Broadway Rhythm is a guide to Manhattan like nothing you've ever read. Author Dominic Symonds calls it a performance cartography, and argues that the city of New York maps its iconicity in the music of the Broadway songbook. A series of walking tours takes the reader through the landscape of Manhattan, clambering over rooftops, riding the subway, and flying over skyscrapers. Symonds argues that Broadway's songs can themselves be used as maps to better understand the city though identifiable pat...
The complete memoirs of Neil Simon, the greatest—and most successful—American playwright of all time, the author of such iconic works as Lost in Yonkers, The Odd Couple, Biloxi Blues, and The Goodbye Girl, now with an insightful Introduction by Nathan Lane.
This omnibus edition combines Neil Simon’s two memoirs, Rewrites and The Play Goes On, into one volume that spans his extraordinary five-decade career in theater, television, and film. Rewrites takes Simon through his first love, his firs...
The official behind-the-scenes book of the new hit musical.
A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he's always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. Both deeply personal and profoundly contemporary, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is a new American musical about life and the way we live it.
The book-produced by Melcher Media, the team behind Hamilton, Wicked, Rent, and many more-tells...
The list of Nicholas Hytner's accomplishments is long and distinguished: as Artistic Director of London's National Theatre from 2003-2015, he directed and produced a great number of their most popular and memorable plays and musicals, many of which have come to Broadway: Carousel, Richard Bean's One Man, Two Guvnors, David Hare's Stuff Happens among them. He directed both the London and Broadway productions of Miss Saigon, each of which ran for ten years. He directed Alan Bennett's The Madness ...
The Lion King debuted July 8, 1997, at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, and was an instant success before premiering at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 13, 1997. It is Broadway's highest grossing production of all time, having grossed more than $1 billion. The show won six 1998 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical, making Julie Taymor the first woman in theatrical history bestowed with the honor. The Lion King has also earned more than 70 major arts award...
Drawing on his own life and career and the rich lore of The Lion King, Alton Fitzgerald White, Broadway's longest running "King," delivers his message of service -- taking responsibility for and deriving happiness from commonplace achievements -- as a philosophy that anyone can get through each day with satisfaction, pride and a sense of accomplishment.
If you've ever wondered how an actor can perform the same role hundreds of times without burning out, in White's book you'll meet someone who ...
This amazing new collection features over 600 Broadway songs arranged with melody, lyrics and chords for C instruments. Definitely a must-own resource for any gigging or auditioning musician or actor! Includes: All at Once You Love Her * All I Ask of You * Alone in the Universe * Always Look on the Bright Side of Life * And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going * Another Op'nin', Another Show * Any Dream Will Do * Anything Goes * Aquarius * Be Our Guest * Bess, You Is My Woman * Big Spender * Body and...
A chronological reprinting of one of the most important comic strips of the 20th Century. Annie is a cultural icon--in both her red-headed, blank-eyed appearance, and as an embodiment of American individuality, spunk, and self-reliance. Even those who don't know strip are keenly aware of the plucky orphan, her loveable dog Sandy, and her adoptive benefactor, "Daddy" Warbucks, through the Broadway play, the hit movie, and the song "Tomorrow," made famous by both.
What would you do if you foun...
After opening in a small Off-Broadway theater, Rent , a modern adaptation of Puccini's La Boheme , quickly became a worldwide phenomenon with a more zealous and devoted fan base than had any musical in history. Rent FAQ includes biographical info on the musical's brilliant creator, Jonathan Larson, who tragically passed away at age 35 the night before the show began preview performances. Other chapters focus on the creative team and original cast; the development of the script and score from ea...
Spanning nine decades and showcasing the most memorable songs, dazzling dancing, and brightest stars ever to grace the silver screen, Must-See Musicals is the guide to the greatest musicals of all time from the most trusted authority on film-Turner Classic Movies.
Movie musicals have been a part of pop culture since films began to talk nine decades ago with the premiere of The Jazz Singer in the fall of 1927. Since then, musicals have sung and danced over a vast amount of territory. In their ...
