Foreword by Alex Lacamoire
Author's Note and Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART 1: HISTORY, AESTHETICS, AND LITERATURE
Chapter 1: Background and Rock Aesthetics
Chapter 2: Popular Song vs. Theatre Song
PART 2: THEORY AND TECHNIQUE
Chapter 3: Acting Values in Rock Theatre Songs
Chapter 4: Musical Values in Rock Theatre Songs
Chapter 5: Singing Rock: Vocal Production and Vocalism
Chapter 6: Rock Songs: A Selective, Annotated Survey
PART 3: PROCESS: COACHING SESSIONS
Little Shop of Horrors: "Suddenly, Seymour"
Rent: "Take Me or Leave Me"
School of Rock: "When I Climb to the Top of Mount Rock"
Dreamgirls: "I Am Changing"
The Lion King: "Endless Night"
Beautiful: "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"
Kinky Boots: "The History of Wrong Guys"
Tommy: "Pinball Wizard" and Spring Awakening: "The Bitch of
Living"
Bare: A Pop Opera: "Plain Jane Fat Ass" and "All Grown Up"
Appendix: Rock Songs for Musical Theatre Singers
Bibliography and Suggested Additional Reading
Index
Joseph Church is best known for his work as music director and
supervisor of two groundbreaking Broadway musicals, The Who's Tommy
and The Lion King. He has worked on countless other productions as
music director, conductor, keyboardist, and/or arranger, on and
Off-Broadway, nationwide, and worldwide, among them, In The
Heights, Sister Act, Les Miserables, Little Shop Of Horrors, Randy
Newman's
Faust, and Radio City's Christmas Spectacular. Also an active
composer, he has written for film, television, the concert stage,
and over thirty plays and musicals. He is the author of Music
Direction for the Stage: A View from the Podium (OUP, 2015).
"Joe Church's wide-ranging analysis of what songs and music
actually do in modern music theatre is essential reading for anyone
setting out to write or perform in a modern musical. Reading this
book also reminded me that the way we sing on stage in a musical is
very different to the way we might sing in other settings. That
might seem obvious, but the differences are not so much subtle as
mysterious. Joe has shared his long experience of intensive
coaching of
solo singers and chorus ensembles in music theatre projects. In so
doing he unlocks a cask of information that has otherwise been hard
to find." -- Pete Townshend
"An enjoyable book, both academically precise, yet practical and
approachable. Joe Church covers all the bases here! You've probably
never analyzed rock songs the way he does, but he also gives real
hard core advice about taking care of your voice; about how to
approach a rock song for an audition or maintain it for a long
running musical. His knowledge of the history of musicals is
impressive, yet completely up to date. I can't wait to have my own
copy with me
on tour." -- Suzanne Vega
"More than an indispensable how-to manual for young performers, Joe
Church defines in this book the important ways rock music has
transformed today's musical theatre. When it comes to rocking out
onstage, Mr. Church is the most authoritative voice of our time,
with an uncanny way of explaining exactly what makes rock powerful,
and precisely how to achieve that power theatrically. A must-read
for anyone working in musical theatre today." -- Dan Riddle,
Music
Director of the School of Theatre, The Pennsylvania State
University
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