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Broadway Bookshelf

Biographies, show books, musical scores, history, and must-read theatre books.
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The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation (11/29/2005)

The World of Theatre is the first introduction to theatre book to truly focus on diversity and globalism, integrating coverage of multicultural, international and experimental theatre throughout. Theatre is presented as a global and multicultural form that reflects both traditional and evolving world views. While the American commercial theatre and European forms are central to the text, alternative theatres are placed side by side for comparison and contrast in each chapter, thus avoiding the s...
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Theatre and Travel: Tours of the South (3/2/2005)

Presents rare information on traveling circus, minstrel, opera, and Toby shows. This collection of essays explores an understudied but pervasive aspect of American theatre: theatre on the road, from minstrel shows and Toby shows to contemporary African American theatre, 19th-century circus rail travel, and small-town opera houses. The challenges in gathering and compiling data on these ephemeral productions, from such far-flung sources as railroad schedules and weather reports, minutes f...
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New York Then/New York Now (2/21/2005)

New York Then/New York Now—a collection of essays, memoirs, interviews, commentary, and plays—contemplates New York City’s history and future as a center for groundbreaking theatrical forms and ideas. Featuring the work of theater artists, producers, and critics, this special issue of Theater is concerned with the ideas and practicalities of making theater in and for New York within specific historical, political, and economic contexts. The first section, “New York Then,” reflects on ...
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The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin (1/10/2005)

Gathered together in one volume for the first time: all of the incomparable song lyrics of Irving Berlin, whose career and work are the most important and all-encompassing in the history of American popular music. Berlin came from a poor immigrant family and began his career as a singing waiter, but by the time he was nineteen he was publishing his songs and quickly found fame with "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in 1911. In the extraordinary six decades that followed, Berlin wrote one popular hit...
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The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan (1/1/2005)

Lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan will be in heaven with the publication of these two books, which nicely complement each other. Stedman (English, Roosevelt Univ., Chicago) offers an outstanding study of this playwright and his often overlooked works, with much of its value deriving from its study of Gilbert without Sullivan. The author is a recognized expert on Gilbert as well as the Victorian time period, and she shows him to be a complex and interesting man who often found himself at odds with ...
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The Cambridge Companion to David Mamet (1/1/2004)

This collection of specially written essays offers both student and theatregoer a guide to one of the most celebrated American dramatists working today. Readers will find the general and accessible descriptions and analyses provide the perfect introduction to Mamet's work. The volume covers the full range of Mamet's writing, including now classic plays such as American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross, and his more recent work, Boston Marriage, among others, as well as his films, such as The Ver...
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Golda's Balcony: A Play (11/21/2003)

The sold out off-Broadway smash has moved to Broadway! The rise of Golda Meir from impoverished Russian schoolgirl to Prime Minister of Israel is one of the most amazing stories of the 20th century. Now her life has been transformed into a one-woman play of overwhelming power and triumph by William Gibson, author of The Miracle Worker. Golda's Balcony earned actress Tovah Feldshuh a 2003 Drama Desk award."Enlightening ... Now, hearing from someone who was there at the birth of the country, who ...
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The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama (6/25/2003)

Known through three editions as the boldest and most distinguished introduction to drama, William Worthen's pace-setting text continues to provide exciting plays usefully situated within their historical and cultural contexts.
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The Lyrics of Noel Coward (1/1/2002)

Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Don't Put your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs Worthington and over 250 more lyrics from Coward's musical masterpieces. Noel Coward is one of the greatest lyricists of the twentieth century. Songs such as A Room with a View, The Stately Homes of England, Mad Dogs and Englishmen and Mrs Worthington are known, sung and loved the world over. This edition gathers together over 250 of Coward's lyrics, arranged in chronological order and grouped by show. In addition, these masterp...
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Theatre World 1994-1995, Vol. 51 (1/1/2000)

Theatre World, the statistical and pictorial record of the Broadway and off-Broadway season, touring companies, and professional regional companies throughout the United States, has become a classic in its field. The book is complete with cast listings, replacement producers, directors, authors, composers, opening and closing dates, song titles, and much, much more. There are special sections with biographical data, obituary information, listings of annual Shakespeare festivals and major drama a...
Theatre World 1994-1995, Vol. 51 Cover
Theatre World 1993-1994, Vol. 50 (1/1/2000)

