Making Musicals: An Informal Introduction to the World of Musical Theater (Limelight) - Softcover

Jones, Tom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0879100958 ISBN 13: 9780879100957

Publisher: Limelight, 2004

Synopsis

The lyricist/librettist of The Fantasticks, the longest-running show in the history of the American theater, takes on a new role as your guide through the magical world of the stage musical.

About this title

Review:

The man who wrote the words to The Fantasticks and several other musicals shares his hard-earned wisdom in a book that's part history, part how-to, with just enough memoir thrown in to give it a unique personality and flavor. Jones (not the pop singer) lays out the rules of writing Broadway-style musicals, illustrated with examples from the great shows, from Oklahoma! on. He then explains how he endeavored to break those rules and advises writers of the new millennium on how they might do the same. Those writers will likely find their shows competing with Jones's Fantasticks, which opened in 1960 and is still going strong.

From the Back Cover:

The lyricist/librettist of The Fantasticks, the longest-running show in the history of the American theatre, here takes on a new role as guide through the magical world of the stage musical. He begins his tour with a brief history, tracing the musical's origins to the variety shows and operettas of the early 1900s, from which gradually emerged the works of such masters as Kern, Berlin, Gershwin and Porter, and a tradition best exemplified by the mid-century classics of Rodgers and Hammerstein. A break-up of that tradition, reflecting the immense changes in every aspect of postwar American life, was inevitable. So, gradually new forms evolved, and today we have the "Dance Musical", the "Concept Musical", the "Rock Musical" and the "Sung-Through Musical", all running alongside shows, some hugely successful, that revive or try to reinvent the past. How to create a musical, whatever its style, is Tom Jones's concern in the longer second part of this book. He draws generously upon his own experiences, with composer Harvey Schmidt, in creating not only The Fantasticks but all their other shows. Together these musicals become a constant frame of reference as Jones explains how to get started, how to work with composers, set designers and other collaborators, how to find the spark for an effective lyric, how to create a musical rather than a play with music and how to go about getting produced.

About this edition

• Publisher: Limelight
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0879100958
• ISBN 13: 9780879100957
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192