Sunday 6th October 2013 by Will Langdale
If you or a loved one are musical theatre fanatics, then what better way to show your appreciation for the form than to get your nose into a good book on the subject. The trouble is, if like us you’ve scoured the internet looking for some good recommendations, you’ll know that the Americans seem to have cornered the market. You can’t move out there for Stephen Sondheim biographies! This week, we’ve put together a list of fantastic books about musical theatre that should appeal to every kind of fan, and we’ve done our best to make it as West End relevant as we possibly can.
For the enthusiast: The Musical: A Concise History by Kurt Gänzl
Yes, we know, we’re leading off with a recommendation for a book that’s out of print. We’re aiming for those of you who have seen a couple of musicals, fallen in love, and want to know how on earth the form came to be. Kurt Gänzl was first published in 1986 with The British Musical Theatre, but throughout the 1980s and 1990s he produced some definitive works on the worldwide history of musical theatre. If you see something by him, chances are that it’s an informative and engaging read. Get on Amazon and search for him by name – he’s well worth your time!
For the superfan: The Complete Phantom of the Opera by George Perry
This is for the dedicated legions of fans who return again and again to the titans of the West End, and with this recommendation we’re keeping it distinctly British. Whether it’s for you, or a superfan dear to you, there’s plenty of coffee-table books dedicated to the musical of your choice, often laced with archives, interviews and insights that will bring a zing of new flavours to a show you might have seen hundreds of times before. This one, for Phantom of the Opera, is particularly interesting for new fans because it was published just a year after the smash-hit musical debuted, so you’re looking at a piece of history!
For the aspiring actor/singer: Acting Through Song: Techniques and Exercises for Musical-Theatre Actors by Paul Harvard
Acting is way, way harder than it looks, and chances are if you don’t agree you’ve not spent much time on stage! Being able to bring a sung character to life is a real challenge, and one that critics can sometimes underestimate, to the chagrin of those under the limelight. From am-dram to professional, Paul Harvard’s excellent book is a fantastic choice for anyone who wants to combine the talents of acting and singing in one honed (and hopefully spectacular!) performance.
For your secret inner Gilbert and Sullivan: How Musicals Work: And How To Write Your Own by Julian Woolford
So you’re an actor who’s anywhere from average to Vinnie Jones, and when people say your singing is sharp it’s less about your tonality and more about how it feels like razors in your ears. Musical theatre is a huge endeavour and requires vast amounts of stage hands, technicians, managers – the works – and if no one’s got a musical for you to do any of that stuff on, why not pick up a pen and write your own? There’re a few books out there on the subject, but we recommend this one. Musical theatre is one of the most versatile forms out there, tackling a whole slew of worlds and genres, so if you’re itching to get your all-singing all-dancing cyberpunk romantic comedy to the masses, this is how to do it.
For the brainbox: Directors and the New Musical Drama: British and American Musical Theatre in the 1980s and 90s by Miranda Lundskaer-Nielsen
If we’ve been recommending obscure texts, this one really takes the biscuit. This is for musical theatre fanatics who have taken it to the next level: an intense academic study of one of the most interesting recent points in musical theatre history that utterly changed the way they worked commercially. Expect to find this in a university, or have to fork out close to £50 for it – sadly pretty standard for an academic text. Lundskaer-Nielson’s a senior lecturer at the University of Bath, and if we’re recommending books on British musicals, well, this is all about how we invaded America with them, as told by someone who’s worked on musicals either side of the Atlantic. An intense read if you can get hold of it!
Honorary mention: Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops by Ken Mandelbaum
It’s mostly about Broadway so there’s no way we can put it in an article about the West End, but for sheer uniqueness this one’s a corker. Funny, insightful, informative – it’s basically required reading for any and every fan of theatre. Without a doubt one of the best books on musical theatre that exists, for readers coming from any background.