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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 780
EAN num: 9780415922876
ISBN number: 0415922879
Label: Routledge
Manufacturer: Routledge
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: 2000-04
Publishing house: Routledge
Sale Popularity Level: 834830
Studio: Routledge
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'An eccentric, funny, shrewd book . . . absorbing and amusing reading.'
--The New York Times Book Review
The glorious tradition of the Broadway musical from Irving Berlin to Jerome Kern and Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim. And then . . . Cats and Les Miz. Mark Steyn's Broadway Babies Say Goodnight is a sharp-eyed view of the whole span of Broadway musical history, seven decades of brilliant achievements the best of which are among the finest works American artists have made. Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, Gypsy, and more.
In an energetic blend of musical history, analysis, and backstage chat, Mark Steyn shows us the genius behind the 'simple' musical, and asks hard questions about the British invasion of Broadway and the future of the form. In this delicious book he gives us geniuses and monsters, hits and atomic bombs, and the wonderful stories that prove show business is a business which -- as the song goes --there's no business like.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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This is a brilliant read. I return to it regularly, Steyn's sense of humour and perspective is wonderful. Even if you do not agree with some his statements-(He is Way too hung up on old melodramas like SHOWBOAT.)
Damien Slattery
Rated by buyers -
Marc Steyn is a Brit transplanted to New Hampshire who writes mostly political commentary for papers in Chicago, London, and Canada plus columns for National Review, but this volume harkens back to his days as a theater critic and historian to give us a complete, though opinionated, picture of the history of the musical theater--first on Broadway and then in London. His writing is full of puns and wit, but more importantly, the stories he tells and the quotes from every major figure ranging from Lerner & Lowe to Andrew Lloyd Webber put the whole mysterious world of how musicals are born, rehearsed, and then live or die into perspective that both the outsider looking in and the theatrical professional can appreciate. He also uses his knowledge of history to put shows and their popularity into the context of their times--for example sharing the fact that literally hundreds of shows in the immediate post-Civil War period dealt with ghosts and spirits because the strong belief in an afterlife gave the nation a spiritual soothing after the horrors of massive death in the war itself. He covers the songwriters, the book writers, the hits, the flops, the stars---even the whole CONCEPT of a "star" and how it has changed over the years--and you will be entertained and enlightened indeed.
This is a book perfect for a gift for anyone you know who loves theater, music, or hopes to be a part of the professional world of it or is already. It isn't exactly a tale with a happy ending--the current state of the musical is pretty grim in many ways Steyn elaborates on--but it does point out the way "home" to real successes in the future, too.
From obscure historical stuff you'd never find anywhere else to major "name" showbiz stars and their gossip, "Broadway Babies Say Goodnight" is a superb read for the theater fan.
Rated by buyers -
This is one of those gem of a books that come along every once in a while. After the very first reading I started all over again. The writing is that good. The book is laid out like a Broadway show, dividing itself into a two act play with scenes. In Act I, Mr. Steyn traces the evolution of the musical from its beginnings in Vienna through its importation to the America by European trained musicians to its eventual takeover and refinement by American composers. We see the beautiful progression from the dance hall Ziegfeld folly to organic synthesis of music and dialog in such wonderful works of art as Show Boat and Fiddler on the Roof. Act II is the decline and fall of this wonderful artform as it reverts back to its operatic beginnings with such good shows like A Chorus Line and Chicago to abominations like Cats and Starlight Express.
This is an author who loves his subject. His very first hand interviews with some of the great luminaries of the Broadway theater like Jules Styne, George Abbott, and Cy Coleman bring the backstage evolution of the musical to life. His marvelous command of the English language make the subject matter even more interesting.
The other reviewers who suggest "homophobia" on Steyn's part are way off base. It is his forthright acknowledgement of gay accomplishment in the theater along with the terrible scourge of AIDS that has had a significant impact on the musical because its greatest modern practitioners are dying off without passing on their wisdom. Of what relevance is the fact that Steyn is a political conservative or a sometime writer for the Wall Street Journal have anything to do with the subject of Broadway musicals?
Enjoy this book for what it is; a glorious paean to a great art form.
Rated by buyers 
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In addition, it is extremely homophobic and reflects a very sour spirited authorial voice
Rated by buyers 
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"Only a clever human can make a real joke about virtue...any of them can be trained to talk as if virtue were funny. Among flippant people the joke is always assumed to have been made. No one actually makes it; but every serious subject is discussed in a manner which implies that they have already found a ridiculous side to it."
--From "The Screwtape Letters," by C.S. Lewis:
The entire book is written with an air of detached superiority to the subject matter. Even when he is praising composers, it is always with a knowing wink to the reader. Steyn has accomplished nothing to warrant the smug tone of self-congratulation and condescension he affects when discussing the geniuses of musical theater. If Mark Steyn is capable of a sincere, unironic pleasure in the Broadway classics, one would not know it from his snide, glib prose.
I am almost loath to comment on Steyn's view of homosexuality. The last thing I want to do is supply conservatives with a reason to portray themselves as victims, since the Right has embraced the PC argument that criticizing other people's views is unacceptable and a form of censorship. But I will say this: as a Republican, I wish this element of my party would realize how many, sensible, compassionate people they dissuade from conservatism with anti-gay rhetoric.
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