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FROM THE BOWERY TO BROADWAY

Name: FROM THE BOWERY TO BROADWAY
Author: Armond Fields
ISBN: 0-19-505381-8

LEW FIELDS AND THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN POPULAR THEATRE

by Armond Fields & L. Marc Fields ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1993

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Long-winded but unrevealing bio of Jewish-American vaudevillian Lew Fields, who produced Rodgers and Hart's first successes and fathered lyricist Dorothy Fields (``I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby'') and musical librettists Herbert and Joseph Fields. Born Moses Schonfeld in 1867 in Eastern Europe, Fields came to Manhattan's Lower East Side at the age of five. Hoping to escape the drudgery of his father's sweatshop, he began a career performing in the dime museums that dotted the Bowery. His partner was Joseph Weber, and the two developed a knockabout comedy act, performing in German dialect as ``Mike and Meyer.'' Eventually, they were able to open their own music hall, noted for Fields's elaborate satires of contemporary plays. Fields left the act in 1904, vowing to create a new type of musical comedy, one with a coherent plot and songs that furthered the action rather than interrupting it—a goal he apparently failed to achieve. A decade- long association with the Schuberts, who took Fields for a financial ride even as they stifled his artistic growth, was followed, in the 20's, by his major work as a producer—launching, with his son Herbert, the first musicals of the young songwriting team of Rodgers and Hart. A life story as rich as this one raises many questions—about ethnicity, the nature of comedy, and the difficulty of balancing artistic goals and popular appeal—but the authors (Fields's nephew and the nephew's son) address none of them adequately, opting instead for elaborate ancestor worship (``while he lacked the charisma of Ziegfield and Cohan...Fields' influence has been subtler and more pervasive''). (Fifty photos—not seen)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-19-505381-8

Page Count: 560

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1993

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.