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Musical theatre is often perceived as either a Broadway based art form, or as having separate histories in London and New York. Musical Theatre Histories: Expanding the Narrative , however, depicts the musical as neither American nor British, but both and more, having grown out of frequent and substantial interactions between both centres (and beyond). Through multiple thematic ''histories'', Millie Taylor and Adam Rush take readers on a series of journeys that include the art form''s European and American origins, African American influences, negotiations arounddiversity, national identity, and the globalisation of the form, as well as revival culture, censorship and the place of social media inthe 21st century.Each chapter includes case studies and key concept boxes to identify, explain and contextualise important discussions, offering an accessible study of a dynamic and ever evolving medium.Written and developed for undergraduate students, this introductory textbook provides a newly focused and alternative way of understanding musical theatre history.>
About the author
Millie Taylor is Professor of Musical Theatre at the University of Winchester, UK. She worked as a freelance musical director and, for almost twenty years, toured Britain and Europe with a variety of musicals including West Side Story, Rocky Horror Show, Little Shop of Horrors and Sweeney Todd. Recent publications include British Pantomime Performance (2007), Singing for Musicals: A Practical Guide (2008), Musical Theatre, Realism and Entertainment (2012), and with Dominic Symonds the edited collection Gestures of Music Theatre: The Performativity of Song and Dance (2014).Dr Adam Rush is Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer in Musical Theatre at the University of Winchester, UK. He is co-author of Musical Theatre Histories: Expanding the Narrative (2022), with Millie Taylor, and is currently developing Adaptation in Musical Theatre for Methuen Drama. His research explores intertextuality, adaptation, digital media, and fan culture in contemporary musical theatre. This work has been published in Studies in Musical Theatre and in edited collections for Palgrave, Routledge, and Oxford University Press. Adam completed his Ph.D. at the University of Lincoln in 2017 and holds a Masters in Theatre and Performance from Queen Mary, University of London.
