Part of Essential Musicals series. Takes a chronological look at the ten musicals that have won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Deep diving into the development of each show, unpacking the creation, production, and reception of each musical. Each chapter traces a different Prize-winning show from its inception to its opening night. Introduces the reader to each musical's key creators and company members and places them in the larger context of Broadway history. 248 pages.
“Kids, Wait Til You Hear This” is the autobiography of EGOT icon Liza Minnelli. This fascinating, untold story reveals the intimate truth of the only child born to Hollywood legends Vincent Minnelli and Judy Garland. For the first time, here is Liza up close: Raw, strong, sexy, hilarious and heartbreaking. Liza decided at the age of 16 that “sympathy is my mother’s business. I give people joy.” That veil of joy, however, masks a lifelong struggle with Substance Use Disorder, hunger for love, b...
About a little boy whose classmates make fun of the way he walks and the way he talks - which makes him feel like a songbird too shy to sing. With the help of his choir teacher, he embraces his talent, realizing that his voice is unique and distinct. 40 pages.
Shines new light on Sondheim's tormented emotional life, wavering self-confidence, and alcoholism, drawing on the artist's intimate correspondence with such notable figures as Hal Prince, Leonard Bernstein, and Arthur Laurents; exclusive interviews with close friends and collaborators, including James Lapine and John Weidman; and Sondheim's own oral history, which remained closed until his death. 320 pages.
Many musical theatre actors confuse competence with excellence. We mistake arriving in NYC with a well-trained voice, a pricy headshot, and general show biz acumen for being ready to work where Broadway happens. Then, when too many auditions end up no-gos, we assume it’s not meant to be and book a one-way ticket back home. If only a fairy godmother had told them the truth: Show business has more to do with business than show. Building a lucrative and lifelong career in musical theatre is far mo...
Draws on Wilson's early poetry, archival material, and original interviews with family members, neighbors, and friends to show how the city of Pittsburgh and its residents shaped the playwright and his work. Uncovers the story of how the people and places of Pittsburgh remained with Wilson after he left his hometown, shining through in a body of work that brought the struggles and triumphs of the Black experience to a wide audience and changed American theater for the better. 360 pages.
Vocal selections from Broadway musical score by Jason Howland (music) and Nathan Tysen (lyrics). "Better Hold Tight," "Beautiful Little Fool," "For Better Or Worse," "For Her," "My Green Light," "New Money," "One Way Road," "Past Is Catching Up To Me," "Roaring On," "Second Hand Suit," "Shady." 112 pages.
Marc Shaiman looks back on five decades of Broadway triumphs, Hollywood hijinks, and unforgettable collaborations. Spending his teenage years in community theater, starting a decades-long collaboration with Bette Midler in the '70s, surviving the AIDS crisis of the '80s, his award-winning film music career in the Hollywood of the '90s, right up to the highs (and lows) of creating Broadway musicals from 2000 on.=
Rent audition accompanist, music director, and collaborator Tim Weil shares previously untold stories about some of the show's most iconic moments, accompanied by behind-the-scenes photos. 256 pages.
Gaming expert and theatre fan Barry Joseph draws from over eighty years of Sondheim’s activities, collecting his extremely rare and never-publicly-seen puzzles and game designs, original interviews with the celebrity friends who played them, deep dives into Sondheim-related archives from around the country, and analysis from both puzzle designers and theatre professionals from around the world. Allows readers to solve Sondheimian puzzles and bring Sondheimian games into their own homes. 208 pag...
Composer-lyricist and teacher Craig Carnelia provides musical actors with a step-by-step guide to making their sung performances more truthful, vivid, and full of life. Using a technique developed over decades of teaching the professional community of Broadway actors and students alike, The Reason to Sing lays out a new and proven approach,to help you build your skills, your confidence, and your career. This second edition includes two new chapters: "Writers," in which Stephen Sondheim, Jason R...
And so yes, well, I’d simply dropped that whole idea of being a good person, I’d dropped it right down into some hole in the street, and down it had gone into the city’s sewers, and no one ever saw it again. And that was sad, if you thought it was sad, or I suppose it was sad, or some people probably would say it was sad.
A dark moral fable, telling of an acclaimed writer’s hedonistic lifestyle and its effects on his wife, son and mistress.
Wallace Shawn's first new play in ten years, anoth...
Composer-lyricist and teacher Craig Carnelia provides musical actors with a step-by-step guide to making their sung performances more truthful, vivid, and full of life. Using a technique developed over decades of teaching the professional community of Broadway actors and students alike, The Reason to Sing lays out a new and proven approach,to help you build your skills, your confidence, and your career. This second edition includes two new chapters: "Writers," in which Stephen Sondheim, Jason R...
