Uncovering the Creative Process Behind Broadway Musicals: An Inside Look at the Making of American Musicals

Raphael Teixeira: If you're a music theater fan, or if you want to have a deeper understanding of how musicals work, in an easy-to-read book, this is the place to start. Doesn't delve too deep in examples but checks all the main boxes. As an aspiring musical writer I found this book a true must-have.

Australia on Sep 21, 2020

A. Close: Lots of insights and anecdotes from an industry insider. A good read but wish there were more. Give us the other side of the coin -- the anatomy of a flop. Why did 3 R&H shows fail to gain traction? There is more to be said.

Canada on Jun 19, 2020

Doro W: I fell in love with musical theatre at the age of 12 (53 years ago) thanks to a wonderful teacher for whom I used to baby sit. His record collection comprised only musical theatre and classical music - he said that they were the two purest forms of music and storytelling. Before he and his wife went out, he'd leave me one or two LPs to play and then ask me questions about them when he returned. His love for the genre stayed with me for ever - I even worked in professional theatre for 10 years - and I was so, so, so hoping that this book wouldn't disappoint me. Finding this book was like hearing My Fair Lady (the first show I listened to) for the very first time all those decades ago. Like my teacher, the author has a pure, unapologetic love for musicals and it permeates every sentence of this book. His knowledge and insight are, of course, unparalleled, but so accessible and engaging. I've read books on this genre that speak for chapters about one song chorus - and how the notes (sung backwards or upside down or in a minor chord or some such) are a counterpoint (or some such) to the character's conflict, of some such- all gobbledygook to a non-musical lay-person who just loves the...

United States on May 19, 2020

steve c.: This was as expected. Although damaged in transit I believe it would have been in perfect condition.

United Kingdom on Nov 08, 2019

Alan L. Chase: Author Jack Viertel made a wise choice when he cast himself as the person to write this book on "How Broadway Shows Are Built." He has served as a Broadway producer, an executive with the Jujamcyn Theaters in NYC, and has taught at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. The format for this book, "The Secret Life of the American Musical" comes from the curriculum he developed for one of the courses he taught at Tisch.

Appropriately enough, the author has ordered the chapters of the book to mirror the way in which a Broadway musical is built, from Overture to Curtain Call. Within each chapter, he discusses the choices that the creative team must make at each stage of the show in engaging the audience and telling the story. In each case, he cites the American musicals he feels have done the best job of writing songs or dialogue that address the issue at hand.

Curtain Up discusses opening numbers. Here is an excellent example of the format the author uses with great effect throughout the book:

"Opening numbers can make or break a show. They have turned flops into hits (A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to the Forum), and their conception can be a cause for...

United States on Jun 27, 2019

The Outsider: ack Viertel has been around musicals for decades and he has written an intelligent dissection of how the classic Broadway musicals are constructed. I just finished Julian Woolford's How Musicals Work, which is a more academic, less anecdotal approach to the same subject.

Like Woolford's book, this is heavy on examples and much more subtle on theory (no mono myth for Jack). It is well written, charming at times and highly opinionated. I mean, he loves Gypsy! Stephen Sondheim is a genius. British musicals are a throwback to operetta and are pretty easily dismissed, despite their success. Unlike Woolford, he quite likes rock musicals, and does not throw them all in the trash. He points out that rock is more popular than show music, whatever their strengths or weaknesses and has become a core of musical theatre today.

Viertel takes you number by number, leading you by the nose to how these musicals are structured without any academic theory, and it works well. Don't expect any tips on stagecraft or songwriting here. If you're writing a musical or just like musicals, this is an interesting book.

United Kingdom on Oct 11, 2018

Kimonline: I was really looking forward to reading this book, yet came away disappointed. Mr Viertel is unquestionably well placed to have an authoritative opinion on what makes a musical work for its audience and I do not quibble in any way with his conclusions. The problem, for me, was that in restricting his examples to a handful of shows (he makes his reasons for this very clear in the introduction) the text became rather repetitive and lost my interest. For that reason, it was something of a labour to get to the final page.

United Kingdom on Dec 11, 2016

Michael D. Larsen: Jack Viertel knows his sh...stuff. As a teacher of musical theatre technique and musical theatre history for more than 30 years, I can see through the charlatans who write books like this. And there are a good number of them. Therefore, it was a total joy to read the real goods from someone who has been a part of that very history for decades. Without being overly anecdotal and chatty, as some of these books tend to be, Mr. Viertel shares insights into the construction of musicals with an academic wisdom and a warm sense of humor. The thing you never doubt - and what really makes the book endearing - is his total and unmitigated passion for his subject matter. And when he does present an idea that is biased or slanted, he tells you so. In advance. For example, I don't know that I would lavish HAIRSPRAY with the amount of attention that Mr. Viertel does, but he reminds us early on that he had a very large hand in the creation of that show, and I think his pride in his own work (it IS an awfully good show) is commendable. I just don't know that it belongs in the same breath as GUYS AND DOLLS and GYPSY. But that's the fun part of being a musical theatre nut - getting to disagree with...

United States on Apr 29, 2016