Download The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built
Download The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built
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The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built
Download The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built
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Review
"Both revelatory and entertaining. Viertel combines a scholarly approach with a light touch that enables us to see anew familiar songs and musical theater moments we'd long taken for granted." ―The New York Times Book Review"Viertel’s knowledgeable, engaging blueprint of [the] Broadway musical framework is instructive fun for cognoscenti and general readers alike." ―The Washington Post"A lively manual for writers and public alike on how the songs suit the story and how the story needs the songs." ―The Wall Street Journal"The best general-audience analysis of musical theater I have read in many years." ―The Charlotte Observer “Jack Viertel changed my theater-going life, and he might change yours . . . The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built is a delightful, accessible guide to why your favorite productions work. It’s a little bit history, a little bit memoir, a little bit criticism and, for any theater fan, a whole lot of fun.†―The Dallas Morning News"Viertel is well-steeped in Broadway culture, lore and productions . . . An enlightening trip for lovers of musicals." ―Kirkus Reviews"A valuable addition to the theater lover’s bookshelf." ―Publishers Weekly "[An] engaging, insightful anatomy of a singularly American art form . . . There is much to savor." ―MORE"Viertel articulates his rules of commercial success so lucidly that even seasoned hands will come away with a clearer understanding of why some shows work while others flop." ―Commentary"Thoroughly interesting . . . There’s just something very pleasant about reading someone intelligently and affectionately look at what make a show tick, beat by choreographed beat." ―The A.V. Club"Viertel has written what will become a classic textbook on the architecture and construction of the American musical . . . What Harold Bloom did for Shakespearean exegesis and Peter Drucker for management, Viertel has done for theater: written a definitive work by raising the curtain and laying bare the work of playwrights, composers, librettists, choreographers, and directors." ―Barry X. Miller, Library Journal (starred review)“Viertel is well-steeped in Broadway culture, lore and productions . . . An enlightening trip for lovers of musicals.†―Kirkus Review“Jack Viertel writes about the master craftsmen of the American musical, past and present, and reveals his own mastery on every page―his knowledge of the Broadway musical and of the intricate formula in the making of a show (or the breaking of it), and his passion for Broadway and the citizens who make the street come alive. I’ve been schooled.†―Patti LuPone“In The Secret Life of the American Musical, Jack Viertel, a Broadway producer and dramaturgical swami, has broken down Broadway’s greatest musicals into their constituent storytelling parts (a sort of anatomy of joy) and delivered a showstopper: one of the best-written, most illuminating, and most infectiously entertaining books on the genre I know. Delight and insight vie with each other on every scintillating page. ‘It’s boffo!’ as they say on the Rialto.†―John Lahr, author of Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh“This is unfair: no one who knows so much should be able to write so well. And no one in the world knows as much about the shape and substance of the classic American musical as Jack Viertel. His book is a treasure.†―Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition“Jack Viertel’s remarkable book has the uncanny effect of making us see something we thought we knew everything about in a way that makes us feel as though we are seeing it all for the first time. He invents a way of thinking about musicals that is utterly fresh and insightful, and while doing so he makes us remember exactly why we love them so much―by somehow re-creating the overwhelming, heart-stopping feeling we had when we were likely ten years old and fell in love with them the second our first overture began. By simultaneously (and brilliantly) embracing and deconstructing a beloved American art form, he brings us back to our most innocent selves, and all we can do is be grateful to him for reminding us of who we used to be.†―Scott Rudin
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About the Author
Jack Viertel is the senior vice president of Jujamcyn Theaters, which owns and operates five Broadway theaters. He has been involved in dozens of productions presented by Jujamcyn since 1987, including multiple Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winners, from City of Angels to Angels in America. He has also helped shepherd six of August Wilson’s plays to Broadway. He is the artistic director of New York City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series, which presents three musical productions every season. In that capacity he has overseen fifty shows, for some of which he adapted the scripts. He conceived the long-running Smokey Joe’s Cafe and the critically acclaimed After Midnight and has been a creative consultant on many shows, including Hairspray, AChristmas Story, and Dear Evan Hansen. He was the Mark Taper Forum’s dramaturg and the drama criticand arts editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, and he has spent a decade teaching musical theaterat the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
