Broadway Bookshelf

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British Musical Theatre: 2 Volumes Volume 1: 1865-1914 Volume 2: 1915-1984 (1987) From the pre-Gilbert and Sullivan 1860s to the 1980s, this important reference surveys more than a century of British light musical theatre, including its writers and composers. Gänzl provides a wealth of information on the book, lyrics, and music of over 800 London musicals, including contemporary reviews, cast lists, performances, plus pertinent notes gleaned from a study of surviving scores and libretti. Volume 1 traces the development of the genre between 1865 and 1914, describing its roots...

Better Foot Forward (1976) The History of American Musical Theatre

Opening Night on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the Golden Era of the Musical Theatre, Oklahoma! (1993) A critical quotebook of the Golden Era of the Musical Theatre, from Oklahoma! (1943) to Fiddler on the Roof (1964). Suskin combines the glitter and excitement of nearly 300 Broadway premieres with the expert commentary of a true show business insider. Includes a Broadway scorecard. Photos.

Broadway's Prize-Winning Musicals: An Annotated Guide for Libraries and Audio Collectors (1993) Broadway’s Prize-Winning Musicals is an indispensable guide for collectors of audio recordings of Broadway’s award-winning musicals. It presents, for the first time in one volume, shows that were recipients of Tony Awards, New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, Pulitzer Prizes, or Grammy Awards. Also featured are the recordings of shows selected on the more subjective basis of listening enjoyment or budgetary considerations. This comprehensive approach helps librarians and fans compile a well...

Love & Science (1993) Richard Foreman founded the Ontological-Hysteric theatre in 1968. The theatre is currently in the historic St. Marks Church, where he rehearses and produced one of his new plays each year, each play performing for 16 weeks every winter.

Musicals: The Guide to Amateur Production (1994) The Guide to Amateur Production

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1994) Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman. Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century, and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible. It is credited with helping fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold ...

Musical Openings: Using Music in the Language Classroom (1992) This book explores the ways in which instrumental music can be introduced in the language classroom and the effects of using music to inspire student enthusiasm and creativity. It is aimed at teachers who love music, whatever their knowledge of experience of it, and demonstrates with step-by-step activities how the power of music can be exploited in a learning environment. The book draws on diverse musical sources and cultures and is accompanied by a cassette of musical excerpts linked to variou...

Musical Notes: A Practical Guide to Staffing and Staging Standards of the American Musical Theater (1986) “The entries in this `Guide' are arranged alphabetically, providing information on authorship and original production, a substantial synopsis of the story-line, notes on the production of the show (which include Tony Awards, ideas on technical and costume requirements, possible pitfalls, and budget suggestions), a list of songs of special interest, and details of instrumentation. A supplementary section on `Concept, Rock, Nostalgia and Others' differs from the main body of entries in providin...

More Broadway Musicals: Since 1980 (1991) In the decade since Abrams published the bestsellingBroadway Musicals, some of Broadway's biggest all-time hits have appeared--Cats, 42nd Street, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables--and set new standards, begun new trends, and entranced new audiences. More Broadway Musicals presents the stories behind the major productions in this fascinating volume sure to delight those who have seen the shows, as well we those who know them only through recordings. 200 illustrations, 75 in full color.

Broadway Musicals (1986) A colorful tribute to the great Broadway shows of our time. 395 illustrations, 112 in full color.

With an air debonair: Musical theatre in American 1785-1815 (1991) Even before reading this record, one is struck by the beautiful layout and clarity of reproductions found within. This most comprehensive piece of research fills a scholarly gap on the early history of musical theater in the United States. Not just a chronicler of musical theater, Porter (music history, Ohio State Univ.) provides fascinating information on all aspects of 18th-and 19th-century musical production: personnel, technical effects, musical composition, and orchestra. In addition to the...

Broadway!: 125 Years of Musical Theatre (1991) Offers an illustrated survey of American musicals from "The Black Crook" in 1886 to 1991's "Miss Saigon," detailing the stars, sets, and designs.

The Musical Theatre Cookbook: Recipes from Best-Loved Musicals (1994) This delicious 196-page book brings you The Devil's Hot Dog from "Damn Yankees", "Enchiladas from "Bye Bye Birdie", A Seaside Clambake from "Carousel", Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies from Sweeney Todd (with a suggested substitute for the main ingredient!) and Strawberry Tarts from "My Fair Lady". You'll also find roast beef from "Fiorello", Fiddleferns from "Into the Woods", Splashing Dressing Salad from "Guys and Dolls", Sweet Pertater Pie from "Oklahoma!", Sandy's Candies from "Brigadoon", and mu...

