From Broadway To Hollywood The Evolution Of Sound In Film Musicals

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From Broadway to Hollywood - The Evolution of Sound in Film Musicals

Author : Christian Simon
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
ISBN 13 : 3638315924
Total Pages : 21 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (383 download)

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Book Synopsis From Broadway to Hollywood - The Evolution of Sound in Film Musicals by : Christian Simon

Download or read book From Broadway to Hollywood - The Evolution of Sound in Film Musicals written by Christian Simon and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2004-10-16 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7 (A-), LMU Munich, language: English, abstract: “Everybody comes to Hollywood; they wanna make it in the neighborhood. They like the smell of it in Hollywood (...)”, lines of a famous Madonna song from last year. Hollywood, the purpose-built dream factory at the West Coast of the United States and the filmic center of the world produces countless films and movies every year. The unprecedented success story of the Californian film industry is a summary of work, imagination, hopes, and dreams of many talented and gifted human beings. The HOLLYWOOD sign atop of Mount Lee was erected in 1923. Originally, it read HOLLYWOODLAND and intended to draw attention to new housing developments in the nearby Hollywood Hills. Nowadays, the sign symbols the world’s gateway for fantasies and dreams. In the United States, the film industry started to emerge in New York City and was later joined by steadily growing and stronger forces in California. Over time, the center of the industry moved across the country and set foot in Los Angeles. Films started out with static, silent pictures and without sound. In 1928, sound was added to movies for the very first time, in that way giving birth to the film musical. Film musicals further encouraged fantasies and became one of the industry’s largest and most successful genres at the beginning of a new era. In the following paragraphs, I want to explain the formation of the talkies by means of one of its most successful divisions – the film musical. Altogether, when things happened, where, why, and in which order is not clearly recognizable any more. For these causes, I want to develop a strongly intertwined scheme of a cycle of histories as well as analyzing sociological, political, technological, ideological and other relevant factors of the time to describe the evolution and outstanding success of the Hollywood musical. First, technical advancements at the beginning of the last century and the birth of Hollywood have to be given a close look to examine the entertainment industry which grew rapidly around and after the turn from the 19th to the 20th century. The reason for this shift towards more time for leisure activities went hand in hand with the fewer hours workers had to spend for their duties, tasks and responsibilities. Originally intended to save labor capacity, industrial innovations like the assembly line and other new, time-saving technologies passed their ways through in the employment market. [...]

The First Hollywood Musicals

Author : Edwin M. Bradley
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 9780786420292
Total Pages : 404 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (22 download)

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Book Synopsis The First Hollywood Musicals by : Edwin M. Bradley

Download or read book The First Hollywood Musicals written by Edwin M. Bradley and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2004-08-25 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Hollywood entered the sound era, it was rightly determined that the same public fascinated by the novelty of the talkie would be dazzled by the spectacle of a song and dance film. In 1929 and 1930, film musicals became the industry's most lucrative genre--until the greedy studios almost killed the genre by glutting the market with too many films that looked and sounded like clones of each other. From the classy movies such as Sunnyside Up and Hallelujah! to failures such as The Lottery Bride and Howdy Broadway, this filmography details 171 early Hollywood musicals. Arranged by subgenre (backstagers, operettas, college films, and stage-derived musical comedies), the entries include studio, release date, cast and credits, running time, a complete song list, any recordings spawned by the film, Academy Award nominations and winners, and availability on video or laserdisc. These data are followed by a plot synopsis, including analysis of the film's place in the genre's history. Includes over 90 photographs.

The Movie Musical from Vitaphone to 42nd Street, as Reported in a Great Fan Magazine

Author : Miles Kreuger
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Movie Musical from Vitaphone to 42nd Street, as Reported in a Great Fan Magazine by : Miles Kreuger

