Victorians on Broadway: Literature, Adaptation, and the Modern American Musical - by Sharon Aronofsky Weltman
A wide-ranging interdisciplinary study of live stage musicals from the mid- to late twentieth century adapted from British literature written between 1837 and 1886. Investigates musical dramatizations of works by Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Christina Rossetti, Robert Louis Stevenson, and others ... reveals what these musicals teach us about the Victorian books from which they derive and considers their enduring popularity and impact on our modern culture. Explores themes of race, religion, gender, and class, focusing attention on how these theatrical adaptations fit into aesthetic and intellectual movements while demonstrating the complexity of their enduring legacy.