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Broadway Bookshelf

Biographies, show books, musical scores, history, and must-read theatre books.
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Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent (7/1/2006)

Rent can be characterized as a Tony- and Pulitzer-winning rock musical and film, but it can be described also as an ensemble experience that just kept growing. Nobody can describe that deeply human process better than actor Anthony Rapp, who played video artist Mark Cohen in both the Broadway play and the movie. His heartwarming personal memoir shows the continuity between the musical's genesis and the emotional lives of the artists workshopping it. With You takes you backstage and into the hea... 		Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent Cover
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... 		The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation Cover
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... 		Theatre and Travel: Tours of the South Cover
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 ... 		New York Then/New York Now Cover
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... 		The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin Cover
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 ... 		The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan Cover
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... 		The Cambridge Companion to David Mamet Cover
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 ... 		Golda's Balcony: A Play Cover
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. 		The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama Cover
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... 		The Lyrics of Noel Coward Cover
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 ... 		The Social Significance of Modern Drama Cover
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... 		Polaroid Stories Cover
The Complete Lyrics Of Lorenz Hart (1/1/1995)

This expanded edition includes an appendix of previously uncollected and newly discovered lyrics. 		The Complete Lyrics Of Lorenz Hart Cover
Musicals!: A Complete Selection Guide for Local Productions (12/2/1994)

From A . . . My Name Is Alice to The Zulu and the Zayde, this second edition of a title first published in 1984 contains information about 500 musicals (100 of which are new to this edition) available for production by community theaters and schools. Listed alphabetically by title, each entry includes date of original production, playwright, composer, lyricist, plot summary, licensing agent and music publisher, recordings and librettos available (for in-depth research by the user), and cast (num... 		Musicals!: A Complete Selection Guide for Local Productions Cover
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... 		The Story of Starlight Theatre Cover
Edward Albee: A Singular Journey (12/31/1969)

The American playwright Edward Albee's greatest glories came early in his career. When his first play, The Zoo Story, debuted in Provincetown, Mass., in 1960, he was called, as Gussow (cultural writer for the New York Times) puts it here, "our homegrown equivalent of Beckett." After his masterpiece, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was staged in 1962, Albee was heralded as the voice of his generation. Then came two decades of debilitating alcoholism and commercial and critical flops. However, his... 		Edward Albee: A Singular Journey Cover
Acting With Shakespeare: The Comedies (12/31/1969)

In this book adapted from a television master class, actress Janet Suzman has crafted a superbly concise and clearly written account of how to develop fully realized characters in Shakespeare. Here she shares her poignant observations. Includes a foreword, and great photos throughout. Also available: DVD, HL00314739 		Acting With Shakespeare: The Comedies Cover
Stage Directing: A Practical Guide (12/31/1969)

Stage Directing: A Practical Guide demystifies the art of directing for the stage. Offering detailed advice on every aspect of the process, it explores the ways in which a carefully orchestrated performance can be made to appear fresh and spontaneous. It shows how the ties between play, performers, and audience can be strengthened, and how the strategic intervention of the director can help to produce the most polished and elegant performances. Written for all those involved in the direction of ... 		Stage Directing: A Practical Guide Cover
So You Want To Be An Actor (12/31/1969)

This handbook for aspiring actors is co-written by two of the best-known names in British theatre and television. It offers practical advice and do's and dont's to anyone thinking of taking up acting. The authors are passionate about actor training, know the profession inside and out and have more than a hundred years' experience between them. Charmingly informal but full of sound advice, So You Want To Be An Actor? is essential reading for anyone with their eye on a career in acting. 		So You Want To Be An Actor Cover
Routledge Guide to Broadway (12/31/1969)

The Routledge Guide to Broadway is the second title in our new student reference series. It will introduce the student to the Broadway theater, focusing on key performers, writers, directors, plays, and musicals, along with the theaters themselves, key awards, and the folklore of Broadway. Broadway is the center of American theater, where all the great plays and musicals make their mark. Students across the country in theater history, performance, and direction/production look to Broadway for t... 		Routledge Guide to Broadway Cover
Performer Prepares: A Guide to Song Preparation for Actors, Singers and Dancers (12/31/1969)

A Performer Prepares is a 13-part master class on how to perform on any stage from bleak rehearsal room to the Palace Theatre. The class covers the basic Broadway song numbers, from show ballad to showstopper. With precise, logical steps and dynamic and entertaining dialogues between himself and his students, David Craig takes anyone with the desire to shine from an audition to final curtain call. These lessons on the pages recreate as closely as possible the unique interpersonal dyamic of Craig... 		Performer Prepares: A Guide to Song Preparation for Actors, Singers and Dancers Cover
The Megamusical (12/31/1969)