Opera--Dead or Alive: Production, Performance and Enjoyment of Musical Theatre (1972) Playwright, director, and critic Ronald E. Mitchell offers general readers a richer understanding of traditions, terms, styles, and staging techniques of musical theater, including an introduction to seventeen examples of operas and musicals, from baroque and romantic operas to Gilbert & Sullivan, from proletarian dramas to Broadway shows like Oklahoma.

Ganzl's Book of the Musical Theatre (1989) The worldwide proliferation of musical theater makes its documentation in a single volume impossible, but Ganzl's Book of Musical Theatre is a most impressive selection from this wealth of material. Companion to the respected Gustav Kobbe's Complete Opera Book (Putnam, 1954; Amer. Biog. Serv., 1987; reprint of 1963 ed.), whose form it follows, it offers information on some 300 musicals from the current world repertoire and many important works that are no longer performed. Each entry includes a...

Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical (1988) Vividly recreating the unique pleasure of experiencing a song-and-dance show, Broadway Babies spotlights the men and women who made a difference in the development of American musical comedy. Mordden's account features such show people as Florenz Ziegfeld, Harold Prince, Bert Lahr, Gwen Verdon, Angela Lansbury, Victor Herbert, Liza Minnelli, and Stephen Sondheim, and such musicals as Sally, Oh Kay!, Anything Goes, Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Follies, Chicago, and countless others. While theatrical h...

Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre (1994) For those familiar with Ganzl's Book of the Musical Theatre (LJ 4/15/89) or The British Musical Theatre (Oxford Univ. Pr., 1987), this is a much-anticipated work. Ganzl has admittedly (and wisely) avoided attempting a comprehensive study; there are, for instance, entries for operettas but not operas. Originally intended as a single volume, this two-volume set includes nearly 3000 articles on the most productive people and the most produced works throughout most of the world for the last 150 yea...

Broadway Stories: A Backstage Journey Through Musical Theatre (1993) This treasure trove presents focused narratives by men and women (one as young as 12 years old) who have made the Broadway musical theater their home. Sixteen chapters chronicle the hits and misses inherent to the musical stage, recounted by an actor or member of the creative team. With his "fly-on-the-wall" perspective, author Bell clearly captures the thespians' love for their work and respect for the musical theater tradition. Not a retrospective, this volume discusses musicals from the recen...

Stage It with Music: An Encyclopedic Guide to the American Musical Theatre (1993) A one-stop, up-to-date source for information on the history of the American musical theatre, Stage It with Music packs an astonishing quantity and variety of facts as well as insights and anecdotes into a convenient dictionary format. Coverage extends from the genre's nineteenth century beginnings to the present day, from The Black Crook (1866) to Jelly's Last Jam (1992). Included are entries on over 300 individual shows, musical series, performers, composers, lyricists, librettists, directors,...

Black Musical Theatre: From Coontown to Dreamgirls (1989) Black Musical Theatre begins its historical survey with Clorindy, the Origin of the Cakewalk and A Trip to Coontown, in 1898, and concludes with the Broadway smash Dreanigirls, in 1981. The section on the ragtime pianist and composer Eubie Blake and his popular 1920s show, Shuffle Along, attests to early black influence in American musical theater. Prior to the 1920s, black musical theater was enriched by Walker and Williams, Cole and Johnson, Miller and Lyles, and Ernest Hogan. White producers ...

The Broadway Musical: Collaboration in Commerce and Art (1992) Three out of four Broadway-bound musicals fail to get there, and many of those that do, ultimately fail. The Broadway Musical takes an engrossing look at the industry's successes and failures in an effort to understand the phenomenon of mass collaboration that is Broadway. The authors investigate the complicated machinery of show business from its birth around the turn of the century through its survival of the cost explosions of the 1980s. Through interviews with many of Broadway's top produce...

The World Of Musical Comedy (1984) Acclaimed through three editions for its uniquely informative and entertaining style, this fourth edition of Stanley Green’s World of Musical Comedy updates and enlarges the theatrical scope to include such recent shows as A Chorus Line, Barnum, They’re Playing Our Song, and Annie. In a format that provides biographies of all the leading figures in the musical’s development, Stanley Green manages to convey the spirit of the Broadway stage, its musical make-believe, and yet remain objective...

