10 Books Every Theatre Fan Should Read Just For Fun!
Read some of the BEST theatre books including WICKED, HAMILTON & more
By: Stephi Wild Aug. 23, 2020
Looking for something new to read while staying inside, but still need your Broadway fix? We've rounded up 10 of our favorite just-for-fun Broadway books.
This list includes books like Wicked: The Grimmerie and Hamilton: The Revolution, as well as a Broadway cookbook, a book about Broadway art, the collected lyrics and Stephen Sondheim, and more. Check out 10 of our favorites below!
Need more to read? Check out books about Acting, Stage Management, Directing, Producing, Monologues, and more!
Did we miss one of your favorites? Tell us which Broadway books are your favorites!
Wicked: The Grimmerie
by David Cote
This beautifully packaged, whimsical keepsake is designed to resemble the Grimmerie, an ancient book of spells that Elphaba uses in the show. Wicked: The Grimmerie offers fans a behind-the-curtains peek at the musical, profiles of the cast and creative team, and inside stories, with full-color photographs throughout. Some of the irresistible special features include an "Ozian" glossary, spells, an illustrated family tree, and a step-by-step look at how Elphaba gets green before each show--everything fans need to relive the Broadway experience day after day.
About the Author: David Cote is a playwright, librettist and arts journalist based in New York City. His operas include Blind Injustice with composer Scott Davenport Richards for Cincinnati Opera; Three Way with composer Robert Paterson (Nashville Opera and BAM); and The Scarlet Ibis (Prototype Festival) and Fade with Stefan Weisman. His plays include Otherland and Fear of Art. His reporting and reviews appear in American Theatre, What Should We Do?!, The Village Voice and elsewhere.
Purchase on Amazon here.
Musicals: The Definitive Illustrated Story
by Dr. Nathan Hurwitz
Musicals: The Definitive Illustrated Story showcases the complete history of the musical on stage and screen, from its origins in ancient Greece to early twentieth century dance halls and vaudeville to the golden age of cinema productions to the record-breaking Broadway musicals of today.
About the Author: Dr. Nathan Hurwitz has been a musical director and director for more than thirty years.His career as a musical director and conductor spans from Broadway to regional theatres to the theatres and concert halls of the US and Europe. Broadway credits include "Blood Brothers," "Dream" and "Phantom of the Opera." International tours include "Phantom," "West Side Story" and "The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber." US tours include "Blood Brothers" with Petula Clark and David Cassidy, "Funny Girl" with Debbie Gibson, "The Sound of Music" with Marla Schaffel, "Company," "The Who's 'Tommy,'" "Annie," "Leader of the Pack" and the 25th Anniversary all-star "Nunsense" tour.
Purchase on Amazon here.
Hamilton: The Revolution
by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter
A backstage pass to the groundbreaking, hit musical Hamilton, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Eleven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, including the award-winning libretto, behind-the-scenes photos and interviews, and exclusive footnotes from composer-lyricist-star Lin-Manuel Miranda, now streaming on Disney+ with the original cast.
About the Authors: Lin-Manuel Miranda (Book, Music, and Lyrics/Alexander Hamilton) is the Tony and Grammy award-winning composer-lyricist-star of Broadway's In the Heights -- winner of four 2008 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Orchestrations, and Best Choreography with Miranda receiving the award for Best Score. Additionally, he is the co-composer and co-lyricist of Broadway's Tony-nominated Bring It On: The Musical and provided Spanish translations for the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story. Miranda, along with Tom Kitt, won the 2014 Creative Arts Emmy for Best Original Music and Lyrics for their work on the 67th Annual Tony Awards. In 2015, Miranda was named as a Fellow of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He lives with his family in New York City.
Jeremy McCarter wrote cultural criticism for New York magazine and Newsweek before spending five years on the artistic staff of The Public Theater, where he created, directed, and produced the Public Forum series. He served on the jury of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and is writing a book about young American radicals during World War One. He lives in Chicago.
Purchase on Amazon here.
