Synopses & Reviews
< div=""> Lyricist Alan Jay Lerner (1918& #8211; 86) and composer Frederick Loewe (1901& #8211; 88) wrote some of the most successful musical shows on Broadway and in motion-picture history: < i=""> Brigadoon<> , < i=""> My Fair Lady<> , < i=""> Camelot<> , < i=""> Gigi<> , and < i=""> Paint Your Wagon<> . They worked with stars such as Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Audrey Hepburn, Louis Jourdan, and Robert Goulet.< br=""> < br=""> < br=""> < br=""> Lerner was raised on Park Avenue, attended Choate and Harvard, lost sight in one eye from a boxing injury, and was legendary for his eight marriages and countless affairs on the side. Loewe was born in Berlin and in 1925 came to New York, where he played piano in silent-movie theaters. After a brief career as a boxer and then as a Montana cowboy, he returned to New York and to songwriting.< br=""> < br=""> < br=""> < br=""> In < i=""> The Musical Worlds of Lerner and Loewe<> , Gene Lees has fashioned a readable, in-depth portrait of two creative talents: how they met and joined forces to create some of the finest musical theater, and also how marriages, legendary affairs, addictions, and backstage friction affected their art in many surprising ways.< br=""> < br=""> < iv="">
Review
"[Lees is] one of our most valuable music journalists."—New York Times Book Review New York Times Book Review
Review
"The book is engrossing as a kind of tale told out of school."—Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly
Review
"Lees offers a highly readable account of lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, who gave Broadway such hits as My Fair Lady, Camelot, Gigi, and Paint Your Wagon. Lees not only traces their remarkable careers but also depicts how their turbulent personal lives influenced their art."—Michael Rodgers, Library Journal Dennis Drabelle - Washington Post Book World
Review
"One of the many interesting critical points Gene Lees makes in this outstanding new book about American musical showbiz is one that had never occurred to me (but should have). . . . That 'the Broadway musical theater . . . has almost from the beginning been the plaything of rich boys. . . . ' He notes a few 'notable exceptions.'"—John Goodspeed, The Star-Democrat John Goodspeed
Review
"As far as I know, Adorno had nothing to say about Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, the team that wrote ‘Gigi, 'Camelot' and 'My Fair Lady,' among others. But in telling the story of their collaboration, Gene Lees . . . does not hesitate to philosophize (lightly) about such larger topics as the state of American music."—Washington Post Book World The Star-Democrat
Review
"Anyone with an interest in the American musical theater or the American popular song tradition should enjoy this book. . . . Mixed into his well-constructed narrative describing in detail the lives of these two men and how they came to collaborate so successfully is Lee's rich commentary on lyric writing, song structure, the music business, backstage gossip, social mores, and whatever else strikes a chord with him as he examines his subject matter."—Allegro Michael Rodgers - Library Journal
Synopsis
Lyricist Alan Jay Lerner (1918-86) and composer Frederick Loewe (1901-88) wrote some of the most successful musical shows on Broadway and in motion-picture history: Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, Camelot, Gigi, and Paint Your Wagon. They worked with stars such as Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Audrey Hepburn, Louis Jourdan, and Robert Goulet. Lerner was raised on Park Avenue, attended Choate and Harvard, lost sight in one eye from a boxing injury, and was legendary for his eight marriages and countless affairs on the side. Loewe was born in Berlin and in 1925 came to New York, where he played piano in silent-movie theaters. After a brief career as a boxer and then as a Montana cowboy, he returned to New York and to songwriting. In The Musical Worlds of Lerner and Loewe, Gene Lees has fashioned a readable, in-depth portrait of two creative talents: how they met and joined forces to create some of the finest musical theater, and also how marriages, legendary affairs, addictions, and backstage friction affected their art in many surprising ways.
About the Author
The acclaimed music critic and journalist Gene Lees is a four-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Journalists Association. His sixteen books include You Can't Steal a Gift: Dizzy, Clark, Milt, and Nat, available in a Bison Books edition.