A Pictorial History of the Movie Musical
Author: John Springer
Publisher:
Published: 1982
Total Pages: 262
ISBN-13: 9780890095263
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPosts
The American Film Musical
Author: Rick Altman
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 1987
Total Pages: 406
ISBN-13: 9780253205148
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"... 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 World of Musicals [2 volumes]
Author: Mark A. Robinson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Published: 2014-04-17
Total Pages: 950
ISBN-13: 1440800979
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis wide-ranging, two-volume encyclopedia of musicals old and new will captivate young fans—and prove invaluable to those contemplating staging a musical production. Written with high school students in mind, The World of Musicals: An Encyclopedia of Stage, Screen, and Song encompasses not only Broadway and film musicals, but also made-for-television musicals, a genre that has been largely ignored. The two volumes cover significant musicals in easily accessible entries that offer both useful information and fun facts. Each entry lists the work's writers, composers, directors, choreographers, and cast, and includes a song list, a synopsis, and descriptions of the original production and important revivals or remakes. Biographical entries share the stories of some of the brightest and most celebrated talents in the business. The encyclopedia will undoubtedly ignite and feed student interest in musical theatre. At the same time, it will prove a wonderful resource for teachers or community theatre directors charged with selecting and producing shows. In fact, anyone interested in theatre, film, television, or music will be fascinated by the work's tantalizing bits of historical and theatre trivia.
Showstoppers
Author: Martin Rubin
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 1993
Total Pages: 336
ISBN-13: 0231080549
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe name Busby Berkeley, creator of the dances for films such as 42nd Street, Babes in Arms, and Million Dollar Mermaid, is synonymous with the spectacular musical production number. Films, television commercials, and MTV videos continue to use "Berkeleyesque" techniques long after Berkeley himself and the genre that nourished him have faded from the scene. The first major analysis of Berkeley's career on stage and screen, Showstoppers emphasizes his relationship to a colorful, somewhat disreputable tradition of American popular entertainment: that of P. T. Barnum, minstrel shows, vaudeville, Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show, burlesque, and the Ziegfeld Follies. Rubin shows how Berkeley absorbed this declining theatrical tradition during his years as a Broadway dance director and then transferred it to the new genre of the early movie musical. With lively prose and engaging photographs, Showstoppers explores new ways of looking at Busby Berkeley, at the musical genre, and at individual films. Appropriate for both specialists and general readers, Showstoppers is an exuberant study of a figure whose career, Rubin notes, "provides an extraordinarily rich point of convergence for a wide range of cultural and artistic contexts".
Film Study
Author: Frank Manchel
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press
Published: 1990
Total Pages: 660
ISBN-13: 9780838634141
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe four volumes of Film Study include a fresh approach to each of the basic categories in the original edition. Volume one examines the film as film; volume two focuses on the thematic approach to film; volume three draws on the history of film; and volume four contains extensive appendices listing film distributors, sources, and historical information as well as an index of authors, titles, and film personalities.
The Songs of Hollywood
Author: Philip Furia
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2010-04-07
Total Pages: 282
ISBN-13: 0199792666
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFrom "Over the Rainbow" to "Moon River" and from Al Jolson to Barbra Streisand, The Songs of Hollywood traces the fascinating history of song in film, both in musicals and in dramatic movies such as High Noon. Extremely well-illustrated with 200 film stills, this delightful book sheds much light on some of Hollywood's best known and loved repertoire, explaining how the film industry made certain songs memorable, and highlighting important moments of film history along the way. The book focuses on how the songs were presented in the movies, from early talkies where actors portrayed singers "performing" the songs, to the Golden Age in which characters burst into expressive, integral song--not as a "performance" but as a spontaneous outpouring of feeling. The book looks at song presentation in 1930s classics with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and in 1940s gems with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. The authors also look at the decline of the genre since 1960, when most original musicals were replaced by film versions of Broadway hits such as My Fair Lady.
The Bloomsbury Handbook of Rock Music Research
Author: Allan Moore
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Published: 2020-07-09
Total Pages: 640
ISBN-13: 1501330462
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Bloomsbury Handbook of Rock Music Research is the first comprehensive academic survey of the field of rock music as it stands today. More than 50 years into its life and we still ask - what is rock music, why is it studied, and how does it work, both as music and as cultural activity? This volume draws together 37 of the leading academics working on rock to provide answers to these questions and many more. The text is divided into four major sections: practice of rock (analysis, performance, and recording); theories; business of rock; and social and culture issues. Each chapter combines two approaches, providing a summary of current knowledge of the area concerned as well as the consequences of that research and suggesting profitable subsequent directions to take. This text investigates and presents the field at a level of depth worthy of something which has had such a pervasive influence on the lives of millions.
