Review (PDF) Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical From Show Boat To Sondheim
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. 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 Broadway's Golden Era. In this documentary history, we find insightful studies of fourteen musicals in all including such all-time favorites as Show Boat, Anything Goes, Porgy and Bess, Kiss Me, Kate, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, and West Side Story. The book's particular focus is on the music, showing how librettist, lyricist, composer, and director work together to shape the piece. Block sheds light on why particular musicals have adapted to changing times and are still performed in high schools, colleges, and community theaters across the country, while others 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, this book is an essential reference as well as a riveting history.
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press (February 26, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0195167309
ISBN-13: 978-0195167306
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 1.3 x 6.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #2,059,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #76 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Sondheim #789 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater > Broadway & Musicals #1195 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Musical Genres > Musicals
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.
This book is informative, but a little academic. Author Geoffrey Holden Block analyzes fourteen influential musicals from SHOW BOAT (1927) to WEST SIDE STORY (1957), listed below*. The emphasis is on changes made to these shows during their composition; the ideal reader of this book is someone with a good grasp of music, in particular the ability to read line music. Note that about a fourth of this 400-page book consists of supplementary material: stage settings (and how they were changed in revival), longest runs, and a discography that by now is a little dated. Best for students, or armchair readers with a flair for musicology.*The musicals: SHOW BOAT, ANYTHING GOES, PORGY AND BESS, ON YOUR TOES, PAL JOEY, THE CRADLE WILL ROCK, LADY IN THE DARK, ONE TOUCH OF VENUS, CAROUSEL, KISS ME KATE, GUYS AND DOLLS, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA, MY FAIR LADY, and WEST SIDE STORY.The newer revised edition (Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber 2nd (second) Edition by Geoffrey Holden Block published by Oxford University Press, USA (2009)) extends the chronology.
A detailed analysis of the Broadway Musical. Very helpful to the student or scholar.
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...
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