Lady in the Dark: Biography of a Musical
by Bruce D. McClung
List Price:
Our Price: $11.75
You Save: $13.20 (53%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Bruce D. McClungEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-02-16
ISBN: 019538508X
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of Lady in the Dark: Biography of a Musical
Book Review: That was no Lady
Summary: 2 Stars
While I am a big fan of the show and music from the musical "Lady in the Dark," this book, Lady in the Dark; Biography of a Musical left me somewhat cold. There is a big trend in academic books to rake up as much as possible much as Mannerist painters used to fill canvases with all manner of cupids and Greek columns and the like. Frequently one could not tell just what myth the artist was attempting to paint. The same is true here.
The narrative on this book kind of lags and then cannot seem to finish. First there is the original staging of the show itself which starred the great English actress Gertrude Lawrence. Bruce McClung has managed to rake up every single published article on Gertrude Lawrence while she was starring in "Lady in the Dark" and what she did on tour. I was kind of hoping that this was leading somewhere, but it wasn't. One does not remember Gertrude Lawrence for her war bond work, but because of the timing of the book, this is a focus of her activities. Why McClung should focus on this aspect of her tour seems to be nothing more than padding. He has discovered all these old press accounts and so he feels compelled to share with us (bring on the cupids and Greek columns).
If he has trouble getting started, McClung has even greater difficulty bringing his narrative to a close. After Lady in the Dark has its Broadway run there are accounts of revivals and even a discussion of the Julie Andrews picture that postulates that Lady in the Dark was auto-biographical (nice try, but Moss Hart wrote the book). This would all be so much better if any of this was going anywhere. It doesn't really. The claims that McClung makes for the show's influence seem forced and are not terribly compelling.
It is somewhat frustrating to finish a book and find oneself asking "what happened here?" If anyone really wants to experience Lady in the Dark, Ute Lemper's Kurt Wiell record is a significantly better way to experience it.
Summary of Lady in the Dark: Biography of a Musical
When Lady in the Dark opened on January 23, 1941, its many firsts immediately distinguished it as a new and unusual work. The curious directive to playwright Moss Hart to complete a play about psychoanalysis came from his own Freudian psychiatrist. For the first time since his brother George's death, Ira Gershwin returned to writing lyrics for the theater. And for �migr� composer Kurt Weill, it was a crack at an opulent first-class production. Together Hart, Gershwin, and Weill (with a little help from the psychiatrist) produced one of the most innovative works in Broadway history.With a company of 101 and an astronomical budget, Lady in the Dark launched the career of a young nightclub performer named Danny Kaye and starred Gertrude Lawrence in the greatest triumph of her career. With standees at many performances, Lady in the Dark helped establish the practice of advance ticket sales on the Great White Way, while Paramount Pictures' bid for the film rights broke all records. New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson hailed the production as "splendid," anointed Kurt Weill 'the best writer of theatre music in the country,' and worshiped Gertrude Lawrence as "a goddess."
Though Lady in the Dark was a smash-hit, it has never enjoyed a Broadway revival, and a certain mystique has grown up around its legendary original production. In this ground-breaking biography, bruce mcclung pieces together the musical's life story from sketches and drafts, production scripts, correspondence, photographs, costume and set designs, and thousands of clippings from the star's personal scrapbooks. He has interviewed eleven members of the original company to provide a one-of-a-kind glimpse into the backstage story.
The result is a virtual ticket to opening night, the saga of how this musical play came to be, and the string of events that saved the experimental show at every turn. Although America was turned upside down by Pearl Harbor after the production was on the boards, Lady in the Dark played an important role for the war effort and rang up 777 performances in 12 cities. In what may be the most illuminating study of a single Broadway musical, this biography brings Lady in the Dark back to the spotlight and puts readers in the front row.
Theater Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Theater Books
Looking Out: Perspectives on Dance and Criticism in a Multicultural WorldMacmillan Pub Co; Published: 1995-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $110.86
Directors on Directing: A Source Book of the Modern Theatreby Toby Cole, Helen Krich Chinoy
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 1963-01-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $92.40
Price in other shops:
Voice and the Actorby Cicely Berry
Wiley; Published: 1991-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
A Trip to the Light Fantastic: Travels With a Mexican Circusby Katie Hickman
Harpercollins; Published: 1995-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.00
Who On Earth Is Tom Baker? An Autobiographyby Tom Baker
Harper Collins, 1997; Published: 1997; Hardcover; Book
Who on Earth Is Tom Baker?by Tom Baker
Harpercollins Audio; Published: 1997-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $133.82
Streisand: A Biographyby Anne Edwards
Little Brown & Co (T); Published: 1997-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops:
The Orton Diariesby Joe Orton
Da Capo Press; Published: 1996-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.48
Price in other shops:
Understanding Movies (12th Edition)by Louis Giannetti
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 2010-01-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $79.03
Price in other shops:
The Theater Experience Tenth Editionby Edwin Wilson
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; Published: 2005-12-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $50.00
Similar Books and other products
Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theaterby Larry Stempel
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2010-09-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.53
Price in other shops:
Follies (New Broadway Cast Recording)Release date: 2011-11-29; Music CD
Best price: $12.06
Price in other shops:
The Broadway Musical Quiz Bookby Laura Frankos
Applause Theatre and Cinema Books; Published: 2010-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.80
Price in other shops:
Death Takes a Holiday (Original Off-Broadway Cast)Release date: 2011-10-11; Music CD
Best price: $10.67
Price in other shops:
American Musical Theatre: A Chronicleby Gerald Bordman, Richard Norton
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2010-12-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $144.93
Price in other shops:
Evening PrimroseKoch; Release date: 2010-10-26; DVD
Best price: $16.19
Price in other shops:
Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotesby Stephen Sondheim
Knopf; Published: 2010-10-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.75
Price in other shops:
The Hammersteins: A Musical Theatre Familyby Oscar Andrew Hammerstein
Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers; Published: 2010-10-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.78
Price in other shops:
The Fantasticks: The Complete Illustrated Text Plus the Official Fantasticks Scrapbook and History of the Musicalby Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones
Applause; Applause Books; Published: 2000-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops:
Lady In The Dark (1997 Original London Cast)Release date: 1998-05-05; Music CD
Best price: $11.23
Price in other shops: