The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical (Oxford Handbooks) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199988749 ISBN 13: 9780199988747

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2016

Synopsis

The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical provides a comprehensive academic survey of British musical theatre offering both a historical account of the musical's development from 1728 and a range of in-depth critical analyses of the unique forms and features of British musicals, which explore the aesthetic values and sociocultural meanings of a tradition that initially gave rise to the American musical and later challenged its modern pre-eminence.
After a consideration of how John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) created a prototype for eighteenth-century ballad opera, the book focuses on the use of song in early nineteenth century theatre, followed by a sociocultural analysis of the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan; it then examines Edwardian and interwar musical comedies and revues as well as the impact of Rodgers and Hammerstein on the West End, before analysing the new forms of the postwar British musical from The Boy Friend (1953) to Oliver! (1960). One section of the book examines the contributions of key twentieth century figures including Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Joan Littlewood and producer Cameron Macintosh, while a number of essays discuss both mainstream and alternative musicals of the 1960s and 1970s and the influence of the pop industry on the creation of concept recordings such as Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) and Les Misérables (1980). There is a consideration of "jukebox" musicals such as Mamma Mia! (1999), while essays on overtly political shows such as Billy Elliot (2005) are complemented by those on experimental musicals like Jerry Springer: the Opera (2003) and London Road (2011) and on the burgeoning of Black and Asian British musicals in both the West End and subsidized venues.
The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical demonstrates not only the unique qualities of British musical theatre but also the vitality and variety of British musicals today.

About this title

About the Author

As Professor of Theatre and Performance at Goldsmiths, University of London, Robert Gordon established the first MA in Musical Theatre for writers and producers in Europe. He has worked as a playwright, director, actor and critic and is author of Pinter's Theatre of Power, Stoppard: Text and Performance, The Purpose of Playing, co-author of British Musicals since 1950 and editor of the Oxford Handbook of Sondheim Studies.

Olaf Jubin is Reader in Media Studies and Musical Theatre at Regent's University London; he has written, co-written and co-edited several books in the area of popular culture, the mass media and musical theatre, both in English and in German, among them studies on the dubbing and subtitling of Hollywood musicals for the German market and a comparative analysis of American, British, German and Austrian reviews of the musicals of Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Review

"The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical as a whole represents a highly distinguished level of scholarship and acumen. This is a volume that demonstrates the diversity, inherent social awareness, and musical and dramatic distinctiveness of the British musical." --NABMSA Reviews

"The editors provide an extensive introduction to help the reader identify trends and patterns within the development of the art form, including the effect that London's West End has had on Broadway (and vice versa). To its credit, the book also explores the development of black musicals, Asian musicals, and experimental works. Of special note are essays about producer Cameron Macintosh, Noel Coward, and marketing trends targeting multiple generations of theatergoers. Though the level of writing varies greatly from essay to essay, the book as a whole provides an excellent examination of a monumental theatrical form." --E.C. Skiles, Lone Star College-Kingwood, Choice

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0199988749
• ISBN 13: 9780199988747
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 776
• Editor: Gordon Robert, Jubin Olaf