Staging a Children's Musical (Resource)

Staging a Children's Musical (Resource) By Cheryl Lavender. (resource book). Music First Express. Size 8.5x11 inches. 230 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (44219036)

Stop the Show! A History of Insane Incidents and Absurd Accidents in the Theater

Stop the Show! A History of Insane Incidents and Absurd Accidents in the Theater (Paperback) by Brad Schreiber

The Art of the American Musical: Conversations with the Creators (Paperback)

Bryer and Davison, co-editors of The Actor's Art, collect interviews with leading lyricists, composers, librettists, producers and directors who created the masterpieces of late 20th-century musical theater. Conversations with talent like Kander and Ebb, Susan Stroman, and Harold Prince shed light on the various ways to combine music and dance, which resulted in hits such as Cabaret, The Producers and Fiddler on the Roof, respectively. Each interview includes a brief bio and an appraisal of triumphs and failures, though the primary goal is to reveal the secret to successful theatrical collaboration. But that isn't really possible, according to Stephen Sondheim, since "the performing arts involve the final collaborator, the audience." While this work gives a good overview of how the genre has evolved over time, the editors often give too many details without sufficient context, making for tedious reading. Theater professionals and fans will enjoy the backstage gossip, but the real benefactors will be those who want to get into the business. The chance to apprentice with today's greats is rare; reading about them is the next best thing. 14 b&w illus. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Commercial Theater Institute Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals (Paperback)

Now in its 25th year, the Commercial Theater Institute sponsors an annual intensive program in New York for individuals interested in producing or investing in the theatre that attracts people from all over the world. The top working theatre professionals offer hard, factual information to those interested in producing for Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, anywhere in North America, as well as in the United Kingdom. The Commercial Theater Institute Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals now collects for the first time the cream of the crop of that advice, from the noted theatre professionals who participate in the program, in their own words. Interviews, contributions, and a resource directory are included from 30 theatre professionals who have won a total of 45 Tony Awards. Agents, directors, production designers, general managers, fundraisers, marketing directors, producers, and theatrical attorneys all offer invaluable advice in a book that will be the definitive resource in its field.

The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen: The Last Twenty-Five Years of the Broadway Musical (Hardcover)

For Ethan Mordden, the closing night of the hit musical, 42nd St. sounded the death knell of the art form of the Broadway musical. After that, big orchestras, real voices, recognizable books and intelligent lyrics went out the window in favor of cats, helicopters, yodeling Frenchmen, and the roof of the Paris Opera. Mordden takes us through the aftermath of the days of the great Broadway musical. From the long-running Cats to Miss Saigon, Phantom, and Les Miserables, to gems like The Producers, he is unsparing in his look at the remains of the day. Not content to scold the shows' creators, Mordden takes on the critics, too, splaying their bodies across the Great White Way like Sweeney Todd giving a close shave. Once more, it's "curtain going up," but Mordden is not applauding.

The Megamusical (Profiles in Popular Music) (Hardcover)

A megamusical is an epic, dramatic show featuring recurring melodies in a sung-through score; huge, impressive sets; and grand ideas. These qualities are accompanied by intensive marketing campaigns, unprecedented international financial success, and a marked disjunction between critical reaction and audience reception. Audiences adore megamusicals; they flock to see them when they open, and return again and again, helping long-lived shows to become semi-permanent tourist attractions. Yet generally speaking, critics either dismiss megamusicals as superficial entertainment, or rail against them as offensively simple-minded money-making scams. This audience/critic division lies at the heart of The Megamusical.

The Musical

The Musical A Look at the American Musical Theater. By Richard Kislan. Applause Books. Size 6x9.25 inches. 310 pages. Published by Applause Books. (314008)

The Musical from the Inside Out (Paperback)

An entertaining and informative new guidebook to the creation of the musical show, filled with anecdotes, practical advice, and sparkling commentary from the biggest Broadway insiders.

The Musical Theatre Writer's Survival Guide (Paperback)

If you're taking your first steps, Spencer's counsel, anecdotes, and instructions will save you years of blindly stumbling about without results. Likewise, if you've been around the block a few times, The Musical Theatre Writer's Survival Guide can rescue you from the kinds of career-stalling traps, bad habits, and false assumptions that lead to dead ends.

