Research Catalog

[Interview with Robert Kimball : raw footage]

Title
[Interview with Robert Kimball : raw footage] [2002-02-05] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]
Publication
New York, 2002.

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Moving imageRestricted use NCOX 2126Performing Arts Research Collections - TOFT

Details

Additional Authors
  • Kimball, Robert
  • Kantor, Michael, 1961-
  • Squires, Buddy
  • Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.
  • Thirteen/WNET, donor.
Description
2 videocassettes (VHS) (51 min.) : sd., col. SP; 1/2 in.
Summary
  • Raw interview footage used for the documentary Broadway, the American musical. Robert Kimball, music critic and author of several books on the musical theater, speaks about Broadway's music and composers. Topics include the Depression-era anthem Brother, can you spare a dime? by E. Y. (Yip) Harburg, and the revue, the predominant theatrical art form of the 1920s, which featured such performers as Bert Williams, Fanny Brice and Will Rogers all on the same bill. Interview with Kimball on videocassette one ends at 12 min.
  • Discussion resumes on videocassette two with Broadway of the 1920s; the effect of the stock market crash and ensuing depression on the quality and quantity of Broadway musicals; musicals from the 1930s such as George and Ira Gershwin's Girl crazy which featured social commentary, and their political satire Of thee I sing; Cole Porter's songs of the 1930s, such as You're the top, and how they expressed the mood of the times; how Porter came to write the score for the musical Paris, and the significance of the song Let's do it, let's fall in love; Porter's upbringing, education and early career; Porter's trendsetting role as a songwriter who wrote "adult songs about love and sex"; "jazz age heros" George and Ira Gershwin, who Kimball believes to be the most influential songwriters from 1924-1937; George Gershwin's personal characteristics; the role of lyricist Ira Gershwin in the team's songwriting efforts; the Cole Porter musical Anything goes as emblematic of the 1930s; Porter's 1948 comeback hit Kiss me, Kate; Porter's riding accident in 1937 and its effect on his continued production of great songs; the dancing of Fred Astaire combined with the music of George Gershwin in musicals such as Funny face; songwriter Harold Rome's satirical musical Pins and needles, and its expression of labor pride; Marc Blitzstein's The cradle will rock, which contained a strong political message; the Gershwins' opera Porgy and Bess, and its expression of the Black experience in America; what the Broadway musical expresses about America; the segregation of Broadway during the 1910s, and the 1921 musical Shuffle along, which led to an increase in the production of Black musicals on Broadway; the choreography by George Balanchine for the number Slaughter on Tenth Avenue in the show On your toes; George Gershwin's illness and death in 1937, the significance of his loss and his legacy. Interview continues at 46 min. with audio only discussion on lyrics added by Irving Berlin to Cole Porter's You're the top, and the songs written by George Gershwin during the last year of his life.
Alternative Title
  • Broadway, the American musical
  • "Chodorov/Kimball" Broadway film project
  • "Kimball" Broadway film project
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Documentaries and factual works.
  • Musicals.
  • Unedited footage.
Note
  • A second interview with Robert Kimball conducted for this documentary is available on NCOX 2155.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Time code on frame.
  • Contains various takes, at occasional brief intervals, audio continues without sound.
Credits (note)
  • Cameraman: Buddy Squires.
Performer (note)
  • Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Robert Kimball.
Event (note)
  • Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on February 5, 2002.
Biography (note)
  • 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.
Call Number
NCOX 2126
OCLC
145588348
Title
[Interview with Robert Kimball : raw footage] [2002-02-05] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]
Imprint
New York, 2002.
Credits
Cameraman: Buddy Squires.
Performer
Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Robert Kimball.
Event
Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on February 5, 2002.
Biography
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
Gift of Broadway Film Project, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET, 2005.
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Added Author
Kimball, Robert, interviewee.
Kantor, Michael, 1961- interviewer.
Kantor, Michael, 1961- director.
Squires, Buddy, cameraman.
Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.
Thirteen/WNET, donor.
Research Call Number
NCOX 2126
View in Legacy Catalog