[ebooks] Net of Fireflies by Harold Stewart at Arts-Photography

Description

The autobiography; in dialogue; of the composer and lyricist of Chicago and Cabaret as well as a wise and witty memoir of forty years of American musicals.Composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb are the longest-running composer-lyricist team in Broadway history; having first joined forces in 1962. The creators of such groundbreaking musicals as Chicago; Cabaret; and Kiss of the Spider Woman; Kander and Ebb have helped to push American musical theater in a more daring direction; both musically and dramatically. Their impact on individual performers has been great as well; starting with the handpicked star of their first musical: an untested nineteen-year-old named Liza Minnelli (who writes of this experience in her introduction).Colored Lights covers the major shows of Kander and Ebbs partnership; from Flora; The Red Menace (starring a then-unknown Liza) to The Visit; due to open on Broadway in 2004. The pages and musicals in between reveal what has made theirs such a long-lived musical partnership--and one so valued by the artists they have worked with. In recounting the genesis and controversies of Cabaret; reflecting on the superstar mentality of such artist as Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand; and recalling their work with Bob Fosse on Chicago (as well as their views on the blockbuster 2002 film); John Kander and Fred Ebb provide a history not only of their own lives but also of the American musical theater of the late twentieth century.