In the winter of 2002, Chechen terrorists entered the Dubrovka Theater in what became known as the Moscow Theater Hostage Crisis ... rebels would storm the stage and take the audience captive in an operation that lasted four days and claimed the lives of over 100 civilians. On that same night, at age 26, Broadway actress Meredith Patterson was less than one mile away at the MDM Theater, starring as Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street with Boris Yeltsin in attendance. Second in series of books, followin...
Lavishly illustrated hands-on account of the creation of new theatre spaces spanning a century. A compelling history that is part memoir, part impassioned call to rethink the design of our theatre spaces and the future of live theatre. 256 pages.
An exploration of the cultural impact of Blanche DuBois, examining Tennessee Williams's most enduring creation through the performances of seven brilliant actresses who have taken on the role: Jessica Tandy, Vivien Leigh, Ann-Margret, Jessica Lange, Patricia Clarkson, Cate Blanchett, and Jemier Jackson. Exploring themes of womanhood, sexuality, mental illness, and the idealized South, Blanche is an engrossing cultural history of a rich and complex character that sheds light on who we are. Photo...
A unique view of the theater's backstage life, props, wardrobe collections and rehearsal spaces through unprecedented access to life behind the scenes. All captured by Angela Moore's photographs. 200 pages.
. "... argues that Sondheim firmly belongs to the Broadway aspirational tradition, in that many of his characters are defined by their dreams: to abandon one's dream (as Ben does in Follies, Frank does in Merrily We Roll Along, and Addison does in Road Show) is to lose one's soul. 192 pages.
Examines the careers of seven award-winning playwrights: David Adjmi, Julia Cho, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Will Eno, Martyna Majok, Dominique Morisseau and Anna Ziegler. Covering all their plays, including several as yet unpublished, nothing their critical reception while drawing on their own commentary on their approach to writing and the business of developing a career. 256 pages.
Charts the histories of Cameron Mackintosh's eight refurbished and rebuilt iconic London buildings: their origins, their stories, the iconic shows and productions, the stars and the glamour. Lavishly illustrated with images from the Delfont Mackintosh archive, also contains original architect plans and drawings, specially commissioned photographs of the refurbishment, show posters and other theatre ephemera, and many sweeping panoramas of the exquisitely finished spaces. 320 pages.
In-depth look into the rise of the 1921 Broadway hit, Shuffle Along, the first all-Black musical to succeed on Broadway, with a score by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake. Book by F. E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles. The story of how Sissle and Blake, along with comedians Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles, overcame poverty, racism, and violence to harness the energy of the Harlem Renaissance. 512 pages.
"Diving deep into Hammerstein’s life, examining his papers and his lyrics, critic Laurie Winer shows how he orchestrated a collective reimagining of America, urging it forward with a subtly progressive vision of the relationship between country and city, rich and poor, America and the rest of the world. His rejection of bitterness, his openness to strangers, and his optimistic humor shaped not only the musical but the American dream itself. His vision can continue to be a touchstone to this day...
Comprehensive guide expands the study of musical theatre to include the ways we practice and experience musicals, their engagement with technology, and their navigation of international commercial marketplaces. The first collection to include global musical theatre in each chapter, reflecting the musical's status as the world's most popular theatrical form. Brings together practice and scholarship, featuring essays by leading and emerging scholars alongside luminaries such as Chinese musical th...
"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900) by Frank L. Baum has served as the basis for some of the most popular musicals on stage and screen. Show by show, Bunch highlights the forms and conventions of musical work as practiced in its time and context–such as the turn-of-the-century extravaganza, the classical Hollywood film musical, the Black Broadway musical of the 1970s, and the twenty-first-century mega-musical. He then shows how the journey of each show teaches participants and audiences somethi...
For those new to musical theatre. History of musical theater and shows born on Broadway or the West End that became cultural phenomena; development of productions, from the idea stage all the way through opening night and beyond; insights into how theater is made; insider advice on the skills you need to perform in professional or amateur musical theater productions; anecdotes and show recommendations. 384 pages.