A megamusical is an epic, dramatic show featuring recurring melodies in a sung-through score; huge, impressive sets; and grand ideas. These qualities are accompanied by intensive marketing campaigns, unprecedented international financial success, and a marked disjunction between critical reaction and audience reception. Audiences adore megamusicals; they flock to see them when they open, and return again and again, helping long-lived shows to become semi-permanent tourist attractions. Yet genera... 		The Megamusical Cover
Lenya the Legend (12/31/1969)

Born Karoline Blamauer in Vienna in 1898, Lenya spent an impoverished childhood there before launching her career in Zurich and then Berlin, where she met and married Weill. The toast of the Berlin arts scene, Weill and Lenya left Germany in 1933 following the election of Hitler as chancellor. Weill was Jewish and an advocate of freedom of expression--his play Der Silbersee ("The Silver Lake"), which contained a caricature of Hitler, had already been banned by the authorities. The couple went to... 		Lenya the Legend Cover
Ingmar Bergman: A Life in the Theater (12/31/1969)

A revised and expanded edition highlights the developments that have occurred in the interim since the first edition with reference to Bergman's triumphant return to the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm after years of self-imposed exile. 		Ingmar Bergman: A Life in the Theater Cover
The Impossible Musical: The "Man of La Mancha" Story (12/31/1969)

Man of La Mancha is arguably the most popular musical drama of all time, most recently on Broadway starring Brian Stokes Mitchell. Dale Wasserman, however, had more trouble getting it on to a Broadway stage than Don Quixote ever had with those damn windmills. For centuries, writers all over the world had tried to stage Cervantes' comic masterpiece, and all had failed. On a sabbatical to Spain in the late 1950s, screenwriter-stage director Dale Wasserman had the insight to change that - Don Quixo... 		The Impossible Musical: The "Man of La Mancha" Story Cover
The Big Life - The Ska Musical (12/31/1969)

"Journeying over from the West Indies to England, Ferdy, Lennie, Dennis and Bernie are all eager to make successes of themselves and take full advantage of what they think The Big Life has to offer. So they pledge to abstain from women for three years." But Mary, Kathy, Zuleika and Sybil have other ideas. They know that man cannot live by bread alone! Will the men stick with their idea of The Big Life, or will Cupid have the final say? 		The Big Life - The Ska Musical Cover
Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical (12/31/1969)

On August 25, 1980, the curtain fell on the first night of the original production of 42nd St. David Merrick, the shows megalomaniacal producer, stepped to the footlights and told the audience that the shows director, Gower Champion, had died that afternoon. Some believe he took the classic Broadway musical with him. Starting his career as one-half of a song and dance team with his wife, Gower and Marge Champion first wowed audiences in nightclubs around the world and then moved to Hollywood whe... 		Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical Cover
Kurt Weill - On Stage: From Berlin to Broadway (12/31/1969)

A provocative but uneven look at the composer of The Threepenny Opera, Lady in the Dark and other well-known musicals, this biography traces Weill's career from his satirical Weimar collaborations with Brecht to the musicals he created for Broadway after fleeing the Nazis in 1933. Brooklyn College film professor Hirsch (Harold Prince and the American Musical Theater) draws on extensive documentation from New York's Kurt Weill Foundation and new interviews with surviving participants to argue tha... 		Kurt Weill - On Stage: From Berlin to Broadway Cover
Up Front... His Strictly Confidential Autobiography (12/31/1969)

Described by Sir Paul McCartney as ‘the man who makes clouds disappear’, Victor Spinetti is one of Britain’s best-loved and most outrageous performers. He became known to the Sixties generation through his comedic roles in the landmark Beatles films and the classic Return of the Pink Panther, starring Peter Sellers. His remarkable wit and versatility have earned him fresh popularity with every generation since. A veteran stage actor, writer and director, Spinetti gives us an irresistible a... 		Up Front... His Strictly Confidential Autobiography Cover
Reading Stephen Sondheim: A Collection of Critical Essays (12/31/1969)

