Musicals category: 260 books
Hermes Pan
The Man Who Danced with Fred Astaire
Language: English
Release Date: June 8, 2012
Armed with an eighth-grade education, an inexhaustible imagination, and an innate talent for dancing, Hermes Pan (1909-1990) was a boy from Tennessee who became the most prolific, popular, and memorable choreographer of the glory days of the Hollywood musical. While he may be most well-known for the...
A Chorus Line FAQ
All That's Left to Know About Broadway's Singular Sensation
Language: English
Release Date: January 1, 2000
The ultimate treasure trove of information, A Chorus Line FAQ presents history and fun facts, including: the unique workshop process through which the show was developed and written, the stories of its creators, the record-breaking Broadway run and numerous touring productions, and the captivating...
On Sondheim
An Opinionated Guide
Language: English
Release Date: November 19, 2015
In On Sondheim, renowned author Ethan Mordden takes the reader on a tour of Stephen Sondheim's work, arguing for the importance and appeal of the composer-lyricist in American theater and, even more, in American culture. Over the course of eighteen shows, Mordden demonstrates that Sondheim is a classical...
Showstoppers!
The Surprising Backstage Stories of Broadway's Most Remarkable Songs
Language: English
Release Date: November 1, 2016
When Robert Preston shouted "Ya got trouble!" in River City, when Carol Channing glided down a gilded staircase while waiters serenaded her with "Hello, Dolly!," when Barbra Streisand defied us to rain on her parade in Funny Girl, audiences were instantly enchanted. Showstoppers!...
Wonder of Wonders
A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof
Language: English
Release Date: October 22, 2013
A sparkling and eye-opening history of the Broadway musical that changed the world
In the half-century since its premiere, Fiddler on the Roof has had an astonishing global impact. Beloved by audiences the world over, performed from rural high schools to grand state theaters, Fiddler is a supremely...
Must Close Saturday
The Decline and Fall of the British Musical Flop
Language: English
Release Date: December 12, 2017
The ominous announcement "Must Close Saturday" too often heralded the demise of British musicals. Looking forward from the vantage point of Lionel Bart's spectacularly successful Oliver! in 1960, Adrian Wright's authoritative chronicle of the commercially unsuccessful British musical of...
by David Stafford, Caroline Stafford
Language: English
Release Date: December 12, 2011
Language: English
Release Date: December 12, 2011
Lionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!
He also wrote the famous songs Living Doll (Cliff Richard) and From Russia With Love (Matt Munroe).
He was unable to read music.
He was a millionaire...
The Sound of Broadway Music
A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations
Language: English
Release Date: June 3, 2011
Broadway's top orchestrators - Robert Russell Bennett, Don Walker, Philip J. Lang, Jonathan Tunick - are names well known to musical theatre fans, but few people understand precisely what the orchestrator does. The Sound of Broadway Music is the first book ever written about these unsung stars of...
Unmasking What Matters
10 Life Lessons From 10 Years on Broadway
Language: English
Release Date: January 23, 2018
• During the 2015/16 Broadway season, there were a record-breaking 13.3 million admissions to Broadway shows, and musicals performed on Broadway generated over 1.17 billion dollars; there is a huge audience of devoted fans hungry for behind-the-scenes Broadway stories. • The Phantom of the Opera...
The Musical Theater of Stephen Schwartz
From Godspell to Wicked and Beyond
Language: English
Release Date: April 10, 2014
As the composer/lyricist for Godspell, Pippin, Wicked, and other musicals, Stephen Schwartz has enjoyed one of the mostsignificant careers in American musical theater for more than four decades. Schwartz has also achieved success on the big screen, contributing to such films as Enchanted, The Prince...
The Great Parade
Broadway's Astonishing, Never-to-Be-Forgotten 1963-1964 Season
Language: English
Release Date: April 7, 2015
It was the Broadway season when Barbra Streisand demanded "Don't Rain on My Parade" and Carol Channing heard the waiters at the Harmonia Gardens say "Hello, Dolly!". From June 1, 1963 through the final day of May 31, 1964, theatergoers were offered 68 different productions: 24...
Oliver!
A Dickensian Musical
Language: English
Release Date: September 12, 2014
When the show was first produced in 1960, at a time when transatlantic musical theatre was dominated by American productions, Oliver! already stood out for its overt Englishness. But in writing Oliver!, librettist and composer Lionel Bart had to reconcile the Englishness of his Dickensian source with...
So You Want to Sing Music Theater
A Guide for Professionals
Language: English
Release Date: May 2, 2014
In some ways, the successor of vaudeville and an extension of the opera and operetta, the stage musical has evolved into a worldwide juggernaut. Musicals are staged not only across the globe but are offered in a variety of settings, from the high school stage and major theater to the big screen. The...
by Scott McMillin
Language: English
Release Date: November 28, 2014
Language: English
Release Date: November 28, 2014
Derived from the colorful traditions of vaudeville, burlesque, revue, and operetta, the musical has blossomed into America's most popular form of theater. Scott McMillin has developed a fresh aesthetic theory of this underrated art form, exploring the musical as a type of drama deserving the kind...