Musical Theatre Histories

Millie Taylor is Emeritus Professor of Musical Theatre at the University of Winchester, UK, and Endowed Professor of the Musical at the University of Amsterdam. She has published books and articles on British pantomime, musical theatre and theatre music.Adam Rush is Senior Lecturer in Musical Theatre at the University of Winchester, UK. His research has been published in Studies in Musical Theatre and in several edited collections.

• ‘Why We Tell the Story’: IntroductionHistoriography and Context(s)Deciphering Multiple HistoriesHow to Read this BookChapter 1 - ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’: From Operetta to PoperettaEuropean Origins Musical Comedy and Broadway Operetta (1900-1940) American OriginsInto the Twentieth Century The Musical Play and Beyond (1940-1960) Fragmentation and the Concept Musical The Megamusical, or Poperetta ConclusionChapter 2 - ‘New Music’: From Ragtime to RapRagtime and Early African American MusicEarly African American Musical Theatre Shuffle Along, And All That JazzThe Rise of Minstrelsy and ‘Coon Songs’Dreamgirls and MotownRap, Hip-Hop and HamiltonConclusionChapter 3 - ‘Waving Through A Window’: From Intertext to InstagramLiterary AdaptationsStage and Screen InteractionsThe Wonderful World of OzSingin’ in the Rain and the Hollywood Film MusicalDisney and the Animated MusicalCast Recordings You Already Know You’re Gonna Love It… Television Musicals Social Media and the Worldwide Web (of Showtunes) ConclusionChapter 4 - ‘Easy to be Hard’: From Censorship to SexLegal Censorship in Britain, 1485-1843 A Changing Landscape, 1843-1968 Censorship in America, 1620-1967 Politics meets Finance Hair (and all that followed) Self-Censorship and Political Correctness ConclusionChapter 5 - ‘Stand Up’: From Gender Duality to DiversityLate Victorian Britain Music Hall and Variety Early Twentieth Century Transatlantic Transfers The ‘Golden Age’ – Post-World War II Diversity and Difference – After the 1960s Into the Twenty First Century ConclusionChapter 6 - ‘Another National Anthem’: From Ourselves to the OtherBefore the Great War World War II and Post-War Reconstruction 1990s British Resurgence (as Mythologised in American Musicals) Challenging American Mythology Hybrid Influences in Musical Theatre ConclusionChapter 7 - ‘A Whole New World’: From The Mikado to the MegamusicalColonialismCulture within Colonialism The Cultural Dimension of Globalisation Global Producers and International Productions ConclusionChapter 8 - ‘Journey to the Past’: From Revival to RevisalReviving Gypsy1970s American Revivals New Models and Styles (Concert and Small-Scale Productions, Actor-Musicianship, Opera House Productions)Revision and Reinvention ConclusionAbstracts + KeywordsBibliography

The history of musical theatre has been told countless times, and often in the same way; so it is refreshing to read a study of the musical that offers a myriad tellings of the tale. Like holding a diamond up to Broadway and West End shows, each chapter in Taylor and Rush's fascinating book offers a different perspective. For students and scholars of the musical, the book provides a rich seam of thought-provoking discussions written in an accessible and engaging way. Bouncing between Britain and America in its central focus, it explores the musical as a ‘transnational’ form – one that has developed on either side of the Atlantic, yet one that has always been caught in a tussle between two different worlds. In the expert hands of Millie Taylor and Adam Rush, readers will experience an exciting set of transatlantic adventures in musical theatre.