Stephen Sondheim is arguably the most important writer for the American musical stage today, the equivalent in his field of Miller, Albee, O'Neill, and Williams. Yet he has rarely been treated seriously within the academy. Reading Stephen Sondheim: A Collection of Critical Essays is an attempt to remedy that situation. Bringing together scholars and critics from a wide variety of literary and theoretical perspectives, this book undertakes to examine all of Sondheim's major productions and themes... 		Reading Stephen Sondheim: A Collection of Critical Essays Cover
Oh What a Circus (12/31/1969)

With wit and candour, Tim Rice describes the gilded path that took him from cricket and comic-obsessed schoolboy to one of the world's best-known lyricists. Along the way he worked as a petrol pump attendant and articled clerk before becoming a management trainee at EMI. But it was his fateful meeting with Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1965 which was to be the turning-point in Tim's career. Immediate fortune didn't follow and it took the album of Jesus Christ Superstar to reach no.1 in the States befor... 		Oh What a Circus Cover
Zero Dances: A Biography of Zero Mostel (12/31/1969)

Talent propelled Zero Mostel from the Orthodox Jewish home of his immigrant parents to the underground nightclubs where he began his career doing stand-up comedy and on to theatre, film, and television. But whatever the medium and whatever the role - comic or serious or frequently both - the personality of the man was inescapable. He was always Zero. Twenty-one years after his death, the extraordinary Zero Mostel reappears in the unconventional biography he deserves. Arthur Sainer's research, pa... 		Zero Dances: A Biography of Zero Mostel Cover
Under the Rainbow: The Real Liza Minnelli (12/31/1969)

The daughter of Judy Garland and movie director Vincente Minnelli, Liza Minnelli has endured excruciating trauma and failure and exhilarating passion and success - with the help of drugs, lovers, and a few close friends. Under the Rainbow is the touching story of a bewildered little girl searching for the childhood she never had and a love that has eluded her. There are two Lizas: the dynamic entertainer whose dramatic voice and stage presence embraced the romantic imagination of her audience; a... 		Under the Rainbow: The Real Liza Minnelli Cover
Bette Midler: Still Divine (12/31/1969)

Growing up a self-proclaimed "ugly, fat little Jewish girl with problems," Bette Midler traded in her job at a Hawaiian pineapple processing plant for a trip to the Big Apple where, in the early 1970s, she re-created herself as the Divine Miss M, a brassy, bawdy cabaret act performing in a gay bathhouse. By the end of the decade, she had an Oscar nomination (for The Rose) to go with her two Grammys, two Golden Globes and Tony award. After a rough start (her 1982 movie Jinxed was prophetically ti... 		Bette Midler: Still Divine Cover
Ethel Merman: The Biggest Star on Broadway (12/31/1969)

For nearly three decades Ethel Merman virtually guranteed Broadway success. This in-depth portrait details her career, marriages, affairs, and her children. It includes a complete glossary of all of Merman's appearances. 		Ethel Merman: The Biggest Star on Broadway Cover
Frank Loesser: A Most Remarkable Fella (12/31/1969)

The daughter of one of America's most prolific and enduring composers turns her pen to an engaging, revealing portrait of her father, her family and the life they shared in the giant shadow that his fame cast. With the 1992 Broadway revivals of Guys and Dolls and The Most Happy Fella, Frank Loesser's music once again reverberates around the nation. Loesser was the composer, lyricist and driving force behind these classics, as well as How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Where's C... 		Frank Loesser: A Most Remarkable Fella Cover
Act One: An Autobiography (12/31/1969)

With this new edition, the classic best-selling autobiography by the late playwright Moss Hart returns to print in the thirtieth anniversary of its original publication. Issued in tandem with Kitty, the revealing autobiography of his wife, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Act One, is a landmark memoir that incluenced a generation of theatergoers, dramatists, and general book readers everywhere. The book eloquently chronicles Moss Hart's impoverished childhood in the Bronx and Brooklyn and his long, determin... 		Act One: An Autobiography Cover
The Street Where I Live (12/31/1969)

This is a highly personal biography of three great shows: My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Gigi. Warm, witty, loving, often hilarious, and poignant in its affection for a glorious era in the American theater, it is the story of what Mr. Lerner calls "the sundown of wit, eccentricity, and glamour." The author himself, try as he will to keep himself out of his pages, emerges not merely as a great talent, but as a man of laughter and love. His principals, however, are Moss Hart and Fritz Loewe, with a st... 		The Street Where I Live Cover
Jerry Herman: The Lyrics (12/31/1969)

