A pioneer choreographer in modern American dance; Anna Sokolow has led a bewildering; active international life. Her meticulous biographer Larry Warren once looked up Anna Sokolow in a few reference books and found that she was born in three different years and that her parents were from Poland except when they were in Russia; and found many other inaccuracies. Drawing on material from nearly 100 interviews; Larry Warren has created a fascinating account and assessment of the life and work of Anna Sokolow; whose nomadic career was divided between New York; Mexico; and Israel. Setting her work on more than 70 dance companies; Anna Sokolow not only pioneered the development of a personal approach to movement; which has become part of the language of contemporary dance; but also created such masterpieces as Rooms; dealing with loneliness and alienation; and Dreams; which concerns the inner torment of victims of the Nazi Holocaust.
#3358970 in eBooks 2012-11-12 2012-11-12File Name: B00ABLJBWQ
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Please; Ken; can we get an update?By NeurasthenicMany books critique and mock failed movies. Since the advent of the VHS player; it has been relatively easy for reviewers to find copies of the bad movies; and readers will generally be familiar with the actors and directors being made fun of. With live theater; this doesnt really hold. Once a play has failed; theres no way to watch it again. Even cast albums wont exist for many failures. A few decades later; few if any readers will have any familiarity the the producer; director; choreographer or stars of what was once the biggest failure of the year.This book has effectively three sections. There is a long catalog of failed productions; a few paragraphs of discussion going to each. This seeks to be encyclopedic; and its about as much fun to read as an encyclopedia. For the reasons discussed above; most readers wont have heard of most of the shows; and the information that Mandelbaum provides is pretty dry. The second section of the book analyzes characteristics shared by many failed musicals (shows based on popular movies that did not improve on the movies; for example). This section will be of broader appeal. Finally; he gives a detailed account of the development and collapse of the musical Carrie; arguing that it should regarded as the archetypal Broadway failure. This section will be fun for everybody; I think.Mandlebaum is unafraid of assigning blame for failure; or for calling out successful portions of otherwise failed productions. You can feel him rooting for some of the productions to succeed; and he calls for a half dozen flopped shows to be revived. Having finished reading the book; I find myself disappointed never to have seen Drat! The Cat! for example.The book ends in 1990 I hope Mandlebaum will someday update the text to include more recent flops. The Red Shoes? Cyrano; the Musical? Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson? Id love to read Mandlebaums take on all of them.Ive given the book four stars; but its value depends on what kind of theater-goer you are. For a casual fan of theater; this book is worth only two or three stars. For a great fan; the book is an easy five.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Loved this book!By D-EllenIf you are a musical theatre fan AT ALL; this book has to be part of your collection. It appears exhaustive in its research and the author has an unabashed love of theatre. It covers a lot of ground and at times I wished that it could linger over the postmortems longer; but the subject matter is broad and better to have a few pages on Holly Golightly than nothing. Illuminating and full of color.4 of 6 people found the following review helpful. AN ABSOLUTE MUST FOR BROADWAY MUSICAL LOVERSBy Julio LopezIf you think youre a Broadway musical lover and you havent got this encyclopedia of flops; dont call yourself a musical fan. Its absolutely essential to read it; and more than once. The book is accurate and full of engrossing details; its rich in photographs of shows; playbills and interpreters; its written in a very simple way which makes it entertaining and fast reading. However; humor (quite black; sometimes) is its most conspicuous characteristic. As I often read in subways and buses; Ive sometimes felt quite embarrased because I burst out laughing so loud. Somehow you may feel sorry for all those creators who thought they were coming out with a work of art but became the greatest turkeys of all times instead. Some other times youll feel sad to know that some real good musicals with wonderful scores such as RAGS; CARMELINA or THE BAKERS WIFE couldnt make it in the Big Apple. For sure; youll get double pleasure if you have ever listened to some of the musicals cited in the book; although many of them did not even reach the recording stage. No doubt about it: its a fascinating; hilarious and amazing chronicle on musical disasters that you cant miss and that youll read thoroughly in one single day: you simply cant put it down.