Back in print; first published in 1955. By Meredith Willson. Foreword by Mark Cabaniss. Willson chronicles the failures that he faced as he made his place in show business during the pivotal early 1950s, when radio was being overtaken by television, bringing to life his encounters with zeitgeist stars, from collaborators Tallulah Bankhead and Fred Allen to Orson Welles and Carmen Miranda. Includes such curiosities as an eight-page "platonic dialogue" about quitting smoking and the lyrics to a l...
Told through the stories of 1970s and ‘80s producer and Broadway theatre executive, Stephen Wells, The Other Side of Broadway vividly and engagingly brings to life the world of the New York theatre at the tail end of its golden era.
Ever wonder what Howard Ashman did before he became famous for “Little Shop of Horrors” and the now-classic Disney animated films of the late 20th century? Wells produced two of his early shows and together, against all odds while in their mid-twenties, they formed...
Dawn O’Keefe is an Evangelical teen with a bizarre secret: two rows of gleaming white teeth perfectly placed to preserve her chastity. When the supposedly upright Christian men around her prove more interested in taking advantage of her body than in protecting it, they quickly learn to keep their hands (and other appendages) to themselves. From Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop) and Anna K. Jacobs (POP!), and based on the controversial cult classic film of the sa...
Twenty years ago, Award-winning musical theatre writer Stephen Cole met his first camel...and he hasn’t been the same since. Stephen tells his hilarious story of writing a musical for the Emir of Qatar. Picture this! Two Brooklyn Jews, some Middle Eastern producers, flying carpets, Croatian acrobats, Russian ballet dancers, an Italian director, the desert, camels (a lot of camels!) and, of course, music. You will laugh and you will cry (from laughing) in this outrageous, once-in-a-lifetime, unb...
Companion book to Anya Turner & Robert Grusecki's tenth studio recording released in September 2024. Ten new songs inspired by their own life experience and the artistry of poet Emily Dickinson, novelist Virginia Woolf, essayist Joan Didion, Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, New Zealand-born street artist Deborah Wood, Harlem blues singer Gladys Bentley, transgender jazz pianist Billy Tipton, and British jazz singer/pianist Liane Carroll.
This stunning hardcover features the complete script to director Jon M. Chu’s smash-hit movie, including the full lyrics to each of the unforgettable songs, from “No One Mourns the Wicked” to “Defying Gravity.” Each spread has vivid stills showcasing the set design, amazafying costumes, and classic dialogue, making this book right at home on the shelves of film buffs and Wicked fans alike.
Two-volume set features the original theatrical script with rare images of the original cast, and an oral history of the Rocky Horror Picture Show phenomenon featuring never-before-seen archival material from its creator (and original Riff-Raff), Richard O'Brien. With never-before-seen set photography and design sketches from O'Brien’s, personal collection, and oral history with new interviews with cast, crew, and historians. 352 pages.
Teale Dvornik has been leading Broadway fans on tours of the theater district since 2017. In her book she takes readers on her one-of-a-kind tour of Broadway, "stopping" at each of the 41 theaters to tell us fun facts, lesser-known history, ghost tales, and interesting stories about actors, performances, stage flukes, blunders, and more, involving the biggest names and productions in theater history. 200 pages.
Making Mary Poppins reveals the extraordinary true story behind the creation of one of the most beloved films of all time―and the two little-known songwriters who helped make it possible.
Long before Mary Poppins danced across the rooftops of Edwardian London and into the hearts of millions, Robert and Richard Sherman were struggling songwriters in Los Angeles, trying to find their voices―and their futures. In this vivid and deeply researched narrative, author and Disney historian Todd James ...
Sam Shepard was a true American original. A theater and film icon who lived life on a mythic scale, Shepard became an embodiment of the fierce independence and wild freedom of the American West. Taking us from the creative explosion of downtown New York City in the 1960s to Bob Dylan’s legendary Rolling Thunder Revue tour, from Hollywood backlots and film shoots in the Mojave Desert to the horse ranches where Shepard went to escape it all, Robert M. Dowling’s biography reveals this playwright, ...
Oral history of the 1967 novel for teens, turned blockbuster film turned Tony-winning musical, and commemorated with a newly opened museum. Includes interviews with Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell Leif Garrett, David Arquette, Dennis Quaid, and more.
Full color, oversized book that contains all of Barbra Streisand's albums from her first to her most recent with in depth analysis of every song and cover. A complete discography filled with photos. 350 pages. Updated for 2025.
