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Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musica Theater
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Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musica Theater Hardcover - 2003

by John Bush Jones


From the publisher

Our Musicals, Ourselves is the first full-scale social history of the American musical theater from the imported Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas of the late nineteenth century to such recent musicals as The Producers and Urinetown. While many aficionados of the Broadway musical associate it with wonderful, diversionary shows like The Music Man or My Fair Lady, John Bush Jones instead selects musicals for their social relevance and the extent to which they engage, directly or metaphorically, contemporary politics and culture. Organized chronologically, with some liberties taken to keep together similarly themed musicals, Jones examines dozens of Broadway shows from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present that demonstrate numerous links between what played on Broadway and what played on newspapers' front pages across our nation. He reviews the productions, lyrics, staging, and casts from the lesser-known early musicals (the "gunboat" musicals of the Teddy Roosevelt era and the "Cinderella shows" and "leisure time musicals" of the 1920s) and continues his analysis with better-known shows including Showboat, Porgy and Bess, Oklahoma, South Pacific, West Side Story, Cabaret, Hair, Company, A Chorus Line, and many others. While most examinations of the American musical focus on specific shows or emphasize the development of the musical as an art form, Jones's book uses musicals as a way of illuminating broader social and cultural themes of the times. With six appendixes detailing the long-running diversionary musicals and a foreword by Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist of Fiddler on the Roof, Jones's comprehensive social history will appeal to both students and fans of Broadway.

First line

December 31, 1899: It was New Year's Eve, a small but gala evening of theaire in Manhattan.

Details

  • Title Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musica Theater
  • Author John Bush Jones
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 426
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Brandeis University Press, Hanover, New Hampshire, U.S.A.
  • Date April 1, 2003
  • ISBN 9781584653110 / 1584653116
  • Weight 1.67 lbs (0.76 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.25 x 6 x 1.23 in (23.50 x 15.24 x 3.12 cm)
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2003000240
  • Dewey Decimal Code 782.140

About the author

JOHN BUSH JONES is a retired Professor of Theater Arts at Brandeis University. He has written theater criticism for numerous journals and newspapers, including the Boston Phoenix, the Kansas City Star, the Boston Herald, and the New England Theater Journal. He has directed dozens of musicals in professional, community, and university theaters.
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Our Musicals, Ourselves : A Social History of the American Musical Theatre
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Our Musicals, Ourselves : A Social History of the American Musical Theatre

by Jones, John Bush

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Our Musicals, Ourselves : A Social History of the American Musical Theatre
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Our Musicals, Ourselves : A Social History of the American Musical Theatre

by Jones, John Bush

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ISBN 13
9781584653110
ISBN 10
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Our Musicals, Ourselves : A Social History of the American Musical Theatre
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Our Musicals, Ourselves : A Social History of the American Musical Theatre

by Jones, John Bush

  • Used
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ISBN 13
9781584653110
ISBN 10
1584653116
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Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theatre
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Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theatre

by Jones, John Bush

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