Break an Egg!: The Broadway Cookbook
by Tara Theoharis
Warm up your appetite with some Eggrolls for Mr. Goldstone (Gypsy) served with a side of Too Darn Hot Sauce (Kiss Me, Kate). Looking for some liquid courage? Whip yourself up Another Vodka Stinger (Company) or make good with The Wizard and Ice (Wicked). Need something with a bit more substance? Schnitzel With Noodles (The Sound of Music) is one of our favorite things, or you can spice it up with Mama's Well-Peppered Ragu (Chicago). Then again, if you're craving something really indulgent, try our Angel (Food Cake) of Music (The Phantom of the Opera). It's guaranteed to bring down the chandelier.
About the Author: Tara Theoharis is the creator of "The Geeky Hostess," a "geeky" recipe and party site. Her recipes have been featured in BuzzFeed, The Daily Dot, The Mary Sue, Geekologie, Kitchen Overlord, and That's Nerdalicious, and she's spoken at Emerald City ComicCon, GeekGirlCon, PAX West, and PAX East.
Purchase on Amazon here.
On Broadway: From Rent to Revolution
by Drew Hodges
A visual and oral history of the past twenty years of theater, On Broadway pulls back the curtain to reveal the creative process involved in bringing a Broadway show to the stage and into the public consciousness through the words of Broadway's most famous personalities and the art of SpotCo. The art created for a show provides audiences with a tangible, visual, and emotional connection with the theatrical experience. This collection of hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos, concept art, and posters, as well as personal anecdotes.
About the Author: Drew Hodges is the founder of SpotCo. David Sedaris is the internationally renowned author of books including Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls. Chip Kidd is a preeminent designer and author.
Purchase on Amazon here.
How to Succeed in the Arts...Or in Anything
by If you've imagined being a Producer or a Writer. . .an Actor or a Director. . .or a real estate investor, hedge fund dude, or even a world champion poker player. . .you can do it, as long as you have the right directions. And I'd like to share those directions with you. . .the directions that took me years to gather, but the directions that are without a doubt responsible for getting me where I am today. . .and more importantly, will be 101% responsible for where I want to be tomorrow. And I know that they can do the same for you.
About the Author: Ken Davenport is a Broadway producer whose credits include Once On This Island, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), The Play That Goes Wrong, Deaf West Theatre's Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It's Only a Play, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Broadway - Tony Award, National Tour, Toronto, Australia, and West End), The Visit (Tony nomination), Mothers and Sons (Tony nomination), The Bridges of Madison County (National Tour), Allegiance, Chinglish, Oleanna starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, Speed-the-Plow, Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America (Tony nomination), Blithe Spirit starring Angela Lansbury (Broadway, West End and National Tour), and 13.
Purchase on Amazon here.
Dear Evan Hansen: Through the Window
by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul
Filled with interviews with the cast and crew, original behind-the-scenes photography, a deeper look into Evan's fictional world and the visual world of the show, unreleased lyrics, and of course the libretto, as well as reflections on the creators own formative memories from their adolescence as it relates to the show's themes, and important examinations of how we present ourselves online and mental health, Dear Evan Hansen is a beautifully produced, thoughtful, and uplifting book.
About the Authors:
Steven Levenson's plays include The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin (Roundabout Theatre Company, Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award), Core Values (Ars Nova, Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Play), The Language of Trees (Roundabout), Seven Minutes in Heaven (Colt Coeur; Emerging America Festival/Huntington Theater Company). A graduate of Brown University and former Artist in Residence at Ars Nova, he has received new play commissions from Roundabout, Lincoln Center, MCC, and Ars Nova. He is currently a writer and producer on Showtime's Masters of Sex, and he is a founding member of Colt Coeur and an alumnus of MCC's Playwrights Coalition and Ars Nova's Play Group.
