The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen

From the Publisher

For One More Kiss:

"...breezy, witty, and intelligent look at a decade that brought us such memorable and groundbreaking shows..."—Howard Miller, Library Journal

"For musical theater lovers in general, it's a fast and energetic read, yet a staggeringly smart and complete one."—Marc Miller, TheaterMania.com

For Open a New Window:

"...the book sings with stylish syncopation and chatty humor..."—Publishers Weekly

"...as intelligent and enlightening as its predecessors..."—Booklist

"Mordden presents a decade of radical change with both the wit and scholarship that characterized his earlier books."—Library Journal

John Simon

Everyone can glean something of rarefied interest from Mordden, not least a mere drama critic like me. I haven't seen, read, heard or ferreted out a fraction of the things he has under his belt, and would be green with envy had I not figured out a shortcut to acquiring them: reading Mordden's books.
— The Washington Post

Library Journal

Here, two authors sound off on the state of Broadway musicals. Composer/writer Grant (Maestros of the Pen) not only discusses the "what" but also the "how" and "why"; this is "an inquest into what happened to raise an inconsequential entertainment genre to a level of popular art, and then to lower it back again to an inconsequential entertainment genre." The chapters are thematic, covering all aspects of this highly collaborative theater. Grant's selection of shows reflects his appreciation for each contribution to the development or demise of the genre. While his criticism of what musicals have become is no less scathing than that of Mordden-he claims, "the Broadway of the 2000s is an Age of McMusicals"-Grant provides a clearly articulated discussion of the effects of a changing America, from technology, music, and soaring production costs, to the loss of an informed stage audience. Some of Grant's chapters do require background in music and performance to understand completely, but most of this thoroughly documented work will be accessible to anyone in theater. Mordden (One More Kiss: The Broadway Musical in the 1970s) presents the latest in his series on Broadway musicals. This entry, however, is not a chronicle but "a rant, in defense of an enlightened genre hijacked by pop." While the criteria for a show's inclusion are unclear, Mordden follows themes as he argues why shows don't work anymore, whether they're poor imitations of past shows, "revisals" of classics, adaptations of movies, or poorly written books with lackluster scores. While tending to ramble, Mordden is highly entertaining-at least for those who agree with his conclusions. The criticisms are many and scathing, but Mordden's characteristic witticisms elicit amenable laughter. And for all his lambasting of the contemporary scene as a whole, Mordden is equally lavish in his praise of those deserving, whether an actor's performance or a memorable score, from an otherwise awful production. Both Grant's and Mordden's book are highly recommended for advanced theater collections.-Laura A. Ewald, Murray State Univ. Lib., KY Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.