WICKED: THE GRIMMERIE, A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT THE HIT BROADWAY MUSICAL
by David Cote
from Hyperion
Wicked is not just a musical, it is a phenomenon. Every week 15,000 people pack New Yorks Gershwin Theatre to see the show. The most successful musical on Broadway in 2004, Wicked is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire. It tells the story of Elphaba, the headstrong Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the good witch, growing up in the Land of Oz. The show has cast a spell on fans, many of whom return for second and third viewings. In 2005, the show begins an extensive tour across the United States and Canada, hitting major cities such as Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and many more. This beautifully packaged, whimsical keepsake is designed to resemble the Grimmerie, an ancient book of spells that Elphaba uses in the show. Wicked: The Grimmerie offers fans a behind-the-curtains peek at the musical, profiles of the cast and creative team, and inside stories, with full-color photographs throughout. Some of the irresistible special features include an Ozian glossary, spells, the shows libretto, an illustrated family tree, and a step-by-step look at how Elphaba gets green before each showeverything fans need to relive the Broadway experience day after day.
Anything Goes
by John Barrowman
from Michael O'Mara
Wicked - Piano/Vocal Arrangement
by Stephen Schwartz
from Hal Leonard
Nominated for a whopping 10 Tony Awards and grossing more than $1 million each week, Wicked is this year's Broadway smash! A prequel to the all-American classic The Wizard of Oz, this new musical is a character study of Elphaba and Glinda, school roommates who grow up to become the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch, respectively. Feature a special section of color photos from the production, a note from composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz, and these fantastic tunes: As Long as You're Mine Dancing Through Life Defying Gravity For Good I Couldn't Be Happier I'm Not That Girl No Good Deed No One Mourns the Wicked One Short Day Popular What Is This Feeling? The Wizard and I Wonderful.
How Does the Show Go On: An Introduction to the Theater
by Thomas Schumacher
from Disney Editions
Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons
by David Cote
from Broadway
How did four blue-collar kids become one of the greatest successes in pop music history? You ask four guys, you get four different answers. Have we got a story for you!
Everyone knows their songs. Few know their story. Named for a bowling alley that refused to book them, The Four Seasons—Frankie, Tommy, Bob, and Nick—were four high school dropouts who emerged from New Jersey to become true American Idols: one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. With a shiny doo-wop sound highlighted by lead singer Frankie Valli’s stratospheric falsetto, they wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds, and sold 175 million records worldwide—all before they were thirty.
Jersey Boys, Broadway’s 2006 Tony Award® Winner for Best Musical, is the electrifying tale of the Seasons’ rise, the moment they established their signature sound with their breakout hit “Sherry”; becoming a sensation on American Bandstand, of being young and full of hope and dreams and promise; of riding the rocket of success against the irresistible pull of the Jersey mob and the old neighborhood. Like the show itself, this gorgeous, full-color companion book captures the magic and the original excitement of the band’s life and times through all-new interviews with the band members. It also features the show’s libretto; interviews with the show’s writers, director, and cast; and over 200 photos from the band members’ personal collections of rarely seen memorabilia. For anyone who's ever sung along or danced to "Oh, What a Night!", “Walk Like a Man” or “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, and for those just discovering the timeless sound of The Four Seasons, Jersey Boys is the ultimate keepsake.Â
Rent: The Complete Book and Lyrics of the Broadway Musical
by Jonathan Larson
from Applause Theatre and Cinema Books
Finally, an authorized libretto to this modern day classic! Rent won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score for Jonathan Larson. The story of Mark, Roger, Maureen, Tom Collins, Angel, Mimi, JoAnne, and their friends on the Lower East Side of New York City will live on, along with the affirmation that there is "no day but today." Includes 16 color photographs of productions of Rent from around the world, plus an introduction ("Rent Is Real") by Victoria Leacock Hoffman.
Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time
by Ken Bloom
from Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Finally, a book as glorious as its subject: this lush showcase for everyone who loves musicals covers the 101 most influential, popular, and enduring Broadway shows--all of which have toured the country and been performed in theatres large and small everywhere. Each listing includes expert commentary that sets the play in historical and cultural context, plus features on the creators and performers, plot synopses, cast and song lists, production details, backstage anecdotes, and more. Four or five beautifully reproduced photographs from each show--the majority never before published--accompany the text and make the shows leap off the page. Appendices and special features include cast albums, poster artists, revivals, guilty pleasures, Off-Broadway musicals, notable flops, and much more.
