The Palgrave Handbook of Musical Theatre Producers [Hardcover]

This handbook is the first to provide a systematic investigation of the various roles of producers in commercial and not-for-profit musical theatre. Featuring fifty-one essays written by international specialists in the field, it offers new insights into the world of musical theatre, its creation and its promotion. Key areas of investigation include the lives and works of producers whose work is part of a US and worldwide musical theatre legacy, as well as the largely critically-neglected role of the musical theatre producer in the making, marketing, and performance of musicals. Also explored are the shifting roles of producers in musical theatre and their popular portrayals, offering a reader-friendly collection for fans, scholars, students, and practitioners of musical theatre alike.

Prologue.- 1. Overture;.- 2. Actors Act, Directors Direct, Producers&Produce?; Kathryn Edney.- Act 1. To the 1940s.- 3. Tony Pastor; Gillian Rodger.- 4. Adolf Philipp and the German-American Musical Comedy; John Koegel.- 5. George Edwardes; William A. Everett.- 6. Charles Frohman; Brian D. Valencia.- 7. Aggressive, Beleaguered, Commercial, Defiant; Marlis Schweitzer.- 8. Did the Shuberts Save Broadway?; Anthony Vickery.- 9. Sam Harris; Alisa Roost .- 10. Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.s Simple Idea; Todd Decker.- 11. Feather-Footed Impresario; Maya Cantu.- 12. Alexander A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley; Jennifer Ashley Tepper and William A. Everett.- 13. Coherency; Dominic Symonds.- 14. Firm Foundations; Frank Van Straten.-15. Japanese Womens Popular Musicals; Nobuko Anan.- Act 2. From the 1940s through the 1970s.- 16. Refining the Tastes of Broadway Audiences; Claudia Wilsch Case.- 17. More than a Producer; Paul R. Laird.- 18. Rodgers and Hammerstein; Valerie Joyce.- 19. The Nice One; Michael Schwartz.- 20. The Sparkplug and the Engineer; Dominic McHugh.- 21. Roger L. Stevens; Karen Patricia Heath.- 22lC!