Al Hirschfeld knew everybody and drew everybody. Beginning in the 1920s, he caricatured Hollywood, politics, and notably the theater: Broadway belonged to Hirschfeld. His distinctive drawings appeared in The New York Times and other publications for more than seventy-five years. He lived in Paris, Moscow, and Bali, and in a pink New York townhouse on a star-studded block where his closest pals?S. J. Perelman, Brooks Atkinson, Carol Channing, Gloria Vanderbilt, Elia Kazan, William Saroyan, Marle...
Based on a true story that stunned the world, and inspired by Giacomo Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly, M. Butterfly was an immediate sensation when it premiered in 1988. It opens in the cramped prison cell where diplomat Rene Gallimard is being held captive by the French government—and by his own illusions. He recalls a time when Song Liling, the beautiful Chinese diva, touched him with a love as vivid, as seductive—and as elusive—as a butterfly.
How could he have known that his true love w...
Before Tim Federle became a bestselling author and a Broadway playwright, he worked as a back-up dancer at the Super Bowl, a polar bear at Radio City, and a card-carrying chorus boy on Broadway. Life is Life a Musical features 50 tips learned backstage, onstage, and in between gigs, with chapters such as "Dance Like Everyone's Watching" and "Save the Drama for the Stage." This charming and clever guide will appeal to all ages and inspire readers to step into the lead role of their own life, eve...
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart are one of the defining duos of musical theater, contributing dozens of classic songs to the Great American Songbook and working together on over 40 shows before Hart's death. With hit after hit on both Broadway and the West End, they produced many of the celebrated songs of the '20s and '30s--such as "Manhattan," "The Lady is a Tramp," and "Bewitched"--that remain popular favorites with great cultural resonance today. Yet the early years of these iconic collabor...
When mixing a live show, for the first time or hundredth time, there are countless things running through your mind, foremost- this is live and you have to get it right!Whether you are working on Broadway, in a regional theatre or on the school production, having an understanding of the equipment, set up, and how sound behaves is crucial to the success of your show's performance.In this guide to live sound mixing for theatre, Shannon Slaton shares his expert knowledge and proven, effective tech...
When films like The Jazz Singer started to integrate synchronized music, in the late 1920s many ambitious songwriting pioneers of the Great White Way - George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart, among many others - were enticed westward by Hollywood studios' promises of national exposure and top dollar success. But what happened when writers native to the business of Broadway ran into the very different business of Hollywood? Their movies had their producer despots,...
When Robert Preston shouted “Ya got trouble!” in River City, when Carol Channing glided down a gilded staircase while waiters serenaded her with “Hello, Dolly!,” when Barbra Streisand defied us to rain on her parade in Funny Girl, audiences were instantly enchanted. After such indelible moments, musicals were never the same, and neither were we. These were all showstoppers, the numbers you think about that propel you to see the show again, the songs you recall whenever the show is mentioned—“Bi...
Musicals: The Definitive Illustrated Story showcases the complete history of the musical on stage and screen, from its origins in ancient Greece to early twentieth century dance halls and vaudeville to the golden age of cinema productions to the record-breaking Broadway musicals of today.
Packed with historical insights, memorabilia, behind-the-scenes gossip, and artifacts, Musicals: The Definitive Illustrated Story takes you on the ultimate behind-the-scenes tour of the best-loved musicals,...
The King and I opened on Broadway on March 29, 1951. The musical is based on a 1944 novel by Margaret Landon, Anna and the King of Siam , which in turn was adapted from the real-life reminiscences of Anna Leonowens, as recounted in her own books, The English Governess at the Siamese Court and The Romance of the Harem . It is 1862 in Siam when an English widow, Anna Leonowens, arrives with her young son at the Royal Palace in Bangkok, having been summoned by the King to serve as tutor to his man...
Experiencing Broadway Music: A Listener’s Companion will cover approximately the last century of American musical theater, beginning with the early-twentieth-century shift from European-influenced operettas and bawdy variety shows to sophisticated works of seamlessly integrated song and dance that became uniquely American. It will conclude with an examination of current musical trends and practices on Broadway.
