Easter Parade!

1 - 30 April, 2006 Reading Room

Inspired by the Easter season, the bfi National Library was proud to present Easter Parade!, an exhibition devoted to the musical, in all of its forms. From the golden age to Hollywood, to the little known, yet greatly revered 'British musical', to contemporary rock operas, the Library exhibited an array of material celebrating the musical.

Reading Room Display

The display in the bfi National Library Reading Room exhibited a number of interesting items from our Special Collections, focusing on the British musical. These included the following:

• Two examples of pressbooks for Summer Holiday (1962), featuring a career-defining performance from Cliff Richard, alongside another British icon, London Transport's Routemaster bus.

• Capitalising on the eccentric transport theme, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) sings the praises of a flying car, rescued from the scrap yard's clutches to the delight of family audiences. Its combination of "irrepressibly British" characters and catchy tunes made it a musical classic.

• The Official Souvenir Brochure for Tommy (1975), Ken Russell's film of Pete Townshend's Rock Opera. A very 70s take on the British musical, Tommy features platforms, perms and pinball aplenty.

• The pressbook for Velvet Goldmine (1998), a post-Tommy take on the glam rock musical, with retro styling from British film veterans Christopher Hobbs (design consultant for Tommy), Sandy Powell and Peter King. The soundtrack is a postmodern mix of cover songs and new work, with contributions from Placebo, Pulp and Thom Yorke.

For more information on the British musical, see the screenonline article, 'Song and Dance on the Big Screen'.

An impressive sampling of our books and periodicals was also exhibited for your browsing pleasure, covering everything from scholarly treatises on camp and the MGM musical, to full-colour picture books on the golden age of Hollywood musicals, to detailed encyclopaedias of the genre.

Further Reading

Musicals Reading List (PDF, 33kb)

For more information on the holdings of the bfi National Library, check our online catalogue or contact us.