Harold Prince and the American Musical Theater (Directors in Perspective) - Hardcover

Hirsch, Foster

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521333148 ISBN 13: 9780521333146

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1989

Synopsis

This comprehensive study of the career of one of Broadway's most influential director/producers discusses the quintessential elements of Prince's theatrical work and assesses his impact on both the American and British musical theater

About this title

About the Author:

Foster Hirsch, professor of film at Brooklyn College, has updated the original edition of this book adding new interviews with Prince. He analyses Prince's more recent works, inc. Kiss of the Spider Woman, Parade, and the award-winning revival of Show Boat. He provides a riveting account of the creation and fortunes of Bounce, the 2003 musical that reunited Prince and Sondheim for the first time in twenty years.

Review:

"This book is a top-notch examination of Hal Prince's towering contribution to the Broadway musical of the last four decades." Theatre Studies "The book is an astute assessment of Prince's talents..." Daily News ."..a balanced analysis of [Prince's] work, from its inception to the megahit 'The Phantom of the Opera'." Newsday "Hirsch has contributed a concise and valuable study of an American theatre innovator whose ideas have transformed and broadened a genre desperate for rebirth." Michael Abbot, Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism "A lively and informative book, it spotlights Prince's distinctive imprint on the genre, his innovative concepts in decor and staging, his unconventional choice of subject matter and the use of music, and his rewarding collaboration with Stephen Sondheim." Backstage "Hirsch's book is marvelous, containing some of the best analysis of major musicals I've ever come across. Hirsch does that which few writers on musical theater are capable of: he brings the shows to life and makes vivid what was exciting about them in the theater." TheaterWeek "Hirsch reveals the hows and whys, unearthing the impetus of Prince's artistic ideas and annotating the birth and growth of each of his shows from 'The Pajama Game' to 'Phantom of the Opera'...Hirsch's Harold Prince is an indispensable book for any musical theatre buff's library." Bay Area Reporter

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0521333148
• ISBN 13: 9780521333146
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208