Hugh Martin: The Boy Next Door - Hardcover

Martin, Hugh

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0615365078 ISBN 13: 9780615365077

Publisher: Trolley Pr, 2010

Synopsis

Hugh Martin: The Boy Next Door is an enchanting jaunt through the Golden Era of Broadway and the MGM musicals. This firsthand account captures the energy and excitement of those special times, with eyewitness tales of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, and dozens more. Hugh recounts the origins of some of America's most beloved songs, including the perennial favorite, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Martin also reveals some secrets that only he could know: the truth about his composition partner Ralph Blane, his addiction to the infamous Dr. Feelgood, Max Jacobson; how he was instrumental in turning Gene Kelly from a performer to a choreographer during the staging of Best Foot Forward; and what it was really like to be part of the MGM musical production machine. As Hugh enters his 96th year, this could be America's last chance to hear these stories from a living source. They are full of his signature charm, grace, musicality, and poeticism.

About this title

About the Author

Hugh Martin (born in 1914) is an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, and vocal coach. He is best known for his score for the classic 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis, in which Judy Garland sang three Martin songs, "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The last of these has become a Christmas season standard in the United States and around the English-speaking world and is widely considered one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time. He became a close friend of Garland and was her accompanist in the 1950s including her legendary stint at the Palace. He is quite possibly the last original source for stories of the Golden Era of Broadway and Hollywood musicals.

Review

Praise for Hugh Martin and Hugh Martin: The Boy Next Door

"For any young person who has a passion to enter into the performing arts, this is the ultimate book to read. Hugh Martin is the single most talented and finest human being I know." --Tony Bennett

"Hugh is one of the greatest treasures we have in the music industry." --Mickey Rooney

"Every time I've interviewed Hugh Martin, I've wanted to read his memoir--only to be reminded he didn't have one. Thank goodness he's finally written a book that tells the stories behind songs I love." --Terry Gross

"As Alec Wilder told us nearly 40 years ago, Hugh Martin is one of the 'great innovators' in American popular song. His witty, elegant memoir is long overdue, and my hope is that it will inspire a thorough exploration of his work for both Broadway and Hollywood. In our age of dumbed-down music and lyrics, how marvelous it is to find a songwriter who has never strayed from his ultra-civilized and irresistibly sweet (and swinging) muse." --Bill Rudman, host of Sirius XM's "On the Aisle" and director of The Musical Theater Project

"Hugh Martin, composer of some of the most exquisite songs of the twentieth century, has reached back for a warm and wonderful memoir of his life in show business. He was actually there with Mickey and Judy in the barn. Martin gives us warm and witty first-hand stories of his fabled peers and colleagues: Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Jule Styne and more. The Boy Next Door is an enchanting and funny account of Broadway, Hollywood, and the American Songbook, told from the vantage point of the piano bench." --Steven Suskin

Edition details

• Publisher: Trolley Pr
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0615365078
• ISBN 13: 9780615365077
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 409