Ever After: The Last Years of Musical Theater and Beyond

by Barry Singer

Overview

(Applause Books). Ever After is more than a detailed show-by-show history of the last quarter century in American musical theater. It explains how the storied Broadway tradition in many cases went so very wrong. Singer takes the reader behind the scenes for an unparalleled look at A Chorus Line 's final bow, the creation of Rent , the real people behind Disney's uber-musicals, and even an afternoon with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Ever After also celebrates the promise of the next generation of young musical theater artists, especially Adam Guettel, Michael John LaChiusa, Ricky Ian Gordon and Jason Robert Brown, addressing not only their work to date, but their future projects. There is no other book currently available that covers this period and subject. Through his work for The New York Times , Singer has interviewed virtually everyone of significance. They are all here, very much speaking for themselves. Ever After is both anecdotal and analytical, featuring personality profiles of important creative figures, from Jule Styne to Stephen Sondheim to Jonathan Larson, while critically evaluating all of the many musicals produced during the past 25 years. Sure to generate debate, this is a book written not only for the musical theater aficionado, but for anyone who has seen a Broadway musical or has just enjoyed the movie version of Chicago and is curious to know more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781557835291
Publisher:	Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
Publication date:	04/01/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	330
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.24(h) x 1.10(d)

Table of Contents

	Introduction: Is It Dead Yet?	1
	Overture: And Now Life Really Begins	5
Chapter 1	We're Bitching (1977-1982)	11
Chapter 2	All It Has to Be Is Good (1983-1984)	25
Chapter 3	Oh, There's a Cast of Thousands (1984-1987)	35
Chapter 4	Music of the Night (1987-1988)	45
Chapter 5	You're Nothing Without Me (1988-1990)	53
Chapter 6	Why We Tell the Story (1990-1991)	59
Chapter 7	Somethin' More (1991-1992)	67
Chapter 8	Maybe It Better Soon No (1992-1993)	73
Chapter 9	The Red Shoes (1993)	79
Chapter 10	Turn the Blood to Black and White (1993-1994)	85
Chapter 11	A Kind of Happiness (1993-1995)	93
Chapter 12	Glory (1994-1996)	99
Chapter 13	How Glory Goes (1995-1996)	113
Chapter 14	This Is the Moment (1996-1997)	125
Chapter 15	Pure and Blameless (1997)	133
Chapter 16	Hakuna Matata (1997-1998)	139
Chapter 17	Saturn Returns (1997-1998)	151
Chapter 18	Elaborate Lives (1998)	159
Chapter 19	You Don't Know This Man (1998-1999)	175
Chapter 20	Dream True (1999)	183
Chapter 21	Wild Party (1999-2000)	191
Chapter 22	What Sings (2000)	203
Chapter 23	A Showbiz Mausoleum (2000-2001)	209
Chapter 24	This Is Urinetown (2001-2002)	227
Chapter 25	Music and the Mirror (2001)	239
Chapter 26	Climbing Uphill (2001-2002)	243
Chapter 27	Don't Cry for Me, Argentina (2001)	251
	Finale: But Who Calls That Livin'? (2002-2003)	257
	Curtain Call	269
	Acknowledgements	283
	Notes	285
	The Seasons	299
	The Musicals	313
	The Numbers	317
	Index	319

Editorial Reviews

Singer is nothing if not passionate about musical theater. He's written columns about the state of the art in the New York Times every August since 1997, and these columns form the basis of the present book. He has zero to very few good words to say about Andrew Lloyd Webber and Mel Brooks and a lot of good words to say about Stephen Sondheim. He also loves composers some decades younger than Sondheim, like Adam Guettel and Mark Hollmann. He treats the Disneyfication of Broadway with a raised eyebrow and with hope that a mote of originality can emerge from the glut of adapted animated adventures. Most of all, Singer asks his readers to truly, madly, deeply care about musical theater and composers to overcome the stupidity that lies within much of today's popular culture. We know that musicals can never be like they used to be (an evolving economy has taken care of that), but that doesn't mean that they can't be better than they are; it will just take a good deal of work and courage. Recommended for performing arts libraries. Larry Schwartz, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Moorhead Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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