Miles Kreuger

Last updated
Miles Kreuger
Born
Miles Kreuger

(1934-03-28) March 28, 1934 (age 90)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationPresident: Institute of the American Musical

Miles Kreuger (born March 28, 1934) is the Grammy Award nominated president and founder of the Institute of the American Musical. [1] He has been called "the foremost expert on the American musical" and his Institute of the American Musical has been referred to as "a national treasure" and "one of the nation's most important cultural resources." [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Life

Kreuger was born in New York City, [6] the son of a mink coat manufacturer and fashion illustrator and designer. He saw his first show on Broadway, a musical biography of Gilbert and Sullivan called Knights of Song, when he was four years old. [7] [8] As a child, he became fascinated by film archives and explored those at the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of the City of New York. [6] [9]

At 16, he attended Bard College where he studied theater and literature and dreamed of becoming a director. For his senior project, he directed a version of William Butler Yeats’ Deirdre. After graduation, he directed "one or two showcase projects off-Broadway" but was "too shy, too passive" according to composer Sheldon Harnick. “To protect himself he started to build a wall between himself and the directorial world.” [9]

Kreuger was director of publicity for My Fair Lady co-writer Alan Jay Lerner. According to Kreuger, in 1956 Lerner cast him as Freddy Eynsford-Hill but Kreuger "couldn’t sing as well as he read for the part." The role went to John Michael King and the production ran for six years. [9]

As a producer, Kreuger introduced the trail-blazing French mime Etienne Decroux to New York audiences. The Mime Theatre of Etienne Decroux opened at the Cricket Theatre in Dec. 1959 and ran for 39 performances. [10]

He began his career as a critic in 1959 with a well-received essay on Cole Porter. Kreuger also worked on a WBAI radio program about the theater called “Opening Night” and for Columbia Records impresario Goddard Lieberson. [9]

Kreuger produced albums, wrote liner notes, taught at universities and, in 1977, published Show Boat: The Story of a Classic American Musical, establishing him as an authority on the musical. He was Grammy nominated for supplying liner notes for Ethel Waters on Stage and Screen and Show Boat . [8] In 1989, he recorded an audio commentary for James Whale's 1936 version of Show Boat , which The Criterion Collection included in its 2020 DVD and Blu-Ray re-releases of the film, and supplied commentary on the 1929 version. [11]

Kreuger has continued to publish works about the American Musical and has appeared in numerous documentaries about the subject, including 2003's Broadway: The Golden Age, by The Legends Who Were There . [12] [4] [6]

Institute of the American Musical

After moving to Los Angeles where he taught briefly as USC and UCLA, Kreuger founded the Institute of the American Musical in 1972, a nonprofit organization based in a 17-room house in Los Angeles. [8]

His collecting began while living with his mother and grandmother: "The doorbell rang, and it was Lincoln Storage bringing me box after box after box of recordings filled with Richard Rodgers' treasures. And that's when I had to take my first apartment." [13]

Among the holdings are donations from composers Rodgers, Irving Berlin and Harold Arlen, acting teacher Bobby Lewis and MGM. The collection also holds the Ray Knight pirated films of classic American musicals on Broadway, "probably the only record of much that made American comedy great." In addition, the collection houses "200,000 photographs from movie musicals dating back to 1914, every Broadway cast album, sheet music and recordings dating back to the 19th century, wax cylinders of popular as well as show music, published and unpublished scripts, playbills, scores, sheet music and posters." [8]

The institute has received Rockefeller, National Endowment for the Humanities, California Arts Council, and California State Library grants but continues to face financial crisis. [9] [14] [8] [4]

Select Publications

Testimonial

Buff is an insult, a frivolous term; Kreuger, 63, is scholar, curator, expert, tonsured monk of the order of St. Lerner and St. Loewe.

—  Patt Morrison, in LA Times, September 07, 1997. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Jay Lerner</span> American lyricist and librettist (1918–1986)

Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre both for the stage and on film. Lerner won three Tony Awards and three Academy Awards, among other honors.

<i>My Fair Lady</i> Stage musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe

My Fair Lady is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on the 1938 film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion, concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady. Despite his cynical nature and difficulty understanding women, Higgins grows attached to her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Hammerstein II</span> American librettist, lyricist, theatrical producer, and director of musicals (1895–1960)

Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in musical theater for nearly 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his songs are standard repertoire for vocalists and jazz musicians. He co-wrote 850 songs.

Peter Hess Stone was an American screenwriter and playwright. Stone is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the screenplays he wrote or co-wrote in the mid-1960s, Charade (1963), Father Goose (1964), and Mirage (1965).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Powell</span> American actress (1929–2021)

Jane Powell was an American actress, singer, and dancer who appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image, Powell appeared in films, television and on the stage, performing in the musicals A Date with Judy (1948), Royal Wedding (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and Hit the Deck (1955).

<i>Show Boat</i> 1927 musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II

Show Boat is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock workers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, over 40 years from 1887 to 1927. Its themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love. The musical contributed such classic songs as "Ol' Man River", "Make Believe", and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man".

