Books that every Broadway fan should read?

[alliez92092]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 3:41pm

I know we've had threads on this before, but I searched and could not find them. Basically, I was just wondering what books are out there that you think should be read by every Broadway fan. I just got a Borders gift certificate so I want to do some reading. Thanks!
Updated On: 6/3/10 at 03:41 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 3:47pm

William Goldman The Season
Ken Mandelbaum Not Since Carrie
Steven Suskin Second Act Trouble
Keith Garebian The Making of West Side Story, The Making of Gypsy, etc.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 3:48pm

I thought this was a list of books. Maybe you should put a question mark in the subject line. And since everyone talks about it, you should buy "Not Since Carrie." And if you really like a certain show, see if they published their script and see if it's available for purchase.

[CandiceElyse]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 3:57pm

Broadway Nights by Seth Rudetsky...it is hilarious.

[alliez92092]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 4:03pm

Thanks for the suggestions so far. A lot of them, like Not Since Carrie, I have been planning to read for awhile so it will be nice to finally have that. I'd love to hear more people's opinions as well, so keep 'em coming!

[twinbelters]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 4:06pm

Anything by Ken Mandelbaum including old Theater Week articles.

I'm enjoying Ethan Mordden's series, but I understand there are detractors? He's a sassy one and loves a footnote, but it provides a good overview.

I was enjoying Everything Was Possible: the making of Follies, but had to return it to the liberry and focus on other things.

Updated On: 6/3/10 at 04:06 PM

[morosco]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 4:08pm

"Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies" by Ted Chapin

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 4:32pm

EVERYTHING WAS POSSIBLE was one of the greatest books about theater I've ever read.

To friends, I'm currently recommending FREE FOR ALL - the oral history of the Public, the NY Shakespeare Festival and Joe Papp. It's a little long, but wonderful.

[mshetina]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 4:38pm

Mordden's reactionary politics (or at least his inability to sound like anything but a loudmouth pundit) and tendency to make flippant blanket statements hurt his works, but they are still invaluable for the breadth of information and analysis he provides. I haven't read "The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen" yet; is it really just a full-length rant or should I give it a try?

And I second "The Season." A real insider's look. "Everything Was Possible" is absolutely fascinating and the most minute details of Follies' creation are laid out in an engrossing narrative.

[victoria saxton]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 5:54pm

Did you see the article in the NY Times today?
If not here's the link!

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/theater-talkback-summer-reading-list/?ref=theater

Ben Brantley's recommended summer reading!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 6:07pm

I always suggest Not Since Carrie first. I've read it four times. I enjoyed Everything Was Possible, even though I'm not a Follies fan. It does get a little self-congratulatory at times, but it's an interesting read, nonetheless.

[madlibrarian]

Posted: 6/3/10 at 7:35pm

Fans of Goldman's The Season should seek Season In, Season Out by Jack Gaver. It covers 1965-66 as Goldman does 1967-68.

[Bwaynerd]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 9:26am

great american mousical- by julie andrews
haunted theaters- ??

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 10:59am

I just picked up Seth's book at the library. I would suggest reading "The Season" first. Some books that came after it refer back to it. "Everything Was Possible" was excellent. Also, if you like Sondheim, Meryle Secrest's "Stephen Sondheim - A Life" is really good.

I am currently reading a book that I stumbled on called "Stagestruck". Not sure what to think. It is by Sarah Schulman. She says that "RENT" was mostly based on a book she wrote and that Jonathan Larson told a friend he was using the book while writing "RENT". So far, she just seems to be angry and is bashing the show under the guise of being an activist and pointing out the things the show got wrong, etc. in depicting the gay community. Has anyone else read this book?

Updated On: 6/4/10 at 10:59 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:34am

I've heard Schulman talk about this, and she's probably right (many people who knew both Larson & Schulman attest to it). Rent was a truly unusual mess of an event - Larson worked for a long time just to get a production, and no one had any idea how lucrative it would become. Many of Larson's friends state that, had he lived to see the show's success, he would have shared the royalties with others.

Lynn Thompson, the dramaturg, had boxes and boxes of notes from the time she and Larson spent working on the piece, notes which verified her claim that she wrote significant parts of the show (she won her lawsuit, but only with the proviso that she herself could no longer publicly discuss her participation in the creative process).

