"How many times have you experienced a musical that was fabulous or just didn't work at all, but you had no idea how to communicate why? How do you differentiate between a flaw in the performance portrayal of a character to a structural flaw in the musical itself? How do you analyse musical theatre songs that are so subjective in its very nature? Is there even a common link of analysis between musicals from the Golden Age and musicals from the present day? Musical Theatre Script and Song Analysis Through the Ages answers these questions and gives students of musical theatre the tools they need to understand and articulate how musicals work. At the heart of any musical lie its music and lyrics, yet it is this area that is least understood. This book offers a brand new terminology of analysis that gets to the core of what holds a musical together: the libretto, music, and lyrics. Through identifying methods of lyric and musical analysis and applying these to ten different musicals throughout history, students are able to ask questions such as: why does this song sound this way?; what is this lyric doing to identify character purpose?; and how is a character communicating this feeling to an audience? From classroom analysis through to practical application, this text guides readers through a structured approach to understanding, disseminating and more importantly, articulating how a musical works. A perfect tool for students of musical theatre, its practical benefits of understanding the form, and realizing that it can be applied to any age musical, will benefit any theatre person in helping articulate all of those abstract feelings that are inherent in this art form. It offers a roadmap to the musical's innermost DNA."--

How many times have you experienced a musical that was fabulous or just didn't work at all, but you had no idea how to communicate why? How do you differentiate between a flaw in the performance portrayal of a character to a structural flaw in the musical itself? How do you analyse musical theatre songs that are so subjective in its very nature? Is there even a common link of analysis between musicals from the Golden Age and musicals from the present day? Musical Theatre Script and Song Analysis Through the Ages answers these questions and gives students of musical theatre the tools they need to understand and articulate how musicals work. At the heart of any musical lie its music and lyrics, yet it is this area that is least understood. This book offers a brand new terminology of analysis that gets to the core of what holds a musical together: the libretto, music, and lyrics. Through identifying methods of lyric and musical analysis and applying these to ten different musicals throughout history, students are able to ask questions such as: why does this song sound this way?; what is this lyric doing to identify character purpose?; and how is a character communicating this feeling to an audience? From classroom analysis through to practical application, this text guides readers through a structured approach to understanding, disseminating and more importantly, articulating how a musical works. A perfect tool for students of musical theatre, its practical benefits of understanding the form, and realizing that it can be applied to any age musical, will benefit any theatre person in helping articulate all of those abstract feelings that are inherent in this art form. It offers a roadmap to the musical's innermost DNA.

Musical theatre students and performers are frequently asked to learn musical material in a short space of time; sight-read pieces in auditions; collaborate with accompanists; and communicate musically with peers, directors, music directors and choreographers. Many of these students and performers will have had no formal musical training. This book offers a series of lessons in music fundamentals, including theory, sight-singing and aural tests, giving readers the necessary skills to navigate music and all that is demanded of them, without having had a formal music training. It focuses on the skills required of the musical theatre performer and draws on musical theatre repertoire in order to connect theory with practice. Throughout the book, each musical concept is laid out clearly and simply with helpful hints and reminders. The author takes the reader back to basics to ensure full understanding of each area. As the concepts begin to build on one another, the format and process is kept the same so that readers can see how different aspects interrelate. Through introducing theoretical ideas and putting each systematically into practice with sight-singing and ear-training, the students gain a much deeper and more integrated understanding of the material, and are able to retain it, using it in voice lessons, performance classes and their professional lives. The book is published alongside a companion website, which offers supporting material for the aural skills component and gives readers the opportunity to drill listening exercises individually and at their own pace. Music Fundamentals for Musical Theatre allows aspirational performers - and even those who aren't enrolled on a course - to access the key components of music training that will be essential to their careers.

The Fantasticks tells an age-old tale. Its ingredients are simple: a boy, a girl, two fathers, and a wall. Its scenery, a tattered cardboard moon, hovers over an empty wooden platform. With these bare essentials, Jones and Schmdt launched a theatrical phenomenon unmatched the world over.

Music Theory through Musical Theatre takes a new and powerful approach to music theory. Written specifically for students in music theatre programs, it offers music theory by way of musical theatre. Not a traditional music theory text, Music Theory through Musical Theatre tackles the theoretical foundations of musical theatre and musical theatre literature with an emphasis on what students will need to master in preparation for a professional career as a performer. Veteran music theatre musician John Franceschina brings his years of experience to bear in a book that offers musical theatre educators an important tool in equipping students with what is perhaps the most important element of being a performer: the ability to understand the language of music in the larger dramatic context to which it contributes. The book uses examples exclusively from music theater repertoire, drawing from well-known and more obscure shows and songs. Musical sight reading is consistently at the forefront of the lessons, teaching students to internalize notated music quickly and accurately, a particularly necessary skill in a world where songs can be added between performances. Franceschina consistently links the concepts of music theory and vocal coaching, showing students how identifying the musical structure of and gestures within a piece leads to better use of their time with vocal coaches and ultimately enables better dramatic choices. Combining formal theory with practical exercises, Music Theory through Musical Theatre will be a lifelong resource for students in musical theatre courses, dog-eared and shelved beside other professional resource volumes.

