Bernstein Meets Broadway
Collaborative Art in a Time of War
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20023385 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Carol Oja, Carol J Oja (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Pages | 399 |
| Publication date | 2014-08-22 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | BOOK |
| Venue | Bernstein meets Broadway (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199862092.001.0001 |
| OpenAlex | W4246064546 |
| ISBN | 9780199862092 |
| Open Library | OL27166959M |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
This book constructs a wide-ranging cultural history to explore the earliest stage works of Leonard Bernstein, written during World War II: the Broadway musical On the Town, the ballet Fancy Free, and a nightclub comedy act called The Revuers. Bernstein and his collaborators—including the choreographer Jerome Robbins and the writing team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green—crossed artistic, political, ethnic, and racial boundaries with abandon. With the zeal of youth, these emerging artists infused their work with progressive political ideals. On the Town focused on sailors enjoying a day of shore leave, and its first production featured a mixed-race cast, contributing an important chapter to the racial desegregation of American performance. It projected an equitable inter-racial urban vision in an era when racial segregation was being enforced contentiously in the U.S. military. The show starred the dancer Sono Osato, even as her father was interned together with so many Japanese Americans. Fancy Free amiably encoded its own dissenting narratives. Based on a controversial painting by Paul Cadmus, it grew out of a complex web of gay relationships. The book explores cross fertilizations across art forms and high-low divides, drawing on intensive archival research, FBI files, interviews with surviving cast members, and previously untapped criticism in African American newspapers
Art · Computer Science · Social and Cultural Dynamics · 20th century · Adolph Green · Analysis, appreciation · Bernstein, Leonard, 1918-1990. On the town · Betty Comden · Criticism and interpreatation · Criticism and interpretation · History · History and criticism · Jerome Robbins · leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) · Music · Music, american · Music, history and criticism · Musicals · Musicals, history and criticism · New York · New York (State) · On the town (Bernstein, Leonard) · united states
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |