Book Review: The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals by Dan Dietz
Author: Dan Dietz
Title: The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals
Publication Info: Rowman & Littlefield (2015)
Other Books Read by the Same Author:
Summary/Review:
The 1970s is the first decade in this series that coincides with my own life, and the first Broadway shows I ever attended opened in the 70s, although I don’t think I saw any of them until 1980 (if you’re curious they are Annie, the Sandy Duncan revival of Peter Pan, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Radio City Music Hall). The decade is notable for concept musicals with mood and atmosphere being more significant traditional storytelling becoming a Broadway staple. Hit musicals debuting in the 1970s included Ain’t Misbehavin’, Annie, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Company, Evita, Follies, Godspell, Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, A Little Night Music, On the Twentieth Century, Pippin, Sweeney Todd, and The Wiz. The biggest of all these shows was A Chorus Line, which broke a lot of Broadway records although both Dietz and the critics found the group therapy aspect to be too indulgent. Dietz preferred Chicago which opened a month earlier and was overshadowed in awards recognition, but got the last laugh as it’s 1996 revival continues on Broadway to this day.
I’ve noted in previous reviews that Dietz is cranky about so-called “political correctness” and thus is particularly disparaging of the many shows that grew out of the counterculture and civil rights era. That being said, a lot of the contemporary critics also noted that the productions were heavy-handed in their messages and that “experiential theater” could make it heard to see and hear the performance. That being said, I would’ve loved to see the revival of Candide where they gutted the orchestra level seating and performed on interconnected platforms within the house. The sexual revolution also left it’s mark in productions such as Oh! Calcutta, Let My People Come, and I Love My Wife which all seem puerile in their exploration of sexuality.
While personality revues were nothing new, the 1970s saw a big uptick in concert/nightclub performances on Broadway stages by artists including Josephine Baker, Bette Middler, Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis, Jr., The 5th Dimension, Harry Chapin, Seals and Croft, Diana Ross, Debbie Reynolds, Bing Crosby, Barry Manilow, and Lou Rawls. There were also an increasing number of tribute revues that included performances of songs by a particular creator including Rodgers and Hart, Edith Piaf, Fats Waller, Eubie Blake, Kurt Weill, Stephen Sondheim (notable since he was alive and still creating new shows), Elvis Presley, and The Beatles. Dietz doesn’t mention this, but I suspect the fiscal crisis and rise in crime in New York made it harder for Broadway theaters to draw audiences and so they turned to these crowd-pleasers.
Rating: ***
#BookReviews #Books #MusicalTheater #Reference #Theater
LeoyCrocheteo
ResearchBuzz: Firehose
tallitart
kctipton
Reyn Goldfur 🔞
Panorama of the Mountains
IchimKsDenkiFanatic969
Todd Vickers
Habr