Broadway Bookshelf - Must Read Theater Books

By Janet Langhart Cohen, who wrote the play Anne & Emmett, which has been performed across the U.S. since 2007 (the play is also being published in paperback and Kindle format). An effort to reveal how some of the people the author has known and the seminal events she experienced enabled her to link together, in an imaginary conversation, the seemingly disparate lives of Anne Frank and Emmett Till, two iconic figures who were murdered by societies that couldn’t protect them.

Analyzes four of Davis’s best-known pictures— Jezebel (1938), The Little Foxes (1941), In This Our Life (1942), and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)—against the history of American race relations. Stern also weaves in memories of her own experiences as a young viewer, coming into racial consciousness watching Davis's films on television in an all-white suburb of Chicago.

Collection of interviews conducted between 2019-2021 with New York theater artists who have spent their lives working in and inventing the avant-garde ... brings to light a series of "lost conversations" about class, race, difficulty, endurance, and privilege in the New York avant-garde of the past fifty years, as well as conversations about the ephemerality, the always-about-to-be-lostness of the medium itself. Featuring conversations with Joanne Akalaitis, Anne Bogart, Lee Breuer, Ping Chong...

. "David Greenbaum ... hijacks his brother Nate’s time machine, the SlingShot, and jumps to 1934 to save George Gershwin from the brain tumor that killed him at age thirty-eight ... How much influence can one actor-songwriter have on the Great White Way, armed with a suitcase of modern medicine and advance knowledge of nearly 150 years of musical theatre history?" Physical format to be released in February 2022.

More than 200 publicity stills and photos of some of America's first "It" girls—silent film-era starlets. Accompanying these iconic images are the stories behind them, including accounts from surviving Ziegfeld Girls, as well as ads featuring them.

All About Me! charts Mel Brooks’s meteoric rise from a Depression-era kid in Brooklyn to the recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Whether serving in the United States Army in World War II, or during his burgeoning career as a teenage comedian in the Catskills, Mel was always mining his experiences for material, always looking for the perfect joke. His iconic career began with Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows, where he was part of the greatest writers’ room in history, which included Carl R...

Ben and his friends are playing in their favorite part of the classroom-- the dress-up corner! They are talking about what they want to be when they grow up. Rachel wants to be a tae kwon do master, Dixie wants to be a doctor like her auntie, and John wants to be a teacher just like their teacher, Mr. Underwood. But when Ben says he wants to fly just like his daddy, his friends are sure his daddy must be a pilot. Ben tells his friends that they aren't even close, but he offers a few more cl...

Charles Boyer: The French Lover is the first biography of Boyer to exist in English in almost forty years. Author John Baxter artfully presents the often-tragic life of this often overlooked, yet profoundly impactful French actor. Baxter relates how Boyer (1899–1978) established himself in the theater and cinema of France, confidently transitioning from silent film to sound and making a name for himself as a romantic leading man in Hollywood through the early 1940s. During World War II, Boyer p...

Routledge Research in Music series. Draws on extensive archival research with original manuscripts to provide a detailed account of the process of orchestration for West Side Story and Gypsy, and their context in the history of Broadway orchestration. Breaking down how the two composers, Leonard Bernstein and Jules Styne, collaborated with orchestrators Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal, and Robert Ginzler to better understand both these two iconic shows and the importance of orchestration within musical...

Featuring never-before-seen unit photography, storyboards, costume and concept designs, and behind-the-scenes photos. The author was embedded with the film's cast and crew and conducted original interviews with director and producer Steven Spielberg, screenwriter and executive producer Tony Kushner, Tony Award–winning choreographer Justin Peck, and the cast to bring together a firsthand oral history documenting every stage of the film's production. 256 pages.

The classic novelization of one of Broadway's most enduring and beloved musicals (based on a conception by Jerome Robbins, book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins), updated with a new cover. 160 pages. Most release will coincide with new film release (currently 2021). Previously released in paperback and audioBook format.

