In temperament, personality and background, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe were perhaps the most dissimilar of all of the great songwriting teams. Yet together they penned some of the most original and successful musicals written during the Golden Age of Broadway, hits beginning with Brigadoon in 1947 and ending with Gigi in 1973. Between [...]

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice. Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. [...]

Although ragtime music was first heard at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, it took another seven years for the syncopated music to become the rage of the new century. Scott Joplin wrote the bulk of the most-remembered classical piano rags, but dozens of other composers vied for his recognition. From Kansas City came James [...]