By Judy Samelson
03 Oct 2009
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By Herbert Keyser
Published by: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
Publication Date: October 2009
List price: $29.99 hardcover; 304 pages; illustrated
If you're humming a show tune in your head at this moment, chances are it was written by one of the composers and lyricists about whom musical theatre lover and author Herbert Keyser is passionate. As Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization president and executive director Ted Chapin writes in the Foreword of Keyser's handsome coffee table book, "I have often felt that many of these writers became better than they might have been because the world in which they were operating was filled with contemporaries who were their equals or better. Keyser calls them 'geniuses,' and while the artists themselves might object to that moniker, Keyser makes a good case for his use of his chosen word." The genius-laden table of contents lists chapters on Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Hoagy Carmichael, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Howard Dietz, Edward "Duke" Ellington, Dorothy Fields, George Gershwin, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, Jerry Herman, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Jerome Kern, Alan Jay Lerner, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Stephen Sondheim, Charles Strouse, Jule Styne, Thomas "Fats" Waller, Harry Warren, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kurt Weill, Meredith Willson and Vincent Youmans. Whew! Though taste in musical theatre, as in most areas of life, is subjective, it would be difficult to argue with that list. Each chapter is an informally written yet detailed biography of the musical greats that have moved the author in his lifetime of theatregoing, delving "below the surface," notes the publisher, "to see what made them tick and to uncover the secrets of their success — as well as the personal foibles that sometimes led to their downfall." Illustrating these varied stores are publicity photos, candid shots of the artists at work, album jackets and sheet music.
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Edited by Robert Kimball
Published by: The Library of America
Publication Date: October 2009
List price: $20 hardcover; 189 pages
While the aforementioned coffee table tome is perhaps not something you'd want to tote around on your daily travels, Robert Kimball's "Ira Gershwin: Selected Lyrics" is likewise chock full of genius yet compact enough to slip in a pocket or slide into your backpack (think how stylish and sophisticated you'll look when you pull it out to peruse on the R train). American musical theatre historian Kimball's previous, more exhaustive studies include "The Gershwins" (with Alfred Simon) and "Reading Lyrics" (with Robert Gottlieb) as well as volumes devoted to the complete lyrics of Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Frank Loesser. But "Ira Gershwin: Selected Lyrics" is exactly that. Lyrics and nothing but lyrics — save for an entertaining Introduction in which Kimball reprints Gershwin's brief, tongue-in-cheek, never-before-published account of "how the lyrics [of a show or film] are written." The collaboration of Ira Gershwin and his brother George produced some of the theatre and American popular music's most fascinating rhythms. The wit, eloquence and, above all, romance of a Gershwin lyric are on full display in this slim volume that includes "I Got Rhythm," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "'S Wonderful," "I've Got a Crush on You," "Nice Work If You Can Get It," and "They Can't Take That Away from Me," among dozens of others. As the publisher notes so appropriately inquire: "Who could ask for anything more?"
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Edited by Ben Hodges
Published by: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
Publication Date: Oct. 15, 2009
List price: $18.99 softcover; 224 pages
The American Theatre Wing, perhaps most famous as the creator of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards (bestowed annually in partnership with The Broadway League), presents this collection of essays written by some of America's most distinguished playwrights. Edited by Ben Hodges ("Theatre World"), the essayists focus on how they were inspired, enlightened and influenced by what they saw on stage. As the Wing's executive director Howard Sherman notes, "Eighteen years ago, I read a film book with a similar title to ours and was disappointed because the essays weren't by filmmakers, but rather by essayists recalling their youth through films. I decided back then that if I ever had the opportunity, I would see to it that theatre got its own book with this theme — but one that would tell us about playwrights' formative influences in their own words." Among the contributors are Edward Albee, who writes of a 1935 visit to NYC's Hippodrome Theatre to see Jimmy Durante (and elephant) in Rodgers and Hart's Jumbo, Diana Son's account of her 12th-grade trip to see Diane Venora play Hamlet at The Public Theater in 1983, David Henry Hwang's tale of his encounter with a production of Peter Shaffer's Equus in San Francisco and Beth Henley, whose young eyes were opened after seeing her mother in a "Green Bean Man costume." The other playwrights who offered revealing, personal stories are Jon Robin Baitz, Nilo Cruz, Christopher Durang, Horton Foote, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, John Patrick Shanley, David Auburn, Charles Fuller, A.R. Gurney, Tina Howe, David Ives, Donald Margulies, Sarah Ruhl, Regina Taylor and Doug Wright. With an Introduction by playwright Paula Vogel, this book is filled with memories and insight from some of our most provocative storytellers.
