Best Musical Books?

[emarie123]

Hi everyone! This is my first post here, so apologies if I do something wrong.

I'm an aspiring playwright/musical theatre book writer, and lately I've been trying to read more musical librettos to learn from some of my favorite writers. That leads me to my question: are there any musicals that stand out in your minds as having the best books? Where would you suggest that I start? So far I've been going through winners of the Best Book of a Musical Tony category, but I would love to know if there are some (whether included in that list or not) that fans prefer more than others. 

Thanks for your help! 

[jacobsnchz14]

Gypsy and The King and I are the ones that immediately come to mind.

[BwayLB]

Wicked, Hairspray, Grease, Dreamgirls, In the Heights, Next to Normal, La Cage Aux Folles, 42nd Street, Oklahoma, A Chorus Line, Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum, The Music Man, Billy Elliot, Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Douglas Carter Beane), Memphis The King and I, An American in Paris, Rent,Guys and Dolls, Newsies and Nice Work If You Can Get It

[bwayphreak234]

The book for Matilda is incredible.

[NewZealander]

I saw a musical about the founding of America. It has a great book 

 

[Littleshopofcarrie]

It Shoulda Been You and Mean Girls are two of my favorite musica comedy books.

[sabrelady]

An American in Paris

 

Really? I thought the book extremely weak.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Having all 3 of the boys in love with Lise? Hinting that Henri Baurel MAY be gay? (or not  so may be Milo can console him or become his hag) Jerry suddenly becomes a costume designer?

OH and that Adam is ashamed to go home cos he has a limp?

Like I said- Weak.

 

 

[broadwaysfguy]

studying the historical best book winners and lonngest running shows and finding patterns in the types of stories that are recieved well by audiences is a great start. a book publisher once told me there are only seven movie stories and im sure its probably the same for musicals.

for me, its all about caring about or forming a connection with the characters and being able to relate to them is what drops me into the story.

the books of shows ive loved the most in recent years
include
come from away
dear evan hanson
hamilton
fun home
a gentlemens guide

[broadwaysfguy]

studying the historical best book winners and lonngest running shows and finding patterns in the types of stories that are recieved well by audiences is a great start. a book publisher once told me there are only seven movie stories and im sure its probably the same for musicals.

for me, its all about caring about or forming a connection with the characters and being able to relate to them is what drops me into the story.

the books of shows ive loved the most in recent years
include
come from away
dear evan hanson
hamilton
fun home
a gentlemens guide

[broadwaysfguy]

studying the historical best book winners and lonngest running shows and finding patterns in the types of stories that are recieved well by audiences is a great start. a book publisher once told me there are only seven movie stories and im sure its probably the same for musicals.

for me, its all about caring about or forming a connection with the characters and being able to relate to them is what drops me into the story.

the books of shows ive loved the most in recent years
include
come from away
dear evan hanson
hamilton
fun home
a gentlemens guide

[Ravenclaw]

Start with the nine musicals that have won the Pulitzer Prize:

• Of Thee I Sing
• South Pacific
• Fiorello
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• A Chorus Line
• Sunday in the Park With George
• Rent
• Next to Normal
• Hamilton

And the two Pulitzer-nominated musicals In the Heights and Fun Home.

And then I would also take a deep dive into each of the following

• Gypsy for its great structure
• Carousel for how it moves between scene and song fluidly (particularly in the bench scene)
• Company for how it balances more than a dozen rich characters, its sharp dialogue, and its navigation of a non-linear form
• Fiddler on the Roof and its source material for a master-class in adaptation
• 1776 for drawing tension out of a story we all know the ending to
• The Light in the Piazza for maintaining clarity in storytelling while using a foreign language for many scenes
• My Fair Lady and Pygmalion (both the play and the film) to see what Lerner keeps the same and what he changes
• Parade for how it balances the political and the personal
• Ragtime for its masterwork in concision of storytelling and managing an epic scale.

Study them deeply until you understand why they work (or don't work, if you disagree). Writing the book of a musical is a difficult job, and the book writer usually gets all of the blame and none of the credit. I would also recommend the fantastic book The Great American Book Musical: a Manifesto, a Monograph, a Manual by Denny Martin Flinn. In my opinion, that book is an indispensable text for anyone working in the musical theatre, and for you in particular, there is a 50-page chapter delving into the question of what makes a good libretto. 

