The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals – by Dan Dietz

Strike Up the Band, Of Thee I Sing, and Let ’Em Eat Cake). The decade also saw the last musicals by Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Vincent Youmans; found Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in full flower; and introduced both Kurt Weill and Harold Arlen’s music to Broadway.

In The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals, Dan Dietz examines in detail every musical that opened on Broadway from 1930 through 1939. This book discusses the era’s major successes, notorious failures, and musicals that closed during their pre-Broadway tryouts. It includes such shows as Anything Goes, As Thousands Cheer, Babes in Arms, The Boys from Syracuse, The Cradle Will Rock, The Green Pastures, Hellzapoppin, Hot Mikado, Porgy and Bess, Roberta, and various editions of Ziegfeld Follies.

Each entry contains the following information:

Plot summary

Cast members

Names of all important personnel, including writers, composers, directors, choreographers, producers, and musical directors

Opening and closing dates

Number of performances

Critical commentary

Musical numbers and the performers who introduced the songs

Production data, including information about tryouts

Source material

Details about London and other foreign productions

The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals will be of use to scholars, historians, and casual fans of one of the greatest decades in musical theatre history.

Released: 2018