The Year that Made the Musical

'William Everett examines the musical across continents, genres, and languages in the seminal year of 1924, when the constellation of current and future stars aligned to create works of artistic brilliance and great popularity. For the first time in critical musical theater scholarship equal treatment is given to cultural capitals across the Atlantic such as Madrid, Buenos Aires, New York, London, Berlin, Vienna, and Milan, and to the multitude of genres that comprise musical theater. Everett casts his net widely to include the usual characters-the Astaires and Gershwins, Coward, Kern, Hammerstein, Romberg-and also to less well-known figures such as Sissle and Blake, Florence Mills, Emmerich Kálmán, and Amadeo Vives-all of whom are part of the history of the musical in 1924. Beautifully researched and engagingly written; a virtuosic tour de force.' John Koegel, Professor of Musicology, California State University 'Coming hot on the heels of a number of books scrutinising a particular year in Western culture, William A Everett's decision to cast 1924 as the Wunderjahr of the musical is inspired. What a time it was! He surveys it all-musical comedies, lavish and intimate revues, zarzuelas, and operettas, featuring the rise of the Astaires and the Gershwins and the heyday of numerous stars. The shows opened in New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Milan, Vienna, Berlin, and Budapest; their settings ranged from the Canadian Rockies to Damascus by way of Greenwich Village or the Thames; and their improbable but often socially probing plots encompassed infidelity, bootlegging, drug dealing, sex working, people trafficking, and personal journeys from riches to rags and back again. They showed it all-which might mean anything from complete stage nudity to the misplaced inclusivity that now spells racism. Everett, duly sensitive to the contexts of both now and then, is an expert guide to all the glamour and a complete master of the literature and such primary sources as still survive. Is it OK still to enjoy those nostalgic or jazz-age songs he refers to, many of which today's online resources allow us to hear and verify for ourselves? Read, listen, and decide.' Stephen Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music Emeritus, University of Bristol, Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music Emeritus, University of Bristol In the timeline of musical theatre history, there are certain years that stand out in large, bolded typeface as turning points for the form. In 1957, West Side Story and The Music Man both entered the canon as two very different examples of a changing form. In 1964, Funny Girl, Fiddler on the Roof, and Hello, Dolly! represented a glorious sunset for the Golden Age of the genre and hinted at the direction it would take in the next decades. In The Year that Made the Musical: 1924 and the Glamour of Musical, William Everett convincingly demonstrates that 1924 has been overlooked as another such pivotal year when the changes and developments that might ordinarily play out over a decade were compressed into a single twelve month period. Doug Reside, Digital Curator for the Performing Arts, New York Public Library Musical theatre in 1924, the single year addressed in this innovative book, consisted of comedies, revues and operettas, and was characterised by transnational influences, transfers and migrations. By using a comprehensive approach to a defined period, Everett provides a fascinating cross-sectional perspective on the interactions between countries, politics and the production of musicals. Millie Taylor, Professor of Musical Theatre, University of Winchester