Broadway Bookshelf - Must Read Theater Books

The most frequently asked question about writing musicals is, "Which comes first, the music or the lyrics?" As anyone on Broadway will tell you, the answer is, "The book." Tony-winning book writer Robert L. Freedman takes you through the process of writing a new musical, including story structure, song placement, dialogue, character development, and more that led to the creation of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder , the 2014 Best Musical Tony winner. With candor and insight, Freedman desc...

Now updated and expanded, this second edition of The Stage Producer?s Business and Legal Guide is the ultimate survival kit for anyone presenting live entertainment. The information contained in this handbook is essential for those working in Broadway, regional, stock, or university theater; concert halls; opera houses; and more. Attorney, producer, and playwright Charles Grippo provides comprehensive advice on every aspect of the theater business and the law, including: Crowdfunding Your Prod...

The definitive guide to making a career in theater?to Broadway and beyond Tiffany Haas knows how to make it on Broadway. After 72 rejections in a row?72 auditions and 72 rejections?she finally landed a role in Broadway?s long-running smash hit Wicked and later became ?Glinda the Good.? Now she wants to share her advice for starting and nurturing a career in the theater. Waiting in the Wings is the essential guide for anyone who wants to have a theatrical career, whether they?re complete newb...

"Since the nineteen-sixties and seventies, New York's experimental-theatre scene has toned down its wild-man character, but Lee Breuer is the grand old man of the movement."?The New Yorker Since he first arrived on the New York art/theatre/performance scene in 1970, Lee Breuer has been at the forefront of the American theatrical avant-garde, creating challenging works both independently and with Mabou Mines, the company he co-founded with JoAnne Akalaitis, Philip Glass, Ruth Maleczech and Da...

How do you develop the craft and skills of stage management for today's theatre industry? And how can these same skills be applied in a variety of entertainment settings to help you develop a rewarding and successful career? Drawing on his diverse experience working with companies from across the performing arts spectrum in venues from the Hollywood Bowl to the Barbican Centre in London, Michael Vitale offers a practical resource on the art of stage management for new and established stage m...

Grandma?s birthday approaches. Beverly is organizing the perfect dinner, but everything seems doomed to go awry?the silverware is all wrong, the radio is on the fritz, and the rest of the family can?t be bothered to lift a hand to help. And yet, what appears at first to be a standard family dramedy takes a sharp, sly turn into a startling examination of deep-seated paradigms about race in America.

The first comprehensive study of August Wilson's drama introduces the major themes and motifs that unite Wilson's ten-play cycle about African American life in each decade of the twentieth century. Framed by Wilson's life experiences and informed by his extensive interviews, this book provides fresh, coherent, detailed readings of each play, well-situated in the extant scholarship. It also provides an overview of the cycle as a whole, demonstrating how it comprises a compelling interrogation of ...

During the era often commonly known as McCarthyism, many motion picture and television creators were blacklisted for supposed communist ties. There remained, however, a creative outlet that still welcomed these artists--theatre. This book explores the role theatre played during this turbulent period, covering the formation of the Theatre Guild (which birthed the Group Theatre), the short-lived Federal Theatre Project, and the investigations of the motion picture and television industries, and ...

This powerful anthology brings together reflective and raw plays by American playwrights surrounding the psychic and political boundaries of the many faces and shadows of terrorism. Allan Havis's introduction addresses a variety of terrorism cases from the last 25 years, examines several theories of the root causes of modern terrors, and underscores how theatre forms a unique contour to social and philosophical thought on terrorism.

In this memoir of a roller coaster career on the New York stage, former actor and dancer Bettijane Sills offers a highly personal look at the art and practice of George Balanchine, one of ballet’s greatest choreographers, and the inner workings of his world-renowned company during its golden years. After getting her start on the stage as a child actor on Broadway, Bettijane Sills joined the New York City Ballet in 1961 as a member of the corps de ballet, working her way up to the level of s...

One of the few studies covering both Broadway and Hollywood musicals, this book explores most of the most famous musicals of the past two centuries, along with many others. Presented as an introductory text for musical, dance and theater majors, as well as for musical lovers, the book includes references for nearly 1000 internet video examples of dance and song.

It is 1958. In the midst of a building boom in New York City, Joe Papp and his colleagues are facing anger and pressure from the city's elite as they continue their free Shakespeare productions in Central Park. From the creator of the most celebrated family plays of the last decade comes a drama about a different kind of family-one held together by the belief that the theater, and the city, belong to all of us. Richard Nelson's plays include Two Shakespearean Actors and James Joyce's The Dead ...