The Larson family (who refused to provide Jonathan health insurance during his struggling years, and thus may share culpability in his untimely demise) were uncompromising in their stand to deny creative share to anyone else.

Unfortunately for Schulman, she doesn't possess that rare quality of personality that makes people want to help her, and so she is left looking like a whiner. But she probably should share some of the credit for Rent.

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:49am

Contradictions by Hal Prince

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:50am

I maintain that if Larson hadn't died, RENT would be a far better piece, structurally and dramaturgically.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 12:13pm

I really enjoyed Howard Kissel's David Merrick: The Abonimable Showman. If you're into the producing/advertising angle, it's a fascinating read.

Also great is Carol Ilsen's Harold Prince: A Director's Journey, for both the insight it gives into Prince's creative process and the sense of history it provides.

I second recommendations of The Season, Not Since Carrie, and Secrest's Sondheim biography.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 12:18pm

Nobody ever wants to read this because they think its going to be a snooze, but it isn't: THE FERVENT YEARS by Harold Clurman. Sooo good.

Also, check out Anne Bogart's wonderful manifesto A DIRECTOR PREPARES. Wonderful, wonderful.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 12:21pm

newintown, I am ony about a quarter of the way through the book. The title is a bit misleading and it just seems that since she didn't pursue this fast enough (She says nobody would listen to her) and she couldn't afford a lawyer, she decided to write a book and trash the show. Some of the things she is saying so far are a bit annoying. I am trying to decide if I want to finish it.

I also read the book on A Chorus Line and Michael Bennett. Very good and the name escapes me!

Updated On: 6/4/10 at 12:21 PM

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 12:29pm

mshetina and others: I am currently reading "The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen" by Ethan Mordden. That is a strange title for a book that purports to knock the period from 1980 to 2005 on and off Broadway. Yes, he does slam many shows, but he also praises many productions in great detail. His enthusiasm for both RAGS ( a flop) and NINE (a hit) prompted me to buy their cast albums, although I saw neither show. Mordden provides good analysis of the shows that he covers and I would recommend the book for those who want a complete picture of the theatre scene from 1980-2005, even though he can be annoying at times.

[chrissydee]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 1:14pm

"How I Paid for College: A Tale of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theatre" by Marc Acito is genius. true true ture comedy genius.

And, Ive not read it yet, but my good good friend has just finished "A Fanny Full of Soap: The Story of a West End Musical" by Nichola McAuliffe which is about the awful, horrific mess that was "Murderous Instincts" a salsa-comedy-murder-mystery in London that lasted a very very short run in 2004 (here is an article about the show! http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/impresarios-murderous-instincts-kill-off-show-after--just-a-week-five-days-in-543787.html )

x

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 1:47pm

chrissy, How I Paid for College is really good and I suggest the follow-up "Attack of the Theater People". I wish Marc would get a 3rd book out!

[twinbelters]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 3:18pm

A Fanny Full Of Soap looks promising. My Amazon wish list was newly invigorated.

A book I recently came across that I read quite a bit of and plan to finish is The Theater Will Rock by Elizabeth Lara Wollman. It's about rock musicals and popular music's influence on the sound of musical theater and vice verse.

Mandelbaum's A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett is a must, yes. I am so fascinated by his aborted musical Scandal. I wish someone would make a movie about that story of how he came to shut it down.

I like Ethan Mordden's books all around--he is certainly biased, but I appreciate his point of view on some matters such as why there are musicals that attempt to redeem murderers (Ragtime, The Capeman) during the Clinton era. He makes a distinction saying that Assassins doesn't redeem them, but allows us to understand them. "The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen" is better than I thought it would be but not as gratifying as the earlier volumes. The research on The Wild Party isn't as illiminating as I'd hoped, but it was interesting reading a musical I saw on Broadway being put in historical context. He surrrrre loves his footnotes. And Side Show, natch. =)

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 5:15pm

Just an aside...newintown, from what I gather, Lynn Thompson did not win the lawsuit. The case was settled out of court with the Larson estate. Terms were confidential.