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 couldnt protect them.
Insider's view of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's musical, Follies. New afterword brings the history of the show forward, diving into recent productions around the world, new recordings, and the continued promise of a film version.
The memoirs of Mary Rodgers—writer, composer, Broadway royalty, and "a woman who tried everything." Her story, with copious annotations, contradictions, and interruptions from coauthor Jesse Green.
Tells the stories of six diverse productions: five on Broadway and one Off-Broadway ... beginning with the moment he was offered each job, and taking readers through the conceptual development of the set, in collaboration with the director, the challenges of its physical creation, and the intense process of readying it for the stage. Extensive conversations with the directors of the productions ... such as James Lapine, Kenny Leon, Hal Prince, Susan Stroman, Jerry Zaks, and Stephen Sondheim.
Surveys every single book musical that opened during the decade. Each musical has its own entry which features: Plot summary; cast members; creative team; song lists; opening and closing dates; number of performances; critical commentary; film adaptations, recordings, and published scripts, when applicable. Numerous appendixes include a chronology of book musicals by season; chronology of revues; chronology of revivals of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas; a selected discography; filmography; publ...
How the show that started in a converted trolly barn in Chicago in the Eden Theatre February 14, 1972, short of money, short of audience, short of critical raves ... became a musical classic. Collection of memories and stories from over one hundred actors and musicians, including the creative team and crew who were part of the original Broadway production and in the many touring companies it spawned, including Barry Bostwick, John Travolta, Adrienne Barbeau, Treat Williams, Marilu Henner, Peter...
About the creation of the musical that opened at the Manchester Opera House in February 2020, music and lyrics by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard and a book by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale (adapted from their original screenplay). Pairs exclusive, in-depth interviews with previously unpublished photography; excerpts from Bob Gale’s personal journal; and a foreword by Gale to reveal and detail the years long process, and the creative ingenuity and technical innovation.
Hundreds of previously unpublished letters that show off all facets of Hammerstein's many engagements and his personality: correspondence to and from major Broadway figures like Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Kern, and Josh Logan, as well as those with politicians and activists. Reveals a man who was sharp, opinionated, and funny but also cared deeply about addressing the social ills that his musicals explored beyond the stage. 1000 pages.
Follows the story of the 1974 musical Miss Moffat (a musical adaptation of The Corn in Green), which closed during its pre-Broadway run. Dearing had a minor role in Miss Moffat and kept a journal of his observations and experiences throughout production. 75 pages.
Broadway and film actress Cora Witherspoon was in 35 Broadway productions from 1910 - 1946, including Daddy Long Legs, The Awful Truth, The Constant Wife, Camille, and The Front Page and many films. This biography details her upbringing and family background and discusses her struggle with substance abuse, which resulted in two highly publicized arrests and one conviction. 220 pages.
The author introduces Broadway, once upon a time ... taking the reader through a decade's worth of adventures, working his way from a menial pencil sharpener for producer David Merrick toward a career as a full-fledged manager, producer, and drama critic. The book follows the author's progress from the wintry night after his sixteenth birthday, when he unexpectedly finds himself alone on the empty stage of a Broadway theatre, peering out at the silent, empty auditorium lit only by a solitary gh...
An emotional, funny, and fabulous memoir by trailblazing and award-winning Trans actor and activist Alexandra Billings. Spanning five decades, from profound lows to exhilarating highs ... captures the events of a pioneering life ... award-winning actor and history-making LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS activist shares not only her own ever-evolving story but also the parallel ways in which queer identity has dramatically changed since the Stonewall riots of 1969. She weaves a true coming-of-age story of ric...
This volume in the Routledge Key Guides series provides a round-up of the fifty musicals whose creations were seminal in altering the landscape of musical theater discourse in the English-speaking world. Chapters: 1. The Black Crook by Sebastian Trainor; 2. HMS Pinafore by Rupert Holmes; 3. The Merry Widow by Andrew Child; 4. Shuffle Along by Jerrell L. Henderson; 5. Show Boat by Benjamin Nissen; 6. Of Thee I Sing by Laura Frankos; 7. Anything Goes by Scott Miller; 8. Porgy and Bess by Isaiah W...