Sing Out, Louise!: 150 Stars of the Musical Theatre Remember 50 Years on Broadway (1993) This ultimate Broadway insider's book is based on extensive interviews with hundreds of performers, including Lauren Bacall, Carol Channing, Barbara Cook, Nanette Fabray, Rex Harrison, Dorothy Loudon, Jerry Orbach, Tony Randall, Elaine Stritch, and Gwen Verdon, sharing personal recollections of dozens of shows. It's a backstage glimpse at the jealousy and heartbreak, the passion and commitment that have made Broadway the center of the American musical theatre for more than half a century.

America's Musical Stage: Two Hundred Years of Musical Theatre (1985) Mates shows the musical stage in all its guises--from burlesque to musical comedy to grand opera--from its beginnings in pre-Revolutionary America to the present day. He deals sensitively with the recurrent aesthetic question of popular versus highbrow art and also looks at critical reactions to popular theatrical forms of musical entertainment. He introduces the reader to various types of theatrical companies, the changing repertory, and the many kinds of musical performers who have animated th...

Theatre in the Victorian Age (1991) This book examines all major aspects of theater practice and dramatic literature of the Victorian period. Michael Booth's comprehensive survey explores the social and cultural context of the theater including theater management, the audience, architecture and production methods, acting and the job of the actor, as well as the drama itself. Within this framework, Booth discusses such topics as the effect on theater of population growth and the spread of the railway system, the typical organizatio...

Great Musicals of the American Theatre (1976) Originally published in 1973 under the title Ten great musicals of the American theatre. Includes the librettos of Of thee I sing, Porgy and Bess, One touch of Venus, Brigadoon, Kiss me Kate, West Side story, Gypsy, Fiddler on the roof, 1776, and Company.

Encyclopedia Of The Musical Theatre (1980) Drawing equally from Viennese operetta, Parisian cabaret, vaudeville, and Tin Pan Alley, the American musical theatre has thrived in an unprecedented variety of forms and styles as our truest hybrid art. From Show Boat and Oklahoma! to West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, and A Chorus Line, the musical has attracted our finest actors, composers, writers, directors, and choreographers. The greats and near-greats are finally brought together in this essential reference guide to over 2,000 persona...

Auditioning for the Musical Theatre (1988) Proven tactics and techniques from a leading New York vocal coach on how to "act" a song, choose the right material, handle a callback, what to wear, how to use eye contact, select a voice teacher and vocal coach, and more. Includes 130 excellent yet unusual audition songs for all types of situations and performers, including juveniles and dancers.

King Henry VI (1891) Henry VI, Part 1 or The First Part of Henry the Sixt (often written as 1 Henry VI) is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas 2 Henry VI deals with the King's inability to quell the bickering of his nobles, and the inevitability of armed conflict, and 3 Henry VI deals with the horrors of that conflict, 1 Henry VI deals with the loss of England's French territories and the political machination...

Spunk (1993) Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Of Hurston's four novels and more than 50 published short stories, plays, and essays, she is best known for her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Warsaw Visitor, Tales from the Vienna Streets: The Last Two Plays of William Saroyan (1990) Late in life Saroyan wrote: “In 1943 I turned my back on Broadway, but I did not stop writing plays… I wrote new plays every year… and they are part of the real American theatre, and of the real world theatre, even though they have not been produced, performed, and witnessed.” In fact, William Saroyan left some 150 unpublished plays, two of which are offered here. Typically Saroyan in their graceful, acrobatic use of language, these plays have a breadth, a universality, and a somber...

The Seesaw Log: A Chronicle of the Stage Production, with the Text, of Two for the Seesaw (1984) A day-by-day candid account of the creativity, conflict and compromise involved in the making of a smash-hit Broadway play.

The Rez Sisters (1992) Winner of the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best New Play Nominated for the Governor General's Award This award-winning play by Native playwright Tomson Highway is a powerful and moving portrayal of seven women from a reserve attempting to beat the odds by winning at bingo. And not just any bingo. It is THE BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD and a chance to win a way out of a tortured life. The Rez Sisters is hilarious, shocking, mystical and powerful, and clearly establishes the creative voice of ...

The Real Thing (1984) A talented ensemble cast brings to life Stoppard's classic play featuring the loves and loves lost of playwright Henry; his wife, Charlotte; an actor named Max; and his activist wife, Annie. Featuring a play within a play, this production is superbly performed if slightly confusing in audiobook format—it's often difficult to keep track of who is speaking and to keep track of the endlessly reconfiguring relationships. Henry searches for meaning both in art and romantic relationships as he atte...

Theatre of Tennessee Williams, Vol. 4: Sweet Bird of Youth / Period of Adjustment / The Night of the Iguana (1972) The Theatre of Tennessee Williams brings together in matching format the plays of one of America's most persistently influential and innovative dramatists. Arranged in chronological order, this ongoing series includes the original cast listings and production notes for all full-length plays.