There's a hole running through the centre of my stomach. You must have all felt a bit awkward because you can probably see it. Sea Wall is a delicate monologue, completely devastating and beautifully powerful. Alex's story, spoken directly to the audience, begins full of clear light and smiles, as he speaks about his wife, visiting her father in the South of France, having a daughter, photography, and the bottom of the sea. His tone is natural, happy and engaging, with flickers of questi...

“A raunchy riff on Dr Seuss’s yuletide tale… The little tyke has become a bottle-blonde adult who spends her days in a trailer appointed with Airstream functionality and seasonal kitsch…brassy, very funny…a holiday offering that dirties up Christmas while ultimately reveling in its spirit.” Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times “This irreverent, adults-only sequel…dares to be as tasteless as possible while replicating Seuss’s trademark rhythms…flawless…juggling comedy, musical interlude...

More than a chronicle, America in the Round is a critical history that reveals how far Washington D.C.’s Arena Stage could go with its budget and racially liberal politics, and how Arena both disputed and duplicated systems of power. With an innovative “in the round” approach, the narrative simulates sitting in different parts of the arena space to see the theatre through different lenses—economics, racial dynamics, and American identity.

This volume uniquely draws together seven contemporary plays by a selection of the finest African women writers and practitioners from across the continent, offering a rich and diverse portrait of identity, politics, culture, gender issues and society in contemporary Africa. Niqabi Ninja by Sara Shaarawi (Egypt) is set in Cairo during the chaotic time of the Egyptian uprising. Not That Woman by Tosin Jobi-Tume (Nigeria) addresses issues of violence against women in Nigeria and its attenda...

Disney Theatrical Productions: Producing Broadway Musicals the Disney Way is the first work of scholarship to comprehensively examine the history and production practices of Disney Theatrical Productions (DTP), the theatrical producing arm of the studio branch of the Walt Disney Corporation. This book uncovers how DTP has forged a new model for producing large-scale musicals on Broadway by functioning as an independent theatrical producer under the umbrella of a large entertainment corporatio...

"Passionate and provoking." ?New York Times on If I Forget "Plays about the conflict in Iraq have mostly focused on the experience of soldiers or the politicians who put them in danger, but Steven Levenson's sensitive drama is welcome for the imaginative sympathy it extends to the families left behind." ?New York Times on The Language of Trees "The electricity in the room is palpable. . . . Levenson's dialogue is lean, dynamic and flows naturally." ?Time Out New York on The Unavoidable Disapp...

Based at Shepherd University, in West Virginia, the Contemporary American Theater Festival is nationally and internationally recognized as a home for playwrights and the development and production of new plays. The Festival makes it a priority to celebrate and produce playwrights with strong, distinct voices, with a core value to tell diverse stories. This anthology of work provides plays that speak to one of the most compelling virtues of artists everywhere – freedom of speech. A necessary ...

"An idea-inebriated comedy from the adventurous author of In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play." ?The New York Times "Sarah Ruhl tackles the polyamorous in her brilliant new play and finds love, beauty, and music." ?The Wrap Over dinner with another married couple, George and her husband grow fascinated by stories of their friends' new acquaintance-an intriguing younger woman named Pip, who is both polyamorous and hunts her own meat. What be- gins as an innocent intellectual discussion turn...

This striking wall calendar is a wonderful celebration of the photography of Angus McBean, who was renowned for revolutionising theatre photography in the late 1930s. It features his iconic photographs taken from plays staged by the RSC, including Laurence Olivier as Macbeth and Vivien Leigh as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth; Kathleen Michael as Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and Dorothy Tutin as Viola in Twelfth Night. You’ll be sure to find your favourite play in this great wall calendar. Inf...

Born in the wrong town, the wrong era, and with the wrong name, Norman Mathews was forced to conjure a more enticing, if imaginary, world to better navigate the perils of childhood. In this world, he didn't suffer from a lack of self-assurance that dashed his dreams of romance and fame. He wasn't psychologically abused by a priest nor did he endure ludicrously funny psychotherapy over his sexuality. And he didn't attempt suicide, nearly shattering his promising future. But in the real world, he...

Born in the wrong town, the wrong era, and with the wrong name, Norman Mathews was forced to conjure a more enticing, if imaginary, world to better navigate the perils of childhood. In this world, he didn't suffer from a lack of self-assurance that dashed his dreams of romance and fame. He wasn't psychologically abused by a priest nor did he endure ludicrously funny psychotherapy over his sexuality. And he didn't attempt suicide, nearly shattering his promising future. But in the real world, he...

“An extraordinary theatrical event in which the personal and the political combine in a way that suggests a contemporary Chekhov.” —Michael Billington, Guardian This intimate and landmark series follows the Gabriel family of Rhinebeck, New York, through the momentous and divisive 2016 election year. While preparing meals in their kitchen, together they grapple in real time with issues of money, history, art, politics and family, as well as the fear of having been left behind.

