 |
|
The Wordsmiths: Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Alan Jay Lerner (Great Songwriters)
Stephen Citron
Paperback. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books 2014-09-01.
ISBN 9781480386488
|
|
|
|
Buy from Amazon.co.uk
|
Publisher description
Incomparable and unique in their ability to write both libretti and lyrics, Oscar Hammerstein and Alan Jay Lerner brought the musical theater to an artistic peak that remains unsurpassed. From Show Boat, Oklahoma!, and The Sound of Music to Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, and Camelot, they wrote the book and lyrics for one glittering gem after another. Drawing on a wealth of previously unpublished manuscripts, lyrics, letters, and interviews, Stephen Citrons dual biography brings to life the strikingly different worlds of Hammerstein and Lernertwo remarkable artists who revolutionized musical theater. Citrons narrative brims with fascinating stories about these two master wordsmiths, sweeping readers along Hammersteins roller-coaster career with its mixture of hits and flopscontrasted sharply with Lerners endless rewrites, eight marriages, and debilitating drug habits. Readers learn how Hammerstein and composer Richard Rodgers first wrote musicals together as undergraduates at Columbia University, then parted company for 20 years before reuniting to produce one smash hit after another. We also discover that the Loewe-Lerner team almost never made it past Brigadoon, due in part to Loewes aspirations to become a serious composer and Lerners chronic insecurities about his own talent. Along the way, we meet the centurys greatest composers and actorsincluding George Gershwin and Kurt Weill, Mary Martin and Rex Harrisonwhose transcendent melodies and showstopping performances combined with Hammersteins and Lerners words to leave an indelible mark on musical theater. Not only does Citron offer consummate analyses of his subjects lyrics and probing insights into their plots and dialogue, he also provides a mini-reference packed with photographs of notable productions and of the artists themselves. The book also includes a complete list of works, an extensive bibliography, and a quintuple chronology of Hammersteins and Lerners lives in relation to events in the world and musical theater
More books by Stephen Citron
Similar booksAmerican Musical Theatre Lyricists, including: Alan Jay Lerner, Dolly Parton, Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein Ii, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, Otto ... Comden, Kander And Ebb, Fred Ebb, Yip HarburgPaperback 2005
Rate the book
Write a review and share your opinion with others. Try to focus on the content of the book. Read our instructions for further information.
The Wordsmiths: Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Alan Jay Lerner
Book reviews » The Wordsmiths: Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Alan Jay Lerner (Great Songwriters)
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