As a musician who works on Broadway and in developmental musical theater, Kathry...
Broadway’s most respected (and feared) commentator pulls back the curtain on its stars, its producers, and its mega-hits to reveal all the shocking drama, intrigue, and power plays that happened off stage.
Razzle Dazzle is a provocative, no-holds-barred narrative account of the people and the money and the power that re-invented an iconic quarter of New York City, turning its gritty back alleys and sex-shops into the glitzy, dazzling Great White Way—and bringing a crippled New York from the ...
Did you know that Frank Sinatra was nearly considered for the original production of Fiddler on the Roof? Or that Jerome Robbins never choreographed the famous "Dance at the Gym" in West Side Story? Or that Lin-Manuel Miranda called out an audience member on Twitter for texting during a performance of Hamilton (the perpetrator was Madonna)? In Show and Tell: The New Book of Broadway Anecdotes, Broadway aficionado-in-chief Ken Bloom takes us on a spirited spin through some of the most intriguing...
This book explores the Broadway legacy of choreographer Agnes de Mille, from the 1940s through the 1960s. Six musicals are discussed in depth - Oklahoma!, One Touch of Venus, Bloomer Girl, Carousel, Brigadoon, and Allegro. Oklahoma!, Carousel, and Brigadoon were de Mille's most influential and lucrative Broadway works. The other three shows exemplify aspects of her legacy that have not been fully examined, including the impact of her ideas on some of the composers with whom she worked; her abil...
Mary Martin was one of the greatest stars of her day. Growing up in Texas, she was married early to Benjamin Hagman and gave birth to her first child, Larry Hagman. She was divorced even more quickly. Martin left little Larry with her parents and took off for Hollywood. She didn't make a dent in the movie industry and was lured to New York where she found herself auditioning for Cole Porter and his new show "Leave It to Me!". After she sang the bawdy "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", she ended up on...
When Leonard Bernstein first arrived in New York City, he was an unknown artist working with other brilliant twentysomethings, notably Jerome Robbins, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green. By the end of the 1940s, these artists were world famous. Their collaborations defied artistic boundaries and subtly pushed a progressive political agenda, altering the landscape of musical theater, ballet, and nightclub comedy. In Bernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War, award-winning author an...
One of the greatest American singers and actresses of her generation looks back on a magical and turbulent life spanning a half century of theatrical history from the golden age of the Broadway musical to the present day.
A legend of the American theater, Barbara Cook burst upon the scene to become Broadway’s leading ingénue in roles such as Cunégonde in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, Amalia Balash in Jerry Bock’s She Loves Me, and her career-defining, Tony-winning role as the original Marian ...
Ziegfeld Girls were the chorus girls from Master Showman Florenz Ziegfeld's theatrical spectaculars known as the Ziegfeld Follies (1907–1931), which were based on the popular Folies Bergère of Paris.
SYNCHRONIZED BEAUTY
These Broadway beauties, bedecked in Erté designer gowns, gained many male admirers of all ages and they became objects of popular adoration. Most the showgirls looked quite similar, both in appearance and in stature. Dancing in complete synchronization, they were the on...
“Why hasn’t anyone done a hip-hop version of Alexander Hamilton’s life?” said the Broadway composer and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda in a 2012 article in The New York Times. Lucky for us, Mr. Miranda — a history buff who had long been fascinated by the turbulent life and tragic end of our nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury — has done just that. This Tbook, a selection of articles and reviews from The Times, chronicles the evolution of Miranda’s musical “Hamilton,” from its beginnings as an...
Get the inside scoop on Broadway's Biggest Hit! The Unofficial Guide to Hamilton is loaded with information about the show, the cast and the experience of attending the show! Get unbiased information, insider secrets, and tips for making the most of the Hamilton experience!
One of the most successful shows in Broadway history, The Book of Mormon broke box office records when it debuted in 2011 and received nine Tony awards, including Best Musical. A collaboration between Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators of the show South Park) and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q), the show was a critical success, cited for both its religious irreverence and sendup of musical traditions.