Theatre World, the statistical and pictorial record of the Broadway and off-Broadway season, touring companies, and professional regional companies throughout the United States, has become a classic in its field. The book is complete with cast listings, replacement producers, directors, authors, composers, opening and closing dates, song titles, and much, much more. There are special sections with biographical data, obituary information, listings of annual Shakespeare festivals and major drama a...
Theatre World 1993-1994, Vol. 50 Cover
The Social Significance of Modern Drama (1/1/2000)

Out of print virtually since its completion in 1914, Emma Goldman's pioneer work Social Significance in Modern Drama bridges modern drama and political philosophy, pointing out the road that remains to be travelled toward a theatre of social empowerment. Activist, feminist, philosopher and anarchist, Emma Goldman was a passionate thinker about all things modern when the 20th century was still raw and new. The emergence of her treatise on the theatre after years of obscurity is certain to arouse ...
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Polaroid Stories (1/1/1999)

Naomi Iizuka’s 1997 play, Polaroid Stories, consciously uses stories, characters and themes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses to tell the stories of street kids living on the edge in a desolate, urban landscape. Because these characters are named after Orpheus and Eurydice, and Echo and Narcissus, or based on stories of Dionysus, and Ariadne and Theseus, and because scenes are entitled “The Story of Semele” or “Theseus in the Labyrinth,” Iizuka creates a world that has two dimensions: the g...
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The Story of Starlight Theatre (3/1/1992)

Starlight Theatre is a magic place where an evening of musical theatre under the stars in Kansas City's Swope Park speaks so strongly of emotion that the audience is transformed by the presence of the creative experience. This book is filled with historical photos and provides a "behind the scenes" look at the real workings of the second largest outdoor theatre in the United States. A must for theatre goers everywhere. Unlike many other art forms, live outdoor theatre is a participatory expe...
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Anyone Can Whistle (1981)

The complete vocal score to Sondheim's short-lived 1964 musical. Songs include: Anyone Can Whistle * Everybody Says Don't * Me and My Town * See What It Gets You * There Won't Be Trumpets * There's Parade in Town * With So Little Be Sure Of * and more.
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Annie - Piano/Vocal Selections (1982)

14 songs from the beloved children's musical, featuring: Annie * Easy Street * It's the Hard-Knock Life * A New Deal for Christmas * Tomorrow * You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile * and more.
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Anne of Green Gables (Vocal Score) (1998)

This enchanting story by L. M. Montgomery has been adapted as a musical by Donald Harron and Norman Campbell. Ideal for school shows and amateur music societies. It was first presented in London at the New Theatre on 16th April 1969.
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And the World Goes 'Round (Vocal Score) (1998)

Titles include: And All That Jazz * But the World Goes 'Round * Cabaret * Class * The Grass Is Always Greener * The Happy Time * How Lucky Can You Get * Kiss of the Spider Woman * Maybe This Time * Theme from New York, New York * Only Love * Sometimes a Day Goes By * Yes.
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Allegro - Vocal Selections (1986)

The complete vocal score to Rodgers and Hammerstein's third musical. 26 songs, including: Come Home * A Fellow Needs a Girl * The Gentleman Is a Dope * I Know It Can Happen Again * Money Isn't Ev'rything * Poor Joe * So Far * What a Lovely Day for a Wedding * Wildcats * You Are Never Away * and more.
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All Shook Up: Broadway Vocal Selections (2006)

Combining classic Elvis tunes with an all-new story about a square little town and a guitar-playing roustabout, All Shook Up shook up Broadway and received rollicking good reviews! This folio features all of the vocal arrangements for 25 songs from the show, including: All Shook Up * Blue Suede Shoes * Burning Love * Can't Help Falling in Love * Don't Be Cruel * Hound Dog * It's Now or Never * Jailhouse Rock * Love Me Tender * Teddy Bear * That's All Right * and more.
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Ain't Misbehavin' (1983)

24 vocal selections, including: Ain't Misbehavin' * Cash for Your Trash * Honeysuckle Rose * I Can't Give You Anything but Love * I'm Gonna Sit Right down and Write Myself a Letter * I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling * Jitterbug Waltz * The Joint Is Jumpin' * Ladies Who Sing with the Band * Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do * That Ain't Right * and more.
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Aida: Vocal Selections (2001)

