The No1 Ethical retailer for Books, CD’s, DVD’s & Games
30 Day Refund Guarantee

Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim

Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim

by Geoffrey Block (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2004

    $3.24

  • Used

    Hardcover 1997

    $3.24
Synopsis

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.

$3.24

Save:$10.51 (76%)

Quantity

1 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 432
 Edition: 2
 Publisher: OUP USA
Published: 26 Feb 2004
ISBN 10: 0195167309
ISBN 13: 9780195167306

Media Reviews
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 read Geoffrey Block's book with memories of these works in their ears are sure to experience moments of recognition and joy. --Richard Crawford, School of Music, University of
Michigan
A trained musicologist, Block...provides wonderful close readings of musical scores that are detailed enough to fascinate Broadway devotees but not so dry that they will fail to enlighten novices. --Booklist
A solid and frequently fascinating work that should become a model of how to investigate and report on the evolution of a muscial.... [Block's] research is persuasive and his writing vivid.... Enchanted Evenings is indispensable for anyone who cares to know more about Broadway musicals than
Playbill can provide... --Steven Bach, Los Angeles Times Book Review
Enchanted Evenings shows how the genre has transformed from the 1920s to the present, with a keen understanding of musical forms and structures and of the evolution of the unique collaborative quartet of librettist, composer, lyricist and director. --American Theatre


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 read Geoffrey Block's book with memories of these works in their ears are sure to experience moments of recognition and joy. --Richard Crawford, School of Music, University of
Michigan
A trained musicologist, Block...provides wonderful close readings of musical scores that are detailed enough to fascinate Broadway devotees but not so dry that they will fail to enlighten novices. --Booklist
A solid and frequently fascinating work that should become a model of how to investigate and report on the evolution of a muscial.... [Block's] research is persuasive and his writing vivid.... Enchanted Evenings is indispensable for anyone who cares to know more about Broadway musicals than
Playbill can provide... --Steven Bach, Los Angeles Times Book Review
Enchanted Evenings shows how the genre has transformed from the 1920s to the present, with a keen understanding of musical forms and structures and of the evolution of the unique collaborative quartet of librettist, composer, lyricist and director. --American Theatre


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 read Geoffrey Block's book with memories of these works in their ears are sure to experience moments of recognition and joy. --Richard Crawford, School of Music, University of
Michigan
A trained musicologist, Block...provides wonderful close readings of musical scores that are detailed enough to fascinate Broadway devotees but not so dry that they will fail to enlighten novices. --Booklist
A solid and frequently fascinating work that should become a model of how to investigate and report on the evolution of a muscial.... [Block's] research is persuasive and his writing vivid.... Enchanted Evenings is indispensable for anyone who cares to know more about Broadway musicals than
Playbill can provide... --Steven Bach, Los Angeles Times Book Review
Enchanted Evenings shows how the genre has transformed from the 1920s to the present, with a keen understanding of musical forms and structures and of the evolution of the unique collaborative quartet of librettist, composer, lyricist and director. --American Theatre

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 read Geoffrey Block's book with memories of these works in their ears are sure to experience moments of recognition and joy. --Richard Crawford, School of Music, University of Michigan
A trained musicologist, Block...provides wonderful close readings of musical scores that are detailed enough to fascinate Broadway devotees but not so dry that they will fail to enlighten novices. --Booklist
A solid and frequently fascinating work that should become a model of how to investigate and report on the evolution of a muscial.... [Block's] research is persuasive and his writing vivid.... Enchanted Evenings is indispensable for anyone who cares to know more about Broadway musicals than Playbill can provide... --Steven Bach, Los Angeles Times Book Review
Enchanted Evenings shows how the genre has transformed from the 1920s to the present, with a keen understanding of musical forms and structures and of the evolution of the unique collaborative quartet of librettist, composer, lyricist and director. --American Theatre

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 read Geoffrey Block's book with memories of these works in their ears are sure to experience moments of recognition and joy. --Richard Crawford, School of Music, University of Michigan
A trained musicologist, Block...provides wonderful close readings of musical scores that are detailed enough to fascinate Broadway devotees but not so dry that they will fail to enlighten novices. --Booklist
A solid and frequently fascinating work that should become a model of how to investigate and report on the evolution of a muscial.... [Block's] research is persuasive and his writing vivid.... Enchanted Evenings is indispensable for anyone who cares to know more about Broadway musicals than Playbill canprovide... --Steven Bach, Los Angeles Times Book Review
Enchanted Evenings shows how the genre has transformed from the 1920s to the present, with a keen understanding of musical forms and structures and of the evolution of the unique collaborative quartet of librettist, composer, lyricist and director. --American Theatre


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 read Geoffrey Block's book with memories of these works in their ears are sure to experience moments of recognition and joy. --Richard Crawford, School of Music, University of Michigan


A trained musicologist, Block...provides wonderful close readings of musical scores that are detailed enough to fascinate Broadway devotees but not so dry that they will fail to enlighten novices. --Booklist


A solid and frequently fascinating work that should become a model of how to investigate and report on the evolution of a muscial.... [Block's] research is persuasive and his writing vivid.... Enchanted Evenings is indispensable for anyone who cares to know more about Broadway musicals than Playbill can provide... --Steven Bach, Los Angeles Times Book Review


Enchanted Evenings shows how the genre has transformed from the 1920s to the present, with a keen understanding of musical forms and structures and of the evolution of the unique collaborative quartet of librettist, composer, lyricist and director. --American Theatre


Author Bio

Geoffrey Block is Professor of Music at the University of Puget Sound School of Music, in Tacoma, Washington. He has published widely on the Broadway musical and is also the author of three books on Charles Ives.