Favorite Book By A Musical
Favorite Book By A Musical
Hope
Understudy Joined: 9/28/04
#0Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 3:34pmCan anyone share what their favorite book(s) by a musical is(are)? I'm looking to enrich my library collection! I have to say, Sondheim does it for me and I just started it off with Into The Woods and Gypsy.
jmaclover
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/04
#1re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 3:48pm
Do you mean favorite books OF a musical?
Les Mis, Avenue Q, Fiddler on the roof....
"I've often said I should put sweets in my chair - they'd spend less time on my a** that way....." ~F.W.B.
Hope
Understudy Joined: 9/28/04
#2re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 3:49pmYes, of a musical! I also forgot to mention Sweeney Todd.
#3re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 4:16pmAll of those mentioned are great. Especially Sweeney, Into the Woods, and of course Gypsey too.
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#4re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 4:49pm
My favorite Book of a Musical is DO I HEAR A WALTZ? (1965), by Arthur Laurents and a Richard Rodgers/Stephen Sondheim score.
It's the story of a spinster teacher who takes a trip to Venice seeking fun, romance, and excitement... and gets exactly what she wanted and then some.
One of the first musicals with a bittersweet ending. It's available as a book--your local library may have a copy.
PLEASE check it out!!! :)
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
JakeB
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#6re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 4:55pmCOMPANY started out as ELEVEN one-act plays that George Furth melded into the book for COMPANY.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#7re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 4:55pmtick, tick... BOOM! and Sweeney Todd. Oh! And a Chorus Line too!
"The stage is where I live and come alive and act out all the things that go on in my life. It's not just what I do for a living, it's my shrink and my love affair. No one in my life has ever or ever will kiss me on the mouth like this lover called my relationship with my performance."
JakeB
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#9re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 4:59pmA CHORUS LINE was based on a series of interviews Michael Bennett had with Broadway dancers; ssking them about their careers and how they felt about working as an artist. (In the original cast, many of the dancers played the parts that were modeled after them: Donna MCKechnie, Carole Bishop, Sammy Williams, etc.)
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#10re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 5:27pmParade. Jason Robert Brown
<< Gavin Creel and Kate Baldwin making vocal love... I adore these two.
Hope
Understudy Joined: 9/28/04
#11re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 6:00pmI've written them all down. Thanks! How about Wicked? I see it all the time at Borders, esp. the one on Columbus Circle. I also bought The Exonerated a couple weeks ago and I had such a hard time following it. I didn't get to see the play live.
bjivie2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/04
#12re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 6:01pm
Are we all sure that these librettos are published? I don't think that the script to tick, tick... BOOM! is available. I honestly think that Gypsy has one of the greatest books of a musical ever, because the show could almost entirely work using only the script and none of the songs.
Other shows that I think have wonderful scripts are Carousel, Man of La Mancha, Urinetown, Ruthless, and Into the Woods.
Eeeeeeyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaannnnnddddd aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiyyyyyyaaaaaammmmmmmm teeeeeeeelllllliiiiiinnngg yyyyooooooouuuuuuuwwwaaaahh...
Hope
Understudy Joined: 9/28/04
#13re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 6:06pm
Yeah, I keep hearing that about Gypsy and how the book itself can stand all on its own. I think its so great. I remember Bernadette Peters always mentioned in her interviews regarding Gypsy that the book itself is amazing.
Hope
Understudy Joined: 9/28/04
#14re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 6:07pmAlso, libretto...is that another name for "book?"
#15re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 6:10pmIt's the entire show, songs and book.
"The stage is where I live and come alive and act out all the things that go on in my life. It's not just what I do for a living, it's my shrink and my love affair. No one in my life has ever or ever will kiss me on the mouth like this lover called my relationship with my performance."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#16re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 6:35pm
GYPSY does work as a story without the songs. Please read the source, THE MEMOIRS OF GYPSY ROSE LEE. It's wonderful--divided into three sections (each one called an Act) and Act I ends EXACTLY where Act I of the musical does--June runs away and Rose decides to make Louise a star.
Folks, head straight to your local library IMMEDIATELY! :)
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#17re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 6:36pm"Libretto" is a term that is used more in Opera--but can also be used to describe the Book of a Musical.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#18re: Favorite Book By A Musical
Posted: 10/16/04 at 6:43pmGypsy, West Side Story, Les Miserables. But the most creative two I think are SITPWG, and Into the Woods. They are both not based on movies or a popular book or play (believe it or not about 80-90% of the american musical is based on SOMETHING, whether it's well known or not).
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
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