Incomparable and unique in their ability to write both libretti and lyrics, Oscar Hammerstein and Alan Jay Lerner brought the musical theater to an artistic peak that remains unsurpassed. From Show Boat, Oklahoma!, and The Sound of Music to Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, and Camelot, they wrote the book and lyrics for one glittering gem after another. Drawing on a wealth of previously unpublished manuscripts, lyrics, letters, and interviews, Stephen Citrons dual biography brings to life the strikingly different worlds of Hammerstein and Lernertwo remarkable artists who revolutionized musical theater. Citrons narrative brims with fascinating stories about these two master wordsmiths, sweeping readers along Hammersteins roller-coaster career with its mixture of hits and flopscontrasted sharply with Lerners endless rewrites, eight marriages, and debilitating drug habits. Readers learn how Hammerstein and composer Richard Rodgers first wrote musicals together as undergraduates at Columbia University, then parted company for 20 years before reuniting to produce one smash hit after another. We also discover that the Loewe-Lerner team almost never made it past Brigadoon, due in part to Loewes aspirations to become a serious composer and Lerners chronic insecurities about his own talent. Along the way, we meet the centurys greatest composers and actorsincluding George Gershwin and Kurt Weill, Mary Martin and Rex Harrisonwhose transcendent melodies and showstopping performances combined with Hammersteins and Lerners words to leave an indelible mark on musical theater. Not only does Citron offer consummate analyses of his subjects lyrics and probing insights into their plots and dialogue, he also provides a mini-reference packed with photographs of notable productions and of the artists themselves. The book also includes a complete list of works, an extensive bibliography, and a quintuple chronology of Hammersteins and Lerners lives in relation to events in the world and musical theater.
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Publisher: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books Released: 2014
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Brandon Seabrook Releases New Album 'BRUTALOVECHAMP'
by Blair Ingenthron
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Released on May 26, 2023, brutalovechamp features Seabrook's stunning and malleable octet Epic Proportions, which includes percussionist and vocalist Nava Dunkelman, cellist Marika Hughes, bassists Eivind Opsvik and Henry Fraser, electronic musician and vocalist Chuck Bettis, John McCowen on clarinets and recorders, and Sam Ospovat on drums, vibraphone and percussion.
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by Blair Ingenthron
- May 20, 2023
With The Rite of Spring – Spectre d’un songe, two of contemporary music’s most vital and innovative pianists – Sylvie Courvoisier and Cory Smythe – interpret and converse with one of the 20th century’s landmark compositions. On this breathtaking new recording, released May 19, 2023 from Pyroclastic Records, Courvoisier and Smythe perform Igor Stravinsky’s striking two-piano rendition of his iconic Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), followed by a bold new Courvoisier composition that draws inspiration from Stravinsky as a launchpad for investigatory improvisation.
THE GUAVA TREE, A New Bilingual Musical For Young Audiences, Releases Cast Album
by Blair Ingenthron
- May 20, 2023
The official cast album for The Guava Tree / El Guayabo, a new bilingual musical for young audiences, is available digitally on all platforms. With book and lyrics by Diana Grisanti and music by Emiliano Messiez, the musical premiered at the renowned Creede Repertory Theatre in Colorado in 2021. It toured across the Southwest and was seen by more than 40,000 students.
Listen: Matthew Scott's THE JESUS YEAR: A LETTER FROM MY DAD Out Now
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PS CLASSICS, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, has announced the release of the debut album from actor-singer Matthew Scott, who has been lighting up the Broadway stage since making his debut in Jersey Boys.
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