Musical Theater: An Appreciation, Second Edition offers a history of musical theater from its operating origins to the Broadway shows of today, combined with an in-depth study of the musical styles that paralleled changes on stage. Alyson McLamore teaches readers how to listen to both the words and the music of the stage musical, enabling them to understand how all the components of a show interact to create a compelling experience for audiences.
This second edition has been updated with new chapters covering recent developments in the twenty-first century, while insights from recent scholarship on musical theater have been incorporated throughout the text. The musical examples discussed in the text now include detailed listening guides, while a new companion website includes plot summaries and links to audio of the musical examples. From Don Giovanni to Hamilton, Musical Theater: An Appreciation both explores the history of musical theater and develops a deep appreciation of the musical elements at the heart of this unique art form.
Part I The Antecedents to the Genre of "Musical Theater"
1 The Birth of "Staged" Music
2 Developing Genres in the Eighteenth Century: Ballad Opera and Singspiel
3 Developing Genres in the Eighteenth Century: Opera Buffa and Dramma Giocoso
4 The Musical Stage in the American Colonies
Part II The Musical Stage in the Nineteenth Century
5 France and Spain in the Nineteenth Century
6 The Serious and the Not-so-Serious: Germany, Italy, and Austria in the Nineteenth Century
7 England in the Nineteenth Century: Gilbert and Sullivan
8 The United States in the Early Nineteenth Century
9 New American Genres of the Later Nineteenth Century
10 Operetta in America, 1880–1903
Part III Diverging Paths in the Twentieth Century
11 The Continuing Dominance of Operetta
12 Challenges to Operetta
13 The Princess Shows
14 Increasing Drama on the Stage
15 Musical Theater of the Lighter Kind
Part IV Beginnings of a Golden Age: Synthesis of Style and Substance
16 Great Partnerships of the Early Book Musical: Kern and Hammerstein
17 Great Partnerships of the Early Book Musical: Rodgers and Hart
18 Great Partnerships of the Early Book Musical: The Gershwins (1)
19 Great Partnerships of the Early Book Musical: The Gershwins (2)
20 Great Solo Acts: Irving Berlin
21 Great Solo Acts: Cole Porter and Other Efforts in the 1930s
Part V A Greater Maturity
22 New Achievements from Familiar Names: Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin
23 A Cole Porter Renaissance and the Rise of Recognition
24 Politics and Social Commentary
Part VI New Partnerships
25 Rodgers and Hammerstein: Oklahoma!
26 Rodgers and Hammerstein: Carousel and South Pacific
27 Rodgers and Hammerstein: The King and I and The Sound of Music
28 Lerner and Loewe
Part VII New Faces of the 1940s and 1950s
29 Leonard Bernstein
30 Jule Styne and Frank Loesser
31 Meredith Willson and Other Faces of the 1950s
Part VIII New Faces of the 1960s and 1970s
32 New Names in Lights in the 1960s
33 Sondheim in the 1960s: Flash in the Pan?
34 New Partnerships: Bock and Harnick
35 New Partnerships: Kander and Ebb
36 New Partnerships: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
37 Wunderkinder of the 1970s
38 Sondheim in the 1970s: The Endless Experiments
Part IX The Late Twentieth Century—and Beyond
39 Andrew Lloyd Webber Without Tim Rice: Cats and Starlight Express
40 The Luxuriant Lloyd Webber
41 The New Team in Town: Schönberg and Boublil
42 New Names, New Teams in the 1980s
43 Stephen Sondheim: Never a Formula
44 A Surge of "Soloists"
45 Team Efforts—The 1990s and Beyond
46 Whither Musical Theater?
Biography
Alyson McLamore is Professor of Music History at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she has been recognized with the university's Distinguished Teaching Award.
