“Broadway: The American Musical” won the Emmy for best non-fiction series five years ago and like many PBS presentations was the subject of a beautiful, oversized companion book.
Perhaps the best one-volume overview of the subject, “Broadway” traced the creation of a quintessential American art form from the song-and-dance revues of the early years of the 20th century through the Golden Age boom of the 1940s through the 1960s and then went on to cover the ups and downs of the past four decades (a period marked by escalating production and ticket costs and, some would say, a general decline in the quality of the shows).
A lot has happened since “Broadway” appeared in 2004 and the theater book specialist, Applause, has just released a new paperback edition that brings us up to date (or at least through February of this year).
Since the TV show and book first appeared, hits like “Spamalot” and “Spring Awakening” (below) have come and gone, and the musical whose development was charted on the last episode of the series — “Wicked” — has become one of the biggest hits in the history of Broadway (the show is still running at capacityix years after its opening!).
The updated “Broadway” includes a new “finale” that notes the endurance of American musical theater as represented by the use of Jerry Herman’s “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” (from “Hello, Dolly!”) as a major plot point in the 2008 Pixar hit, “Wall-E.”
Book author Laurence Maslon remains optimistic about the art form and its future (the hit Fox series “Glee” gets a shout-out for its use of Broadway performers and music).
The Broadway musical audience now may be hopelessly divided between sophisticates who attend Stephen Sondheim revivals and those simply looking for a good time at “Jersey Boys,” but shows continue to be created, produced and enjoyed by a large global audience.
“The audience for the American musical in 2010 may be less homogeneous and composed of increasingly diverse groups of people who attend fewer shows — but perhaps they feel greater enthusiasm and devotion for the shows they do attend,” the author writes, no doubt referring to the relatively recent phenomenon of fans going back to see favorites like “Wicked” and “Rent” multiple times rather than seeing something new.
Julie Andrews was signed to host the PBS special after the companion book was already in production. For the reprint, the legendary star of “My Fair Lady” (above) and “Camelot” has contributed a charming new foreword.
The star recalls the deep emotions summoned up within her during the filming of the series:
“When I was recording the narration for the series, I literally wept at a couple of things that moved me so much. The overture to ‘My Fair Lady’ was playing underneath some of the narration and my heart melted. I said, ‘You cannot imagine what that makes me feel. It takes me immediately back to sitting in my dressing room, putting on my makeup, eight performances a week.’ There is something visceral about the appeal of a great American musical, whether you are starring in one, or seeing one for the first time as a youngster. It grabs you.”
