Product Description

Our Musicals, Ourselves is the first full-scale social history of the American musical theatre from the imported Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas of the late nineteenth century to such recent musicals as "The Producers" and "Urinetown". John Bush Jones uses musicals as a way of illuminating broader social and cultural themes of the times.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #243298 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 426 pages

Review
"Chicago's haul at the Oscars and the box office makes this an auspicious time for... new surveys of American musical theater. Our Musicals, Ourselves is the most interesting of the bunch. Author John Bush Jones pairs the history of musicals with that of America itself." - Variety; "The strength of this sweeping thesis is its scope... But the fun comes from showing how events and trends in widely separated decades all sprang from similar currents of thought. By looking at the entire continuum of musicals as a single ongoing dialogue between Broadway and America, the book serves up fresh insights and eyebrow-raising parallels on each page." - Playbill."

About the Author
John Bush Jones is a retired Professor of Theater Arts at Brandeis University. He has written theater criticism for numerous publications, including the Boston Phoenix, the Boston Herald, and the New England Theater Journal. He has directed dozens of musicals in professional, community, and university theaters.