The title is coy, if not downright misleading. Directing is only one of several issues the venerable director-dramatist discusses in fascinating, detailed dissections of Gypsy and, to a lesser extent, West Side Story (a few other musicals get inspected, too), by someone who should know of what he writes. Laurents wrote the books for both Gypsy and WSS, and directed, late in life (he is 90), a highly praised, hit revival of the former. (Even as this is written, he is directing a bilingual WSS opening in March 2009.) Insightful, incisive, very opinionated, Laurents just doesn’t hold back. His criticism of Sam Mendes and the 2003 Gypsy revival is unstinting, but then he doesn’t even spare the original Mama Rose, Ethel Merman. He is, however, equally lavish with his praise, gushing about Patti Lupone’s Rose so that you’d never guess he famously (if silently) feuded with her for years. This book for Broadway gossip mavens and others with higher aspirations—such as directing Gypsy themselves—is hard to put down. (Source: Jack Helbig from Booklist)
Arthur Laurents
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Laurents passed away early in 2011 but not before writing The Rest of the Story, in which he revealed all that had happened in his life since Original Story By, filled with the wisdom he gained by growing older and a new perspective brought on by Laurents' experience of deep pers…
A two act play with 3 scenes in each act for 5 males and 5 females. The plot concerns an older unmarried secretary who meets an attentive man while vacationing in Venice. When she finds out he is married and has children she is torn with the moral problem of whether to partake in…
If he had done nothing more than write the book for the musicals West Side Story and Gypsy, Arthur Laurents would be assured a place in the pantheon of American theater. But he has done much more, including directing, screenwriting, and playwriting. Here, for the first time, is a…
No one is going to accuse Laurents, author of such noted plays and films as Home of the Brave, Rope, West Side Story and The Way We Were, of writing a sentimental, evasive or mindlessly feel-good autobiography. In a jaunty, engrossing style, the 82-year-old discusses the highligh…
As a playwright, screenwriter, and director, Arthur Laurents has a unique place in the history of theater. In this moving, exhilarating, and provocative account, he presents readers with a front-row look at the making of two of the greatest musicals of the American stage, West Si…
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 mean…
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 ratin…
New version of this annual book includes newly commissioned interviews conducted by Polly Bennett and Joan Iyiola (co-founders of The Mono Box) with theatre industry professionals including Cherrelle Skeete, Hazel Holder, Ned Bennett and Tom Ross Williams; a new foreword by Polly…
You can now get a first listen to two new singles from the upcoming album Beau: The Musical recording.
Theatre Communications Group will publish an anthology of more than thirty plays by women+ playwrights, a civic initiative from the Flynn Center with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize examining democracy in America.
Audible has a packed slate of new releases and live programming arriving this September, featuring everything from conversations with Barack Obama and a return to the fan-favorite Bobiverse to Colin Kaepernick's deeply personal story and more.
The Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show will record a cast album, featuring Rachel Dratch as “Narrator,” Luke Evans as “Frank-N-Furter,” Amber Gray as “Riff Raff,” Stephanie Hsu as “Janet,” Juliette Lewis as “Magenta,” and more.
This Ain’t No Disco: World Premiere Recording – Songs from the Musical by Stephen Trask and Peter Yanowitz is out now in digital and streaming formats.
Night Side Songs – the cast album of the transformative new musical produced by Lincoln Center Theater at LCT3 / the Claire Tow Theater – is available in streaming and digital formats now with a music video for My Stuff out now.
The original Broadway cast recording for Schmigadoon! is currently available to stream everywhere you listen to music.
Composer Yu-Peng Chen, known for scoring Genshin Impact, will release a 12-movement symphonic suite for piano and orchestra tracing a journey from birth to farewell.
Night Side Songs – the cast album, will be released in streaming and digital formats.
BroadwayWorld has your exclusive first listen to Lena Hall singing Lay Your Head from This Ain’t No Disco: World Premiere Recording – Songs from the Musical.
The musical Suffs is being adapted into a young adult novel! The book is written by the musical's writer, Shaina Taub, alongside author Betsy Cornwell.
Tony Award-winning producer and founder and CEO of Broadway Plus, Nathaniel Hill, is releasing a book.
Composer Micah Levy has released a revised, updated version of his orchestral children's album, previously performed by the Dallas, San Diego and Utah Symphonies, for streaming platforms.
Center Stage Records will release This Ain’t No Disco: World Premiere Recording – Songs from the Musical by Stephen Trask and Peter Yanowitz in digital and streaming formats.
That Parenting Musical recently recorded a studio cast album starring Christopher Jackson, Kara Lindsay, Bonnie Milligan, Max Mendoza Crumm, Vidushi Goyal, and Scott Rathbun, with a release date yet to be revealed.
Joy Machine Records will release two new singles from the upcoming album Beau: The Musical (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording) in August, with a full album due this fall.
Octoverse Media and Warner Music Group's Arts Music will release the cast album of the Lincoln Center Theater musical, with a single from THE LAZOURS' score out now.
Studio Seven Classical has rereleased Robert Miller's MA PETITE FLEUR, a string quartet arranged by David Shenton, in a newly remixed and remastered version.
The Tony Award winning Best Musical Schmigadoon! released its second single from the original Broadway cast recording, “Tribulation,” featuring Tony Award-nominee Ana Gasteyer, the Schmigadoon! Original Broadway Company and the Schmorchestra.
Atlantic Records has unveiled the pre-order for CATS: The Jellicle Ball (Original Broadway Cast Recording), the official companion to the wildly acclaimed Tony Award-winning musical revival.
Empire: Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording has been released in digital and streaming formats.
Atlantic Records will release physical editions of Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years (25th Anniversary Live at the London Palladium), starring Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt.
The musical comedy concept album, featuring Chris Sullivan and Kimiko Glenn, is now streaming after its songs and cast drew more than 10 million views online.
Keke Palmer's audio comedy THE WEDDINGS OF LADY MISS JACQUELINE will premiere on Audible, featuring Sheryl Lee Ralph, Danielle Brooks and Zachariah Porter, alongside a trailer for a companion microdrama series.
An EP of songs from Romero & Juliet, a new musical based on elements from Shakespeare’s timeless love story and the zombie lore of filmmaker George Romero, has been released.
The 2025 Broadway Cast Recording of CHESS will be released on CD and vinyl next month.
Two-time Tony nominee Bill Russell has written a memoir chronicling his path from a South Dakota upbringing to a career as a Broadway writer, with a New York book signing planned to mark its release.
TCG Books will publish Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Pulitzer Prize-finalist play EVERYBODY, now available for pre-order ahead of its release.
Star Machine The EP will be released on all major streaming services, featuring six tracks from the original new musical Star Machine.
Center Stage Records announced the release of Sappho: The Poetess, an EP written and performed by Hayley Canham, ahead of performances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and London's Young Vic.
