Greenfield introduces musical theater buffs and students of history to potentially lesser-known productions that form an accessible time line of U.S. history, exploring war, racial and gender inequality, capitalism, and generational discord.

Library Journal

The popular entertainment genre gets a magnificent boost in this readable reference. . . Recommended for young adults and teens, undergraduate researchers in the performing arts, and theatergoers interested in historical production.

Booklist

This book offers two histories for the price of one-that of America and the symbiotic development of the American musical. From 1776 to American Idiot, this inventive volume offers engaging commentaries on American history and commitment to social justice though that most American form, the musical. Sometimes wrongly viewed as frothy entertainment, the productions selected here show how musicals of the past century have powerfully addressed both darker and brighter moments of their country's history to both witness and explore the implications and impact of these events. Covering mega-hits such as Hamilton and Hair to lesser-known productions that take on such unlikely topics as the lynching of Leo Frank or the Japanese American internment camps, each is contextualized and analyzed to illustrate the ways theatre continues to reflect, query, and extend the beating heart of the nation.

Susan C.W. Abbotson, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Drama at Rhode Island College

American Musicals in Context is a beautifully-written collection of essays that gets to the heart of how Broadway musicals and U.S. history weave together. Greenfield deftly compiles a rich tapestry of theater history that will inspire you to go to the theater.

Leah Garland, Actor, Director, Former Assistant Professor of Theater at State University of New York at Geneseo

Greenfield's American Musicals in Context is a wonderful tool that provides an opportunity to grow in their understanding of history and the craft. I am grateful to have it in my teaching toolkit.

Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, Professor of Stage Direction of Musical Theatre & Theatre at State University of New York at Geneseo

Extensive research, thoughtful organization, and captivating narrative combine in this extraordinary volume to provide a textbook example of what Theatre Studies can bring to an academic campus. Whether one's interests are arts, cultures, politics or intersections of all three, author Thomas A. Greenfield leads the reader on a fascinating exploration of the American Musical's histories and meanings, demonstrating that society can see itself more clearly by attending to theatre, and somewhat surprisingly, to American musicals in particular. This book is truly a singular sensation.

Michael Bigelow Dixon, Former Literary Director at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and Actors Theatre of Louisville