The South Pacific Companion
by Laurence Maslon
from Fireside
A story of passion, prejudice, and romance set against the tragedy of war, South Pacific reigns as one of the all-time great American musicals, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, among other accolades. Here for the first time is the authorized companion to South Pacific's many memorable incarnations spanning seven decades, from the original Broadway production of 1949 to the musical's first return to Broadway in spring 2008.
Here is the evolution of the musical through its four creators: James Michener, upon whose Pulitzer Prize-winning short stories the musical was based; the great musical theater team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II; and the musical's cowriter and director Joshua Logan. Also detailed are the historical background of the battles and islands of the South Pacific through World War II and the unique translation of that "theater of war" into one of the most memorable productions in American musical history. The South Pacific Companion, authorized by The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, features the complete lyrics to all the major songs, rare photos, never-before-seen archival material, maps of the plot's war-torn locales, historical documents, and other insider information from every major theatrical, film, concert, and television production of the musical.
Composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/ librettist Oscar Hammerstein II joined forces in 1942 to create the most successful partnership in the American musical theater. In addition to South Pacific (1949), their prodigious output includes Oklahoma! (1943), Carousel (1945), The King and I (1951), and The Sound of Music (1959). Collectively, their musicals have earned thirty-five Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Grammy Awards, and two Emmy Awards.
The Sound of Music Companion
by Laurence Maslon
from Fireside
The official companion to the world's most beloved musical
- More than 150 stunning images from the film and theater productions worldwide -- many never seen before
- Complete lyrics to favorite songs from the musical
- A complete guide to the film locations and a map of Salzburg
- Unseen storyboards from the film
- The Singalong Sound of Music phenomenon and much more...
The Sound of Music Companion charts the incredible and enduring life of Maria Von Trapp and the musical version of her story over the last century -- from Maria's birth in Vienna in 1905 to the triumphant new stage production presented by Andrew Lloyd Webber in London in 2006. Retrace every step in the evolution of this masterwork, from real life to page to stage to film to international phenomenon, and read about every creative artist who helped shape this beloved musical tale -- from Rodgers and Hammerstein and Mary Martin to Robert Wise, Julie Andrews, and Christopher Plummer. Folded into the saga are guest appearances by Carol Burnett, John Coltrane, Noël Coward, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Gwen Stefani, among others.
Composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II joined forces in 1942 to create the most successful partnership in American musical theater. In addition to The Sound of Music (1959), their prodigious output includes Oklahoma! (1943), Carousel (1945), South Pacific (1949), and The King and I (1951). Their musicals have earned nearly three dozen Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, and two Grammy Awards.
The partnership of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse stands as the longest collaboration of any writers in theatrical history, lasting for more than twenty-eight years. Their hits include The Sound of Music; Anything Goes; Red, Hot and Blue; Call Me Madam; the long-running play Life With Father; the Pulitzer Prize-winning State of the Union; and Happy Hunting.
Rent
by Jonathan Larson
from HarperEntertainment
This is by far the must-get theater book of the year. With dazzling punk graphics that will quickly win book industry awards, the volume contains the entire libretto of the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning musical about love and loyalty among starving AIDS-stricken artists in New York's East Village. But editors Evelyn McDonnell and Katherine Silberger wisely understand that the story of the show's creation is as compelling as the musical itself--so more than half of this volume is devoted to an oral history of the composer/lyricist/librettist Jonathan Larson, who came to New York hoping to revolutionize musical theater--then died of an aortic aneurysm the night of the show's final preview. It's an event book for an event musical.
In these pages, Rent offers what most theater books can't: a chance to step behind the curtain and feel the electricity of a stage phenomenon as it unfolds.
Rent has single-handedly reinvigorated Broadway and taken America by storm. Sweeping all major theater awards, including the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for drama, as well as four 1996 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score for a Musical, Rent captures the heart and spirit of a generation, refleting it onstage through the emotion of its stirring words and music, and the energy of its young cast. Now, for the first time, Rent comes to life on the page -- through vivid color photographs, the full libretto, and an utterly compelling behind-the-scenes oral history of the show's creation. Here is the exclusive and absolutely complete companion to Rent, told in the voices of the extraordinary talent behind its success: the actors, the director, the producers, and the librettist and composer himself, Jonathan Larson, whose sudden death, on the eve of the first performance, has made Rent's life-affirming message all the more poignant.
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