[BwayLB]

sabrelady said: "An American in Paris



Really? I thought the book extremely weak.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Having all 3of the boys in love with Lise? Hinting that Henri Baurel MAY be gay? (or not so may be Milo can console him or become his hag) Jerry suddenly becomes a costume designer?

OH and that Adam is ashamed to go home cos he has a limp?

Like I said- Weak.
 

"

I just thought the setting change to shortly after World War II and how these characters express their artistic qualities to escape their zones and find love brought some more heart to the story.

[ggersten]

broadwaysfguy said: "a book publisher once told me there are only seven movie stories "  I heard it as "there are only five stories in the world and Hollywood's problem is that it only films two of them."

 

[SomethingPeculiar]

Ravenclaw's list is excellent. I'd also add ASSASSINS and maybe CHICAGO to that list, also.

[Danielle49]

Wow, great, thorough list, Ravenclaw. Going to long these for myself to take a deep dive into.

[Ravenclaw]

SomethingPeculiar said: "Ravenclaw's list is excellent. I'd alsoadd ASSASSINS and maybe CHICAGO to that list, also."

Wonderful additions! I might also add Cabaret, as the one musical that has four different versions of the book that, magically, all seem to work equally well. 

[BobbyBubby]

I would start with The Golden Age classics. This anthology is a must have:

https://www.amazon.com/American-Musicals-Complete-Broadway-Classics/dp/159853257X/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1532945928&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=american+musical+theatre+anthology&dpPl=1&dpID=51NRYtJmE5L&ref=plSrch

You can probably find a cheaper copy on EBay.

Ethan Mordden’s books also go deep into many shows, what worked, what didn’t. They’re divided by decade, starting with the 20’s. They’re also a must have for anyone interested in the history of musical theatre.

Again, start with the classics. Very few newer musicals have books worth studying. If you’re interested in shows from this Century I’d suggest Fun Home, Caroline, or Change, and Light in the Piazza. All written by people who also write plays and are experts in structure.

[BroadwayLover4]

“Fiddler on the Roof” has a great book. It is just great storytelling.

[GVS2]

Try reading Beating Broadway, by Steve Cuden.

[emarie123]

Thanks for all of the recommendations so far! I grew up on classic musical theatre, so the contemporary recommendations are especially helpful. If you have any more, keep them coming!

[Tom5]

City Of Angels. Book by Larry Gelbart.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Also by Larry Gelbart, and co-written with Burt Shevelove, is A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. What I've always found fascinating with that book is that you could drop all of the songs and it would still work great as a straight play, but it still integrates with the score so well that the music never feels extraneous.

I'd also add A Little Night Music, which is an absolute gem of a book and score so perfectly integrated. Everything about that show sparkles.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Ravenclaw’s list is pretty great. GYPSY to me is the best book of a musical period. It could stand on its own as a play.

I’d add CABARET. It holds up and still packs a punch.

[The Bway Jukebox]

Wow! This a great list compiled.

Some additional resources (and thoughts):

-   The Drama Desk Awards also have a category for best book of a musical and they include off-Broadway shows (like Daddy Long Legs which beat Waitress for best book of a musical in 2016). 

-   Check out musicals that got awards on the West-end

-   According to the Broadway producer Jack Viertel, the bench scene from Carousel is "arguably the most perfect scene ever written in a musical". His book The Secret Life of the American Musical is fantastic and provides a lot of insight into story structure.

[JBroadway]

Unfortunately, good musical theatre books are few and far between these days. It seem that for almost every new musical, it's always the same thing: "the [score/staging/acting] was great, but the book..." I know writing a good musical book is difficult, but it's really pathetic how few good ones there are these days. That said, here are some recent ones that I actually think are good: 

-Dear Evan Hansen

-Band's Visit

-Billy Elliot

-Fun Home

-Gentleman's Guide 

-Hamilton

-Waitress

-In The Heights

-Matilda

-The Scottsboro Boys 

-Book of Mormon

Plus, here are some great older ones: 

-Annie

-Fiddler 

-Follies

-Hello, Dolly

-Man of La Mancha

-The King & I (FANTASTIC book) 

-Sweeney Todd

-My Fair Lady

-She Loves Me 

-Cabaret 

-South Pacific

-The Fantasticks

-Gypsy

-A Little Night Music

-How to Succeed