The musical as drama : a study of the principles and conventions behind musical shows from Kern to Sondheim / Scott McMillin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McMillin, Scott, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Musicals--United States--History and criticism.

Musicals.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (249 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2006]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Derived from the colorful traditions of vaudeville, burlesque, revue, and operetta, the musical has blossomed into America's most popular form of theater. Scott McMillin has developed a fresh aesthetic theory of this underrated art form, exploring the musical as a type of drama deserving the kind of critical and theoretical regard given to Chekhov or opera. Until recently, the musical has been considered either an "integrated" form of theater or an inferior sibling of opera. McMillin demonstrates that neither of these views is accurate, and that the musical holds true to the disjunctive and irreverent forms of popular entertainment from which it arose a century ago. Critics and composers have long held the musical to the standards applied to opera, asserting that each piece should work together to create a seamless drama. But McMillin argues that the musical is a different form of theater, requiring the suspension of the plot for song. The musical's success lies not in the smoothness of unity, but in the crackle of difference. While disparate, the dancing, music, dialogue, and songs combine to explore different aspects of the action and the characters. Discussing composers and writers such as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Leonard Bernstein, and Jerome Kern, The Musical as Drama describes the continuity of this distinctively American dramatic genre, from the shows of the 1920's and 1930's to the musicals of today.

Contents:

Integration and difference

The book and the numbers

Character and the voice of the musical

The ensemble effect

The drama of numbers

The orchestra

Narration and technology : systems of omniscience

What kind of drama is this?

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (pages [213]-219) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691164625

0691164622

9781400865406

1400865409

OCLC:

894227096