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The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows Jonas Westover (Freelance Writer)

The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows By Jonas Westover (Freelance Writer)

The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows by Jonas Westover (Freelance Writer)


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Summary

The Shubert name has been synonymous with Broadway for almost as long as Broadway entertainment itself. In The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows: The Untold Tale of Ziegfeld's Rivals, author Jonas Westover investigates beyond the Shuberts' business empire into their early revues and the centrifugal role they played in developing American theatre as an art form.

The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows Summary

The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows: The Untold Tale of Ziegfeld's Rivals by Jonas Westover (Freelance Writer)

The Shubert name has been synonymous with Broadway for almost as long as Broadway entertainment itself. With seventeen Broadway theatres including the Ambassador, the Music Box, and the Winter Garden, The Shubert Organization perpetuates brothers Lee and Jacob Shubert's business legacy. In The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows: The Untold Tale of Ziegfeld's Rivals, author Jonas Westover investigates beyond the Shuberts' business empire into their early revues and the centrifugal role they played in developing American theatre as an art form. The Shubert-produced revues, titled Passing Shows, were terrifically popular in the teens and twenties, consistently competing with Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies for the greatest numbers of stars, biggest spectacles, and ultimately the largest audiences. The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows is the first-ever book to unpack the colorful history of the productions, delving into their stars, costumes, stagecraft, and orchestration in unprecedented detail. Providing a fresh and exciting window into American theatrical history, Westover traces the fascinating history of the Shuberts' revue series, presented annually from 1912-1924, and covers more broadly the glorious days of early Broadway. In addition to its compelling history of Broadway's Golden Age, The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows also provides a revisionary argument about the overarching history of the revue. Bolstered by a rich collection of documents in the Shubert Theater Archive, Westover argues against the popular misconception that the Shubert's competitor, producer Florenz Ziegfield - responsible for the better-known Follies - was the sole proprietor of Broadway audiences. As Westover proves, not only were the Passing Shows as popular as the Follies but also a key component in a history of the revue that is vastly more complex than previous scholarship has shown. The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows brings to fruition years of original research and invaluable insights into the gilded formation of present day Broadway.

The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows Reviews

Ultimately, Westover's book constitutes a significant contribution to a richer understanding of the collaborative nature of revue shows and the Shuberts' critical, often overlooked role within the genre. In doing so, Westover lays an impressive foundation from which to rethink the revue. This book will be particularly interesting for scholars of musical theater history from a variety of disciplines and could easily be incorporated into graduate seminars. Additionally, some of the earlier chapters could and should be adopted for undergraduate musical theater history surveys. * American Music *
For readers interested in the entertainment world of New York City in the late 1910s and early 1920s, particularly musical theater and Broadway revues, this book offers insightful cultural analysis and highlights many long forgotten starts of the era. * Gretchen Martin, Journal Studies in American Humor *

About Jonas Westover (Freelance Writer)

Dr. Jonas Westover (Ph.D., City University of New York 2010) has been an active violinist and musicologist in the Twin Cities area for the past five years. He is the author of The Shuberts and their Passing Shows: The Untold Tale of Ziegfelds Rivals (Oxford University Press, 2016) and has written over 400 entries for the Grove Dictionary of American Music. He has taught violin since 1998 in both Minneapolis and New York, and regularly performs in chamber music and in orchestras for musical theater. He has also taught in numerous New York and Minnesota colleges and universities. As a musicologist, his interests are musical theater, film music, and videogame music. He is also the volunteer historian for the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, IA.

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgements List of Figures List of Tables List of Examples A List of Passing Show Personages Introduction Chapter 1: A Twelve-Hour Show Squeezed Into Three: The Creative Forces Behind the Passing Shows. Chapter 2: A Matchless Melange of Mirth and Melody: The Stars of the Passing Shows. Chapter 3: The Hebrew Messenger Boy and the Thespian: The Howard Brothers. Chapter 4: A Downpour of Talent, A Niagara of Beauty: Chorus Girls and Chorus Boys. Chapter 5: The Mastodon of Musical Extravaganza: Song, Dance, and Scenic Effects. Chapter 6: A Sure Cure for the Blues: Creating the Passing Show of 1914. Chapter 7: A Carnival of Travesty: Textual and Musical References in the Passing Shows. Chapter 8: America's Foremost Musical Institution: The Shuberts, Ziegfeld, and their Battle for Supremacy. Chapter 9: As New, Bright, and Welcome as the Morning Sun: The Birth of a Legend and the Demise of a Genre. Bibliography Appendices

Additional information

NPB9780190219239
9780190219239
0190219238
The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows: The Untold Tale of Ziegfeld's Rivals by Jonas Westover (Freelance Writer)
New
Hardback
Oxford University Press Inc
20161201
320
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
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