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Bradley uncovers a hidden side of operetta and musical theatre. He highlights the significant religious and spiritual influences which pervade the work of composers and librettists such as Offenbach, Lehár, Gilbert & Sullivan, and Sondheim.
List of contents
- Introduction
- 1: Jewish and Catholic influences in operetta
- 2: A matter of life and death: Darkness and light in Gilbert and Sullivan
- 3: The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man: Oscar Hammerstein II
- 4: Nuns and menorahs: The Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof
- 5: God dont answer prayers a lot: The secularism of Stephen Sondheim
- 6: The reluctant pilgrim: Stephen Schwartz
- 7: Spiritual yearning and High Church aesthetics: Andrew Lloyd Webber
- 8: The two Jesuses: Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar
- 9: The road to Calvary and the circle of life: Les Misérables and The Lion King
- 10: Mamma Mia! and The Book of Mormon: The spiritual show goes on
About the author
Ian Bradley holds three degrees from the University of Oxford and has had a varied career in journalism at
the London Times and BBC, church ministry as an ordained minister in the Church of Scotland, and academia. He worked as a lecturer and reader in church history and practical theology at the University of Aberdeen from 1992 to 1998, and reader in church history at the University of St Andrews from 1999 to 2017 when he was appointed Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History. From 2013 to 2017 he was Principal of St Mary's College, St Andrews.
Summary
Bradley uncovers a hidden side of operetta and musical theatre. He highlights the significant religious and spiritual influences which pervade the work of composers and librettists such as Offenbach, Lehár, Gilbert & Sullivan, and Sondheim.
