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Title details for The Ballad of John Latouche by Howard Pollack - Available

The Ballad of John Latouche

An American Lyricist's Life and Work

by Howard Pollack
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Born into a poor Virginian family, John Treville Latouche (1914-56), in his short life, made a profound mark on America's musical theater as a lyricist, book writer, and librettist. The wit and skill of his lyrics elicited comparisons with the likes of Ira Gershwin, Lorenz Hart, and Cole Porter, but he had too, noted Stephen Sondheim, "a large vision of what musical theater could be," and he proved especially venturesome in helping to develop a lyric theater that innovatively combined music, word, dance, and costume and set design. Many of his pieces, even if not commonly known today, remain high points in the history of American musical theater. "A great American genius" in the words of Duke Ellington, Latouche initially came to wide public attention in his early twenties with his cantata for soloist and chorus, Ballad for Americans (1939), with music by Earl Robinson-a work that swept the nation during the Second World War. Other milestones in his career included the all-black musical fable, Cabin in the Sky (1940), with Vernon Duke; an interracial updating of John Gay's classic, The Beggar's Opera, as Beggar's Holiday (1946), with Duke Ellington; two acclaimed Broadway operas with Jerome Moross: Ballet Ballads (1948) and The Golden Apple (1954); one of the most enduring operas in the American canon, The Ballad of Baby Doe (1956), with Douglas Moore; and the operetta Candide (1956), with Leonard Bernstein and Lillian Hellman. Extremely versatile, he also wrote cabaret songs, participated in documentary and avant-garde film, translated poetry, adapted plays, and much else. Meanwhile, as one of Manhattan's most celebrated raconteurs and hosts, he developed a wide range of friends in the arts, including, to name only a few, Paul and Jane Bowles (whom he introduced to each other), Yul Brynner, John Cage, Jack Kerouac, Frederick Kiesler, Carson McCullers, Frank O'Hara, Dawn Powell, Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson, Gore Vidal, and Tennessee Williams-a dazzling constellation of diverse artists working in sundry fields, all attracted to Latouche's brilliance and joie de vivre, not to mention his support for their work. This book draws widely on archival collections both at home and abroad, including Latouche's diaries and the papers of Bernstein, Ellington, Moore, Moross, and many others, to tell for the first time, the story of this fascinating man and his work.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 6, 2017

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780190458317

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780190458317
      • File size: 4148 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      August 1, 2017

      Although less remembered now than some other creators of mid-20th-century American musical theater, John Latouche (1915-56) was lyricist for several famous works of the period, ranging from Cabin in the Sky and The Golden Apple to Candide and The Ballad of Baby Doe. Pollack (Mark Blitzstein) draws on interviews and reviews of his work to paint a complete portrait of this mercurial, talented writer. From Latouche's humble beginnings in Richmond, VA, before leaving for New York and Columbia University, to service during World War II and an interesting sojourn in the Congo up to his Broadway notoriety, his struggles with alcoholism and his need to be the center of attention dogged him until his unfortunate early demise. The complete scene-by-scene descriptions for shows and reminiscences of contemporaries are especially gratifying. Salacious musings about Latouche's personal relationships detract and seem designed more to titillate or repel readers than enlighten them, which also dilutes the impact of Pollack's otherwise impressive effort. VERDICT As there is very little available on Latouche this will probably become the standard title. However, this volume is badly in need of an editor's scalpel to cut away some of the repetition.--Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH

      Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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