Ethan Mordden

On Sondheim (eBook, ePUB)

An Opinionated Guide

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

In On Sondheim, renowned author Ethan Mordden takes the reader on a tour of Stephen Sondheim's work, arguing for the importance and appeal of the composer-lyricist in American theater and, even more, in American culture. Over the course of eighteen shows, Mordden demonstrates that Sondheim is a classical composer who happens to write musicals. Sondheim has intellectualized the musical by tackling serious content usually reserved for the spoken stage: nonconformism (in Anyone Can Whistle, 1964), history (in Pacific Overtures, 1976), and cannibalism as a metaphor for class warfare (Sweeney Todd, 1979). Yet his work combines complex music and intellectual plots with a masterly skill for the fabric of theatre. His shows are all intensely theatrical, produced with flair and brilliance, whether in the lush operetta of A Little Night Music (1973) or the quixotic fairy-tale magic of Into the Woods (1987). Mordden provides fresh insights and analyses of every Sondheim show, from his first hit (West Side Story, 1957) to his most recent title (Road Show, 2008). Each musical has a dedicated chapter, including articles on Sondheim's life and his major influences, and comprehensive bibliographical and discographical essays place the Sondheim literature and recordings in perspective. Writing with his usual blend of the scholarly and the popular - with a wicked sense of humor - Ethan Mordden reveals why Stephen Sondheim has become Broadway's most significant voice in the last fifty years.

---

Dieser Download kann aus rechtlichen Gründen nur mit Rechnungsadresse in A, B, BG, CY, CZ, D, DK, EW, E, FIN, F, GR, HR, H, IRL, I, LT, L, LR, M, NL, PL, P, R, S, SLO, SK ausgeliefert werden.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Oxford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 304
• Erscheinungstermin: 19. November 2015
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780199395019
• Artikelnr.: 44176078

Autorenporträt

Ethan Mordden has long been recognized as an authority on the American musical, and is the author of such books as Anything Goes: A History of American Musical Theater, Make Believe: The Broadway Musical in the 1920s, Beautiful Mornin': The Broadway Musical in the 1940s, and Coming Up Roses: The Broadway Musical in the 1950s. He lives in Manhattan.

Inhaltsangabe

Preface
Sondheim's Chronology
An Introduction To Sondheim's Life and Art
Sondheim's Mentors and the Concept Musical
Sondheim's Shows
Saturday Night
West Side Story
Gypsy
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Anyone Can Whistle
Do I Hear a Waltz?
Company
Follies
A Little Night Music
Pacific Overtures
Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Merrily We Roll Along
Sunday in the Park with George
Into the Woods
Assassins
Passion
The Frogs
Road Show
Sondheim on Film
A Selective Bibliography
A Selective Discography
Index