George Abbott, Vinnette Carroll, and Harold (Hal) Prince were trailblazing figures who helped shape and define the Broadway musical over the course of the 20th century.
Their careers expanded the boundaries of the genre, highlighting the critical role of the director in the creation of a new musical. As theatre history, the essays in this volume help to complicate and deepen the reader's understanding of the musical genre of Broadway and of the enduring legacies of these three pioneers. As lessons in theatrical direction, they illustrate the particular issues involved in directing musicals, as well as the stakes of working commercially at the highest levels of the industry.
The Great North American Stage Directors series provides an authoritative account of the art of directing in North America by examining the work of twenty-four major practitioners from the late 19th century to the present. Each of the eight volumes examines three directors and offers an overview of their practices, theoretical ideas, and contributions to modern theatre. The studies chart the life and work of each director, placing his or her achievement in the context of other important theatre practitioners and broader social history. Written by a team of leading experts, the series presents the genealogy of directing in North America while simultaneously chronicling crucial trends and championing contemporary interpretation.
Henry Bial is Professor of Theatre and Director of the School of the Arts at the University of Kansas, USA, where he also serves as Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He is the author, editor, or co-editor of five books, including: Playing God: The Bible on the Broadway Stage; The Performance Studies Reader; Theatre Historiography: Critical Interventions; Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage and Screen; and Brecht Sourcebook. Bial is the Immediate Past President of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE).
SIMON SHEPHERD is Professor of Theatre and Deputy Principal (Academic) at the Central School of Speech and Drama, UK.
Chase Bringardner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre at Auburn University, USA. Dr. Bringardner specialises in the study of popular entertainments (such as medicine shows and musical theatre), regional identity construction, and intersections of race, gender, and class in popular performance forms.
James Peck is Professor of Theatre at Muhlenberg College, USA. He is the co-editor of Performing Magic on the Western Stage (2008) and has published in many academic journals, including Theatre Journal, Theatre Topics, Theatre Survey, and TDR. He serves on the editorial board of Theatre Topics and on the senior advisory board to the peer reviewed section of the SDC Journal.
