Musicals

 

Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway by Eve Golden Hardcover from University Press of Kentucky

Bob Fosse's Broadway by Margery Beddow Beddow, a dancer who appeared in numerous Fosse shows (she replaced Gwen Verdon in one of his early shows) and recreated some of his choreography for national touring shows, checks in with a show-by-show account of Fosse's career, from Pajama Game through Sweet Charity and Pippin to Big Deal -- all told from a dancer's point of view. The book is at its best when it vividly describes some of Fosse's "lost" dances for lesser-known shows like Frank Loesser's Pleasures and Palaces, which closed out of town. Included are many rare photos of Fosse's dancers in action, and a heartbreaking account of his last rehearsal on the day he died. Amazon.com Paperback from Heinemann Publishing

Broadway Belter's Songbook: Piano/Vocal
(Paperback - October 1993)
 

Colored Lights : Forty Years of Words and Music, Show Biz, Collaboration, and All That Jazz by John Kander, Fred Ebb, Greg Lawrence, Liza Minnelli Hardcover from Faber & Faber

The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin
by Irving Berlin, et al
(Hardcover)

The Complete Phantom of the Opera
by George Perry
Listed under Andrew Lloyd Webber

Crazy for You: Complete Vocal Selections
by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
(Paperback)

Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre
by Kurt Ganzl
(Hardcover)

Enter the Players: New York Stage Actors in the Twentieth Century
by Thomas S. Hischak
Hardcover from Scarecrow Press

 

Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical "Follies" by Ted Chapin Book Description: In 1971, college student Ted Chapin was in the right place at the right time.  As a production assistant, or gofer, he found himself front row center at the creation of one of the greatest of all Broadway musicals: Follies. And since (as part of a college assignment) he kept a journal of everything he saw and heard, he was able to document–in unprecedented detail–how a musical is actually made. Now, thirty years later, he has fashioned that eyewitness account into an extraordinary chronicle that sheds new light on a still-evolving art form while vividly capturing an era long gone. “If there has ever been an account of the creation of a major Broadway production as complete, candid, and apocrypha-free as this one,” writes Frank Rich in the foreword, “I have not found it.” Everything Was Possible takes the reader on the roller-coaster ride that is the musical-making process, from the uncertainties of casting to drama-filled rehearsals, from the care and feeding of one-time movie stars like Alexis Smith and Yvonne De Carlo to the tension of that first performance, from the pressures of an out-of-town tryout to the exhilaration of opening night on Broadway. But this was not just any rehearsal process, nor a typical opening night. This was the almost mythical Follies, the work Rich calls “the most elusive of landmark musicals.” Its creators were Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, Michael Bennett, and James Goldman–giants in the evolution of the Broadway musical, geniuses at the top of their game. “Lord knows at least I was there,” goes a Sondheim lyric from Follies. In Everything Was Possible, we all are there–at the birth of a musical that shimmers to this day.  Hardcover from Knopf

Feuer and Martin Present Guys & Dolls: A Musical Fable of Broadway/Vocal Score/Hl00447926 (Score)
by Frank Loesser, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
Paperback from Hal Leonard
1983
 

Fiddler on the Roof by Jerry Bock, Jerome Robbins, Joseph Stein, Sheldon Harnick, Sholem Aleichem Paperback from Limelight Editions 1990

From Assassins to West Side Story : The Director's Guide to Musical Theatre by Scott Miller From Assassins to West Side Story is that rare theater textbook that is so articulate, insightful, and downright playful that it can be read simply for pleasure. If you're planning to direct one of these 16 shows, though, you'll have a far richer production for having employed its points. Scott Miller shows an uncommon, detailed understanding of the emotional machinery of these shows. He explores the use of the dies irae theme throughout Sweeney Todd; points out how the title character in Pippin becomes extraordinary only when he resolves to be ordinary; proposes unceasing motion as a staging concept and a theme in Les Miserables; suggests techniques to best let an audience grasp that time flows backward in Merrily We Roll Along; and ponders the nature of reality and unreality at the core of Man of La Mancha. Keep those cast albums ready, because you'll definitely be putting them on. Amazon.com Paperback from Heinemann

George Gershwin -- His Life & Music
by Ean Wood
Listed under George Gershwin

Judy Garland: A Portrait in Art & Anecdote
by John Fricke, Lorna Luft
Listed under Judy Garland

Secret Garden: Vocal Selections
by Lucy Simon, Carol Cuellar (Editor)
(Paperback)

Into the Woods (Vocal Score)
by Stephen Sondheim
(Paperback)

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
by Jim Cartwright
Original script of the play from which the movie was developed. One reviewer wrote, "The only problem with this script, is finding an actress with the ability to impersonate so many celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland. If possible, though, this script is surefire winner." They found one! Db.
Paperback: 86 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.27 x 7.82 x 5.15
Greenwood Publishing Group; ISBN: 0413671305; Reissue edition

