Mormons, Musical Theater, and Belonging in America

Mormons, Musical Theater, and Belonging in America

Author: Jake Johnson

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2019-06-30

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 025205136X

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints adopted the vocal and theatrical traditions of American musical theater as important theological tenets. As Church membership grew, leaders saw how the genre could help define the faith and wove musical theater into many aspects of Mormon life. Jake Johnson merges the study of belonging in America with scholarship on voice and popular music to explore the surprising yet profound link between two quintessentially American institutions. Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Mormons gravitated toward musicals as a common platform for transmitting political and theological ideas. Johnson sees Mormons using musical theater as a medium for theology of voice--a religious practice that suggests how vicariously voicing another person can bring one closer to godliness. This sounding, Johnson suggests, created new opportunities for living. Voice and the musical theater tradition provided a site for Mormons to negotiate their way into middle-class respectability. At the same time, musical theater became a unique expressive tool of Mormon culture.


Creating Musical Theatre

Creating Musical Theatre

Author: Lyn Cramer

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2013-12-02

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1408184753

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Creating Musical Theatre features interviews with the directors and choreographers that make up today's Broadway elite. From Susan Stroman and Kathleen Marshall to newcomers Andy Blankenbuehler and Christopher Gattelli, this book features twelve creative artists, mostly director/choreographers, many of whom have also crossed over into film and television, opera and ballet. To the researcher, this book will deliver specific information on how these artists work; for the performer, it will serve as insight into exactly what these artists are looking for in the audition process and the rehearsal environment; and for the director/choreographer, this book will serve as an inspiration detailing each artist's pursuit of his or her dream and the path to success, offering new insight and a deeper understanding of Broadway today. Creating Musical Theatre includes a foreword by four-time Tony nominee Kelli O'Hara, one of the most elegant and talented leading ladies gracing the Broadway and concert stage today, as well as interviews with award-winning directors and choreographers, including: Rob Ashford (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying); Andy Blankenbuehler (In the Heights); Jeff Calhoun (Newsies); Warren Carlyle (Follies); Christopher Gattelli (Newsies); Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes); Jerry Mitchell (Legally Blonde); Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon); Randy Skinner (White Christmas); Susan Stroman (The Scottsboro Boys); Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys); and Anthony Van Laast (Sister Act).


Musical Theatre Song

Musical Theatre Song

Author: Stephen Purdy

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-02-25

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1472595114

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Musical Theatre Song is a handbook for musical theatre performers, providing them with the wide-ranging skill set they need for success in today's competitive musical theatre environment. Breaking down the process into knowing how to select your song material based upon your individuality and how to prepare and perform it in a manner that best highlights your attributes, Stephen Purdy provides a succinct and personalized trajectory toward presentation, taking the reader through a series of challenges that is designed to evoke original, personal and vibrant song performances. Written by renowned Broadway and West End vocal and audition coach Stephen Purdy, Musical Theatre Song is a must-have guide for all performers who are looking to succeed in the musical theatre industry.


Musical Theater

Musical Theater

Author: Alyson McLamore

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13:

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For Surveys of Musical Theater, Music Appreciation courses and Popular Culture Surveys. This unique historical survey illustrates the interaction of multiple artistic and dramatic considerations with an overview of the development of numerous popular musical theater genres. This introduction provides more than a history of musical theater, it studies the music within the shows to provide an understanding of the contributions of musical theater composers as clearly as the artistry of musical theater lyricists and librettists. The familiarity of the musical helps students understand how music functions in a song and a show, while giving them the vocabulary to discuss their perceptions.


Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater

Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater

Author: Nina Penner

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2020-10-06

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 0253049989

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Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater is the first systematic exploration of how sung forms of drama tell stories. Through examples from opera's origins to contemporary musicals, Nina Penner examines the roles of character-narrators and how they differ from those in literary and cinematic works, how music can orient spectators to characters' points of view, how being privy to characters' inner thoughts and feelings may evoke feelings of sympathy or empathy, and how performers' choices affect not only who is telling the story but what story is being told. Unique about Penner's approach is her engagement with current work in analytic philosophy. Her study reveals not only the resources this philosophical tradition can bring to musicology but those which musicology can bring to philosophy, challenging and refining accounts of narrative, point of view, and the work-performance relationship within both disciplines. She also considers practical problems singers and directors confront on a daily basis, such as what to do about Wagner's Jewish caricatures and the racism of Orientalist operas. More generally, Penner reflects on how centuries-old works remain meaningful to contemporary audiences and have the power to attract new, more diverse audiences to opera and musical theater. By exploring how practitioners past and present have addressed these issues, Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater offers suggestions for how opera and musical theater can continue to entertain and enrich the lives of 21st-century audiences.


