Broadway Bookshelf — Biography

Biographies, show books, musical scores, history, and must-read theatre books.

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Biography Books

Still, Bill: Gay Adventures From Cowboyland To Broadway

(10/27/2026)

How does an effeminate boy–raised in Cowboyland with cattle and guns, hunting and trucks, sports and church, jocks and jerks, cruelty and small-mindedness–get from the Black Hills of South Dakota to the thrills and heartbreak of the white-hot lights of Broadway and the West End? The answer can be found in this memoir by the author of Side Show, elegies for angels, punks and raging queens, and Pageant, among other musicals. This frequently amusing, sometimes wild, often moving ride proceeds f...

Still, Bill: Gay Adventures From Cowboyland To Broadway

I Hear Music: The Life of Burton Lane, Composer for Broadway and Hollywood

(9/17/2026)

First full-length book about Burton Lane, covering his early days working on Tin Pan Alley and Broadway while still in his teens, through his compositions of film songs for more than twenty years, working with well-known lyricists including Harold Adamson, Ralph Freed, Frank Loesser, Yip Harburg, Ted Koehler, and Sammy Cahn, and his return to Broadway in 1947 for Finian's Rainbow, with Harburg, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever with Alan Jay Lerner. 120 pages.

I Hear Music: The Life of Burton Lane, Composer for Broadway and Hollywood

Bowl EP

(8/11/2026)

Kelly K. Klarkson and Quentavius da Quitter are in love. Kelly K. Klarkson and Quentavius da Quitter skate and smoke and taste one another’s fingers and snort molly and try to pick a name for their rap group. And then there’s their personal demons: Kelly exorcized hers a long time ago, but Quentavius’s is named Lemon Pepper Wings, and she-he-they is the patron demon of the intimate, and they-he-she created pheromones for their her his graduate thesis, and astrology and all the apps, and t...

Andy Blankenbuehler: A Critical Companion

(8/6/2026)

Unpacks and explores Blankenbuehler's philosophies with regards to storytelling through the body, arguing how his prioritization of the ensemble as crucial to understanding the action within a show consequently positions the ensemble body as an indispensable element through which the audience gains vital (sub)text. 232 pages.

Andy Blankenbuehler: A Critical Companion

A Very Unusual Way: Maury Yeston and His Singular Path to Broadway and Beyond

(7/1/2026)

A career chronicle combined with close examinations of some of Yeston's most noteworthy compositions, including songs from his famous musicals as well as his lesser-known works. Behind-the-scenes accounts and analysis of Yeston's Broadway shows. From the author's full access to the composer's archive and over a dozen interviews with Yeston. Also highlights the numerous well-known artistic figures and collaborators who have featured prominently in Yeston's life, including Stephen Sondheim, Placi...

A Very Unusual Way: Maury Yeston and His Singular Path to Broadway and Beyond

David Friedman, The Stories of My Life

(6/2/2026)

healing and humor; from Broadway stages and beloved Disney films; in recording studios with artists like Diana Ross, Barry Manilow, and Nancy LaMott; and through the metaphysical teachings he shares with audiences across the nation. Now, in this irresistible collection, he reveals the stories behind nearly a thousand moments that shaped his remarkable life: tales of family, friends and fame; joy and heartbreak; absurdity and grace… with a generous amount of gossip and laughter along the wa...

Hirschfeld's Icons: A Poster Book

(4/28/2026)

Collection of 25 removable, ready-to-frame prints by Al Hirschfeld featuring some of the most recognizable icons of the 20th century. Accompanied by commentary and biographies by David Leopold, Creative Director of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation. Introduction by Dick Cavett. 58 pages.

Stage Page: Memories of (mostly) Marvelous St. Louis Theater

(4/21/2026)

Seventy-seven theater reviews, written by Dennis Brown between 2001 and 2013 for the St. Louis weekly, The Riverfront Times, once again see the light of day with the publication of "Stage Page: Memories of (mostly) Marvelous St. Louis Theater." The anthology is enlivened with 47 all-new illustrations by gifted artist Marjorie Williamson. The 77 reviews (mostly) celebrate productions from 30 different producing venues. Some of these venues (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, the Muny) continue ...

