Table of Contents

CONTENTS Acknowledgments Dedication Introduction: "Let's Start at the Very Beginning . . ." CHAPTER 1: ANCIENT TIMES TO 1850 - "Playgoers, I Bid You Welcome!" CHAPTER 2: CONTINENTAL OPERETTA (1840-1900) - "Typical of France" CHAPTER 3: AMERICAN EXPLORATIONS (1624-1880) - "The Music of Something Beginning" CHAPTER 4: GILBERT & SULLIVAN (1880-1900) - "Object All Sublime" CHAPTER 5: THE BIRTH OF MUSICAL COMEDY (1880-1899) - "It Belong'd To My Father Before I Was Born" CHAPTER 6: A NEW CENTURY (1900-1913) - "Whisper of How I'm Yearning" CHAPTER 7: AMERICAN ASCENDANCE (1914-1919) - "In a Class Beyond Compare" CHAPTER 8: AL JOLSON - "The World's Greatest Entertainer" CHAPTER 9: THE JAZZ AGE (1920-1929) - "I Want to Be Happy" CHAPTER 10: DEPRESSION ERA MIRACLES (1930-1940) - "Trouble's Just a Bubble" CHAPTER 11: A NEW BEGINNING (1940-1950) - "They Couldn't Pick a Better Time" CHAPTER 12: BROADWAY TAKES STAGE (1950-1963) - "The Street Where You Live" CHAPTER 13: ROCK ROLLS IN (1960-1970) - "Soon It's Gonna Rain" CHAPTER 14: NEW DIRECTIONS (1970-1979) - "Vary My Days" CHAPTER 15: SPECTACLES AND BOARDROOMS - "As If We Never Said Goodbye" CHAPTER 16: MUSICAL COMEDY RETURNS (The 2000s) - "Where Did We Go Right?" Suggested Reading: An Annotated Bibliography Recommended Web Resources

Promotional Information

A comprehensive history of stage musicals from the 1840s all the way up to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Broadway as it we know it today.

About the Author

A native New Yorker and life-long fan of the Musical, John Kenrick is widely regarded as an expert on the subject. He runs the popular website www.musicals101.com and he currently teaches a course on musical theatre history at New York University's Steinhardt School.

Reviews

"A comprehensive history of stage musicals.. .As informative as it is entertaining, Musical Theatreis richly illustrated with anecdotes of shows" The Pass, July & August 2008

"Communications director of New York's York Theatre Company and manager of the Web site musicals101.com...Kenrick demonstrates his considerable knowledge in this enjoyable, well-written volume...Specific examples about particular performers (e.g., Al Jolson) and shows (e.g., Franz Lehar's Merry Widow) enliven the text... A section of photos, most not the usual views, is a modest addition. In place of references, the author lists titles cited in a useful annotated bibliography. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers." -R.D. Johnson, CHOICE, January 2009

'A readable, accessible, up-to-date history of musical theatre' Theatre and Performance

"A whirlwind play-by-play of the history of musical theater." -Library Journal
*Library Journal*