From his "wildly entertaining and deeply poignant trek through the wilderness of his childhood and the edge-of-your-seat drama of a career on, in, under, and around Broadway for decades ... He reveals his struggle against the ravages of Parkinson's and triumphs repeatedly ... The extraordinary cast of characters in his life also includes John Kander, Fred Ebb, Angela Lansbury, Chita Rivera, Roger Rees, Marin Mazzie, Scott Ellis, Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, Garth Drabinsky, and Barbara Cook, am...
First book devoted to the musicals that Darryl F. Zanuck produced at Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Pictures, and Twentieth Century Fox. Spotlights how he placed his personal imprint on the genre and how he nurtured and showcased several blonde female stars who headlined the musicals, including Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, Betty Grable, Vivian Blaine, June Haver, Marilyn Monroe, and Sheree North. 320 pages.
The story of an autistic and legally blind person and pushing beyond the restrictions of a special education classroom to shine on the stage ... to become the first autistic actor to play the lead role in the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, landing the title role in the play Amadeus, co-creating the theatre/philanthropy company Arts on the Waterfront, and founding the National Disability Theatre. 200 pages.
Carey Perloff examines these contemporary playwrights alongside one another and in the context of the rehearsal room, to glean new insights and connections, including the impact of their Jewish background on their work and their passion for the details of stagecraft. The author draws upon her first-hand experience of working with both writers, creating case studies of particular plays in production to provide new ways of positioning the work today. 240 pages.
Play by James Graham, inspired by the documentary by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Young Vic, December 2021. 128 pages.
Offers a wide-ranging historical investigation of the works and career of Stephen Sondheim. Each author uncovers those aspects of biography, collaborative process, and contemporary context that impacted the creation and reception of Sondheim's musicals. Several explore in detail how Sondheim's shows have been dramatically revised and adapted over time. Multiple chapters invite the reader to rethink Sondheim's works from a distinctly contemporary critical perspective and to consider how these mu...
Chronicles the history of the Method in a narrative that transports readers from Moscow to New York to Los Angeles, from The Seagull to A Streetcar Named Desire ... traces how a cohort of American mavericks—including Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg, and the storied Group Theatre—refashioned Stanislavski's ideas for a Depression-plagued nation that had yet to find its place as an artistic powerhouse. Long after its midcentury heyday, the Method lives on as one of the most influential—and misundersto...
Chronicles the history of the Method in a narrative that transports readers from Moscow to New York to Los Angeles, from The Seagull to A Streetcar Named Desire ... traces how a cohort of American mavericks—including Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg, and the storied Group Theatre—refashioned Stanislavski's ideas for a Depression-plagued nation that had yet to find its place as an artistic powerhouse. Long after its midcentury heyday, the Method lives on as one of the most influential—and misundersto...
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.
Biography of groundbreaking tap dancer John W. Bubbles, who played Sportin' Life in the original production of Porgy and Bess. His life, from 1902-1986, from vaudeville to Broadway to TV, then to acclaimed performances from his wheelchair. 328 pages. Kindle Edition released earlier.
In the final months before 9/11, liberal Jewish studies professor Michael Fischer has reunited with his two sisters to celebrate their father’s 75th birthday. Each deeply invested in their own version of family history, the siblings clash over everything from Michael’s controversial scholarly work to the mounting pressures of caring for an ailing parent. As destructive secrets and long-held resentments bubble to the surface, the three negotiate—with biting humor and razor-sharp insight—how much...
Fully authorized graphic novel adaptation by Cavan Scott, illustrated by José María Beroy, of the Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe original libretto.
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...
New version of this annual book includes newly commissioned interviews conducted by Polly Bennett and Joan Iyiola (co-founders of The Mono Box) with theatre industry professionals including Cherrelle Skeete, Hazel Holder, Ned Bennett and Tom Ross Williams; a new foreword by Polly Bennett; updated listings covering training and working in theatre, film, radio, TV and comedy, it contains invaluable resources such as a casting calendar and articles on a range of topics from your social media profi...
. "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.
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.
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...
