Scott Miller Releases THE ABC'S OF BROADWAY MUSICALS: A CIVILIAN'S GUIDE

Just before the pandemic hit, New Line Theatre artistic director Scott Miller published his latest book of analysis Idiots, Heathers, and Squips: The New Golden Age of the Musical Theatre. After the theatres were all shut down, he returned to writing, and he soon released a short story anthology, Night of the Living Show Tunes: 13 Tales of the Weird. And then for something completely different, he recently followed that up with a new songbook, Broadway Musical Christmas Carols. But he still has too much time on his hands.

So now, after lots of books for hardcore musical theatre lovers, Miller has finally written one for everybody else, The ABC's of Broadway Musicals: A Civilian's Guide, a fun, short, easy-to-read introduction to the art form, famous shows, famous artists, books and videos to check out, and a short but informative stroll through the history of musicals.

There are plenty of great books (Miller's books included) for people who want to study and dive deep into musicals, but there weren't really any great books for people who know just a little about musicals and would like to know some more. It's the perfect book for parents or grandparents of musical theatre freaks who'd like to be able to talk to their kids, high school and college students just discovering musicals and needing a good introduction, college survey classes about the musical theatre. This short, 72-page book is full of info, but totally non-intimidating, conversational, and easy to take in. You can read it all in one sitting, or flip to any page and find something interesting.

Click Here to read Miller's blog post about the process of writing this book

Scott Miller is a musical theatre director, composer, lyricist, bookwriter, historian, consultant, self-proclaimed fanboy, and the founder and artistic director of New Line Theatre, an alternative musical theatre company in St. Louis. founded in 1991. He has a degree in music and musical theatre from Harvard University. He has written eleven musicals, two plays, and eight books about musical theatre, and he also writes the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre blog. For fifteen years, he co-hosted the radio show Break a Leg: Theatre in St. Louis and Beyond on KDHX, and now he hosts the theatre podcast Stage Grok, available on iTunes.

Miller's Amazon Author Page, with all his books, is here.

Miller's musical theatre analysis collections include From Assassins to West Side Story, 1996 (covering Assassins, Cabaret, Carousel, Company, Godspell, Gypsy, How to Succeed, Into the Woods, Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Misérables, Man of La Mancha, Merrily We Roll Along, My Fair Lady, Pippin, Sweeney Todd, and West Side Story); Deconstructing Harold Hill, 1999 (covering Ragtime, Camelot, Chicago, Passion, The Music Man, March of the Falsettos, Sunday in the Park with George, and The King and I); Rebels with Applause, 2001 (covering Hair, Rent, Oklahoma!, Pal Joey, Anyone Can Whistle, Floyd Collins, Jacques Brel, The Cradle Will Rock, Songs for a New World, and The Ballad of Little Mikey); Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, and Musicals, 2011 (covering The Wild Party, Grease, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, I Love My Wife, Bat Boy, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and High Fidelity); Literally Anything Goes, 2019 (covering The Threepenny Opera, Anything Goes, The Nervous Set, Zorbá, The Fantasticks, Two Gentlemen Of Verona, The Robber Bridegroom, Evita, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Kiss Of The Spider Woman, A New Brain, Reefer Madness, Bukowsical, and Love Kills); and Idiots, Heathers, and Squips, 2020 (covering bare, Urinetown, Sweet Smell of Success, Jerry Springer the Opera, Passing Strange, Cry-Baby, Next to Normal, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, American Idiot, Heathers, and Be More Chill).

Miller has also written the books Strike Up the Band: A New History of Musical Theatre; Let the Sun Shine in: The Genius of Hair; It's a Musical!: 400 Questions to Ponder, Discuss, and Fight About; Night of the Living Show Tunes: 13 Tales of the Weird; and Broadway Musical Christmas Carols.