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(More customer reviews)Though one would be hard put to discover it from the cover or jacket copy, "Voodoo" is not an history of the N.Y. stage, but a collection of 8 separate articles, mostly for the "City Journal", that are tied to one degree or another with the Broadway theater. Nonetheless, each article is so well done and so entertaining that one is tempted to forgive this minor deceit... and one readily succumbs to the temptation. So, if we realize that it's more than a bit of a stretch tying in reminiscences of Vaudville or the Yiddish theater ( subject of Mr. Kanfer's "Stardust Lost") with mini-bios of Berlin, Porter, Gershwin, Rodgers, Sondheim, etc., we forgive it. Likewise, if we note that Kanfer has confused Betty Grable with Ginger Rogers in "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim", we're tempted to shrug and say: "Oh, well, one blond conservative is pretty much like the next!" And, once again, readily succumb to the temptation. In short, if you take this for what it IS, and not what it's publishers might wish you to THINK it is, you'll have a marvelous time.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Voodoo That They Did So Well: The Wizards Who Invented the New York Stage
Manhattanites have always had a disdain for the rearview mirror. That's where trends begin, and the citizens of Gotham are concerned with the here and now rather than the then and there. Yet Manhattan's history is rich, filled with personalities who helped create the modern theater and made Broadway the center of show business-a distinction it still holds. The Voodoo That They Did So Well takes an endearing look at some of these giants. Stefan Kanfer writes about Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, and Stephen Sondheim, and considers the shining stars of New York's vibrant Yiddish theater, the colorful personalities who starred in two-a-day vaudeville, and the astonishing life of Lorenzo Da Ponte, a Renaissance man if ever there was one (Mozart's most brilliant collaborator landed in Manhattan after dazzling Europe, and wound up selling groceries and teaching Italian at Columbia University). Richard Rodgers's first song hit was "Manhattan," with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. The chorus read: "The great big city's a wondrous toy / Just made for a girl and boy / We'll turn Manhattan / Into an isle of joy." Manhattan remains an isle of joy in large part because of the men and women who led the way, and whose lives and art animate every page of this delightful gavotte.
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