The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen: The Last Twenty-Five Years of the Broadway Musical (The History of the Broadway Musical, 7)

I recommend this almost as highly as the others in this series. There's nobody better at giving an overview of the Broadway Musical; his musical literacy alone is probably unique among writers on the subject. That said, you should read one of the earlier books first, because he's naturally using earlier decades as referents. This book is also a little darker than its predecessors, but don't blame the messenger for the bad news. He finds some good in almost every season, and never actually indulges in the despair that the titls promises. Yes, there are a few jokes that fall flat. Yes, his 'political' opinions are ignorant and cold-hearted -- the exact opposite of his theatre criticism -- but they total perhaps a page or two out of three hundred, and don't seem to influence his theatrical judgement. For example: you may not agree with his take on 'Ragtime', but he doesn't use his deep dislike of one aspect of the story to dismiss the overall production. (Actually, he does do that to 'Zorba', but that's in his book on the 60s.)

Ethan Mordden had been attending Broadway shows since the mid 1950s. He has been writing intelligently about musical theatre ever since his first book on the subject, BETTER FOOT FORWARD, in 1977. His recent series covering the musicals decade by decade comes to a fitting close with the aptly named THE HAPPIEST CORPSE I'VE EVER SEEN. Mordden is not a writer for people looking for an introduction or overview. He demands that his readers have good familiarity with the shows he is talking about, as well as a decent grasp of the English language. (This appears to have frustrated some readers who have given the book less than favorable reviews here.) if you don't know teh shows he is talking about, get to your library and check out the cast album and the script. The period covered is 1980 to the present. No one will ever mistake this time as Broadway's golden years. Intelligent, richly textured shows endure limited runs while the public flocks to see (multiple times, it appears) CATS (a musical that won a Tony for "best book" even though it has no book!) The author takes us through the few good shows (GRAND HOTEL, TITANIC, THE WILD PARTY, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, AMOR)plus a handful of other notable shows (SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, PASSION, STEEL PIER, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, RAGTIME) along with some that while not great were at least entertaining (LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, WOMAN OF THE YEAR, THE PRODUCERS, CRAZY FOR YOU.) But he spends a good deal of time blasting what he calls "the new stupidity." Stupid shows (AIN'T BROADWAY GRAND), Stupid awards (like naming CONTACT the year's Best Musical when CONTACT is a dance show set to pre-recorded songs and not in any way shape or form a 'musical') and stupid audiences flocking to see stage adaptations of familiar movies (FOOTLOOSE), pop song catalogues recycled (MAMMA MIA), badly done revivals (take your choice), and empty specatcles (CATS.) You may not always agree wth his opinions, and that is fine. good writing should challange you. And very few Broadway shows do that anymore.

After giving us the glittering view of the past, Ethan turns his jaundiced eye on the last twenty-five years. To think that my three well worn copies of Titanic and the LaChiusa shows Marie Christine and the Wild Party were not merely the delusional preferences of some over weening musical fiend. My loathing for Andrew Lloyd-Weber and the other British spectacles has someone who gets to use gallons of ink to dispense the gall and vitriol I have ladled to friends and family. This book will not soothe the spirits of those who prefer the anodyne to the cerebreal. The last twenty five years of the musical have seen a dimunition of taste concomittant to the dimunition of the culture in general. The one criticism which dares not speak its name in this book is that the musical has become as unlikely a form of entertainment to the masses today as opera. Not every review in the book is resonable, but mostly every brickbat thrown lands on a well deserved target. As a baby boomer who grew up in the sticks and still sees the tours and rarely the original casts, his criticism rings true to someone whose closest tie to a show is the compact disc. Just as folks over fifty need a colonoscopy, an unpleasant procedure, musical lover should read this book. Some time the truth hurts, but only for a little and only the first time. Funny, engrossing, but not well edited. Patti Lu?? With all the manure being shoveled around couldnt the editor spring for the PONE?? A minor quibble.

For over a decade, Ethan Mordden has been chronicling the American Musical decade by decade-one book per each(although not necessarily writing them in chronological order) so that, with one notable exception discussed below, he has created nothing less than the definitive history of an American Art Form. Always opinionated, endlessly entertaining, the books have been about joy and they have spread it. Until now. Mordden sees the last quarter century of musicals as nothing less than a betrayal of all that has gone before... and he just may be right! To be sure, he finds some bright spots along the way. These, however, appear more and more to be like the stopped clock that is right twice a day! He, and I think most afficienados would agree, feels that the American Musical today is in the hands of hacks and it ain't gonna get better. The why, you may well ask, read this? Because it is so damned much fun! Wit and intelligence bounce from every page so that we realize that, in the proper hands, even a diatribe can be immensly entertaing! Books in the series published thus far cover the 20's, 40's, 50' 60's, 70's and this latest. Mordden WILL be covering the 30's in his final volume. One gets the impression that he held off so that his final work could return to his feeling of love for the art.