Kat Sherrell - Experiencing Broadway Music

Titles in The Listeners Companion provide readers with a deeper understanding of key musical genres and the work of major artists and composers. Aimed at nonspecialists, each volume explains in clear and accessible language how to listen to works from particular artists, composers, and genres. Looking at both the context in which the music first appeared and has since been heard, authors explore with readers the environments in which key musical works were written and performed.

Experiencing Beethoven: A Listeners Companion, by Geoffrey Block

Experiencing Billy Joel: A Listeners Companion, by Thomas MacFarlane

Experiencing Broadway Music: A Listeners Companion, by Kat Sherrell

Experiencing David Bowie: A Listeners Companion, by Ian Chapman

Experiencing Jazz: A Listeners Companion, by Michael Stephans

Experiencing Led Zeppelin: A Listeners Companion, by Gregg Akkerman

Experiencing Leonard Bernstein: A Listeners Companion, by Kenneth LaFave

Experiencing Mozart: A Listeners Companion, by David Schroeder

Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listeners Companion, by Durrell Bowman

Experiencing the Rolling Stones: A Listeners Companion, by David Malvinni

Experiencing Rush: A Listeners Companion, by Durrell Bowman

Experiencing Schumann: A Listeners Companion, by Donald Sanders

Experiencing Stravinsky: A Listeners Companion, by Robin Maconie

Experiencing Tchaikovsky: A Listeners Companion, by David Schroeder

Experiencing Verdi: A Listeners Companion, by Donald Sanders

Experiencing the Violin Concerto: A Listeners Companion, by Franco Sciannameo

A Listeners Companion

Kat Sherrell

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sherrell, Kat, author.

Title: Experiencing Broadway music : a listeners companion / Kat Sherrell.

Description: Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, [2016] | Series: Listeners companion | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016009832 (print) | LCCN 2016011285 (ebook) | ISBN 9780810889002 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780810889019 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: MusicalsUnited StatesAnalysis, appreciation.

Classification: LCC MT95 .S55 2016 (print) | LCC MT95 (ebook) | DDC 782.1/4097471dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016009832

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

For Marie Roberts, with love:

this ones for Grandma,

my first piano teacher,

lifelong musician

The goal of the Listeners Companion series is to give readers a deeper understanding of pivotal musical genres and the creative work of its iconic composers and performers. This is accomplished in an inclusive manner that does not necessitate extensive music training or elitist shoulder rubbing. Authors of the series place the reader in specific listening experiences in which the music is examined in its historical context with regard to both compositional and societal parameters. By positioning the reader in the real or supposed environment of the musics creation, the author provides for a deeper enjoyment and appreciation of the art form. Series authors, often drawing on their own expertise as both performers and scholars, deliver to readers a broad understanding of major musical genres and the achievements of artists within those genres as lived listening experiences.

The music of Broadway has furrowed its way into nearly every corner of American culture. Movies become musical shows (The Producers), musical shows become movies (Les Misrables), Broadway soundtracks sell millions of copies (Cats), million-selling albums become Broadway smash hits (Tommy), Broadway singers become movie icons (John Travolta), pop stars seek acceptance on Broadway (Elton John), Broadway shows find new audiences in special television productions (Grease in 2016), while classic television is reimagined for the Broadway stage (Addams Family). What a fabulous time period we live in where such dizzying and delicious cross-pollinations occur. But for those seeking to unwind the line of history Broadway music has followed, context is desperately needed. How can we know more about what we are hearing in the music coming from the stage? Is there a style of music simply called Broadway? Do we still call it Broadway music when it increasingly sounds just like what we hear on TVs Glee or classic radio or urban hip-hop neighborhoods? The Listeners Companion series is an ideal forum to address those questions for the contemporary enthusiast of Broadway music, and author Kathryn Sherrell (if you ever meet her, call her Kat) is ideally qualified to do just that by combining her astute writing style with her experience as a working pianist on Broadway shows in New York City. With recent credits that include The Book of Mormon, In the Heights, and televisions Smash (a show about Broadway musicals), Ms. Sherrell is uniquely placed in the industry to guide you through listening to the groundbreaking Show Boat (1927) all the way to the current hit Hamilton (2015).

Gregg Akkerman

(or, Curtain Speech)

In a theatrical production, there are many behind the scenes who make the show happen, and it is customary in a preshow curtain speech to thank those people and institutions. As in theater, so in writing: firstly, to series editor Gregg Akkerman, a heartfelt thank-you for the opportunity, and for the encouragement and guidance along the way; likewise to Bennett Graff, the senior music editor when the book was contracted, and to Monica Savaglia and Natalie Mandziuk at Rowman & Littlefield.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the Broadway professionals and other experts who took the time to talk or correspond with me about their areas of expertise and/or shows they worked on: Sharon Bookwalter, John Bronston, Kingsley Day, Matt Doebler, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, Christopher Jahnke, Christine Toy Johnson, Alex Lacamoire, Telly Leung, Rori Nogee, Guy Olivieri, Chris Ranney, Trav S. D., and Ann van der Merwe. I am also so fortunate as to have many smart and opinionated colleagues, family, and friends, a number of whom generously agreed to read segments or drafts along the way. The insight and feedback of Gilbert Bailey III, Bill Berry, John Callahan, Michael Cassara, Kurt Crowley, Albert Evans, Erik Holden, Isaiah Johnson, Victor Legr, Jess Martnez, Velvet Ross, Anne Sherrell (a.k.a. Mom and most trusted grammar consultant), Ken Sherrell, Mona Sherrell, Tamara Sherrell, and Kwapi Vengesayi has been invaluable; certainly any remaining inaccuracy or lack of clarity is mine alone. To my multitalented friend Cherie B. Tay, thank you for standing in Times Square traffic with me one August dusk to get photographs of my favorite Broadway views.