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Biographies, show books, musical scores, history, and must-read theatre books.

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Latest Broadway Books

Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?

(11/3/2026)

In Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It? Judi Dench takes us on a heartfelt and hilarious tour of her extraordinary life and career. From growing up in York and being miffed at not getting the part of Mary in the school Nativity pageant, playing to sold-out houses on Broadway in Amy’s View, walking the red carpets of Hollywood, garnering eight Oscar nominations, and winning a historic one for her unforgettable performance as Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, Judi Dench has done it all. And, ...

Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It? Cover

Power and Greed: Monopolies, Mergers, and Cartels on the American Stage

(10/15/2026)

Since the second half of the 19th century, live entertainment in the United States has been governed by monopolies and powerful business cartels who together through power and greed controlled who could produce, book, and present live performance and legitimate theatre, affecting audiences in New York City and across North America. Far from being a historical problem, it took the botched rollout of the 2023 Taylor Swift Eras tour via Live Nation/Ticketmaster for people and Congress to questi...

Power and Greed: Monopolies, Mergers, and Cartels on the American Stage Cover

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Musicals: Of Thee I Sing to A Strange Loop

(9/18/2026)

Part of Essential Musicals series. Takes a chronological look at the ten musicals that have won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Deep diving into the development of each show, unpacking the creation, production, and reception of each musical. Each chapter traces a different Prize-winning show from its inception to its opening night. Introduces the reader to each musical's key creators and company members and places them in the larger context of Broadway history. 248 pages.

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Bowl EP

(8/11/2026)

Kelly K. Klarkson and Quentavius da Quitter are in love. Kelly K. Klarkson and Quentavius da Quitter skate and smoke and taste one another’s fingers and snort molly and try to pick a name for their rap group. And then there’s their personal demons: Kelly exorcized hers a long time ago, but Quentavius’s is named Lemon Pepper Wings, and she-he-they is the patron demon of the intimate, and they-he-she created pheromones for their her his graduate thesis, and astrology and all the apps, and t...

Jazzed: Jack Cole and Twentieth-Century American Dance

(8/11/2026)

Renowned dancer and choreographer Jack Cole (1911–1974), whose birth name was John Ewing Richter, was a one-of-a-kind artist who initiated a gripping style of theatrical jazz dance that forever vanquished the vaudeville kickline. Cole's distinctive four-decade career choreographing for stage, screen, and his iconic nightclub act began during the Great Depression. He transformed early modern dance by injecting angularity, syncopation, and body isolations derived from Indian, Latin American, Af...

Jazzed: Jack Cole and Twentieth-Century American Dance Cover

The Balusters

(7/17/2026)

The Vernon Point Association could be described as a very outspoken bunch. They’re known for diligently upkeeping their sanctuary—from porch railings to trash cans, no infraction goes undocumented. Still, no one is prepared for the neighbor-versus-neighbor battle royale that ensues when a newcomer makes an inconceivable suggestion: a stop sign, perched on the enclave’s most picturesque block. A raucous play journeying through big feelings, The Balusters is a modern-day satire about wha...

A Very Unusual Way: Maury Yeston and His Singular Path to Broadway and Beyond

(7/1/2026)

A career chronicle combined with close examinations of some of Yeston's most noteworthy compositions, including songs from his famous musicals as well as his lesser-known works. Behind-the-scenes accounts and analysis of Yeston's Broadway shows. From the author's full access to the composer's archive and over a dozen interviews with Yeston. Also highlights the numerous well-known artistic figures and collaborators who have featured prominently in Yeston's life, including Stephen Sondheim, Placi...

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Too Darn Hot: Kiss Me, Kate & the Making and Remaking of a Broadway Musical

(7/1/2026)

Traces the journey of Kiss Me, Kate, by Cole Porter, Sam and Bella Spewack, charting its development from concept to curtain call, a behind-the-scenes look at the artistic decisions that shaped its legacy. Through several case studies, Robbins examines how it has remained relevant, provocative, and beloved. 240 pages.

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Setting the Stage (Cast vs. Crew)

(6/2/2026)

Eighth grader Ella Amani has been waiting her whole life to be the stage manager of the middle school musical, and this is her year! Somehow she'll have to find jobs for Willow, who's doing stage crew instead of detention, and Sebastian, a shy sixth grader whose sister is the star of the show. She'll have to wrangle Kevin, the clumsy new kid who was homeschooled on a boat, and Levi, her best friend, who used to tell her everything. Still, Ella's pretty sure she can handle the crew. The cast? Th...

