Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim

The classic musicals of Broadway can provide us with truly enchanted evenings. But while many of us can hum the music and even recount the plot from memory, we are often much less knowledgeable about how these great shows were put together. Now, in Enchanted Evenings, Geoffrey Block offers theatre l [...]
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The classic musicals of Broadway can provide us with truly enchanted evenings. But while many of us can hum the music and even recount the plot from memory, we are often much less knowledgeable about how these great shows were put together. Now, in Enchanted Evenings, Geoffrey Block offers theatre lovers an illuminating behind-the-scenes tour of some of the best loved, most admired, and most enduring musicals of Broadway's Golden Era.
In this documentary history, we find insightful studies of fourteen musicals in all including such all-time favorites as Show Boat, Anything Goes, Porgy and Bess, Kiss Me, Kate, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, and West Side Story. The book's particular focus is on the music, showing how librettist, lyricist, composer, and director work together to shape the piece. Block sheds light on why particular musicals have adapted to changing times and are still performed in high schools, colleges, and community theaters across the country, while others languish in comparative obscurity.
Packed with information, including a complete discography and plot synopses and song-by-song scenic outlines for each of the fourteen shows, this book is an essential reference as well as a riveting history.