9781557787231 | Paragon House, May 1, 1995, cover price $24.95 |
About this edition: The Broadway musical is one of America s great indigenous popular forms a glorious hybrid that emerged out of our speech our tempo our moral attitudes our way of moving as Leonard Bernstein put it Now in a landmark two volume collection The Library of America presents sixteen enduring masterpieces charting the Broadway musical s narrative tradition from the groundbreaking Show Boat 1927 through the genre s Golden Age to its response to the turbulent 1960s with the Tony Award winning shows Cabaret and 1776 Based on new research this historic collection presents the complete libretto of each musical in its Broadway opening night version making these beloved stories available as never before Irving Berlin and Moss Hart s As Thousands Cheer is published here for the first time Show Boat and Pal Joey are presented in newly restored versions Seven other shows including South Pacific Guys and Dolls and My Fair Lady return to print for the first time in decades Each of these classic musicals has evolved over time receiving many important revivals and new productions This Library of America boxed set offers readers unprecedented insight into this living history with a selection of hard to find or previously unpublished supplementary items including lyrics of songs dropped out of town or added in later revivals Lavishly illustrated with 64 pages of photographs and other images drawn from the original productions the set also contains biographical sketches of the book writers and lyricists cast lists and other information about the shows Broadway openings and detailed accounts of the path each show took on the road to Broadway As a special feature the box includes 16 full color postcards reproducing the original show posters AMERICAN MUSICALS contains Show Boat Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Music by Jerome Kern As Thousands Cheer Lyrics and music by Irving Berlin Sketches by Moss Hart Pal Joey Book by John O Hara Music by Ri