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By Sondra Lee
Published by: BearManor Media
Publication Date: August 2009
List price: $19.95 softcover; 194 pages, illustrated
The mildly racy, attention-grabbing title of this book is a bit misleading, though it is not without some intriguing tales of marriages and romantic flings, notably with a young and beautiful Marlon Brando. But mostly this memoir by actress, dancer, director, teacher Sondra Lee is a plain-spoken, breezy run-through of her nearly 50-year career on stage (High Button Shoes, Peter Pan and Hello, Dolly!, among others) and in films ("La Dolce Vita"). In her Introduction, Ms. Lee writes about taking her cue for her memoir from a cardboard box filled to overflowing with letters, photos and clippings, each recording a different stage of her life and career. Indeed, reading her stories is akin to slowly turning the pages of a well-worn scrapbook. The short chapters — vignettes, really — contain brief word pictures and anecdotes about what it was like to work with the likes of Jerome Robbins, Ben Hecht, Mary Martin, Cyril Ritchard, Carol Channing, Stella Adler, Jane Fonda, Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Carmen de Lavallade and Fellini, among others. "I truly understand," she writes in one chapter, "that I belong to the active part of the theatre that produced the last of the great legends — Ethel Merman, Gertrude Lawrence, Mary Martin, Yul Brynner — these were great Broadway stars, musical theatre stars. . . . They didn't have TV where you're on one night and the by the next morning everyone knows you. They became more than Broadway stars, for audiences all over the United States saw them perform live and loved them. Yes, it was a different time. The passion, the determination, the bravery. You rarely see it anymore in the same way." Evident in every word is Lee's own passion for the theatre and an appreciation — and not a little nostalgia — for her formative years in it.
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By David Alan Grier with Alan Eisenstock
Published by: Touchstone
Publication Date: Oct. 6, 2009
List price: $24.99 hardcover; 256 pages
David Alan Grier, who will star on Broadway later this season with James Spader and Richard Thomas in David Mamet's Race, has written a new book that is both a comic's-eye view of the state of current politics, culture and race in America and an equally absurdist view of significant events in his own life. Grier recalls it all, from the sublime (his youth in Detroit, where as a child he marched with Martin Luther King, and his attendance at President Barak Obama's inauguration, albeit in the cheap seats where he saw nothing) to the ridiculous (his stint on "Dancing with the Stars"). Along the way, notes the publisher, he "imagines being called to serve in President Obama's cabinet as the 'Secretary of Mirth' and recalls the formative episodes from his life — including being rejected by the Black Panthers . . ." and turning down the initial offer to work on "In Living Color." Catch Grier at one of his local promotional appearances on Oct. 6 at 7 PM (Bookends at 232 East Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ); and Oct. 7 at 7 PM (Barnes & Noble–Tribeca at 97 Warren Street, NY, NY).
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By Meredith Willson
List price: $14.95 softcover; 256 pages
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"But He Doesn't Know the Territory"
By Meredith Wilson List price: $14.95 softcover; 192 pages
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Published by: The University of Minnesota Press
Publication Date: July 2009
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The University of Minnesota Press has reissued two memoirs by Meredith Willson. Willson was the man behind The Music Man, the musical tale of con-man "Professor" Harold Hill's plot to hoodwink the citizens of River City, Iowa, by convincing them he can save their kids from "Trouble" by teaching them to play musical instruments. He smooth-talks his way into the town's heart, collecting money for band uniforms and instruments, fully intending to abscond with the loot and slip quietly out of town before anyone is the wiser. Complications ensue in the form of the girl ("Marian the Librarian"), her shy little brother whose confidence is boosted by his new cornet and, of course, those "Seventy-Six Trombones"—and they all live happily ever after. Willson was a bit of a one-man band himself, writing the music, book, lyrics and story. In addition, he also penned two delightful memoirs — both of which have been out of print for years — that chronicled his own story and that of the making of The Music Man. The former — "And There I Stood with My Piccolo" (originally published in 1948) — is Willson's colorful account of his early years, taking him, notes the publisher, from his hometown of Mason City, Iowa, "to playing the flute with John Philip Sousa's band and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to a successful career in composing for radio and motion pictures in Hollywood." Willson's story made Broadway producers sit up and take notice, which led to the 1957 production of The Music Man, winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and the show that Willson once described simply as "an Iowan's attempt to pay tribute to his home state." To chronicle the making of The Music Man, Willson wrote another memoir, "But He Doesn't Know the Territory," that follows the ups and downs of creating what has surely become one of the most beloved and most produced American musicals.
