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TRADITION!

Name: TRADITION!
Author: Barbara Isenberg
ISBN: 978-0-312-59142-7

THE HIGHLY IMPROBABLE, ULTIMATELY TRIUMPHANT BROADWAY-TO-HOLLYWOOD STORY OF FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, THE WORLD'S MOST BELOVED MUSICAL

by Barbara Isenberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9, 2014

Isenberg’s readable, straightforward history—less a critical analysis than Alisa Solomon’s Wonder of Wonders (2013), which...

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Half a century of sunrises and sunsets have passed since Fiddler on the Roof opened. It’s still playing to full houses somewhere, and theater journalist Isenberg (Conversations with Frank Gehry, 2009, etc.) expounds happily on why it remains such a satisfactory hit for all audiences.

Who would expect a big Broadway musical about poor shtetl Jews to become such a big hit? Yet Fiddler, based on stories set in Czarist Russia by the popular Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem, broke box office records. As Isenberg writes, many talented professionals contributed to its success. Playwright Joseph Stein kept writing and revising the book. Where producer Harold Prince found investors isn’t revealed, but the author notes how the show got its name, which reminded theatergoers that there would be music. Lyricist Sheldon Harnick and composer Jerry Bock wrote dozens of tunes and lyrics, but less than a third made it to opening night. The author also examines the casting process: For the lead role of Tevye, would they cast Rod Steiger? Walter Matthau? The star, of course, was a mad comic genius, the egocentric Zero Mostel, who loathed the difficult directorial genius, equally egocentric Jerome Robbins. The director didn’t like being Jewish and had to research appropriate customs. Despite indifferent opening reviews, Fiddler was an evergreen blockbuster, tugging on heartstrings across the world over thousands of road shows, community theaters and high schools. The popular 1971 film, under the guidance of Norman Jewison (not Jewish), starring Israeli actor Chaim Topol, with Isaac Stern fiddling, carried Fiddler’s reputation still further. For many of a certain age, the musical’s score is ingrained, part of the DNA.

Isenberg’s readable, straightforward history—less a critical analysis than Alisa Solomon’s Wonder of Wonders (2013), which covers the same territory—is, with just an expedient hint of schmaltz, a loving tribute to a cultural phenomenon.

Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-312-59142-7

Page Count: 256

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: June 17, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014

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.