Description
Book SynopsisNational Identity and the British Musical: From Blood Brothers to Cinderella examines the myths associated with national identity which are reproduced by the British musical and asks why the genre continues to uphold, instead of challenging, outdated ideals. All too often, UK musicals reinforce national identity clichés and caricatures, conflate England' with Britain' and depict a mono-cultural nation viewed through a nostalgic lens. Through case studies and analysis of British musicals such as
Blood Brothers, Six, Half a Sixpence and
Billy Elliot, this book examines the place of the British musical within a text-based theatrical heritage and asks what, or whose, Britain is being represented by home grown musicals. The sheer number of people engaging with shows bestows enormous power upon the genre and yet critics display a reluctance to analyse the cultural meanings produced by new work, or to hold work to account for production teams and narratives which continu
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. Say It's Just a Show: The Musical as a British Cultural Artefact 2. ‘Kyan Wait to get to Inglan’: National Identity and the British Musical 3. Solidarity Forever!: Depictions of the Class Divide 4. Too Many Years Lost in His Story: The Absent Female Voice 5. A Cat So Clever: Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Reinvention of the British Musical 6. I Can Smile at the Old Days: Nostalgia and the British Musical 7. We Can Turn Over and Start Again…: The Way Forward
Selected Bibliography