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By Theodore Mann
Published by: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
Publication Date: October 2009
List price: $16.99 trade paperback; 432 pages; illustrated
Circle in the Square Theatre's long and distinguished history is recounted here by one who knows it best: its guiding force, Theodore Mann. Founded in 1952 by producer/director Mann and director José Quintero, Circle stood at the forefront of a new era in theatre in America. The ascent began Off-Broadway at the theatre's Greenwich Village home where its landmark revivals of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke (1952) and Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (1956) convinced O'Neill's widow, Carlotta Monterey O'Neill, to allow the theatre to debut his masterwork, Long Day's Journey Into Night. It was Circle's productions of these two O'Neill plays that led to a reevaluation of the playwright's work. Mann's story begins with these historic Off-Broadway productions and follows Circle on its journey uptown to Broadway, where it opened in 1972 with O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra and where it continues to challenge and provoke, under the leadership of artistic director Mann and president Paul Libin, who succeeded Quintero as co-producer with Mann in 1963. Mann, notes the publisher, "takes his reader backstage to meet many of America's greatest stage actors as he discusses their performances, their professional challenges, their personal lives and their stage triumphs." The impressive bill includes George C. Scott, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards, Colleen Dewhurst, Vanessa Redgrave and Kevin Kline, among many others. In addition to this fascinating written history, the book features a special bonus: An 85-minute DVD featuring Hoffman, Scott, Redgrave, Dewhurst, James Earl Jones, Libin and Mann (among others) recalling their experiences at the theatre. Also on the DVD are excerpts from noted Circle productions.
Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story
By Evan Schwartz
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: April 23, 2009
List price: $28 hardcover; 374 pages
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The Wizard of Oz: 70th Anniversary Deluxe Songbook
Lyrics by: E.Y. Harburg; Music by: Harold Arlen
Published by: Alfred Music Publishing, Inc.
Publication Date: September 2009
List price: $19.95 softcover; 100 pages
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By Carol de Giere
Published by: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
Publication Date: September 2008
List price: $24.95 softcover; 544 pages; over 200 photos
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Apparently, there is no end in sight to the "Popular"-ity of the story of Dorothy, Toto, et al, as this collection of publications attests. Last month, we noted Rebecca Loncraine's biography of "Wizard of Oz" creator L. Frank Baum. Also on bookshelves is Evan Schwartz's take on Baum. On Schwartz's whimsical web site — Finding Oz — Gregory Maguire, author of "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," the book on which the current Broadway musical is based, calls "Finding Oz" "a guided tour to the invention of that quintessentially American dreamscape, the Land of Oz." Schwartz's book, notes the web site, "delves into the personal turmoil and spiritual transformation that fueled Baum's fantastical parable of the American Dream. . . . 'Finding Oz' reveals how one individual can ignite the imagination of he entire world."
Baum's parable was, of course, turned into one of the all-time classic movies ever to come out of the M-G-M dream factory, and it cannot be argued that the success of the picture was due in no small part to the delightful score by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg and Harold Arlen. To commemorate a special anniversary, Alfred Music Publishing, Inc., has released the most complete collection of sheet music from the movie ever published. "The Wizard of Oz: 70th Anniversary Deluxe Songbook," notes the publisher, "features all of the classic songs by E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen plus never-before-published 'character themes' by Academy-Award winning composer Herbert Strothart, the complete 'Munchkinland Musical Sequence,' and the song 'The Jitterbug,' which was deleted from the original film." The collection also includes two songs written by L. Frank Baum for the 1903 Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz, which have not been published in over a century.
One who was fascinated by Baum's timeless tale was writer Gregory Maguire whose aforementioned book told the backstory of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West and inspired composer–lyricist Stephen Schwartz and book writer Winnie Holzman to fashion their bona-fide hit Broadway musical Wicked. Their story of Elphaba and Glinda opened at the Gershwin Theatre on Oct. 30, 2003 and is still going strong. But there was life before Oz for Stephen Schwartz, and that life has been recounted in Carol de Giere's "Defying Gravity," a title taken from one of Schwartz's Wicked show-stoppers. Giere's book, which was first published in 2008 and will have a Kindle edition out later this fall, follows the composer's creative life, from his writing of the scores for Godspell (at age 23), Pippin, The Magic Show and The Baker's Wife through his work on screen, collaborating with Alan Menken on the scores for such animated films as "Pocahontas" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." The author, notes the publisher, "draws from 80 hours of interviews with Schwartz and over 100 interviews with his colleagues, friends and family."
