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Meredith Willson marched into the hearts of American music lovers with productions such as the "The Music Man" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," and unforgettable show tunes like "76 Trombones." It is the amazing story of how a youngster with talent and tenacity, possessed with what he would later call a streak of "Iowa stubborn", rose to become one of America's most famous musicians. It is the story of a remarkable career in which Willson: helped scientist Lee deForest in experiments that developed sound for motion pictures, wrote the music for Charlie Chaplin's first "talkie," wrote a song recorded by the Beatles, and won the first Grammy award ever presented. John C. Skipper is a newspaper journalist whose 35-year career has produced thousands of newspaper columns and five books. John and his wife, Sandi, live in Mason City, Iowa, just a stone's throw from Willson's famous footbridge. They have three grown daughters and one grandchild.
Meredith Willson – America’s Music Man is a loving, thorough and accurate examination of one of Broadway’s great composers. It tells the story before, during and after The Music Man opened in 1957. The story of Willson’s family, his life in Mason City, Iowa, and his eventual rise to the top of the music world forms the platform that led to four musicals and dozens of awards. Also included are Willson’s activities scoring movies, directing orchestras on Old Time Radio, and even becoming a character on radio and television shows. This is the first in-depth look at the career of a real music man from north central Iowa.
Chronicles the creation of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man—reprinted now as the Broadway Edition Composer Meredith Willson described The Music Man as “an Iowan’s attempt to pay tribute to his home state.” Now featuring a new foreword by noted singer and educator Michael Feinstein, this book presents Willson’s reflections on the ups and downs, surprises and disappointments, and finally successes of making one of America’s most popular musicals. Willson’s whimsical, personable writing style brings readers back in time with him to the 1950s to experience firsthand the exciting trials and tribulations of creating a Broadway masterpiece. Fresh admiration of the musical—and the man behind the music—is sure to result.
Though Meredith Willson is best remembered for The Music Man, there is a great deal more to his career as a composer and lyricist. In The Big Parade, author Dominic McHugh uses newly uncovered letters, manuscripts, and production files to reveal Willson's unusual combination of experiences in his pre-Broadway career that led him to compose The Music Man.
Ulric Dahlgren was a brilliant, ambitious young man who became the youngest full colonel in the United States Army at the age of twenty-one, yet died before his twenty-second birthday. This is the first biography of Dahlgren, and thankfully it was penned by cavalry expert and award-winning author Eric J. Wittenberg. Wittenberg’s account chronicles Dahlgren’s full life story, with a deep look at his military career and extensive connections within the nation’s capital, all of which led to the climax of his life: the notorious Dahlgren Raid. Like a Meteor Burning Brightly: The Short but Controversial Life of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren is based upon a plethora of source material, including previously unknown or little-used archival sources. Anyone interested in the Civil War in general, or just a fascinating life well-told, will want this book on their shelf.
Along with jazz & the American motion picture, the American musical is a distinctive art form that emerged in the first half of the 20th century. Raymond Knapp explores its origins & the themes that have dominated up to the modern day.
(Applause Books). "The best way I know to resuscitate the theatre is to produce dangerous new works." Stuart Ostrow. Producer Stuart Ostrow's manifesto of how intelligent life might be restored to the theatre is also a unique personal memoir of the producer-creator relationship and an evaluation of the essentials that can make a show fly, or remain earthbound. As a solo producer, Ostrow's many productions include M. Butterfly , which won the Tony Award for Best Play; Pippin ; and 1776 , which received both the New York and London Drama Critics Awards as well as the Tony Award for Best Musical. He produced the original Broadway production of the critically acclaimed La Bete , which won the Ol...