Theater Resource Guide: Reference Sources

"One of the two most American contributions to world art, the musical springs (as does the other, jazz) from immigrant stock. Its grand progenitor, Mordden says, is John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728)...eventuating in Gilbert and Sullivan's concoctions in England and Offenbach's confections in Paris. Late nineteenth-century America enthusiastically imported those shows and started mixing their ingredients with those of native musical entertainment...That's the musical's beginnings, and its subsequent life is an evolutionary history of varying forms right down to the present. Mordden brightly differentiates those forms, citing hundreds and analyzing dozens of examples of them in a sweeping narrative that, with plenty of sass and tang, wit and even a little snark, not to mention scholarly precision, is obviously the best-ever history of the musical and likely to remain so for a very long time. Individual shows and even numbers leap to life in Mordden's colorful prose, both in the main text and the hefty bibliographical and discographical essays that propel the volume to a hilarious final bon mot." (Booklist review)

"Over the last century the New York Times 's six leading critics--Brooks Atkinson, Howard Taubman, Clive Barnes, Walter Kerr, Frank Rich, and Ben Brantley--have offered the most authoritative and influential commentary on the Broadway musical. This definitive volume includes the original reviews of the 119 most important , selected by current chief theater critic Ben Brantley and accompanied by photographs from each show's first production as well as celebrated revivals." (Syndetics summary)

"This two-volume encyclopedia examines Broadway and its effects on American theater and culture. Spanning the mid-19th century to the present, this set presents entries on topics that have had a noteworthy impact in shaping American theater and people's observation of theater's cultural impact. The nearly 200 essay entries discuss notable actors, directors, playwrights, plays, organizations, awards, and much more. Also included are 30 extended essays." (CHOICE magazine review.)

"...surveys nearly 400 musicals, providing opening dates, authors, composers, and cast members. The synopses are concise and informative and, occasionally and enjoyably, snarky (do not invite him to your theater's production of Nunsense or any of its sequels). For the musical-obsessed and the libraries that love them, an appendix listing recordings (LP, CD, and DVD) is provided, together with a brief bibliography." (Library Journal review)

"Here's a look at the extreme cases from each season of the past half-century. The musicals that everyone knew would be hits The Sound of Music , The Phantom of the Opera , The Producers and were. The tuners that sounded terrible from the moment they were announced Via Galactica , The Civil War , Lestat and turned out to be even worse than anyone expected. ...Peter Filichia takes a look at 100 shows that met either the most glorious or the most ignominious fates." (Syndetics summary)

"...lists every song from over 300 shows, almost 100 more than in the first edition. The selections are arranged alphabetically by show title with shows dating from 1900's Floradora to 2007's High School Musical. DeVenney does not confine himself to the standards but includes fine lesser-known works such as Floyd Collins and Starmites. Each show lists numbers in show order, vocal range (e.g., f-b3), and song style (upbeat, ballad, etc.). The volume concludes with indexes to songs for solo voices, subdivided by up-tempo numbers, ballads, and character songs, making it easy to find the ideal song for a particular voice." (CHOICE magazine review.)

"Suskin includes a listing of songs by 36 composers, arranged in chronological order from Jerome Kern through Stephen Flaherty. The author was selective in his choice of composers; he omits earlier composers (no Cohan or Romberg) and non-U.S. composers (no Lloyd Weber). As a partial remedy, he includes a section of 46 notable scores by other composers (e.g., Jerome Moross's The Golden Apple, Roger Miller's Big River). For each show Suskin gives published songs along with production notes and data on revivals.Three valuable appendixes list the shows chronologically, give data on all collaborators, and offer a bibliography with advice on how to locate the music." (CHOICE magazine review)

"This chronology of American musicals... is surely one of the most thorough treatments of the subject to be produced. The author divides his history of this unique American art form into 11 chronological chapters that are roughly analogous to thematic changes in public taste and artistic trends...The descriptions of each play are detailed. All of the major characters are described as well as identification of who played them. The plot is also given in detail, and in the case of major hits, a lengthy critical analysis often follows. " (Booklist review)

This is a 3-volume work containing more than 3000 entries. "Whether you need to know about a specific composer, from birth and death dates to a chronology of his or her works; the location of the first metropolitan production of a show; or a discarded alternate title, you'll find the answer here." (Library Journal review.)

"...opens with a straightforward history of the genre, from its beginnings with Hair to the present. Overall, the study is perhaps more sociological and economic than musical, for Wollman omits detailed musical analysis. She does, however, discuss the profound influence of the extreme amplification and spectacle of rock musicals on the megamusicals of recent decades and points out rock music's incorporation into many non-rock-specific musicals." (CHOICE magazine review.)

"A brief biography of the pair's partnership opens the work, followed by 571 alphabetized articles describing the stage plays, films, music, performers, and choreographers with whom Rodgers and Hammerstein worked and whom their productions have influenced...Chronological lists of the duo's musical compositions and awards, selected bibliographies of sound recordings of their work, sources of additional information, and an approximately 40-page center insert of black-and-white photographs round out the work." (Library Journal review)