German Operetta on Broadway and in the West End, 1900-1940

Description

Academic attention has focused on America's influence on European stage works, and yet dozens of operettas from Austria and Germany were produced on Broadway and in the West End, and their impact on the musical life of the early twentieth century is undeniable. In this ground breaking book, Derek B. Scott examines the cultural transfer of operetta from the German stage to Britain and the USA and offers a historical and critical survey of these operettas and their music. In the period 1900-1940, over sixty operettas were produced in the West End, and over seventy on Broadway. A study of these stage works is important for the light they shine on a variety of social topics of the period - from modernity and gender relations to new technology and new media - and these are investigated in the individual chapters. This book is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Derek B. Scott is Professor of Critical Musicology at the University of Leeds. His books include Sounds of the Metropolis (2008), and Musical Style and Social Meaning (2010). His musical compositions include two symphonies for brass band and an operetta, Wilberforce. He has also worked professionally as a singer, actor and pianist on radio and TV, and in concert hall and theatre. In 2014, he was awarded an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council to fund a five-year project researching the twentieth-century reception of operettas from the German stage on Broadway and in the West End.

'This virtuoso study provides valuable insights into the musical styles, business models, stars, creators and infrastructures associated with operetta during the decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century. Scott provides salient distinctions between Viennese and Berlin operetta styles and discusses how both approaches played out in London and New York. His insights into the concepts and production systems of operetta complicate and therefore add to previous accounts of the genre. Scott's book helps us gain a deeper appreciation of this highly popular and influential part of the wider musical theatre firmament and its influence on contemporary transnational practices.' William Everett, University of Missouri, Kansas City 'Considering that there are not that many new books on operetta in English, one must greet Derek B. Scott's fresh-off-the-press German Operetta on Broadway and in the West End, 1900-1940 with a big cheer ... [the book] gives a clear overview of this particular field, as a good introduction that mentions many important aspects that will give students more than enough to do on their own in the years to follow.' Kevin Clarke, Operetta Research Center (www.operetta-research-center.org) 'Rather than looking at the influence of American operettas on European stage productions (the customary approach), this excellent study focuses on the influence of German operettas on the stages of the West End and Broadway from 1900 to 1940.' R. Pitts, Choice 'Scott's book makes an interesting contribution to existing research ... The book will be of value for anyone interested in the history of the entertainment industries and of inter-urban cultural transfers in the first half of the twentieth century, and provides a fresh take on the cultural history of transatlantic exchanges.' Antje Dietze, H-Urban