In Singing and Dancing to The Book of Mormon: Critical Essays on the Broadway Musical, Marc Edwar...
A visual and oral history of the past twenty years of theater, On Broadway pulls back the curtain to reveal the creative process involved in bringing a Broadway show to the stage and into the public consciousness through the words of Broadway’s most famous personalities and the art of SpotCo. The art created for a show provides audiences with a tangible, visual, and emotional connection with the theatrical experience. This collection of hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos, concept art, and pos...
Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical Hamilton is as revolutionary as its subject, the poor kid from the Caribbean who fought the British, defended the Constitution, and helped to found the United States. Fusing hip-hop, pop, R&B, and the best traditions of theater, this once-in-a-generation show broadens the sound of Broadway, reveals the storytelling power of rap, and claims our country's origins for a diverse new generation.
HAMILTON: THE REVOLUTION gives readers an unprecedented vi...
(Vocal Selections). 17 selections from the critically acclaimed musical about Alexander Hamilton which debuted on Broadway in August 2015 to unprecedented advanced box office sales. Our collection features 17 selections in piano/vocal format from the music penned by Lin-Manuel Miranda, including: Alexander Hamilton * Burn * Dear Theodosia * Hurricane * It's Quiet Uptown * My Shot * One Last Time * Satisfied * That Would Be Enough * Washington on Your Side * You'll Be Back * and more. Also includ...
Behind the scenes of New York City's Great White Way, virtuosos of stagecraft have built the scenery, costumes, lights, and other components of theatrical productions for more than a hundred years. But like a good magician who refuses to reveal secrets, they have left few clues about their work. Blue-Collar Broadway recovers the history of those people and the neighborhood in which their undersung labor occurred.
Timothy R. White begins his history of the theater industry with the dispersed ...
In the early decades of the twentieth century, a vibrant theatrical culture took shape on New York City's Lower East Side. Original dramas, comedies, musicals, and vaudeville, along with sophisticated productions of Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Chekhov, were innovatively staged for crowds that rivaled the audiences on Broadway. Though these productions were in Yiddish and catered to Eastern European, Jewish audiences (the largest immigrant group in the city at the time), their artistic innovations, ...
(Vocal Selections). 15 songs from the 2015 Broadway musical loosely based on the life of slave trader turned abolitionist John Newton who wrote "Amazing Grace." Includes vocal lines with piano accompaniment for: Amazing Grace * Daybreak * Expectations * I Still Believe * Nowhere Left to Run * Shadows of Innocence * Tell Me Why * Voices of the Angels * We Are Determined * and more.
For almost thirty years, Jack Viertel has been a major figure in the Broadway theater world?he’s helped create shows like Hairspray, Angels in America, and Into the Woods; served as dramaturg of the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles; and is currently senior vice president of Jujamcyn Theaters, which host such shows as The Book of Mormon and Jersey Boys. Not long ago, Viertel noticed that while colleges offer intensive classes on Shakespeare's plays, dissecting them line by line to uncover their s...
For Broadway audiences of the 1980s, the decade was perhaps most notable for the so-called “British invasion.” While concept musicals such as Nine and Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George continued to be produced, several London hits came to New York. In addition to shows like Chess, Me and My Girl, and Les Miserables, the decade’s most successful composer Andrew Lloyd Webber was also well represented by Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Song & Dance, and Starlight Express. There wer...
From Showboat to Hamilton, American musical theater has long held the imagination of the nation's theatergoers. Those who love Broadway musicals always have their favorites-their all-time bests, their most reviled shows, and the ones that are absolutely unforgettable. The Ultimate Broadway Musical List Book considers the history of the Broadway musical from the unique perspective of the list-the bests and worsts of various eras, the groundbreaking shows and the forgotten gems. Author Steven M. ...
In Candid Conversations with Broadway Pros, Producer Ken Davenport sits down to talk with professionals from the theater industry to get their perspective on the Great White Way.
