Bernstein meets Broadway : collaborative art in a time of war
"When Leonard Bernstein first arrived in New York City, he was an unknown artist working with other brilliant twentysomethings, notably Jerome Robbins, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green. By the end of the 1940s, these artists were world famous. Their collaborations defied artistic boundaries and subtly pushed a progressive political agenda, altering the landscape of musical theater, ballet, and nightclub comedy. In Bernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War, award-winning author and scholar Carol J. Oja examines the early days of Bernstein's career during World War II, centering around the debut in 1944 of the Broadway musical On the Town and the ballet Fancy Free."--Jacket
Criticism, interpretation, etc
1 online resource (xvi, 399 pages) : illustrations, music
9780199379989, 9780199343621, 019937998X, 0199343624
897004513
Section I: Ballet and nightclubs
Youthful celebrity and personal freedom: breaking out with Fancy Free
From the nightclubs to Broadway: the revuers, comedy skits, and left-wing politics
Broadway and racial politics
Creating a Broadway musical: the conception and debut of On the Town
A Japanese American star during World War II: Sono Osato and "exotic ivy Smith"
Desegregating Broadway: On the Town and race
Biographies onstage: On the town's black conductor, dancers, and singers
Musical style
Crossover composition: the musical identities of On the Town
On the Town after dark: the nightclub scene
Epilogue: Beyond Fancy Free and On the Town