Our matching folio for this multiple-Tony Award-winning musical by Elton John and Tim Rice features 17 outstanding songs, and a stunning 8-page section of full-color photos from the Broadway production. Includes: Another Pyramid * Dance of the Robe * Easy as Life * Enchantment Passing Through * Every Story Is a Love Story * Fortune Favors the Brave * How I Know You * I Know the Truth * My Strongest Suit * Not Me * Written in the Stars * and more. A Piano/Vocal Highlights collection (00313223, $1...
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The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Piano/Vocal/Chords) (2006)

Arranged for Piano/Guitar With Lyrics. Contains all of the songs from the Tony Award winning musical plus full color photographs of the cast. Titles: The I Love You Song I Speak Six Languages I’m Not That Smart Magic Foot My Friend, The Dictionary My Unfortunate Erection Pandemonium Prayer of the Comfort Counselor 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Woe is Me
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One Hundred Ten in the Shade (1981)

9 vocal selections from Jones' and Schmidt's follow-up to The Fantasticks, including: Everytng Beautiful Happens@night * Gonna Be Another Hot Day * Is It Really Me? * Little Red Hat (110 in Shade) * Love, Don't Turn Away * A Man and a Woman * One Hundred Ten in the Shade * Raunchy * Simple Little Things.
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Hollywood Musicals Year by Year - 1978 to 1994 (1995)

28 favorites from contemporary musicals The Buddy Holly Story, Grease, All That Jazz, The Rose, Annie, Flashdance, A Chorus Line, Little Shop of Horrors, Dick Tracy, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and more. Songs include: Flashdance...What a Feeling * It's So Easy * One * The Rainbow Connection * Tomorrow * What I Did for Love * Under the Sea * A Whole New World * and more.
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About Musicals (1998)

A reference book on musicals. It contains a comprehensive guide to the history, stagecraft, and famous personalities, as well as to the most popular shows. Among the classic musicals included are: "Show Boat"; "My Fair Lady"; "West Side Story"; "The Sound of Music"; "Oliver"; and "Cats".
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Kismet (Vocal Selections) (1986)

8 songs from the 1953 musical, including: And This Is My Beloved * Baubles, Bangles and Beads * Bored * He's in Love * Night of My Nights * Not Since Nineval * Sands of Time * Stranger in Paradise.
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I Got the Show Right Here: The Amazing True Story of How an Obscure Brooklyn Horn Player Became the Last Great Broadway Showman (2005)

"[A] highly entertaining showbiz memoir . . . The shows were fantastic." - The Washington Post "We laughed and we cried at Cy Feuer's wonderfully warm, brash, and colorful memoir of his life in the New York theater and happily recommend it to anyone who has ever been to a Broadway musical. . ." - Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan. This is the rags to riches story of Cy Feuer, who, after becoming the executive officer of the Air Corps film division in World War II, teamed up with the late Ernie Martin...
I Got the Show Right Here: The Amazing True Story of How an Obscure Brooklyn Horn Pla Cover
Barnum : A Musical Suggested By the Life of P.T. Barnum (1980)

The Tony and Outer Critics Circle Arward-winning musical Barnum ran for over 2 years on Broadway. It follows the ups and downs of P.T.'s varied life, from his fraudulent and sensational promotions to his American Museum and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It takes us backstage as well, giving us a glimpse of his love affairs and marriage. Production photographs are included.
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Beauty and the Beast (1999)

Features piano/vocal/guitar arrangements of 21 songs by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice from this Disney Broadway smash: Be Our Guest • Beauty and the Beast • Belle • Gaston • Home • How Long Must This Go On? • Human Again • If I Can't Love Her • Maison des Lunes • Me • The Mob Song • No Matter What • Something There • Transformation/Beauty and the Beast (Reprise).
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The Great Tradition and Its Legacy: The Evolution of Dramatic and Musical Theater in Austria and Central Europe (2004)

Both dramatic and musical theater are part of the tradition that has made Austria - especially Vienna - and the old Habsburg lands synonymous with high culture in Central Europe. Many works, often controversial originally but now considered as classics, are still performed regularly in Vienna, Prague, Budapest, or Krakow. This volume not only offers an excellent overview of the theatrical history of the region, it is also an innovative, cross-disciplinary attempt to analyse the inner workings an...
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The Great Theatres of London (2004)

