In Concert: Performing Musical Persona By Philip Auslander. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2021; pp. x + 293, 22 illustrations. $90 cloth, $39.95 paper, $39.95 e-book.

Abstract

series is significant. This is a book of theatre historiography that examines some of the foundational concepts of musical theatre in the United States. It is worth noting, however, that this book’s subtitle also promises Rogers will analyze “the politics of bursting into song and dance.” The Song Is You is a historiographical text to be sure, but for Rogers the work of writing history is also the work of exploring how audiences identify with musical theatre performances and how musicals ask us to imitate, desire, and possess the bodies of others, especially those whose experiences we perceive as different from our own. These are political questions, and The Song Is You is a necessary and exciting exploration of these politics, filled with insights and provocations that promise to push the field in important new directions.