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— — — — — Acknowledgments This book represents the culmination of work that began more than ‹fteen years ago in a classroom at the University of Washington. I had no idea that a term paper on Merrily We Roll Along would lead to graduate study at the University of California at Berkeley, a serendipitous lunch with an outgoing professor there, and a stimulating apprenticeship with an incoming one. Neither did I think that a letter from Sondheim— the ‹rst of many, as it happened—would lead me to abandon my plan to mine my doctoral thesis for this book and choose instead to prospect another, more challenging claim. There have been many who have assisted me thus far, and if I fail to name them all in these pages, it is one more of the errors this book undoubtedly contains. I take full responsibility for these errors, even as I take pleasure in thanking those who have helped me get a few things right. Among my academic colleagues, pride of place must go to Larry Starr, who taught that class in Seattle. His curious spirit and unorthodox views gave me courage to begin down this path. Thanks also to Stephen Rumph, a former Berkeley colleague who, as of this writing, is Larry’s colleague. He invited me to return to Seattle and share a little of what I’ve learned over the years. Thank you both. The list of Berkeley supporters is necessarily longer. Joseph Kerman counseled me over lunch, and he occasionally still follows up on me. Wye Jamison Allanbrook and I talked about the importance of Jane Powell and Doris Day in our lives. Katherine Bergeron endured more than any advisor should be called upon to endure. And my student colleagues at Berkeley gave me courage to continue. Thanks to all of you, especially Danielle Fosler-Lussier and David Schneider. You two helped me stay on track in so many ways. My colleagues at Dartmouth College are also numerous and supportive . Sondheim is not Bill Summers’s thing, but Bill has never ›agged in encouraging me to become the best scholar I could. Ted Levin critiqued my early work and sketched out a trail for me to blaze. Jon Appleton, Larry Polansky, and Melinda O’Neal offered perspectives and incentives that I needed. Jennifer Matsue Milioto gave me permission to write this book and not a different one. Mark Williams, Lynn Higgins, and Mary Desjardins opened my mind to discoveries in their ‹elds. Sydney Stowe and Bill Pence were gracious with their time and resources. Jane Carroll was always eager to talk Broadway with me and ‹nd funding for me. Jamshed Bharucha and Lenore Grenoble gave me con‹dence to keep on working. And Jean Callahan helped me to arrange the tasks of life in their correct order. Thank you all. I am grateful to the Dartmouth students who have looked over my work and have wrestled with me on some of the issues presented in these pages. Jason, Daniel, Lisa, Greg, Carl, John B., Nathan, Tyler, Kamil, Oliver, Justin G., Jamie, Laura, Bill, Clinton, Craig, Amanda, Alison, Amish, Shayne, Andrea, Justin M., Eric, Emily, Wendy, Lauren, Derek, Christena: you all helped me more than you will know. Tom: thanks for the good research and probing questions you provided. And Brian: “as iron sharpens iron . . .” Other people in other places also have made this book possible. Geoffrey Block, John Breglio, Patricia Chute, Mark Dinham, Wayne Dynes, Lara Housez, Michael H. Hutchins, Nancy Kieffer, Gregory King and Peter Sultan, Linda Kirland, Ray Knapp, Kim Kowalke, Jim Leve, Ralph Locke, Cathy Loeb, James Lovensheimer, Stephen Murray, Gregory Nigosian, Richard Rosendall, Paul Salsini, Caldwell Titcomb, Paul Varnell, John and Lynn Wadhams, Scott War‹eld: there are traces of all of you in these pages. Thank you. Then there are the institutions that have made this book possible. A grant from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation gave me time to write this book, and the other fellows gave me motivation to extend my reach. The staff at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research at the University of Wisconsin made research there a pleasure. Special thanks go to the members of the AMS Publications Committee for their subvention from the Lloyd Hibberd Publication Endowment Fund of the American Musicological Society. Other colleagues in the AMS (especially the New England chapter) and the Society for American Music have helped me re‹ne some of my ideas over the years. The newsletters and news from the...

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