Download or read book The Movie Musical from Vitaphone to 42nd Street, as Reported in a Great Fan Magazine written by Miles Kreuger and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relive the excitement of the beginning of "talking pictures" and the movie musical, see all the hoopla and headlines for the new "100% Talking-Singing-Dancing" movies, read about the screen performances and private lives of the new film stars--it's all here in one beautiful package, everything you could want to know about the movie musical in its crucial, formative years, 1926 to 1933. Just as they appeared in the pages of a great fan magazine durin thsi time are every movie review, cast list, ad, and record review, and every significant feature article, production still, biography, forecast, and gossip story. You will find hundreds of photographs, including scenes from films, photo stories, pictures in ads, and full-page glamor photos of such "new" stars as Jeanette MacDonald, Maurice Chevalier, Lillian Roth, Marilyn Miller, and Marlene Dietrich. Dozens of full-page ads bring you the actual publicity efforts that went on for each film. Feature stories tell you about the lives of Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Bing Crosby, Eddie Cantor, Bessie Love, Jimmy Durante, Joe E. Brown, and others, and feature articles report on the new process of sound movies, voice dubbing, the new songwriters in Hollywood, the extra girls, and more. Finally there are reviews and complete cast lists of all the movie musicals: My Man with Fannie Brice, The Desert Song (1929), Show Boat (1929), The Cocoanuts with the Marx Brothers, Hollywood Revue of 1929, King Vidor's Hallelujah, Ernst Lubitsch's The Love Parade, The Vagabond Lover with Rudy Vallee, Montana Moon with Joan Crawford, Happy Days, Cecil B. DeMille's Madam Satan, and many others. All are arranged chronologically by month and year, and exhaustive indexes catalog all the films and performers. The editor, Miles Kreuger, head of the Institute of the American Musical and the foremost authority on Hollywood musicals, has provided an introduction outlining the little-known history of sound films from the 1890s through 1928 and has written informative brief texts for each of the following years through 1933 and for a final section on Record Reviews.

The Hollywood Film Musical

Author : Barry Keith Grant
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1405182539
Total Pages : 197 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis The Hollywood Film Musical by : Barry Keith Grant

Download or read book The Hollywood Film Musical written by Barry Keith Grant and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-04-23 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This revealing history of the American film musical synthesizes the critical literature on the genre and provides a series of close analytical readings of iconic musical films, focusing on their cultural relationship to other aspects of American popular music. Offers a depth of scholarship that will appeal to students and scholars Leads a crucial analysis of the cultural context of musicals, particularly the influence of popular music on the genre Delves into critical issues behind these films such as race, gender, ideology, and authorship Features close readings of canonical and neglected film musicals from the 1930s to the present including: Top Hat, Singin' in the Rain, Woodstock, Gimme Shelter, West Side Story, and Across the Universe

The Sound of Musicals

Author : Steven Cohan
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1839020601
Total Pages : 440 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (39 download)

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Book Synopsis The Sound of Musicals by : Steven Cohan

Download or read book The Sound of Musicals written by Steven Cohan and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-07-25 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite having had its obituary written many times, the movie musical remains a flourishing twenty-first century form, and as this volume demonstrates, one that exists far beyond the confines of Broadway and Hollywood. The Sound of Musicals examines the films, stars, issues and traditions of the genre from the 1930s to the present day. Featuring sixteen original essays by leading international scholars, this illuminating collection addresses the complex history and global variety of the movie musical, and considers the delight and passionate engagement that musicals continue to inspire in audiences around the world. The contributors address key issues for understanding the movie musical: questions of genre and generic traditions; questions of history, bringing fresh perspectives to a consideration of Classical Hollywood musicals; and the musical beyond Hollywood, looking at alternatives to the Hollywood model from the 'New Hollywood' and American independent cinema to Bollywood and other national musical traditions. Individual chapters consider key musical stars such as Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews and Barbra Streisand; film-makers including Robert Altman and Christophe Honoré, and classic musicals such as South Pacific (1958) and Hairspray (1988). In his introduction to the volume, Steven Cohan addresses the significance and enduring appeal of this multi-faceted genre, and considers its recent renaissance with movies such as the High School Musical franchise, and the success of the television series Glee.

Encyclopedia of the History of Broadway-hollywood Swing and Pop Music

Author : Harvey Sheldon
Publisher : Booksurge Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9781439259863
Total Pages : 596 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (598 download)

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Book Synopsis Encyclopedia of the History of Broadway-hollywood Swing and Pop Music by : Harvey Sheldon

