Contents: Poster Art from Broadway shows are
presented in five sections. "Music in the Air" covers some of the best known
or legendary musicals. "High Drama and Low Comedy" is devoted to non-musical
shows. "Star Quality" surveys poster art that featured the productions'
stars. "It Isn't Working" resurrects some classic art from shows that folded
quickly. Finally, "Pretty Little Picture" presents the author's favorites
regardless of category simply based on the quality of the art itself.
This is something more than just a collection of
old 14"x22" window cards. In fact, many of the illustrations come from the
6"x9" "heralds" printed to use as inserts in other shows' programs. The
design of the book is by Brett MacFadden and he avoids the monotonous page
after page of same-sized illustrations. Some are full page (the book
measures about 9"x12") while some designs share a page with as many as three
others. But all examples are full color and big enough to support close
inspection. In his introduction, Suskin points out that
the artwork for a show often reflects not what the show actually was but
"what the producers intended the show to be." He opens the first chapter
with a marvelous example of just that with two posters -- one a generic,
routine poster for a Boston tryout of a show no one really expected much
from in 1943 called Away We Go! and the other, the colorful,
evocative layout for that same show when it took Broadway by storm after
they changed its name to Oklahoma!
Suskin also recognizes that there may not be
a direct connection between good artwork and a successful show. "Good shows
with bland artwork are likely to do better than stingers with glorious
designs," he says, but thumbing through this collections' chapter on flops
can make you wish you had seen some "stinkers" before they closed.
Indeed, the chapter "It Isn't Working" is the most fun of the entire book
with a look at the art for such short-lived shows as the legendary
suicide-themed musical Kelly which closed on opening night, Leon Uris'
own musicalization of his book "Exodus" titled Ari, and Harold Rome's
musical version of Gone With The Wind which was successful in Tokyo
but never even managed to open on Broadway, closing out of town in Los
Angeles. The
aforementioned Carrie had such a tasteful advertisement - - an elegant logo of
merely seven lines in red and white on a black background - - that it makes a
theater buff want to see for himself just how it could have gone so wrong. Some of the examples have stories of their
own. Suskin includes the classic logo for 1936's Red, Hot and Blue! which
featured the stars' names forming an x so that Jimmy Durante would think he
was top billed because "Jimmy" was on top, while Ethel Merman could claim
top billing since her last name was above his last name. (Poor Bob Hope had
to be content with third billing.)
Suskin is the author of the equally
intriguing (but somewhat less coffee table sized) collections of quotes from
the opening night reviews of Broadway musicals, Opening Night on Broadway,
which covers 1943 to 1964, and More Opening Nights on Broadway, that
moves on to 1981. He draws from material in those books to provide a few
interesting facts about the shows to accompany each of the illustrations, and
also includes the year of the production, what theater it played in if it
actually reached Broadway and the number of performances. |