Stage Page: Memories of (mostly) Marvelous St. Louis Theater

Cowboys at the Ballet: The Story of Choreographer Agnes de Mille

(3/31/2026)

In a dusty California town, Agnes de Mille dreams of becoming a dancer. She gallops to New York, then London, performing a show here, a dance there, combining old steps with new. But no one knows what to make of Agnes. She’s not a ballet dancer or a modern dancer or a folk dancer. So what is she? Then one summer she attends a rodeo, where the cowboys’ powerful and unbridled movements transform her life—and the history of dance—forever.

Cowboys at the Ballet: The Story of Choreographer Agnes de Mille

Adaptation in Musical Theatre

(3/19/2026)

Adaptation in Musical Theatre positions musical theatre as part of a broader cultural trend of recycling, referencing, remixing and alluding to existing creative works and texts. Despite critics often dismissing stage adaptations as lazy and safe bet options for producers, this book argues that crafting an adaptation enables creative teams to take fresh and imaginative approaches to a source text, given the multitude of ways in which the structures and styles of two (or more) different media ca...

Theater Acting: Mastering the Art of Live Performance on the Modern Stage

(3/18/2026)

Inside, you'll discover how to project your voice to the back row without sounding like you're shouting, and how to build physical presence that commands the entire space. You'll learn the art of sustaining a fully lived-in character night after night across a long run, and how to stay emotionally fresh even when you're on your twentieth performance. The book walks you through the rehearsal process from first read-through to closing night, and gives you practical strategies for working with dir...

Theater Acting: Mastering the Art of Live Performance on the Modern Stage

Stephen Sondheim: Art Isn't Easy

(3/17/2026)

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.

Drama Scripts for Kids: 35 Original Acting Scripts for Kids Ages 10-14

(3/2/2026)

Drama Scripts for Kids is a fun, classroom-ready collection of acting scripts for kids ages 10-14. Written by a drama teacher with over 25 years of experience in mainstream schools, this book is created for real mixed-ability classrooms. Inside you’ll find: 15 engaging plays, 20 performance-ready monologues, Scripts perfect for drama lessons, workshops, auditions, clubs, and school performances, and more.

Drama Scripts for Kids: 35 Original Acting Scripts for Kids Ages 10-14

August Wilson's American Century: Life as Art

(2/10/2026)

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.

August Wilson's American Century: Life as Art

Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner

(1/27/2026)

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.=

Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner

Making Rent: The Story Behind the Music that Changed Broadway

(1/13/2026)

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.

Making Rent: The Story Behind the Music that Changed Broadway

What We Did Before Our Moth Days

(12/16/2025)

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 year...

Eggs I Have Laid

(12/15/2025)

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...

Teeth: A Coming-of-Rage Musical Comedy

(12/9/2025)

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 ...

Happy Hour Blues: Lyrics, Notes and Reflections

(12/6/2025)

Written companion to TJ Armand’s three-volume recording project, conceived in New York City during the isolation and cultural turbulence of the pandemic. More than fifty lyrics, notes, and reflections. . Core themes include: queer life and nightlife culture, immigration and self-reinvention, exile and the search for home, chosen family, New York City as both refuge and pressure cooker. With street photography from Astoria and Manhattan. 82 pages.

Happy Hour Blues: Lyrics, Notes and Reflections

History Hiding Around Broadway: Backstage Lore, Secrets & Surprises from New York’s Famed Theater District

(11/11/2025)

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.

History Hiding Around Broadway: Backstage Lore, Secrets & Surprises from New York’s

Coyote: The Dramatic Lives of Sam Shepard

(11/4/2025)

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 playwrig...

Coyote: The Dramatic Lives of Sam Shepard

Barbra Streisand: The Music: Her Albums & Singles - Revised & Updated

(11/4/2025)

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.

Barbra Streisand: The Music: Her Albums & Singles - Revised & Updated

Hell's Kitchen: Behind the Dream

(10/21/2025)

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 bea...

The Periodic Table of Broadway Musicals: An Illustrated Guide to 118 Essential Shows

(10/7/2025)

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.

The Periodic Table of Broadway Musicals: An Illustrated Guide to 118 Essential Shows

Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: Behind the Bloody Musical Masterpiece

(10/2/2025)

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...

Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: Behind the Bloody Musical Masterpiece

Jukebox Musicals: Crazy for You to MJ the Musical

(9/18/2025)

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.

