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What Would Barbra Do?: How Musicals Can Change Your Life
by
Emma Brockes
Emma Brockes didn't always love musicals. In fact, she hated them. One of her earliest (and most painful) memories is of her mother singing "The Hills Are Alive" while young Emma crossed the street to go to her babysitting gig. According to her mother, the music would keep muggers at bay. According to Emma, it warded off friends, a social life, and any chance of being norm...more
ebook, 288 pages
Published
October 13th 2009
by HarperCollins e-books
(first published May 1st 2007)
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This was an entertaining book. I enjoyed getting the perspective of an ardent musical theater fan who is not of my generation (she's in her 20s, whereas I'm...not.) Also, because the author is English, her perspective on musical theater is a bit different from the American one. I thought she blurred the line a bit too much between movie musicals and those on the stage, and there was a bit too much emphasis on the blockbuster musical, but overall I was pleased. I especially liked her very funny a...more
Emma Brockes, like myself, was raised by a mother who loved musicals. You know, the movies and stage shows that highlight performers who burst into song and choreographed dance numbers in the middle of deep conversations. I love them. Emma has a love/hate relationship with them - her passion for some makes her intricately critical of others. This book is her thoughts on dozens of different musicals, their performers and the genre itself.
On the one hand, I liked it because I like to read about mu...more
On the one hand, I liked it because I like to read about mu...more
I had no idea what to expect when I opened this book, but I had picked it up at a friends house and been AMAZED by the cover art on her particular edition; featuring the great dames of musical theatre and lots of real life glitter.
I have always loved musicals, but have never been one to critique or over think them. my favourite (besides my ultimate favourite) was always whichever I had most recently seen on stage. Emma brockes showed me that you can love something and still have an opinion on it...more
I have always loved musicals, but have never been one to critique or over think them. my favourite (besides my ultimate favourite) was always whichever I had most recently seen on stage. Emma brockes showed me that you can love something and still have an opinion on it...more
I tend to haunt my local library in sections. For months I'll hang out in the young adult fiction section, then I'll move over to science fiction, or dally in their women's special collection.
Of late, I've been scouring the non-fiction arts section. Primarily this is because after two years writing a weekly performing arts column for our daily newspaper, I still feel like I have a lot to learn, especially about dance and opera. Most of it has to be learned from the artists and by experiencing p...more
Of late, I've been scouring the non-fiction arts section. Primarily this is because after two years writing a weekly performing arts column for our daily newspaper, I still feel like I have a lot to learn, especially about dance and opera. Most of it has to be learned from the artists and by experiencing p...more
I really liked this book up until the last two chapters. There are a few side rants that go on a little too long, but it has a lot of neat facts about musicals and is written in a flip, funny tone. Then there's a longish chapter about a Sound of Music tour of Salzburg that doesn't really go anywhere and the book ends with a chapter about the death of the author's mother, as though we should have known all along that was what the book was about. Truthfully, that chapter seemed tacked on, and I wa...more
As an ardent defender of the musicals faith myself, I felt I would love this book frankly regardless of it's content. It could have just been a list of musicals. Unfortunately, that's actually all it was & it turns out, it wasn't really enough. I didn't get the 'sharp wit' & 'laugh out loud-ness' that other readers seem to have gleaned. It was like being at a party with a friend who has loads of funny stories, but their delivery just, well, sucks a fair bit so everyone listening disperse...more
this book was written for me by a fellow lover of musicals. i read it in less then 24 hours and loved every minute.
Hugely entertaining. I know just enough about the genre to chuckle/snort at most of the references without having to worry about challenging Brockes' knowledge of them.
I wasn't entirely comfortable with the ending, stylistically. It felt almost a little tacked on, after the dryly amusing facts and figures and observations of musical productions, to suddenly switch gears and become a story in the last chapter of the book. Maybe it would've worked better for me as an epilogue - I don't know.
Stil...more
I wasn't entirely comfortable with the ending, stylistically. It felt almost a little tacked on, after the dryly amusing facts and figures and observations of musical productions, to suddenly switch gears and become a story in the last chapter of the book. Maybe it would've worked better for me as an epilogue - I don't know.
Stil...more
OK, yes, I love musicals. And I learned more than I ever wanted to know about Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, The Way We Were, Yentl, many others … and gobbled it up. The author shares her addiction to both good and bad musicals and, with switchblade wit, she dissects them mercilessly. She ambles off on many stream of consciousness tangents, her tongue either amusingly in her cheek or wagging tattletales with the musicals she loves, as well as those she loves to hate. Approaching the last third, t...more
May 30, 2008
Katherine
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
musical theater fans everywhere!!
Recommended to Katherine by:
Katie Boyle!
This book is my vindication. Just so great. It took me longer than the average time to read because I kept having to put the book down and break into song and dance throughout. And she's so insightful about musicals, like here: "the themes of the backstage musical -- ambition, self-promotion, the tension between bravado and vulnerability -- are packaged as a comment on the struggle all good Americans should be going through to better themselves." So well-put! Her discussion of Yentl ("It was so...more
What I expected: it's cute; it's funny; it's replete with lots of music theatre references.
