The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen: The Last Twenty-Five Years of the Broadway Musical Review

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(More customer reviews)Ethan Mordden had been attending Broadway shows since the mid 1950s. He has been writing intelligently about musical theatre ever since his first book on the subject, BETTER FOOT FORWARD, in 1977.
His recent series covering the musicals decade by decade comes to a fitting close with the aptly named THE HAPPIEST CORPSE I'VE EVER SEEN.
Mordden is not a writer for people looking for an introduction or overview. He demands that his readers have good familiarity with the shows he is talking about, as well as a decent grasp of the English language. (This appears to have frustrated some readers who have given the book less than favorable reviews here.) if you don't know teh shows he is talking about, get to your library and check out the cast album and the script.
The period covered is 1980 to the present. No one will ever mistake this time as Broadway's golden years. Intelligent, richly textured shows endure limited runs while the public flocks to see (multiple times, it appears) CATS (a musical that won a Tony for "best book" even though it has no book!)
The author takes us through the few good shows (GRAND HOTEL, TITANIC, THE WILD PARTY, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, AMOR)plus a handful of other notable shows (SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, PASSION, STEEL PIER, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, RAGTIME) along with some that while not great were at least entertaining (LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, WOMAN OF THE YEAR, THE PRODUCERS, CRAZY FOR YOU.) But he spends a good deal of time blasting what he calls "the new stupidity." Stupid shows (AIN'T BROADWAY GRAND), Stupid awards (like naming CONTACT the year's Best Musical when CONTACT is a dance show set to pre-recorded songs and not in any way shape or form a 'musical') and stupid audiences flocking to see stage adaptations of familiar movies (FOOTLOOSE), pop song catalogues recycled (MAMMA MIA), badly done revivals (take your choice), and empty specatcles (CATS.)
You may not always agree wth his opinions, and that is fine. good writing should challange you. And very few Broadway shows do that anymore.

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