Broadway books to read?

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 9:29am

I'm a huge theatre trivia buff and was wondering, can anyone recommend some good Broadway related books with interesting stories, trivia, making of and the like? I already have The Grimmerie (sp?) book, which I quite enjoyed. Any help is appreciated.

Updated On: 7/20/12 at 09:29 AM

[carolineorchange21]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 10:21am

This book contains enough material to thoroughly whet your appetite and also provides a great historical starting point for show and theatrical personality research.

PS - it's also a great read in addition to the glorious photographs. The essays for each show are thoughtfully and humorously constructed and often discuss the social significance of said show and/or its creators.
Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time

Updated On: 7/20/12 at 10:21 AM

Posted: 7/20/12 at 10:23am

The best theater book ever.

[HistoryBoy2]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 11:04am

A long-ish list of some I've enjoyed, ranging from quite dense musicological critiques to broader surveys and then some more insider stuff:

Musical as Drama - Scott McMillin
Enchanted Evenings - Geoffrey Block
Sondheim's Broadway Musicals - Stephen Banfield
Sondheim on Music - Mark Horowitz
How Sondheim Found His Sound - Steve Swayne
Sondheim and Co. - Craig Zadan
Reading Stephen Sondheim - ed. Sandor Goodhart
One More Kiss - Ethan Mordden
Colored Lights - Kander and Ebb
Hal Prince and the American Musical Theatre - Foster Hirsch (this one annoyed me)
Everything Was Possible - Ted Chapin
On Directing - Arthur Laurents
A Memoir - Patti LuPone

I'm sure I'll think of some more soon.

Updated On: 7/20/12 at 11:04 AM

[Judy25]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 2:20pm

I can't quite remember the name of it, but there was a book I read a few years ago about the making of TARZAN. I know the show was pretty bad (at least I think), but the book was actually very intersting. It was not only about the making of TARZAN, it was also very much about how to put together a production in general. If I can find it online or I remember what it's called I'll come back and update this.

[smallworld]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 2:27pm

I thought that "Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops" was a very interesting read.

[aaronb]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 2:39pm

Haven't read it yet, but when I saw Tony Kushner at the Y, he said Arthur Miller's TIMEBENDS is essential reading.

[aliceidinabernadette]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 3:05pm

On the Line: The Creation of A Chorus Line by Baayork Lee, James Kirkwood Jr, and Nicholas Dante

I'm a huge ACL fan, so maybe that's why I loved it so much, but it was really one of the most interesting books I've ever read.

Broadway Babylon by Boze Hadleigh is also pretty great. Very gossipy.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 3:11pm

Applause released a Quiz Book a couple years back. It's full of some great and quite obscure tidbits.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Broadway-Musical-Quiz-Book/dp/1423492757/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342811478&sr=8-1&keywords=broadway+quiz

[karen24]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 3:20pm

I enjoyed "It Happened on Broadway: An Oral History of the Great White Way," by Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer.

Also, "Lost Broadway Theatres" by Nicholas Van Hoogstraten is great if you're interested in reading about the history of theater buildings; unfortunately, it's out of print, but you might be able to find a copy somewhere.

[macnyc]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 9:54pm

Great idea for a thread! I just ordered several of these from the NYPL.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 11:27pm

"A Year With the Producers" by Jeffry Denman is a fun read. It details his experience from the final performance of Cats all the way through his run in The Producers. And it has this wonderfully witty quote...

"All actors secretly think, "We don't need all that stuff. I'm doing such a great job up here they'll never be watching the set change." Then we sit out in the house during tech and watch the set change and reality hits. You can't compete with a falling chandelier, I don't care who you are."

[sabrelady]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 11:27pm

We've talked about this b4 but "The Season" by William Goldman is essential reading. A titch dated in some of the references ( ie the tkt sales section) it still has relevance.

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 7/21/12 at 5:22am

Thanks everyone! Does anyone know of any books featuring The King and I, Side Show or some new musicals (90's onwards)? Also, how is Hairspray: The Roots

[Bob30]

Posted: 7/21/12 at 5:49am

"Avenue Q - The Book" offers a lot of insight into the creation of avenue q, the complete script and lyrics and a lot about the creators. Also its covered in Orange fur, who wouldn't want it?

[GrandAsTheCanyon]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 9:42pm

I really liked reading the book Broadway:The American Musical. It's very interactive and complete and I love how they present the shows through their historical and cultural signifiance. It's almost 500 pages long and there's a lot of rare pictures so, when I finished reading it I felt like I had time travelled through 100 years of Broadway history.

I also love The Sound Of Music Companion. It really details everything about the muscial, from the life of the real Maria Von Trapp to the London revival. I have watched every special features on TSOM DVD and I still learned a few things reading this book.

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 5:39am

Is the Broadway:The American Musical book more or less the episodes in book form?

[GrandAsTheCanyon]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 7:37am

I haven't seen the PBS series, but I suppose it is.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 10:13am

If u want stories "Making It On Broadway" has some good anecdotes BUT a lot of people find the harsh underbelly of the Broadway world it also talks about- ie rejection, poverty , lack of a home life too discouraging esp for the newbies.

[DWalk]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 12:52pm

I bought Making It On Broadway based on something I had read in a different thread. I'm just a theater fan and have never worked inside the industry so I was really interested.

If you're just a fan I would not recommend this book. Although I understand it doesn't represent all actors all the time, it does seem like everyone is miserable. I find it difficult to watch people on stage anymore (I mainly see tours) and enjoy myself because I think everyone on stage is really unhappy to be there.

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 1:08pm

In no particular order:

Everything was Possible (Follies) - Ted Chapin
The Season - William Goldman
Sing Out Louise - Dennis McGovern and Deborah Grace Winer
Patti LuPone - A Memoir - Patti LuPone
Broadway Nights - Seth Rudetsky
Broadway - The American Musical (PBS Series related book) - Laurence Maslon and Michael Kantor (coffee table book)
What They did for Love - The Untold Story Behind the Making of "A Chorus Line" - Denny Martin Flinn photos by Martha Swope



Updated On: 7/23/12 at 01:08 PM

[BwayGeek2]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 5:34pm

I want to echo:
EVERYTHING WAS POSSIBLE (Ted Chapin)
THE SEASON (William Goldman)
NOT SINCE CARRIE (Ken Mandelbaum)
TIMEBENDS (Arthur Miller)

[mc1227]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 8:53pm

I second Jeffrey Denman's book. I read it years ago and enjoyed some of the backstage happenings and also how the business of theater really works. Too bad the book got into hot water with Mel Brooks, who had his own book out at the same time, but Denman's book was far more entertaining and real, imo.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 9:27pm

I just read this Charles Strouse autobiography titled: "Put On A Happy Face: A Broadway Memoir". Good read! from RC in Austin, Texas

[circusliz]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 11:54pm

Free for All: Joe Papp, The Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told is a good read