http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/101896159

[Interview with John Kander raw footage]

Raw interview footage used for the documentary Broadway, the American musical. John Kander, composer for musical theater, and longtime collaborator with lyricist Fred Ebb, discusses his career. Topics of discussion include his Broadway beginnings as a rehearsal pianist for West Side story, then dance arranger on Gypsy, working with choreographer Jerome Robbins; Gypsy composer Jule Styne; the mentoring provided by producer George Abbott, with whom he worked on Flora the Red menace; being hired by director Harold Prince to compose the music for Gypsy following Flora; the creation of Cabaret, including his initial views of the material, his sources of musical inspiration, star Lotte Lenya's contribution, conceiving the show as a "musical Vaudeville," and working with choreographer Bob Fosse, who suffered a heart attack during rehearsals; the song "All I care about is love," from Chicago; Chicago's mixed reception when it premiered in comparison with its current reputation; his inspiration as a composer; growing up in Kansas City, Missouri and being taken to New York by his parents to attend the theater; the "magic" of the theater; theatrical creation as similar to imaginative childhood games; the incorporation of Broadway music into popular culture; composers he admirers; the craftsmanship of composing; the revival of musicals; his appreciation for theatrical music that allows him to "get close" to a character; the song, "Don't go," which he wrote for the 1987 revival of Cabaret; his biggest excitement when working on a show; the lyric writing of his collaborator Fred Ebb, and why their collaboration "works."

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