Shifting Paradigms

2021 ◽  
pp. 50-80
Author(s):  
Naomi Graber
Keyword(s):  
Fritz Lang ◽  
Commercial Success ◽  
Musical Comedy

Two of Weill’s first compositions written for U.S. audiences show the composer mixing German and U.S. aesthetics, sometimes in awkward ways. His first Broadway show, Johnny Johnson (1936), combines aspects of U.S. musical comedy, German expressionist drama, and neue sachlich ideas. Although not a commercial success, critics were supportive, and it led to other opportunities. The composer also tried his hand at a film musical with You and Me (1938), directed by Fritz Lang. They tried to combine a Hollywood gangster story with a Brechtian Lehrstück, but the result proved confusing for U.S. audiences. Both projects show a composer in the process of adapting to a new culture.

Trois études sur un film de Fritz Lang, M le maudit

Communication ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-122
Author(s):  
Yves Laberge
Keyword(s):  
Fritz Lang

Corporate Environmentalism and the Boundaries of Sustainability

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Jones
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Entire Period ◽  
Temporal Context ◽  
Corporate Environmentalism ◽  
New Markets ◽  
Commercial Success ◽  
Green Business ◽  
History Of ◽  
Green Entrepreneurship ◽  
Ways Of Thinking

This chapter reviews the history of green entrepreneurship, arguing that green entrepreneurship was shaped by four different temporal contexts between the mid-nineteenth century and the present day. Although there were significant achievements over the entire period, it was only in the most recent era that green business achieved legitimacy and scale. Green entrepreneurs often had religious and ideological motivations, but they were shaped by their institutional and temporal context. They created new markets and categories through selling their ideas and products, and by imagining the meaning of sustainability. They faced hard challenges, which encouraged clustering which provided proximity advantages and higher trust levels. Combining profits and sustainability has always been difficult, and the spread of corporate environmentalism in recent decades has not helped. Although commercial success often eluded pioneers, by a willingness to think outside of traditional boxes, they have opened up new ways of thinking about sustainability.

Dance of Death

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Winkler
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Heart Surgery ◽  
Open Heart Surgery ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Open Heart ◽  
Broadway Musical ◽  
Musical Comedy ◽  
Dance Of Death ◽  
Nonlinear Fashion

This chapter looks at Bob Fosse’s most ambitious film, the autobiographical All That Jazz. All That Jazz follows Joe Gideon, a director and choreographer very much like Fosse who is at a personal and professional crossroads as he prepares to direct a Broadway musical much like Chicago while simultaneously editing a film that looks a lot like Lenny. Following graphic footage of open-heart surgery and a series of metaphoric musical comedy turns by the women in his life, All That Jazz concludes with Gideon presiding over a combined funeral and wake for himself: a glamorous, high-energy floor show to end all floor shows. Here Fosse took the movie musical further than anyone had dared—not only in subject matter, but also in structure and pacing. Fosse tells this “putting on a show” musical in nonlinear fashion, with surprising juxtapositions, fragments, and time leaps.

Dancin’ Solo

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Winkler
Keyword(s):  
Musical Comedy ◽  
Bob Fosse

This chapter focuses on Fosse’s show Dancin’, an evening of numbers performed to preexisting music from a variety of composers. Having dismissed all collaborators and untethered to a narrative, Fosse was free to create dances around his favorite music, which included classical, swing, rock, and pop. Dancin’ had moments of startling eroticism, and his ability to sculpt stage pictures with bodies, space, and light remained unmatched. But there were also cringeworthy attempts at comedy and moments of maudlin sentimentality. By now, Fosse’s choreographic style had shifted from traditional musical comedy with touches of antic vaudeville to a more lyrical, self-serious approach that he could not always support. A sameness crept into much of his work, with similar steps, patterns, and groupings carried over from one show or film to another. Choreographing for character seemed no longer important, and all his dancers appeared to be performing the role of Bob Fosse.

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