Something Wonderful: A Biographical Journey of Todd S. Purdum

Daniel P. Smith: If you even suspect the topic would interest you, just buy it. I just loved it and I think anyone who enjoys Rodgers & Hammerstein's musicals will, too.

The big thing that stands out for me is Purdum's tasteful storytelling, not in the sense of being a raconteur, but in deciding how of what kind of detail to present. The book is dense with facts--on a Kindle I was bereft at coming to an unexpected end at 69%, not realizing 31% of the book is supporting notes--yet he tells a story with those facts.

Personal details are there, including scandalous ones--but it's not about the scandal and the scandals are not dwelt on. Similarly, we learn about personality clashes and frictions between various people during production, but in a matter-of-fact, not a mean-spirited way. The book is not hagiography, but neither is it mean-spirited.

One of the fascinating mysteries is that neither Rodgers nor Hammerstein was ever sure whether the other man actually liked him. I understand Hammerstein's politics now better than I ever did before.

I'm sure many fans know about Yul Brynner's astonishingly-varied background going into the show, but I hadn't known; the book...

United States on Jul 31, 2020

Corinthian1001: This is the best R&H book by far. The author obviously loves them but this is no hagiography, and he visits their dark sides. Failures - and they had several - are catalogued alongside the many hits. I feel like I know Bill and Dick, and the author should be very proud. Essential to any lover of the great musicals.

United Kingdom on Jul 20, 2020

John A Hughes: This is a very insightful book about one of the great musical comedy teams ever.

Canada on Jul 05, 2020

Shinkansen: Anyone interested in musical theatre will find this totally absorbing. Todd Purdum's unashamed admiration for the achievements of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein shines through this combination of biography and analysis of their art. He presents a chronology of their productions - success and failures - to show how they performed a transformation in twentieth century popular theatre. Highly recommended.

United Kingdom on Mar 27, 2020

AQUARIUS: This book deserves 5 stars. Even if you have never been to a Broadway or West End show the stories behind the musicals are well told, and the composers are interesting characters. If you have a passing interest in musicals then find time to read this book. It's worth it.

Australia on Oct 29, 2018

Amazon Customer: I found this an entrancing read; and I highly recommend it.

Canada on Jun 13, 2018

DEWEY M.: "You ask too much of people who have been successful, and they are human too," Richard Rodgers once remarked. In "Something Wonderful," Todd S. Purdum' s absorbing account of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway revolution, he restores humanity to R and H. He also celebrates their sincerity, the very quality that later made Rodgers And Hammerstein musicals unfashionable to the critical elite.
Elliott Norton observed, "When you mention Rodgers and Hammerstein to almost any normal American with a sound heart and good hearing, he thinks at once of songs and scenes and shows which they have written--and which have given him great and abiding pleasure." So it was and so it may always be. The Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals have become such a part of pop culture fabric, they are almost taken for granted. They never should be.
Purdum doesn't knock Rodgers and Hammerstein off their musical theatre pedestals. He does not want to. Ethan Mordden effectively did that in his scholarly, heavily illustrated, coffee table book. Purdue's book is much more fair and much more fun to read. And it's because Purdum writes from a human perspective. It turns out, these Masters Of Musical Theatre...

United States on Apr 26, 2018