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in the field. Truly indespensible, everything you need to know. This is THE book for musicals!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Review of Geoffrey Block's 'Enchanted Evenings'
29 Jan 1998
Format:Hardcover
The contents of this book are very thorough, complete, and factual. The subject is very interesting, but if you don't understand music, he is sometimes hard to follow. He was my professor and this was a class text. Without his oral interpretation, I was, at times, left wondering what he meant. The book is filled with great pictures and original score. If your interested in how musicals are created, definately read this book.
Well done
28 Jun 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
A detailed analysis of the Broadway Musical. Very helpful to the student or scholar.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful
This author knows music but not theatre
10 Dec 2005
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Block clearly knows his music theory, but he doesn't really understand musical theatre in any serious way. If you want some college music theory analysis of some show tunes, you might like this -- if you want insights into musical theatre, you won't get much of value here. And more than that, he appears to be one of those who believes musicals today all suck and only the old-fashioned ones have any value. All in all, not a great book...
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
