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Tag Archives: Ira Gershwin
Today in Musical History: An American in Paris
The Oscar-winning film An American in Paris, the pinnacle of MGM’s Freed Unit musicals, received its wide release on Jan. 11, 1952. The story centers around expat painter Jerry, who has moved to Paris after WWII and is quickly caught in … Continue reading
Posted in History, Reference
Tagged An American in Paris, Gene Kelly, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
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History of Musicals: Broadway Goes Bust
Broadway’s Roaring Twenties came to a roaring close with the rise of Hollywood’s “talkies” and the fall of the stock market. The subsequent exodus of talent posed a serious challenge for stage musicals. In 1929, Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Americana, Anything Goes, As Thousands Cheer, Cole Porter, Ethel Merman, Ethel Waters, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, George Abbott, George Gershwin, Hellzapoppin, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, John Houseman, Kaufman & Hart, Knickerbocker Holiday, Kurt Weill, Marc Blitzstein, Marilyn Miller, Maxwell Anderson, Of Thee I Sing, Olsen & Johnson, Orson Welles, Otto Harbach, Pal Joey, Pins and Needles, Roberta, Rodgers & Hart, Schwartz & Dietz, The Band Wagon, The Cradle Will Rock, The Threepenny Opera, Victor Moore, Vivienne Segal, Walter Huston, William Gaxton, Yip Harburg
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History of Musicals: First Golden Age
It’s been noted that the form of modern musical theater came from operetta, but its soul came from the music hall. This union of body and soul took place during the first two decades of the 20th century, beginning with … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Andy Razaf, Eubie Blake, Fats Waller, George Gershwin, George M. Cohan, Guy Bolton, Harry B. Smith, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Little Johnny Jones, Noble Sissle, Oscar Hammerstein, Otto Harbach, P.G. Wodehouse, Princess Theatre, Rida Johnson Young, Rodgers & Hart, Show Boat, Shuffle Along, Very Good Eddie, Ziegfeld Follies
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Essential Film Musicals: A Star Is Born
In 1950, MGM fired Judy Garland. A year later, Vicente Minnelli and she divorced. At a professional and personal nadir, her personal manager (and eventual third husband) Sid Luft engineered a comeback with concerts at the London Palladium and New … Continue reading
Essential Film Musicals: An American in Paris
MGM’s Freed Unit, which began creating musical films in 1939 under producer Arthur Freed’s leadership, reached the peak of its creative and critical acclaim in 1951 with An American in Paris, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. Much of … Continue reading
Essential Film Musicals: Meet Me in St. Louis
After working as an uncredited associate producer on The Wizard of Oz, Arthur Freed was given charge of his own unit at MGM. His first effort was the film adaptation of Rodgers and Hart’s stage musical Babes in Arms (1939), … Continue reading
Essential Film Musicals: The Wizard of Oz
After Disney’s Snow White showed that children’s stories could be profitable, MGM bought the rights to L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, about the adventures of Kansas farm girl Dorothy and her dog Toto in the … Continue reading
Making Musicals: Organizing Your Rhymes
Organizing your rhymes is like organizing your stanzas. The first rhyme you hear is “a,” the second is “b,” the third is “c,” and so on. If you repeat a stanza of music, you should use the same pattern of rhymes. … Continue reading