Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater

Hubby and I are theatre people, and this looked like a great birthday gift. It was, he just loves it. But you don't have to be involved in theatre to enjoy this book, you just have to enjoy good theatre!

At this point, there are a few books covering the history of music theater. Some present it as dry statistics, some take a chronological approach, and some take a very editorialized chronological approach (American Musical Theater: A Chronicle comes immediately to mind). I think the only way to get a grasp on the progress of the musical is to read as many of these as possible and synthesize their thoughts. So, add to that pile this excellent book. It uses a conceptual angle. So there is a chapter on Off-Broadway, a chapter on concept musicals, a chapter on post-modern "antimusicals", etc. This is an effective, entertaining, and interesting way to go about it. The reason there are only four stars instead of five is that the book tends to leave out shows that were more obscure or had short runs. But, going back to the beginning of this review,  Strike Up the Band: A New History of Musical Theatre  and  Off-Broadway Musicals Since 1919: From Greenwich Village Follies to the Toxic Avenger  will cover the ground left over and give you a pretty decent comprehensive review.

This book is just as described. Thank you!

Best (actually ONLY) textbook on the musical theatre would make this invaluable, but add that it is delightful and readable makes this part of my permanent bedside reading collection. Mr. Stempel's knowledge and love of the subject is clear throughout the book. The organization and chapter headings make it ideal for teaching and learning the historical development of the genre. I love this book and give it as a gift frequently to fellow lover's of musical theatre. Congratulations and gratitude for writing this wonderful book, Mr Stempel.

The absolute BEST book I have ever read about Musical Theatre.I grew up reading Stanley Green's WORLD OF MUSICAL COMEDYand have read almost every book about Musicals in my 64 yearsbut this book truly stands out as superbly researched, everything isbrilliantly discussed and (for a change) I found not one factual error!Also a very thoughtful and intelligent approach to very old musicals and the very new musicals.A sensational job by an excellent writer who I had not know of previously.

Good reference book on the American musical theater.

Came quickly and just like the description

Still reading it. Great history of the stage and interesting information.

Stempel leaves few stones unturned in this rather dense but very relevant study. In his effort to cover the vast history he sadly is less able to get into the more vivid details of some of the people especially with much more than tacit focus. But it served well to introduce the whole of American Musical Theatre in an university entry level class. It would be a truly better book were it tied to a video/audio collection of the material he speaks so well about.

Ainda não li, mas pelo que vi e conheço do livro ele é realmente uma das maiores referências no tema de teatro musical nos EUA.

Acho que faltou mencionar mais aspectos técnicos!

L'ado a qui j'ai offert ce livre a adoré. Il est fan de théatre. Par contre, il y a bcp de texte et peu de photos