Must read books for musical theater freaks- Page 2

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 6/27/16 at 9:02pm

I loved "Everything Was Possible"...I saw FOLLIES at the Colonial in Boston, pre-Broadway. It sort of changed my life. I'm about 60% into Barbara Cook's autobiography today and I'm loving it.

[Fantod]

Posted: 6/27/16 at 9:44pm

Suskin also has an excellent book called Second Act Trouble that is a great read and A Must See (with Broadway poster artwork) is a fun perusal. 

Other excellent ones are the Mielziner and Aronson books on set design, The Ziegfeld Touch, Lost Broadway Theatres, and Miles Kreuger's book on Show Boat. 

 

Song of Spider-Man is good trashy fun and I really enjoy Ethel Merman: A Life

 

Not really a fan of Ethan Mordden, as I find his style a little too difficult to read, but All That Glittered is a good resource as one of the few books that tracks American plays instead of American musicals.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 12:20am

I have probably readNot Since Carrie 10 times, so that is #1 for me.  I also really enjoyed Razzle Dazzle, although I acknowledge there were some factual errors and the deification of Michael Bennett was over the top.  The most substantive book i've read was Frank Rich's book about the production of Follies...can't remember the title, but I am guess from other posts that it was Everything Was Possible.  That was just a brilliant read in all respects; and, since the original Follies remains my all-time favorite show and I saw it twice inBoston, while in college, it was extra special for me.  Of course, it made me wonder why I didnt do something with my life that was related to the theatre.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 12:27am

I'll agree with those who mentioned the Wasson biography of Fosse. It'a a well written and thoroughly researched portrait of a complicated but genius artist and person- excellent read. 

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 11:28am

Everything was Possible is incredible with all kinds of detail.

What They Did for Love about Chorus Line was a good read (I have not read Onthe Line, but a friend loved it).

Untold Stories of Broadway (two volumes but badly delivered for Kindle with each book split in two kindle books for volume 1 and two for volume 2). It is memories of actual theater people (performers, stage managers, producers, ushers to name just a few). Ordered by theater and highlighting both well known and obscure shows. I found these stories to be like a insiders view of the whole theater community and history. Not the best writing, and stories a little uneven. But for this theater fan, incredible.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 12:01pm

I have been meaning to read Ghost Light. Just downloaded it through Overdrive from my library.

Updated On: 6/28/16 at 12:01 PM

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 12:09pm

I loved A Year With The Producers by Jeffry Denman. I wasn't familiar with The Producers, but it was so interesting to hear about how Jeffry went from the closing company of Cats to being the Leo Bloom understudy. 

Another good one is Making It On Broadway by David Wienir - it's insightful into the business - both in the moment and out of the moment from so many different perspectives. It's a little sad in places, but also celebratory in other ways. 

Updated On: 6/28/16 at 12:09 PM

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 7/1/16 at 7:51pm

Here was my list of Theater Books of 2015 to read in 2016



 

[macnyc]

Posted: 9/9/16 at 11:29am

Thank you to everyone who posted! I have some time to read next week, so I downloaded a couple.