The Musical
Author: William Everett
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2011-06-02
Total Pages: 333
ISBN-13: 1135848076
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe musical, whether on stage or screen, is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable musical genres, yet one of the most perplexing. What are its defining features? How does it negotiate multiple socio-cultural-economic spaces? Is it a popular tradition? Is it a commercial enterprise? Is it a sophisticated cultural product and signifier? This research guide includes more than 1,400 annotated entries related to the genre as it appears on stage and screen. It includes reference works, monographs, articles, anthologies, and websites related to the musical. Separate sections are devoted to sub-genres (such as operetta and megamusical), non-English language musical genres in the U.S., traditions outside the U.S., individual shows, creators, performers, and performance. The second edition reflects the notable increase in musical theater scholarship since 2000. In addition to printed materials, it includes multimedia and electronic resources.
Big Deal
Author: Kevin Winkler
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2018-02-08
Total Pages: 369
ISBN-13: 0199336814
DOWNLOAD EBOOKBob Fosse (1927-1987) is recognized as one of the most significant figures in post-World War II American musical theater. With his first Broadway musical, The Pajama Game in 1954, the "Fosse style" was already fully developed, with its trademark hunched shoulders, turned-in stance, and stuttering, staccato jazz movements. Fosse moved decisively into the role of director with Redhead in 1959 and was a key figure in the rise of the director-choreographer in the Broadway musical. He also became the only star director of musicals of his era--a group that included Jerome Robbins, Gower Champion, Michael Kidd, and Harold Prince--to equal his Broadway success in films. Following his unprecedented triple crown of show business awards in 1973 (an Oscar for Cabaret, Emmy for Liza with a Z, and Tony for Pippin), Fosse assumed complete control of virtually every element of his projects. But when at last he had achieved complete autonomy, his final efforts, the film Star 80 and the musical Big Deal, written and directed by Fosse, were rejected by audiences and critics. A fascinating look at the evolution of Fosse as choreographer and director, Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical considers Fosse's career in the context of changes in the Broadway musical theater over four decades. It traces his early dance years and the importance of mentors George Abbott and Jerome Robbins on his work. It examines how each of the important women in his adult life--all dancers--impacted his career and influenced his dance aesthetic. Finally, the book investigates how his evolution as both artist and individual mirrored the social and political climate of his era and allowed him to comfortably ride a wave of cultural changes.
A History of Movie Musicals
Author: John Kobal
Publisher:
Published: 1983
Total Pages: 336
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"Movies learned to sing and dance even before they learned to talk. For years, before the arrival of sound, Joan Crawford and other flappers had been dancing the Charleston on the silent screen. Then musical soundtracks were adopted, providing the first "sounds" of silent film. Later still, and some say by accident, came the talkies. It is said that Al Jolson, while doing the song recording for The Jazz Singer, cried out in a burst of enthusiasm, 'You ain't heard nothing yet, folks! Listen to this!' And talking pictures were born. Purists will limit the film musical genre to the half dozen or so that finally fulfilled the highest criteria of cinematic art. But John Kobal is no purist. He is interested in all the torch songs by femmes fatales, the high kicks and shuffles of the chorus cuties, the extravagant set-pieces which relied more on spectacle than on musical talent. He is also more interested than anyone in the great personalities of the musical, such as Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Jeanette MacDonald, Busby Berkeley. But his most valuable contributions to cinema lore are the special interviews with, among others, Rene Clair, Vincente Minnelli, Rouben Mamoulian, Charles Walters, Kathryn Grayson, Bebe Daniels, Bessie Love, Joan Blondell, Mae West and Jessie Matthews. This unique and highly entertaining book is illustrated with over 670 photographs from the author's collection. Most of these will be new to the reader and many are rare and unknown even to the most knowledgeable students of the genre. The photographs speak--even dance--for themselves. If there is a book anywhere that can do justice to the exhilarating spirit of the musical then this is it." --Jacket.
