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List of contents
- Foreword by Alex Lacamoire
- Author's Note and Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- PART 1: HISTORY, AESTHETICS, AND LITERATURE
- Chapter 1: Background and Rock Aesthetics
- Chapter 2: Popular Song vs. Theatre Song
- PART 2: THEORY AND TECHNIQUE
- Chapter 3: Acting Values in Rock Theatre Songs
- Chapter 4: Musical Values in Rock Theatre Songs
- Chapter 5: Singing Rock: Vocal Production and Vocalism
- Chapter 6: Rock Songs: A Selective, Annotated Survey
- PART 3: PROCESS: COACHING SESSIONS
- Little Shop of Horrors: "Suddenly, Seymour"
- Rent: "Take Me or Leave Me"
- School of Rock: "When I Climb to the Top of Mount Rock"
- Dreamgirls: "I Am Changing"
- The Lion King: "Endless Night"
- Beautiful: "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"
- Kinky Boots: "The History of Wrong Guys"
- Tommy: "Pinball Wizard" and Spring Awakening: "The Bitch of Living"
- Bare: A Pop Opera: "Plain Jane Fat Ass" and "All Grown Up"
- Appendix: Rock Songs for Musical Theatre Singers
- Bibliography and Suggested Additional Reading
- Index
About the author
Joseph Church is best known for his work as music director and supervisor of two groundbreaking Broadway musicals, The Who's Tommy and The Lion King. He has worked on countless other productions as music director, conductor, keyboardist, and/or arranger, on and Off-Broadway, nationwide, and worldwide, among them, In The Heights, Sister Act, Les Miserables, Little Shop Of Horrors, Randy Newman's Faust, and Radio City's Christmas Spectacular. Also an active composer, he has written for film, television, the concert stage, and over thirty plays and musicals. He is the author of Music Direction for the Stage: A View from the Podium (OUP, 2015).
Summary
Today's musical theatre world rocks. Rock in the Musical Theatre: A Guide for Singers is a practical guide to the many aspects of performing rock music in the theatre through a combination of aesthetic and theoretical study, extensive discussions of musical, vocal, and acting techniques, and chronicles of coaching sessions.
Additional text
More than an indispensable how-to manual for young performers, Joe Church defines in this book the important ways rock music has transformed today's musical theatre. When it comes to rocking out onstage, Mr. Church is the most authoritative voice of our time, with an uncanny way of explaining exactly what makes rock powerful, and precisely how to achieve that power theatrically. A must-read for anyone working in musical theatre today.
