ALL COLOR INTERIOR
Very few men have had the impact on Broadway theatre as did Justin Brooks Atkinson, the drama critic of The New York Times from 1925-1960, and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for foreign correspondence in 1947. Excepting four years as a foreign correspondent during WWII, for 31 years Mr. Atkinson's views in The Times were held in high regard by theatre-goers and industry producers, directors, playwrights, and actors, often making or breaking productions.
It is from this expert background that his descriptions of Broadway from the late 1800s through 1970, as reflected in his history of New York theater in Broadway are so valuable.
Whether you are a theater historian, or simply a theater lover, you will be spellbound by the parade of stars, writers, directors and producers in the many productions that made stage history for America.
Atkinson's Broadway is not simply historical description. It is the emotions and reflections of the spirit-lifting and intellectual nuances of why Broadway remains a strength of American entertainment and soul, as much true today as it was during Atkinson's time.
"It is in historical projects such as this one that Atkinson performs the ultimate connecting of the dots over long periods of time. We see him recognizing other decade-long patterns, ... and continuing to elevate his impression of the astonishing creative outbursts that belied the Great Depression's grueling hardship. The defining characteristics for him -- the conclusions he always seeks -- have to do with the fundamental originality of the works in question, and in what way they struggle with, or somehow shed new light on, real-life predicaments."
Nancy Malitz
Founding music critic at USA Today
Editor, Classical Voice North America
Publisher, Chicago On the Aisle
...It is a gift to us readers that over time Atkinson turned to writing books that further reflected on key experiences from his long succession of opening nights. For Broadway, originally published in 1970, and here republished with addenda as Broadway: A History of the Theatre in New York City, Atkinson undertook extensive research going back into the 1890s to create a dazzling historical context for Broadway's build-up of steam in the early 20th century.
...Atkinson assembles rich profiles of New York theater's early stars, but whose influence lingered well into the time when he began to write.... In later chapters, Atkinson documents the path-breaking originality of suddenly serious dramas in the era between the Wars.
Slicing and dicing this history in a number of ways, he explores the bewildering paradox of artistic riches in the desperate years of the Great Depression, the birth of the American musical as a genuine art form, and Broadway's struggles to thrive, decade by decade, as motion pictures and then television became the primary entertainments of the day. The pressure of the Korean and Vietnam Wars in the Fifties and Sixties, and the intimidations of McCarthy era hysterics, are studied in light of the artists affected and the shows that survived.
...The New York theater community stayed up to read those overnight reports. Atkinson rarely missed an opening night, covering literally thousands. ...It is in historical projects such as this one that Atkinson performs the ultimate connecting of the dots over long periods of time. We see him recognizing other decade-long patterns, tracking whole families of actors, and continuing to elevate his impression of the astonishing creative outbursts. The defining characteristics for him have to do with the fundamental originality of the works in question, and in what way they struggle with, or somehow shed new light on, real-life predicaments. Whether with passion, sarcasm, irony or high wit, the playwrights who put forth the strongest points of view about the changing world and the humans in it - their self-delusions, passions, madness, addictions, social struggles and the like - receive Atkinson's greatest admiration....Atkinson covers gem after gem of the classic American canon, and they are here to enjoy, to revisit, to savor.
Nancy Malitz
Founding music critic at USA Today
Editor, Classical Voice North America
Publisher, Chicago On the Aisle
KIRKUS REVIEW
This long history by the former drama critic of the New York Times (Brooks Atkinson) concentrates on the first fifty years of this century (20th Century) when ""Broadway"" was synonymous with the best the U.S. theater had to offer, devoting only a short postscript to the last twenty years. Carefully researched, it is crammed--perhaps too much so--with dates, people and plays. The format which switches from actors, to producers, to playwrights, to productions, to critics, to playhouses, is a little confusing. But the general theme still emerges: vitality of performance and triviality of subject matter at the turn of the century matured in the twenties, through the work of such gifted amateurs-turned-pro as the men and women of the Theater Guild, and an exciting blend of talent and imagination in both players and plays ensued. The depression did not destroy the theater, but films, radio, TV and economics precipitated the slow decline that has ended in the near-wasteland of Broadway today. Atkinson's judgments are gentle, often apt. His book is thorough and workmanlike throughout, and clearly a labor of love, even when the labor seems more evident than the affection.
November 2, 1970