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- Volume 1, Issue 1, 2006
Studies in Musical Theatre - Volume 1, Issue 1, 2006
Volume 1, Issue 1, 2006
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Kidding on the level: the reactionary project of I'd Rather Be Right
More LessAn analysis of the text and reception of the neglected 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical I'd Rather Be Right, positioning it as a reactionary response to President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. The composer and lyricist, along with librettists Kaufman and Hart, exploited a pronounced strain of anti-Roosevelt sentiment among the wealthier strata of the Broadway audience. Targets in the show included such conservative btes noires as high taxes, Social Security, pro-labor legislation, and the Federal Theatre Project. Even the casting of the patriotic and popular George M. Cohan in the role of FDR undermined the president thanks to the actor's history of anti-labor stances and allegiances with Roosevelt's enemies. Contrary, then, to the presupposition that all Broadway musicals bear a liberal bias, this essay aims to reveal I'd Rather Be Right as a fundamentally right-wing cultural product.
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Goyim on the roof: embodying authenticity in Leveaux's Fiddler on the Roof
More LessIn February of 2004, critic Thane Rosenbaum of the LA Times accused David Leveaux's Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof of lacking Jewish soul. He opined, The sensation is as if you're sampling something that tastes great and looks Jewish but isn't entirely Kosher (Rosenbaum 2004: E1). Rosenbaum accusations, including his implicit condemnation of the lack of Jews in the musical's cast, invoked an intense critical debate. The resulting furore must be examined in view of a larger issue: authenticity and the musical stage. American musical theatre, as a popular and populist art form, reflects and absorbs the country's highly sensitized identity politics, making issues of ownership and authenticity central. Leveaux's Fiddler on the Roof focuses cultural anxiety on these pivotal concerns. Why does meddling with Fiddler engender such angry intensity? In a world where cross-racial casting has become not only accepted, but encouraged, why the uproar over crossreligious casting, which, in theory, involves invisible difference? Can Jewish difference indeed be described as invisible? This paper will examine the broader implications of these questions.
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Frank Zappa and musical theatre: ugly ugly o'phan Annie and really deep, intense, thought-provoking Broadway symbolism
Authors: Paul Carr and Richard J HandThe performances of Frank Zappa were renowned for their theatricality and Zappa himself claimed that Nobody has combined music and theatrics in the way I have. Aside from Zappa's legendary and theatrical stage performances, some of his specific compositions have a consciously dramatic narrative that can be fruitfully analysed as remarkable and thoroughly provocative examples of musical theatre. In particular, two works stand out: Joe's Garage Acts I, II and III (1979) a bleak yet humorous satire set in a science fiction dystopia, and Thing-Fish (1984), a narrative-driven drama that explicitly explores yet subverts the Broadway musical form in its uncompromising investigation of AIDS and its social and political impact. In addition, both works demonstrate a disruptive and eviscerating satirical use of sexuality and sex.
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Don't dream it, be it: exploring signification, empathy and mimesis in relation to The Rocky Horror Show
More LessThe Rocky Horror Show is an extreme example of audience interaction and mimicry. However, by analysing its performance, in which physical responses can be easily discerned, this article explores some of the ways musicals signify and some of the empathetic and mimetic effects of musical theatre on audiences. Although The Rocky Horror Show is not necessarily representative of all musicals, it has elements in common with many other musicals, and so the majority of the arguments made here can be applied more widely. The proposition here is that the complexity of musical theatre performance requires engagement with both objective and subjective positions in order to begin to understand its affects and its means of communication.
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Byte by byte, putting it together: electronic editions and the study of musical theatre
By Doug ResideWhile many humanities scholars have explored how computers might assist them in their work, there have been very few attempts to use electronic tools to study the musical. Musical theatre seems particularly well-suited, though, to the multimedia capabilities of the modern PC. The author suggests that electronic editions of musicals would not only be of use to musical theatre scholars, but might also help to develop a wider audience for artistically-minded (as opposed to commercially-driven) musicals. This article outlines the benefits offered by electronic editions and describes the steps taken by the author to develop an AJAXbased electronic edition of the 1998 musical Parade.
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Teaching the Broadway singing style in the era of American Idol
By Tracey MooreThis article proposes that there are specific challenges for young singers who wish to sing musical theatre, but who have been raised on pop music, and in particular, the vocal stylings showcased on a Fox Television program called American Idol. An acting-first approach to musical theatre songs is suggested as significant in these singers' adjustment to the musical theatre style of singing. Microphones, technology, and pop music's influence on Broadway are also discussed.
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The performance of discipline on Broadway
More LessJean Baudrillard's theory of simulacra helps explain Broadway's concentration on revivals, musical revues, and movie adaptations. The theory also offers a lens through which corporate America can be observed as manufacturing simulated liveness. These simulations are labeled live theatre, they open on Broadway and tour across the country, but are they live or simulations of liveness? If corporate producers on Broadway are mass producing a corporate perception of liveness, what is this perception, and how does it affect the material condition of actors within a corporate theatre product? Something has happened to actors on Broadway, and this something is being mass marketed and mass produced for the United States and the world.
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Reviews
Authors: Pamela Karantonis, Paul Nash, Laura MacDonald and Ray MillerSinging Opera in Germany A Practical Guide, Marita Knobel and Brigitte Steinert (eds Jutta Schmoll-Barthel and Diana Rothaug) (2005) Brenreiter: Kassel, 216 pp., ISBN 3761816731 (pbk), 18.00.
Saints in the Limelight: Representations of the Religious Quest on the Post-1945 Operatic Stage, Dimension and Diversity Series No. 5, Siglind Bruhn, (2003) Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, xxvi 636 pp., ISBN 1576470962 (pbk), 36.00
Musical Theater and American Culture, David Walsh and Len Platt, (2003) Westport, CT and London: Praeger, 200 pp., ISBN 027598057X (hbk), 36.99
Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical, John Anthony Gilvey, (2005) New York: St Martin's Press, 371 pp., ISBN 0312337760 (pbk), 20.00
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Volumes & issues
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Volume 18 (2024)
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Volume 17 (2023)
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Volume 16 (2022)
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Volume 15 (2021)
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Volume 14 (2020)
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Volume 13 (2019)
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Volume 12 (2018)
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Volume 11 (2017)
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Volume 10 (2016)
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Volume 9 (2015)
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Volume 8 (2014)
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Volume 7 (2013)
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Volume 6 (2012)
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Volume 5 (2011 - 2012)
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Volume 4 (2010)
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Volume 3 (2009)
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Volume 2 (2008)
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Volume 1 (2006 - 2007)