Little Voice
by Mark Herman
Jane Horrocks (Little Voice) takes center stage as the 14-year old Lancashire girl who can only relate to the world by mimicking the musical hits of pre-50s divas in her bedroom; a refuge from her widowed mother's sniping, boozing and whoring. Amazon.com
(Paperback)

Making Musicals: An Informal Introduction to the World of Musical Theatre
by Tom Jones
The man who wrote the words to The Fantasticks and several other musicals shares his hard-earned wisdom in a book that's part history, part how-to, with just enough memoir thrown in to give it a unique personality and flavor. Jones (not the pop singer) lays out the rules of writing Broadway-style musicals, illustrated with examples from the great shows, from Oklahoma! on. He then explains how he endeavored to break those rules and advises writers of the new millennium on how they might do the same. Those writers will likely find their shows competing with Jones's Fantasticks, which opened in 1960 and is still going strong. Amazon.com
Paperback from Limelight Editions

The Making of West Side Story
by Keith Garebian
(Paperback)

A Most Ingenious Paradox: The Art of Gilbert & Sullivan
by Gayden Wren
Listed under Gilbert & Sullivan

The New York Musicals of Comden & Green: On the Town, Wonderful Town, Bells Are Ringing
by Adolph Green (Contributor), et al
(Hardcover)

Pippin: Vocal Selections
by Stephen Schwartz
(Paperback)

Readings on West Side Story (Literary Companion Series)
by Mary E. Williams (Editor), Bonnie Szumski (Editor)
(Paperback)

Rent
by Jonathan Larson, et al
(Hardcover)
 

A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film by Richard Barrios Paperback from Oxford University Press

Song & Dance: The Musicals of Broadway
by Ted Sennett, Andrew G. Hager
(Hardcover)

Sunday in the Park With George: Vocal Score
by Stephen Sondheim
(Paperback)

The Ultimate Broadway Fake Book: Over 720 Songs from over 240 Shows for Piano, Vocal, Guitar, Electronic Keyboards and All 'C' Instruments
by Stanley Green (Spiral-bound)

Vocal Selections from West Side Story
by Hal Leonard (Editor)
(Paperback)

A Chronology of American Musical Theater
by Richard C. Norton
Hardcover from Oxford University Press

Jerome Robbins: That Broadway Man, That Ballet Man
by Conrad Christine Ed
Hardcover from Booth-Clibborn Editions

Hairspray : The Roots
by Mark O'Donnell, Thomas Meehan, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman
Hardcover from Faber & Faber

Hairspray: The Complete Book and Lyrics of the Hit Broadway Musical
by Thomas Meehan Mark O'Donnell Whittman Marc Shaiman and Scott
Paperback from Applause Books

Oh, Jackie!: Her Father's Story
by Melvin Helitzer, Mel Helitzer
Paperback from Univ Sports Pr

The Producers: The New Mel Brooks Musical
by Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
Paperback from Hal Leonard

Cabaret: The Illustrated Book and Lyrics
by Joe Masteroff, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Joan Marcus, Rivka Katvan, Linda Sunshine
Hardcover from Newmarket Press

Les Miserables: Piano/Vocal Ward Best Musical
by Todd Lowry, Alain Boubil, Claude-Michel Schonberg
Paperback from Hal Leonard
1991

Deconstructing Harold Hill
by Scott Miller
Paperback from Heinemann Publishing

Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida: The Making of the Broadway Musical
by Michael Lassell
Hardcover from Hyperion Press

The Musical from the Inside Out
by Stephen Citron
Paperback from Ivan R Dee, Inc.

A Chorus Line: With the Printed Music from the Broadway Show
by James Kirkwood, Nicholas Dante, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
Paperback from Hal Leonard
1982

The Musical: A Look at the American Musical Theater
by Richard Kislan
Paperback from Applause Books

I Will Be Cleopatra: An Actress's Journey
by Zoe Caldwell
Hardcover from W.W. Norton & Company

Jesus Christ Superstar Vocal Selections
by Warner Brothers, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice
Listed under Andrew Lloyd Webber

The Longest Line: Broadway's Most Singular Sensation: A Chorus Line
by Gary Stevens, Alan George
Hardcover from Applause Books

 

The Singer's Musical Theatre Anthology - Volume 3 : Baritone/Bass by Various Paperback from Hal Leonard

Broadway Musicals Show by Show by Stanley Green, Kay Green Paperback from Hal Leonard

The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter by Cole Porter, Robert Kimball, John Updike Paperback from DaCapo Press 1992

The Big Book of Broadway - 3rd Edition by Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation Paperback from Hal Leonard 1994

Rent by Jonathan Larson, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation Paperback from Hal Leonard

American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle by Gerald Martin Bordman Hardcover from Oxford University Press

Writing the Broadway Musical
by Aaron Frankel
(Paperback)
 
 

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