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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 28, 2023 18:20:59 GMT
Thankyou. I did search 'books' and look through 3 pages of results! Will have a read through that thread  Oh it's not you, it's just impossible to find anything with the search option. I just google theatreboard + what I'm looking for, otherwise you won't find anything Very wise advice! The forum search is a bit rubbish but it’s better if you use this option:  And not this option:  But if that fails yes, go to Google. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 28, 2023 18:24:05 GMT
I’m listening to Barbra Streisand’s new autobiography at the moment. 48 hours of it.  It’s ALL about Barbra. She just covered Hello Dolly without even mentioning Michael Crawford. |
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Post by n1david on Nov 28, 2023 18:33:37 GMT
I’m listening to Barbra Streisand’s new autobiography at the moment. 48 hours of it. It’s ALL about Barbra. She just covered Hello Dolly without even mentioning Michael Crawford. Isn’t that kinda the point of an autobiography? |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 28, 2023 18:45:34 GMT
I’m listening to Barbra Streisand’s new autobiography at the moment. 48 hours of it. It’s ALL about Barbra. She just covered Hello Dolly without even mentioning Michael Crawford. Isn’t that kinda the point of an autobiography? I don’t think it is, no. Not a good one anyway. |
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Post by justfran on Nov 28, 2023 19:06:32 GMT
I've recently read the autobiography of Don Black - The Sanest Guy in the Room: A Life in Lyrics. A very interesting book, not so much a "start at the beginning" autobiography but lots of shorter chapters relating to the many, many songs and projects he's been involved with. Highly recommend |
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Post by anita on Nov 29, 2023 10:42:40 GMT
I've recently read the autobiography of Don Black - The Sanest Guy in the Room: A Life in Lyrics. A very interesting book, not so much a "start at the beginning" autobiography but lots of shorter chapters relating to the many, many songs and projects he's been involved with. Highly recommend I've read that & his previous one. |
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Post by justfran on Nov 29, 2023 21:06:14 GMT
I've recently read the autobiography of Don Black - The Sanest Guy in the Room: A Life in Lyrics. A very interesting book, not so much a "start at the beginning" autobiography but lots of shorter chapters relating to the many, many songs and projects he's been involved with. Highly recommend I've read that & his previous one. Oh I didn’t realise he had done a previous book. Thanks for mentioning- I’ll have to hunt it out. |
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Post by anita on Dec 2, 2023 10:32:16 GMT
I've read that & his previous one. Oh I didn’t realise he had done a previous book. Thanks for mentioning- I’ll have to hunt it out. "Wrestling with Elephants." |
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Post by couldileaveyou on Dec 2, 2023 10:35:32 GMT
I'm currently reading Judi Dench's latest book and it's very cute. Maybe not as insightful as Harriet Watler's Brutus and Other Heroines, but full of fab anecdotes.
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Post by anita on Jan 15, 2024 10:13:30 GMT
Just started reading "Jesus Christ Superstar: Behind the scenes of the Worldwide Musical Phenomenon " by Ellis Nassour.
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Post by tysilio2 on Jan 15, 2024 10:17:47 GMT
Now reading "Murder at the Adelphi" by Peter Gale which is a rehearsal diary of the original production of "Sunset Boulevard" in 1993. Thanks for recommending this. Got it for Christmas and really enjoying it. |
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Post by tysilio2 on Jan 15, 2024 10:21:11 GMT
I'm currently reading [& enjoying] Robert Sellers book "When the British Musical Ruled the World". Also got this for Christmas and enjoyed the couple of chapters I've read up to now. |
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Post by partytentdown on Jan 15, 2024 15:47:46 GMT
I also have "When the British Musical Ruled the World" on my pile to read.
At the end of last year I read the Fosse biography by Sam Wasson which was a bit of a brick but really good with some hilarious stories.