The Playbill Broadway Yearbook: June 1, 2004 - May 31, 2005 (Playbill Broadway Yearbook) (Hardcover)

Many of the people who work on Broadway keep scrapbooks of their experiences: photos, signed posters, ticket stubs, and, of course the Playbills. Playbill Books, a division of the iconic 111-year-old company that designs the programs for every show on Broadway, has expanded this idea into a new project that it hopes will become a Broadway institution: The Playbill Broadway Yearbook. It takes the form of a high school or college yearbook, packed with photos and memorabilia from the entire 2004-2005 season. This inaugural edition will include chapters on every show that ran during the season - not just the new shows, but the long-running ones from seasons past as well. In addition to all the headshots of all the actors who appeared in Playbill, the book will have photos of producers, writers, designers, stage managers, stagehands and musicians. The goal is to include as many of the faces that worked on Broadway and who made themselves available. Correspondents range from dressers and stage doormen to stage managers, dancers, featured players, and, in some cases, the star of the show.

The Playbill Broadway Yearbook: June 1, 2005 - May 31, 2006 (Playbill Broadway Yearbook) (Hardcover)

This second edition of The Playbill Broadway Yearbook has a chapter for each of the 71 Broadway shows that were running between June 2005 and May 2006, including "alumni" pages for shows held over from previous seasons. In addition, every show has a correspondent who records the special moments and relationships that develop during rehearsals and the run. Actor hangouts, most memorable ad-lib, celebrity visitors, and the record number of cell phone rings during a performance are among the information recorded. An insider Events section reports on such annual milestones as The Tony Awards, Gypsy of the Year, Broadway Bares, and the annual Broadway softball championship in Central Park Once again, in addition to all the headshots of all the actors who appeared in Playbill, the book includes photos of producers, writers, designers, stage managers, stagehands and musicians. The goal is to include as many of the faces who worked on Broadway as possible. As a special treat, the Yearbook includes photos of opening night curtain calls from many shows. This is a book no Broadway buff will want to be without.

The Q Guide to Broadway (Pop Culture Out There Q Guide) (Paperback)

The Great White Way has paved the way for some of the most legendary performers in history. But Broadway is more than a street, it's a community. In this Q Guide, a true Broadway expert takes theater fans on the ultimate insider's tour.

The Songwriter Goes to War

The Songwriter Goes to War The Story of Irving Berlin's World War II All-Army Production of This Is the Army. Performed by Irving Berlin. Limelight. Size 5.75x8.5 inches. 362 pages. Published by Limelight Editions. (332633)

The Successful Children's Choir By Ruth Jacobs. H.T. Fitzsimons Co. Size 5.5x8.5 inches. 63 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (8738934)

The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, from Hair to Hedwig (Hardcover)

The Theatermania Guide to Musical Theater Recordings (Paperback)

The first ever comprehensive guide to musical theater recordings, this book covers the entire history of musical theater. From Jerome Kern and the Gershwins to Bernstein and Sondheim, here are capsule reviews and ratings of more than 1,000 theater recordings of the past 60 years. Organized alphabetically, each listing contains background information on the show, cast information, record label, catalog number, whether the recording is currently in print, and an overall rating of one to five stars.

There's More To Musicals Than Music By Grace Hawthorne. Books About Music & Author's Collections. Composed 0. Published by Hope Publishing Company. (566)

Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical (Hardcover)

Wicked is not just a musical, it is a phenomenon. Every week 15,000 people pack New Yorks Gershwin Theatre to see the show. The most successful musical on Broadway in 2004, Wicked is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire. It tells the story of Elphaba, the headstrong Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the good witch, growing up in the Land of Oz. The show has cast a spell on fans, many of whom return for second and third viewings. In 2005, the show begins an extensive tour across the United States and Canada, hitting major cities such as Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and many more. This beautifully packaged, whimsical keepsake is designed to resemble the Grimmerie, an ancient book of spells that Elphaba uses in the show. Wicked: The Grimmerie offers fans a behind-the-curtains peek at the musical, profiles of the cast and creative team, and inside stories, with full-color photographs throughout. Some of the irresistible special features include an Ozian glossary, spells, the shows libretto, an illustrated family tree, and a step-by-step look at how Elphaba gets green before each showeverything fans need to relive the Broadway experience day after day.

Words with Music: Creating the Broadway Musical Libretto (Paperback)

The dean of Broadway musical directors examines the dynamics of how the book, music and lyrics work together to create such hits as My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, Hair, Pal Joey, West Side Story, Company, South Pacific, Threepenny Opera and Porgy and Bess. Howard Kissel, chief theater critic for the New York Daily News, extends the reach of Engel's subjects by bringing them up to date with commentary on such shows as A Chorus Line, Nine, Sunday in the Park with George, Rent, Working and Falsettos. Kissel offers a thoughtful history on how musical theater has evolved in the three decades since Engel wrote Words with Music (1972) and how Engel's classic work remains vital and illuminating today.

Writing the Broadway Musical (Paperback)

A classic updated to include the developments of the 1990s-the first book to explore in detail how to create a Broadway musical