Weill’s Musical Theater: Stages of Reform

In the first musicological study of Kurt Weills complete stage works, Stephen Hinton charts the full range of theatrical achievements by one of twentieth-century musical theaters key figures. Hinton shows how Weills experiments with a range of genres – from one-act operas and plays with music to Broadway musicals and film-opera – became an indispensable part of the reforms he promoted during his brief but intense career. Confronting the divisive notion of “two Weills” – one European, the other American – Hinton adopts a broad and inclusive perspective, establishing criteria that allow aspects of continuity to emerge, particularly in matters of dramaturgy. Tracing his extraordinary journey as a composer, the book shows how Weills artistic ambitions led to his working with a remarkably heterogeneous collection of authors, such as Georg Kaiser, Bertolt Brecht, Moss Hart, Alan Jay Lerner, and Maxwell Anderson