(Instrumental Solo). Instrumentalists will love this collection of Broadway classics, including: Any Dream Will Do * Cabaret * Defying Gravity * Do You Hear the People Sing? * Edelweiss * Getting to Know You * Guys and Dolls * Hello, Dolly! * I Dreamed a Dream * If I Were a Bell * Luck Be a Lady * Mame * The Music of the Night * Ol' Man River * People Will Say We're in Love * Seasons of Love * Send in the Clowns * The Surrey with the Fringe on Top * Think of Me * Tomorrow * What I Did for Love *...
In On Sondheim, renowned author Ethan Mordden takes the reader on a tour of Stephen Sondheim's work, arguing for the importance and appeal of the composer-lyricist in American theater and, even more, in American culture. Over the course of eighteen shows, Mordden demonstrates that Sondheim is a classical composer who happens to write musicals. Sondheim has intellectualized the musical by tackling serious content usually reserved for the spoken stage: nonconformism (in Anyone Can Whistle, 1964),...
BASH, a collection of three darkly brilliant one-act plays, forms a trio of unforgettable personal accounts. In MEDEA REDUX, a woman tells of her complex and ultimately tragic relationship with her junior high school English teacher; in IPHIGENIA IN OREM, a Utah businessman confides in a stranger in a Las Vegas hotel room, confessing a most chilling crime; and in A GAGGLE OF SAINTS, a young Mormon couple separately recounts the violent events of an anniversary weekend in New York City. All thre...
In this textbook for performers, the position of a Swing-an Understudy for the Ensemble-on Broadway is examined from every angle, showing just how vital Swings are to the success of any musical theatre production.
Authors J. Austin Eyer and Lyndy Franklin Smith draw on their own experiences as performers, and gather first-hand stories from other Swings about the glories and hardships of their industry. The book features interviews with over 100 Broadway pros-Swing veterans, Stage Managers, Cas...
A definitive biography of the iconic actor and Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney (1920-2014) and his extravagant, sometimes tawdry life, drawing on exclusive interviews, and with those who knew him best, including his heretofore unknown mistress of sixty years.
“I lived like a rock star,” said Mickey Rooney. “I had all I ever wanted, from Lana Turner and Joan Crawford to every starlet in Hollywood, and then some. They were mine to have. Ava [Gardner] was the best. I screwed up my life. I pissed...
"If Seth Rudetsky didn't exist, we'd have to invent him. He is the friend who points out everything glorious and silly about your favorite shows. He leaves you laughing helplessly and in awe of his gifts and time management skills. Read this book and see how much Seth gets done in a day. It will make you reach for more." Lin-Manuel Miranda
A compilation of Seth's hilarious Broadway-centric "Onstage and Backstage" columns for Playbill.com chronicling his unique life on and around the Great Whit...
The Best American Short Plays 20132014 takes a look at our changing times. Uncertain seems to be the watchword of todays world, full of surprises, shocks, and even a few delights. Uncertainty brings with it fear and insecurity, as well as a nostalgic longing for the good old days, but for some, uncertainty means opportunity and along with it the prospect of change for the better. This volume explores various experiences of uncertainty and includes a series of nine plays gathered by Daniel Galla...
Since it first opened on Broadway in September, 1964, Fiddler on the Roof has constantly been onstage somewhere, including four Broadway revivals, four productions on London’s West End and thousands of schools, army bases and countries from Argentina to Japan. Barbara Isenberg interviewed the men and women behind the original production, the film and significant revivals-- Harold Prince, Sheldon Harnick, Joseph Stein, Austin Pendleton, Joanna Merlin, Norman Jewison, Topol, Harvey Fierstein and ...
Since it first opened on Broadway in September, 1964, Fiddler on the Roof has constantly been onstage somewhere, including four Broadway revivals, four productions on London’s West End and thousands of schools, army bases and countries from Argentina to Japan. Barbara Isenberg interviewed the men and women behind the original production, the film and significant revivals-- Harold Prince, Sheldon Harnick, Joseph Stein, Austin Pendleton, Joanna Merlin, Norman Jewison, Topol, Harvey Fierstein and ...
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