The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical (Oxford Handbooks)

The first comprehensive academic survey of British musical theatre from its origins, The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical offers both a historical account of musical theatre from 1728 and a range of in-depth critical analyses of key works and productions that illustrate its aesthetic values and sociocultural meanings. Cover The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction Part I Britannia Rules: The Early British Musical And Society 1. Ballad Opera: Commercial Song in Enlightenment Garb 2. Between Opera and Musical: Theatre Music in Early Nineteenth-​Century London 3. Comic Opera: English Society in Gilbert and Sullivan 4. English Musical Comedy, 1890–​1924 5. English West End Revue: The First World War and After Part II British Or American: Artistic Differences 6. Musical Comedy in the 1920s and 1930s: Mister Cinders and Me and My Girl as Class-​Conscious Carnival 7. West End Royalty: Ivor Novello and English Operetta, 1917–​1951 8. The American Invasion: The Impact of Oklahoma! and Annie Get Your Gun 9. ‘Ordinary People’ and British Musicals of the Post-​War Decade Part III New Approaches to Form and Subject Matter 10. After Anger: The British Musical of the Late 1950s 11. ‘I’m Common and I Like ’Em’: Representations of Class in the Period Musical after Oliver! 12. Towards a British Concept Musical: The Shows of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse 13. The Pop-​Music Industry and the British Musical Part IV ‘The British Are Coming!’ 14. ‘Everybody’s Free to Fail’: Subsidized British Revivals of the American Canon 15. Les Misérables: From Epic Novel to Epic Musical 16. ‘Humming the Sets’: Scenography and the Spectacular Musical from Cats to The Lord of the Rings 17. Billy Elliot and Its Lineage: The Politics of Class and Sexual Identity in British Musicals since 1953 Part V Trailblazers 18. Noël Coward: Sui Generis 19. Joan Littlewood: Collaboration and Vision 20. Lionel Bart: British Vernacular Musical Theatre 21. Tim Rice: The Pop Star Scenario 22. Cameron Mackintosh: Control, Collaboration, and the Creative Producer 23. Andrew Lloyd Webber: Haunted by the Phantom Part VI ‘The Art Of The Possible’: Alternative Approaches To Musical Theatre Aesthetics 24. The Beggar’s Legacy: Playing with Music and Drama, 1920–​2003 25. Mamma Mia! and the Aesthetics of the Twenty-​First-​Century Jukebox Musical 26. Attracting the Family Market: Shows with Cross-​Generational Appeal 27. Genre Counterpoints: Challenges to the Mainstream Musical 28. Some Yesterdays Always Remain: Black British and Anglo-​Asian Musical Theatre Bibliography Index The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical provides a comprehensive academic survey of British musical theatre offering both a historical account of the musical's development from 1728 and a range of in-depth critical analyses of the unique forms and features of British musicals, which explore the aesthetic values and sociocultural meanings of a tradition that initially gave rise to the American musical and later challenged its modern pre-eminence. After a consideration of how John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) created a prototype for eighteenth-century ballad opera, the book focuses on the use of song in early nineteenth century theatre, followed by a sociocultural analysis of the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan; it then examines Edwardian and interwar musical comedies and revues as well as the impact of Rodgers and Hammerstein on the West End, before analysing the new forms of the postwar British musical from The Boy Friend (1953) to Oliver! (1960). One section of the book examines the contributions of key twentieth century figures including Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Joan Littlewood and producer Cameron Macintosh, while a number of essays discuss both mainstream and alternative musicals of the 1960s and 1970s and the influence of the pop industry on the creation of concept recordings such as Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) and Les Misérables (1980). There is a consideration of "jukebox" musicals such as Mamma Mia! (1999), while essays on overtly political shows such as Billy Elliot (2005) are complemented by those on experimental musicals like Jerry Springer: the Opera (2003) and London Road (2011) and on the burgeoning of Black and Asian British musicals in both the West End and subsidized venues. The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical demonstrates not only the unique qualities of British musical theatre but also the vitality and variety of British musicals today [Publisher description] "The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical" provides a comprehensive academic survey of British musical theatre offering both a historical account of the musical's development from 1728 and a range of in-depth critical analyses of the unique forms and features of British musicals, which explore the aesthetic values and sociocultural meanings of a tradition that initially gave rise to the American musical and later challenged its modern pre-eminence. After a consideration of how John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" (1728) created a prototype for eighteenth-century ballad opera, the book focuses on the use of song in early nineteenth century theatre, followed by a sociocultural analysis of the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan; it then examines Edwardian and interwar musical comedies and revues as well as the impact of Rodgers and Hammerstein on the West End, before analysing the new forms of the postwar British musical from "The Boy Friend" (1953) to "Oliver!" (1960). One section of the book examines the contributions of key twentieth century figures including Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Joan Littlewood and producer Cameron Macintosh, while a number of essays discuss both mainstream and alternative musicals of the 1960s and 1970s and the influence of the pop industry on the creation of concept recordings such as "Jesus Christ Superstar" (1970) and "Les Miserables" (1980). There is a consideration of "jukebox" musicals such as "Mamma Mia!" (1999), while essays on overtly political shows such as "Billy Elliot" (2005) are complemented by those on experimental musicals like "Jerry Springer: the Opera" (2003) and "London Road" (2011) and on the burgeoning of Black and Asian British musicals in both the West End and subsidized venues. "The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical" demonstrates not only the unique qualities of British musical theatre but also the vitality and variety of British musicals today As the first comprehensive academic survey of British musical theatre from its origins to its current state, this volume is a detailed guide to understanding a vibrant form of entertainment 'made in Britain'. It provides both a historical account of musical theatre from 1728 to the present day and a range of in-depth critical analyses of key works and productions that illustrate the aesthetic values and sociocultural meanings of the genre. The twenty-eight essays offer new perspectives on the British musical, conceiving it as a cultural form complementary to the American musical rather than its poor relation, and questioning the cultural bias that views shows initiated in the West End of London as second-rate imitations of classic Broadway models