Jerry Herman is one of Broadway's most celebrated composers and lyricists. He is the author of two of the biggest successes in musical theatre history: Hello, Dolly! and Mame as well as many others. This book offers all of the lyrics to Herman's well-loved songs along with rare production photographs from all of his shows. It includes early lyrics from Herman's first Broadway revues and shows, songs cut from his best-loved shows, and new lyrics. Herman's songs have been sung by all the masters o... 		Jerry Herman: The Lyrics Cover
Jerry Herman Poet Of The Showtune (12/31/1969)

The first in-depth biography of the celebrated composer/lyricist who created Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles This revealing and comprehensive book tells the full story of Jerry Herman’s life and career, from his early work in cabaret to his recent compositions for stage, screen, and television. Stephen Citron draws on extensive open-ended interviews with Jerry Herman as well as with scores of his theatrical colleagues, collaborators, and close friends. The resulting book—... 		Jerry Herman Poet Of The Showtune Cover
Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway (12/31/1969)

Lorenz Hart singlehandedly changed the craft of lyric writing. When Larry Hart first met Dick Rodgers in 1919, the commercial song lyric consisted of tired cliches and cloying Victorian sentimentality. Hart changed all that, always avoiding the obvious, aiming for the unexpected phrase that would twang the nerve or touch the heart. Endowed with both a buoyant wit and a tender, almost raw sincerity, Hart brought a poetic complexity to his art, capturing the everyday way people talk and weaving it... 		Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway Cover
Cole Porter: A Biography (12/31/1969)

In 1933 Irving Berlin wrote to composer-lyricist Cole Porter, ”I am mad about Night and Day.” Millions of others throughout the world have been ”mad about” that Porter gem, as well as dozens of others, including, to name just a few, Begin the Beguine, From This Moment On, It’s De-Lovely, Just One of Those Things, Love for Sale, and My Heart Belongs to Daddy. Cole Porter (1891-1964) set new standards for popular song-writing, and his lyrics and melodies are as bright and sophisticated t... 		Cole Porter: A Biography Cover
Cole Porter (12/31/1969)

This richly told biography reveals the private and public life of one of the most important and beguiling composer/lyricists of the century -- the incomparable Cole Porter, whose songs were the essence of wit and sophistication and whose life was marked by tragedy, courage, sorrow, and secrecy. 		Cole Porter Cover
Cole Porter: Selected Lyrics (12/31/1969)

Cole Porter possessed to a singular degree the art of expressing depth through apparent frivolity. The effervescent wit and technical bravura of his songs are matched by their unguarded revelations of feeling. In the words of editor Robert Kimball, "Porter wrote tellingly of the pain and evanescence of emotional relationships. He gentle mocked propriety and said that few things were simple or lasting or free from ambiguity." Of the masters of twentieth-century American songwriting, Porter was on... 		Cole Porter: Selected Lyrics Cover
Judy Garland: Beyond the Rainbow (12/31/1969)

Morley and Leon's profusely illustrated overview of the singer-actress beloved as much for her pathetic life as for her performances has the signal virtue of acknowledging her core fandom--gay men. Garland's appeal to gay men quite possibly arose out of her love, however misplaced, for her improvident and alcoholic as well as homosexual father. One very close friend was a gay man, two of her five husbands were homosexual, and she urged her daughter Liza to marry the homosexual Peter Allen. Compl... 		Judy Garland: Beyond the Rainbow Cover
Colored Lights: Forty Years of Words and Music, Show Biz, Collaboration, and All That Jazz (12/31/1969)

Composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb are the longest-running song-writing partnership in Broadway history, having first joined forces in 1962. The creators of such groundbreaking musicals as Chicago, Cabaret, and Kiss of the Spider Woman, Kander and Ebb have helped to push American musical theater in a more daring direction, both musically and dramatically. Their impact on individual performers has been great as well, starting with the handpicked star of their first musical: an untested ni... 		Colored Lights: Forty Years of Words and Music, Show Biz, Collaboration, and All That Cover
As Thousands Cheer: The Life Of Irving Berlin (12/31/1969)

A look at the life and prolific career of one of America's most successful songwriters. 		As Thousands Cheer: The Life Of Irving Berlin Cover
The Complete Phantom of the Opera (12/31/1969)

Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Phantom of the Opera has been a smash hit worldwide. Now, here is the definitive account of this theatrical masterpiece, tracing the Phantom legend from its origins in historical fact through numerous artistic incarnations to the present day. The book includes the complete libretto and many specially commissioned color photographs of the production. 		The Complete Phantom of the Opera Cover

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