Download or read book Encyclopedia of the History of Broadway-hollywood Swing and Pop Music written by Harvey Sheldon and published by Booksurge Publishing. This book was released on 2009-11-11 with total page 596 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This extremely comprehensive history of my book provides information on many aspects of musical theater: from the history of stage and film musicals to reviews and essays on current and past productions; from profiles of New York City venues that have housed musicals to an encouraging guide. The history of Tin Pan Alley to the Brill building of America's greatest pop music ever written from the 20's to the 50's. The history of the Big Band Swing Era and of the Afro Cuban Big Bands.Also find several chapters on unique topics, like " What is a Film Score?," Bio's of all major composers and lyricists. Special Feature sections with in-depth information of important figures and topics in the world of Broadway and Hollywood musicals and from the Big Swing Big Band Era.You will learn about some of the most important musicals ever written. Start with the introduction to musical theater history, which is followed links to musicals from “Show Boat,"Annie Get Your Gun" through to "The Wizard of Oz." complete with information about the historical relevance of the shows.America at the turn of the 20th century lacking a national culture was to emerge into a revolutionary change brought on from newly arrived immigrants from Russian Jews and Italians with Afro Americans. Radio, records, television, internet, movies, pop concerts and night clubs did not exist for entertainment. America had only grand opera and imported European performances. Across the country theaters did not exist, only beer halls. The newly arriving Russian Jewish immigrants would build beautiful, lavish palace type theaters in the major cities of America, because America had none.American lives and experiences and seeing the technology of changes, fashions, music ,singing, dancing and the new habits of entertainment for all classes of Americans. The political impact and how this made America better place and influenced the world to their new forms of music...from Broadway musical revues, to musical comedy from Broadway to Hollywood, records, radio, movies and live performances.Coming to America they realized they had new found freedom because of the Free Enterprise- Capitalistic economic system. They were taught that to acquire wealth that “The greatest risk is not taking the risk”. They took the risk. The newly arrived Russian Jewish immigrants would create and invent the movie industry. Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, Paramount, Metro Goldwyn and Mayer (MGM), and others. General Sarnoff creating R.C.A. record company and the manufacturing of radio's, and N.B.C. radio network, William S. Paley would create C.B.S. radio network and Columbia record company.All of them, the composers, lyricists, singers, and musicians leading the Big Swing Bands would emerge as millionaires in wealth and create hundreds of thousands of jobs for Americans. All of the movie producers built hundreds of new theaters across America. Later they would create the television industry. This meant that all of America could afford to this new form of music and entertainment, even during the years of the Great Depression. Without the FederalGovernment intervening, all of this wealth and creations of nearly a million jobs of the confidence and faith in the American Way-.

After the Silents

Author : Michael Slowik
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231165838
Total Pages : 404 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (311 download)

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Book Synopsis After the Silents by : Michael Slowik

Download or read book After the Silents written by Michael Slowik and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many believe Max SteinerÕs score for King Kong (1933) was the first important attempt at integrating background music into sound film, but a closer look at the industryÕs early sound era (1926Ð1934) reveals a more extended and fascinating story. Viewing more than two hundred films from the period, Michael Slowik launches the first comprehensive study of a long-neglected phase in HollywoodÕs initial development, recasting the history of film sound and its relationship to the ÒGolden AgeÓ of film music (1935Ð1950). Slowik follows filmmakersÕ shifting combinations of sound and image, recapturing the volatility of this era and the variety of film music strategies that were tested, abandoned, and kept. He explores early film music experiments and accompaniment practices in opera, melodrama, musicals, radio, and silent films and discusses the impact of the advent of synchronized dialogue. He concludes with a reassessment of King Kong and its groundbreaking approach to film music, challenging the filmÕs place and importance in the timeline of sound achievement.

The American Film Musical

Author : Rick Altman
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780253205148
Total Pages : 406 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis The American Film Musical by : Rick Altman

Download or read book The American Film Musical written by Rick Altman and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1987 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "... a model of genre criticism and probably the best overall analysis of the film musical to date." Journal of Popular Films and Television "The American Film Musical is a truly admirable book which is well worth making a song and dance about. It will immediately assume biblical authority for all who are seriously interested in the dream-factory's most lavish fantasies, and it may even come to stand as a landmark in our understanding of Hollywood as a whole.... Altman's book is thorough, well informed and warmly good-humored. It has brought the study of musical films out of the dark ages." Times Literary Supplement "... an important addition to both literature and film collections.... a landmark study." Library Journal "Altman's important study of the American film musical combines genre theory with film criticism and history.... Recommended... " Choice The American Film Musical is at once the most advanced statement on genre theory and the most complete treatment of the American musical. Altman's unique interweaving of theory, history, and criticism represents an original and challenging contribution to film studies. Illustrated with over 200 frame enlargements and production stills.

The Cambridge Companion to Film Music

Author : Mervyn Cooke
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107094518
Total Pages : 439 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis The Cambridge Companion to Film Music by : Mervyn Cooke

Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to Film Music written by Mervyn Cooke and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-12-08 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A stimulating and unusually wide-ranging collection of essays overviewing ways in which music functions in film soundtracks.

