San Antonio College Library

"This study explores one of the most popular and successful of genres, yet one that has not fully enjoyed critical recognition to match. Combining a detailed analysis of individual musicals with an in-depth consideration of racial and gender issues, Susan Smith examines the rich interactions that occur between music, performance and narrative, as well as the use of the female voice and the female singer in certain 'Pygmalion'/'Svengali'-style narratives....

"The crossover between musicals on stage and musicals on screen is a long and complex story. In Through the Screen Door: What Happened to the Broadway Musical When It Went to Hollywood, Hischak takes a close look at what happens when Broadway musicals are made into Hollywood movies and, less often, when original film musicals are adapted for the Broadway stage." "Also presented are discussions of British musicals that were popular in New York and...

"Leading film historian Jeanine Basinger reveals, with her trademark wit and zest, the whole story of the Hollywood musical in the most telling, most incisive, most detailed, most gorgeously illustrated book of her long and remarkable career"--Jacket. From Fred Astaire to La La Land, Basinger examines a dazzling array of stars, strategies, talents, and innovations in the history of musical cinema. Whether analyzing a classic Gene Kelly routine, relishing...

"For millions of moviegoers unable to see the original stage version of West Side Story, director Robert Wise's adaptation was a cinematic gift that brought a Broadway hit to a mass audience. Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz argues that Wise's film was not only hugely popular, but that it was also an artistic triumph that marked an important departure in the history of American movie making. With a score by Leonard Bernstein and choreography by Jerome Robbins,...

Experience a classic punk rock movie from 1980 starring Richard Hell, illustrating the end of the first wave of New York City punk rock better than any documentary. Nada (Carole Bouquet), a beautiful French journalist on assignment in New York, records the life and work of an up-and-coming punk rock star, Billy (Richard Hell). Soon she enters into a volatile relationship with him and must decide whether to continue with it, or return to her lover,...

They are the voices behind the greatest rock, pop and R & B hits of all time, but no one knows their names. Now, in this award-winning documentary, director Morgan Neville shines the spotlight on the untold stories of such legendary background (backup) singers as Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, vintage live performances, and interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Mick Jagger,...

Mueller examines the beauty and timelessness of Astaire's dancing and his distinctive, inimitable choreographic style. Combining stills and frame enlargements from Astaire's musical films between 1933 and 1968, the author describes what is being danced and how. He explains to what ends--musical, emotional, and narrative--each dance was choreographed, and how well it succeeds in achieving those ends, and how each dance relates to its music. He also...

Filmed in several of northern Italy's most magnificent churches and beautiful villages, this documentary illuminates the medieval origins of Christian music through vocal and instrumental performances by the Gothic Voices of London, the Ensemble Venance Fortunat of Paris, the Orthodox Chorus of Moscow, and the Giovanna Marini Ensemble Micrologus of Assisi, Italy. The Timna Brauer Ensemble & Elias Meiri of Vienna perform songs based on the ancient...