The Art of the American Musical: Conversations with the Creators

Musical theater has captivated American audiences from its early roots in burlesque stage productions and minstrel shows to the million-dollar industry it has become on Broadway today. What is it about this truly indigenous American art form that has made it so enduringly popular? How has it survived, even thrived, alongside the technology of film and the glitz and glamour of Hollywood? Will it continue to evolve and leave its mark on the twenty-first century? Bringing together exclusive and previously unpublished interviews with nineteen leading composers, lyricists, librettists, directors, choreographers, and producers from the mid-1900s to the present, this book details the careers of the individuals who shaped this popular performance art during its most prolific period.

JACKSON R. BRYER is a professor of English at the University of Maryland. He is the editor of The Playwright’s Art and coeditor of The Actor’s Art.

RICHARD A. DAVISON is a professor of English at the University of Delaware. He is the coeditor of The Actor’s Art and has published books on Frank, Charles, and Kathleen Norris and numerous articles in major literary journals.