Great Book

[jv92]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 7:47pm

Alright, well enough on everyone trashing my thoughts on a Piazza tour.
You know, there's a really good book out on one of the theater's most prolific directors.
"Before the Parade Passes By", the new biography on Gower Champion is an excellent read. It is a very well researched and well documented biography on Champion.
While I skipped past most of his early life to get to the good stuff, his childhood, like most directors, wasn't the best. His mother was a bit unkind to him.
But his personnal life is not the book's standout. It is the descriptive chapters discussing his Broadway musicals that are.
Every show is discussed with most of the musical numbers explained.
If you're looking for a well documented history on one of Broadway's best, not a trailer trash biography on Ethel Merman, read this book.