“It’s sad, isn’t it? The dead horse of a life we beat, all the wilder, all the harder the deader it gets. On the other hand, there are some nice shops in the area.” Thom Pain has come to a certain point in his life. Maybe you have too. His entire existence is ordinary; but that ordinariness is a revelation and a wonder and a curiosity. To him at least. He’d better hope so. It’s all he has (except maybe a dictionary and an old love letter). Comic and disturbing, this provocative monologue ...

“Tender, ruminative… Fugard has been anatomizing the evils of apartheid, and the troubling legacies it left behind, throughout his long and distinguished career.” —Charles Isherwood, New York Times Inspired by the life of Nukain Mabuza, a self-taught artist who painted the boulders on the farm on which he worked, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek observes two differing experiences with racism, in the decades during and following apartheid, while ultimately illuminating the meaning of prese...

“[A] gloriously rich, mind-expanding three-hour play, which explores the complex relationship between China and America.” —Guardian on Chimerica Lucy Kirkwood has swiftly made a name for herself as one of Britain’s leading young playwrights and is widely considered to be the natural successor to the great Caryl Churchill. Kirkwood’s plays are infused with a sharp wit and a fierce intelligence, taking an unflinching look at the issues affecting our world today. This collection gathers together ...

(Easy Piano Songbook). The 2018 movie musical sequel to the classic Disney film from 1964 features a top-notch team including Director Rob Marshall ( Chicago ), Lin-Manuel Miranda ( Hamilton ) and music from Hairspray 's award-winning songwriting team of Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman. This folio includes new original songs from the soundtrack: Can You Imagine That * A Cover Is Not the Book * Nowhere to Go But Up * The Place Where Lost Things Go * The Royal Doulton Music Hall * Trip a Little Ligh...

Simon Stephens' explosive play Rage was written as a counterpoint for Elfriede Jelinek's Wut. Composed as 31 high-energy scenes, each one is based on a series of photos by Joel Goodman which captured the excitement and the mayhem of New Year's Eve 2015/16 in Manchester city centre. Published in the Manchester Evening News the photos quickly went viral in capturing a vital cross-section of a country on the edge. As the clock strikes twelve the celebratory mood turns into violence, racism, mar...

“A paradoxical, puzzling, compellingly hypnotic work.” —Village Voice In Annie Baker’s The Antipodes, a group of people sit around a table telling, cataloging, and theorizing stories. Their purpose is never clear: are they brainstorming ideas for a TV show? A film? A mythology? This is a world where ghostly fables co-exist with mundane discussions of snacks and sexual exploits, where the vague instruction to tell stories about “something monstrous” though “it might not be a literal monster” be...

(Vocal Score). 17 songs from the 2014 Tony Award-winning score of the Broadway musical featuring music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and based on the novel by Robert James Waller. Includes: Almost Real * Always Better * Another Life * Before and After You/One Second and a Million Miles * Falling into You * Home Before You Know It * It All Fades Away * Look at Me * Something from a Dream * State Road 21/Who We Are and Who We're Meant to Be * Temporarily Lost * To Build a Home * What Do You Ca...

WINNER: 2017 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize

“It’s sad, isn’t it? The dead horse of a life we beat, all the wilder, all the harder the deader it gets. On the other hand, there are some nice shops in the area.” Thom Pain has come to a certain point in his life. Maybe you have too. His entire existence is ordinary; but that ordinariness is a revelation and a wonder and a curiosity. To him at least. He’d better hope so. It’s all he has (except maybe a dictionary and an old love letter). Comic and disturbing, this provocative monologue ...

Housebound because of illness, Caroline hasn't been to school in months. Confined to her room, she has only Instagram and Facebook for company. That is until classmate Anthony bursts in – uninvited and armed with waffle fries, a scruffy copy of Walt Whitman's poetry and a school project due the next day… Caroline is unimpressed all around. But an unlikely friendship develops and a seemingly mundane piece of homework starts to reveal the pair's hopes and dreams - as well as a deep and mysteri...

(Vocal Score). 17 songs from the 2014 Broadway musical featuring mysic and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown based on the novel by Robert James Waller. Includes: Almost Real * Always Better * Another Life * Before and After You/One Second and a Million Miles * Falling into You * Home Before You Know It * It All Fades Away * Look at Me * Something from a Dream * State Road 21/Who We Are and Who We're Meant to Be * Temporarily Lost * To Build a Home * What Do You Call a Man like That? * When I'm Gone ...

