Broadway, the Golden Years

Robert Emmet Long is uniquely qualified to write on the lives and careers of Broadway's foremost choreographer-directors. His definitive The Films of Merchant Ivory has gone through two editions. Long is a recognized critic of American and British literature, commentator on the performing arts and author or editor of some 30 books, the subjects of which include Henry James, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Fenimore Cooper, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John O'Hara, Nathanael West, James Thurber and Barbara Pym.

• Acknowledgments; Introduction; Part 1--Establishing the Tradition; 1 Agnes de Mille; 2 Jerome Robbins: Early Fame; 3 Jerome Robbins: West Side Story; 4 Jerome Robbins: The Later Career; Part 2--Extending the Line; 5 Bob Fosse; 6 Gower Champion; 7 Michael Bennett; 8 Tommy Tune; Epilogue: Broadway Today; Notes; Select Bibliography; Index.

"'Earnest and thorough.' New York Times 'This fine book will be greeted with applause by the many Broadway buffs, show-tune collectors and musical mavens.' Publishers Weekly 'Long-overdue and richly detailed.' Chicago Sun-Times 'Broadway, the Golden Years, is really seven books in one. It traces a unique and fascinating facet of Broadway history through mini-biographies of its six foremost practitioners, plus a roundup of who's working today.' Playbill On-Line 'Good one-stop shopping for material on principal choreographers.' Choice 'Deftly depicting the relationships among many diverse artists, Long warmly conveys his sense of theater history and the craft tradition as a living chain of gifted individuals who were nurtured and challenged by those who preceded them.' Washington Post 'Taking a fresh approach to that quintessential American form -- musical theater --, Long in his eloquent book examines the phenomenon of the choreographer, a figure usually low in the credits of propagation for a show.' Confrontation, Fall 2002/Winter"