Still to read: I've got Judi Dench's Shakespeare book (signed copy, dear), "Out for Blood" about the flop Carrie musical, and also "I was Better Last Night" by Harvey Fierstein which I'm looking forward to.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 15, 2024 15:48:54 GMT
I also have "When the British Musical Ruled the World" on my pile to read. At the end of last year I read the Fosse biography by Sam Watson which was a bit of a brick but really good with some hilarious stories. Still to read: I've got Judi Dench's Shakespeare book (signed copy, dear), "Out for Blood" about the flop Carrie musical, and also "I was Better Last Night" by Harvey Weinstein which I'm looking forward to. Wrong Harvey! |
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Post by partytentdown on Jan 15, 2024 15:53:48 GMT
I also have "When the British Musical Ruled the World" on my pile to read. At the end of last year I read the Fosse biography by Sam Watson which was a bit of a brick but really good with some hilarious stories. Still to read: I've got Judi Dench's Shakespeare book (signed copy, dear), "Out for Blood" about the flop Carrie musical, and also "I was Better Last Night" by Harvey Weinstein which I'm looking forward to. Wrong Harvey! Yikes!! Corrected. |
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Post by partytentdown on Apr 23, 2024 7:18:36 GMT
I like the look of the book that someone mentioned in the Sunset Boulevard thread called "Murder at the Adelphi", told from the perspective of a crew member on the original production, so I wondered if anyone had read any other books told "first hand" about the making of well known shows?
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Post by Jan on Apr 23, 2024 7:47:29 GMT
David Weston's "Covering McKellen" is about his year as McKellen's understudy on his (doomed, one could say) first go at King Lear. It is very interesting and several people come out of it badly.
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Post by Dave B on Apr 23, 2024 9:29:21 GMT
I just finished Song of Spider-Man: The Inside Story of the Most Controversial Musical in Broadway History by Glen Berger. He was the original book writer and it's his story of everything that happened. It is an interesting but very disjointed read. He goes into extreme detail sometimes and then skirts around so much at other times. He also doesn't come across very well himself which is a bit of a put-off. I found it fascinating but quite flawed. It left me wanting to read more as there must be a book to balance his very singular view and I'd be interested in reading that and then judging between them.
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Post by MrBraithwaite on Apr 23, 2024 14:30:30 GMT
Some more:
A Cats Diary - How the Broadway Production of Cats was born by Stephen Mo Hanan
Stephen Mo Hanan created the role of Gus the Theatre Cat, including the completely new Growltiger sequence that was especially created for his unique talents, in the original New York production of what became the longest-running show in Broadway history, Cats. Hanan kept a diary of every day's work from the first rehearsal through opening. Appearing in print for the first time, this is an unparalleled insider view of how a big Broadway show is put together, written in a lively, articulate, and engaging style. Not only does it offer fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpses, it's also a great educational study for actors and directors. Hanan explores the fine nuances of his role, keenly observes Trevor Nunn's directorial methods, and develops strong artistic and emotional bonds with fellow cast members as they journey together to a historic opening night.
A Year with The Producers - Jeffry Denman
"Here, Denman offers a candid one-year diary of his experiences as singer, dancer and understudy in the production. His style is breezy and refreshingly honest, charting each step from audition to opening night. Denman's emotional narrative maintains suspense and sufficiently informs, making this a textbook for anyone seeking a theatrical career and yearning "[t]o change, alter, enhance, deepen, and magnify the hearts of people who sit there watching. Even those lacking in showbiz aspirations will enjoy this book; it has a strong inspirational angle. That, along with the show's blockbuster success, guarantees an instant hit." -Publishers Weekly."
"From the closing night of one smash, "Cats," to the opening night of another, "The Producers," Jeffrey Denman takes us on a delightful and insightful backstage tour of the Great White Way. His portraits of Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman are gems and add much to our understanding of how these towering creative talents work. How lucky for us that Mr. Denman is as fine a writer as he is a performer. Michael Riedel, The New York Post."
Making It Big - The Diary of a Broadway Musical by Barbara Isenberg
How does one of Broadway's most anticipated musicals end up folding its tent after just six months and with a potential loss of more than $10 million? In Barbara Isenberg's behind-the-scenes account, readers follow step by step as Big, the musical struggles against nearly insuperable odds. The long-awaited stage adaptation of the popular Tom Hanks film was not to have an easy journey. Led by the highly-regarded Crazy for You duo of director Mike Ockrent and choreographer Susan Stroman, the show's cast and crew had some very bad luck heading for Broadway with one of the most expensive, high-profile musicals in recent history. In this authoritative, insightful and readable journal, we go backstage as the $10.3 million production is cast, rewritten, rehearsed and performed, first in Detroit, then in New York. Doors are opened to high pressure rehearsals, passionate advertising debates, stern budget talks and endless rewrite sessions in out-of-town hotel rooms. Day by day diary entries report the high hopes and deep disappointments of Ockrent, Stroman, producer James Freydberg, playwright John Weidman, composer David Shire and lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr., as they take on blizzards, set glitches, indifferent audiences, even a convention of witches at their Detroit hotel. Maltby and Shire turn out 58 songs, leading lady Crista Moore has to learn 5 different opening ballads and leading man Daniel Jenkins has knee surgery just weeks before opening night. Postponed from fall, 1995, to spring, 1996, Big was pilloried in Detroit, then substantially reworked for Broadway. But by the time it arrived, Broadway had changed even more than it had. From the minimal competition expected at the start ofits odyssey, Big faced and was shunted aside by two of the most innovative and critically successful musicals of recent memory, Rent and Bring in 'de Noise, Bring in 'da Funk. Big became not an instant classic, but in the words of Julie Andrews about her own show, Victor/Victoria, "egregiously overlooked". Making It Big illuminates the harsh realities of musical theater - a much-loved but high-stakes, high-risk art form. It is a book for everyone who cares about Broadway musicals and their survival.