Thirty new ten-minute plays. This volume is ideal for theatre enthusiasts looking for new and compelling short pieces from some of the finest playwrights of our time.

Broadway Legacies series. First full scale book about the career of the director-choreographer Tommy Tune (Grand Hotel, My One and Only, Nine, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, The Will Rogers Follies). "Celebrates and examines with a critical eye his major projects, and summons for readers a glorious period of dance, performance, and theatrical imagination." 288 pages.

Memoir by West End/Broadway and TV performer Denise Van Outen (Chicago, Tell Me on a Sunday, Legally Blonde).

Foreword by Carol Burnett. Afterword by Cher. Comprehensive and authorized showcase of legendary fashion designer Bob Mackie’s fabulous life and work, featuring hundreds of photos and dozens of never-before-seen sketches from his personal collection. 304 pages.

Recipes include Hello, Daquiri!, The Best Little Whiskey Sour in Texas, Don't Cry for Me, Appletini, I Don't Know How to Love Gin, Bloody, Bloody, Mary Jackson, Once on this (Long) Island Iced Tea, Brandy Alexander Hamilton, If I Were a Rich Man(hattan), and more.

Collection of monologues from plays by members of Honor Roll!, an advocacy group of women over forty.

Examines choreography for musical theatre through the lens of dance studies, script analysis, movement research and dramaturgical inquiry ... the choreographic systems of some of Broadway's most influential dance-makers including George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins, Katherine Dunham, Bob Fosse, Savion Glover, Sergio Trujillo, Steven Hoggett and Camille Brown. 232 pages.

Immortalizes the stories, struggles, and successes of an industry that was the first to be shut down and one of the last to return. Weaves more than 200 letters from Broadway theater veterans, devout theatergoers, teenage dreamers aching for their day in the spotlight, long-time ushers, designers, creatives, and countless other arts workers with a brand-new, breathtaking photo series by Broadway photographer Matthew Murphy. For every copy purchased, a portion of the profits will directly benef...

While T.S. Eliot observed and made fun of the habits and behavior of everyday people, through the comic and insightful metaphor of some very human-like cats, this collection targets more specific but just as wickedly true-to-life cat types ... quirky, eccentric, fascinating cat types who make musical theatre, through the lens of some very artsy cats, the good, the bad, and the finicky.

All her life, Siena has dreamed of being a ballerina. Her love of movement and dedication to the craft earned her a spot at the School of American Ballet, with hopes of becoming a member of George Balanchine’s world-famous New York City Ballet company. Siena has worked hard for many years to be a professional ballet dancer, but injury and doubt are starting to take their toll. Maybe it’s time to look beyond the world of dance—but Siena’s whole identity has been shaped by ballet. When you hav...

"The book Noël Coward wanted, promised, threatened to write--and never did." Shows how Coward's opinions were as sharp and entertaining as his plays and his lyrics. Including essays, interviews, diary entries, verse showing his views on his fellow playwrights, critics, producers, acting methods, and actors. Compiled, edited, and annotated by Barry Day, Coward authority and editor of The Noel Coward Reader and The Letters of Noel Coward.

Selected theatre reviews from 1992 to 2020 ... starting each chapter is a brief commentary on the developments of that era and the social, political and cultural context within which this theatre was being produced. Also included are key obituaries and letters in response to reviews written.

"The life story of a singular artist and survivor in his own words ... the story of a boy whose talent and courage opened doors for him, but only a crack ... the story of a teenager discovering himself, learning his voice and his craft amidst deep trauma. And it is the story of a young man whose unbreakable determination led him through countless hard times to where he is now; a proud icon who refuses to back down or hide." 288 pages.

In a roving, shimmering conversation that took place in May 2021, scholar, poet, and activist Alexis Pauline Gumbs and playwright, songwriter, performance artist, and educator Daniel Alexander Jones discuss love as a foundational principle of artistic practice and societal change. Reflecting on Love Like Light, Daniel Alexander Jones's collection of seven plays and performance texts (published by 53rd State in July 2021), DAJ and APG illuminate the ways in which an attention to care, community,...

