The Middlebrow Musical: Between Broadway and Opera in 1940s America – by James O'Leary

Uncovers critical networks that originally theorized a middlebrow approach to culture, beginning in the literary circles of Van Wyck Brooks and Archibald MacLeish, and radiating outward to major theater and music critics including Brooks Atkinson and Olin Downes. Follows three shows from their earliest conceptions to their opening-night reviews: Oklahoma!, Beggar's Holiday, and Street Scene. Featuring behind-the-scenes communications, which reveal how these Broadway writers explicitly deployed middlebrow theories to negotiate high-art aspirations toward operas, symphonies, and experimental theater; toward contemporary folk-music studies; and toward popular-culture accessibility, all with civic intentions of pulling disparate audiences together into a thoughtful reflection upon the modern, war-torn world. 272 pages.

Released: 2025