[ePub] Gilded Age Murder Mayhem in the Berkshires by Andrew K. Amelinckx in Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. excellent book; very musically thoroughBy John W. WatsonBeing a music and theater teacher; these fine musical composers are close to my heart. This book is a very thorough look into their professional theater writing experiences throughout their careers.It helps a tremendous amount if you are knowledgable in music theory as it discusses modes; chord progressions and other concepts that the average theater fan or even music fan probably wont be aware of.My only complaints are the lack of coverage of their personal lives. There was a very small mention of their wives and where they met in a picture caption. Also; there was a lot of detail about the reviews of the shows. I think some of the material could have been changed or cut to make it truly about the composers and their contributions to the musical theater world.Overall; an excellent resource for the works of these musical geniuses!7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Exhaustively researched portrait of a great songwriting teamBy Robert ArminPerhaps the greatest blow to the music theater (after the early death of George Gershwin) has been the break-up of the songwriting team of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick in 1970. This book delves exhaustively into their professional careers (both together and apart) and Lamberts lists of songs; recordings; shows and other career highlights in the back of the book are extraordinarily detailed and invaluable. Lambert clearly knows a lot about music; but his knowledge of musical theater seems to come more from research than from personal experience (he calls cast albums "soundtracks") and there are a few minor errors when his source material is inaccurate or wrong; but overall the book is quite reliable. The chapter notes indicate a tremendous number and variety of sources including personal input from both Harnick and Bock (there are even attributed quotes from my own 2002 online interview with Harnick!). Its unlikely we will ever see a more thorough career portrait of these two brilliant talents; so I recommend the book highly to anyone with even the slightest interest in the musical theater or the craft of songwriting.7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Excellent book with some minor exceptionsBy Scott E. MillerThis is a mostly excellent survey and anaylsis of the fascinating work of Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock; the last great practitioners of the Rodgers and Hammerstein model. The musical analyses get a little overly-involved sometimes; focusing on a lot of things that arent all that important. But most of the book is really a terrific read and full of great insights and behind-the-scenes information. The only real criticism I have is that there are a lot of little errors throughout the book that make it clear Lambert hasnt seen these shows. Just one example: Lambert writes that in the first act of "The Apple Tree;" Adam and Eve get thrown out of Eden; not because she ate the apple but because he tells bad jokes. This is indeed what the Snake tells Eve in the script; but if Lanbert had ever actually seen the show; he would know this is a lie the Snake tells Eve to get her to eat the apple. I found at least a dozen errors like this -- they dont ruin the book; but it is a shame...