Broadway Musicals

by Martin Gottfried

Book by Martin Gottfried

Genres: Nonfiction, Theatre, Reference

352 pages, Hardcover

First published April 3, 1980

About the author

Martin Gottfried,was a New York drama critic for over forty years and the author of five biographies and two books of theater criticism.

Gottfried graduated from Columbia College in New York City in 1959,and attended Columbia Law School for three semesters, next spending one year with U.S. Army Military Intelligence.Gottfried began his writing career as the classical music critic for The Village Voice, doubling as an off-Broadway reviewer for Women's Wear Daily, a position that made him the youngest member of the New York Drama Critics Circle in the organization's history.

Winner of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism and recipient of two Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships, Martin Gottfried was the chief dramatic critic for the New York Post and Saturday Review. He is the author of A Theater Divided, Jed Harris: The Curse of Genius, All His Jazz: The Life and Death of Bob Fosse, Balancing Act: The Authorized Biography of Angela Lansbury and Nobody’s Fool: The Lives of Danny Kaye.

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations for this history of the Broadway musical are spectacular. The narrative that Gottfried supplies is less so. He seems to prefer pleasant musicals that make money and is often critical of those that are neither. In particular, although he praises Stephen Sondheim, with a chapter focusing on him, it's a with a big caveat since he doesn't think Sondheim has enough heart for a meaningful musical. The first several chapters explain what a musical is made up of, including the book, music, lyrics, design, and direction. He singles out directors George Abbot, Jerome Robbins, and Bob Fosse, because of their influence on others. Similarly, he has chapters on Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Irving Berlin. Other composers get briefer mentions, including a chapter called "The Masters," where he looks at more contemporary (for 1979) composers. He has a chapter on Black Musicals, noting the early ones which often drew from minstrel shows or were condescending, and decries the recent trend of Black versions of musicals, such as Hello, Dolly! and Guys and Dolls, which seems shortsighted on Gottfried's part. There's also an interesting chapter on Annie, as an illustration of all that goes into the running of a show. Not sure who the audience is for this. If for people new to musical theater, there's a lot going on that they might not get, and for those of us who love musical theater, there are some annoying simplifications, as well as forcing a narrative as to how musicals have grown and changed over time. I'm glad I read it, although I don't think of it as a reference book that I'll continue to refer to.

[Nicki Markus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broadway Musicals is a difficult book to review. On the one hand, it is detailed and informative, with sections concentrating first on different aspects of musical theatre production and then on some key figures in the industry. However, this is an old work, so it only covers up to the 1970s, and some of the author's views come across these days as narrow minded. He makes many sweeping statements, especially on more 'modern' musicals with which I wholeheartedly disagree. On the plus side, though, the work contains many images, and it is worth checking out for that alone, even if you ignore the text. As such, I am giving it 3 stars.

[Sally N. Inglis]

Tanner gave this book to Mom & Dad.