Actors Talk About Shakespeare
By Mary Z. Maher
Published by: Limelight Editions
Publication Date: October 2009
List price: $18.99 softcover; 256 pages, illustrated
In her new book, Shakespearean authority and educator Mary Maher mines the hearts and minds and experience of those who have gained considerable praise strutting and fretting their hour upon the stage with the Bard. "How did you do that?" is the deceptively simple question she asks in her Introduction and seeks to answer via interviews with a wide variety of noted American, Canadian and British actors. "What skills might one need to become a classical actor?" she continues. "What background and training are important? What kinds of study and process does a classical actor achieve? My goal here is to explore actor's perceptions and comments as they release issues and expectations about performing Shakespeare." Each chapter is dedicated to a single actor and contains not only their views on acting Shakespeare but also a profile of their careers. The list of noted actors willing to give away their secrets includes Kevin Kline ("If you let two or three years go without playing Shakespeare, you begin to realize that it uses a different muscle group in your head."), Kenneth Branaugh ("I don't feel proprietorial about the way each scene or line should be performed. The more you explore it, the more possibilities you have."), Derek Jacobi ("I think the most important thing is to go for the sense of the line. . . Aim for making it accessible for the audience to understand the meaning."), Zoe Caldwell ("If you read for the sense of the line, the rhyme will follow"). Also included are interviews with Stacy Keach, Nicolas Pennell, William Hutt, Martha Henry, Tony Church and Geoffrey Hutchings. The result of all this combined knowledge and experience is, notes the publisher, "a treasury of talents, tactics and tales."
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By Carrie Fisher
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: September 2009
List price: $13.99 paperback; 176 pages
Carrie Fisher's autobiographical solo show, Wishful Drinking, premiered to critical acclaim in November 2006 at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, and while on tour in regional venues on the west coast, her first memoir — with the same title — was published and landed on "The New York Times" bestseller list, where it remained for 14 weeks. Now, just in time for her Oct. 4 opening at Broadway's Studio 54 in this dark, edgy and hilarious romp through her life, the memoir is getting a paperback release. Fisher holds nothing back as she takes readers on a comic tour of her life — including marriages, affairs, bouts with drugs and alcohol, her famous parents, and, yes, even bipolar disorder. What likely was not so funny in real time has gained in hilarity with hindsight and some of Fisher's tales are truly surreal. Case in point: A bizarrely funny sequence where she diagrams Hollywood inbreeding, ending up by revealing that her daughter has been flirting with Elizabeth Taylor's grandson. Taylor, of course, is famously known, among other accomplishments, to have been the cause of the breakup of Fisher's parents, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. And so it goes. . .
Plays of Note:
Macbeth: The DVD Edition
By William Shakespeare; Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: Sept. 8, 2009
List price: $16 softcover; 223 pages; illustrated
This latest addition of "the Scottish play" to the Folger Shakespeare Library includes the series' trademarks: facing page explanatory notes, scene-by-scene plot summaries, illustrations from their archives and more. Also included, bound into the book, is a bonus DVD of a stage production co-directed by Penn (of Penn Teller) and Aaron Posner (artistic director of Two River Theater Company) that was performed in the Folger's Elizabethan Theatre in 2008. The acclaimed production, notes the publisher, "showcases the inventive magic of Teller who, with Posner, contributes a new Foreword to this edition, writing about their vision of the play as a 'supernatural horror thriller.'"
Ruined
By Lynn Nottage
Published by: Theatre Communications Group
Publication Date: September 2009
List price: $28 hardcover, 13.95 paperback; 142 pages
Lynn Nottage's powerful portrait of the women and girls victimized in the brutal, war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as a slew of best play awards. Recently presented at Manhattan Theatre Club in a world-premiere co-production with Chicago's Goodman Theatre, the play was developed from interviews Nottage conducted with these women while on a pilgrimage to Africa and is uniquely told in the tradition of Brecht's Mother Courage, employing music and humor to tell the harrowing tale of these women. As director Kate Whoriskey writes in the play's Introduction: "All of us who spend our lives in theater know that it has an incredible capacity for illuminating the unseen, reshaping history, bringing out empathy and providing social commentary . . . Once in a great while a project seems to get enough of the elements right that it becomes a memorable piece of theater. Ruined is one of those pieces." The book, notes the publisher, which is available in both hardcover and paperback, "includes the play's three original songs and portraits of the Congolese women, photographed moments after they shared their stories with Nottage."
Judy Samelson, former editor of Playbill, gathers information on theatre-related books, including published plays, for Playbill.com's monthly Shelf Life column. Write her at jsamelson@playbill.com.
