Seriously Mad : Mental Distress and the Broadway Musical Hardback
by Aleksei Grinenko
Hardback
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Description
Theatermakers in the United States have long been drawn to madness as a source of dramatic spectacle.
During the Broadway musical’s “golden age,” creative teams used the currently in-vogue psychoanalytic ideas about mental life to construct troubled characters at odds with themselves and their worlds.
As the clinical and cultural profile of madness transformed over the twentieth century, musicals continued to delve into the experience of those living with mental pain, trauma, and unhappiness. Seriously Mad offers a dynamic account of stage musicals’ engagement with historically significant theories about mental distress, illness, disability, and human variance in the United States.
By exploring who is considered mad and what constitutes madness at different moments in U.S. history, Aleksei Grinenko shows how, in attempts to bring the musicals closer to “highbrow” sophistication, theater dramatized serious medical conditions and social problems.
Among the many Broadway productions discussed are “Next to Normal,” “A Strange Loop” “Sweeney Todd,” “Man of La Mancha,” “Dear World,” “Anyone Can Whistle,” “Gypsy,” “Oklahoma!,” and “Lady in the Dark.”
Information
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Out of StockMore expected soonContact us for further information
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:282 pages
- Publisher:The University of Michigan Press
- Publication Date:05/10/2023
- Category:
- ISBN:9780472076444
Other Formats
- Paperback / softback from £34.53
Information
-
Out of StockMore expected soonContact us for further information
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:282 pages
- Publisher:The University of Michigan Press
- Publication Date:05/10/2023
- Category:
- ISBN:9780472076444