Showstoppers!: The Surprising Backstage Stories of Broadway's Most Remarkable Songs (by Gerald Nachman)
Ooh, this one was fun -- even when I disagreed with Nachman it was fun. It's set up to discuss various "showstoppers," some of which are arguable. ("Johnny One-Note"? "Mr. Cellophane"? "Adalaide's Lament" -- and not "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat"?). But it's so fun to read someone discuss each song and each show in depth, even the shows I don't know well. And fun to disagree!
(Sidebar: my most disagreed-with statement was this one: "Shows, let alone solos, rarely create overnight stars on today’s Broadway. Can anyone name the stars from The Lion King, Hairspray, Jersey Boys, The Book of Mormon, Newsies, or Matilda?" I mean okay, maybe Andrew Rannells and Sutton Foster and Ben Platt and Cynthia Erivo aren't famous enough to count as stars, and those shows he lists aren't the best examples, but "today's Broadway" still produces plenty of stars. Lea Michele and Jon Groff in Spring Awakening? Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth in Wicked? Lin-Manuel Miranda for the love of god?!??)
His biases come through loud and clear. He's a huge fan of Rodgers and Hart. He hates all movie musicals. He seems to be biased against every musical made after Rodgers hooked up with Hammerstein, except, inexplicably, Jersey Boys, which he loves and shoehorns into the book despite it being a jukebox musical. This book also has great interviews with everyone from Tommy Tune to Patty LuPone to Stephen Schwartz. (Oh, Wicked. He really lets loose on Wicked, and bashes teenage girls in the process.) The LuPone one, discussing how she didn't know what the hell Evita was talking about in "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." is a standout.
The editing isn't perfect (some repeated sentences and people introduced twice; some confusion about who Gwen Verdon played in Chicago, some other factual errors) and there isn't an ending at all. He briefly bashes Phantom of the Opera and then it abruptly ends. I would have really enjoyed discussions of Rent and Hamilton (which get brief mentions) and more in-depth discussions of the more contemporary shows, which are the ones I grew up on. But as a Broadway fan, I really enjoyed this. Must be accompanied by YouTube clips of the performances he praises and pans, for full effect.
(Sidebar: my most disagreed-with statement was this one: "Shows, let alone solos, rarely create overnight stars on today’s Broadway. Can anyone name the stars from The Lion King, Hairspray, Jersey Boys, The Book of Mormon, Newsies, or Matilda?" I mean okay, maybe Andrew Rannells and Sutton Foster and Ben Platt and Cynthia Erivo aren't famous enough to count as stars, and those shows he lists aren't the best examples, but "today's Broadway" still produces plenty of stars. Lea Michele and Jon Groff in Spring Awakening? Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth in Wicked? Lin-Manuel Miranda for the love of god?!??)
His biases come through loud and clear. He's a huge fan of Rodgers and Hart. He hates all movie musicals. He seems to be biased against every musical made after Rodgers hooked up with Hammerstein, except, inexplicably, Jersey Boys, which he loves and shoehorns into the book despite it being a jukebox musical. This book also has great interviews with everyone from Tommy Tune to Patty LuPone to Stephen Schwartz. (Oh, Wicked. He really lets loose on Wicked, and bashes teenage girls in the process.) The LuPone one, discussing how she didn't know what the hell Evita was talking about in "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." is a standout.
The editing isn't perfect (some repeated sentences and people introduced twice; some confusion about who Gwen Verdon played in Chicago, some other factual errors) and there isn't an ending at all. He briefly bashes Phantom of the Opera and then it abruptly ends. I would have really enjoyed discussions of Rent and Hamilton (which get brief mentions) and more in-depth discussions of the more contemporary shows, which are the ones I grew up on. But as a Broadway fan, I really enjoyed this. Must be accompanied by YouTube clips of the performances he praises and pans, for full effect.
Labels: kindle, library, nonfiction
posted by mo pie at 11:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home