TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY MUSICALS
Twenty-First Century Musicals stakes a place for the musical in today’s cinematic landscape, taking a look at leading contemporary shows from their stage origins to their big-screen adaptations. Each chapter offers a new perspective on a single musical, challenging populist narratives and exploring underlying narratives and sub-texts in depth. Themes of national identity; race, class and gender; the ‘voice’ and ‘singing live’ on film; authenticity; camp sensibilities; and the celebration of failure are addressed in a series of articles by leading academics in the field.
Julian Woolford’s chapter, Where Did We Go Right (And Wrong)? examines success and failure in the adaptations Mel Brooks’ The Producers.
