Research Paper: "History of Broadway"

[iTaLiAn xOx StAr]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:24pm

I'm working on a research paper that's 25% of my grade in Social Studies and Language Arts and also goes toward what classes I take in high school. I decided to research the history of Broadway because that's what I'm interested in, but there's way too much information. So what I've decided to do is cover the first 50 years (1800-1850) and the last 50 years (1950-2000) and things that are happening today (2005, obviously). I used talkinbroadway.com to obtain information for 1800-1900, but I don't know where to go for the 1950's - 2000! Does anyone know of any good websites that cover the last 50 years of Broadway musicals and plays, actors and actresses, etc? Thanks so much for your help!

always, Lexi

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:36pm

Whatever happened to using books? You could probably use Broadway: The American Musical also. It is even broken up into segments.

[GypsyRoseLee]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:43pm

You would definetly be best off using some of the many books on the subject. I would definetly recomend watching Broadway: The American Musical. Just search in a library or bookstore for American Theatre, or Broadway and you will be sure to find some great stuff.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:44pm

The recent PBS special is an excellent source.

[iTaLiAn xOx StAr]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:44pm

Thanks...I'll try to get a ride to the library :)

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:50pm

Might I suggest you narrow your focus a bit? Just doing a thorough and comprehensive study of even the past 20 years of Broadway could easily fill hundreds of pages. There are recent books which only discuss the last 20 years of musicals (omitting straight plays entirely) that are nearly 300 pages. Focusing only on a single decade (the 30s, the 40s, etc... -- Ethan Mordden has written a series of books on the American musical, one for each decade of the century) or on a single playwright, composer or actor (Richard Rodgers, Eugene O'Neill, Ethel Merman, Stephen Sondheim) could easily fill dozens of pages.

There are lots of references online. Here's one of the best for the history of the musical:
http://www.musicals101.com/

Updated On: 1/26/05 at 04:50 PM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:52pm

There wasn't much "Broadway" from 1800-1850.

But the first book you MUST find is called (aptly) Broadway and is by Brooks Atkinson. This was published in the late 60s or early 70s and has had many printing and editions. It ought to be in a library and/or used at abe.com.

I told my former department chair that he needed to use this book as a textbook for History of American Theatre. Before about 1965 or so Broadway was American Theatre. Regionals did not exist and all plays of stature came out of NY.

A history of Broadway is a huge topic. You may want to narrow it even further.

Updated On: 1/26/05 at 04:52 PM

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:54pm

Great books that would work, that I highly recommend:
Ever After: The Last Years of Musical Theater and Beyond (Singer)
Broadway Musicals, Show By Show (Green)
Rebels with Applause (Miller)
Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of American Musical Theatre (Jones)
Broadway Babies Say Goodnight (Steyn)
The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen: The Last 25 Years of the Broadway Musical (Mordden)
You could use ibdb.com for back- up, if you need it.

[iTaLiAn xOx StAr]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 5:32pm

musicals101.com is eXaCtLy what I needed...Thanks!