The Musical

The Musical

Author: Richard Kislan

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9781557832177

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(Applause Books). This revised and expanded edition of Kislan's acclaimed study of America's musical theater includes a new section on "Recent Musical Theater: Issues and Problems." "The ancient union of drama and song, known as musical theater, comes in many forms vaudeville, burlesque, comic opera, minstrels, etc. The author reviews these and other highlights of American musicals ... with a fascinating background on the elements that contribute to the success of a Showboat ." King Features * "Worth study by anyone who still thinks that the musical is a collection of songs." The Stage


Acting in Musical Theatre

Acting in Musical Theatre

Author: Joe Deer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2008-05-09

Total Pages: 481

ISBN-13: 1135978417

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Acting in Musical Theatre is the only complete course in approaching a role in a musical. It is the first to combine acting, singing and dancing into a comprehensive guide, combining what have previously been treated as three separate disciplines. This book contains fundamental skills for novice actors, practical insights for professionals, and even tips to help veteran musical performers refine their craft. Drawing on decades of experience in both acting and teaching, the authors provide crucial advice on all elements of the profession, including: fundamentals of acting applied to musical theatre script, score and character analysis personalizing your performance turning rehearsal into performance acting styles in the musical theatre practical steps to a career. Acting in Musical Theatre’s chapters divide into easy-to-reference units, each containing related group and solo exercises, making it the definitive textbook for students and practitioners alike.


Children, Childhood, and Musical Theater

Children, Childhood, and Musical Theater

Author: Donelle Ruwe

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-02-19

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1317167732

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Bringing together scholars from musicology, literature, childhood studies, and theater, this volume examines the ways in which children's musicals tap into adult nostalgia for childhood while appealing to the needs and consumer potential of the child. The contributors take up a wide range of musicals, including works inspired by the books of children's authors such as Roald Dahl, P.L. Travers, and Francis Hodgson Burnett; created by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lionel Bart, and other leading lights of musical theater; or conceived for a cast made up entirely of children. The collection examines musicals that propagate or complicate normative attitudes regarding what childhood is or should be. It also considers the child performer in movie musicals as well as in professional and amateur stage musicals. This far-ranging collection highlights the special place that musical theater occupies in the imaginations and lives of children as well as adults. The collection comes at a time of increased importance of musical theater in the lives of children and young adults.


The Theatermania Guide to Musical Theater Recordings

The Theatermania Guide to Musical Theater Recordings

Author: Michael Portantiere

Publisher: Backstage Books

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13:

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The first ever-comprehensive guide to musical theatre recordings, this book covers the entire history of musical theatre. From Jerome Kern and the Gershwins to Bernstein and Sondheim, here are capsule reviews and ratings of more than 400 theatre recordings of the past 60 years. Organized alphabetically, each listing contains background information on the show, cast information, record label, catalogue number, whether the recording is currently in print, and an overall rating of one to five stars.


Acting in Musical Theatre

Acting in Musical Theatre

Author: Rocco Dal Vera

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-09-07

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1317911962

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Acting in Musical Theatre remains the only complete course in approaching a role in a musical. It covers fundamental skills for novice actors, practical insights for professionals, and even tips to help veteran musical performers refine their craft. Updates in this expanded and revised second edition include: A brand new companion website for students and teachers, including Powerpoint lecture slides, sample syllabi, and checklists for projects and exercises. Learning outcomes for each chapter to guide teachers and students through the book’s core ideas and lessons New style overviews for pop and jukebox musicals Extensive updated professional insights from field testing with students, young professionals, and industry showcases Full-colour production images, bringing each chapter to life Acting in Musical Theatre’s chapters divide into easy-to-reference units, each containing group and solo exercises, making it the definitive textbook for students and practitioners alike.