With the recent influx of A-list stars like Nicole Kidman, Kevin Spacey, and Matt Damon vying to perform on the London stage, never has the West End enjoyed such a high profile. This updated edition of The Great Theaters of London—with brand new sections on the Almeida, the Donmar Warehouse, Shakespeare’s Globe, the Young Vic, and more—is a timely celebration of the cultural history behind each of the great London theaters. Handsomely illustrated, and with A–Z entries, this is the perfec...
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Broadway Yearbook 2001-2002: A Relevant and Irreverent Record (2003)

Called the "theater equivalent of longtime New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael" by Matinee Magazine, critic and producer Steven Suskin chronicles the 2001-2002 theater season in his latest installment in the Broadway Yearbook series. Commenting with wit and erudition on each show that opened on Broadway between May 2001 and May 2002, Suskin's vivid descriptions recall Tony winners like Thoroughly Modern Millie and Urinetown and commercial smashes like Mamma Mia! and The Graduate. A great read fo...
Broadway Yearbook 2001-2002: A Relevant and Irreverent Record Cover
High Society (Vocal Selections) (1999)

This hit Broadway musical features great Cole Porter songs such as: I Love Paris * I Love You, Samantha * It's All Right with Me * Let's Misbehave * Little One * Ridin' High * True Love * Well, Did You Evah? * Who Wants to Be a Millionaire * You're Sensational. The folio includes archive photographs from the original source movie The Philadelphia Story starring Katherine Hepburn, as well as the remake movie High Society starring Grace Kelly.
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Miss Saigon (1992)

11 vocal selections from the Broadway spectacular, including: The American Dream • The Heat Is on in Saigon • I'd Give My Life for You • The Last Night of the World • The Movie in My Mind • Now That I've Seen Her • Sun and Moon • Why God Why? • and more.
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Peter Pan (Vocal Selections) (1982)

8 vocal selections from the 1954 Broadway version of the beloved story starring Mary Martin. Includes: Captain Hook's Waltz * Distant Melody * I Won't Grow Up * I'm Flying * I've Gotta Crow * Never Never Land * Tender Shepherd (Count Your Sheep) * Wendy.
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Women's Gidayu and the Japanese Theatre Tradition (1997)

Women's gidayu is a traditional form of Japanese musical narrative. During its 350 year history it has had to cope with the problems imposed by a theatrical culture dominated by men, but has survived and is now receiving greater recognition than ever before. This is the first book in English on women's gidayu and introduces the performers, their musical narratives and the politics of their survival within Japanese performing culture. It offers a case study of the continuation of a music within t...
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You Can't Do That on Broadway!: A Raisin in the Sun and Other Theatrical Improbabilities (2004)

The producer of such legendary Broadway shows as A Raisin in the Sun and The Owl and the Pussycat, Rose here checks in autobiographically to show today's producers how much work remains to be done in integrating the American theater. His affectionately garrulous account of his adventures contains many pointed anecdotes about faithless (and sometimes criminal) investors, duplicitous producers, mentally disturbed directors and many other stage and screen fauna who make a producer's life a difficu...
You Can't Do That on Broadway!: A Raisin in the Sun and Other Theatrical Improbabilit Cover
Present at the Creation, Leaping in the Dark, and Going Against the Grain (2005)

"The best way I know to resuscitate the theatre is to produce dangerous new works." - Stuart Ostrow. Producer Stuart Ostrow's manifesto of how intelligent life might be restored to the theatre is also a unique personal memoir of the producer-creator relationship and an evaluation of the essentials that can make a show fly, or remain earthbound. As a solo producer, Ostrow's many productions include M. Butterfly, which won the Tony Award for Best Play; Pippin; and 1776, which received both the New...
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You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Musical (2005)

Arguing that the musical is the "most ubiquitous and dominant cultural icon of our day," Ian Bradley unpacks the theological significance of the musical. Bradley believes that musicals provide for many people "an experience which genuinely can be described as religious as well as entertaining." In addition, he offers his thoughts on what the popularity of the musical might mean for the future of the church.
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If Love Were All (1999)