David Friedman, The Stories of My Life

(6/2/2026)

healing and humor; from Broadway stages and beloved Disney films; in recording studios with artists like Diana Ross, Barry Manilow, and Nancy LaMott; and through the metaphysical teachings he shares with audiences across the nation. Now, in this irresistible collection, he reveals the stories behind nearly a thousand moments that shaped his remarkable life: tales of family, friends and fame; joy and heartbreak; absurdity and grace… with a generous amount of gossip and laughter along the wa...

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David Auburn Collected Plays

(5/14/2026)

Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning author David Auburn is an American dramatist who never fails to write astute and compelling dramas that grapple with large questions. In this collection of his work spanning 23 years his celebrated plays are anthologised together for the first time, showing him to be one of the most important contemporary dramatists of his generation. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning Proof (2000) to his latest Broadway smash-hit Summer 1976, published for the first time, ...

Arthur Miller's New York: Visions of the City

(5/14/2026)

A panoramic study of NYC across all of Miller's oeuvre, exploring how Miller transformed the defining experiences of his youth and early adulthood - formed on the streets and in the neighborhoods of the New York boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens - into art. 238 pages.

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Liberation

(5/8/2026)

It's 1970. Somewhere in Ohio, six women meet on a basement basketball court to form a consciousness-raising group, determined to shake up their lives and change the world. Fifty years later, one of their daughters tries to understand where things fell apart.

Hirschfeld's Icons: A Poster Book

(4/28/2026)

Collection of 25 removable, ready-to-frame prints by Al Hirschfeld featuring some of the most recognizable icons of the 20th century. Accompanied by commentary and biographies by David Leopold, Creative Director of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation. Introduction by Dick Cavett. 58 pages.

Stage Page: Memories of (mostly) Marvelous St. Louis Theater

(4/21/2026)

Seventy-seven theater reviews, written by Dennis Brown between 2001 and 2013 for the St. Louis weekly, The Riverfront Times, once again see the light of day with the publication of "Stage Page: Memories of (mostly) Marvelous St. Louis Theater." The anthology is enlivened with 47 all-new illustrations by gifted artist Marjorie Williamson. The 77 reviews (mostly) celebrate productions from 30 different producing venues. Some of these venues (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, the Muny) continue ...

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Cowboys at the Ballet: The Story of Choreographer Agnes de Mille

(3/31/2026)

In a dusty California town, Agnes de Mille dreams of becoming a dancer. She gallops to New York, then London, performing a show here, a dance there, combining old steps with new. But no one knows what to make of Agnes. She’s not a ballet dancer or a modern dancer or a folk dancer. So what is she? Then one summer she attends a rodeo, where the cowboys’ powerful and unbridled movements transform her life—and the history of dance—forever.

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Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!

(3/24/2026)

“Kids, Wait Til You Hear This” is the autobiography of EGOT icon Liza Minnelli. This fascinating, untold story reveals the intimate truth of the only child born to Hollywood legends Vincent Minnelli and Judy Garland. For the first time, here is Liza up close: Raw, strong, sexy, hilarious and heartbreaking. Liza decided at the age of 16 that “sympathy is my mother’s business. I give people joy.” That veil of joy, however, masks a lifelong struggle with Substance Use Disorder, hunger f...

Adaptation in Musical Theatre

(3/19/2026)

Adaptation in Musical Theatre positions musical theatre as part of a broader cultural trend of recycling, referencing, remixing and alluding to existing creative works and texts. Despite critics often dismissing stage adaptations as lazy and safe bet options for producers, this book argues that crafting an adaptation enables creative teams to take fresh and imaginative approaches to a source text, given the multitude of ways in which the structures and styles of two (or more) different media ca...

Theater Acting: Mastering the Art of Live Performance on the Modern Stage

(3/18/2026)

Inside, you'll discover how to project your voice to the back row without sounding like you're shouting, and how to build physical presence that commands the entire space. You'll learn the art of sustaining a fully lived-in character night after night across a long run, and how to stay emotionally fresh even when you're on your twentieth performance. The book walks you through the rehearsal process from first read-through to closing night, and gives you practical strategies for working with dir...

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Songbird in the Light: A Picture Book

(3/17/2026)

About a little boy whose classmates make fun of the way he walks and the way he talks - which makes him feel like a songbird too shy to sing. With the help of his choir teacher, he embraces his talent, realizing that his voice is unique and distinct. 40 pages.

