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9780195102895

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A splendid book. No one interested in the American musical theatre can do without it. Literary Review

"""Exhilarating and moving.""--John Kander, composer of Cabaret and The Kiss of the Spider Woman ""In this studiously detailed book, Mr. Nolan...ably traverses the rocky slide of the clever little boy who became a great success and them imploded on himself.""--Andrea Higbie, The New York Times Book Review ""Written with honesty, integrity and charm and is an important document of the Golden Age of musical theatre.""--Jerry Herman, composer-lyricist of Hello Dolly! and Mame ""Well researched and amusingly written.""--Gerald Kaufman, The London Sunday Times ""A splendid book. No one interested in the American musical theatre can do without it.""--Miles Donald, Literary Review ""Nolans' well-written account captures the highs of an amazing career, as well as the lows.""--Stages ""A fascinating show-by-show account of Rodger's and Hart's reign as musical comedy kings in the late 1920s through the 1930s.""--Mark Douglas Wood, Portland Oregonian ""Nolan's book...is an excellent one of its kind--intelligent, well-organized, packed with absorbing detail.""--John Gross, The London Sunday Telegraph ""Engaging....Nolan vividly captures the personality of this talented and unstable man, as well as the spirit of the entertainment world.""--Publisher's Weekly ""Exhilarating and moving.""--John Kander, composer of Cabaret and The Kiss of the Spider Woman ""A narrative account of Hart's life and career that fills in many gaps and corrects many mistakes. The interviews he conducted with many of Hart's contemporaries enliven and authenticate the book.""--The Los Angeles Times Book Review ""Breezy and frank....Wonderful.""--Booklist"

An old-fashioned Broadway biography of Richard Rodgers's first lyricist. Nolan (The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1978) presents a this-is-your-life account of Lorenz Hart's rise and fall. Born in 1895 to Jewish immigrant parents in New York City's Harlem, Hart was raised in a boisterous household by a loving mother and a ne'er-do-well father who specialized in elaborate business scams. After directing amateur theatricals at summer camp, Hart began working on student revues at Columbia, where he met a young piano player named Richard Rodgers. Through classmate Herb Fields, then an aspiring writer, they were introduced to Fields's father, Lew, a theatrical impresario, who gave them their first break. After several abortive stabs at writing for Broadway, the partners were so unsure of their eventual success that Rodgers was tempted by an offer to sell babies' underwear just before their first big hit, a score for the Theater Guild's Garrick Gaieties of 1935. Rodgers and Hart went on to create many well-known musicals, including Babes in Arms, I Married an Angel, The Boys from Syracuse, and the great Pal Joey. Along the way, Hart pushed for lyrics - witty, cosmopolitan, full of current slang and topical allusions - whose quality was a notch above the moon-June-spoon fare of previous popular songs; he also insisted that songs be an integral part of the play, not just interpolations to suit a particular singing star. The writer was dogged by low self-esteem and a homosexual bent that Nolan seems most uncomfortable discussing; Hart eventually became so addicted to late-night carousing that he aggravated his more prudish partner. Rodgers finally paired up with Oscar Hammerstein shortly before Hart's death in 1943 to compose the immortal Oklahoma!, which launched the modern musical era. A sympathetic account for fans of the musical theater of the '30s and '40s. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Frederick Nolan is the author of the acclaimed biography Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of their Music.

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