You've Got to Have a Dream

You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Musical is a book written by the British theologian and Presbyterian minister Ian Bradley, first published in 2004, exploring the spiritual dimension of musical theatre. In his study, Bradley includes works with an overt religious subject matter, for example, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as well looking at musicals such as Les Misérables, The Lion King, and Carousel. His thesis is that churches have a great deal to learn from modern musicals and could usefully incorporate their spiritual and theological values, and the pastoral care they offer, into their services.

You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Musical

First edition UK cover
Author	Ian Bradley
Language	English
Subject	Music and performing arts popular culture practical theology
Published	2004 (SCM Press, UK) 2005 (Westminster John Knox Press, US)
Publication place	England
Media type	Print
Pages	240 244
ISBN	978-0-334-02949-6

The title You've Got to Have a Dream is a reference to a line in the popular song "Happy Talk" in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical South Pacific.

Published in September 2004, the book predates the protests and controversy surrounding the BBC broadcast of Jerry Springer: The Opera in January 2005, which was strongly opposed by organisations such as Christian Voice and the Christian Institute, which attempted to bring a private prosecution against the BBC.

References

• Bates, Stephen (11 September 2004), "Churches should take yellow brick road to reaching people", The Guardian
• McLeod, Donald (29 September 2004), "Academic claims musicals are the new religion", The Guardian
• "Yellow brick road to righteousness", BBC News Magazine, 14 October 2004, retrieved 31 December 2009

External links

• Bradley, Ian (9 October 2004), "The musical is the message", The Guardian
• BBC - Songs of Praise - Video