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Stephen Sondheim: Art Isn't Easy

(3/17/2026)

Shines new light on Sondheim's tormented emotional life, wavering self-confidence, and alcoholism, drawing on the artist's intimate correspondence with such notable figures as Hal Prince, Leonard Bernstein, and Arthur Laurents; exclusive interviews with close friends and collaborators, including James Lapine and John Weidman; and Sondheim's own oral history, which remained closed until his death. 320 pages.

How to Succeed in Musical Theatre Without Really Dying: The Actor's Guide to Booking Work and Building a Career That Lasts

(3/3/2026)

Many musical theatre actors confuse competence with excellence. We mistake arriving in NYC with a well-trained voice, a pricy headshot, and general show biz acumen for being ready to work where Broadway happens. Then, when too many auditions end up no-gos, we assume it’s not meant to be and book a one-way ticket back home. If only a fairy godmother had told them the truth: Show business has more to do with business than show. Building a lucrative and lifelong career in musical theatre is far ...

How to Succeed in Musical Theatre Without Really Dying: The Actor's Guide to Booking Cover

Drama Scripts for Kids: 35 Original Acting Scripts for Kids Ages 10-14

(3/2/2026)

Drama Scripts for Kids is a fun, classroom-ready collection of acting scripts for kids ages 10-14. Written by a drama teacher with over 25 years of experience in mainstream schools, this book is created for real mixed-ability classrooms. Inside you’ll find: 15 engaging plays, 20 performance-ready monologues, Scripts perfect for drama lessons, workshops, auditions, clubs, and school performances, and more.

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Limelight

(2/24/2026)

For fifteen years, Danny Victorio has kept his head down, kept his mouth shut, and kept everyone out. But an audition for Manhattan’s most prestigious arts school offers him a chance to escape Staten Island—and his crumbling family—for good. If he doesn’t screw everything up. At LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, Danny is thrust into a world of fierce talent and even fiercer ambition. As he navigates overwhelming expectations, the ghosts of his past, and, for the first time...

Giant

(2/17/2026)

A world-famous children's author under threat. A battle of wills in the wake of scandal. And a chance to make amends… It's the summer of 1983, The Witches is about to hit the shelves and Roald Dahl is making last-minute edits. But the outcry at his recent, explicitly antisemitic article won't die down. Across a single afternoon at his family home, and rocked by an unexpectedly explosive confrontation, Dahl is forced to choose: make a public apology or risk his name and reputation. Inspi...

August Wilson's American Century: Life as Art

(2/10/2026)

Draws on Wilson's early poetry, archival material, and original interviews with family members, neighbors, and friends to show how the city of Pittsburgh and its residents shaped the playwright and his work. Uncovers the story of how the people and places of Pittsburgh remained with Wilson after he left his hometown, shining through in a body of work that brought the struggles and triumphs of the Black experience to a wide audience and changed American theater for the better. 360 pages.

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The Great Gatsby Songbook

(2/6/2026)

Vocal selections from Broadway musical score by Jason Howland (music) and Nathan Tysen (lyrics). "Better Hold Tight," "Beautiful Little Fool," "For Better Or Worse," "For Her," "My Green Light," "New Money," "One Way Road," "Past Is Catching Up To Me," "Roaring On," "Second Hand Suit," "Shady." 112 pages.

Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner

(1/27/2026)

Marc Shaiman looks back on five decades of Broadway triumphs, Hollywood hijinks, and unforgettable collaborations. Spending his teenage years in community theater, starting a decades-long collaboration with Bette Midler in the '70s, surviving the AIDS crisis of the '80s, his award-winning film music career in the Hollywood of the '90s, right up to the highs (and lows) of creating Broadway musicals from 2000 on.=

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Making Rent: The Story Behind the Music that Changed Broadway

(1/13/2026)

Rent audition accompanist, music director, and collaborator Tim Weil shares previously untold stories about some of the show's most iconic moments, accompanied by behind-the-scenes photos. 256 pages.

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Matching Minds with Sondheim: The Puzzles and Games of the Broadway Legend

(12/31/2025)

Gaming expert and theatre fan Barry Joseph draws from over eighty years of Sondheim’s activities, collecting his extremely rare and never-publicly-seen puzzles and game designs, original interviews with the celebrity friends who played them, deep dives into Sondheim-related archives from around the country, and analysis from both puzzle designers and theatre professionals from around the world. Allows readers to solve Sondheimian puzzles and bring Sondheimian games into their own homes. 208 p...