The author "notes the gender and ethnic stereotypes that Streisand shattered as the first openly Jewish superstar, while concentrating not just on the cultural difference she made but on the internal differentials of her unholy vocal gift-whose kinetic volatility shapes a kind of cinematic terrain all its own." 252 pages.
Personal collection of interviews with the late Stephen Sondheim, conducted in the last years of the artist's life (unedited from the February 22 New Yorker article). Audio versions narrated by Christopher Grove and Keith Sellon-Wright. 240 pages.
Presents the broader organization, its creative methodology, and its enormous growth over the past 20 years. Tells the contemporary story, recorded over many interviews with iconic practitioners and performers ranging from Diane Paulus, Tony Kushner and Lynn Nottage to Kevin Kline, Chelsea Clinton and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Case-study driven, One Public uses oral history accounts and authorial experience to illuminate The Public Theater, Eustis and their cultural influence on the city of New York ...
In a follow-up to his memoir, Jack Be Nimble, the director collects stories from the many productions he has worked on; the great talents he encountered and collaborated with; and the choices that he made, on the stage and off, that have come to define his career. He tells his readers how to become a director–or, at the very least, relates an unfailingly honest story of how he did.
Vocal selections songbook for Broadway musical by Michael R. Jackson. Arranged for vocal line with piano accompaniment. "Boundaries," "Didn't Want Nothin'," "Exile in Gayville," "Inner White Girl," "Intermission Song," "Inwood Daddy," "Memory Song," "Periodically," "Precious Little Dream / AIDS Is God's Punishment," "Second Wave," "A Strange Loop," "A Sympathetic Ear," "Today," "Tyler Perry Writes Real Life," "We Wanna Know." 136 pages
Detailed history of one of the most beloved American murder-mysteries and comedies, Joseph Kesselring's Arsenic and Old Lace. Follows the actors, both on the stage and on the screen, as they handle the demands of the roles and behind-the-scenes relationships. 168 pages.
An original interpretation of Miller's work and his personality ... Organized around the fault lines of Miller's life–Miller's family, the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, Elia Kazan and the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Marilyn Monroe, Vietnam, and the rise and fall of Miller's role as a public intellectual. Demonstrates the synergy between Arthur Miller's psychology and his plays. Concentrating largely on Miller's most prolific decades of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, Lahr pr...
dited by David Leopold. Showcases 300 Hirschfeld drawings: his greatest theater work from five decades, including some of the most important productions from the last sixty years, plus portraits of Stephen Sondheim, Neil Simon, Edward Albee, Wendy Wasserstein, Tom Stoppard, and Hal Prince, and more. forward by Michael Kimmelman, and chapter introductions by Brooks Atkinson, Brendan Gill, Maureen Dowd, Terrence McNally and Jules Feiffer. Follow-up to The American Theatre As Seen by Hirschfeld, p...
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pippin. Dives deep into the legendary clashes, backstage drama, and incredible artistic synergy. An examination of the creative struggles between Pippin's director/choreographer, the iconic Bob Fosse, and Stephen Schwartz.
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.
Richly illustrated and information-packed celebration of Broadway set design. Many contributors, including John Lee Beatty, Danny Burstein, Cameron Crowe, Ethan Hawke, Moisés Kaufman, Carole King, Kenny Leon, Santo Loquasto, Kathleen Marshall, Lynn Nottage, David Rabe, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Wallace Shawn, John Leguizamo, and Robin Wagner. With personal sketches and photographs from the artists' archives. 272 pages.
Twenty-five years of diaries, from thoughts and insights on theater performances, the craft of acting, politics, friendships, work projects, and his general musings on life. 480 pages.
Looks at American history as depicted in forty Broadway musicals. Categories include: biographies of famous Americans, (Andrew Jackson and Fiorello LaGuardia), stories with national conflicts (Hamilton, South Pacific), events that captured the attention of the American public (Floyd Collins, Newsies), and sociological studies or satires of specific eras (The Music Man, Hair). Approaches American history from two vantage points: the point of view of the playwright and composer accompanied with t...
"From Babes In Toyland to Hamilton and Yank!, from Anything Goes to Follies, this book reviews original-cast, revival-cast, and studio-cast discs, discussing every element from the quality of performance to the quality of the sound." 528 pages.
