John Bush Jones

John Bush Jones (August 3, 1940 – December 31, 2019)[1] was an American author, theatre director and critic, educator and scholar. He taught theatre for more than two decades at Brandeis University and wrote widely about musical theatre, publishing several books. Jones retired in 2001.[2]

John Bush Jones
BornAugust 3, 1940
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedDecember 31, 2019(2019-12-31) (aged 79)
EducationPh.D., Northwestern University
OccupationEducator, Author, Theatre director and critic
EmployerBrandeis University

Early life and education

Jones was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1940. He described himself as a child of the World War II home front, having just turned five, eleven days before the Surrender of Japan.[3] His experience influenced his writing career, and is reflected in his books.

"my sensory memories great and small of my life on my own home front of Chicago's North Shore suburbs have remained a part if me ever since ... a formation of bombers passed low over my house, opened their bomb bay doors, and dropped thousands of colored handbills featuring the familiar logo of the Minute Man and the equally famous "'BUY WAR BONDS!"'

— John Bush Jones, Victory: Magazine Advertising and the World War II Home Front, Preface

He received an undergraduate degree in Speech (Theatre), with Distinction, from Northwestern University in 1962. He earned his Ph.D. from Northwestern in 1970.[2] Jones married Sandra Pirie Carson, whose family commissioned architect Louis Sullivan to design the Carson Pirie Scott & Co. store in downtown Chicago. They were married for 10 years before divorcing and had one son, Aaron Carson.[2][4]

Career

Jones reviewed drama for the Kansas City Star and taught English at the University of Kansas before joining the faculty at Brandeis University in 1978, in the Theater Arts Department. He received the 1995–1996 Louis Dembitz Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching.[1][5]

At Brandeis, Jones served on the organizing committee for many years of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. He directed numerous plays and musicals both at Brandeis and in professional theatre, including Ruddigore, Uncommon Women and Others and She Loves Me. He retired from Brandeis in 2001.[1][6]

Bibliography

Jones wrote several books and many articles. He wrote theatre criticism for several newspapers and magazines. His published books and a sampling of articles are listed below.[2]

Books
  • W. S. Gilbert: A Century of Scholarship and Commentary, contributor, Bridget D'Oyly Carte, New York University Press, 1970. ISBN 978-0-8147-0464-6[7]
  • Readings in Descriptive Bibliography, Kent State University, 1974. ISBN 978-0-87338-153-6[8]
  • Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theatre, Brandeis University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-1-61168-223-6[9]
  • The Songs That Fought the War: Popular Music and the Home Front, 1938-1945, Brandeis, 2006. ISBN 978-1-58465-443-8[10]
  • All-Out for Victory! Magazine Advertising and the World War II Home Front, Brandeis, 2009. ISBN 978-1-58465-833-7[11]
  • Reinventing Dixie: Tin Pan Alley's Songs and Creation of the Mythic South, LSU Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-8071-5944-6[12]

Articles
  • "Mr. Gilbert and Dr. Bowdler: A New Look at Gilbert's "Pateince", Victorian Poetry, Vol. 12 n1, (19740401): 65-66.[13]
  • "The Printing of The Grand Duke: Notes Toward a Gilbert Bibliography," Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, Vol. LXI., 1967.[14]
  • "Editing Victorian Playwrights: Some Problems, Priorities, and Principles," Theatre Survey, Vol. 17, Issue 1., May 1976.[15]
  • "British printers on galley proofs: a chronological reconsideration," In cooperation with the Bibliography Society, London: O.U.P.,1976.[16]
  • " Victorian "Readers" and Modern Editors: Attitudes and Accidentals revisited," Papers of the Biographical Society of America, Vol. 71, number 1 (1977).[17]
  • "From Melodrama to Tragedy: The Transformation of Sweeny Todd," New England Theatre Journal, Vol.2, isd. 1, 1991.[18]

An archive of Jones' works is available at the Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections Department, Brandeis University Libraries.[1]

References
  1. "John Bush Jones Papers", Brandeis University archives, accessed September 6, 2013
  2. "Sad News: John Bush Jones | Addresses and Letters to the Community | Office of the Provost | Brandeis University". www.brandeis.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  3. Jones (2009), p. vi
  4. Cameron, Julia. "True Midwest". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  5. "Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching". www.brandeis.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  6. "Professor to Lecture on Politics of Musicals", Orlando Sentinel, December 19, 1986, accessed September 6, 2013
  7. Carte, Bridget D'Oyly; Jones, John Bush (1970). W.S. Gilbert: a century of scholarship and commentary. New Yorkh: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-0464-6. OCLC 123923.
  8. Jones, John Bush (1974). Readings in descriptive bibliography. Kent, Ohio. ISBN 978-0-87338-153-6. OCLC 185542141.
  9. Jones, John Bush (2011-04-17). Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theatre. Brandeis University Press. ISBN 978-1-61168-223-6.
  10. Jones, John Bush (2006). The Songs that Fought the War: Popular Music and the Home Front, 1939-1945. UPNE. ISBN 978-1-58465-443-8.
  11. Jones, John Bush (2009-07-15). All-Out for Victory!: Magazine Advertising and the World War II Home Front. UPNE. ISBN 978-1-58465-833-7.
  12. Jones, John Bush (16 March 2015). Reinventing Dixie : Tin Pan Alley's songs and the creation of the mythic South. Baton Rouge. ISBN 978-0-8071-5944-6. OCLC 894313622.
  13. Jones, John Bush; Fredric Woodbridge Wilson Collection of Gilbert and Sullivan (Harvard Theatre Collection) (1974). Mr. Gilbert and Dr. Bowdler: a further note on Patience. OCLC 757110190.
  14. Jones, John Bush (1967). "The printing of The Grand Duke: Notes toward a Gilbert bibliography". Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 61 (4): 335–342. doi:10.1086/pbsa.61.4.24300954. OCLC 1186193239.
  15. Jones, John Bush (May 1976). "Editing Victorian Playwrights: Some Problems, Priorities, and Principles". Theatre Survey. 17 (1): 106–123. doi:10.1017/S0040557400004245. ISSN 1475-4533.
  16. Jones, John Bush; Bibliographical Society (1976). British printers on galley proofs: a chronological reconsideration. London: O.U.P. OCLC 931340734.
  17. Jones, John Bush (1977). "Victorian "Readers" and modern editors attitudes and accidentals revisited". Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 71: 49–59. doi:10.1086/pbsa.71.1.24302323. OCLC 1185493410. S2CID 163772620.
  18. "From Melodrama to Tragedy: The Transformation of Sweeney Todd - ProQuest". search.proquest.com. Retrieved 2020-11-03.

Sources
  • Jones, John Bush (2004). Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theatre. Brandeis University Press. ISBN 978-1-61168-223-6.
  • Jones, John Bush (2009). All-Out for Victory!: Magazine Advertising and the World War II Home Front. UPNE. ISBN 978-1-58465-833-7.
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