What I didn't expect: the author's a Brit, so her frame of reference is built around movie musicals and the West End, and words like "dodgy" are used to decry poor productions; curiously, her memory of lyrics and song titles are often slightly misquoted; and unlike a true theatre fan, she is more concerned with rewatching the great movie musicals than watching a live stage performance.
And! She loves Seven...more
What I didn't expect: the author's a Brit, so her frame of reference is built around movie musicals and the West End, and words like "dodgy" are used to decry poor productions; curiously, her memory of lyrics and song titles are often slightly misquoted; and unlike a true theatre fan, she is more concerned with rewatching the great movie musicals than watching a live stage performance.
And! She loves Seven...more
I LOVE THIS BOOK! I want to meet Emma Brockes and be her friend. I want to join her for a Yentl and Lentil evening. Any fan of musicals should read this book. Anyone who cares about and is perplexed by a fan of musicals, read this book. I laughed and laughed aloud while reading it, waxed rhapsodic to my daughter while driving her to class (at 9 am on a Saturday morning before having any coffee or food)and am now happily luxuriating in a collage-like haze of scenes from all my favorite musicals....more
The writer has a bit of an obnoxious tone, esp for a person who supposedly loves musicals. You'd think she wouldn't be so snarky talking about them; perhaps she should write about edgier stuff.
But it was laugh-out-loud funny sometimes. But it would have been nice if she'd kept the attitude in check.
But it was laugh-out-loud funny sometimes. But it would have been nice if she'd kept the attitude in check.
Highly disappointing and boring. Honestly, if you're going to write a book about the genre of musical theater watching a lot of movie musicals doesn't make you an expert! And don't use Bab's name in the title and not talk about Funny Girl! Seriously!
It started out with promise, and she is a fun writer. But the lack of direction and lousy title relating to Barbra Streisand is misleading. Nevertheless, it gave me some insight into musicals I'd never considered.
Not the most amazing book I've ever read, but if you do get your hands on this, I HIGHLY recommend the chapters on Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sound of Music. Definitely worth the read.
Taking a quick detour to read this short book. So far, it's good -- very funny, with some interesting insights. Not quite halfway just now.
This quick read was a very opinionated view of musicals and Emma Brock's limited view of what makes one good. Though I also like (maybe even prefer) technicolor musicals, the author has completely written off any movie musical made before 1945 and after 1971 as irrelevant. She also dwelled upon the same 2 or 3 movies throughout the majority of the book. These things annoyed me. While it may be entertaining for fans of the artform, it is still little more than a series of synopsis' of a handful o...more
Certainly more academic than I would have thought, but because of that, I learned so much!
I actually have a paperback copy of this since it's the advanced copy.
Entertaining premise - doesn't live up to it. Gotta love the title though.
Known by many of friends to break into song at the drop of a hat, and usually one from a musical at that, this book was a pure delight to read. A perfect read for anyone who believes that they don't make 'em like they used to. Be prepared to laugh along with Brockes as she looks at the classic tunes (pre 1970s), contemporary productions and determine for yourself if you think Mary Poppins really is "practically perfect in every way." This is a "way too much fun" read.
Like the author, I was raised by a mom who loved musicals. Unlike the author, I was always a musical fan right along with my mom. (Ask me sometime about my failed attempt to throw a musicals-themed party in fourth grade--who knew I was the only kid in my class who'd ever heard of Man of La Mancha or Carnival!?) So of course, I enjoyed this book. It's funny, snarky, and ultimately very sweet. And even after you finish it, you'll be humming showtunes for days.
Oct 18, 2007
Sarah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those needing a pick-me-up, Barbraholics, show choir kids
Shelves:
makes-you-smile
I read this book when I was going through a really hard time and cried about twice a day, everyday. Somehow, despite my prevailing mood, this book still managed to make me smile, and even burst into song! I forgot how much musicals really do remind you of the good things in life. Brock writes with a witty, self-deprecating tone that you cannot fail to appreciate. The one criticism? She has clearly never met a semicolon or period.
Very funny history of musicals for those who love them and those who don't.
I wish I could have loved this book-- a manifesto for people who unabashedly adore musical theater. Unfortunately, it's more of an incoherent ramble through the author's opinions (likes: anything with Julie Andrews; hates: anything by Sondheim) than a real appreciation of the genre.
May 21, 2013
Douglas Perry
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
nonfiction,
to-read-don-t-have
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“I have no doubt that, had I actually been growing up in the 1930s or 1940s, I would have been grooving to turn-of-the-century beats.”
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2 people liked it
“In January 2006, Phantom of The Opera broke the record for the longest-running show in Broadway history, overtaking Cats and reminding us what real entertainment is about: candles, dry ice, big hair, and the sort of synthesized chord progressions only achieved by a collapse at the keyboard.”
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2 people liked it
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