Musical Theater and American Culture Book

Though there have been many histories of the theater and specifically the theatrical musical, none has done quite what this book achieves: it explores how the musical emerged in the late-18th and 19th centuries as a specifically American form of entertainment and went on to become a powerful medium of popular and political collective expression, articulating the tensions and reconciliations of everyday relations between individuals and society. Intimately related to the forging of social, cultural, and political American identities, the musical--often dismissed as "merely" entertainment--is tied inextricably to America's sense of itself as a New World, a land of opportunity, and above all, the emblem of modern culture. Including material on genres ranging from minstrel shows to melodrama to the development of the contemporary book musical and the "megamusical," the book delves into such important shows as Anything Goes, West Side Story, Evita, and Rent. It represents the first sustained analysis of this medium as a social and political vehicle.Read More