Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Ebb, Fred
2. Kantor, Michael, 1961-
3. Squires, Buddy
4. Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.
5. Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Description

1. 1 videocassette (VHS) (42 min.) : sd., col. SP; 1/2 in.

Summary

1. Raw interview footage used for the documentary Broadway, the American musical. Lyricist Fred Ebb, longtime collaborator with composer John Kander, discusses his career in the musical theater. Topics of discussion include his working process with Kander; producer George Abbott, with whom he worked on the musical Flora the Red menace; Liza Minnelli as a performer; the musical Cabaret, including his writing of the lyrics, its director Harold Prince, star Lotte Lenya, and his view of the show's meaning; his interest as a writer in certain kinds of themes and plots; his experience working with choreographer Bob Fosse on Chicago; the significance of the songs "All I care about" and "Razzle dazzle"; the "meaning" of Chicago; what he loves about Broadway musicals; economic changes in the theater and their effects on theatergoing; the "secret" to writing good lyrics; Prince as a theatrical innovator and his strengths as a director; what he views as the landmark Broadway shows; his high point when working on a show; performer Chita Rivera's ability to interpret musical material; Kander's qualities as a composer, and how his talent affects their collaboration; theater as a collaborative art form, and what makes collaboration successful; the musicals The king and I and Guys and dolls; the health of the musical comedy.

Alternative title

1. Broadway, the American musical
2. Broadway: the American musical : Fred Ebb interview

Subject

1. Lyricists
2. Theater > New York (State) > New York
3. Unedited footage
4. Musicals
5. Documentaries and factual works
6. Lyricists > Interviews
7. Kander, John > Cabaret
8. Prince, Harold, 1928-2019
9. Ebb, Fred > Interviews
10. Musical theater > New York (State) > New York
11. Composers
12. Musical theater > Production and direction
13. Fosse, Bob, 1927-1987 > Friends and associates
14. Abbott, George, 1887-1995
15. Broadway (New York, N.Y.)
16. Kander, John > Chicago
17. Kander, John > Friends and associates
18. Popular music > Writing and publishing
19. Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)

Genre/Form

1. Documentaries and factual works.
2. Musicals.
3. Unedited footage.

Call number

1. NCOX 2117

Note

1. This interview is one of a group of interviews with 90 individuals used in making the documentary Broadway, the American musical. The completed production is available on NCOX 2058.
2. Credits for completed production from pbs.org: A film by Michael Kantor ; produced by Jeff Dupre, Michael Kantor and Sally Rosenthal ; written by Marc Fields, Michael Kantor, Laurence Maslon, and JoAnne Young ; directed by Michael Kantor.
3. Time code on frame.
4. Contains various takes.

Credits (note)

1. Cameraman: Buddy Squires.

Performer (note)

1. Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Fred Ebb

Event (note)

1. Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on March 29, 1999.

Biography (note)

1. Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Title

1. [Interview with Fred Ebb : raw footage] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]

Imprint

1. New York, 1999.

Credits

1. Cameraman: Buddy Squires.

Performer

1. Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Fred Ebb

Event

1. Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on March 29, 1999.

Biography

1. Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Local note

1. Gift of Broadway Film Project, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET, 2005.

Connect to:

1. Request Access to Theatre on Film and Tape Archive Special Collections material

Added author

1. Ebb, Fred, interviewee.
2. Kantor, Michael, 1961- interviewer.
3. Kantor, Michael, 1961- director.
4. Squires, Buddy, cameraman.
5. Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.
6. Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Research call number

1. NCOX 2117