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Product details
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books; Reprint edition (March 14, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0374536899
ISBN-13: 978-0374536893
Product Dimensions:
5.6 x 0.9 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.6 out of 5 stars
135 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#196,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Jack Viertel's new book, "The Secret Life of the American Musical" is a stunningly informative book about the structure and success (or lack thereof) of modern day musicals. In a compelling style, the author takes us through a performance from "Overture" to "Curtain Call" and describes in great detail how every aspect of a musical works. His experience in the world of musicals gives him credence that few other writers would be able to claim.The book is set in a chronological order of a performance and being just a few years younger than Viertel, he helped me relive moments of musicals from my childhood. He particularly enjoys certain ones...."Guys and Dolls", "Gypsy" and "Fiddler", to name just three, but what makes Viertel's knowledge so wonderful is that he ably relates how musicals are set up and executed. I was especially fond of three chapters...."If I Loved You", "Intermission" and "Clambake", particularly enjoying his take on what was served at intermission a half-century ago. He also introduces the reader to things like the "11 o'clock number", a phrase about which I had never heard. His final chapter concerning recordings is a beautiful way to end the book.I must admit that my own experience of musicals is much more confined to those of the fifties, sixties and seventies, so when Viertel launches into musicals beginning thirty years ago to the present...well, those were quicker reads for me. Yet all in all, "The Secret Life of the American Musical" is comprehensive with an nicely produced narrative. It's a must read for those who enjoy and want to know more about the American musical experience.
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 other musical theatre nuts about favorites! Anyway, if this is your world, this is a MUST, MUST, MUST READ. As a regular audience member at the invited dress rehearsals of the Encores series at City Center in New York, I have grown to look forward to Jack Viertel's introductions of the shows (he is the Artistic Director of Encores) as much as the shows themselves. He is witty and smart, a great teacher and an unabashed theatre-lover. All of that good stuff jumps out of every page of this book. Kudos.
Unique book - author writes in a fluid style which compares similarities and differences in well-known musicals. Viertel offers: 1) insights into the formulaic structure of the Broadway musical during the 1940's - 1960's, 2) a deep understanding of this genre - gained from personal experience; and 3) amusing tidbits and Broadway trivia (info on the title of "My Fair Lady" title is a gem).However, as Viertel compares various musicals in a "stream of consciousness" style of writing - he points out similarities that don't necessarily ring true. Sometimes, it feels like he's comparing the proverbial apple & orange.Overall, he's on firm footing, but it really helps to see the live shows or films for the comparisons to make sense. The short scenes in the book don't offer enough material to get the gist of a character or a specific scene. So, before reading, you should see well-known musicals by Oscar & Hammerstein, Frank Loesser, Lerner & Lowe, Bock & Harnick, Jerry Herman, Sondheim, Styne, Bernstein,etc. Fortunately, I've seen most of the shows mentioned, but without a reference point from memory, it would have been frustrating to understand the author's conclusions. For example, I haven't seen "Sunday in the Park with George" by Sondheim, so, the discussion of this show didn't register at all.The best thing about the book by far is Viertel's passion for the stage and his love of musicals - these feelings come shining through.
Excellent book, a really nice companion piece to Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway that I finished last week. Whereas the earlier book made me want to read more about theatre history. The Secret Life.. made me want to listen to and/or go see some shows that I have missed. There were a few places where I felt that the conceit fell apart a little bit (the book is structured like the musical structure it is teaching), but overall it works. This is a textbook, and at times it reads like one, but overall a fun read and very informative. I really loved the recommend cast albums section at the end.
Did you ever leave a production thinking, "I loved the music and the singers, but the whole play didn't work for me?" Jack Viertel has masterfully explained why great American musicals work and why many other efforts fall short. Musicals may each be unique, but the successes typically share common elements and structure. This is a wonderful reference for any student of the art. It is expertly studded with examples that bring back memories to long-time theater goers and will likely generate curiosity about historic productions that still deserve an audience.
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