The Hell’s Kitchen book shares an intimate look inside the show’s creation, from the first spark of an idea through the musical’s thirteen-year journey to Broadway, where it continues to thrill audiences today. The book includes exclusive interviews with key cast and creative team members; first-person notes from Keys on her original songs; stunning stage photography and behind-the-scenes images; insights into costume creation, set design, choreography, and casting; and much more. This beautiful...
Featuring Hugh Jackman and Ella Beatty, Hannah Moscovitch’s award-winning, New York Times Critics’ Pick drama about desire, power, and blurred boundaries. Jon is an acclaimed novelist and charismatic professor staring down the collapse of his third marriage when he encounters Annie—a nineteen-year-old star student and devoted fan. An undeniable attraction pulls them into dangerous territory. Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes is a provocative, gripping exploration of agency and perspective...
magine the classic periodic table of elements—but instead of Chromium and Rhodium, it's A Chorus Line and RENT!
This delightful and informative gift book, based on the bestselling viral poster series is a stunning showcase of art and content sure to thrill lovers of showtunes and everything Broadway and beyond.
Includes a full-size pull-out poster.
Interweaves a wealth of archival materials and insights on the show, its development, and the original production. Members of the team led by director Hal Prince as well as legendary orchestrator Jonathan Tunick, musical director Paul Gemignani, and the original cast, including Len Cariou, Angela Lansbury, Victor Garber, Sarah Rice, Edmund Lyndeck, Ken Jennings, and Merle Louise are profiled. Also covered are subsequent productions by theater and opera companies, as well as the 2007 film, and a...
Part of Essential Musicals series. A chronological look at the development of long-running hits, like Mamma Mia! and Jersey Boys, tracing the jukebox musical from when it was an exception on Broadway to when it became the rule. Examining the origins and reception for ten of these shows, this volume offers an exploration of one of the most divisive sub-genres of the musical form. 240 pages.
Jane Eisner places King’s life in historical and cultural context, revealing details of her humble beginnings in Jewish Brooklyn, the roots of her musical genius, her four marriages, and her anguish about public life. Drawing on numerous interviews as well as historical and contemporary sources, this book brings to life King's professional accomplishments, her personal challenges, and her lasting contributions to the great American songbook.
This first volume in a series of deluxe Hirschfeld poster books contains art drawn from life before the opening night of each of Sondheim’s productions. On the reverse side are rare, ancillary images from the archives, as well as an introduction by Bernadette Peters, an essay by Ben Brantley, and text by David Leopold, Hirschfeld’s archivist and creative director of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation.
Hirschfeld’s images capture the essence of the performances even better than the photographs of t...
Caterpillar Island is off the central coast of Maine―beloved vacationland of lobster bakes and quaint fried clam shacks, kayaking and country houses. At night, though, by the light of a headlamp, the island is alive with cash, guns, and poachers. Oxy addicts, struggling retirees, and unemployable deadbeats dip their nets in the creeks to catch elvers―two-inch-long baby eels that fetch $2000 a pound on the international black market.
Contains art drawn from life before the opening night of each of Sondheim’s productions. On the reverse side are rare, ancillary images from the archives and text by Leopold (archivist and creative director of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation). 25 Al Hirschfeld portraits drawn from Stephen Sondheim’s musicals. These art prints can be easily removed and framed. All images for this book have been scanned from the archives of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation. 58 pages, 11 x 0.65 x 14 inches.
Identifying the theatrical approach that renders their musical dramaturgy unique, this book explores their importance within, and contribution to, musical theatre history. Through their biggest hits, Cabaret (1966) and Chicago (1975), Kander and Ebb have been performed on the stage more times both within and outside of the USA than any other American musical theatre writers. Unlike Sondheim, whose work from 1964 increasingly aspired towards the avant-garde, Kander and Ebb located their projects...
A thrill-seeking young woman joins a radical theater troupe in this taut, suspenseful novel of art, seduction, and the deadly limits of liberation.
New York, 1972. A cloistered college student slips out of the dorms to attend a performance by a legendary experimental performance troupe. Within months, she has left campus life behind and joined the company, infatuated by its charismatic leader and his promises of absolute freedom.
California, 1997. A theater teacher at an exclusive private...
An analytic and critical overview of the practice, execution, and effects of orchestration in musical theatre since the time that rock music became significant in the genre. Case studies from shows such as Hair, The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, Wicked, and Hamilton. 128 pages.