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Post by anthony40 on Apr 23, 2024 14:53:00 GMT
I've not read this personally, but am certainly aware of it
Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent
The New York Times bestselling memoir of Anthony Rapp, star of Broadway's Pulitzer Prize–winning musical Rent.
Anthony Rapp had a special feeling about Jonathan Larson's rock musical Rent as early as his first audition, which won him a starring role as the video artist Mark Cohen. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent opened to thunderous acclaim off-Broadway—but even as friends and family were celebrating the show's first success, they were also mourning Jonathan Larson's sudden death from an aortic aneurysm. And when Anthony's mom began to lose her battle with cancer, Anthony found himself struggling to balance his life in the theater with his responsibility to his family.
In Without You, Anthony tells of his exhilarating journey with the cast and crew of Rent as well as the intimacies of his personal life behind the curtain. Marked by fledgling love and devastating loss, Without You is an exceptional memoir of the world of theater, the love of a son for his mother, and maturity won far too early.
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Post by thedrowsychaperone on Apr 23, 2024 15:17:12 GMT
I've not read this personally, but am certainly aware of it Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent The New York Times bestselling memoir of Anthony Rapp, star of Broadway's Pulitzer Prize–winning musical Rent. Anthony Rapp had a special feeling about Jonathan Larson's rock musical Rent as early as his first audition, which won him a starring role as the video artist Mark Cohen. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent opened to thunderous acclaim off-Broadway—but even as friends and family were celebrating the show's first success, they were also mourning Jonathan Larson's sudden death from an aortic aneurysm. And when Anthony's mom began to lose her battle with cancer, Anthony found himself struggling to balance his life in the theater with his responsibility to his family. In Without You, Anthony tells of his exhilarating journey with the cast and crew of Rent as well as the intimacies of his personal life behind the curtain. Marked by fledgling love and devastating loss, Without You is an exceptional memoir of the world of theater, the love of a son for his mother, and maturity won far too early. I remember reading Without You years back as a holiday read and finding it extremely moving. I remember it being about 50/50 his personal life and actual behind-the-scenes stories, but it has been a while. Either way, think I'm going to revisit it now that this thread has jogged my memory. |
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Post by tmesis on Apr 23, 2024 15:35:30 GMT
Hamilton and Me:an actor’s journal by Giles Terera.
I didn’t enjoy this much myself (and I’m a huge admirer of Giles) but out and out Hamilton fans may love it.
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Post by lilgirlbigcity on Apr 23, 2024 17:04:51 GMT
Darn, so many of these books are really hard to get hold of! Would love the Barbara Isenberg book but it's £50 on Amazon 🫤
Would also recommend Backstage on Broadway by Marty Bell- each chapter looks at an aspect of putting on a show via a different person involved in the shows of the 1992-1993 Broadway season. Even has a chapter on the massive flop Nick and Nora
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Post by Jane Parfitt on Apr 23, 2024 19:03:28 GMT
"Unnaturally Green: One Girl's Journey Along a Yellow Brick Road Less Traveled" by Felicia Ricci who, in January 2010, went from peddling software in New York City to understudying the lead role in "Wicked" the musical-her first professional theatre gig. Unnaturally Green is the humorous account of the entire journey, from her pit-stain-filled audition to the bittersweet closing night.
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Post by Peter on Apr 23, 2024 21:26:54 GMT
Not quite the same, but Nicola McAuliffe used her experience in flop musical ‘Murderous Instincts’ to inform her novel ‘A Fanny full of soap’.
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