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The Reason to Sing: A Guide to Acting While Singing 2nd Edition

(12/18/2025)

Composer-lyricist and teacher Craig Carnelia provides musical actors with a step-by-step guide to making their sung performances more truthful, vivid, and full of life. Using a technique developed over decades of teaching the professional community of Broadway actors and students alike, The Reason to Sing lays out a new and proven approach,to help you build your skills, your confidence, and your career. This second edition includes two new chapters: "Writers," in which Stephen Sondheim, Jason R...

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What We Did Before Our Moth Days

(12/16/2025)

And so yes, well, I’d simply dropped that whole idea of being a good person, I’d dropped it right down into some hole in the street, and down it had gone into the city’s sewers, and no one ever saw it again. And that was sad, if you thought it was sad, or I suppose it was sad, or some people probably would say it was sad. A dark moral fable, telling of an acclaimed writer’s hedonistic lifestyle and its effects on his wife, son and mistress. Wallace Shawn's first new play in ten year...

The Reason to Sing: A Guide to Acting While Singing 2nd Edition

(12/16/2025)

Eggs I Have Laid

(12/15/2025)

Back in print; first published in 1955. By Meredith Willson. Foreword by Mark Cabaniss. Willson chronicles the failures that he faced as he made his place in show business during the pivotal early 1950s, when radio was being overtaken by television, bringing to life his encounters with zeitgeist stars, from collaborators Tallulah Bankhead and Fred Allen to Orson Welles and Carmen Miranda. Includes such curiosities as an eight-page "platonic dialogue" about quitting smoking and the lyrics to a l...

The Other Side of Broadway

(12/10/2025)

Told through the stories of 1970s and ‘80s producer and Broadway theatre executive, Stephen Wells, The Other Side of Broadway vividly and engagingly brings to life the world of the New York theatre at the tail end of its golden era. Ever wonder what Howard Ashman did before he became famous for “Little Shop of Horrors” and the now-classic Disney animated films of the late 20th century? Wells produced two of his early shows and together, against all odds while in their mid-twenties, they ...

Teeth: A Coming-of-Rage Musical Comedy

(12/9/2025)

Dawn O’Keefe is an Evangelical teen with a bizarre secret: two rows of gleaming white teeth perfectly placed to preserve her chastity. When the supposedly upright Christian men around her prove more interested in taking advantage of her body than in protecting it, they quickly learn to keep their hands (and other appendages) to themselves. From Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop) and Anna K. Jacobs (POP!), and based on the controversial cult classic film of the ...

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Happy Hour Blues: Lyrics, Notes and Reflections

(12/6/2025)

Written companion to TJ Armand’s three-volume recording project, conceived in New York City during the isolation and cultural turbulence of the pandemic. More than fifty lyrics, notes, and reflections. . Core themes include: queer life and nightlife culture, immigration and self-reinvention, exile and the search for home, chosen family, New York City as both refuge and pressure cooker. With street photography from Astoria and Manhattan. 82 pages.

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Camelton

(12/5/2025)

Twenty years ago, Award-winning musical theatre writer Stephen Cole met his first camel...and he hasn’t been the same since. Stephen tells his hilarious story of writing a musical for the Emir of Qatar. Picture this! Two Brooklyn Jews, some Middle Eastern producers, flying carpets, Croatian acrobats, Russian ballet dancers, an Italian director, the desert, camels (a lot of camels!) and, of course, music. You will laugh and you will cry (from laughing) in this outrageous, once-in-a-lifetime, u...

Secret Lovers Songbook

(12/2/2025)

Companion book to Anya Turner & Robert Grusecki's tenth studio recording released in September 2024. Ten new songs inspired by their own life experience and the artistry of poet Emily Dickinson, novelist Virginia Woolf, essayist Joan Didion, Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, New Zealand-born street artist Deborah Wood, Harlem blues singer Gladys Bentley, transgender jazz pianist Billy Tipton, and British jazz singer/pianist Liane Carroll.

Wicked: The Complete Screenplay

(11/18/2025)

This stunning hardcover features the complete script to director Jon M. Chu’s smash-hit movie, including the full lyrics to each of the unforgettable songs, from “No One Mourns the Wicked” to “Defying Gravity.” Each spread has vivid stills showcasing the set design, amazafying costumes, and classic dialogue, making this book right at home on the shelves of film buffs and Wicked fans alike.

The Official Rocky Horror Late Night Double Feature: The 50th Anniversary Two-Volume Collector's Edition

(11/18/2025)

Two-volume set features the original theatrical script with rare images of the original cast, and an oral history of the Rocky Horror Picture Show phenomenon featuring never-before-seen archival material from its creator (and original Riff-Raff), Richard O'Brien. With never-before-seen set photography and design sketches from O'Brien’s, personal collection, and oral history with new interviews with cast, crew, and historians. 352 pages.