Study that incorporates a diverse array of theoretical lenses on the work of John Michael LaChiusa and poses the question of how his varied theatrical techniques anticipated the resurgence in popularity in musical theatre in the past ten years. Focuses on seven of LaChiusa's musicals: Marie Christine, First Lady Suite, First Daughter Suite, Giant, Hello Again, See What I Wanna See, and The Wild Party. 208 pages.
Weaves these diverse threads into a comprehensive narrative, repositioning Black, Queer, and Women artists at the heart of the story, acknowledging their long-standing contributions often overlooked. 456 pages.
Uncovers critical networks that originally theorized a middlebrow approach to culture, beginning in the literary circles of Van Wyck Brooks and Archibald MacLeish, and radiating outward to major theater and music critics including Brooks Atkinson and Olin Downes. Follows three shows from their earliest conceptions to their opening-night reviews: Oklahoma!, Beggar's Holiday, and Street Scene. Featuring behind-the-scenes communications, which reveal how these Broadway writers explicitly deployed ...
Alex Lyons always has his mind made up by the time the curtain comes down at a performance—the show either deserves a five-star rave, or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless. On the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn’t deliberate over the rating for Hayley Sinclair’s show, nor does he hesitate when the opportunity presents itself to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress.
Unaware that she’s gone home with the theater critic who’s just written a...
More than 100 years after her birth, Judy Garland remains the gold standard by which all movie musical leading ladies are judged. She is revered and celebrated by current stars, directors, songwriters, and others in the entertainment industry. She also has a fan base that is as large as that of Marilyn Monroe or James Dean. Her image, especially “Dorothy” in The Wizard of Oz (1939), is an instantly recognized icon.
More than 100 years after her birth, Judy Garland remains the gold standard by which all movie musical leading ladies are judged. She is revered and celebrated by current stars, directors, songwriters, and others in the entertainment industry. She also has a fan base that is as large as that of Marilyn Monroe or James Dean. Her image, especially “Dorothy” in The Wizard of Oz (1939), is an instantly recognized icon.
By theatre poster designer Frank "Fraver" Verlizzo. First in his Retro Broadway Mystery Series, in which "theatrical ad execs Vic Senso and Bettie Balboa find themselves navigating the far-from-glamorous world of backstage Broadway when several bizarrely executed murders rock the community. Behind the beautiful scenery lurks a myriad of potentially life-threatening hazards, raising the question: has there ever been a stage-related 'accident' that was actually a cover-up for murder?" 282 pages.
Argues that after 1945, as cinema became omnipresent in popular culture, theater had to respond to cinema's hegemony. Postwar theatrical experiment, Harries shows, often channeled and represented film's mass cultural force, while knowing that it could never possess that force. Throughout the book, Harries brings critical theory into contact with theories of performance. Although Theater after Film treats the theatrical work of many figures, its central focus falls on Tennessee Williams, Samuel ...
By near-universal consensus, Stephen Sondheim was the greatest musical theater composer of his generation—celebrated, among other things, for the wit, sophistication, and intricacy of shows from West Side Story to Sunday in the Park with George. A less well-known avenue for his brilliant creativity was his lifelong fascination with designing and constructing intricate puzzles and games: from treasure hunts and crossword puzzles to parlor and board games.
Matching Minds with Sondheim is a jou...
The Book of Joel is the visual life story of one of the world’s most beloved entertainers, Joel Grey: actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer. This sprawling yet intimate scrapbook-style volume uncovers a kaleidoscope of both famous and previously unseen photographs, family snapshots, playbills, posters, and ephemera from Grey’s personal archive, revealing an encyclopedic and all-absorbing visual romp through one of the last living greats of American entertainment.
The place: Sausalito. The time: the mid-1970s. The carpet: brown shag. Stereophonic brings us inside the cloistered world of a recording studio as a rock band on the brink of superstardom attempts to create their sophomore album. The ensuing pressures open up cracks in the band’s once-easy camaraderie, and spats over issues like tempo and song length begin to reveal deeper problems in the band’s foundation. Running on a diet of booze, sleep deprivation, and a giant bag of cocaine, interpersonal...
A coming-of-age tale by theatrical producer Jeffrey Seller. From Detroit to New York City, finding his voice through musical theatre and making a name for himself. Through the 1980s, from working as an office assistant to Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights and Hamilton. 368 pages.
First illustrated book on the 1948 Old Vic Tour of Australia and New Zealand led by Olivier and Leigh. Written from an Australian perspective and utilizing never-before published photos from the National Library and author's collection, it diarises a theatrical tour amidst a tense postwar context. 256 pages.
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