Description
Book SynopsisTo see a Broadway musical is to experience how a drama, using melody, harmony, and rhythm, evokes the emotion needed to perpetuate a story line. Without music, many of these plays would not succeed, failing to convey the intended message. This new edition of Swain''s classic text, winner of the 1991 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, reveals how a musical drama achieves plot movement, character development and conflict through strategic placement of song and music in 20 musical plays. Unlike critical literature that has simply explored theatrical style and production histories, this survey focuses mainly on the power of music. Illustrated with more than 150 musical excerpts and essays, Swain includes the latest research and viewpoints of contemporary critics, offering insight into dramatic expression and how renowned composers including Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Jerry Bock, Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber influenced the Broadway musical. This provides insights into the many impres
Trade ReviewSwain's valuable survey contains a great deal of perceptive musical and dramatic criticism and analysis. -- Geoffrey Block, Author of Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim
Swain's study should convince even the sceptic that the musical can be seriously and usefully analysed….an essential book for those concerned with drama, song and popular arts. * Popular Music *
Swain's study should convince even the skeptic that the musical can be seriously and usefully analysed...an essential book for those concerned with drama, song, and popular arts....Swain has not only advanced the critical analysis of the Broadway musical, but has developed techniques that will enable the great composers of musicals to be given appropriate critical recognition. * Times Literary Supplement *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Preface to the First Edition Chapter 2 Preface to the Second Edition Chapter 3 1 Introduction Chapter 4 2 First Maturity Chapter 5 3 America's Folk Opera Chapter 6 4 Second Maturity Chapter 7 5 Morality Play as Musical Chapter 8 6 Shakespeare as Musical Chapter 9 7 The Pure Love Story Chapter 10 8 Myth as Musical Chapter 11 9 Tragedy as Musical Chapter 12 10 The Ethnic Musical Chapter 13 11 Religious Experience as Musical Chapter 14 12 History as Musical Chapter 15 13 Frame Story as Musical Chapter 16 14 Thriller as Musical Chapter 17 15 Epic as Musical Chapter 18 16 Epilogue Chapter 19 Endnotes Chapter 20 Index Chapter 21 About the Author
