Best Books Ever Written About Broadway?

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 3:35pm

Whether memoirs, history books, textbooks, works of journalism, reference books...whatever. What have you found the most enlightening and the most useful?

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 3:42pm

The Season, by William Goldman
Everything Was Possible, by Ted Chapin
Act One, by Moss Hart

There's three of the usual stock answers, anyway.

[Fantod]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 5:06pm

All that Glittered by Ethan Mordden

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 5:13pm

Smash

[Fantod]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 5:18pm

By Garson Kanin? I found that to be one of the trashiest books I've ever read.

[gleek4114]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 5:21pm

Patti LuPone: A Memoir

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 5:35pm

Jay-Lerner's right on about the usual choices (and I'd agree, though you have to tolerate William Goldman's homophobia.) I'd add another one that always comes up--Not Since Carrie.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 5:41pm

Awesome Fantod, I didn't. Lucky for us, we can have two different opinions!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 5:43pm

Before The Parade Passes By Gower Champion
The Abominable Showman David Merrick

Updated On: 11/25/14 at 05:43 PM

[wonkit]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 6:02pm

Showman, Mr. Roxy, Showman!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 6:05pm

Thanks corrected. Out damn Kindle

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 6:13pm

Sort of a threadjack, but are there any good biographies on Michael Bennett out there? I know there are books on A Chorus Line (that I have not read, so those recommendations are welcome as well), but are there any devoted specifically to him?

[morosco]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 7:08pm

Kwn Mandlebaum wrote a good vook on Mixhael Bennett.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 7:16pm

There sure are. From what I have...

There's A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett (which goes into biography as well) by Ken Mendelbaum which is overall *great* and very specific.

There is another Bennett book I bought that I can't seem to find on my shelf--maybe I threw it out? It's EXTREMELY gossipy with none of the gossip given much evidence and mean spirited, but for that kinda book it's an easy read-- I mean I know, near the end of his life (as Mendelbaum states as well,) when he was more addicted to drugs and success Bennett was hard to get along with but this book is just brutal--and the facts often are wrong. If I find it or remember the title, I'll post it, but...

As for Chrosu Line. On the Line The Creation of A Chorus Line astold by much of the remaining cast is an enjoyable read, though lots of it is more about sour grapes about not making big profits from it, etc and the stories aren't new to most of us.

The coffee table book The Longest Line however is essential for any fan. It goes through every major production, has an oral history from so may people involved even dressers, details the good and the bad (the coke use epidemic in the early 80s that caused Actors Equity to lecture the cast and change some of their rules,) and is filled with great photos--even stuff like how the early 80s tour briefly tried to update the production. Highly recommended.

I found most of these for under 2 dollars in good, ex-library conditions used on Amazon.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 8:57pm

We used "Broadway: The American Musical" as our textbook. It has a great documentary with it, narrated by Julie Andrews, and is pretty detailed.

[OperaBwayLover]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 9:05pm

I'd add to this list the coffee table book "Broadway Day & Night" by Rodger McFarlane. It's a bit dated, focusing on the 1990s period of Broadway and the shows playing at the time in regard to photo content, but the anecdotes are timeless: a story of how Carol Channing got Dolly, how Angela Lansbury was convinced to play Madam Rose, Michael Crawford meeting Katherine Hepburn in an alley, and so forth. You should be able to find it used for a good price. A lovely book.

And on the flip side of Michael Bennett, the newest biography about Bob Fosse, simply titled "Fosse" by Sam Wasson, is excellent. Long but well worth the time and effort to read.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 9:09pm

"We used "Broadway: The American Musical" as our textbook. It has a great documentary with it, narrated by Julie Andrews, and is pretty detailed. "
It's a great survey of Broadway. Never too specific, but I think a good introduction, that can leas to a lot of great other more detailed books, if one is interested. I just watched the series on PBS so have not seen the book, but in broadstrokes it covers most of the major items, and the DVD section on the impact of AIDS to Broadway is devastating.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 9:26pm

The book is much more detailed then the documentary.

I just used the documentary to study for the test.

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 10:10pm

The special features on the dvd are good also. I enjoyed "Broadway the Golden Age" more.

Bookwise...Everything Was Possible was my favorite but read everything you can get your hands on!

Updated On: 11/28/14 at 10:10 PM

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 10:20pm

EricMontreal22, thanks for your recommendation! I just ordered A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett via Amazon! Can't wait to read it!

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 12/5/14 at 10:36am

Nobody has mentioned “Theater in America: 250 Years of Plays, Players and Productions” by Mary Henderson. Is that no longer assigned in theater history courses?

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 12/5/14 at 1:12pm

FINISHING THE HAT!!!!

Also, Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time is also loaded with show-specific information and lots of color OBC pics.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 12/6/14 at 3:01pm

Anything not written by Peter Filichia.