Musicals Unmasked: Local's Book Analyzes 'Rocky Horror,' 'Grease,' More

A new book by the artistic director of Clayton's looks at how sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll have shaped our society and the modern American musical, and in turn how musicals are shaping our culture.

The premise of Scott Miller's newest book, Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll and Musicals, is not difficult to accept at face value. But if you have doubts, you won't after reading Miller. His exploration of American musicals has resulted in five previous books, each richly detailed, comprehensive and insightful.

The book looks primarily at 10 different shows, the earliest being 1967's Hair. But it begins with Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party, written in 2000 and based on the shocking, book-length 1920s poem by Joseph Moncure March during the time of speakeasies, flappers and bootleggers.

Miller's analysis of The Wild Party makes me want to see it worst kind of way, as do all of his analyses, even—perhaps especially—if I've seen the show before. Miller presents a new understanding of the musicals he assays by describing their meanings, their origins, their daring, the way their cultural setting shapes them and the reasons the present culture allows these stories to be told.

You may not be familiar with some of the shows such as Bat Boy and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but you will likely be aware of the shows Miller dissects. Each show gets its own chapter. There are analyses of Grease, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show and others, plus a bonus section in which he presents essays on 13 more.

The writing is compelling, whether you've seen the shows or not. Miller backs up his assertions with copious quotes from writers, actors, critics, lyrics and historians. In addition to everything else this book accomplishes, it functions as historical writing and an examination of morality.

Many of Miller's observations might be surprising. When Miller writes, “Jesus Christ Superstar ... is about politics, not religion, about a political activist, not the son of God,” he backs it up with quotes from lyricist Tim Rice and examples from a myriad of sources that lend credence to his assertions. Many readers will wonder why they have not looked at it that way before. The book is full of such insights.

Miller's writings on these shows is so extensive and deep that one is left wondering whether the creators of these musicals, no matter how brilliant they were, could possibly have intended every nuance Miller finds.

No matter. Films, symphonies, books—all works of art—find an audience and popularity because they in some way capture these subtleties, whether intentional or not. They're there, perhaps only intuited by their creators and perhaps only sensed by the audience, but they affect us in profound ways nevertheless.

Miller is a scholar of American musical theater, yet his writing style is effective, accessible and never condescending. Of course, the book will appeal to actors and directors as a study guide and to musical-theater aficionados, but casual audience members will also appreciate it and find new ways to look at musicals. 

As Miller points out, what many Americans view as the golden age of musicals—from 1943's Oklahoma! to 1964's Fiddler on the Roof—was really just the Rogers and Hammerstein era. He's not dismissing them. But the real golden age of musicals began in 1964 and is just reaching full stride today. At least, full stride as we know it.

But who knows where those full strides will take us in the future?

Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll and Musicals is published by Northeastern University Press and is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and the Northeastern University Press website.