Celebrate the Release of Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time Tonight at the Drama Book Shop

Tonight (Monday, November 1th) the Drama Book Shop (250 West 40th Street) will celebrate the publication of BROADWAY MUSICALS: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time by Ken Bloom and Frank Vlastnik with a Foreword by Jerry Orbach. The public is invited this evening from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Refreshments will be served and the authors and special guests will be autographing the magnificent book. RSVP by phone to (212) 944-0595 x417 or you can e mail info@dramabookshop.com

This is one of the most lavish and beautiful theatrical books. BROADWAY MUSICALS: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time has more than 850 rare photographs that leap off of the pages. These themselves make the book a publishing milestone. The glorious photos have been culled by the authors from private collections and from previously uncatalogued material, with the vast majority of the photos having never before been published or seen. They provide glimpses of legendary performances that were thought lost forever, and a brand-new view of the art form. Plot synopses, cast and song lists, production details, backstage anecdotes, and quotations supplement the text and pictures, along with a wicked sense of theatrical wit and gossip. The text is authoritative, opinionated, and irreverent. Special illustrated features include Cast Albums, Guilty Pleasures, Off Broadway, Notable Flops, Film Stars Who Attempted Broadway, Great Scores from So-so Shows, Posters, and more. There are 201 short biological profiles, accompanied by photos – a who's who of Broadway musical history from George Abbott to Florenz Ziegfeld.

BROADWAY MUSICALS: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time is a beautiful lush celebration of musicals that presents commentary that sets the shows in historical and cultural context and provides an unparalleled overview of the Broadway musical from its roots in 19th-century operetta through the golden era of the book musical, to its present-day. This stunning coffee table book from Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers makes the perfect holiday gift with its remarkably low suggested retail price of $34.95. This glorious book is a major commemoration of the Broadway musical that is sure to sing and dance its way into the hearts of theatre-lovers everywhere.

Ken Bloom is the author of three seminal works on American popular song: American Song, Hollywood Song, and Tin Pan Alley. His Broadway: An Encyclopedic Guide to the History, People, and Places of Times Square was named one of the top reference books of the year by the New York Public Library and was recently reissued in a new edition. In 2003 he published Jerry Herman: The Lyrics and a two-volume history of Twentieth-Century Fox music. Bloom is also a playwright, a theatre director, a radio host, an arts consultant, and the president of Harbinger Records.

Frank Vlastnik is an actor who appeared in the original casts of the Broadway musicals Big, Sweet Smell of Success, and A Year with Frog and Toad, as well as the New York premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night. This is his first foray into writing, having previously done the photo research and editing for Ken Bloom's Jerry Herman and Richard Norton's A Chronology of American Musical Theatre.