The Official Rocky Horror Late Night Double Feature: The 50th Anniversary Two-Volume Cover

History Hiding Around Broadway: Backstage Lore, Secrets & Surprises from New York’s Famed Theater District

(11/11/2025)

Teale Dvornik has been leading Broadway fans on tours of the theater district since 2017. In her book she takes readers on her one-of-a-kind tour of Broadway, "stopping" at each of the 41 theaters to tell us fun facts, lesser-known history, ghost tales, and interesting stories about actors, performances, stage flukes, blunders, and more, involving the biggest names and productions in theater history. 200 pages.

History Hiding Around Broadway: Backstage Lore, Secrets & Surprises from New York’s Cover

Making Mary Poppins: The Sherman Brothers, Walt Disney, and the Creation of a Classic Film

(11/11/2025)

Making Mary Poppins reveals the extraordinary true story behind the creation of one of the most beloved films of all time―and the two little-known songwriters who helped make it possible. Long before Mary Poppins danced across the rooftops of Edwardian London and into the hearts of millions, Robert and Richard Sherman were struggling songwriters in Los Angeles, trying to find their voices―and their futures. In this vivid and deeply researched narrative, author and Disney historian Todd Ja...

Making Mary Poppins: The Sherman Brothers, Walt Disney, and the Creation of a Classic Cover

Coyote: The Dramatic Lives of Sam Shepard

(11/4/2025)

Sam Shepard was a true American original. A theater and film icon who lived life on a mythic scale, Shepard became an embodiment of the fierce independence and wild freedom of the American West. Taking us from the creative explosion of downtown New York City in the 1960s to Bob Dylan’s legendary Rolling Thunder Revue tour, from Hollywood backlots and film shoots in the Mojave Desert to the horse ranches where Shepard went to escape it all, Robert M. Dowling’s biography reveals this playwrig...

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Staying Gold: The Oral History of The Outsiders

(11/4/2025)

Oral history of the 1967 novel for teens, turned blockbuster film turned Tony-winning musical, and commemorated with a newly opened museum. Includes interviews with Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell Leif Garrett, David Arquette, Dennis Quaid, and more.

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Barbra Streisand: The Music: Her Albums & Singles - Revised & Updated

(11/4/2025)

Full color, oversized book that contains all of Barbra Streisand's albums from her first to her most recent with in depth analysis of every song and cover. A complete discography filled with photos. 350 pages. Updated for 2025.

Barbra Streisand: The Music: Her Albums & Singles - Revised & Updated Cover

Hell's Kitchen: Behind the Dream

(10/21/2025)

The Hell’s Kitchen book shares an intimate look inside the show’s creation, from the first spark of an idea through the musical’s thirteen-year journey to Broadway, where it continues to thrill audiences today. The book includes exclusive interviews with key cast and creative team members; first-person notes from Keys on her original songs; stunning stage photography and behind-the-scenes images; insights into costume creation, set design, choreography, and casting; and much more. This bea...

Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes

(10/9/2025)

Featuring Hugh Jackman and Ella Beatty, Hannah Moscovitch’s award-winning, New York Times Critics’ Pick drama about desire, power, and blurred boundaries. Jon is an acclaimed novelist and charismatic professor staring down the collapse of his third marriage when he encounters Annie—a nineteen-year-old star student and devoted fan. An undeniable attraction pulls them into dangerous territory. Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes is a provocative, gripping exploration of agency and persp...

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The Periodic Table of Broadway Musicals: An Illustrated Guide to 118 Essential Shows

(10/7/2025)

magine the classic periodic table of elements—but instead of Chromium and Rhodium, it's A Chorus Line and RENT! This delightful and informative gift book, based on the bestselling viral poster series is a stunning showcase of art and content sure to thrill lovers of showtunes and everything Broadway and beyond. Includes a full-size pull-out poster.

The Periodic Table of Broadway Musicals: An Illustrated Guide to 118 Essential Shows Cover

Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: Behind the Bloody Musical Masterpiece

(10/2/2025)

Interweaves a wealth of archival materials and insights on the show, its development, and the original production. Members of the team led by director Hal Prince as well as legendary orchestrator Jonathan Tunick, musical director Paul Gemignani, and the original cast, including Len Cariou, Angela Lansbury, Victor Garber, Sarah Rice, Edmund Lyndeck, Ken Jennings, and Merle Louise are profiled. Also covered are subsequent productions by theater and opera companies, as well as the 2007 film, and a...

Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: Behind the Bloody Musical Masterpiece Cover

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