Alex Timbers and John Logan, contributors. "A glittering backstage pass to Moulin Rouge! The Musical and its journey to Broadway, with contributions from cast and crew, interviews with Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, and a chronicle of its triumphant 2021 return." Photo essay and oral history through early sketches, historical research, technical diagrams, and rehearsal photos. 184 pages.
In this memoir, Nancy Olson Livingston treats readers to an intimate, charming chronicle of her life as an actress, wife, and mother, and her memories of many of the most notable figures and moments of her time, including reminiscences of her marriages to lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and to Alan Wendell Livingston. Interweaves Livingston's life with her observations of the artists, celebrities, and luminaries with whom she came in contact. 408 pages.
llustrated by Justin "Squigs" Robertson. Collection of musical-inspired recipes includes dishes like Yolklahoma!, Clafoutis and the Beast, Yam Yankees, Dear Melon Hansen, and more. Each dish comes with a brief history of the show that inspired it, a summary of the plot, and "Listening Notes" of behind-the-scenes trivia. 200 pages.
The author's "journey of many transformations: from Midwestern boy most interested in music to a fast-paced Wall Street career; from investment banking to a 12 time Tony Award winner on Broadway; from overcoming several death-defying crises by finding healing, inspiration from a higher being, and deeper spirituality."
Good Morning, Olive (named for one of the most beautiful and temperamental of Broadway's ghosts) is about the ghosts that haunt theatres in New York and around the world. 288 pages.
This Year of Grace, Bitter Sweet, Words and Music, Pacific 1860, Ace of Clubs, Sail Away, The Girl Who Came to Supper. A portrait of Coward's oeuvre and its lasting influence on the wider world of the British musical, (Kindle Edition will be released early.) 552 pages.
YA novel by Andy Meintus (Spring Awakening, "Smash") "about a mysterious boarding school, a brotherhood that must stay in the shadows, and an ancient evil that could tear it all apart." 368 pages. Released 9/20/22.
Premiered at the Bridge Theatre, London, in March 2022. Playing at The Shed in New York City beginning 10/18/22. 144 pages. Kindle Edition released 3/31/22.
Play by director Rob Roth (Beauty and the Beast, Lestat), who unearthed eighty hours of tapes of conversations between Andy Warhol and Truman Capote in 1978 (made to be the source of a play, then abandoned). Every word in the play comes directly from these two 20th century geniuses. The structure of the conversations springs from Roth's imagination. The play made its world premiere at American Repertory Theater in 2017. 224 pages.
The author brings to life the origins of this classic show, the music behind it, and the unlikely story of its creator. Interweaving behind-the-scenes accounts of people who worked with Willson, Cabaniss looks at his long and unusual career as a composer, conductor, radio personality, and flutist. 208 pages.
Chronicles the unlikely phenomenon of Little Shop of Horrors, the musical by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. Looks at the creation of the musical and its place in the contemporary musical theatre canon and examines its afterlives and wider cultural context. Told through archival research and eyewitness accounts, with extensive use of Ashman's personal papers, offering a unique and inspiring study of one of musical theatre's greatest talents. 256 pages.
A memoir chronicling the relationship between Stephen Sondheim and journalist Salsini during the latter's time as the founder and editor of The Sondheim Review. 252 pages.
Broadway producer sits down with his daughter to share his life's story. His childhood, service in the Army, teaching career at Duke University, and his long and illustrious career on Broadway ... a chronicle of one of the most legendary Broadway careers of our time, as well as a life well lived. 137 pages. Released September 2022.
A book that is "purposely meant to start arguments and to settle them," as the author addresses the most dividing musical theater questions and opinions.
Musical that started at The Old Vic, London, in July 2017, in a production directed by Conor McPherson, and later transferred to the West End, Broadway, Australia, Ireland and toured the UK.
. the unique story of how the author came into leadership at Pasadena Playhouse after a successful career directing on Broadway, in London and at theatres all over the world. In intimate detail, it relates how the theatre was radically changed and reignited by his leadership, including his insistence on making diversity a priority both onstage and off. It is the very personal story of a person who wanted his race to be recognized, but never used as a limitation or a reason to be less than fully...
