'Music and girls are the soul of musical comedy,' one critic wrote, early in the 1940s. But this was the age that wanted more than melody and kickline form its musical shows. The form had been running on empty for too long, as a formula for the assembly of spare parts--star comics, generic loves songs, rumba dancers, Ethel Merman. If Rodgers and Hammerstein hadn't existed, Broadway would have had to invent them; and Oklahoma! and Carousel came along just in time to announce the New Formula for Writing Musicals: Don't have a ...
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'Music and girls are the soul of musical comedy,' one critic wrote, early in the 1940s. But this was the age that wanted more than melody and kickline form its musical shows. The form had been running on empty for too long, as a formula for the assembly of spare parts--star comics, generic loves songs, rumba dancers, Ethel Merman. If Rodgers and Hammerstein hadn't existed, Broadway would have had to invent them; and Oklahoma! and Carousel came along just in time to announce the New Formula for Writing Musicals: Don't have a formula. Instead, start with strong characters and atmosphere: Oklahoma!'s murderous romantic triangle set against a frontier society that has to learn what democracy is in order to deserve it; or Carousel's dysfunctional family seen in the context of class and gender war. With the vitality and occasionally outrageous humour that Ethan Mordden's readers take for granted, the author ranges through the decade's classics--Pal Joey, Lady in the Dark, On the Town, Annie Get Your Gun, Finian's Rainbow, Brigadoon, Kiss Me, Kate, South Pacific. He also covers illuminating trivia--the spy thriller The Lady Comes Across, whose star got so into her role that she suffered paranoid hallucinations and had to be hospitalized; the smutty Follow the Girls, damned as 'burlesque with a playbill' yet closing as the longest-run musical in Broadway history; Lute Song, in which Mary Martin and Nancy Reagan were Chinese; and the first 'concept' musicals, Allegro and Love Life. Amid the fun, something revolutionary occurs. The 1920s created the musical and the 1930s gave it politics. In the 1940s, it found its soul.
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Add this copy of Beautiful Mornin': the Broadway Musical in the 1940s to cart. $3.49, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Oxford University Press.
Add this copy of Beautiful Mornin': the Broadway Musical in the 1940s to cart. $3.51, very good condition, Sold by Books From California rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Simi Valley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Oxford University Press.
Add this copy of Beautiful Mornin': the Broadway Musical in the 1940s to cart. $4.00, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Oxford University Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Beautiful Mornin': the Broadway Musical in the 1940s to cart. $4.00, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Diamond rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Oxford University Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Beautiful Mornin': the Broadway Musical in the 1940s to cart. $10.00, very good condition, Sold by Chaparral Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Portland, OR, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Oxford University Press.
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Very Good in Very Good jacket. Size: 9x1x6; Minor shelf wear to binding & edges of text block. Text and images unmarked. The dust jacket shows some light handling, in a mylar cover.
Add this copy of Beautiful Mornin': the Broadway Musical in the 1940s to cart. $12.00, very good condition, Sold by My Dead Aunt's Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hyattsville, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Oxford University Press.
Add this copy of Beautiful Mornin': the Broadway Musical in the 1940s to cart. $13.50, very good condition, Sold by Priceless Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Urbana, IL, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Oxford University Press Inc..
Add this copy of Beautiful Mornin': the Broadway Musical in the 1940s to cart. $14.82, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1999 by Oxford University Press.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 650grams, ISBN: 9780195128512.
Add this copy of Beautiful Mornin': the Broadway Musical in the 1940s to cart. $15.00, like new condition, Sold by Black Swan Books, Inc. rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lexington, KY, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Oxford University Press.
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Fine in Fine dust jacket. As New. The dust jacket is protected by a Brodart mylar cover and is not price clipped. Not an ex-library copy. No remainder marks. No names or marks in the text. Most books shipped within 24 hours. All books mailed with Delivery Confirmation in a heavy cardboard box. Unread. Fine condition in fine dust jacket. Selling Used and Rare books on line since April 1998 and from our bookstore in the heart of the Bluegrass since 1984.; 8vo.; x, 278 pages.
