We'll Have Manhattan

Reviews / Votes

[A] superb study ... The author succeeds in all respects ... The numerous examples of songs and musical phrases provide excellent insights into Hart and Rodgers's methods ... This outstanding volume will be a required resource for those interested in musical theater. * D. B. Wilmeth, CHOICE * In his new book, Dominic Symonds gives a detailed, scholarly account of the work produced by Rodgers and Hart during the first 15 years or so of their partnership... I look forward to subsequent additions and editions (as Hart might have said) as he continues his research. * Jewish Chronicle, Daniel Snowman * In We'll Have Manhattan: The Early Work of Rodgers and Hart, Dominic Symonds deftly explores the period from 1919 to 1931 when the celebrated team did their chronological and artistic growing up. Impeccably researched and sensitively written, this essential book offers detailed but accessibly presented musical and lyrical analyses as well as insights into two young geniuses as they were becoming, but had not yet become, the icons of the American songbook we now know them to be. Highly recommended. * Jim Lovensheimer, author of South Pacific: Paradise Rewritten * Symonds writes engagingly and colorfully, yet with exhaustive research and expertise, about these lesser-known shows and the personalities that created them; scholars and fans alike will benefit from this much-needed study of Rodgers and Hart's early years. He upends the narrative of how the Broadway musical became 'integrated,' arguing that having songs fit plots and serve characters was as much a response to external pressures - from critics, producers, and a sense of America's struggle for identity - as an artistic pursuit. Full of context and history, this study also pauses to dig into the material; this book is worth reading just to watch Symonds examine 'Thou Swell' from every conceivable musical and cultural angle.-Jessica Sternfeld, author of The Megamusical