Playbill program booklet for 1999 performance at Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York City. An Entertainment Devised by Sheridan Morley. Directed and Adapted by Leigh Lawson. With words and music of Noel Coward. Starring Twiggy and Harry Groener. Scenic and Costume Design: Tony Walton. Musical Direction and Arrangements: Tom Fay. Choreographer: Niki Harris.
If Love Were All Cover
The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen: The Last Twenty-Five Years of the Broadway Musical (2004)

The true Broadway musical from the days of Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Merman, Preston, Channing, Fosse, and Robbins was finally dead. Unfortunately, the burial has not yet taken place. In The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen, Ethan Mordden takes the reader to the Broadway musical's wake and is unsparing in his acerbic and witty look at the condition of the corpse.
The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen: The Last Twenty-Five Years of the Broadway Musica Cover
A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, or Involving African Americans (1993)

This comprehensive reference book provides succinct information on almost thirteen hundred musical stage works written and produced from the 1870s to the 1990s involving contributions by black librettists, lyricists, composers, musicians, producers, or performers or containing thematic materials relevant to the black experience. Organized alphabetically, they include tent and outdoor shows, vaudeville, operas and operettas, comedies, farces, spectacles, revues, cabaret and nightclub shows, chil...
A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By,  Cover
The New Singing Theatre: A Charter for the Music Theatre Movement (1991)

At last, from an author uniquely qualified and ideally equipped to discuss all the elements (words, movement, music, light, use of space, narrative, vocal technique) that make up the "New Singing Theatre,", here is a book that lucidly recounts both the evolution and the content of this new and still-forming art. The book attempts a first definition that brings under the heading "New Singing Theatre" all the disparate works loosely known as musical theatre, everything from Broadway musicals to co...
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Annie Get Your Gun (Vocal Selections) (1990)

Twelve songs from this Irving Berlin favorite, which won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival. Includes: Anything You Can Do * Doin' What Comes Natur'lly * The Girl That I Marry * I Got Lost in His Arms * I Got the Sun in the Morning * I'll Share It All with You * Moonshine Lullaby * My Defenses Are Down * An Old Fashioned Wedding * There's No Business Like Show Business * They Say It's Wonderful * You Can't Get a Man with a Gun.
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Three Sisters (1934)

A Musical Play in Three Acts Programme (Theatre Royale Drury Lane June 4, 1934) Including, Eliot Makeham, Charlotte Greenwood, Adele Dixon, Victoria Hopper, Dick Francis, Albert Burdon, Esmond Knight, Stanley Holloway, Leonard Thorn, Anthony Hankey, Richard Dolman, Lucie Evely, Clare Lindsay, Bruce Seton, Eileen Clifton
Three Sisters Cover
Book of World-Famous Libretti: The Musical Theatre from 1598 to Today (1984)

In this handsome and invaluable book, James Fuld, author of The Book of World-Famous Music, examines the libretti of 167 works of musical theater. For each opera, operetta, or musical comedy libretto, he supplies a facsimile of the title page (see opposite) and, facing, all the relevant facts that can be gleaned from a close study of the original publication. In addition to a description of the physical properties of each libretto, you will find, for example, the date and place of the first perf...
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About 100 Years of American Musical Theatre in About 100 Minutes (2006)

The ten musicals featured in this book, one from each decade from 1900 through 2000, represent the cornerstones of American music theatre. Relevant information about the composer, lyricist, book author, director and choreographer is included, as well as a synopsis of the plot and pertinent background about the development of the production. As a special bonus, the included CD features a complete recording of a notable song from each musical. The clever REPRODUCIBLE activities will promote rein...
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Stars of the American Musical Theater in Historic Photographs (1981)

361 portraits, from 1860s to 1950 of over 400 stars. Informative captions. An illustrious collection, long overdue.
Stars of the American Musical Theater in Historic Photographs Cover
High Spirits: Vocal Selections (2000)

This collection features selections from the Hugh Martin/Timothy Gray musical, including material not in previous editions! Contains 7 songs in piano/vocal format: Forever and a Day ¥ Home Sweet Heaven ¥ I Know Your Heart ¥ If I Gave You ¥ Something Tells Me ¥ Was She Prettier Than I? ¥ YouÕd Better Love Me.
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