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Oscar Hammerstein II is arguably the greatest innovator in the history of American musical theater. This rich collection of his letters not only sheds light on the Golden Age of Broadway theater and its major figures but also reveals a man with a fine sense of humor who was deeply engaged in social activism.
List of contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: 1917 to 1939
- Chapter 2: 1941 through 1942
- Chapter 3: 1943
- Chapter 4: 1944
About the author
Mark Eden Horowitz is Senior Music Specialist in the music division of the Library of Congress where he has been an archivist or co-archivist for the papers of Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers, Vernon Duke, Cole Porter, Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner, Leonard Bernstein and others. He is the author of the award-winning Sondheim on Music and served as the contributing editor for The Sondheim Review for ten years. He has taught the history of musical theatre at Georgetown and Catholic University.
Summary
Oscar Hammerstein II is arguably the greatest innovator in the history of American musical theater. This rich collection of his letters not only sheds light on the Golden Age of Broadway theater and its major figures but also reveals a man with a fine sense of humor who was deeply engaged in social activism.
Additional text
Reading this remarkable collection of letters is like making the acquaintance of a bright, ambitious young man embarking on what he hopes will be a useful, successful career in the American theater then, as one reads, gradually becoming friends with a prodigiously gifted, deeply decent, thoroughly admirable man. When one reaches the end—of the book, and of Hammerstein's life—one feels both a profound sadness and a deep sense of gratitude for how much of that life, both personal and professional, Hammerstein has left behind in this volume. A wonderful resource for anyone interested in the history of the American theater. A wonderful read for anyone interested in the history of a uniquely consequential American life.
