Broadway Legend Joined: 12/29/13
They also did this with Some Like It Hot!
Its so rare to get this insight into the process. I LOVE IT.
https://ew.com/theater/barry-manilow-harmony-broadway-script-pages/
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/20
I wish they'd do something like this for Wicked. I'd be so interested to see that process!
I love when a successful show publishes its annotated show bible after the fact. I learned so much about writing and rewriting from The Producers Bible.
This is awesome!
It makes me think of when the New York Times (I believe), did those articles where they would talk to the PR team behind a show, and go through all the rejected key art for the show, and explain why each one didn;t work, etc. I remember the Wicked one so vividly!
Thanks for sharing that!
I had never heard of Manilow's Broadway aspirations!
darquegk said: "I love when a successful show publishes its annotated show bible after the fact. I learned so much about writing and rewriting from The Producers Bible."
Wow, I missed the Producers one, seems very useful. Do you know any other shows that have done the same?
Hadestown and Hamilton have published complete annotated scripts full of alternate material, but they don’t have as much stuff on set design, costume design, etc as Producers did. Rent and Avenue Q have the complete libretto and lots of photos and design info, but not as much annotation and deep dive into the script as Producers had.
The Producers book is really an excellent look into how a big musical comes together - the entire process is extremely well documented and virtually every aspect of the production is covered. The book can be found very cheaply, too. Even if you’re not a fan of the show itself, it’s really insightful to the creative process of putting a big budget musical together.
Thanks for posting this. I would have missed it and very happy that I've seen it. Fascinating.
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