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Books Now Available:
Musical Theatre For Dummies
(For Dummies - Paperback Book/Kindle Edition)
By Seth Rudetsky. For those new to musical theatre. History of musical theater and shows born on Broadway or the West End that became cultural phenomena; development of productions, from the idea stage all the way through opening night and beyond; insights into how theater is made; insider advice on the skills you need to perform in professional or amateur musical theater productions; anecdotes and show recommendations. 384 pages.
Newly Listed Recordings:
March 24:
The Year After: A Song Cycle
(No Hope Productions - new digital album)
Cast recording of a song cycle by Tim Aumiller and Scott Schneider. Brittneyann Accetta, Krystina Alabado, Michael Lee Brown, Max Crumm, Dayna Dantzler, Deon'te Goodman, Nathan Lee Graham,, Jason Moody, Shanna Sharp.
April 28:
The Great British Bake Off Musical OLC
(Masterworks - new digital album)
Score by Pippa Cleary (music and lyrics) and Jake Brunger (lyrics). John Owen-Jones, Scott Paige, Claire Moore, Charlotte Wakefield, Damian Humbley, Jay Saighal, Michael Cahill and Aharon Rayner. "The Bake Off Tent," "Obviously," "Somewhere In The Dough," "Grow," "The Handshake Song," "My Dad," "The Perfect Petit Fours," "Babs' Lament."
May 16:
All Wigged Out: The Musical
(Community Music, Inc. - new DVD)
2023 film directed by Tracy Walsh. Screenwriters Cathy Fink, Andy Offutt Irwin, and Marcy Marxer. Starring Marcy Marxer, Janet Cramer, Stacy McMichael. "Grammy-winner Marcy Marxer takes us on her journey through Breast Cancer and chemo induced neuropathy, tempered by her wacky sense of humor and ability to make the personal universal. She triumphs with the love of her life, Cathy Fink."
Newly Listed Books:
April 1:
A Fine Romance: Adapting Broadway to Hollywood in the Studio System Era
(Oxford Univ Press - Hardcover Book)
By Geoffrey Block. Beginning with the stage debut of Show Boat in 1927 and concluding with the release the Cabaret filmed nearly a half century later in 1972. Explores the symbiotic relationship between a dozen Broadway musicals and their Hollywood film adaptations. Engages with aesthetic and critical concerns while also considering the social issues around Broadway and Hollywood film through the lenses of race and ethnicity, class, gender, and sexual identity. 368 pages.
April 11:
True West: Sam Shepard's Life, Work, and Times
(Crown - Hardcover Book/Kindle Edition/Audible Audiobook)
By Robert Greenfield. Delves deeply into Shepard's life as well as the ways in which his work illuminates it. Takes readers through the world of downtown theater in Lower Manhattan in the early sixties; the jazz scene at New York's Village Gate; fringe theater in London in the seventies; Bob Dylan's legendary Rolling Thunder tour; the making of classic films Broadway productions. Greenfield interviewed dozens of people who knew Shepard well, many of whom had never before spoken on the record about him. While exploring his relationships with Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Jessica Lange across the long arc of his brilliant career, Greenfield makes the case for Shepard as not just a great American writer but a unique figure who first brought the sensibility of rock 'n roll to theater. Audiobook version narrated by Jon Lindstrom. 448 pages.
May 17:
Dance on the American Musical Theatre Stage: A History
(Routledge - Hardcover Book/Kindle Edition)
By Ray Miller. Chronicles the development of dance, with an emphasis on musicals and the Broadway stage, in the United States from its colonial beginnings to performances of the present day. 304 pages.
June 1:
Gays on Broadway
(Oxford Univ Press - Hardcover Book)
By Ethan Mordden. Chronological review of the long journey to bring the culture of gay men and women onto the American stage. From the genteel female impersonators of the 1910s to the raucous drag queens of La Cage aux Folles, from the men of The Normal Heart to the women of Fun Home, and from Eva Le Gallienne and Tallulah Bankhead to Tennessee Williams and Nathan Lane .. chronicles the plays and people that brought gay culture to Broadway. 240 pages.
When the British Musical Ruled the World
(Applause - Hardcover Book/Kindle Edition)By Robert Sellers, who gives his account of how Evita, Cats, Starlight Express, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Chess, and Miss Saigon changed the business of musical theater in the 1980s. With insightful, personal stories from cast members, set designers, musical supervisors, dancers, lighting designers, production managers, singers, and choreographers ... and the backstage drama, production nightmares, and financial woes that threatened to derail the shows at multiple points. 268 pages.