<i>Camelot</i> (musical) Stage musical

Camelot is a musical with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics and a book by Alan Jay Lerner. It is based on the legend of King Arthur as adapted from the 1958 novel The Once and Future King by T. H. White.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">70th Academy Awards</span> Award ceremony for films of 1997

The 70th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 23, 1998, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the show, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 24 categories honoring films released in 1997. The ceremony, which was televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Billy Crystal hosted the show for the sixth time. He had first hosted the 62nd ceremony held in 1990, and most recently the previous year's awards. Nearly a month earlier in an event held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on February 28, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Ashley Judd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gower Champion</span> American actor (1919–1980)

Gower Carlyle Champion was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Lerner (actor)</span> American actor (1941–2023)

Michael Charles Lerner was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jack Lipnick in Barton Fink (1991). Lerner also played Arnold Rothstein in Eight Men Out (1988), Phil Gillman in Amos & Andrew (1993), The Warden in No Escape (1994), Mel Horowitz on the television series Clueless, Jerry Miller in The Beautician and the Beast (1997), Mayor Ebert in Roland Emmerich's Godzilla (1998), Mr. Greenway in Elf (2003), and Senator Brickman in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

Show Boat is a 1936 American romantic musical film directed by James Whale, based on the 1927 musical of the same name by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, which in turn was adapted from the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Henderson</span> American actress (1934–2016)

Florence Agnes Henderson was an American actress. With a career spanning six decades, she is best known for her starring role as Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch. Henderson also appeared in film, as well as on stage, and hosted several long-running cooking and variety shows over the years. She appeared as a guest on many scripted and unscripted television programs and as a panelist on numerous game shows. Henderson was also contestant on Dancing with the Stars in 2010.

Thomas Leabhart is an American corporeal mime and corporeal mime teacher.

Will Vodery was an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and arranger, and one of the few black Americans of his time to make a name for himself as a composer on Broadway, working largely for Florenz Ziegfeld. He had offices at the Gaiety Theatre office building in Times Square.

Lara Teeter is an American dancer, actor, singer, theater director and college professor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brent Barrett</span> American actor and tenor

Brent Barrett is an American actor and tenor who is mostly known for his work within American theatre. Barrett has performed in musicals and in concerts with theatres, symphony orchestras, opera houses, and concert halls internationally. He starred in the original production of Maltby and Shire's hit Off-Broadway musical Closer Than Ever in 1989 and the 2001 West End revival of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate. He has also appeared sporadically on television and in films.

Ian Fraser was an English composer, conductor, orchestrator, arranger and music director. In a career that spanned over 50 years, he received eleven Emmy Awards out of 32 total nominations, making him the most-honored musician in television history. His first 23 Emmy nominations, received between 1977 and 1999, were consecutive, which is the longest run of individual nominations in the history of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The Institute of the American Musical, founded in 1972 by its current president Miles Kreuger, is located in Los Angeles. Its collection includes "the greatest collection of artifacts from the Broadway musical", including scripts and other material associated with the matter. It is considered "one of the most important archives of Broadway history", and has been called "a national treasure" by the Library of Congress.

Jessica Wallenfels is an American actress, choreographer, movement and theatre director, and graphic designer, notable for her early cult roles in Twin Peaks and the movie Dogfight, along with her later work as a choreographer, director, and stage actress.

Clarence "Harry" Fender was an entertainer and detective who performed in Florenz Ziegfeld shows such as Kid Boots and later hosted the St. Louis children's television program Captain 11's Showboat.

References

  1. ↑ "LA times: Article about the Institute for its 1997 anniversary". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Article about film-screening and Q&A, mentioning Kreuger". Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "The New York Times: Article mentioning Miles Kreuger, also calling him an "expert"". The New York Times . Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Street Journal, Jess BravinStaff Reporter of The Wall (1998-06-03). "Musical Archivist Hits Sour Note As Lawsuit Claims He Stole Papers". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  5. 1 2 WorldCat: Entry for the book. OCLC   1818068 . Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 Lambert, Alix (July 15, 2004). "Miles Kreuger - Keeping the golden age of Broadway alive". Los Angeles Weekly. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Article about Miles Kreuger" . Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Rosenfeld, Megan (1989-03-19). "MILES KREUGER, THE MUSICALS MAN". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "One-Man Show". Los Angeles Times. 2005-02-13. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  10. ↑ New York Times 20 Jan. 1960 p.26
  11. ↑ Show Boat DVD. The Criterion Collection, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Miles Kreuger's filmography on IMDb". IMDb . Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  13. ↑ "Musical Theater Museum Struggles To Preserve Archives". NPR. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  14. ↑ "TEXAN SAVES INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN MUSICAL". Los Angeles Times. 1985-09-26. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  15. ↑ "LA times: Article about the Institute for its 1997 anniversary". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  16. ↑ WorldCat: Entry for the book. OCLC   3116822 . Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  17. ↑ WorldCat: Entry for the book. OCLC   21333046 . Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  18. ↑ "Acolyte of a Vanishing Art Formby. Article from Los Angeles Times, September 07, 1997" . Retrieved 6 November 2014..
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.