The Hollywood Musical

Author : Jane Feuer
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780253207685
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (76 download)

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Book Synopsis The Hollywood Musical by : Jane Feuer

Download or read book The Hollywood Musical written by Jane Feuer and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ... both fresh and informed, as well as a pleasure to read. --Film Quarterly Since 1982, when this book first appeared, the Hollywood musical has undergone a rebirth, with the rise of teen musicals such as Dirty Dancing and Flashdance. In a chapter written especially for this second edition of her well-known study, Jane Feuer shows how this new development in the genre relates to important changes in the cinema audience itself. It is the text for the study of Hollywood musicals.

Dangerous Rhythm

Author : Richard Barrios
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199973865
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (999 download)

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Book Synopsis Dangerous Rhythm by : Richard Barrios

Download or read book Dangerous Rhythm written by Richard Barrios and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-04-08 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Singin' in the Rain, The Sound of Music, Camelot--love them or love to hate them, movie musicals have been a major part of all our lives. They're so glitzy and catchy that it seems impossible that they could have ever gone any other way. But the ease in which they unfold on the screen is deceptive. Dorothy's dream of finding a land "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was nearly cut, and even a film as great as The Band Wagon was, at the time, a major flop. In Dangerous Rhythm: Why Movie Musicals Matter, award winning historian Richard Barrios explores movie musicals from those first hits, The Jazz Singer and Broadway Melody, to present-day Oscar winners Chicago and Les Mis?rables. History, film analysis, and a touch of backstage gossip combine to make Dangerous Rhythm a compelling look at musicals and the powerful, complex bond they forge with their audiences. Going behind the scenes, Barrios uncovers the rocky relationship between Broadway and Hollywood, the unpublicized off-camera struggles of directors, stars, and producers, and all the various ways by which some films became our most indelible cultural touchstones -- and others ended up as train wrecks. Not content to leave any format untouched, Barrios examines animated musicals and popular music with insight and enthusiasm. Cartoons have been intimately connected with musicals since Steamboat Willie. Disney's short Silly Symphonies grew into the instant classic Snow White, which paved the way for that modern masterpiece, South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut. Without movie musicals, Barrios argues, MTV would have never existed. On the flip side, without MTV we might have been spared Evita. Informed, energetic, and humorous, Dangerous Rhythm is both an impressive piece of scholarship and a joy to read.

When Broadway Went to Hollywood

Author : Ethan Mordden
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019939542X
Total Pages : 286 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (993 download)

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Book Synopsis When Broadway Went to Hollywood by : Ethan Mordden

Download or read book When Broadway Went to Hollywood written by Ethan Mordden and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When films like The Jazz Singer started to integrate synchronized music, in the late 1920s many ambitious songwriting pioneers of the Great White Way - George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart, among many others - were enticed westward by Hollywood studios' promises of national exposure and top dollar success. But what happened when writers native to the business of Broadway ran into the very different business of Hollywood? Their movies had their producer despots, their stacking of writing teams on a single project, their use of five or six songs per story where Broadway fit in a dozen, and it seemed as if everyone in Hollywood was uncomfortable with characters bursting into song on the street, in your living room, or in "a cottage small by a waterfall." Did the movies give theater writers a chance to expand their art, or did mass marketing ruin the musical's quintessential charm? Is it possible to trace the history of the musical through both stage and screen manifestations, or did Broadway and Hollywood give rise to two wholly irreconcilable art forms? And, finally, did any New York writer or writing team create a film musical as enthralling and timeless as their work for the stage? In When Broadway Went to Hollywood, writer and celebrated steward of musical theatre Ethan Mordden directs his unmistakable wit and whimsy to these challenging questions and more, charting the volatile and galvanizing influence of Broadway on Hollywood (and vice versa) throughout the twentieth century. Along the way, he takes us behind the scenes of the great Hollywood musicals you've seen and loved (The Wizard of Oz, Gigi, The Sound of Music, Chicago, West Side Story, The Music Man, Grease) as well as some of the outrageous flops you probably haven't. The first book to tell the story of how Broadway affected the Hollywood musical, When Broadway Goes to Hollywood is sure to thrill theatre buffs and movie lovers alike.

Hollywood Musicals, the Film Reader

Author : Steven Cohan
Publisher : Psychology Press
ISBN 13 : 9780415235594
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (355 download)

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Book Synopsis Hollywood Musicals, the Film Reader by : Steven Cohan

Download or read book Hollywood Musicals, the Film Reader written by Steven Cohan and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores one of the most popular genres in film history. Combining classic and recent articles, each section explores a central issue of the musical, including: the musical's significance as a genre; the musical's own particular representation of sexual difference; the idea of camp, both through stars such as Judy Garland and Carmen Miranda and musicals themselves; and the displacement of race in Hollywood's representations of entertainment. Each section features an editor's introduction setting debates in context.