Harold Prince and the American Musical Theater (1989) This book follows the career of the producer/director of such shows as "Pyjama Game", "Damn Yankees", "Fiddler of the Roof" and "West Side Story" and who has collaborated in many productions of Stephen Sondheim's works.

Plays and Stories: Arthur Schnitzler (1982) Arthur Schnitzler, Viennese playwright, novelist, short story writer, and physician, was a sophisticated writer much in vogue in his time. He chose themes of an erotic, romantic, or social nature, expressed with clarity, irony, and subtle wit. Reigen, a series of ten dialogues linking people of various social classes through their physical desire for one another, has been filmed many times as La Ronde. As a Jew, Schnitzler was sensitive to the problems of anti-Semitism, which he explored in the...

The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Krapp's Last Tape v. 1 (1993) Samuel Beckett directed "Krapp's Last Tape" on four separate occasions, and this volume offers a facsimile of his 1969 Schiller-Theater notebook. The notebook contains what is probably some of the most explicit analysis by Beckett of his own work ever revealed. The revised text incorporates many of the changes Beckett made in the 1969 Schiller production, as well as subsequent changes in later productions. Professor Knowlson worked closely with Beckett over these revisions - and deviations from...

The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot v. 3 (1994) Following "Endgame" and "Krapp's Last Tape", this book looks at Beckett's notebook for "Waiting for Godot". The volume is in part a facsimile of the notebook kept by Beckett for Berlin's Schiller-Theater production in 1975. It contains a full set of directional notes and discloses, section-by-section, a total system that works by repitition and analogy, musical rhythm and echo, establishing subtle patterns of sound, movement and gestures.

Chicago And Other Plays (1981) Includes: Chicago, Icarus's Mother, Red Cross, Fourteen Hundred Thousand, Melodrama Play.

Fortune, My Foe and Eros at Breakfast (1993) Robertson Davies has been called the most important Canadian playwright of the postwar period. These two plays from the 1940s prove that great writing and important themes never go out of style.

On Racine (1992) On Racine is a brilliant, personal view of theatre in which Barthes discusses all the major tragedies of Racine as well as the range of critical views of his work.

Persecución (1986) Cinco piezas de teatro se unen aqui bajo un mismo tema: la persecucion. Cruel, experimental, desenfadado, ironico y poetico, este libro ademas de ser una obra de arte, es tambien una vision profunda de la eterna dualidad que parece caracterizar al ser humano: su condicion tanto sublime como terrible que lo hace victima o victimario perseguido o perseguidor. Pero la obra ademas de ser una satira del actual regimen cubano, trasciende el mismo a traves de una liberacion que, como en el principio d...

Theaetetus (1987) Set immediately prior to the trial and execution of Socrates in 399 BC, Theaetetus shows the great philosopher considering the nature of knowledge itself, in a debate with the geometrician Theodorus and his young follower Theaetetus. Their dialogue covers many questions, such as: is knowledge purely subjective, composed of the ever-changing flow of impressions we receive from the outside world? Is it better thought of as true belief'? Or is it, as many modern philosophers argue, justified true b...

Winning Monologs for Young Actors: 65 Honest-To-Life Characterizations to Delight Young Actors and Audiences of All Ages (1986) A collection of sixty-five monologues providing young performers with a variety of audition pieces reflecting situations both serious and comic.

Autobiography: Consisting of Present Indicative, Future Indefinite and The Uncompleted Past Conditional (1986) This reissue contains all three instalments of Coward's biography. "Present Indicative", published in 1937, deals with Noel's childhood and early life up to "Cavalcade" in 1931; "Future Indefinite", published in 1954, deals with the War years; also included is the opening to a planned third volume.

The Overcoat (1991) The Overcoat which is generally acknowledged as the finest of Gogol's memorable Saint Petersburg stories, is a tale of the absurd and misplaced obsessions.

Diary of a Madman and Other Stories (1983) Illuminates the Russian writer's thoughts on madness, bureaucracy, and illusion in these five tales. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

La Mandragola (1981) A superior treatment of Machiavelli's minor masterpiece! Flaumenhaft's beautifully crafted, literal translation aims to capture the original intent of the playwright. Machiavelli himself distinguished carefully between translations and revisions; thus, Flaumenhaft finds a faithful translation essential to conveying Machiavelli's thought and to allowing direct access to the work. The Prologue explores the relationship between Machiavelli's stage comedies--part of the Comedia Erudita of the Italia...

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