Ken Bloom - Böcker

Show and Tell: The New Book of Broadway Anecdotes is a lively, funny and sometimes touching look at the adventures of some of Broadway's most colorful practitioners. From authors, directors, actors, producers and designers to the myriad other folk involved keeping the fabulous invalid alive, Far from a dry repetition of names, facts, and figures, Show and Tell offers up a history of Broadway shows and its practitioners from a skewed prospective in all their idiosyncratic glory.

A new biography of one of the key composers of 20th-century American popular song and jazz,Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm and Race illuminates Blake's little-known impact on over 100 years of American culture. A gifted musician, Blake rose from performing in dance halls and bordellos of his native Baltimore to the heights of Broadway. In 1921, together with performer and lyricist Noble Sissle, Blake created Shuffle Along which became a sleeper smash on Broadway eventually becoming one of the top ten musical shows of the 1920s. Despite many obstacles Shuffle Along integrated Broadway and the road and introduced such stars as Josephine Baker, Lottie Gee, Florence Mills, and Fredi Washington. It also proved that black shows were viable on Broadway and subsequent productions gave a voice to great songwriters, performers, and spoke to a previously disenfranchised black audience. As successful as Shuffle Along was, racism and bad luck hampered Blake's career. Remarkably, the third act of Blake's life found him heraldedin his 90s at major jazz festivals, in Broadway shows, and on television and recordings.Tracing not only Blake's extraordinary life and accomplishments, Broadway and popular music authorities Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom examine the professional and societal barriers confronted by black artists from the turn of the century through the 1980s. Drawing from a wealth of personal archives and interviews with Blake, his friends, and other scholars,Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm and Race offers an incisive portrait of the man and the musical world he inhabited.

This volume is another example in the Routledge tradition of producing high-quality reference works on theater, music, and the arts. An A to Z encyclopedia of Broadway, this volume includes tons of information, including producers, writer, composers, lyricists, set designers, theaters, performers, and landmarks in its sweep.

Jerry Herman is one of Broadway's most celebrated composers and lyricists. He is the author of two of the biggest successes in musical theater history: Hello, Dolly! and Mame . Herman is also responsible for Mack and Mabel, Milk and Honey , and the musical version of the film La Cage Aux Folles. All of these have been produced many times, in both professional and amateur productions around the world. He is currently writing a new musical, Miss Spectacular , commissioned by Steve Wynn to be produced in a new theater at his Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. This book offers all of the lyrics to Herman's well-loved songs along with rare production photographs from all of his shows. It includes early lyrics from Herman's first Broadway revues and shows, songs cut from his best-loved shows, and new lyrics. Herman's songs have been sung by all the masters of American pop song but have never been collected before. In addition to the lyrics, Herman offers his personal reminiscences and comments on the lyrics and the shows. For the fan of Broadway theater and of Jerry Herman's works, this book will be a treasure.

The Routledge Guide to Broadway is the second title in our new student reference series. It will introduce the student to the Broadway theater, focusing on key performers, writers, directors, plays, and musicals, along with the theaters themselves, key awards, and the folklore of Broadway.Broadway is the center of American theater, where all the great plays and musicals make their mark. Students across the country in theater history, performance, and direction/production look to Broadway for their inspiration. While there are illustrated coffee table type books on Broadway, there are few that offer a comprehensive look at the key figures and productions of the last two centuries. TheRoutledge Guide to Broadway offers this information in an easy-to-use, inexpensive format that will appeal to students, professors, and theatrical professionals.