{"product_id":"9781782042204","title":"West End Broadway: The Golden Age of the American Musical in London","description":"\u003ci\u003eWest End Broadway\u003c\/i\u003e is the first book to deal specifically with the 'Golden Age' of American musicals in London. Here is a history and a re-evaluation not only of the British productions of Broadway's most popular product but of the works themselves, beginning with a brief account of the origins of the genre and of the shows seen during World War II. The difficult conditions of war-torn Britain prepared the ground for changes that would come with peace. While Britain clung to tried formulas, a refreshing breeze was blowing in from the Atlantic, altering the nature of British theatre by sending New York's commercially successful musicals to the West End. The wider relevance of this history is underscored, as is the fact that these works effectively imported American social history intothe culture of a Britain coping with the aftermath of conflict. In London, critical reaction to Broadway musicals was often strikingly different from that awarded in New York, and Broadway success could result in West End failure, while off-Broadway shows struggled to gain hold in Britain.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eWest End Broadway\u003c\/i\u003e discusses every American musical seen in London between 1945 and 1972. As thefinal works of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin made way for a new wave of writers and composers, the arrival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! was celebrated as a breakthrough, heralding a periodthat included important works by Jule Styne, Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Robert Wright and George Forrest, Harold Rome, Frank Loesser, Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, and the first stirrings of the next generation in Stephen Sondheim.\u003cbr\u003e  Offering a unique panoramic essay on British theatre of the Golden Age, West End Broadway is an authoritative, challenging and diverting contribution to an understanding of a forgotten aspect of the Broadway musical.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  ADRIAN WRIGHT is the author of \u003ci\u003eForeign Country: The Life of L.P. Hartley\u003c\/i\u003e (1996), \u003ci\u003eJohn Lehmann: APagan Adventure\u003c\/i\u003e (1998), \u003ci\u003eThe Innumerable Dance: The Life and Work of William Alwyn\u003c\/i\u003e (2008) and the novel \u003ci\u003eMaroon\u003c\/i\u003e (2010). His previous book, \u003ci\u003eA Tanner's Worth of Tune\u003c\/i\u003e (Boydell \u0026amp; Brewer, 2010), told the story of the post-war British musical. He lives in Norfolk, where he runs Must Close Saturday Records, a company dedicated to British musical theatre.","brand":"Boydell \u0026 Brewer Group Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47131423539440,"sku":"9781782042204","price":21.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781782042204_p0.jpg?v=1763718859","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781782042204","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}