Script Analysis specifically for Actors, Directors, and Designers; the only book on this subject that covers the growing area of unconventional plays.

Chronicles the creation of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man—reprinted now as the Broadway Edition Composer Meredith Willson described The Music Man as “an Iowan’s attempt to pay tribute to his home state.” Now featuring a new foreword by noted singer and educator Michael Feinstein, this book presents Willson’s reflections on the ups and downs, surprises and disappointments, and finally successes of making one of America’s most popular musicals. Willson’s whimsical, personable writing style brings readers back in time with him to the 1950s to experience firsthand the exciting trials and tribulations of creating a Broadway masterpiece. Fresh admiration of the musical—and the man behind the music—is sure to result.

From his early work as lyricist for West Side Story to acclaimed creations such as A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, and Sweeney Todd, Stephen Sondheim is widely regarded as the most important figure in musical theater since the second half of the 20th century. Who better to discuss this prolific artist’s work than the master himself? Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions is a collection of interviews conducted by Mark Eden Horowitz, senior music specialist in the music division of the Library of Congress. In these guided conversations, Sondheim expounds in great depth and detail on his craft. As a natural teacher, thoughtful and opinionated, Sondheim discusses the art of musical composition, lyric writing, the collaborative process of musical theater, and how he thinks about his own work. The entire scope of Sondheim’s career is covered here, in which Sondheim’s greatest works are discussed—from Passion, Assassins, Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd, and Pacific Overtures to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Merrily We Roll Along, Company, Follies, Anyone Can Whistle, and A Little Night Music. Sondheim even provides thoughts about the film adaptations of his works, such as Sweeney Todd. The book also features an entire chapter on Bounce, the previous incarnation of his latest musical, Road Show. Preserving the essential elements of the previous volumes, this edition includes all of the interviews—verbatim—and features a revised introduction and a postlude with an additional conversation. Finally in paperback, Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions, The Less Is More Edition is a must-have for fans of these creative genius.

Acting in Musical Theatre is the only complete course in approaching a role in a musical. It is the first to combine acting, singing and dancing into a comprehensive guide, combining what have previously been treated as three separate disciplines. This book contains fundamental skills for novice actors, practical insights for professionals, and even tips to help veteran musical performers refine their craft. Drawing on decades of experience in both acting and teaching, the authors provide crucial advice on all elements of the profession, including: fundamentals of acting applied to musical theatre script, score and character analysis personalizing your performance turning rehearsal into performance acting styles in the musical theatre practical steps to a career. Acting in Musical Theatre’s chapters divide into easy-to-reference units, each containing related group and solo exercises, making it the definitive textbook for students and practitioners alike.

National Book Critics Circle Award Winner, Nonfiction NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022 BY THE NEW YORKER, TIME MAGAZINE, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, VOX, SALON, LIT HUB, AND VANITY FAIR “Entertaining and illuminating.”--The New Yorker * “Compulsively readable.”--New York Times * “Delicious, humane, probing.”--Vulture * “The best and most important book about acting I've ever read.”--Nathan Lane The critically acclaimed cultural history of Method acting-an ebullient account of creative discovery and the birth of classic Hollywood. On stage and screen, we know a great performance when we see it. But how do actors draw from their bodies and minds to turn their selves into art? What is the craft of being an authentic fake? More than a century ago, amid tsarist Russia's crushing repression, one of the most talented actors ever, Konstantin Stanislavski, asked these very questions, reached deep into himself, and emerged with an answer. How his “system” remade itself into the Method and forever transformed American theater and film is an unlikely saga that has never before been fully told. Now, critic and theater director Isaac Butler chronicles the history of the Method in a narrative that transports readers from Moscow to New York to Los Angeles, from The Seagull to A Streetcar Named Desire to Raging Bull. He traces how a cohort of American mavericks--including Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg, and the storied Group Theatre--refashioned Stanislavski's ideas for a Depression-plagued nation that had yet to find its place as an artistic powerhouse. The Group's feuds and rivalries would, in turn, shape generations of actors who enabled Hollywood to become the global dream-factory it is today. Some of these performers the Method would uplift; others, it would destroy. Long after its midcentury heyday, the Method lives on as one of the most influential--and misunderstood--ideas in American culture. Studded with marquee names--from Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, and Elia Kazan, to James Baldwin, Ellen Burstyn, and Dustin Hoffman--The Method is a spirited history of ideas and a must-read for any fan of Broadway or American film.