Paris and the Musical explores how the famous city has been portrayed on stage and screen, investigates why the city has been of such importance to the genre and tracks how it has developed as a trope over the 20th and 21st centuries.
The interdisciplinary nature of this collection renders it as a fascinating resource for a wide range of courses; it will be especially valuable for students and scholars of Musical Theatre and those interested in Theatre and Film History more generally.
FIGURE 1.1 The Eiffel Tower upon completion in 1889. Today the most famous sight of Paris, the structure caused a lot of controversy when it was built.
Worth noting is the mix of social classes in Paris in the earlier 19th century, often in the same buildings. The poorest residents occupied the higher floors, while the wealthy occupied the noble lower ones. Furthermore, many shopkeepers lived above their shops, meaning a variety of different types of buildings on the same street; modest wood and plaster homes could thus be found on the same block as more elegant ones in stone (Taunton, 2009, p. 21).
The restructuring of Paris was one of the largest urban renewal programmes in the world. This momentous economic and social change, however, could not take place without the growth of industrial production, which brought great wealth to the middle and upper classes. The development of a modern banking system was also necessary to raise the capital required, not only for public works in Paris; it also allowed for the establishment of private enterprises, among them department stores, many of which were founded at this time. By the middle of the 19th century, the Bourse â Franceâs Wall Street â was the biggest money market on the continent. The extension of the railway too allowed for the facility of movement of people and goods. This economic growth brought greater numbers of workers to the city and led to overcrowding, contributing to the explosion of Parisâs population from 786,000 to over a million between 1831 and 1851 (Horne, 2004, p. 232).
Furthermore, Haussmannisation doubled the area of Paris, which absorbed 500,000 inhabitants at this time. In 1860, Paris had just 12 arrondissements, when it expanded to 20, through the annexation of Auteuil, Passy, Grenelle and other areas, including Montmartre. Finally, Napoleon III and Haussmann also had new railroad stations built, such as the Gare de Lyon and the Gare du Nord, thereby facilitating visits to the capital by foreign and provincial visitors. Railway stations were a favourite subject of some of the Impressionist painters depicting modern life, among them Ădouard Manet and Claude Monet. These changes led to the tremendous growth of the city. By 1870, the population stood at two million, and by 1914, three million (Jones, 2004, p. 299). Finally, political motivations, linked to aesthetic and economic ones, also motivated Napoleon III and Haussmann. Their goal to embellish Paris meant moving poor people out into the outer arrondissements. Paris had historically been the centre of the revolution â in 1789, 1830 and 1848 â when, ironically, Napoleon III himself came to power. Building the grands boulevards made it both easier ...
Table des matiĂšres
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgements
Notes on contributors
Introduction
Part I Capital Paris
Part II Broadway Paris
Part III Hollywood Paris
Part IV West End Paris
Part V Naughty Paris
Part VI Artistic Paris
Index
Normes de citation pour Paris and the Musical
APA 6 Citation
[author missing]. (2021). Paris and the Musical (1st ed.). Taylor and Francis. Retrieved from https://www.perlego.com/book/2094554/paris-and-the-musical-the-city-of-light-on-stage-and-screen-pdf (Original work published 2021)
Chicago Citation
[author missing]. (2021) 2021. Paris and the Musical. 1st ed. Taylor and Francis. https://www.perlego.com/book/2094554/paris-and-the-musical-the-city-of-light-on-stage-and-screen-pdf.
Harvard Citation
[author missing] (2021) Paris and the Musical. 1st edn. Taylor and Francis. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2094554/paris-and-the-musical-the-city-of-light-on-stage-and-screen-pdf (Accessed: 15 October 2022).
MLA 7 Citation
[author missing]. Paris and the Musical. 1st ed. Taylor and Francis, 2021. Web. 15 Oct. 2022.