Great American Music: Broadway Musicals

By: Bill Messenger, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Bill Messenger

Rodgers and Hart. George and Ira Gershwin. Cole Porter. Lerner and Loewe. For most people who've grown up with and shared America's musical heritage, great songs open the floodgates to memories and feelings. Perhaps nowhere is this more profound than in the world of Broadway musicals, with their iconic melodies and memorable lyrics.

Revisit the standards, originally written for the stage, that have both delighted and helped mend the broken hearts of Americans for decades. These 16 delightful lectures immerse you in the world of Broadway, exploring the intricacies of musical composition and song construction-and how they were used to create specific effects - as well as the social and historical backdrop against which musical theater must be considered.

Much as we often concentrate on the so-called "golden age" of the 1950s, American musical theater spans the history of two vibrant centuries: the era of the minstrel show-whose contributions to American music were immense, in spite of the embarrassment we still feel at many of its images-vaudeville, ragtime, the revue; and the age of fully integrated book musicals launched by the 1927 production of Show Boat.

With examples at the piano, Professor Messenger shows you the soundtrack of America - and for millions of us, the soundtrack of our lives. This insightful and sublimely enjoyable learning experience can forever change the way you experience musical theater.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2006 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2006 The Great Courses

Interesting to a point

In reading some of the other comments about this course I can certainly agree that Prof. Messenger spends only 2 out of 16 chapters covering nearly 40 years of Broadway, but I think that was purposeful as the historic roots are what this course is about, and the changes that came in the first 100 years of the genre have been greater than in the last 20ish years.

Prof. Messenger is truly a musicologist, and when he is speaking about the musical roots and topics of Broadway he is in his element. Where he is NOT in his element is in pronunciation and details. To pronounce the word "Massa", slang for "Master", as "Mahsah" is just ignorant of the entire genre and period. To pronounce Burt Bacharach's last name as "Bahcahrach" is sloppy. And to call the lone character on stage at as the curtain opens on "Oklahoma" "Auntie Eller" is unacceptable. Also, his accent had me straining to figure out whether he repeatedly referred to the author of the play "Pygmalion" as George Bernard "Shawl".

He seems particularly dismissive of Sondheim (and Sondheim's fans), giving him no credit for advancing the musical score and lyric writing and absolutely no mention of his work in West Side Story and Gypsy. At one point he claims that Webber's shows continue to fill Webber's coffers while Sondheim's shows never make money. Um....West Side Story, the movie????

And he credits' Company as the first "concept" musical. It wasn't. Cabaret was. And just because company is non-linear doesn't make it concept. Anyway....

And why would you take the time to highlight David Merrick's horrible behavior on the opening night of 42nd Street and NOT mention that his leading lady was Gower Champion's girlfriend at the time? That's a pivotal detail in highlighting the horror of that night.

Also, for a man who seems deeply connected to the performing arts in the Baltimore area, I am shocked that he couldn't find a better vocalist. This singer's pitch is suspect and his vibrato too wide. Surely there were other choices for your demo guy!

But, having said that, I truly enjoyed the informative sections early on regarding the very earliest decades of Musical Theatre and its roots. THAT'S where he sails as a scholar, combining his musical knowledge with historical fact.

Broadway Musicals will live forever

Cannot fault the presentation by Prof Bill Messenger but I just wish it' was more detailed and that it went on longer.Also who was the greatest of all the composers?

Sing a happy tune

This is the second course I have listen to by Bill Messenger, And both were very well done. I learned many things about early Broadway I had never conceived. The early history of the late 1800s was very interesting and also the part about the book musicals was good also. I would recommend this course for anyone interested in the history of Broadway. I thought it lacked some information about today's better Broadway musicals such as Andrew Lloyd Webber and shows of the last 30 years. I would've enjoyed some discussion of the megahits like Wicked, Phantom of the opera or Les Miz. All in it it is good to spure you on to more study of this subject.

I thought Bill,s Piano playing was great and I get that we does not sing very well. His enthusiasm for the music is a delight.

encore!

what an amazing journey and a delightfull lecture I know I will listen to this again.

Great history of broadway

What did you love best about Great American Music: Broadway Musicals?

It offered much background on how today's broadway evolved over the last 200 years. Dry interesting how it has origins to African Americans followed by variety shows ultimately evolving into what we know broadway as today.

What other book might you compare Great American Music: Broadway Musicals to and why?

How to listen and understand opera from the great courses is a similar book and one can even draw comparisons of opera to broadway potentially!

Which scene was your favorite?

The discussions about St James theater and its beginnings were amazing

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

If you ever wondered how to appreciate broadway plays as well as how they evolved over the last two hundred years this will be a book for you to purchase.

Some inaccurate information but good lessons

Although there are several inaccuracies, I learned about shows I knew less about, especially shows prior to 1940. Some of the inaccuracies could have been caught with more careful research (e.g. Sondheim-Prince also did “Merrily We Roll Along” and “Hello Dolly” was Herman’s 2nd Broadway show not his first).

More than just a lesson on Musical Theatre!!!

This fabulous course gives an excellent history of the American musical with the focus placed firmly where it should be... on the music. Professor Messenger's voice is relaxing and knowledge is impressive. He paints the picture of history with both facts and narrative but also gives the audience a taste of the music he is describing through his on piano renditions, recordings from the period, and reconstructed recordings where no original recording exists. As a theatre artist and musical theatre professional, I found this course to be both edifying and enjoyable, which are the two things that any great piece of theatre should be. For this course is more then just a lesson on musical theatre it is a piece of theatre itself.

An eye opening listen.

For one who is not versed or trained in music, I found Professor Messengers' lectures not only informative and enlightening, but also quite entertaining. I have listened to them twice and will venture into them many more times.

Highly recommended

Overall delightful. Wonderful narration. Would have liked more singing instead of talking through the lyrics, but that is a very minor criticism.

Compelling and comprehensive

The history of Broadway musicals is an elaborate, compelling and comprehensive take on the history and the evolution of musical theater in America. I begin to understand the process and would hope that future musicals can push the boundaries even farther!