Free and Easy?

Author : Sean Griffin
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1118322843
Total Pages : 380 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (183 download)

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Book Synopsis Free and Easy? by : Sean Griffin

Download or read book Free and Easy? written by Sean Griffin and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-05-25 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A History of the American Musical narrates the evolution of the film musical genre, discussing its influences and how it has come to be defined; the first text on this subject for over two decades, it employs the very latest concepts and research. The most up-to-date text on the subject, with uniquely comprehensive coverage and employing the very latest concepts and research Surveys centuries of music history from the music and dance of Native Americans to contemporary music performance in streaming media Examines the different ways the film musical genre has been defined, what gets counted as a musical, why, and who gets to make that decision The text is written in an accessible manner for general cinema and musical theatre buffs, whilst retaining theoretical rigour in research Describes the contributions made to the genre by marginalized or subordinated identity groups who have helped invent and shape the musical

Saying It With Songs

Author : Katherine Spring
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199842213
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (998 download)

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Book Synopsis Saying It With Songs by : Katherine Spring

Download or read book Saying It With Songs written by Katherine Spring and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-11 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hollywood's conversion from silent to synchronized sound film production not only instigated the convergence of the film and music industries but also gave rise to an extraordinary period of songs in American cinema. Saying It With Songs considers how the increasing interdependence of Hollywood studios and Tin Pan Alley music publishing firms influenced the commercial and narrative functions of popular songs. While most scholarship on film music of the period focuses on adaptations of Broadway musicals, this book examines the functions of songs in a variety of non-musical genres, including melodramas, romantic comedies, Westerns, prison dramas, and action-adventure films, and shows how filmmakers tested and refined their approach to songs in order to reconcile the spectacle of song performance, the classical norms of storytelling, and the conventions of background orchestral scoring from the period of silent cinema. Written for film and music scholars alike as well as for general readers, Saying It With Songs illuminates the origins of the popular song score aesthetic of American cinema.

Broadway

Author : Laurence Maslon
Publisher : Applause Theatre & Cinema
ISBN 13 : 9781423491033
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Broadway by : Laurence Maslon

Download or read book Broadway written by Laurence Maslon and published by Applause Theatre & Cinema. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (Applause Books). A companion to the six-part PBS documentary series, Broadway: The American Musical is the first comprehensive history of the musical, from its roots at the turn of the 20th century through the smashing successes of the new millennium. The in-depth text is lavishly illustrated with a treasure trove of photographs, sheet-music covers, posters, scenic renderings, production stills, rehearsal shots and caricatures, many previously unpublished. Revised and updated, with a brand-new foreword by Julie Andrews and new material on all the Broadway musicals through the 2009-2010 season.

The Migration of Musical Film

Author : Desirée J. Garcia
Publisher : Rutgers University Press
ISBN 13 : 0813568668
Total Pages : 275 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (135 download)

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Book Synopsis The Migration of Musical Film by : Desirée J. Garcia

Download or read book The Migration of Musical Film written by Desirée J. Garcia and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Movie musicals are among the most quintessentially American art forms, often celebrating mobility, self-expression, and the pursuit of one’s dreams. But like America itself, the Hollywood musical draws from many distinct ethnic traditions. In this illuminating new study, Desirée J. Garcia examines the lesser-known folk musicals from early African American, Yiddish, and Mexican filmmakers, revealing how these were essential ingredients in the melting pot of the Hollywood musical. The Migration of Musical Film shows how the folk musical was rooted in the challenges faced by immigrants and migrants who had to adapt to new environments, balancing American individualism with family values and cultural traditions. Uncovering fresh material from film industry archives, Garcia considers how folk musicals were initially marginal productions, designed to appeal to specific minority audiences, and yet introduced themes that were gradually assimilated into the Hollywood mainstream. No other book offers a comparative historical study of the folk musical, from the first sound films in the 1920s to the genre’s resurgence in the 1970s and 1980s. Using an illustrative rather than comprehensive approach, Garcia focuses on significant moments in the sub-genre and rarely studied films such as Allá en el Rancho Grande along with familiar favorites that drew inspiration from earlier folk musicals—everything from The Wizard of Oz to Zoot Suit. If you think of movie musicals simply as escapist mainstream entertainment, The Migration of Musical Film is sure to leave you singing a different tune.