Benj Pasek & Justin Paul wrote the music and lyrics for Dear Evan Hansen. In 2017, they won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for their lyrics in "City of Stars" from La La Land. Their musical Dogfight had its world premiere at Second Stage Theatre, where it won the Lortel Award for Best New Musical. Other theater credits include A Christmas Story, The Musical on Broadway, which received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Outstanding New Broadway Musical; James and the Giant Peach; and Edges. TV credits include Smash, Sesame Street, and Johnny and the Sprites. Upcoming film projects include The Greatest Showman, Trolls, Medusa, and Tom and Jerry Return to Oz. Honors include the Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre (American Academy of Arts and Letters), the ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, and the Jonathan Larson Award. Both are BFA Musical Theatre graduates of the University of Michigan and members of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.
Purchase on Amazon here.
Hat Box: The Collected Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim
by The complete collected lyrics from the acclaimed Finishing the Hat and Look, I Made a Hat; this box set is essential reading for theater fans or devotees of this living legend's work.
Hat Box is a handsomely designed package that includes lyrics from Stephen Sondheim's most popular shows like West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods, richly annotated with anecdotes, pointed observations, and invaluable advice from one of the greatest songwriters of our time.
About the Author: Stephen Sondheim has written award-winning music and lyrics for theater, film and television. He is also the coauthor of the film The Last of Sheila and the play Getting Away with Murder. Sondheim is on the council of the Dramatists Guild of America, having served as its president from 1973 to 1981. He lives in New York City.
Purchase on Amazon here.
The Untold Stories of Broadway (Volume 1)
by Do you wish you were in the audience during Barbra Streisand's final performance of Funny Girl on Broadway? Do you wonder how far Jonathan Groff was willing to go to score tickets to Thoroughly Modern Millie? And are you dying to know which beloved TV star and Tony Award winner was caught with his pants down in front of a movie legend?From opening nights to closing nights. From secret passageways to ghostly encounters. From Broadway debuts to landmark productions. Score a front row seat to hear hundreds of stories about the most important stages in the world, seen through the eyes of the producers, actors, stage hands, writers, musicians, company managers, dressers, designers, directors, ushers, and door men who bring The Great White Way to life each night. You'll never look at Broadway the same way again.This is the first book in a multi-volume series that will tell the stories of all of the Broadway houses. Volume 1 includes the Winter Garden, the Richard Rodgers, the Marriott Marquis, the Al Hirschfeld, the Neil Simon, the August Wilson, the Mark Hellinger, and the Lyceum: eight Broadway theaters that light up New York City.
About the Author: Jennifer Ashley Tepper is a Musical Theatre Historian and Producer and has worked on Broadway shows including [title of show], Godspell, The Performers and Macbeth. She is the co-creator and writer of the Bistro Award- winning concert series, If It Only Even Runs A Minute which celebrates underappreciated musicals. In addition, Tepper is Managing Editor of The Best Plays Theater Yearbook. Other credits include projects and shows with Ars Nova, NAMT, The Producing Office, PBS, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, NYMF, Second Stage Theatre Company, The York Theatre, and The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Tepper collaborates often with the group known as "Joe Iconis & Family" and is currently the Director of Programming at 54 Below.
Purchase on Amazon here.
West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic
by Richard Barrios
The making and impact of West Side Story has so far been recounted only in vestiges. In the pages of this book, the backstage tale comes to life along with insight on what has made the film a favorite across six decades: its brilliant use of dance as staged by erstwhile co-director Jerome Robbins; a meaningful story, as set to Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's soundtrack; the performances of a youthful ensemble cast featuring Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, and more; a film with Shakespearean roots (Romeo and Juliet) that is simultaneously timeless and current. West Side Story was a triumph that appeared to be very much of its time; over the years it has shown itself to be eternal.
About the Author: Richard Barrios is the author of the award-winning A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film, Screened Out: Playing Gay in Hollywood from Edison to Stonewall, and Turner Classic Movies: Must-See Musicals. He has presented films at the Smithsonian Institute and the Film Forum; appeared in documentary films; and contributed audio commentaries to numerous DVD and Blu-Ray releases. Barrios lives in Beverly, New Jersey.
Purchase on Amazon here.
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