Creating America on Stage : How Jewish Composers and Lyricists Pioneered American Musical Theater

Jill Gold Wright

ISBN 10: 363917142X / ISBN 13: 9783639171426

Edité par VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2009

A propos de cet article

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - Musical theater has long suffered the reputation ofbeing unrealistic and unsophisticated with no real social significance.However,musical theater has been an integral part of Americanculture since the early Twentieth Century. Specifically, it wasJewish composers and lyricists who created and defined America onstage. These writers were immigrants themselves, came fromimmigrant families, or grew up as second-generation Jews in a landtroubled by anti-Semitism; still, they were the ones who consideredAmerica a worthwhile topic for the stage. This book defines theunique attributes of Jewish music and lyrics, focusing onthe major works of Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George and IraGershwin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Embeddingcondemnations of America s social weaknesses into natural images ofthe landscape, they created a revolutionary depiction of America forthe musical stage. Especially useful for scholars of AmericanStudies, Jewish Studies, Drama, Music, and Popular Culture, and forBroadway aficionados, this book illustrates how what wasinitially considered mere casual entertainment actually became arenaissance in American theater.

N° de réf. du vendeur 9783639171426

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Creating America on Stage : How Jewish Composers and Lyricists Pioneered American Musical Theater
• Éditeur: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller
• Date de parution: 2009
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 363917142X
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9783639171426
• Reliure: Taschenbuch
• État de l'article: Neu
• Dimensions: 229 L x 155 H x 17 P (en millimètres) 229 millimètres de largeur par 155 millimètres de hauteur par 17 millimètres de profondeur
• Poids: 231 grammes

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Musical theater has long suffered the reputation of being unrealistic and unsophisticated with no real social significance. However, musical theater has been an integral part of American culture since the early Twentieth Century. Specifically, it was Jewish composers and lyricists who created and defined America on stage. These writers were immigrants themselves, came from immigrant families, or grew up as second-generation Jews in a land troubled by anti- Semitism; still, they were the ones who considered America a worthwhile topic for the stage. This book defines the unique attributes of ¿Jewish¿ music and lyrics, focusing on the major works of Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Embedding condemnations of America¿s social weaknesses into natural images of the landscape, they created a revolutionary depiction of America for the musical stage. Especially useful for scholars of American Studies, Jewish Studies, Drama, Music, and Popular Culture, and for Broadway aficionados, this book illustrates how what was initially considered mere casual entertainment actually became a renaissance in American theater.