Middlebrow Musical - Between Broadway and Opera in 1940s America

In a country divided by war and racism, a group of middlebrow critics believed that art could heal society by blending high art, folk, and popular culture, thereby uniting the separate audiences for each genre. Their work culminated in a new kind of musical theater that appeared on Broadway during the 1940s, including Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, Duke Ellington's Beggar's Holiday, and Kurt Weill's Street Scene. Ultimately, The Middlebrow Musical unsettles seemingly familiar concepts such as high art and pop culture, and invites readers to reconsider how past writers and musicians have invoked these categories toward civic ends.

List of contents

• 1: "Damnably American": Defining the Middlebrow


• 2: Authentic, Autonomous, Popular: An Institutional Approach to Middlebrow Culture on Broadway


• 3: Heightened Realism


• 4: Jazz, Opera, and "In Between": Duke Ellington's Beggar's Holiday (1946) and the Black Middlebrow Tradition


• 5: "A More Human Development": Kurt Weill's Street Scene (1947) and the Integrated Musical


• Conclusion: Further Steps Toward a Middlebrow Modernism

About the author

James O'Leary is the Frederick R. Selch Associate Professor of Musicology at Oberlin College and Conservatory.

Product details

• Authors: James O'Leary, James (Frederick R. Selch Associate Prof O''leary
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 15.07.2025
• EAN: 9780190265212
• ISBN: 978-0-19-026521-2
• No. of pages: 272
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; HISTORY / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies), Musicals, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / General, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Musicals, Theatre Studies, History of the Americas, Music of film and stage