Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Advanced
Title details for A Place for Us by Julia L. Foulkes - Available

A Place for Us

by Julia L. Foulkes
ebook
Read a sample Read a sample
The making of the classic musical: "A fascinating read focusing equally on the show and the world into which it was born."—Choice

From its 1957 Broadway debut to multiple revivals, from the Oscar-winning film to countless amateur productions, West Side Story is nothing less than an American touchstone—an updating of Shakespeare vividly realized in a rapidly changing postwar New York.
A lifelong fan of the show, Julia Foulkes became interested in its history when she made an unexpected discovery: scenes for the iconic film version were shot on the demolition site destined to become part of the Lincoln Center redevelopment area—a crowning jewel of postwar urban renewal. Foulkes interweaves the story of the creation of the musical and film with the remaking of the Upper West Side and the larger tale of New York's postwar aspirations. Making unprecedented use of director and choreographer Jerome Robbins's revelatory papers, she shows the crucial role played by the political commitments of Robbins and his collaborators Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents. Their determination to evoke life in New York as it was actually lived helped give West Side Story its unshakable sense of place even as it put forward a vision of a new, vigorous, determinedly multicultural American city.
Beautifully written and full of surprises for even the most dedicated West Side Story fan, A Place for Us is a revelatory new exploration of an American classic.
Expand title description text
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Kindle Book

  • Release date: March 4, 2020

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780226301945
  • File size: 5544 KB
  • Release date: March 4, 2020

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780226301945
  • File size: 5544 KB
  • Release date: March 4, 2020
Loading
Loading

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Performing Arts Sociology Nonfiction

Languages

English

The making of the classic musical: "A fascinating read focusing equally on the show and the world into which it was born."—Choice

From its 1957 Broadway debut to multiple revivals, from the Oscar-winning film to countless amateur productions, West Side Story is nothing less than an American touchstone—an updating of Shakespeare vividly realized in a rapidly changing postwar New York.
A lifelong fan of the show, Julia Foulkes became interested in its history when she made an unexpected discovery: scenes for the iconic film version were shot on the demolition site destined to become part of the Lincoln Center redevelopment area—a crowning jewel of postwar urban renewal. Foulkes interweaves the story of the creation of the musical and film with the remaking of the Upper West Side and the larger tale of New York's postwar aspirations. Making unprecedented use of director and choreographer Jerome Robbins's revelatory papers, she shows the crucial role played by the political commitments of Robbins and his collaborators Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents. Their determination to evoke life in New York as it was actually lived helped give West Side Story its unshakable sense of place even as it put forward a vision of a new, vigorous, determinedly multicultural American city.
Beautifully written and full of surprises for even the most dedicated West Side Story fan, A Place for Us is a revelatory new exploration of an American classic.
Expand title description text
Performing Arts Sociology Nonfiction