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http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/111612384

[Interview with John Lahr : raw footage]

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alternateName

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  • "John Lahr interview"
  • "Lahr/O'Connell"
  • "Broadway, the American musical"

contributor

description

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  • "Interview continues on videocassette two with producer and impressario Florenz Ziegfeld who capitalized on extravanganza, and his own importance, with his Follies revues featuring beautiful showgirls, of which Lahr's mother was one; the stock market crash of 1929, and its impact on Broadway; the function of stars in American culture, as emblems of "pluck and luck"; his father's changing of his name from Irving Lahrheim to Bert Lahr; the watershed musical Show boat, and its expression of Black culture; the declining dominance of the comedian as the driving force of the musical, and his appreciation for comedy. Lahr discusses his father's power as a performer onstage who was able to elicit laughs from his audience; the finely tuned relationship between performer and audience; the Depression-era songwriting of E. Y. (Yip) Harburg, which combined a fabulous sense of wit and wordplay, and that of Cole Porter, whose terrific songs evoked glamour, sophistication and sexiness; the existence, in his opinion, of few shows which address social issues, and his belief that one cannot argue and sing at the same time; the musicals West Side story and Guys and dolls, which are in his view great expressions of the mature American musical; the Vietnam War, which resulted in an expression of disenchantment in the traditional musical, expressed in such offbeat shows as Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd; his views on the Sondheim musicals Follies and Company, which also conveyed attitudes of cynicism derived from post-sixties disillusionment; and his view that a musical must be about a celebration of life."
  • "Interview resumes on videocassette three with recent musicals Jelly's last jam and Bring in 'da noise, bring in 'da funk, which in Lahr's view successfully marry celebration with irony; his dissatisfaction with recent Sondhiem shows, the composer's craftmanship and artistry, and the nihilism contained in his works; performer Savion Glover, whom Lahr feels is extraordinary; the musical A chorus line, which he did not find innovative; the popularity of British musicals of the 1980s and '90s, exemplified by those of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and revivals, both of which reflect a current "dilemma" in the direction of Broadway producing; his feelings on the revitalized Times Square in comparison with how it was in the past; his lack of sentimentality over the destruction of historic theaters; the producing styles of corporate entities on Broadway, and the direction they are likely to go in the future; the musical Rent's place on Broadway; corporate "concept productions" like The lion king, whose artistry Lahr feels is overshadowed by its status as a corporate product; how the musical has changed in his lifetime; the Broadway objectives of Disney Company C.E.O. Michael Eisner, with whom he associated as a youth, the significance of Disney's renovation of the New Amsterdam Theatre; the Broadway music of George Gershwin, which reflects the speed and rhythm and excitement of the city, and the energy of the early 20th century; why Broadway and New York City are the basis of so many musicals; composer Jule Styne, who combined street smarts with the ability to write hit songs, and whom Lahr wrote about in an article entitled "Mr. Broadway"; and lastly, columnist Walter Winchell who popularized a mythology of Broadway as a place of great mystery and glamour."
  • "Raw interview footage used for the documentary Broadway, the American musical. Writer, critic, novelist, dramatist John Lahr, the son of comic actor Bert Lahr, discusses the Broadway musical. Lahr discusses the link between the crossroads of Broadway & 42nd Street and the American musical; Broadway as a place where fame is created; the origins of the Broadway musical as a "business art" which evolved from travelling tab shows; the evolution of the musical theater, from the musical comedies of the 1920s to the corporate sponsored productions of today; what the word Broadway evoked to him as a child of a Broadway performer, and what it signifies to him now; the Broadway musical as an expression of abundance, expectation, and the possibility of achieving the "American dream"; the sources of the American musical, why he believes the musical is a distinctly American art form, and what considers the earliest musicals; how Broadway songs reinforce its notion of promise, and what he sees as its system of belief; the attraction of the theater to first and second generation immigrants; the cultural and artistic significance of the so called "low" comedians of the early 20th century; why Jewish artists were drawn to Broadway; the lack of talented practitioners on Broadway currently; the effect of economics on the kinds of shows which used to be produced on Broadway and those currently being produced; Broadway as a purveyor of joy; songwriters such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein, whose intelligent songs for Broadway became popular hits that offered promise for the culture."

genre

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  • "Musicals"
  • "Documentaries and factual works"
  • "Unedited footage"
  • "Interviews"

name

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  • "[Interview with John Lahr : raw footage]"

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