Piano/vocal/guitar songbook. 11 songs from the movie soundtrack. "The Anonymous Ones" and "A Little Closer," written exclusively for the film. All songs are arranged for piano, voice, and guitar with chord symbols, guitar chord frames, and full lyrics. The melody is included in the piano part. Full song list: The Anonymous Ones," "For Forever," "If I Could Tell Her," "A Little Closer," "Only Us," "Requiem," "Sincerely, Me," "So Big/So Small," "Waving Through a Window," "Words Fail," "You Will B...

he story of American playwright, director, and artistic director Emily Mann ... her family life; her coming-of-age in Chicago during the exuberant, rebellious, and often violent 1960s; how sexual violence touched her personally; and how she fell in love with theater and began learning her craft at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while a student at Radcliffe ... her evolution as a professional director and playwright at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, on and off Broadway, ...

Whether she’s playing an “age-defying” book editor on television or dazzling audiences on the Broadway stage, Sutton Foster manages to make it all look easy. How? Crafting. From the moment she picked up a cross stitch needle to escape the bullying chorus girls in her early performing days, she was hooked. Cross stitching led to crocheting, crocheting led to collages, which led to drawing, and so much more. Channeling her emotions into her creations centered Sutton as she navigated the significa...

Leo, Misha, Ralph, and Dawn are old friends. The two couples have a lot in common—good educations, progressive politics, a taste for culture. But when a racially motivated incident with the cops leaves Leo shaken, he decides he must take extreme measures in order to survive. Suzan-Lori Parks’ newest work reveals how easily fissures can form in the social contracts we build with one another when confronted with difficult questions about race and identity.

From "Auditions" to "Ziegfeld" ... rhythmic alphabet book featuring favorite performers, creators, songs, and shows from the Broadway stage ... Lin-Manuel Miranda, Patti LuPone, Irving Berlin, Jennifer Holliday, and Billy Porter ... famous New York theaters, beloved shows, and the crew, stylists, and technicians who are vital to each performance. 48 pages.

With a play opening on Broadway, and every reason to smile, Sarah Ruhl has just survived a high-risk pregnancy when she discovers the left side of her face is completely paralyzed. She is assured that 90 percent of Bell’s palsy patients see spontaneous improvement and experience a full recovery. Like Ruhl’s own mother. But Sarah is in the unlucky ten percent. And for a woman, wife, mother, and artist working in theater, the paralysis and the disconnect between the interior and exterior brings s...

Written almost forty years ago, Sondheim and Furth's much-beloved musical Merrily We Roll Along is published again after being out of print for two decades. The tale of a bigwig Hollywood producer and songwriter rolls back over 20 years of his life to illustrate how he came to achieve his elite status -- and what he gave up along the way.

In 2008, in an alternate universe where anything can happen, a woman named Hillary Clinton is running for president in the United States of America. Struggling in Iowa against her more charismatic opponent (“The Other Guy”), she calls on her husband Bill for support. Bill offers her a deal, but when Hillary agrees to his help, she gets far more than she bargained for. Bucking the traditional trappings of the political play, Hnath takes a layered look at a political climate much like our own and...

Vocal selections for score by Anais Mitchell. "All I've Ever Known," "Epic III," "Flowers," "Hey, Little Songbird," "Livin' It up on Top," "Our Lady of the Underground," "Wait for Me," "Way down Hadestown I," "We Raise Our Cups," "Wedding Song," "When the Chips Are Down," "Why We Build the Wall."

Comprehensive book on the subject, as related by award-winning actors and designers, and firsthand by the drapers, tailors, and craftspeople who make the clothes that dazzle on stage. ".. shows that there is as much drama behind the scenes as there is in the performance: famous actors relate their intimate experiences in the fitting room, the glories of gorgeous costumes, and the mortification when things go wrong, while the costume makers explain how famous shows were created with toil, tears,...