(Vocal Score). 17 songs from the 2014 Broadway musical featuring mysic and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown based on the novel by Robert James Waller. Includes: Almost Real * Always Better * Another Life * Before and After You/One Second and a Million Miles * Falling into You * Home Before You Know It * It All Fades Away * Look at Me * Something from a Dream * State Road 21/Who We Are and Who We're Meant to Be * Temporarily Lost * To Build a Home * What Do You Call a Man like That? * When I'm Gone ...

“A workhorse of a book! Beautifully conceived and executed. Clues to Acting Shakespeare is a no-brainer purchase for acting collections in all libraries.” ?Library Journal Clues to Acting Shakespeare has become a popular guide for actors, directors, teachers and Shakespeare enthusiasts, selling over 15,000 copies of previous editions. This third edition retains the second edition’s unique solutions to challenges that face directors and actors at advanced levels and is expanded to include an ...

Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Cost of Living deftly challenges the typical perceptions of those living with disabilities and delves deep into the ways class, race, nationality, and wealth can create gulfs between people, even as they long for the ability to connect. Eddie, an unemployed truck driver, and his estranged ex-wife, Ani, find themselves unexpectedly reunited after a terrible accident leaves her quadriplegic. John, a brilliant PhD student with cerebral palsy, hires Jess...

Pauline Gibson has unintentionally become a national treasure by staying out of party politics, while one of her close friends from university, Jack Gould, is making his way to the top of the Labour Party. The twenty year span of their adult lives and their contrasting fortunes raise sharp questions about how to do good in the new century.

‘Do you believe in fairies? Say quick that you believe!’ – Peter Pan Peter Pan is a narrative many of us believe we know well, and yet the J.M. Barrie play that premiered on a West End stage in December 1904 is not the depiction of Peter, Wendy, Hook, and Never Land that most people have experienced. It was the critical and commercial success of this particular play which propelled the notoriety and appeal of the story, and without the success of that first production, Peter Pan would not be...

Status is a show about someone who doesn't want his any more. About running away from the national story you're given. About who is responsible for that story and what might happen to it if you give it up. A globe-spanning journey of attempted escape, with songs along the way. Status springs from conversations about who we might be, and whether your country needs you more than you might need it.

Dylan isn't your typical snooker player. He's a vegetarian, for starters. This is the biggest week of his life and everybody wants a piece of him?his ex-con Dad, local gangster Waxy Chuff, and the snooker corruption squad. From the author of One Man, Two Guvnors, this is a laugh-out-loud comedy/thriller about love, honor, and not getting snookered.

Theater of the Ridiculous is a significant movement that highlighted the radical possibilities inherent in camp. Much of contemporary theater owes this form a great debt but little has been written about its history or aesthetic markers. This book offers a comprehensive overview of the important practitioners, along with critical commentary of their work. Beginning with Ridiculous' most recognizable name, Charles Ludlam, the author traces the development of this campy, queer genre, from the B ...

What begins as a chance encounter in a New York nightclub leads drag performer Arnold Beckoff on a hilarious yet touching pursuit of love, happiness, and a life he can be proud of. From a failed affair with a reluctant lover to a committed relationship with the promise of a stable family, Arnold’s struggle for acceptance meets its greatest resistance when he faces off against the person whose approval is most important to him: his mother. This edition contains for the first time ever both th...

A dozen vocal selections are included in this songbook featuring music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki for his off-Broadway musical adapted from the 2005 fantasy-adventure novel of the same name. Includes: Bring on the Monsters * D.O.A. * Drive * Good Kid * Killer Quest! * Lost! * My Grand Plan * Prologue/The Day I Got Expelled * Put You in Your Place * Son of Poseidon * Strong * The Tree on the Hill.

For the past several years, the American musical has continued to thrive by reflecting and shaping cultural values and social norms, and even commenting on politics, whether directly and on a national scale (Hamilton) or somewhat more obliquely and on a more intimate scale (Fun Home). New stage musicals, such as Come from Away and The Band's Visit, open on Broadway every season, challenging conventions of form and content, and revivals offer audiences a different perspective on extant shows (Ca...

One of the most beloved film musicals of all time, The Wizard of Oz represents an enduring family favorite and cultural classic. Yet there is much more to the story than meets the eye, and the MGM movie is just one of many ways in which it has been represented. In this lively and wide-ranging book, editors Danielle Birkett and Dominic McHugh bring together insights from eleven experts into the varied musical forms this great American myth has taken in the past century. Starting with the early a...

“Pipeline confirms Dominique Morisseau’s reputation as a playwright of piercing eloquence.” —Ben Brantley, New York Times With profound compassion and lyricism, Morisseau brings us a powerful play that delves into the urgent issue of the “school-to-prison” pipeline that ensnares people of color. Issues of class, race, parenting, and education in America are brought to the frontlines, as we are left to question the systematic structures that ultimately trap underserved communities.