Jukebox Musicals: Crazy for You to MJ the Musical

Carole King: She Made the Earth Move (Jewish Lives)

(9/16/2025)

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.

Carole King: She Made the Earth Move (Jewish Lives)

The Theatre of Kander and Ebb

(8/22/2025)

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...

Michael John LaChiusa: A Critical Companion

(7/25/2025)

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.

Michael John LaChiusa: A Critical Companion

Judy Garland: The Voice of MGM

(6/18/2025)

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.

Scenery of the Crime

(6/10/2025)

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.

Theater after Film

(5/23/2025)

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 ...

Stereophonic

(5/13/2025)

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, interpers...

God and the Angel: Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier's Tour De Force of Australia and New Zealand

(5/6/2025)

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.

God and the Angel: Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier's Tour De Force of Australia and

The Musicals of Cole Porter: Broadway, Hollywood, Television

(4/15/2025)

A critical study of Porter’s Broadway and movie musicals, and his one foray into live television, from his first failure, See America First (1916) to Silk Stockings (1955). Interspersed with chapters on Porter’s “list songs,” his love songs, and his love of figurative language. Discusses the various literary sources and cultural reference points that inspired the lyrics to Porter’s numbers. 240 pages.

The Musicals of Cole Porter: Broadway, Hollywood, Television

The In-Between: Intimate and Candid Moments of Broadway Stars

(4/15/2025)

Anderson's personal ode to the theatre community, including more than 100 of her photographs taken behind the scenes of the most iconic shows of the last decade: Hamilton, Wicked, The Lion King, Kinky Boots, Sweeney Todd, Waitress, Hadestown, Phantom of the Opera, and many, many more. Rare photography of performers like Glenn Close, Patti LuPone, Hugh Jackman, Chita Rivera, Jonathan Groff, and Gavin Creel. A privileged glance behind the curtains of the world's most prestigious theaters and the ...

The In-Between: Intimate and Candid Moments of Broadway Stars

Manhattan Mayhem

(4/2/2025)

MANHATTEN MAYHEM stories capture the mood and heartbeat of the planet's most pulsating plot of land. Rothenberg's checkered life...in theatre, politics and prisons, are reflected in these tales of hope, heartbreak and humor. They are as diverse and unpredictable as Times Square on a Saturday night.

Places, Please, Act One: Poems Around and About Theatre

(3/26/2025)

A collection of Warren Kliewer's poems about acting and the life of theater professionals. From "introduction" by Warren Kliewer: "These poems have been written perhaps in honor of, but more likely in comradeship with, actors, directors, designers, technicians, and yes even producers. The final product of their labors - that which patrons buy tickets to see and critics get free tickets to grumble about - is not my subject. Rather, it's the work itself leading to the results. My subject is the...

Places, Please, Act One: Poems Around and About Theatre

If the Song Doesn't Work, Change the Dress: The Illustrated Memoirs of Broadway Costume Designer Patricia Zipprodt

(2/6/2025)

Broadway costume designer Patricia Zipprodt (1925-99) tells her own colorful story, with Arnold Wengrow. Foreword by Joel Grey. From plunging into the developing Off-Broadway movement to charting her personal and professional failures and successes collaborating with the biggest artists of the day - Jerome Robbins, Hal Prince, and Bob Fosse, and more. Includes pictures from Zipprodt's own archive including sketches, drawings, and photographs of her work from some of the most significant shows o...

If the Song Doesn't Work, Change the Dress: The Illustrated Memoirs of Broadway Costu

Opening Doors: Reimagining the American Musical

(1/22/2025)

Director John Doyle is an unlikely revolutionary. Described by critics as 'the saviour of the Broadway musical', the 'amazing Mr Musicals' and 'the man who changed the face of the American musical', his name alone has become synonymous with a style of reinvention that has opened doors to what commercial musical theatre can be in the 21st century. In his first book Doyle reflects on the 50-year theatrical journey taken by a boy who never dreamt it could happen to him. Through simply working at...

