The Tonys and all last season's other theater celebrations
are now behind us, several original Hamilton cast members (including the show's
creator Lin-Manuel Miranda) are scheduled to take their final bows next week
and the theater world—plus the rest of New York—is slipping into summer
vacation mode. Which means that it's time for my annual list of
books to keep theater lovers company through the lazy weeks of summer until
Labor Day.
The selections this year are a real grab bag of choices from
audiobooks and graphic novels to memoirs and mysteries. So you're likely to
find something, whatever your mood or genre preference. I'm still finishing
up a few of them myself and so I'm looking forward to luxuriating on our terrace (my husband K and I got new deckchairs this year) while reading them and sipping a cool drink (old-school Cosmos this year) and I hope the list helps make your summer just as
pleasurable. In the meantime, Happy July 4th.
Being an Actor by Simon Callow Best known as a character actor (he created the role of Mozart in the original 1984 London
production of Amadeus) Callow is also a marvelous writer with more than a dozen books to
his credit and this memoir of his earliest days in the theater is a total delight. Callow doesn't mind naming names (or
burning bridges) but it's his picture of himself as a young actor struggling to
master his craft in drama school and in touring companies around England that give the book its heart.
Hamilton The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter Like everything else
about Miranda's hip-hop musical about one of the formerly lesser known Founding
Fathers, this book is a refreshing spin on an old form. It's basically a souvenir book but Miranda and his theater journalist friend McCarter provide a really intimate portrait of how Hamilton was created,
with bios on and commentary from each of the main players and members of the production team,
gorgeous photos and, best of all, the complete lyrics, annotated with humor, openness and
a generosity of spirit by Miranda himself.
Macdeath by Cindy Brown Part of a comic-mystery series built around
an actress who also works part time as a private investigator, this murder
mystery is set backstage at a theater company in Phoenix that is doing a
production of the Scottish play. Its tongue sits firmly in its cheek and it's
just the kind of easy read that's as yummy as a juicy popsicle on a hot summer
afternoon.
The Marvels by Brian Selznick London's
Theatre Royal provides the backdrop for this graphic novel about a
13-year-old boy who runs away from school and seeks refuge with his uncle who
lives in a mysterious house that is believed to have been owned—and is perhaps
now haunted—by a legendary family of actors. Selznick won the Caldecott Medal for "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," which John Logan adapted for the 2011 movie directed by Martin Scorsese and so the artwork is superb. And the narrative, which begins in 1766 and ends in 1990, is surprisingly moving, even
for people like me who don't usually read illustrated books.
The New York Stories by John O’Hara The midcentury writer John O'Hara wrote
novels, a newspaper column, screenplays and even a couple of plays but he's
probably best known for his short stories and this wonderful collection of
tales centers around characters who are actors, musicians and their
fellow travelers, some successful, most not but all desperate for a moment in
the limelight. The audiobook version is an extra treat because the stories are
read by a who’s who of terrific stage actors including Dylan Baker, Bobby Canaveral
and Jan Maxwell.
Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway by Michael Riedel Theater nerds probably already know
many of the anecdotes that Riedel, the theater gossip columnist for the New York
Post and co-host of the TV show "Theatre Talk," recounts in this history
of Broadway from its grimy days in the 1970s through its current heyday as one of the
most popular destination spots in the world. Still it's nice to have all the tales in one place and Riedel's relish for these stories is obvious and a bit contagious.
The Secret Life of the American Musical by Jack Viertel Few people know more about
what it takes to make a Broadway musical than Viertel, the artistic director of
the Encores! series that puts on concert versions of neglected shows and who has also worked as a critic, dramaturge and producer. So it is a real treat to read his book,
which, using lots of examples from shows ranging from Oklahoma to Hamilton, breaks down the basic structure of a musical from the "I Want" song which gets the
action going straight through to the climactic 11 o'clock number.
Selected Works: A Memoir in Plays by Terrence McNally The Tony-winning playwright of such
works as Master Class, Love! Valour! Compassion and It's Only A Play has opted against
a conventional memoir and, instead, looks back at his life through his
work, writing brief introductions to the eight plays he's chosen to include in
this collection. Although he does touch on some of his romantic relationships
(including his early one with Edward Albee) and frayed friendships (with
Manhattan Theatre Club's artistic director Lynne Meadows) there's relatively little
gossip) the primary focus is on the relationship between McNally and his plays
and the result is a master class in playwriting.
As I said, it's an eclectic list. I hope you find something there for you and if you’re looking for even more to read, here are the links
to the suggestions from previous years:
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