ABOUT THIS BOOK

Putting Asian and European musicals into conversation with Hollywood classics like Singin’ in the Rain and La La Land, this study demonstrates the flexibility and durability of the genre. It explores how the movie musical mediates between nostalgia and technical innovation, while foregrounding the experiences of women, immigrants, and people of color.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

DESIRÉE J. GARCIA is an associate professor in the Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies Program and an affiliate in the Film and Media Studies Department at Dartmouth College. Her many publications include the book The Migration of Musical Film: From Ethnic Margins to American Mainstream (Rutgers University Press). She also starred in La La Land director Damien Chazelle’s first musical, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench.

REVIEWS

“The Movie Musical covers the genre’s history and conventions well while offering some interesting new perspectives on what the musical is, what it has done, and what it can do.”

— Medien Wissenschaft, Drew Bassett

"In her follow-up to The Migration of Musical Film, Desiree Garcia discards the ‘boom and bust’ narrative stubbornly bonded to the Hollywood musical—along with its link to ‘mindless’ escapism. Through attentive, close readings, The Movie Musical unearths ways that musicals accommodate changing times and audiences, acknowledging their insights about the cultures and audiences in which they work—and actually help construct. A welcome addition to film musical and genre scholarship."

— Caryl Flinn, author of Brass Diva and The Sound of Music (BFI Film Classics)

"Dartmouth College professor and author Desirée J. Garcia’s tightly packed and deeply researched study examines the genre’s illumination of more than just our collective daydreams and escape impulses."

— Chicago Tribune

"‘S Wonderful! ‘S Marvelous! How can such a diverse genre be covered so well in so short a book? Desirée Garcia’s The Movie Musical adeptly surveys its long history and recurring conventions while offering a global perspective that enables her to discuss the genre in original and innovative ways."

— Steven Cohan, author of Incongruous Entertainment, Hollywood by Hollywood, and Hollywood Musicals

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

INTRODUCTION

THE MUSICAL AS ARCHIVE
THE MUSICAL AS SOCIETY
THE MUSICAL AS MEDIATION

ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS

FURTHER READING

WORKS CITED

INDEX