“SONGWRITING is a standard data source for professional tunesmiths and their hopeful brethren. It expertly conveys the process from concept to copyright with appropriate references to currently popular songs.”–Back Stage Magazine“SONGWRITING is a fine book. If you know all the basics of the craft that Citron presents, you'll be well on your way to penning your first hit.”–Keyboard Magazine

An entertaining and informative new guidebook to the creation of the musical show, filled with anecdotes, practical advice, and sparkling commentary from the biggest Broadway insiders.

This revealing and comprehensive book tells the full story of Jerry Herman’s life and career, from his early work in cabaret to his recent compositions for stage, screen, and television.Stephen Citron draws on extensive open-ended interviews with Jerry Herman as well as with scores of his theatrical colleagues, collaborators, and close friends. The resulting book-which sheds new light on each of Herman’s musicals and their scores-abounds in fascinating anecdotes and behind-the-sce...

Stephen Sondheim is widely regarded as the most important composer and lyricist of musical theater in the second half of the 20th century. Celebrating his 80th birthday, this new edition of Sondheim on Music finds him in these guided interviews expounding in great depth and detail on his craft. As a natural teacher, thoughtful and opinionated, Sondheim discusses the art of musical composition, lyric writing, the collaborative process of musical theater, and how he thinks about his own work...

The Golden Age of American Musical Theatre: 1943-1965 provides synopses, cast and production credits, song titles, and other pertinent information for over 180 musicals from Oklahoma! to On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. Concentrating on a 22-year span, this book lists both commercial successes and flops of the Golden Age-when the musicals presented on Broadway showcased timeless, memorable tunes, sophisticated comedy, and the genius of creative artists like Ri...

A revelatory portrait of the creative partnership that transformed musical theater and provided the soundtrack to the American CenturyThey stand at the apex of the great age of songwriting, the creators of the classic Broadway musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, whose songs have never lost their popularity or emotional power. Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers...

From "a smart and savvy reporter," a biography of the award-winning performer and director that "abounds with colorful firsthand tales" (Janet Maslin, New York Times).Now the FX limited series Fosse/Verdon starring Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams with Lin-Manuel Miranda executive producing.The only person ever to win Oscar, Emmy, and Tony awards in the same year, Bob Fosse revolutionized nearly every facet of American entertainment. His signatur...

New York Times Bestseller: "Both revelatory and entertaining . . . Along the way, Viertel provides some fascinating Broadway history." — The New York Times Book ReviewAmericans invented musicals—and have a longstanding love affair with them. But what, exactly, is a musical? In this book, longtime theatrical producer and writer Jack Viertel takes them apart, puts them back together, sings their praises, and occasionally despairs over their more emba...

In the first full-scale life of the mostimportant composer-lyricist at work in musical theatre today, Meryle Secrest, the biographer of Frank Lloyd Wright and Leonard Bernstein, draws on her extended conversations with Stephen Sondheim as well as on her interviews with his friends, family, collaborators, and lovers to bring us not only the artist--as a master ofmodernist compositional style--but also the private man.Beginning with his early childhood on New York's pros...

The "essential and hilarious" book that highlights almost 200 musicals and examines how they became Broadway's biggest fails ( The New Yorker ).Ken Mandelbaum offers the behind-the-scenes story of the development of almost two hundred musical flops that played Broadway between 1950 and 1990, along with a reevaluative and often revisionist study of their quality.Here they all are, from such legendary catastrophes as...

The star of Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train "recalls life onstage and in film in an engaging, colorful memoir" ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review).Synonymous with the golden age of Broadway, the dazzling lights of Hollywood, and the rise of television arts, Farley Granger's charm and talent captivated the acting community and audiences alike. Working with creative visionaries like Alfred Hitchcock, Luchino Visconti, and Nick Ray, G...

The first biography of the celebrated Broadway and Hollywood choreographer and director—a complex man of extraordinary genius and overwhelming demons.His work on such legendary shows as The King and I, West Side Story, Gypsy, Funny Girl, and Fiddler on the Roof made him one of the most influential and creative forces in the history of American theater. His collaborators, friends, and enemies were among the greatest celebrities of stage an...