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Though Meredith Willson is best remembered for
The Music Man, there is a great deal more to his career as a composer and lyricist. In
The Big Parade, author Dominic McHugh uses newly uncovered letters, manuscripts, and production files to reveal Willson's unusual combination of experiences in his pre-Broadway career that led him to compose
The Music Man.
List of contents
- Foreword by Series Editor Geoffrey Block
- Chapter 1: Seeking the Roots of The Music Man: Meredith Willson's Cultural Eclecticism
- Chapter 2: From The Silver Triangle to The Music Man: Creating the Book for an Original Musical
- Chapter 3: Composing the Score for a Musical about Music
- Chapter 4: Marching Still Right Today: The Music Man from Philadelphia to Broadway and Beyond
- Chapter 5: After The Music Man: The Unsinkable Molly Brown in the Shadow of a Hit
- Chapter 6: Singing through Evil Times: Here's Love, Miracle on 34rd Street, and the Challenge of the Musical Adaptation
- Chapter 7: 1491: The Final Voyage
- Index
About the author
Dominic McHugh is Professor of Musicology at the University of Sheffield. He has published widely on the Broadway and Hollywood musicals, including six previous books, and has collaborated with many of the world's leading arts organisations, ranging from the Sydney Opera House to the Library of Congress.
Summary
Though Meredith Willson is best remembered for The Music Man, there is a great deal more to his career as a composer and lyricist. In The Big Parade, author Dominic McHugh uses newly uncovered letters, manuscripts, and production files to reveal Willson's unusual combination of experiences in his pre-Broadway career that led him to compose The Music Man.
Additional text
Dominic McHugh has done two remarkable things: written a well-documented and rich history of Willson's The Music Man and his other, lesser-known musicals, and filled an important void in musical theatre history. This book will fill a niche in our understanding of this time period and build on the work of other notable historians in painting a picture of one of the most fertile periods of musical theatre.
