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The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen: The Last Twenty-Five Years of the Broadway Musical

by Ethan Mordden

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A polemical history of Broadway’s changing musical landscape

$30.70 USD
$51.17 USD $30.70 USD
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Hardcover New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A polemical history of Broadway’s changing musical landscape

Ethan Mordden surveys the twenty-five years following the closing of 42nd Street through an openly critical account of Broadway musical theater. Framing that moment as a break with an earlier tradition of large orchestras, prominent vocal performance, recognizable source material, and sophisticated lyrics, he examines major long-running productions including Cats, Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Misérables, alongside The Producers. The book’s argument extends beyond the shows themselves: Mordden also scrutinizes the producers and critics who shaped their reception and place on the Great White Way. This is a history organized around a strong, disputatious view of what Broadway gained and lost during the period.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Broadway and musical-theater history enthusiasts
  • Readers interested in critical debates about commercial theater
  • Fans of shows including Cats, Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, and The Producers

Themes

Broadway musical historyChanging theatrical traditionsCommercial success and artistic valuesTheater criticismThe Great White Way

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Book overview

For Ethan Mordden, the closing night of the hit musical, 42nd St. sounded the death knell of the art form of the Broadway musical. After that, big orchestras, real voices, recognizable books and intelligent lyrics went out the window in favor of cats, helicopters, yodeling Frenchmen, and the roof of the Paris Opera. Mordden takes us through the aftermath of the days of the great Broadway musical. From the long-running Cats to Miss Saigon, Phantom, and Les Miserables, to gems like The Producers, he is unsparing in his look at the remains of the day. Not content to scold the shows' creators, Mordden takes on the critics, too, splaying their bodies across the Great White Way like Sweeney Todd giving a close shave. Once more, it's "curtain going up," but Mordden is not applauding.

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