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(More customer reviews)Although I've listened to the scores of "Phantom of the Opera," "Cats" and "Les Miserables," I never felt passionately about them. In fact, "Cats" always annoyed me (I'm a dog person myself, and where's the plot?). Author Jessica Sternfeld, however, seems to convey an affection for these large, motif-laden scores in her book "Megamusicals." The book combines Sternfeld's detailed, scholarly examinations of these scores, particularly repeated phrases, pastiches and the use of historical themes, with backgrounds on the conception and production of these shows as well as other megamusicals, including "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Miss Saigon" and "Chess."
Her clear, dynamic prose keeps readers moving through the book, although a few of the denser passages on musical theory are a bit of a slog for non-musicians. (There were a few "oh, yeah" momemnts, however, particularly in her exploration of "Phantom"). I did enjoy reading the narratives on the shows' history, significance and critical reception. Sternfeld is not uniformly approving of what Lloyd Webber and Schonberg did in these musicals, but she does bring out enough depth to make me want to hear them again. I think she does a fine job at defining a subgenre of musical theater, particularly since the genre itself seems to have sunk with "The Pirate Queen." Megamusicals created fantastic worlds through state-of-the-art tech, broad themes and sung-through scores, as Sternfeld and her predecessors, cited at length in the narrative, teach us. You can appreciate the artistry of some of these shows without giving up your allegiance to Sondheim.
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A megamusical is an epic, dramatic show featuring recurring melodies in asung-through score; huge, impressive sets; and grand ideas. These qualities areaccompanied by intensive marketing campaigns, unprecedented international financialsuccess, and a marked disjunction between critical reaction and audience reception.Audiences adore megamusicals; they flock to see them when they open, and returnagain and again, helping long-lived shows to become semi-permanent touristattractions. Yet generally speaking, critics either dismiss megamusicals assuperficial entertainment, or rail against them as offensively simple-mindedmoney-making scams. This audience/critic division lies at the heart of TheMegamusical.Jessica Sternfeld's long-awaited study of some of themost popular megamusicals is an important contribution to knowledge of Americanmusical culture. Sternfeld discusses the history of the megamusical, examining bothits internal, performative qualities and its external, market reception to revealwhy it is so popular. She concentrates on Lloyd Webber's Cats and The Phantom of theOpera, the two longest-running musicals on Broadway, and Schoenberg and Boublil'sLes Misérables, the most popular and internationally successful piece of musictheater of all time. Each of these musicals receives in-depth treatment, includingan examination of how they were created and received, as well as an analysis oftheir scores and staging. She also interprets several other megamusicals of the1980s and 1990s, with an eye toward their competition and influence on other musicaltheater genres. (2008)
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