Before "Fred and Ginger," there was "Fred and Adele," a show-business partnership and cultural sensation like no other.
Born at the close of the 1800s, Fred and Adele grew up together with the new century, and when they reached superstardom during the interwar years, they shone as an affirmation of life and hope amid a prevailing crisis of faith and identity..
It is not merely an account of the first part of Fred\'s long and illustrious career but one with its own significance.
The Astaires examines in depth the extraordinary story of this great brother-sister team, with full attention to its historical and theatrical context.
Ultimately, Fred\'s dancing expertise surpassed his sister\'s, and their paths diverged: Adele married into British aristocracy, and Fred headed for Hollywood.
From the start, Adele was the more natural performer, spontaneous, funny, and self-possessed, while Fred had to hone his trademark timing and elegance through endless hours of rehearsal, a disciplined regimen that Adele loathed.
They became ambassadors of an art form they helped to revolutionize, adored by audiences, feted by royalty, and courted socially by elites everywhere they went.
In this book, the first comprehensive study of their theatrical career together, Kathleen Riley traces the Astaires\' rise to fame from humble midwestern origins and early days as child performers on small-time vaudeville stages (where Fred, fatefully, first donned top hat and tails) to their 1917 debut on Broadway to star billings on both sides of the Atlantic.
They were Gershwin\'s music in motion, a fascinating pair who wove spellbinding rhythms in song and dance.
At the height of their success in the mid-1920s, the Astaires seemed to define the Jazz Age.
In our celebrity-saturated era, it\'s hard to comprehend what a genuine phenomenon these two siblings from Omaha were.
Before "Fred and Ginger," there was "Fred and Adele," a show-business partnership and cultural sensation like no other