Memoir by Australian playwright David Williamson (The Removalists, The Club, Don's Party, Emerald City and Travelling North and fifty others). The story of the man behind the work: how a childhood defined by marital discord sparked a lifelong fascination with the power of drama to explore emotional conflict; how a mechanical engineering student became our most successful playwright; the anxiety that plagued him as he crafted his plays; the joy of connecting with an audience and the enduring sti...

How musical theater between the coasts inhabits the middle spaces between professional and amateur, urban and rural, fact and fiction, fantasy and reality, and truth and falsehood.

Warrior: Audrey Hepburn completes the story arc of Robert Matzen's Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II. Hepburn's experiences in wartime, including the murder of family members, her survival through combat and starvation conditions, and work on behalf of the Dutch Resistance, gave her the determination to become a humanitarian for UNICEF and the fearlessness to charge into war-torn countries in the Third World on behalf of children and their mothers in desperate need. She set the standa...

Beginning in Africa before 1619, Your Legacy presents an unprecedentedly accessible, empowering, and proud introduction to African American history for children. While your ancestors’ freedom was taken from them, their spirit was not; this book celebrates their accomplishments, acknowledges their sacrifices, and defines how they are remembered—and how their stories should be taught.

When Ebere's mother puts her to bed at night, she always says, "Remember to dream, Ebere." And dream, Ebere does! Encouraged by her mother to make her dreams as big as possible, Ebere imagines herself as the captain of a rocket ship with the ability to go anywhere in the universe.

Rosalind Franklin was a gifted research scientist who was part of the race to uncover the secrets of DNA in the 1950’s. Her more famous contemporaries Watson and Krick took all the kudos for the discovery of the molecule’s double helix structure – yet it was Franklin’s skill with X-ray diffraction that first uncovered what’s called “the secret of life”.

DANCE OR DIE is an autobiographical coming-of-age account of young refugee, Ahmad Joudeh, who grows up in Damascus with dreams of becoming a dancer. Neither bombs nor family opposition keep him from taking classes, practicing hard, and ultimately becoming a Middle Eastern celebrity after success on a Lebanese reality show. But ISIS threatens him with death if he continues dancing, his father kicks him out of the house, and the war around him intensifies. Recruited by one of Syria’s top dance co...

Illuminates the work of New York City's theater technicians, shining a light on the essential contributions of unionized stagehands, carpenters, electricians, sound engineers, properties artisans, wardrobe crews, makeup artists, and child guardians. Based on the author's (a former theater technician herself) archival research and interviews with more than 100 backstage technicians, members of the New York locals of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Drawing on O’Brien’s experience of cancer and of childhood abuse, and on his ongoing collaboration with a war reporter, the four essays in A Story that Happens―first written as craft lectures for the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the US Air Force Academy―offer hard-won insights into what stories are for and the reasons why, "afraid and hopeful," we begin to tell them.

Dancing Past the Light cinematically illuminates the glamorous and moving life story of Tanaquil “Tanny” Le Clercq (1929‒2000), one of the most celebrated ballerinas of the twentieth century, describing her brilliant stage career, her struggle with polio, and her important work as a dance teacher, coach, photographer, and writer.

In this long-awaited memoir, dancer and choreographer John Clifford offers a highly personal look inside the day-to-day operations of the New York City Ballet and its creative mastermind, George Balanchine. Balanchine’s Apprentice is the story of Clifford―an exceptionally talented artist―and the guiding inspiration for his life’s work in dance.

Biography of the late West End actress Stephanie Lawrence (Evita, Marilyn! The Musical, Starlight Express).

Play by Tennessee Williams in 2020 Williamstown Theatre Festival production. Joel Reuben Ganz, Joe Goldammer, Carla Gugino, Carmen M. Herlihy, Sullivan Jones, Brian Lucas, Audra McDonald, Stacey Raymond, Cesar J. Rosado, Ariel Shafir. Directed by Robert O’Hara.

Williamstown Theatre Festival world premiere production of Stacy Osei-Kuffour play. Directed by Whitney White. Madeline Brewer, Jason Butler Harner, William Jackson Harper, Aja Naomi King. Previously released as Audible Audiobook.