A Ship Without A Sail

Posted on 20 February 2017 by Gary Marmorstein

A splendid portrait of Lorenz Hart, an exuberant yet troubled artist who so enriched the American songbook Just think of Blue Moon, Where or When, The Lady Is a Tramp, My Funny Valentine, Isn t It Romantic , My Romance, There s a Small Hotel, Falling in Love with Love, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered and remember that lyricist Hart, together with composer Richard Rodgers, wrote some of the most memorable songs of all time More than half a century after their collaboration ended, Rodgers and Hart songs are as popular and high regarded as ever.A Ship Without a Sail is the story of a complex man, but whose lyrics spin with brilliance and sophistication, yet at their core is an unmistakable wistfulness and those words could be sweet, but they could also be cynical, funny, ironic, full of a unique wit and elegance.Larry Hart and Richard Rodgers wrote approximately thirty Broadway musicals and dozens of songs for Hollywood films At least four of their musicals On Your Toes , Babes in Arms , The Boys from Syracuse , and Pal Joey have become classics Yet despite their prodigious collaboration, Rodgers and Hart were an odd couple Rodgers was precise, punctual, heterosexual, handsome, and eager to be accepted by Society Hart was barely five feet tall, alcoholic, homosexual, and most comfortable in a bar or restaurant Terrified of solitude, he invariably threw the party and picked up the check His lyrics are all the remarkable considering that he never sustained a romantic relationship.Gary Marmorstein s biography deserves to be widely read. New Read [ A Ship Without A Sail ] By [ Gary Marmorstein ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Stephen Sondheim, in Finishing the Hat, said he was not a fan of Lorenz Hart because Hart s lyrics, like Ira Gershwin s, never got to the level of sounding like the way people talk Sondheim says Hart was enamoured wirh rhymes The problem with this criticism is that Hart in contrast to Sondheim wrote lyrics that expressed his pain, loneliness, despair And the songs, written with Richard Rodgers, were often haunting And they endure forever How many Sobndheim songs will endure Hart w Stephen Sondheim, in Finishing the Hat, said he was not a fan of Lorenz Hart because Hart s lyrics, like Ira Gershwin s, never got to the level of sounding like the way people talk Sondheim says Hart was enamoured wirh rhymes The problem with this cri...This book is probably too arcane for most readers But if you are interested in the history and development of musical theatre, it is a real treat It is interesting to note how many of our creative geniuses were privately sad, tormented soulsLorenz Hart is a prime example.This book is chock full of the history of Broadway and movie musicals I never really felt it got to the heart excuse the pun of Lorenz Hart, a brilliant but deeply unhappy, self loathing alcoholic I chose this book because I have always felt Rogers and Hart s songs were a perfect marriage of Roger s romantic,lyrical music and Hart s wry, often wistful lyrics They seemed to balance each other fperfectly, although it is well known that Hart s alcoholism, his undisciplined work habits drove This book is chock full of the history of Broadway and movie musicals I never really felt it got to the heart excuse the pun of Lorenz Hart, a brilliant but deeply unhappy, self loathing alcoholic I chose this book because I have always felt Rogers and Hart s songs were a perfect marriage of Roger s romantic,lyrical music and Hart s wry, often wistful lyrics They seemed to balance each other fperfectly, although it is well known that Hart s alco...If this ship had had a sail, there wouldn t have been any wind in it.I really, really tried with this book But after 180 pages of tedious name dropping and needless side references, I had to give up My mother in law had picked this up a few weeks ago from my coffee table before I started reading it, and told me the same thing I should have listened to her Is it really that interesting that Lorenz Hart s father, Max Hart, died around the same time as the Max Hart of the Hart Schaffner M If this ship h...My father gave me a love of the songs from the musicals of the twenties, thirties and forties I knew the outlines of the story of Rogers and Hart, but this book is a wonderful evocation of the times and gives as much detail as we can expect from the life of a homosexual in the closet in those times It isthan a biography it is as much an appreciation of his art and his accomplishment and how he advanced the craft of songwriting and of the musical...Excellent biography Very readable and enjoyable Great read about a very talented man always good to learnabout some of the great songwriters, whether they composed the music or wrote the lyricsand Hart a very interesting character, tooWhile I learned a lot about pre WWII Broadway musicals and what a huge role Rodgers and Hart played in transforming them, I don t think Marmorstein is able connect his dots It s not, in my opinion, that Larry Hart createdintellectually sophisticated entertainment, but rather wrote lyrics that sang out to authentic human emotions I am also curious why Marmorstein chose to start his book with the reading of Harts will when he never had a hard revelation about dishonesty or trickery on...Wonderful read The ONLY good bio written on L Hart Moves along really well Author has a wonderful writing style Good insight to NYC and what the theater music industry was in the 30 s 40 s.I am going to compile a Pandora station titled _A Ship without a Sail_ Using the Discography provided any suggestionsJuly 2012

English
20 February 2017

Gary Marmorstein