Opening Doors: Reimagining the American Musical

In Gad We Trust: A Tell-Some

(1/14/2025)

A heartfelt and hilarious collection of essays from the comedian and entertainer known for voicing Olaf in the phenomenon Disney franchise of Frozen, and for his award-winning turn as Elder Cunningham in the Broadway smash hit The Book of Mormon. For the first and possibly last time, Josh Gad dives into a wide array of personal topics: the lasting impact of his parents’ divorce; how he struggled with weight and self-image; his first big break; how everyone was sure his most successful vent...

King of Broadway

(12/10/2024)

Novel about Horatio King, an eighty-five-year old curmudgeon who happens to be the greatest musical theater composer and lyricist of his generation. Fifteen years before the story begins, his last musical, Black Hawk Down, was a flop. Now King is approached by twenty-five-year old Ben Willis who sends him a copy of his newly published children's novel, "The Worldwide Dessert Contest." Would King like to get back in the game and collaborate with a new-comer on what could be his last Broadway mus...

Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia

(11/30/2024)

From the founding of The Walnut Street Theatre and the beginning of the American circus to the world premiere performance of Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, and from censorship and opposition to riots and deadly fires, this engaging collection of short, focused narratives introduces the reader to the often overlooked and frequently underappreciated topic of the history of theater in Philadelphia, and offer a new way of approaching the wider history of this unique and important Ameri...

Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia

The Show Goes On: Broadway Hirings, Firings and Replacements

(11/27/2024)

Conducting more than a hundred interviews, Fassler has drawn from a wide range of the New York theatre community gathering dozens of stories that border on the heroic. How is a suitable replacement chosen to take over on Broadway? What goes into an actor making a role their own in the shadow of another's highly lauded performance? What happens when someone hops on the moving train that is a multi-million dollar production and replaces a flailing actor during an out of town tryout? 462 pages.

The Show Goes On: Broadway Hirings, Firings and Replacements

Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words

(11/26/2024)

First full-length biography devoted to the life of Ira Gershwin. Draws on extensive archival sources and often using Ira's own words. 30 illustrations. 400 pages. The first lyricist to win the Pulitzer Prize, Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) has been hailed as one of the masters of the Great American Songbook, a period which covers songs written largely for Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. Now, in the first full-length biography devoted to his life, Michael Owen brings Ira out at l...

Recording Broadway: A Life in Cast Albums

(11/19/2024)

Producer Thomas Z. Shepard's writes about his childhood as a piano prodigy, and of the making of fifty plus years' worth of show albums, featuring stories of his work with Broadway people including Julie Andrews, Leonard Bernstein, Sheldon Harnick, Barbara Cook, Placido Domingo, Gregory Hines, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Danny Kaye, Angela Lansbury, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Stephen Sondheim, Barbra Streisand, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and many more. 408 pages.

Recording Broadway: A Life in Cast Albums

It Happened at the Palace: A History of New York’s Iconic Broadway Theater

(10/29/2024)

A historical account and love letter to the performing arts, a chronicle of New York's cultural evolution, and a business saga of revival and triumph. More than 175 photographs, untold stories, and intimate portraits of stage legends and the intricate process of preserving a landmark not only of bricks and mortar but of dreams and memories. 200 pages.

It Happened at the Palace: A History of New York’s Iconic Broadway Theater

Running the Room: Conversations with Women Theatre Directors

(9/24/2024)

Explores, through a series of conversations with many of the leading talents working on British stages, what it takes to succeed in the field, and how each director approaches the work in their own way. Contributions from Natalie Abrahami, Annabel Arden, Milli Bhatia, Carrie Cracknell, Tinuke Craig, Marianne Elliott, Nadia Fall, Yaël Farber, Vicky Featherstone, Jamie Fletcher, Sarah Frankcom, Emma Frankland, Rebecca Frecknall, Debbie Hannan, Tamara Harvey, Natalie Ibu, Ola Ince, Lynette Linton...

Running the Room: Conversations with Women Theatre Directors

Love Me Tonight (Oxford Guides to Film Musicals)

(9/6/2024)

About the musical film Love Me Tonight (1932), with individual chapters devoted to the work's genesis and development of the screenplay, the songs and instrumental music, the role censorship has played in the history of the film, and the film's reception from its time to the modern day. Informed by extensive archival holdings in several major library collections, as well as from the indispensable resources housed at the Paramount Studio archives. 208 pages.

Love Me Tonight (Oxford Guides to Film Musicals)

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