Ben Francis – författare

A new edition of the dictionary that explains more than 10,000 of the most frequently used idioms in English today. This new edition has hundreds of new idioms and examples taken from our corpus. It also has more notes on the origins of idioms, notes to help with difficult vocabulary, study pages, exercises and cartoons to aid learning and add interest.

Stephen Sondheim is one of the best-known and most-loved musical theatre composers, but also one of the most misunderstood, often being labelled as 'distant' or 'cynical'. Careful the Spell You Cast instead argues that Sondheim firmly belongs to the Broadway aspirational tradition, in that many of his characters are defined by their dreams: to abandon one's dream (as Ben does in Follies, Frank does in Merrily We Roll Along, and Addison does in Road Show) is to lose one's soul.Rather than take the established view of Sondheim as a cynic, this book contends that throughout Sondheim's work, letting go of one's illusions is a process that his characters need to go through, that they must cast off illusions and false dreams, without becoming cynical and destroying their genuine dreams in the process. In turn this view aligns Sondheim's work as being aspirational and a logical continuation from the work of his mentor, Oscar Hammerstein II. Following the trajectory of Sondheim's career, Careful the Spell You Cast shows how Sondheim has dramatized this process throughout his writing life alongside different collaborators. From his work as a lyricist with the musicals Gypsy and West Side Story through to his later collaborations with Hal Prince (Company, Follies) and James Lapine (Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George), this book reframes the established view through lyrical and structural analysis in relation to the characters within each of these celebrated works of musical theatre, arguing that Sondheim is, in the popular sense of the word, a romantic within the tradition of the Broadway musical.

Stephen Sondheim is one of the best-known and most-loved musical theatre composers, but also one of the most misunderstood, often being labelled as 'distant' or 'cynical'. Careful the Spell You Cast instead argues that Sondheim firmly belongs to the Broadway aspirational tradition, in that many of his characters are defined by their dreams: to abandon one's dream (as Ben does in Follies, Frank does in Merrily We Roll Along, and Addison does in Road Show) is to lose one's soul.Rather than take the established view of Sondheim as a cynic, this book contends that throughout Sondheim's work, letting go of one's illusions is a process that his characters need to go through, that they must cast off illusions and false dreams, without becoming cynical and destroying their genuine dreams in the process. In turn this view aligns Sondheim's work as being aspirational and a logical continuation from the work of his mentor, Oscar Hammerstein II. Following the trajectory of Sondheim's career, Careful the Spell You Cast shows how Sondheim has dramatized this process throughout his writing life alongside different collaborators. From his work as a lyricist with the musicals Gypsy and West Side Story through to his later collaborations with Hal Prince (Company, Follies) and James Lapine (Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George), this book reframes the established view through lyrical and structural analysis in relation to the characters within each of these celebrated works of musical theatre, arguing that Sondheim is, in the popular sense of the word, a romantic within the tradition of the Broadway musical.

"Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick formed one of the most significant musical partnerships of the 1960s, creating some of the most beloved and enduring works in musical theater" (Jewish Ledger)The work of American musical theatre writing team Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick has been oddly overlooked by scholars, despite the fact that their most famous show Fiddler on the Roof is an enduring classic that is still being performed all over the world. Part of this reason stems from the fact that Bock and Harnick prided themselves on never writing the same show twice, giving them longevity in a form that was unmatched by their contemporaries.This critical companion to their work is the first book to focus on the integration of music and drama in their hit musicals. From domestic comedies (She Loves Me), contemporary satires (The Body Beautiful), historical epics (The Rothschilds), comedic fantasy (The Apple Tree) and of course, their tragicomic stories of everyday life (Fiddler on the Roof) this is the first book that will look at how the team reinvented themselves from show to show throughout the 'golden age' of Broadway and beyond.Published in Methuen Drama's Musical Theatre Critical Companion series, this book is structured into thematic chapters that cover themes such as patriarchy, Judaism, romance, women, Americana and satire, combining primary research, original study and interviews with their collaborators to offer a comprehensive and much-needed look at two critically overlooked giants of musical theatre.